The Nittany Line

Paterno hospitalized for dehydration

2008-05-15T15:37:00.002-04:00

ESPN has the article here. No need to panic he's going to be fine.

Penn State coach Joe Paterno was taken to a hospital Thursday morning to be treated for apparent dehydration, a team spokesman said.
The 81-year-old coach was taken to Mount Nittany Medical Center by ambulance after feeling nauseated, said spokesman Guido D'Elia. Paterno has not been admitted to the hospital, but was undergoing tests Thursday afternoon, D'Elia
said.
"He's over there tapping his fingers, waiting to get out," D'Elia said Thursday afternoon.

Somewhere Ron Zook cringes

2008-05-15T07:04:00.001-04:00

"Proactive" is the word that can best describe the forward-thinking Big Ten when it comes to recruiting.

Big Ten Conference football coaches hope to spearhead a proposal that would add a two-week dead period each summer to the NCAA's recruiting calendar.
Introduced this week at the Big Ten's annual meetings of coaches and athletic directors, the proposal requires each school to set aside two weeks during the summer as a dead period, which prohibits in-person contact with recruits either on or off campus. The period would afford coaches, particularly assistants, a respite before training camp and the season.
"We've gone to a policy where three coaches have to be in the office at all times," Purdue coach Joe Tiller said Wednesday. "God forbid you're not there when you've got a pretty good prospect and his parents standing outside the door. A dead period means nobody's going to drift into your office.

I'm sure Nittany Lion coaches applaud such a move because they are down one coach at the office. Okay that was a backhanded comment, I admit it. In theory this sounds like a great idea but it gets a little sticky in the implementation.

Tiller said the proposal initially called for a month-long dead period but was scaled back to two weeks. Because of varying academic calendars, each school would determine its own dead period.

Different dead periods at varying times – you know in the sleazy world of recruiting something like this would be used against a school during their dead period. As soon as School A takes their dead period every blue chip recruit on their list would have their phones ringing off the hook... ok, phones aren't on hooks anymore but you get the idea, coaches would strike while the iron's hot (how many clichés can I fit in one sentence).

"I don't know if everybody will buy it or not," Tiller said. "If not, I suppose we could do something independently as a conference, but I think we're going to take the lead on this nationally."

Yeah, let's put ourselves behind as a conference just so we can spearhead this thing. It's not as if the Big Ten is by default already behind with our cold winters and less than sun-tanned women, let's take a two week break and let the SEC and (God forbid) Notre Dame snipe our recruits while our coaches lounge around on a beach somewhere. I'm all for balancing the work-life aspect of coaching because college coaches poor their lives into the sport but let's not put schools behind the eight ball in the cutthroat world of recruiting. Make it a mandatory two week period for everyone; hey it would give Ron Zook more time to work on his motivational speaking.

We know this: Rich Rod cracks under pressure

2008-05-14T06:48:00.000-04:00

So you're one of the hottest coaches in college football, you have one of the most storied programs in the country courting you like you're the hot cheerleader without a prom date and you use Alabama to leverage a new contract but for some reason a couple stuffed shirts can make you sign something you don't want to? That's what coach Dick Rod would have you believe.

Rich Rodriguez says West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin and three members of the university's board of governors pressured him into signing a new contract before the start of the 2007 season, even though it had a $4 million buyout clause he
didn't want.

Huh. Really? So how did they pressure you... Chinese water torture? Kidnap family members?

Rodriguez, who quit after seven seasons at the school, contends he was misled into signing by a variety of promises that were not kept.
Rodriguez said the board members told him last summer that the governor wanted the contract signed before the start of the football season, so he met with [incoming president] Garrison and Walker on Aug. 24.
"And that's the time when [Garrison] said he didn't believe in buyouts, and that he would reduce it anyway, once he took office," Rodriguez testified.

So an incoming board president says 'Hey, sign this $4 Million dollar buyout clause and don't worry, when I'm in office things will change' *wink wink*, right? Is that what we're supposed to believe? Ok, that's a plausible scenario, I don't believe it for a minute but it's possible... It was probably the first buyout clause you signed right?

Rodriguez first agreed to a damages clause in 2002, at the suggestion of agent Rick Davis. WVU would pay $2 million if it fired him, and he would pay WVU the same if he left before his contract expired.

Oh... soooo you're familiar with buyout clauses then. Well you can't argue that the $2 million was a bad deal right?

