In the recent past, Penn Staters haven't exactly lit it up in the NFL, but players like Paul Posluszny have given NFL teams hope, so Penn Staters continue to get picked.
Coming as no shock to anyone, Aaron Maybin was the first Penn Stater off the board, going to Buffalo at No. 11, joining Posluszny on the Bills' defense. Maybin was the lone Penn Stater picked in the first round, and again, that was no shock to anyone. Maybin had a tremendous season last year, and he had to come out when he did. His stock was never going to be higher, and he joins a defense in Buffalo that does have some talent. Hopefully Maybin can continue to harass quarterbacks at the next level.
The next Nittany Lion to go was the man, Derrick Williams, who, ironically, will remain a Lion. Detroit took D-Will in the 3rd round at 82, and as weird as this is going to sound, this a good thing for Derrick Williams.
Think about it: The Lions just got their franchise quarterback in Matthew Stafford, already have the freak of nature that is Calvin Johnson, drafted Brandon Pettigrew as well, and now Derrick Williams can come in as a threat either out of the backfield or lining up next to or opposite Calvin Johnson. With Pettigrew and Johnson getting a ton of attention, D-Will should get plenty of opportunities in the not-so-distant future to use his play-making ability. And of course, you have to figure he'll be a factor in the return game.
After D-Will, Deon Butler also went in the third round, as Seattle plucked him up at 91 to essentially become the next Bobby Engram. If Deon can do that, he certainly will have a very successful career. Given the fact that he has great hands, the ability to stretch the field and is a pretty decent route-runner, I think Butler will become a very reliable receiver in Seattle.
The final two Penn Staters drafted were both from the offensive line: Rich Ohrnberger went 123 in the fourth round to New England, and A.Q. Shipley landed with the Steelers at 226 in the 7th. Both players had incredible years at Penn State last season, and I'm inclined to believe they'll both be in the league for a while, most likely as backups, but you never know.
Of course, the biggest disappointment for Penn Staters at the draft goes to Maurice Evans.
In 2007, Maurice Evans was without question the best defensive lineman at Penn State, and arguably the best d-lineman in the Big 10. He was incredible. But in the offseason, he got busted with marijuana in his apartment, was suspended to start the season, and never really got back into it. With Aaron Maybin taking off, Evans struggled and had a dismal year by all accounts. When he decided to enter the draft, it really made me wonder if he was still getting high routinely.
I mean, the decision to enter the draft when his stock was at all-time low, you have to be high to do that. He could have come back to school, recaptured his 2007 form and become a first or second round pick. Instead, he went undrafted this weekend. I think he'll probably make a team, but he cost himself millions upon millions of dollars. Maurice Evans is a moron, plain and simple.
Other notables that didn't get drafted are Gerald Cadogan and Jordan Norwood. Cadogan has the size to play at the NFL level, but he is slow and really has trouble with speed guys, so it's not shocking he was passed over. Norwood is a reliable receiver and an excellent route runner, but he is just too small for the NFL. That's not to say he can't latch on somewhere. After all, Greg Lewis is in the NFL. It would be foolish to draft the kid though. Hopefully he can find a team to give him a shot.
Oh, and if you go to NFL.com's Penn State draft page, you'll notice Lydell Sargeant listed. He wasn't drafted because, well, he isn't very good. He was a serviceable college player, but there isn't a receiver in the NFL he can cover, and 5'9" 190 isn't doing him any favors.
-Anthony Scirrotto and Gerald Cadogan to the Panthers.
Of those, I would guess that Norwood and Evans will definitely make some team somewhere. The rest, I'm not too sure about. Rubin and Scirrotto don't deserve to be anywhere near the NFL, Gaines was just an average player in college, and Cadogan may latch on as a backup somewhere, but maybe not.
This year, the Rockets became one of my favorite teams in the NBA because they signed Brent Barry, got Ron Artest and, of course, had Dikembe Mutombo.
