Monday Hlinks: 'You hear some people say Nebraska is closer to Iowa than LSU, and they don't mean geographically.'

Sports writing is in far healthier shape than Greece's economy

So to start the week, I share some good writing from this weekend, columns and stories produced in Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Nebraska and New York. American-made, folks. And remember, this land was meant for you and me.

So ... who wants to read some Penn State stuff?

No one? It's been a week since the NCAA blasted Penn State with penalties, and you're burned out on it? But what if it's good stuff? Because this piece by Bob Cohn of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review is good stuff.

Kenny Jackson, an All-America receiver for Penn State in the 1980s, said this: “Everyone is looking at football as a culture instead of looking at us as a culture. The game is so money-driven. When I came to Penn State, we played three times a year on TV, and that was unbelievable. You had to play Notre Dame or Michigan to get on TV.”

Cohn wrote: The expanding football culture at Penn State did not occur in a vacuum; it mirrored the growth of the school in enrollment, endowments and academic resources. It also reflected college football mushrooming into a multi-billion dollar enterprise vital to the identities of the NCAA member institutions, a big business in which head coaches are paid like corporate CEOs while their schools are firing professors.

In 1999, for example, the Louisiana State president said, “The critical role of our football program is clear - it is of vital importance to the entire LSU community: our students, our fans and alumni worldwide and the state of Louisiana. Simply put, success in LSU football is essential for the success of Louisiana State University.”

Those were the words of Mark Emmert.

Emmert is now the NCAA's president.

One more Penn State-related item.

Rick Bozich of WDRB-TV in Louisville offers solutions to some of college football's excesses, admitting there isn't a chance any of his proposals would ever be adopted. Things like lowering the scholarship-limit from 85 to 70, capping coaching salaries, and eliminating year-round practice.

Bozich wrote:

Hammering Penn State won't change the culture, no matter how justified a strong penalty was. Hammering Penn State was the safe public relations play. Nobody can -- or should -- defend what used to be one of the most admired programs in college football after it apparently protected a pedophile for years.

Penn State will suffer.

College football will not change.

Salaries will continue to jump as if a recession never happened. Stadiums, practice fields, indoor facilities and weight rooms will still be upgraded on a regular basis to ensure they are better than the guy's next door.

The networks will find ways to put more games on television for as many nights as the market will support. The elite programs will keep fighting to separate themselves from other contenders in as many ways as possible.

OK, one more Penn State piece and then we'll move on. Today, anyhow.

In 1987, a college football program that was among those that sent coaches to SMU to try to woo players from that team after it got the death penalty from the NCAA was ... Penn State.

Let us proceed. At the other end of the Big Ten, geographically, is Nebraska.

Tom Shatel of the Omaha World-Herald suggests Cornhuskers Coach Bo Pelini should embrace the white-hot spotlight. Here's an excerpt:

Expectations when Coach Bo arrived were sky-high. And he almost delivered that league title, and BCS bowl, but fell short twice. Now, Pelini's program has settled into a place where it's a Cap One/Holiday/Outback Bowl program.

You hear some people say Nebraska is closer to Iowa than LSU, and they don't mean geographically.

No offense to Iowa. The Hawkeyes' program is rock solid, with more success than NU the past 10 years. But Husker fans like to think that they have higher standards for their team. They want to associate with the big boys. They want to aim for that level.

Meanwhile, Minnesotans for Nebraska are gearing up to watch the Sept. 1 Southern Mississippi-Nebraska game in the Twin Cities.

And if you somehow missed a string of quotes from Kirk Ferentz (about Penn State and insulation), James Vandenberg (about not wanting to go 7-5, 4-4 again) and James Ferentz (who says brother Brian Ferentz is "overqualified" to be Iowa's offensive line coach), all you have to do is ...

Click this link

And now, here is Kurt Angle, U.S. Olympic freestyle wrestling champion in 1996, a man without a team in 2012.

Olympic Trials with Kurt Angle - watch more

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