Under questioning, Rodriguez first said the $2 million buyout was reasonable. He then said it wasn't fair that he should have to pay WVU the same amount it would pay him.

Hmmm... really? Well I still might be able to believe Coach Rod because I'm SURE he didn't make the same mistake twice and sign a hefty clause like that with Michigan, right?

Rodriguez also acknowledged he has agreed to a $4 million damages clause at Michigan.

Oh. Well, then I'll just assume that Dick Rod is one of the worst financial planners, has no clue how to negotiate and was bargaining by himself without any representation right?

WVU says Rodriguez had a sports agent, lawyer and financial adviser throughout the process and knew what he was signing.

Yeah, when it looks like cow feces and smells like cow feces, it's probably bullshit. I'm an Engineer and I haven't done a great job negotiating my salary over the years but even I'm smart enough to know if it ain't on paper don't expect it to happen. I'd never sign something with the expectation of "promises to be kept". In the world of business verbal contracts are meaningless, and trusting an executive is career suicide. Michigan fans can defend Dick Rod all they want (and believe me the majority will) but he is slimy in every sense of the word, especially given the fact that he signed a contract with his current employer that has the same clause as the contract with his former employer that he now contends is unfair. Sure West Virginia comes off as the spurned lover in this whole ordeal but in the case of the $4 million buyout, Rodriguez appears very sleazy.

Blog Chips

2008-05-13T07:07:00.000-04:00

Hey, I haven't done one of these 'let everyone else do my work for me' posts in a while so here we go.

-It appears that Paterno may have decided on a starting quarterback.

Daryll Clark and Pat Devlin are the candidates, and the two seemed comparable at the Blue-White game. The coach doesn't expect to make a decision until the preseason, and Paterno hasn't ruled out an occasional platoon, but it's looking more likely as if Clark will get the initial nod.
"Obviously, people got him ahead of the pack, and I think it probably ought to be that way," Paterno said.

I've said in the past that I don't think Devlin has a snowball's chance in Hell at the starting quarterback position simply because Daryll Clark has waited patiently on the sideline and kept his nose clean and Paterno has always rewarded players in the past in similar situations. Plus JoePa, more times than not, will go with the upperclassman.

-Paterno's recruiting tactics: phone tag.

"My coaches go in, tell kids what life is all about at Penn State, and whether we have a good opportunity for them," Paterno said. "If one kid asks if coach Paterno is going to be there, they tell them to call me up.

Hmmm, I wonder why Penn State's recruiting classes have dropped off a bit.

-Speaking of recruiting, it appears that the Nittany Lions have gained some momentum in that department.

In less than 24 hours, Penn State landed verbal commitments from highly ranked cornerback Darrell Givens of Lackey High School in Indian Head, Md. and fast-rising free safety Stephen Obeng-Agyapong of John F. Kennedy High School in the Bronx, N.Y.
They are the fourth and fifth players to commit for this class. Among the recruits that preceded them was strong safety Malcolm Willis, a teammate of Givens at Lackey who also struck up a friendship with Obeng-Agyapong when they visited Penn State at the same time.

I've given up on following recruiting closely here at TNL simply because other guys get paid to do it. That and my esteemed colleagues do a much better job than I do, check out Mike's take here and RUTS here and here.

-Heather Dinich (that name should sound familiar to Penn State fans) of ESPN is reporting that ACC football coaches and athletic directors are looking at the possibility of adding a ninth conference game to the schedule and dropping one of the four nonconference opponents. Of course this isn't a popular idea among most coaches because that would mean at least half the teams would have one more loss and possibly distance themselves from getting their piece of the BCS cash cow. My reasons for mentioning this are twofold: 1) I wish the Big Ten would add a conference game and drop a noncon simply because most schools in the conference are scheduling road bumps so we might as well play another in-conference game so there are more 'quality' games on the schedule and 2) with the BCS's cash at the root of most decisions, don't look for college football to get more exciting, look for more cupcakes popping up on schedules than in Chuck Weis' kitchen.

That is all, now stop wasting valuable company time and get back to work.

Your Penguins moment of Zen

2008-05-12T07:13:00.000-04:00

You take a 2-0 series lead not by a goal from Evgeni Malkin or Sidney Crosby, no you get a third period game winning goal by 4^th line winger Maxine Talbot. Suck on that Philly.

Wrestling team getting a little thin

2008-05-12T07:12:00.001-04:00

So you just finished a surprising 3^rd in the nation and things are looking great for next year with all but two starters returning and then something like this happens.