When the Sixers first traded Theo Ratliff for Dikembe Mutombo in 2001, I was devastated, angry and upset. Not because I had any problems with Dikembe, in fact, quite the contrary, after all, his pure joy when his 8th-seeded Nuggets toppled Shawn Kemp, Gary Payton and the top-seeded Sonics was just an awesome sight, but I was/am a HUGE Theo Ratliff fan. But it turns out, the trade was brilliant, as Mutombo helped lead the Sixers to the NBA Finals with his incredible defense and tremendous rebounding, and the big guy really grew on me. He really, truly did.
Dikembe Mutombo is the best defensive center I've ever seen play, and by all accounts, he is the nicest, funniest guy in the NBA. And he truly has his priorities straight, helping out his impoverished homeland and doing good deeds all over the place. Sure, I remember in 2002 when every time he touched the ball in the Sixers-Celtics first-round playoff series the entire Wachovia Center let out a collective, "NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" because of his clunky hands and awkward offense, but I also remember a warrior and a great teammate. I'm going to miss Dikembe and all his hilarious antics, Cookie Monster voice and incredible defense. All the best to you, Dikembe. Now on to the links …
-Go to TrueHoop and read everything, especially the awesome coverage of Dikembe's retirement here.
Back in the day, somewhere around 7th, 8th, 9th grade, my friends and I used to have these ongoing jokes about Vinny Testaverde, Yancey Thigpen and yes, Chauncey Billups where we'd make these weird hand motions when referencing them for no apparent reason. I'm not sure why we did it, why it involved those three guys or exactly how it started, but we were pretty committed to it. Clearly, my friends and I were weird kids.
-Jeremy Tyler, considered the best high school big man in the country, is leaving HIGH SCHOOL early to play professionally overseas.
Some of the details:
Tyler told the Times that he's making the move because he's too focused on getting better at basketball to spend time hitting the books, adding that "people look to college for more off-the-court stuff versus being in the gym and getting better."
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The 17-year-old Tyler left San Diego High School before finishing his junior year, but he says he'll try to get his diploma by taking classes online. He also says he's ready to spend two years in Spain before returning in June of 2011 for the NBA draft.
Tyler told the Times of his European excursion, "It will help me get better and grow up."
First Brandon Jennings, now Tyler. This, my friends, is awesome. I certainly don't want a lot of players to go overseas, preventing me from watching the future players of the NBA before they get there, but leaving high school, and the books, behind to get paid, that's freakin great. I wish I could have done something like that. School is for fools kids. I would know, I graduated from college in just four short years and now get paid dick to work for the man. When I grow up, I want to be just like Jeremy Tyler.
-A first-round exit is not good enough, and neither is the status quo:
Fans focus on results and look for reasons for those results. The easy targets when a hockey team disappoints are the goaltender and the head coach.
Marty Biron has played well in this series. He has not won a game by himself, as Fleury did Tuesday or as Biron did a couple of times in last year's playoffs. But it would be a stretch to blame Biron, a soon-to-be free agent, for what has happened in this series.
Stevens is a tougher call. The Flyers were stunningly flat in Game 1. That is the players' fault, but responsibility for a performance like that tends to fall on the coach. And then there is the simple truth that coaches are not exactly permanent fixtures in the NHL.
Look at the Penguins. They won their series against the Flyers last year, advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals, and then replaced their head coach in the middle of this season. It is an unforgiving business, but there's little reason to believe changing coaches would accomplish anything.
The Flyers are a good team, but the results say they are not as good as Pittsburgh. That was true last spring, and it appears to be just as true this spring.
Sometime late Saturday afternoon or early evening, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell will walk to the podium at Radio City Music Hall and announce that a Penn State defensive end has been selected in the first round of the draft.
Eight months ago, most people figured that defensive end would be Maurice Evans. He was coming off an outstanding sophomore season in which he registered 12 1/2 sacks and 21 1/2 tackles for losses and forced five fumbles. He was All-Big Ten. The world was his oyster.
Then, last September, everything went to hell. Police were called to a noisy party at a State College apartment shared by Evans and teammate Abe Koroma. The cops found marijuana in the bedrooms of both players.
