Terrelle Pryor’s not coming to Happy Valley; Ron Bracken is giddy

While there are still some Penn State fans holding out hope that Terrelle Pryor will spurn OSU and Michigan to come and be coached by Jay Paterno that's probably not going to be the case. I'm not someone that follows recruiting closely, heck I've even stopped keeping track here at TNL, because there are others who do a far superior job and I've learned a couple things about recruiting: A) it's a sleazy business populated by a bunch of grown men fawning after 18 year old boys and B) it's totally impossible to predict what is going through the minds of said 18 year old boys. Also, it's impossible to predict how good a top recruit is going to be, did anyone really think Derrick Williams would have the kind of career he has had to this point when he committed to Penn State as the top recruit in his class? No, I think most thought he would do great things during his time at Happy Valley, not that his career has been a bust or anything.

That brings me back to Terrelle Pryor and his yet to be decided school of choice. It's most likely going to be Michigan or Ohio State and there are allegations swarming around of foul play on OSU's part but that's to be expected in a high stakes race for a top recruit. Fans start turning any little hint of impropriety into full blown we-never-landed-on-the-moon-it-was-all-taped-in-a-movie-studio level conspiracy theory. That's fans from all schools on Pryor's list not named Ohio State and of course the mudslinging comes from some Penn State message boards but if you listen to Ron Bracken it's exclusively limited to the evil Penn State loonies and no one else.

Oh, there are some diehards out there who still cling to the hope that Pryor, this year's super recruit, will relent and sign a letter-of- intent with the Nittany Lions. Be kind to them.

...And finally, there is that faction that, since Pryor seems destined to wind up in either Columbus or Ann Arbor, has to rationalize away his decision by suggesting that the universities in those places just have to be doing something blatantly illegal to tempt him away from Happy Valley.

The chat rooms and message boards are full of innuendos and ridiculous charges that Pryor is being given this, promised that by representatives of the pursuing schools.

It makes interesting reading but know this: It's based in jealousy and pettiness.

Ahhh... I love Ron Bracken, he's a poor man's Dave Jones, both despise Penn State with the glowing hot passion of the sun and both try to get readers by constantly taking pot shots at anything remotely connected to the Nittany Lions but they differ in one way: intelligent writing. Jones can sometimes put out an article with a shred of thought behind it (sometimes), Bracken - not so much. What was the point of this entire article? Message boards are the meeting place of some of the most eccentric fans? We already know there are going to be the kool-aid drinking types all over the message boards and chat rooms. No, this article, like most of Bracken's garbage, was a chance for him to stick his thumb in the eyes of Penn State fans. He knows Pryor isn't coming to PSU so he takes the opportunity to gloat behind the facade of real journalism. The real person that is petty in this case is Bracken, not some Penn State extremists who believe Terrelle Pryor might have been given improper benefits by a school with a sketchy track record in that department, but I guess it was getting close to Bracken's deadline so he grabbed some low hanging fruit. Typical.