Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Blue and White Roundtable

It's Wednesday and, as always, it's Blue and White Roundtable time. Mike from BSD and fresh off his work junket has the questions this week…enjoy!

Five Penn State players were taken in the NFL draft this weekend. Which player fell into the best situation?

I think it's safe to say that Tony Hunt got himself a pretty good deal as long as the Philly fans don't turn on him but that would never happen in the city of brotherly love, would it? They're bringing him in as a change of pace back and that's a really good situation to be in because the expectations aren't there to run for 150 yards and two TD's. Hunt will be fighting for the backup role with a guy that can't stay injury free for more than two consecutive weeks so I would imagine he'll see playing time right off the bat.

Watching Brady Quinn sit through the excruciatingly long first round of the draft was the biggest story of the day. Do you feel sorry for him or did your face hurt from grinning so much by the time the Browns drafted him?

After lobbying for the top pick it was nice to see the NFL bring him back down to earth – they have a way of doing that to big egos. I don't dislike Brady, I think he's a quality quarterback that got overhyped because he played for the mother of all overhyped schools and some of that overhypedness (no it's not a word, I'm making one up) rubbed off. Given the choice between Cleveland and Oakland, he got the better deal, not by much mind you, but who would ever want to play for Oakland?

Along the lines of Brady Quinn, now we have to listen to the Bucknuts say they told us so about Ted Ginn Jr. being a top ten pick. Is it possible we're wrong and Ginn will be a great player in the NFL? Or will he rank up there with the greatest first round busts of all time?

I know three former Miami Dolphins fans and I say former because every one of them denounced their allegiance when Miami picked Ted Ginn. Talk about a reach?! They took Ginn just because he can return a kick, hopefully none of his teammates tackle him in celebration.

Apparently some Penn State players were arrested last week or something. Did you hear about this? Some people say the last remnants of the Grand Experiment are fading and Penn State's glory days as a model football program are over. Has Paterno lost control of the program?

Excuse me why I fall off my chair laughing. I'm going to write a post about the Grand Experiment because a lot of Penn State fans and local writers don't really understand what it's about. Paterno hasn't lost control of anything; he still runs his program like he ran it 30 years ago. Even he has mentioned how sensationalized college football is today that nothing gets by the media. In the old days, the cops would pick up one of his players for fighting, drinking, etc. and call him and he would deal with it. Now it's front page news and the university has to have a hand in it.

Many people in the message boards are suggesting the District Attorney is on a witch hunt to prosecute a high profile case. From what you've read of the police report, are the players charged to date getting a fair investigation?

Every DA loves high profile cases they can make a long career for him/her. It's not about a witch hunt it's about job security. Having said that, I think the police have been fair, they could have charged every football player that was there but they stuck to those that entered the apartment. I don't think a lot of the charges will stick but I don't think any of them were unfair.

How did your favorite NFL team do in the Draft?

Didn't have one until Buffalo took Poz – go Bills!

Lightning Round

What is your least favorite sport?

Basketball – nothing like watching seven foot guys jump three inches off the ground and dunk a ball.

The NCAA's ban on text messaging recruits: Good thing or bad thing?

Great thing for the recruits, it was getting out of hand

Finish this sentence: Charlie Weis is so fat…

…the last time he saw 90210 was on the bathroom scale.

Nothing like a Chuck Weis fat joke to start off the day. There you have it, leave your thoughts in the comment section below and head on over to Black Shoe Diaries and Run Up The Score for their enlightened responses.

20 comments:

JB said...

Excellent point about Paterno and the program. Things have changed and Joe can't always handle everything in house like he did 25 years ago.

PSUgirl said...

I am currently so in love with the Bills. I think that the fan base is going love Paul and he'll get a chance to play right away. Obviously the pro game is much more intense and taxing (cause they get paid! hah!) than the college game - but I think that Poz has the skills and the drive to be a success.

I'm so close to getting a #51 Bills jersey - It's just a little bit of red

Galen said...

JB,
People come down on Judical Affairs a lot (myself included) but they have to worry about Penn State's rep as much as Paterno and I think they error on the side of too harsh.

PSUGirl,

You changed your name?!?

PSUgirl said...

eh, I figured I may as well go with my first (a la EDSBS) moniker -

M1EK said...

"In the old days, the cops would pick up one of his players for fighting, drinking, etc. and call him and he would deal with it. Now it's front page news and the university has to have a hand in it."

Perhaps you guys who are like 25 shouldn't be lecturing those of us who are 10 or 20 years older on how the program 'used to be', huh?

Hint: Breaking into somebody's apartment with a posse bent on revenge is NOT the same as "getting into a fight". And the rhetoric you and many others are using to defend these players is essentially the same stuff I heard in Miami in the 1980s.

Galen said...

Mike,
You are delusional if you don't think stuff of this magnitude didn't happen in the past. By the way, I'm 34 years old, I have a good idea of what it was like in the 80's and the spotlight on college football now is blinding compared to then.