…
It's perfectly understandable why Maybin decided to pass on his final year of eligibility and declare for the draft. Evans' decision to do the same, though, is a little bit more mystifying.
…
His position coach - Lions defensive-line coach Larry Johnson - basically told Evans that he should stay in school for 1 more year. He advised him to return to Happy Valley, put up the kind of numbers he put up as a sophomore, and improve his draft stock.
Basically, if Evans' marijuana incident wasn't proof enough of how stupid he is, his decision to go pro certainly drove that point home. The guy is an idiot, and it pains me to write that because Mo Evans is one of my favorite players from Penn State. He was an absolute beast in 2007, and if he came back this year, he'd be the best player on the defensive line and with a bounceback season like 2007, he would have vaulted to the upper half of the draft. Now he's going to be a late-round pick with no guarantees. What a moron.
-The Yankees, despite a bevy of empty seats down low, are already planning to raise ticket prices next year. Brilliant. Simply brilliant.
That's a good idea, because, uh, Scottie is not ready for the NBA at all. He should come back to Villanova, work on his consistency and try to turn himself into a first-round draft pick, because he sure as shit isn't a first-rounder this year.
For the record, if you haven't been watching the NHL playoffs beyond just the Flyers-Penguins series, you're missing out. Typically this time of year I spend much more time watching the NBA playoffs, but this year, I've been watching more hockey than ever, and it's awesome. Last night's Chicago-Calgary game was incredible, and the end of the Rangers-Caps game was epic. Watching Alex Ovechkin is one of the most incredible things in the world, even when his team loses. His goal last night was sick:
He shoots the puck so hard that it's nearly impossible to even see. And the most impressive thing is how deadly accurate he is. The guy barely ever misses the net. Makes me even more disgusted with how many times the Flyers do miss the cage. But Ovechkin, even in all his dominate glory in the third period, couldn't best Henrik Lundqvist, who was incredible.
Anyway, the Flyers will try to stave off elimination in Pittsburgh tonight. This has the potential to be the worse thing ever. The Pens are up 3-1, the Rangers are up 3-1, the Devils are tied 2-2, and Boston already swept. If the Devils win, and with the Rangers and Pens all but wrapping things up, the remaining teams in the Eastern Conference playoffs would go like this: Pittsburgh, New York, Boston and New Jersey. There is nothing that could possibly be worse than that. I mean, I'd be forced to root for a team from Boston to represent the East, and God knows I don't want to do that. It would be a lot easier if the Flyers decided to just do the impossible and win three straight already.
Thanks to the early-season suspension to Maurice Evans, Maybin got an opportunity to play this year and made the most of it. The guy had a tremendous season, wreaking havoc all year long. It would have been foolish for him to come back. The truth is, all Maybin could possibly do is hurt his draft status if he came back because, let's face it, he'd be hard-pressed to have the same kind of year next season. He's incredibly undersized for the NFL, and currently, he only has one real move—his speed rush—as Arkansas Fred just called to tell me when he received a text from Lavar's Love Child that Maybin was going pro.
It certainly will be a loss for the Lions, but it's something to be expected. Here's hoping that Maurice Evans, Navorro Bowman and Jared Odrick all come back … and Larry Johnson too. Evans should come back to rebound from the down year and off the field issues and regain his status as one of the nation's elite defensive ends. Bowman, when paired with a healthy Sean Lee, has a chance to be in the Butkus Award talk, enhancing his profile and draft status, and Odrick could use another year to truly become a beast.
I wish Maybin the best of luck. I just don't want the Eagles to draft him. They need another undersized defensive end or out of position linebacker like I need a hole in the head.
Honestly, what more could you ask for out of a weekend? Penn State absolutely crushed Michigan in the second half on Saturday to improve to 8-0, and the Rays and Red Sox went all the way to 7 games, with the young Tampa Bay squad eventually coming out victorious to meet the Phillies in the World Series.
Friday night truly made me miss Penn State more than any other time I've been there this year. Why? Because once we entered The Phyrst, I remembered just how cheap the drinks in State College are. Three beers, $5. Two pitchers, $10. Awesome.