The program announced Friday that three wrestlers, including sophomore 165- pounder Dave Rella and freshman 141-pounder Garrett Scott, have been dismissed from the program for violation of team rules and the standards of the program... Freshman 197-pounder Jared Platt, a key member of the 2007-08 recruiting class, was also dismissed from the team.
Specific reasons for the dismissals were not provided in an athletic department release. All three wrestlers were granted releases from their scholarships.
"This was a very tough decision for all of us," coach Troy Sunderland said in a statement. "But as this program continues to improve, each of our wrestlers must live up to the high standards of the program."

On the surface it looks really bad especially at 197 where Platt was touted as a future All-American skilled wrestler. Rella was probably going to transfer anyhow because wunderkind Quentin Wright was probably going to beat him out at 165 next season and he wouldn't be able to beat Erwin at 174. Scott has the ability to win multiple national championships but never understood the commitment it takes to wrestle at a university like Penn State where academics come first. Although there were no details given, rumor has it Platt's situation was similar to Scott's.

While this hurts the wrestling program especially after next season it's once again proof that the coaches adhere to the same principles that make Penn State the great program it is, student first and athlete second. With most of the major players gone from a once highly touted recruiting class a couple years ago, it's going to be imperative that the coaches land a good class this year.

Hi, I’m your neighbor and I hate you

2008-05-09T10:09:00.002-04:00

Just a reminder that tonight at 7:38 the puck drops to start the war of Pennsylvania between the Filthadelphia Flyers and the Pittsburgh Penguins with a trip to the Stanley Cup finals on the line. Will it be intense? Oh hell yeah.

There were 27 major penalties handed out in eight regular-season games between the Penguins and Philadelphia.
Sixteen misconducts.
And, oh yeah, 104 minors.

As the article suggests, don't expect that kind of play, most playoff games are not penalty packed because one bad one could cost you the game, but it will be rough from the start. Believe you me, saying the hitting will be hard is like saying Joe Paterno is a little old. I've been looking forward to this all week long. Go Pens!

Shipley is being watched

2008-05-08T07:27:00.001-04:00

A.Q. Shipley has been named to his third preseason watch list.

Penn State senior A.Q. Shipley has been named to the Watch List for the Rimington Trophy, presented to the nation's top center.
The pre-season recognition is Shipley's third thus far for the 2008 campaign. He previously was named to the Watch Lists for the Rotary Lombardi Award and Outland Trophy.

That's a lot of people keeping an eye on the anchor of Penn State's line. Not only will Shipley be looked at to take his game to the next level but A.Q. will have to be the vocal leader of the offense. Provided he can avoid the injury bug (God please), I think this will be Shipley's year to shine, especially with the people around him.

Scratch Al Golden off the list

2008-05-07T07:05:00.001-04:00

For those of you that believe Temple football coach Al Golden could take the reins after Joe Paterno retires in 10 or 15 years you might want to rethink that.

The NCAA's annual academic progress report was released Tuesday. It showed more than 700 teams fell short of the mandated cut score.
When a team does not improve, the punishments can become harsher with three consecutive scores under 900 leading to a postseason ban. A fourth consecutive offense would prevent them from competing at the Division I level.

Most names are from smaller schools like Florida International or Montana State-Bozeman but right in the thick of things is Al Golden's football team. Golden has been at Temple for three years and started off with a very young team (read: his guys) so it's obvious that Golden doesn't hold his players to the same academic scrutiny that Penn State would prefer. Without a doubt the next head coach at Penn State must carry on the tradition of excellence in the classroom, there's no wiggle room on that aspect of the job. While Penn State may have had their share of off-the-field incidents the last couple years Paterno hasn't let up on the teams academic requirements.

Editor's Note: I jumped on this waaayyy too early with little research and as it turns out am completely wrong about Golden. As RUTS points out from the Philadelphia Daily News

Since Al Golden took over as Temple's football coach in December 2005, there have been no eligibility issues. Still, the program again has been cited for academic failings that took place before his arrival on North Broad Street.
Yesterday, the NCAA announced the fourth-year Academic Progress Rates for all division I teams. And the Owls have lost four scholarships. The penalties last for 1 year, and there's every expectation that all four will be reinstated at that time.
Two years ago the Owls lost nine scholarships, for similar reasons. Twelve months later, they had every one back. The APR score of student-athletes recruited by Golden is 980, well above the minimum of 925.

