The Nittany Line

Cael Sanderson era begins with #6 recruiting class

2009-07-09T06:45:00.001-04:00

Incoming Penn State wrestling Coach Cael Sanderson has finalized his first recruiting class in fine fashion. The wrestling gurus at Intermat have ranked Penn State's class sixth best in the country one spot behind returning Big Ten champ Iowa and four spots behind Minnesota the highest ranked Big Ten school. Penn State had a small class but more than made up for it in quality. I'll let Intermat do the work for me:

6. Penn State
Top 100 Recruits: No. 1 David Taylor (Graham, OH), No. 5 Ed Ruth (Blair Academy, NJ)
Impact Transfer: Cyler Sanderson (Iowa State/Wasatch, UT)
Other Notable Recruit: Luke Macchiaroli (Corona, AZ)
Commentary: What this group lacks in quantity, it more than makes up for in quality. New head coach Cael Sanderson inherited Ruth, who signed in the early period under the previous Penn State coaching staff. Two incoming freshmen -- Taylor and Macchiaroli -- had signed National Letters of Intent to wrestle for Sanderson at Iowa State. However, when Sanderson left, they were released and chose to join the coached that had recruited them in Happy Valley. Also coming along with Cael Sanderson is his brother Cyler, who will be a senior this coming season, and was an All-American in 2008 at 157 pounds.

It was already announced that David Taylor will redshirt next season but I would think that Macchiaroli would probably get a chance to start as a true freshman. He's projected to wrestle 197 in college and Penn State has a dearth of talent at that weight, he could be an instant impact. Also noted is the transfer of Cael's younger brother Cyler who will strengthen the lineup for his final season and help the Sanderson transition go a little smoother. Cyler was an All-American two years ago but just missed out last season. Cyler's transfer was also made official Tuesday.

Lift for Life teams announced

2009-07-08T12:08:00.003-04:00

Don't forget you can help by donating to support your favorite player. BSD man crush Graham Zug has only raised $625 dollars! Where is the loyal BSD nation?!? You call yourselves football fans; you're going to let down your intergalactic leader. Along with Zug (who happens to be on the "We're Going In" team), the teams have been announced for Friday. There are always some clever names I'll just share a few of my favorites.

4th & Long
Jeremy Boone
Colin Wagner
David Soldner
Ryan Breen

-a bunch of kickers on a team called "4^th & Long" is a rather obvious choice if you ask me

Three Men and a Frog
Pat Mauti
Dennis Landolt
Tom Golarz
Jesse Alfreno

-ok someone please explain this one to me, am I missing the obvious?

We're Going In
James McDonald
Kevin Newsome
Chris Colasanti
Graham Zug

-is that a question or a statement? I would have called it "McDonald's farm" myself

Rent Paid
Evan Royster
Larry Federoff
Josh Matzkin
Cedric Jeffries

-always a good thing

You Three & Dupree
Stephon Obeng-Agyapong
Andre Dupree
D.R. Refice
Pat Zerbe

-Obvious yet funny

Restretch McGloin
Matt McGloin
D'Anton Lynn
Andrew Goodman
Ryan Schere

-at least they didn't name it "McGloin Injury" that would be bad Juju

Blog Chips is back from vacation

2009-07-07T12:45:00.005-04:00

Alright people, I'm back from oblivion. I managed to survive a vicious work schedule last week. I managed to survive time with the family over the weekend. I managed to survive a couple nights out without ending up in jail (barely) and I managed to survive a day at Hershey Park without choking some out of control kid's dad.* Let's get things caught up, shall we?

We can't let this continue

This Friday marks the 7^th annual "Lift for Life" event which benefits the Kidney Cancer Association.

This year's event is scheduled for Friday, July 10, from 2-7 p.m. in Holuba Hall, which is located directly across from the East Area Locker Room and adjacent to the Lasch Football Building.
"Lift For Life" is open to the public with a suggested donation of $5 per student or child and $10 per adult. But you don't have to attend to help.
Donations can also be made in advance and credited to your favorite player's fundraising total by visiting www.liftforlife.upliftingathletes.org.

You can donate in the name of your favorite player here with the roster and totals found here. Why the title of this blog chip, because someone named "Ryan Gmerek" has successfully raised $2,855 dollars while Sean Lee sits at ninety bucks. This can't go on people let's get out those checkbooks!

Creepy 18-year-old watching alert!