The trip out to Penn State was pretty good as well … once we got out of the clusterfuck that is the Schuylkill Expressway. From there it was smooth sailing, and we managed to grab a few drinks right outside town, head on over to the bar and get pretty, pretty drunk. Also, there's now a Five Guys Burgers on College Ave. where the Wendy's used to be. Those are some pretty good burgers.
Anyway, Saturday morning came, and for the first time all season, it was actually football weather. The air was brisk. The sun was shining. Fall had officially arrived. After an awesome tailgate with more food than you can image, it was time to finally destroy Michigan.
Except things didn't exactly go according to plan. The Nittany Lions received the opening kickoff, and on the first play, A.Q. Shipley and Daryll Clark had a little problem. In the shotgun, Clark either didn't expect the snap or Shipley simply soared it over his head. Either way, it was a fumble that Penn State recovered for a loss of 16. Great start.
After a three and out, Michigan got the ball on its own 14 and marched right down the field. Michigan. Like, 2-4 shitty Michigan. Brandon Minor did most of the damage, steamrolling Penn State players, especially abusing Anthony Scirrotto. Needless to say, I was pissed.
Then things got worse. On the next possession, Clark fumbled again, and this time Michigan recovered. They drove down the field again and put up a field goal. Less than 12 minutes in, Penn State was down 10-0. They did answer with a 44-yard touchdown run by Evan Royster, the only Penn State player that looked like he gave a damn early on.
But Michigan came right back as Steven fucking Threet was giving Penn State fits and Brandon Minor powered in for his second touchdown. It was horrible.
I was absolutely killing Penn State, Tom Bradley and losing my mind. I was yelling at Arkansas Fred, telling him I was canceling my season tickets for next year if they lost the game, which seemed like a real possibility. I mean, the No. 3 team in the country was losing to a 2-4 Michigan squad—the worst Michigan team ever. I was livid. Josh Hull, Tyrell Sales, Mark Rubin and Scirrotto were all too slow and too weak to deal with this stinking spread offense.
Bradley had to get three corners in the game, even though he refused, and he needed to wake the fuck up and get Maurice Evans in the game more. Oh yeah, and the offense needed to get its head out of its ass.
Well, it did. Clark hit Jordan Norwood—who had a horrible game up until that point with two key drops—with 23 seconds left to bring the score to 17-14 at half. I felt a little better, but I was still pissed they were losing to a terrible team. I mean, Notre Dame kicked the shit out of Michigan. Dumb.
But then, then, the second half happened. Finally, Penn State looked like a team capable of making a serious run at the National Championship. The defense stepped it up big time. With Scirrotto out of the game with a concussion (thanks to Minor), the Lions brought it Drew Astorino and started playing three corners a lot more, with A.J. Wallace, Tony Davis and Lydell Sargeant manning the field. And Bradley started playing Mo Evans a lot more. And he pulled Josh Hull and Tyrell Sales for most of the second half, opting instead to keep in Navorro Bowman, paired with redshirt freshman Mike Mauti for most of the second half. And Mauti actually played really well.
With those great adjustments by Bradley, the Penn State defense dominated. And the offense followed suit. They tied the game on their first possession, and then, Jared Odrick forced a safety with a little help from Mo Evans. At that moment, the game was essentially over.
From there, Penn State steamrolled the Wolverines, extracting 11 years of frustration on Rich Rod's Michigan squad. Evan Royster continued to be the quietest best back in the nation, rushing for 174 yards on 18 carries. Daryll Clark remembered Deon Butler was all sorts of good, and connected with him 8 times for 105 yards.
And on defense, the Lions were phenomenal in the second half. They gave up no points at all, and forced a fumble thanks to Aaron Maybin, who has had himself a tremendous season thus far.
And Stephfon added insult to injury with an 80-yard screen pass touchdown. It was glorious.
Now all that stands in Penn State's way of a trip to the BCS title game is a visit to Columbus to take on the Buckeyes next week. Needless to say, it is huge.