There's also this from his bio:

With a commitment to community service and academics at the core of Golden's program, a multitude of individual honors were bestowed upon the Owls in 2006. Seven student-athletes were named to the 2006 Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Football team, providing Temple the most honorees of the 10 Delaware Valley institutions that sponsor football.

And I mistakenly gave him credit for an extra year, Golden's only been at Temple for two years. So yeah, forget what I said. Man, what was I drinking last night? Paint thinner?!?

PBR me so I can RIP

2008-05-05T13:16:00.002-04:00

I can't believe someone loves Pabst Blue Ribbon this much but hey, I give him bonus points for the creativity.

Bill Bramanti's favorite beer is Pabst Blue Ribbon. He loves it.
Really loves it.
So much so that he's already had his coffin specially made, and it's designed to look like a can of the trendy brew.

Now had that been a Yuengling lager can... well that's a different story.

Turnpike series

2008-05-05T07:05:00.000-04:00

Marian Hossa dispatched the New York Rangers in overtime yesterday and Philadelphia took care of Montreal Saturday setting up an all Pennsylvania Eastern Conference finals. Sure a trip to the Stanley Cup finals is at stake but there's so much more to this series. It gets down to the root of what PA sports is all about, it's Philly vs. Pittsburgh; neighbor vs. neighbor; brother vs. brother. While I'm a diehard Pens fan I openly rooted for Philly to make it to this point and my Flyers friends returned the favor and rooted for the Pens as if they were their own team. Now...

it....

is....

ON!

Even if you're not a hockey fan I highly suggest you watch this series, these two teams have developed a deep seeded hatred for one another. The regular season series was filled with fights and overall animosity, add the playoffs and... well... it's not for the faint of heart. Let me put it to you this way, there will be blood. If I don't end up in a fight with one of my Flyer friends I will be surprised. It's going to be a fun ride.

Go Pens!!

Penn State Volleyball: All Your Trophies Are Belong To Us

2008-05-03T22:10:00.003-04:00

The #1-ranked Men’s Volleyball team joined the Women as National Champs, defeating #2 Pepperdine 3-1, a NCAA sweep like this in the same academic year was previously only accomplished by Stanford. This marks the second Men's title in school history, the first being in 1994. The Nittany Lions finished the year with a record of 30-1, dropping a total 12 games in that time. Congratulations!

Possibly video to follow, in the meantime enjoy Penn State’s prior title here, the first won by a school outside of California.

Dick Butkus cares not for your charity

2008-05-02T07:16:00.000-04:00

The Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando, a nonprofit group which has given out the Butkus award for 23 years, has relinquished control back to the Butkus family. Butkus sued for control in 2007 and won a summary judgment in April after a yearlong legal battle. He said the club didn't raise enough money for charity and in April won a summary judgment.

Club officials said the cost to defend the lawsuit was no longer justifiable and the money could be better used to serve youth.
"We're glad it's over, but we're sad," club president Chip Landon said. "You hate to give up when you know you're in the right. But there comes a point when we really had to think about the kids who won the award the past 23 years. They're proud of that. We didn't want to see that go away."

Butkus' family will begin presenting the award in January 2009 in Chicago, where he grew up and played eight Pro Bowl seasons for the Bears.

I did a quick search of the intertubes and found this previous article.

Butkus's lawyer has said his client believes DACO has done a poor job raising money around the award and therefore hasn't been able to give money to charities that Butkus prefers, namely an anti-anabolic steroids group. Long-time DACO members, however, laughed when the read the lawsuit, knowing that Butkus tried to withdraw his 1987 consent in 1997 only to discover he could not without a court fight. Those members also believe Butkus cares less about the anti-steroid charity than about moving the awards presentation to Chicago and raising money for himself and his family.

If the Downtown Athletic Club wasn't raising enough charitable money, then fine everything's kosher but if this turns out to be a money making venture for the Butkus estate then that's a completely different animal. Neither side wanted this to go to court so it's safe to say that money may be at the root of this. If Butkus turns this into a cash cow for himself and his family, shame on him, especially if he's taking money away from a charity. Luckily the DACO (I like that acronym) will be able to still use his name in conjunction with other fundraisers.