If you haven't noticed, I've bailed out of the recruiting biz a long time ago and even though Penn State is having a great year, I don't plan to get back into recruiting anytime soon. These guys do a much better job and quite frankly guys like Tom Lemming give me the willies. Having said that I would be remiss if I didn't mention that PSU signed wide receiver Levi Norwood last week. Levi wasn't a big name prospect and didn't have the OMG!!!, 5-star rating that recruitnicks seem to think a player must have but he is the son of former PSU secondary coach Brian Norwood and the younger brother of Jordan Norwood. Now some people are going to cry foul and claim this is a legacy scholarship and Penn State shouldn't be wasting their time on no-names, blah, blah, blah, but remember… this was the kind of stuff we heard about Jordan when he signed with PSU four years ago… how did that turn out?

You had me at Terrelle Pryor

ESPN, and Bruce Feldman specifically, have a top 10 list of the must-see games of 2009. No, Penn State is not listed in the top 6 (for the last four you need to be an "insider", yeah see if that gets you anyone signing up ESPN) but one early season tilt involves a fellow Big Ten school:

USC at Ohio State, Sept. 12: I'm not sure this game is as much a proving-ground battle as last year's at USC was for Ohio State. My sense is that if the Buckeyes handle the Trojans here, it'll still be a big win, but not monumental in the pollsters' eyes. It'll be too easy for critics to write it off, saying that this was the first road game the Trojans' new QB (Aaron Corp or Matt Barkley) ever played. Plus, USC lost so many guys to the NFL on defense. That wouldn't be fair to the Buckeyes, given that they lost a ton to the NFL as well. If OSU does win, they figure to cruise to a 9-0 start before facing Penn State in Happy Valley. This might be the game in which Terrelle Pryor emerges as a superstar.

First off, I love the limp-noodle, pod-like thinking of the main stream media, it's so refreshing. It goes like this:

A) There's a chance Ohio State could beat USC

B) We love USC and hate the Big Ten

C) This could make OSU and by extension the Big Ten look good

D) This could make USC look bad and we want them in the title game against a SEC school (we love the SEC even more than USC)

E) Because of all of the above let's downplay this game even before the season starts so a USC loss can be played off when we rank the Trojans over a more deserving team later in the year

Secondly, I want so so so bad to root for the Buckeyes in this game, honestly I do, but even if Terrelle Pryor scratches his balls, hands the ball off 45 times, never attempts a pass and OSU wins, the TP over-hype machine will be in overdrive and I'm not sure if I can handle it. Nonetheless there's no way I root for USC, I just can't bring myself to do it.

Fahrenheit 411

If I can give you one piece of advice from my experiences this weekend it's this: if you plan on visiting the wonderful world of Hershey Park in glorious southeastern PA anytime soon, don't miss their newest roller coaster: Fahrenheit. It was put in a year ago and I didn't get a chance to ride it because the lines were so horribly long but this year you will only wait about 30 minutes on a weekday** and it's well worth that wait. I love roller coasters about as much as I love beer*** and this one's a can't-miss. So yeah, there's Hershey Park's free add space at no charge.

*I did however knock the shit out of some kid's bumper car when he got stuck and couldn't figure out how to go backwards. Hey, I don't care if you're six years old when I get behind the wheel of a bumper car I'm out for blood.

**Also new this year is Water Park which I would totally recommend you skip but if it's a hot day everyone flocks to the water leaving the roller coaster lines empty, so tip two is pick a sunny hot day.

***Ok, so totally not true but unlike beer the shaky hands and disorientation go away rather quickly after getting off roller coasters.

Please stand by

2009-06-30T06:08:00.000-04:00

My schedule both inside and outside of work is crazy for the foreseeable future so expect blogging to be light at best. I'll be around if any groundbreaking news pops up but don't expect much more. Check out JayTweet if you need your PSU fix he actually does tweet some interesting things believe it or not.

And in other shocking news Charlie Weis is overweight

2009-06-25T06:04:00.000-04:00

Thank God you are sitting down… Ok, if you're reading this on a mobile device while walking you better find a place to sit down because this will be a shocker, one that will rock the very core of your beliefs. The BCS presidents have…. have…. REJECTED the Mountain West Conference's playoff plan.

The MWC proposed an eight-team playoff system that would allow greater access to the national championship game to teams outside the six most powerful leagues. The BCS presidential oversight committee rejected the concept during a teleconference on Wednesday.

Outgoing committee chairman David Frohnmayer had this to say:

"In the last six years, I've read pundits, heard the pronouncements of broadcasters and collected several cubic feet of e-mail printouts from advocates of an NFL-style playoff system. Even those that go beyond sound bite certitude share two intertwined and fatal deficiencies: They disrespect our academic calendars and they utterly lack a business plan."