Dear Florida Marlins, Guys, I know you have nothing to play for, but for the love of God, just win. I hate the Mets. You hate the Mets. Go out there and kick the shit out of them. You guys are young, talented, and have six months off after Sunday. All I'm asking is that you go out there and give the Mets hell. Also, please throw a fastball at Jose Reyes' face. If you want to throw at David Wright's wrist and break it, you can do that.
Thank you, Every Phillies fan alive.
For a team facing one of the worst teams in baseball with a one game lead and three games left, I do not feel very good right now. I try not to be a pessimist(Ed note: Really?), but dang it, I'm nervous. Maybe it's because the Phillies have made the postseason so few times in my lifetime so I'm not used to the Phillies playing important games, but I'm downright nervous right now. With their offense, there should be no question that they could win, but who knows what starting pitching staff will show up? I don't want the wild card either for the Phillies. I want the NL EAST and I want to tell every New York Mets fan in this area to shut the fuck up again you dumb, arrogant motherfuckers. This is it Phillies. Don't get scared now. You have your entire season in your hands. Just fucking beat the Nationals and you are the NL EAST champions again. If they make the playoffs, they will face either the Dodgers or Brewers. Two teams you just swept. Things could not look any better for you. Yet somehow I'm still nervous.
Also, in University Park, Penn State has a chance to show the entire country that their offense is the real deal. A night game in Beaver Stadium, with an entire stadium white out, they face the Fighting Illini. (I think White outs should be meant for student sections only. If you are alumni and want to act like a student, try standing on your feet the whole game and screaming your lungs out while the Nittany Lions are on defense.) A huge win over Illinois will put fear into the hearts of the entire Big 10. This is a top 25 ranked team and a team that beat them last year.(That was Anthony Morelli's fault by the way. The guy decided to throw 4 INTs in the last 18 minutes of that game.) The stadium should be electric and with Mo Evans back, the d-line should get much needed help.
Also, Juice Williams does not scare anyone. I've seen Juice Williams play before and let's just say I'm not impressed. Complete a few more passes and we'll talk. This should be a 28 point win. Anything less and I'm punching someone on College Ave after the game.
If my deduction skills are correct, Penn State is the best team in the country. Hear me out. USC was No. 1 in the nation heading into last night's game at Oregon State. Oregon State beat USC 27-21. Penn State plowed the Beavers (see what I did there?) 45-14, and truthfully, it wasn't even that close. So naturally, Penn State should be No. 1 in the country, at least if they take care of business at home against Illinois tomorrow, right?
Obviously, I know that's not how college football works. The Nittany Lions, no matter what they do on Saturday, have no shot at vaulting 11 spots to No. 1. But we may have learned an awful lot about the 12th ranked Lions in USC's loss at Oregon State. The once invincible Trojans have, for the second straight year, lost to a losing team (at the time) on the road in the Pac-10. It's becoming a habit for Pete Carroll's boys.
But make no mistake about it, Oregon State flat-out beat USC. The Beavers didn't have this game handed to them. They took it. Offensively, Jacquizz Rodgers gashed the vaunted USC defense all by himself, gaining 186 yards and scoring twice. He did gain 99 against Penn State, but most of it was in the second half against backups. And as a team, Oregon State rushed for just 92 yards at Beaver Stadium compared to 176 against USC.
But on offense is where the real difference in statistics lies. Last night, the Trojans managed just 86 yards rushing and fell behind 21-0. Penn State steamrolled the Beavers on the ground, to the tune of 239 yards, and jumped out to a 28-0 advantage. For the game, USC finished with 313 yards of total offense while Penn State wracked up 454. And the scoring differential—21 for USC, 45 for Penn State—shows just how legit the Nittany Lion offense is.
Now I know that playing on the road vs. playing at home in college football are two very different things. Much more so than in the NFL, college teams truly do get a home field advantage. Student sections go berserk, and college players truly feed off that energy. Penn State had a very distinct advantage playing Oregon State at home, with the Beavers having to travel all the way across the country and play in the biggest (this year) and one of the noisiest stadiums in the nation. Meanwhile, USC had to play a Pac-10 rival and deal with the Oregon State fans, who were surely on top of their game against the No. 1 team in the land.
