FSU and the Media: Where's the blood?

◊ I didn't intend to write anything too deep the next few days, with spring ball heating up soon, figuring I'll be plenty busy as the Blue White Game nears. However, has anyone else noticed this mega-hypocrisy going on between Florida State and the media?

When Penn State players were getting into all sorts of legal trouble the past few years, which came to a rolling boil in 2007 and 2008, there was non-stop outcry from the main stream media (MSM).

"Joe Must Go!" and "Joe has lost control" were all very common phrases thrown around during the faux outrage. It was widely asserted that since Penn State football players were out drinking, partying and acting like 20-something men, subsequently getting caught by a corrupt district attorney on a mission, it was worthy of severe MSM scrutiny.

No one can argue that "Fight Club 2007"––when several prominent Penn State football players beat up other students, who had in fact initiated the altercation earlier that night––was a serious case of bad judgement by the players. They should have made better decisions.

The problem, however, in the MSM came after that event. It was used as a spark to ignite a firestorm of yellow journalism and shoddy investigative reporting, anchored by ESPN's Outside the Lines' 14-minute, skewed feature on Penn State's legal issues. The segment portrayed Penn State as a thug institution, hell-bent on winning football regardless of anything else.

After watching it, viewers were solidly turned against Penn State.

Why am I bringing all of this up now? Because Bobby Bowden and Florida State are pissed off that the NCAA didn't just let another infraction slide, the AP reported.

I'm not going to be an apologist on Penn State's behalf. They made their own mistakes, and have to deal with them. But the fact that this entire story has been treated by the MSM as "poor Florida State, too bad they couldn't avoid this," disgusts me personally.

Outside the Lines did a feature similar to, but very different from, the Penn State one last year. It touched on the recent issue at hand, talked to coaches and "experts," and reviewed past problems in the program. That's about where the comparison ends... abruptly.

OTL's angle on Florida State was one that made you almost feel bad for Bobby Bowden and the university––at least a little sympathy. It was a far cry from the hatchet job done to Penn State last year.

Have some in the MSM come out to denounce Florida State and agree with the sanctions? Of course, but individuals don't carry much weight in the MSM.

To question the NCAA's actions against Florida State is equivalent to burying one's head in the sand. Yet, no one outside Happy Valley ever questioned the validity of the MSM's claims that Penn State has gone off the deep end.

Florida State has been living on thin ice with the NCAA since 1989. That year, Seminoles star Deion Sanders stopped going to class his senior season, and didn't take any final exams. The NCAA decided to implement the "Deion Rule."

How many rules are named after Penn Staters?

The forfeit of games, loss of scholarships and probation should not come as a surprise to anyone. Florida State had this one coming.

Yet we're being led to believe that this is something other than a double-standard in the MSM. The funny thing about it all is that I think I know why the two stories have been given completely different coverage.

Florida State has always been known for its flashy players, flashy wins and "too cool for school" attitude. When the Seminoles were logging top-five seasons every year, this was just all part of the coolness. The MSM played right along because it was good for readership and ratings.

On the other hand, you have Penn State, the uptight, straight laced program that solidified that reputation against another Florida team, just as Florida State was earning its own.

Florida State has always been a media darling. Even when the coverage goes sour, Bowden just says "dagummit!" and everything is wonderful again.

Penn State, particularly Joe Paterno, has a sharp distain for the media, much of which stems from one night 1979 when a football writer (now a popular NFL reporter with ESPN) released Paterno's off-the-record comments to a group of writers about Barry Switzer and Jackie Sherrill.

Florida State is getting a big pass from the MSM. Granted, the NCAA took care of most of it, but we haven't heard the constant berating of Florida State that we heard about Penn State.

So it doesn't surprise me that Bowden & Co. have begun using the MSM to build a sympathetic base going forward. Will the MSM play any part in what the NCAA ultimately decides? Probably not, but that's not the point of this.

History is what matters, especially those who write history: the MSM. No one remembers what the history books don't tell. If Bowden and Florida State can come out of this whole thing with the general public feeling like they were screwed, and that somehow works its way into the history books... mission accomplished.