It’s all about the noise, and it’s been a noisy week for Penn State football.
Everyone thinks it’s about the wins and losses, or even the money. But, honestly, it’s the noise — and everyone has a love-hate relationship with the noise.
Let’s start with fans and the media. They love the noise. In fact, they make the noise. Accolades. Hype. Preseason praise. Postgame celebrations. Raucous stadiums. Social media shoutouts. It’s all good stuff.
Until it’s not.
Drop a couple games and it’s anger, complaints, criticism, piling on and vitriol.
Now, let’s look at James Franklin, chief noisemaker for the Penn State football program. He loves the noise as well. And he loves making it.
From 1-0, 1-0, 1-0 to helicopter arrivals for high school recruiting trips, and from building alignment for his football program at the university to building a staff, when it works, it works. It’s all good stuff.
Until it’s not.
Drop a couple of games and it’s context, excuses, frustration and second-guessing. That’s when the acknowledgments (“I get it” and “I understand”) start to mix with the part where he grades what the media asks (“Fair question”).
It’s all about the noise.
Unfortunately for Franklin, the thing he does worst is the thing that causes the most problems for him and his program. Even while he talks the talk, he cannot walk the walk.
He simply cannot ignore the noise.
Maybe because he deserves accolades for what he’s done at Penn State and thinks he does not get enough credit or respect, he’s always listening. From the start, he’s said he consumes all the media attention heaped on his team. He knows what’s being said.
It seems like he should spend a little less time on that — and on responding to hecklers at spring games, or anyplace else really.
Ignore the noise? He embraces it.
So, when things start to go sideways, as they have the past couple of weeks, the noise propels things along. And, because people love the noise, more of them are watching.
Franklin’s weekly news conference, which draws a couple hundred viewers on YouTube each Monday, looked like a scoreboard in a lopsided football game this week. (Not that Penn State fans have seen one of those lately.)
Still, the numbers just started scrolling up. There were nearly 100 viewers waiting when the session started at noon. It was 621 at 12:14, 681 three minutes later. Then it was 703 at 12:26 and 731 a minute later.
People love the noise, by any measure.
Maybe there will be too much noise, and the money really will start to matter.
Maybe some positive noise can settle things a little bit.
It’ll be interesting to watch — all because of the love-hate thing with noise.
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