But still, this has to bode well for Penn State. USC was hands down considered the best team in the country before last night. They embarrassed Ohio State on national television and looked like a well-oiled machine. And if any comparisons can be made, it looks like this Penn State team is for real. With the way USC manhandled the Buckeyes and stumbled against Oregon State, it truly gives hope that Penn State could actually toppled Ohio State and win the Big 10, although they do have to play in Columbus, a place where the Lions haven't had much success. Plus, they have to take on a very good Wisconsin team in Madison, and as we've seen in the past, anything can happen in league play.
Well, the journey begins on Saturday night when the Nittany Lions take on No. 22 Illinois at home. It certainly won't be an easy game, unlike Penn State's first four contests, but it is a game they should win. And reinforcements are on the way. Suspended starting defensive linemen, tackle Abe Koroma and All-American end Maurice Evans, are going to play: "Both will play. I've kept them out of three games and the Judicial Affairs people have indicated that there's nothing that they're going to do that says they can't play, so they probably will play," Paterno said during his call-in radio show Thursday night.
That's certainly good news for Penn State, because the Lions will need all the help they can get in Big 10 play. And by the looks of things, they may just be a team to be reckoned with in the Big 10 and beyond.
Ugh. Not good news coming out of State College today. Suspended Penn State defensive tackle Abe Koroma and All-American Maurice Evans have been charged with possession of marijuana stemming from the incident a few weeks ago.
Surely the two won't get anything more than a fine and community service for this misdemeanor, but it's certainly not good news considering the scrutiny Penn State and Joe Paterno have been under lately. (Thanks ESPN!)
It should be interesting to see what Paterno has in store for his two defensive linemen, especially since they are two players Penn State could surely use when the Big 10 schedule commences next week.
Consider me officially depressed. This program, which has gotten a bad rap overall, simply cannot hide from this one. And it hasn't. Joe Paterno has suspended three Penn State players for Saturday's game against Oregon State.
Turns out, in the incident involving marijuana, preseason All-American defensive end Maurice Evans, tight end Andrew Quarless and defensive tackle Abe Koroma were involved, and all three have been suspended.
All three players were required to take drug tests, and further punishment could be doled out of any test positive. Hopefully that won't be the case.
The one piece of good news is that A.J. Wallace, also a resident of the room where the weed was found (along with the other three), will not be suspended because he was not there or involved in the incident. Wallace will play Saturday.
"Willie got himself into a jam the other night and won't be with the team," Paterno said.
The state of the program seems to really be at a crossroads. I don't like to overreact like this or use some broad-sweeping statements, especially because I truly believe the Penn State program and players are pretty much just fine. But the perception is quite the opposite, and as we all know, perception is reality.
It's no secret that things like this happen everywhere, on every college campus in America. Truth of the matter is, having marijuana in an apartment, especially a party, is a pretty common thing for college students, whether they are athletes or not. On the scale of things that are serious, this would rank pretty far down the list. But when a program like Penn State has already been under the microscope, thanks in large part to an absolutely bogus, sabotage job by ESPN, you have to tread lightly. Especially when you are key players to a big time program.
Maurice Evans has never been in trouble before. Hopefully he never will be again. But as the undisputed best player on a talented Penn State defense (with Sean Lee out for the year), he should be smart enough not to put himself in these types of situations. For Andrew Quarless, he should simply know better. Quarless has had discipline problems before and been suspended before. You only get so many chances. Especially under Joe Paterno. Say what you want about his cranky demeanor and lack of control, but if Quarless' test comes back positive, you can bet your life he'll be gone. Forever.
The sad part of it is, none of this is the coach's fault. But everyone wants to point the finger at Paterno. They say he's lost control, lost touch. Players don't respect or fear him. None of this stuff happened in the past. Well, that's a bunch of bullshit, to be quite honest with you. You don't think Kerry Collins was out drinking and partying and getting in some skirmished back in the early 90s? Really? Or Matt Millen? Or Jack Ham? Or anyone?