A Very Small Fish Comments On That CostasNOW Thing

2008-04-30T23:44:00.004-04:00

I have been apart of The Nittany Line for less than a year, Galen was kind enough to invite me aboard last summer. I am still trying to find my voice, I’m not a traditionally trained writer, so I’m already years behind professionals and the growing pains are rather obvious, still I try. Welcome to our crappy blog, a crummy world of plot holes and spelling errors, and the traffic numbers to match. We’re here to entertain and maybe even occasionally enlighten. We’re not journalists, but to claim our voice is unsubstantiated is wrong. When Ron Bracken runs an article based upon a bullshit list of charges that’s been floating around on message boards and said article is then mentioned in a Stewart Mandel piece on Sports Illustrated, then what is the standard we are to go by?

I think Bob Costas had the best intentions, but yelling and screaming is not a proper discourse, cheers to Will Leitch for holding his own amidst the fire. The individual who yells the loudest is not simply declared the winner of an argument. Bissinger is an incredible writer. Please read his work whenever you get an opportunity, among my recommendations are the novel Friday Night Lights and an article he wrote for Vanity Fair entitled "Shattered Glass," the source from which one of my favorite movies sprouted. Ironically, it is the story of journalist being brought down by the internet, be it the online publication of Forbe’s Digital Tool. That is the possibility presented by a new medium. I am not W.C. Heinz and will never claim to be. You know who else is not W.C. Heinz? 99% of professional journalists, though they may claim otherwise. It is my hope in time I will become a better writer and do things I can only dream of now, in the meantime blogging gives me a voice on something that I love, Penn State, despite my lack of credentials.

Better and more eloquent opinions here, here, here, here, here.

The BCS is just fine thanks

2008-04-30T06:56:00.000-04:00

BCS caretakers are currently huddled in an oceanfront resort in Florida discussing any tweaks to make the system better. [extreme sarcasm on] As if you could make this perfect system better?!? [extreme sarcasm off] Up for discussion is the idea of a plus-one model where four teams would participate in a semifinal before the actual national championship. Now, we at TNL highly endorse anything that gets college football closer to a playoff to truly decide the national champion... like... on the field... you know... so it's actually won and not calculated by some computer. What a thought.

Unfortunately, standing in the way with crossed arms and a stern look is none other than our glorious commissioner Jim Delany.

The plus-one may not seem complicated. But the plan requires unanimous approval, and the Big Ten and Pac-10 have already made clear they oppose it. The other conferences have been noncommittal.
Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany said Monday that moving to a plus-one would equate to a playoff, and he sees no support for that option among the league's pesidents.

God, Jim's easy to love isn't he? But don't throw hate Jim's way it's not all his fault, or so he would have you believe.

"The perception that the Big Ten and Pac-10 are holding this back is not right," Delany said, after exiting a Tuesday morning meeting of conference commissioners and bowl and television representatives at an oceanfront hotel here. "We're seen as obstructionists when we did what we did to evolve the system. The calls for change are external. Ask others here how strongly they feel for a call for change. I don't see it."

"I think there are a lot of other people who like where they are, but they should say it," Delany said. "There are others in the room who like where we're at. There are no raised voices here. Everybody's mind is open for discussion."

Yes, I'm sure all the commissioners from the major conferences love the cash cow that you've created for them and don't want that aspect to change. While I could sit here and opine all day about the financial side of things the truth of the matter is this system has very little support among the people that actually support the schools: the fans. But don't let that get in the way, we're unimportant. [extreme sarcasm on] What's really at stake here is the student athletes. [extreme sarcasm off]

Swofford said league commissioners and athletic directors attending the BCS meetings have raised specific concerns about the plus-one model. The logistical difficulties of getting a team from a potential semifinal game at Dolphin Stadium in Miami to a championship game in Glendale, Ariz., seven days later, is among the concerns. Swofford said having a two-week period between the semifinals and BCS title game, like the NFL does with the conference championship games and Super Bowl, probably isn't plausible because university presidents have adamantly opposed extending college football's postseason beyond he first week of January.
"You run into the problem of taking it too deeply into second semester, which the presidential level says is unacceptable," Swofford said.

Yes, getting a WHOLE team from point A to point B WOULD prove extremely difficult because it's so hard to find a plane these days. We certainly wouldn't want to run into the second semester because... ah... well... I have no idea but it's just bad, take our word for it. As silly as that is the next statement is just absurd on new levels.

"The BCS has had controversy, but it's done some things well," Delany said. "I think everybody would have to concede it has done some things well. Even when the coaches and sportswriters were determining the national champion, there was controversy."
Delany said college football's rising popularity is proof the current BCS format works.

