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NEW YORK -- NCAA president Mark Emmert praised Penn States success in football this season and said the universitys response to historic NCAA sanctions five years ago expedited the programs recovery.Speaking Wednesday at the Learfield Sports Intercollegiate Athletics Forum, Emmert called Penn States season spectacular and said the teams run to a Big Ten championship is great for those young men and that fan base.Penn State went 11-2 and won its first conference title since 1994. The Nittany Lions finished No. 5 in the final selection committee rankings and will play USC in the Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual.In July 2011, Emmert imposed unprecedented penalties on Penn State after the schools child sex abuse scandal involving former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. Penn State received a four-year bowl ban, massive scholarship losses, five years probation and a $60 million fine, in addition to the loss of bowl revenue. The NCAA later reduced the postseason and scholarship penalties after Penn State complied with reforms outlined by an independent athletics integrity monitor.Because the campus addressed all of their issues so aggressively, that allowed the [NCAA] board of governors to back down from the scholarship sanctions and the postseason sanctions, Emmert said. They, as a university, had their annual reviews come in. The board looked at it and said, Wow, thats great progress. Thats way ahead of schedule. So that was terrific.It was very, very helpful in allowing the team to get back on track, and thats great.Some considered the NCAAs penalties on Penn State to be worse than the so-called death penalty, and initial forecasts pegged Penn State to experience a prolonged decline on the football field.People occasionally will say, Well, those sanctions were meant to cripple the university, Emmert said. Thats not true at all. Never was. Ive always said and always believed Penn State is, first and foremost, a great university, because it is. Secondly, its got wonderful sports traditions. How can you not be pleased theyre playing very good football?Penn State trustee Anthony Lubrano, a staunch supporter of former coach Joe Paterno, wasnt happy with Emmerts comments, calling the NCAA president a joke.Mark Emmert is a sanctimonious hypocrite, Lubrano said. Joe Paterno had more integrity in his little finger than Emmert has in his entire body. The NCAA got what they wanted from Louie Freeh. We shouldnt be surprised that Freeh sighted institutional control issues in his fact-free report. The NCAA sent [former enforcement director] Julie Roe and others to train Freehs investigators with respect to institutional control violations.Emmert addressed a variety of topics Wednesday:? Emmert called the College Football Playoff fabulously successful but said his preference is to increase the field to eight teams so every Power 5 conference champion can participate.Im kind of old-school about that, I guess, he said. It would be really fun to have a model where those five champions all got a crack at moving forward. I dont know what that looks like.Asked of this years selections, Emmert, the former president at the University of Washington, joked: Well, they got one right.??Emmert didnt address current NCAA investigations like the ones at Ole Miss and North Carolina, but he did recognize the drawn-out process of such probes.Everybody gets frustrated when they go on so long, he said. At the same time, you have to recognize the system is designed to provide lots of opportunities for the universities and any individuals involved to prepare information and conduct investigations collaboratively. We go in and sit down with the university and say, Lets together explore this and determine what the facts are. The investigatory process isnt what a lot of people think, that my staff showing up saying, OK, now were going to sneak around and get you. Its quite the opposite.??As the NCAAs Division I Council plans major recruiting forms to college football, Emmert said he wants high school athletes to have increased information about schools before making their college decisions. He doesnt have a preference on changing the recruiting calendar but advocates any changes [that] can reduce the intensity of that process, which is really extreme sometimes for the high school students and for the coaches and their families.??Emmert praised the Big 12 decision not to expand its membership. Its a good thing for college sports, he said. The last round [of realignment] was very disruptive, and it had a negative impact on so many schools and lots of personal relationships. It was hard, and Im glad we didnt have to go through that again.??Emmert said Mondays ruling by the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that college athletes are not employees of their colleges or the NCAA provides greater clarity on the amateurism debate. The ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed by two University of Pennsylvania track athletes against the school