The fact of the matter is, these athletes are still college kids. They'll do dumb things. I did some incredibly stupid things when I was 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22 years old. Like, way dumber than having weed in my apartment. Most people have. The coach can't control all his players 24/7. It's impossible. But when you really look at the facts, Penn State has paled in comparison to some programs with the severity of the trouble its players have gotten in.
There are programs with players who have backgrounds of dealing drugs, cheating, lying, stealing, taking incredibly large gifts from boosters and raping women. Incidents like that haven't been common at Penn State. Even in this era of the program getting "out of control." There have been a few domestic abuse situations and plenty of DUIs, but those happen at pretty much every program as well. I'm not saying it's right, but it's not solitary to Penn State. And when you look at the most publicized cases for the Lions, they involved players getting in fights, most of which were provoked by the other parties involved, or underage drinking. I dare anyone to show me a college campus where fights and underage drinking don't go on.
That's what happens when you put 42,000 students together in a town, in a college and party atmosphere. But when all of the sudden more players start getting caught doing these things, thanks in large part to a town and campus crackdown on drinking, drugs and violence, the media starts calling for heads to roll. And when Paterno takes these situations on a case by case basis, like any logical person would, he gets criticized for not addressing it with a broad, sweeping brush. That's simply bullshit.
While it's troubling to see more players get involved in incidents they shouldn't involve themselves in, it's a fact of life. Things are going to happen. But to tell Joe he should do things differently is asinine. Why should a guy who graduates his players, cares about his players and cares about his university be forced to change simply because society tells him to? Where's the outcry for the rest of the programs across the nation? Like Iowa? Or Georgia? Nowhere. And you know why? Because they don't have old, stubborn coaches that do it their way, media be damned.
The players have certainly had their troubles in the last few years, but Paterno is hardly to blame. When you truly look at it closely, you'd see Penn State hasn't really changed all that much in the football landscape in the last 40 years. Society has. Maybe that, not Paterno, is the reason for this perceived change. Or maybe everyone is just overblowing the significance of college kids acting like college kids.
Not good news coming out of Penn State today. Apparently, police are investigating an "incident" at Nittany Apartments, where many athletes, especially football players, live.
No one has been charged or arrested, but here's some grim news: Police entered apartment 5204 late last night for unknown reasons. According to the directory, defensive end Maurice Evans, cornerback A.J. Wallace and defensive tackle Abe Koroma live in apartment 5204.
That's not good. Not good at all. Mo Evans is widely regarded as the best defensive end in the Big 10, and A.J. Wallace is a starting corner and return man.
The rumors are flying that this is marijuana-related. Let's hope these guys aren't as dumb as it appears and it's all one big misunderstanding. Seriously guys, can't you just behave for a semester and cut Paterno some slack? Damn.
It's weird how 8, count them, 8 players from Georgia were arrested in the past offseason and there is only a 20-second blurb about it on ESPN. It's very frustrating that they would single out Penn State instead of say a school that is ranked NUMBER 1 in the country or a school where half the team was suspended for cheating, Florida St., for an "Outside the Lines" episode.
Joe Paterno never hurt anybody. The guy has done nothing except build an entire university, pretty much by himself. Would anyone go to Penn State University if he didn't build one of the best college football programs in the country there? No, obviously not. The place is surrounded by nothing but farm land and mountains. There is nothing there. He, with the help of his assistant coaches, made Penn State the amazing place that it is.
Also, if 31 of your career wins come while coaching at Samford, then you probably are not actually the winningest coach in college football history. You and your program are idiots, Bobby Bowden.
Also, Mo Evans is going to most likely become the greatest defensive end ever created this year. (Ed Note: Maurice Evans was created August 14, 1988)
Also, what if D Will actually became the best recruit ever that he was supposed to be this year?
Also, Jamie Moyer starts are some of the worst events to be at in baseball history. It takes the guy three hours just to get through 5 innings most of the time. I am putting a personal ban on attending Jamie Moyer starts from now on.
Also, I want to give a shot out to the lack of traffic on the way down to the Phillies game last night. I went 70 mph down the 76 last night almost all the way to the Vine Street Expressway. It was glorious.