First and foremost I concede nothing, it's a heaping pile of smelly dog shit that is worse than the previous method and solves nothing. The only thing it's accomplished is to create a revenue stream for the major conferences and their members while all but eliminating small schools from getting their piece of the pie. It has done a fantastic job at that but I wouldn't call that a good thing. Lastly, Delany must have smoked some good shit in Florida if he thinks his last statement isn't retarded in every sense of the word. The rising popularity is proof that the BCS is liked by the fans?!? By that logic one could conclude that the explosion of AIDS in Africa is proof people actually like the disease. Sorry, Jim I don't believe you when you say there isn't voice for change and I certainly don't believe you when you say the BCS is in good standing. It sucks and the people that suffer the most are the fans. Ask administrators from Georgia and USC what they think of the system. Hell, ask coach Paterno what he thinks of the system, he'll be happy to tell you to remove the C from the BCS, he's said so in the past. Until there's something that resembles a playoff I'll forever wave my flag.

The New Recruiting Pitch

2008-04-29T00:53:00.003-04:00

Viral marketing is all the rage, Penn State gets in the game targeting tweenage sisters of recruits with the Jonas Brothers. Who says Joe can't keep up with the times?

If you've got kids, they could explain this better than I ever could.

Need to feel better about yourself after watching that? Alright, cleanse yourself as Penn State apparel makes an appearance on Deadliest Catch.

Yeah, I know it’s not King Crab, but Opilio season ain’t too shabby.

We're All In Agreement, The Biggest Joke Of The Draft Was...

2008-04-28T12:16:00.005-04:00

J Leman went undrafted!?! Connor falling to the third round was bad, but this is unforgivable. Just so we all know, it's now official the NFL hates America.

How can you resist this face? America hates you right back, NFL.

I’m not a quarterback coach but I play one on Saturdays

2008-04-28T07:11:00.000-04:00

I'm not even going to get into the aftermath of Justin King and Dan Connor slipping hopelessly down draft boards of NFL teams, it's really disheartening especially for Connor who deserves better. Let's just say that Carolina got themselves the bargain of the draft. However I would like to point out that Anthony Morelli signed a free agent contract with Arizona as a "project" player. Our good friend RUTS has dug up this article containing this quote about Morelli from former pro scout Tom Marino who has 30 plus years in the league.

"He has all the tools you look for in a QB; an athletic body, very strong throwing arm and far better movement then I had expected, but is acutely under coached and unprepared for the job of being a professional QB."

"Acutely under coached and unprepared" is not exactly a glowing review of the abilities (or lack thereof) of your quarterbacks coach and it's coming from somebody that knows what he's talking about. Joe can shield Jay from criticism from the media all he wants but when someone with decades of experience evaluating talent for the NFL says he can't coach it's pretty damning testimony. That comment can't be dispensed with a wave of the hand and a "you don't know what you're talking about" retort from Joe because he does know what he's talking about.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery

2008-04-25T17:03:00.002-04:00

As I've mentioned in the past, I double as a Pittsburgh Penguins fan in addition to my insane love of Penn State (yes, it's good to be a Pens fan once again). Tonight the Pens are calling out fans to do something that… well… we PSU fans know a little something about.

Sidney Crosby and the rest of the Pittsburgh Penguins have called for a white out Friday night.
All fans in attendance at Mellon Arena when the Penguins welcome the Rangers at 7 p.m. will receive a white T-shirt. The fans are asked to wear the shirts to create a "white out" effect at Mellon Arena.

Curious. Wonder where they got that idea? *raising right eyebrow in a condescending manner* By the way, in hockey it's not a "white out" it's a "white owwt," or however you spell the Canadian pronunciation of 'out'. In any event, go Pens! And just for the record, I'm rooting like Hell for the Flyers to make it to the Conference finals so we can have an all Pennsylvania finals.

Big Ten Roundtable: Spring Wrap

2008-04-25T12:55:00.003-04:00

Our good friend Mike over at Black Shoe Diaries put these questions together. Galen’s out doing important work (i.e. drinking), so I’ll take this bull by the horns.

I love spring. Flowers blooming. Birds chirping. Bones breaking. ACL’s tearing. List the injuries your team sustained and describe their impact on 2008.
Our injury report this spring would read as such:
Sean Lee – knee (gone for the year)
A.J. Wallace – grill (out for the Blue/White game)
Derek Moye – hamstring (out for the Blue/White game)

Outside of Lee, nothing really to get bent out of shape about, however, Lee is a huge player to lose. The team is deep at linebacker, but leadership in the unit will take a hit on the field. Fortunately, Lee will continue to contribute as a team captain, albeit on the sidelines as a “coach.”

