Blue and White Roundtable

It's Humpday and that means the Blue & White Roundtable to get you over the hump. I wrote these while watching my Astros get beat by the lowly Bucs so they may be a tad inconsistent. Enjoy the nuttiness.

1. You didn't think Penn State could make it through an entire offseason without some players getting into legal trouble, did you? Several football players were involved in what is being desribed as a massive brawl. While names aren't being published by the police yet, some players said to be involved are Justin King, Anthony Scirotto, Chris Bell, and Matt Hahn. We'll let the charges sort themselves out for a week, but here's a more general question: how much can coaches truly control the actions of their players once they're off the practice field?

To answer your first question, yes I thought the team could make it through the offseason without any trouble but it wouldn't be the first time I was wrong. To the charges, no names have been officially releases so all the rest is hearsay and rumor. I don't want to start worrying about Player A or Player B because you just don't know who was involved. The article does say that King told police he wasn't involved so you can probably scratch him off your list. This is probably equivalent to the ice rink fight that Robinson got into a couple years ago so I wouldn't hit the panic button yet. It's totally impossible for coaches to control all of their players off the practice field, all you can do is set precedence by punishing those that run afoul of the law, teach them that they are a visible target and trouble will find them, and hope for the best. You know these guys have to deal with drunken frat guys that grow beer muscles as the night goes on – how they handle situations like that depends on the makeup of the individual. The coach can only do so much.

2. Where will Penn State begin the season in the polls, and where should they begin?
I'm going to go with the old standby – 17^th. I think if you did an average of all the years Penn State was ranked I think 17 would be the average. I have no empirical evidence for that number other than a gut feeling. Typically pollsters either think Penn State is great and rank them in the top 5 (not often) or they think they are barely top 25 material and rank them somewhere at the bottom, there never seems to be a middle ground. As to where I think they should be, I would say somewhere around 12^th, but I'm biased.

3. The Blue/White game is quickly approaching! How much does this game really mean in the grand scheme of things? Is it a sign of things to come, or simply an overhyped scrimmage?

It is absolutely meaningless; it's a chance for nutty fans that waste valuable time on things like blogs to get a glimpse of next year's team. I usually watch for the quarterback's ability to read the defense and pay close attention to the backups. The QB attention is obvious but I keep a close eye on the backups to get an idea of who might take over the starting position come fall – especially if it's a position up in the air like say, oh I don't know, the entire defensive line this spring.

4. Let's say Joe Paterno retires after this year. Who do you want to take his place, and who is most likely to take over?

Buwwahahhahhahahahhaaahahha! Oh wait, you were serious with that Paterno retirement thing?!!? Ah, ok. If I was supreme ruler of the land I would want Kirk Ferentz because he does a lot with lesser talent and I think he would understand the "Penn State way." We all know by now that Bradley is going to be the man when Joe steps down. I have no problem with that; I'm one that believes in rewarding loyalty. My only hope is that Ron Vanderlinden gets to be defensive coordinator when Bradley takes over but I doubt that would happen.

5. Who is the most underappreciated Nittany Lion assistant coach?

Speaking of Ron Vanderlinden… I just love this guy; he was defensive coordinator at Northwestern when they won their Big Ten title… with defense… at Northwestern. Did I mention it was NORTHWESTERN?!?! He was unceremoniously removed from the head coaching job at Maryland, yes he had a bad record but he took over a 5-6 team and Ralph Friedgen went 10-2 with Vanderlinden's players after he was fired. Did I mention that Ron is in charge of the best position at PSU: Linebacker? Yeah, he's coached a few good ones in his time. Does anyone have any complaints about the LB's at PSU the last five years? I think Ron would make the perfect D coordinator when Joe steps down, but I doubt that will happen.

Lightning Round
Give us a beer recommendation!

You bastard, why did you put this in the Lightning round!?! I have to have short answers!? Anything in a microbrew stout (Imperial or Oatmeal) – something with a coffee and chocolate hint to it and a deep dark black color. Mmmmm. Failing that, try a Blue Moon Belgian style wheat beer brewed by Molson Coors Brewing Company. EXCELLENT!

mmmmmmm, tasty!

Will you be at the B/W game?

Absolutely! After all it's spring practice for the tailgaters as well, we can't be rusty.

List three other blogs you visit regularly, and tell us why they're so wonderful.

EDSBS – it's Orson and the gang, everybody knows them.

MZone – When I started this blog I e-mailed Yost and the gang at MZone for pointers and to my surprise Yost immediately responded and offered a bunch of help. I'm forever grateful and hey, these guys are pretty damn funny for Michigan fans.

MUSINGS OF A LITTERED MIND – Another "Mike" in the blogging world but he's been with me since the beginning and it's always good to get a true southern Bama fan's perspective. Sometimes he's downright rude and that always wins points with me.

Of course Run Up The Score & BSD are everyday reads for me.

There you have it, feel free to add your thoughts in the comment section below. Head on over to BSD and Run Up The Score to get their answers as well, I'm sure they are way more coherent then me. Be sure to let me know YOUR beer recommendations, perhaps I'll give them a try; I'm always up for a new beer.