PSUgirl said...

Mike, are you just going around reminding everyone that breaking the law is against the law?

I grew up in State College (and I'm not 25) in a fanatical Penn State home. Penn State kids got into trouble - they sat - if they couldn't get their act together - they went home. But it was a much more "internal" process. There wasn't any media circus or parade of witnesses.

I'm not saying that this isn't a serious situation - cause it is. Ultimately, however, it was very poor judgement on the part of everyone involved - regardless of the "cooling off period" this wasn't a planned event, luckily no one was seriously injured, no (other than the alleged bottle) weapon was used, no illegal substances were found...

Sure it's bad, but it could have been worse.

Anonymous said...

It's true. That's how it was in the old days, particularly in small towns like State College. And I'm not just talking about how the cops dealt with football players. Moreso how the cops were in general. I know people who got stopped numerous times for DUI decades ago. Most times the cops just told them to park the car and get a ride home. Now they haul you off to jail no questions asked. Cops just don't look the other way anymore like they used to.

M1EK said...

You guys keep conflating how they handled minor offenses in the old days with how they handle major offenses in the new days. Cut it out.

And, yes, I include DWI - which was considered a minor offense back then.

But even 20 years ago, busting down an apartment door to lay down a whooping posse-style (and apparently on some innocent bystanders) wouldn't have been kept "in the program". I guarantee.

I was at PSU when Paterno sat Engram's ass on the bench for a year for stealing a stereo. That's the kind of thing I expect, and, no, it wasn't "kept within the program".

And by the 1980s - I mean Miami's criminal heyday. You guys just aren't getting it - you sound EXACTLY like the Miami homers did during that period.

Me, I'd rather go 1-11 than be the New Miami. Y'all? I'm not so sure.

Scrappled said...

This argument is very nice and all, but we don't even know how the players will be punished yet. If Paterno lets most of the guys off the hook and gives Scirrotto and Baker suspensions for only the FIU game, feel free to go crazy with it.

Anonymous said...

I never suggested what these kids did was ok. All I said was cops let things go 20 or 30 years ago that they don't let slip anymore.

Like RUTS says, nothing has been sorted out yet. It's not fair to suggest we all support win at all costs. I certainly don't.

M1EK said...

"I never suggested what these kids did was ok. All I said was cops let things go 20 or 30 years ago that they don't let slip anymore."

Which is tantamount to claiming that the stuff they did here would have been let slip 20 or 30 years ago, which is homer nonsense.

I was in college almost 20 years ago. They weren't getting away with home invasions, I can tell you. They were getting suspended for the season for stealing a stereo (no fight even involved).

Galen said...

Mike,
Please tell me, who said they should get off?? No one. I remember the Engram problems as well and Paterno was right to kick him off the team for a year but he also did the right thing by letting him back on the following year. Any player that threw a punch in that fight should be punished but I certainly consider stealing far worse than pushing your way into a party and picking a fight with guys that punched one of your teammates. Even Paterno has said he used to handle things differently in the past on several occasions, those aren't my words. If any of those kids went into that apartment to stop the fight like some of them claim and didn't throw a punch I don't know how you can bring the hammer down like you seem to want Paterno to do. By your standards Matt Millen would have never seen the field in his day, he was a badass and a thorn in Paterno's side (so says Joe).

Anonymous said...

Mike is just a troll of the comments section, ignore him

M1EK said...

"Any player that threw a punch in that fight should be punished but I certainly consider stealing far worse than pushing your way into a party and picking a fight with guys that punched one of your teammates."

I sure don't. Because they apparently punched some guys who weren't involved; and, frankly, breaking into parties to lay down a beat-down is an invitation to get shot.

And what do you know? The legal system agrees with me.

Galen said...

The legal system agrees with you? Really, which leagal system is that? Last time I checked you go to jail for stealing a lot longer than punching someone.

By the way, I guess they agree with me as far as Justin King is concerned.

M1EK said...

Galen,

Breaking into somebody's place + assault >> breaking into somebody's place + theft.

Galen said...

Good I'm glad you said that I knew you would. I'll make you a deal, you give me your address, I'll come and let you punch and kick me, but you can not seriously injury me(just like the fight) and I'll steal all your shit. Who do you think ends up better?

M1EK said...

Galen, you're still not getting it. The breaking in is part of both offenses - without it, yes, stealing is worse than a fight out in a public place; but breaking into somebody's house to beat them up is worse than stealing.

Galen said...

Mike YOU'RE still not getting it, which is worse, someone coming into your house and punching you (doing no serious harm) or someone breaking into your house and stealing all your stuff? Either you don't have anything worth stealing or your lying. I certainly put stealing WAY above someone walking into my house and punching me. If you would like I could start a poll and see what everyone else thinks, I'm willing to bet large sums of money that getting your stuff stolen wins by a landslide.