Wallace and Moye didn’t sustain anything that should keep them off the field in the fall. I hope Wallace learned an important lesson and also firmly believe he should upgrade his teeth to something more like this:

And YOU can count, on ME, waiting for YOU in the parking lot.

Break down the major position battles going on with your offense.
Every position on offense has some sort of battle going on. At quarterback, Darryl Clark and Pat Devlin are neck-and-neck for the starter position. Both should see significant time early in the season, regardless of the outcome.

Evan Royster, Stephfon Green and Brandon Beachum should all be seeing the field as well, but Royster is sure to start the season, barring an injury.

At receiver, the starters are locked in, but there’s interest as to who will be next in line. Chris Bell is gone and that leaves Derek Moye, Brett Brackett, Graham Zug, Kevin Cousins and James MacDonald fighting it out on the depth chart.

Tight end is a race between Mickey Shuler and Andrew Szczerba right now, but could get more complicated if Andrew Quarless can get himself back on the team and out of Joe’s doghouse.

Joe was not happy with some of the offensive line performance in the Blue/White game, which may have had something to do with the defensive line they were running against. Still, there could be some shuffling around here.

You knew this was coming. Break down the major position battles on defense.
The defensive line is deep and talented, but questions remain at linebacker and in the secondary. Honestly, there are so many good linebackers that any way the results pan out I would be happy. With the loss of Lee, I’m picturing the linebackers of this year being used in the way our defensive line worked last year. Lots of rotation and a lot of playing time for the young guys, a philosophy of keep fresh bodies out there.

Secondary, is the area of most questions for this team heading into the fall. There is potential for the unit to be good and will probably require Knowledge Timmons rejoining the team and potentially significant contributions by true freshman D’Anton Lynn to shore up the depth.

Who are the unknown kids on your team that will be household names come December?
Completely unknown? On offense, Green with the possibility of Szczerba and one of the other receivers besides the usual three (Derrick Williams, Deon Butler and Jordan Norwood). On defense, Chris Colasaniti’s name is getting thrown around a lot.

Less known? On offense, either or both of the quarterbacks could blow up. On defense, the line has a lot of guys that might become big names.

How would you describe the general mood around your program? Are you gearing up the tailgate party for a conference title run or do you get the impression there are going to be a lot of empty seats in your stadium this year?
Schizophrenic – some people think this could be a “magical” year with BCS potential, while others think this team is circling the drain. Either way, don’t expect empty seats, it might be Paterno’s last year and people don’t want to miss that, though I doubt he’s gone when it’s all said and done.

*Update - Quarless and Timmons are back on the team, along with Navarro Bowman and Chris Baker (H/T: NittanyWhiteOut)

Gone Drinkin’

2008-04-25T09:30:00.002-04:00

Sorry about the lack of posts lately but I'm on a mini vacation. What's a mini vacation you ask, well it's a lot less work and a lot more drinking. Actually I took Thursday and Friday off to enjoy the beautiful spring weather here in dear old central PA.

Mike from BSD has summoned a Big Ten bloggers Roundtable, hopefully I'll get to that by the end of the day… or tomorrow… or next week… whenever this hangover lifts and I'm not drunk. Yeah, next week some time.

Take that Ohio State fans!

2008-04-22T12:51:00.004-04:00

You think you know destructive behavior, think again.

At least three police cars were set on fire in downtown Montreal on Monday night after the Canadiens beat the Boston Bruins in Game 7 of their playoff series.
Cable news channel LCN caught images of the destructive celebration from a camera in a helicopter. People could be seen smashing a police car before it was set ablaze.

You have to be a serious badass to torch police cars.

For Once Your Primary Vote Matters... Unless You’re Republican

2008-04-22T00:04:00.003-04:00

This is a public service announcement for those in Pennsylvania to get out and vote. Shine on you crazy diamond, Ron Paul (on a "cross of gold" of course).

Yay, democracy in action! (care of The Onion)

Blue-White Redux

2008-04-21T07:16:00.000-04:00

So there you have it all the questions are answered. Ok, so not really. Some 73,000 blue and white clad fans made the trip to a sun-drenched Beaver Stadium Saturday and were rewarded with football. It was a glorified scrimmage with no kickoffs or punt returns but it was football. Of course I made the trip and got in some spring tailgating (I was at mid-season form I might add) and here are some of my drunken random thoughts from the game.

