Greg Schiano was on Miami radio last week - the link is here in the upper right corner. It's basically a commercial for Rutgers football's recruiting efforts in Florida.
The Star-Ledger had it right on Kenny Britt for the most part. Britt is immature and has made poor decisions, but most of the personal criticism is off base in being overly simple or completely divorced from reality. He is a 22-year old who needs to grow up...not a person filled with malice or ill intentions. Going back two years ago there were a lot of stories going around that he was eccentric and such, but Rutgers runs the kind of football program where those guys can thrive. The lockout has been terrible for Kenny. He needs to go back to Tennessee for now and focus solely on football.
This Saturday is the Scarlet-White game, and it's also the third annual Rutgers Day (technically, as it piggybacked on pre-existing events like Ag Field Day.) As of now the forecast is sunny in the low 60s. One question is that it's hard to tell from this story whether Rutgers is trying to clearly distinguish Rutgers Day from Rutgersfest, or members of the press were questioning about that. The two have little to nothing in common, as Rutgers Day is strictly marketed towards families. Intended or not, any stigmatization of Rutgersfest is both unfair and disrespectful to decades of history.
As for Rutgersfest, RUPA is trying to pass the buck (not very convincingly IMO) on their role in it escalating out of control. Gannett had a great editorial on why Rutgersfest should not have been canceled when there were plenty of obvious reforms on the table. Students on Facebook are planning "Ragefest" next year in response to the cancellation. Those kinds of protests tend to sputter out, but the organizers deserve credit and sympathy for standing up for themselves and trying to give a voice to the thousands of students impacted by canceling Rutgersfest.
Patriots owner Bob Kraft is generous in a way that you do not often see in sports or business. He not only lobbied (unsuccessfully) for the Big East to add UMass, but offered the Minutemen use of Gillette Stadium rent free. Foxboro is quite a bit ways away from Amherst, but there were no other viable options. This is a savvy long-term move by Kraft in giving up an asset now in hopes of growing future revenue streams. If only we all had such foresight.
If anything will prevent UCF from joining the Big East, it would probably be their continued opening lobbying to join. It's off-putting when you go past using media proxies. UCF isn't quite as bad as East Carolina in that respect, but one of the first steps in this process certainly involves acting like one belongs and is not reeking of desperation. Houston is playing this waiting game better in staying off the public radar. These discussions belong behind the scenes, not negotiated through the media, although the latter sure is a fair bit more fun and interesting.
Former Rutgers deputy A.D. Richard Costello, who's now the athletic director at Wisconsin-Milwaukee, wants to add football at UWM.
Enrollment at Rutgers is expected to increase next year. That should help the university's near term bottom line, but will do a lot of harm in terms of wear and tear on facilities, general overcrowding, and school prestige.