and the NCAA, arguing that student-athletes are employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act and are entitled to minimum wage.??Emmert didnt comment about the sex-assault scandal involving Baylor, but said of the universitys decisions to separate with football coach Art Briles, athletic director Ian McCaw and president Ken Starr was a demonstration that the board obviously took this matter very seriously. Christian Miller Panthers Jersey . Each of Houstons starters scored in double figures as the Rockets improved to 2-0 against the Spurs this season, with both victories coming on the road. They also moved within 3 1/2 games of San Antonio (22-7) for the lead the Southwest Division. Greg Olsen Panthers Jersey . Francis told several hundred members of the European Olympic Committees that when sport "is considered only in economic terms and consequently for victory at every cost . http://www.shoppanthersonline.us/panthers-will-grier-blue-jersey/ . John Tavares, Thomas Vanek and Kyle Okposo were also being counted on to slow down sizzling Rangers forward Rick Nash. That plan didnt go so well early. Will Grier Youth Jersey . Bradwell was scheduled to become a free agent Tuesday. Born and raised in Toronto, Bradwell is entering his sixth CFL season, with all six played for his hometown Argonauts. DJ Moore Womens Jersey BALTIMORE -- It sure didnt take long for new players on the Texas Rangers to get comfortable in a different environment. The trio has made a good team even better.Jonathan Lucroy hit his first homer with Texas, Carlos Beltran had two hits and an RBI, and the Rangers beat Wade Miley and the Baltimore Orioles 5-3 Thursday night to avoid a three-game sweep.Texas received contributions from the threesome it acquired before Mondays non-waiver trade deadline. Lucroy homered in the second inning. Beltran -- who homered Wednesday -- singled in a run in the fifth. And Jeremy Jeffress pitched a scoreless seventh.For those guys to go a new ballclub, the travel, and assimilating themselves into the clubhouse ... theyre professionals but anytime you make that move it can be a change, Rangers manager Jeff Banister said. But it was nice to see theyre starting to perk up and do what they do. We saw tonight what this lineup can be capable of.Ian Desmond drove in two runs and Shin-Soo Choo came off the disabled list to get two hits and score a run for the Rangers, who took back from Baltimore the distinction of owning the best record in the AL.Texas won the season series 4-3 and would have home-field advantage in the postseason if the teams finish with the same regular-season record and meet in the playoffs.Its been a dogfight with these guys. Thats another first-place team over there, Lucroy said. Its another team that can hit, hit a lot of home runs, especially in this park. It feels good to pull that one out and kind of break out offensively.Mark Trumbo hit his major-league leading 31st homer for the Orioles, who fell to 39-17 at home. Pedro Alvarez and Hyun-Soo Kim also hit solo shots.Miley (7-9) gave up four runs and eight hits in five innings in his debut with the Orioles. The left-hander was traded by Seattle on Sunday.I wish the results would have been a little better, Miley said. I had some jitters.After Miley took a line drive off his left calf for the final out in the fifth, manager Buck Showalter went to bullpen in the sixth.ddddddddddddI dont think its a big concern at all, Miley said.A.J. Griffin (5-1) allowed three homers in 5 1/3 innings but won a second straight start following a six-game run without a victory.Theyve got some power, but for the most part I felt like we kept them off-balance really well, Griffin said.Sam Dyson, the fifth Texas pitcher, worked a perfect ninth for his 23rd save.After Lucroy put the Rangers up 1-0, Desmond added a run-scoring groundout in the second.Texas made it 4-0 in the fifth on RBI singles by Desmond and Beltran. Desmonds single bounced past first baseman Chris Davis, who was screened by Choo advancing to second, and Beltrans pop bounced off the glove of second baseman Jonathan Schoop in right field.Trumbo and Alvarez homered in succession in the bottom half, and Kim led off the sixth with his fourth homer of the season -- his first at Camden Yards.Consecutive doubles by Adrian Beltre and Roughned Odor off Logan Ondrusek made it 5-3 in the eighth.SHORT HOPSRangers: Griffin has allowed at least one HR in eight straight starts. ... Texas hit a season-high six doubles.Orioles: Miley is the first lefty to start for Baltimore this season. ... The Orioles have hit back-to-back homers 12 times this season.TRAINERS ROOMRangers: Choo spent the minimum 15 days on the disabled list with lower back inflammation. It was his third stint on the DL this season.UP NEXTRangers: Martin Perez (7-7, 4.22 ERA) starts for Texas on Friday night in the opener of a three-game series in Houston. The Rangers are 9-1 against the Astros this season.Orioles: Baltimore starts a 10-game trip Friday night by facing former teammate Miguel Gonzalez (2-5, 4.06) and the Chicago White Sox. ' ' '