I couldn't tell you which quarterback is better. When going against the second team defense Daryll Clark looked fine but against the starters he ran into a lot of trouble. Devlin threw a beautiful pass to tight end Andrew Szczerba, one that sailed perfectly over the outstretched arms of the trailing linebackers and just in front of the secondary. It's a tough call at this point and I hope when the fall rolls around Devlin will get a fair shot but I doubt it.

Speaking of Andrew Szczerba, when did the coaches look at the lineup and realize Penn State actually has a tight end on the roster. Is that what Spread HD means? Where was that all of last season. Szczerba looked good in the pass catching department so I think the loss of a certain unnamed tight end won't be that big of a deal come September.

Let the Stephfon Green overhype begin now. I was saying to my fellow tailgaters before the game that I hoped Green would take the opening pitch and run 80 yards for a touchdown just so I could read all the hype on the message boards and local papers. Well that didn't happen... it was only 57 yards, but I got my wish. I am officially NOT on the Stephfon Green bandwagon yet. Yes the kid is lightning fast but speed does not make a good running back, vision does and I was not impressed with Green's. When the defense did their job and kept him contained he looked lost.

Someone that did impress me was true freshman Brandon Beachum. Beachum set up his blocks really well, was patient waiting for them to develop and made some great cuts. For a true freshman this kid looks great.

Clark's touchdown toss to Derrick Williams was unimpressive on so many levels. First it was against the second string defense and Williams was wide open from the get-go and Clark held the ball a second too long. More importantly Williams was WIDE open, not the 'I got a step on the corner' wide open but the 'did they forget to cover me' wide open. We should all be sacrificing a goat monthly to the football Gods so that Penn State doesn't have any injuries in the secondary.

Offensive line good. Defensive line great. Depth on the defensive line is fine but the offensive line better not lose anyone, especially at tackle. 'nuff said.

Basically I walked out of Beaver Stadium worried. I realize that I might be overly pessimistic at this point but I couldn't help having a small amount of anxiety for this team. Sean Lee's injury was huge and I'm just wondering where the leadership is going to come from. I'm also worried that Devlin's talents are going to rot on the sideline for the next two seasons and that would be a great injustice because I'm impressed with him.

Some of the extracurricular activities from Saturday.

Dave Jones is an ass of epic proportion but in this instance in his fight with Paterno in the press conference he's definitely 100% correct. Someone needs to get it through to Paterno that working from home and taking one recruiting visit per year is not the expectations of a division I head coach specifically at a major university like Penn State. Sorry, I love the man but it's time for him to realize that if he can't go on recruiting visits and be with the team as much as his assistant coaches then it might be time to hang it up. I hate agreeing with Jones but even ESPN picked up on this story. Jones is right and I think I just threw up a little in my mouth a little while typing that.

Walking around the parking lots pushing for Barack Obama were some notable Penn Staters. I saw Michael Robinson, Tamba Hali and none other than Jay Paterno himself in the flesh. My friend tried to hit Jay in the back of the head with a brick but missed. Damn his aim!

They introduced former players at various times during the game. Anthony Morelli got booed, loudly. I couldn't help but laugh.

I wanted badly to sit in the upper deck in the last row just for the heck of it but they had it gated off, I was disappointed. They had a rather... how should I put this... not athletic woman guarding the gate to get to the upper deck and about half way through the first quarter two kids jumped the gate and ran away from her and made it up. At halftime a thin dude was guarding the gate. I'm just sayin'

73,000 people make for long carnival ride lines especially free carnival rides.

Feel free to stop by my good friends and get their thoughts on the game.

Black Shoe Diaries

Run Up The Score

BREAKING NEWS - Scott Charges Dropped

2008-04-18T16:17:00.009-04:00

Just don't expect it to run on ESPN or anywhere that decided to trumpet the charges. Apparently, evidence from the victim's past is "irrelevant" according to Centre County DA. Evidence such as similar charges that resulted in an acquittal weren't pertinent to the matter. I understand that they need to file the motion, but a modus operandi is completely relevant and to act otherwise is obtuse. It's a shame that his time at Penn State had to end this way. Unfortunately, the title of "rapist" will follow him despite the fact that charges were dropped.

Read it here. here. here. See the court document here.

*Update* ESPN does have the story up on it's front page, not buried on the college football page.