Listen jackoff, no one and I mean no one gives a flying rat's ass about a business plan. We just don't care, that's not even a discussion in the circles of football fandom. That's your job to figure out the business end of it. I don't sit around a bar with my friends on a college football Saturday and discuss college football as a business. I don't sit there and say "Hey Brad, I think College Football's business model would serve the system better if we applied some Six Sigma concepts to it." No, instead we sit around and dream about how great it would be if college football wasn't the ONLY SPORT IN THE WORLD whose champion is not determined on the field.

As for the 'academic calendar' bullshit, please, please give me your schedule. Give me two weeks between Thanksgiving and the middle of January and I'll give you an 8 team playoff.

Week 1: 8 teams become 4
Week 2: 4 teams become 2
Championship game is played the same time it always is.

You're telling me your academic schedule can't handle that?! You're telling me you even care about academics in football? I seriously doubt it.

It's funny, these guys are so transparent that it borders on the ridiculous anymore. Every time they open their mouths it just gets more and more perverse. They should just release a statement that says "We have rejected <insert angry team left out of championship game here>'s plan for a playoff because it would deprive us of mounds of cash." At least then they could go home at night without feeling dirty.

Programming note: College Football Live covering PA today

2009-06-23T12:18:00.002-04:00

For those of you that get off work at a decent hour or have a DVR, ESPN's College football Live 50 States Tour is in Pennsylvania starting today at 3:30 PM and going through Friday. There are polls on PA college sports and Adam Rittenberg's page where you can stop by and read the comments between Pitt and Penn State fans. It's always a pleasure to see the same arguments resurface over and over and over again. Hey, did you know Joe Paterno is old and there's nothing to do in State College that's why Pitt's attendance sucks? No really. If State College had… you know… all the stuff that Pittsburgh offers like strip clubs, Hooters, nightclubs, skating rinks, bars, Olympic swimming pools, High Def 3-D theaters, a plethora of good restaurants, and concerts I'm sure the average football fan wouldn't go to Penn State football games, right? I mean that makes sense doesn't it?!?

What, there are no fat chicks in Iowa?

2009-06-22T06:47:00.001-04:00

Iowa offensive tackle Kyle Calloway will be suspended for a game and complete community service after being arrested this weekend for operating a vehicle while intoxicated. Pretty standard stupid college kid stuff, I mean his BAC was a pedestrian .106 which was probably 4 beers for a man of his stature but what makes this newsworthy is this:

Calloway was arrested after officers stopped him while he was driving a moped into a barricaded area.

An offensive lineman… on a moped… gratuitous pic in 3…2…1…

Good God man, a moped? Forget the DUI, Mr. Calloway should be rung up on felony charges of getting caught riding a freakin' moped! You know the rules, there are two things that are fun to ride but you wouldn't want your friends to catch you on them: mopeds and fat chicks. Perhaps Kyle should have opted for the latter Saturday night.

"I was very disappointed to learn of Kyle's poor judgment," [Iowa coach Kirk] Ferentz said in a statement.

We're all disappointed in Kyle's judgment Kirk, and it has nothing to do with drinking and driving.

Ed. Note: I should have guessed these guys would beat me to the punch and I should have guessed that they would also take the first google result for “fat guy on a moped.” Great, now they think I stole from them and that means drunken, expletive filled e-mails from Hawkeye State or OPS.

Blog Chips

2009-06-18T13:22:00.003-04:00

Not much to talk about lately, it is the dead period between spring ball and summer workouts and I'm not one of those "just blog something" kind of bloggers (you've come to expect SO much more from TNL) but there are a few items of interest.

-Two Bush's in the hand is better than… wait, what?
Former president Bush (as in W) was in Erie speaking to the Manufacturer and Business Association and had a message from former president Bush (as in H.W.).

In front of about 1,600 people at a dinner in Erie, the younger Bush said he had been reminded by his dad to "give my old buddy my best. . . . Forty-one sends his best to No. 1 in the heart of Penn State fans."

The elder Bush appears to be about as active as JoePa.

But he started his hour-long appearance by talking about his father, who celebrated his 85th birthday last weekend by parachute-jumping out of an airplane.

"So this weekend I had an amazing experience: I watched an 85-year-old jump out of an airplane, and it wasn't about to crash,"

-We're playing who again?
The hits just keep coming when speaking in deference to Penn State's future schedule. The athletic department's "keep Galen out of the stands" campaign continues unabated.

Nearly every FCS school plays at least one Football Bowl Subdivision team. The reason is twofold: the exposure of playing up against the "big" schools, but more importantly, it's the money. The dollars made from the monetary guarantee paid out by much-wealthier FBS schools goes a long way toward sustaining FCS teams.

With that in mind, Indiana State.

The Sycamores will play at Cincinnati in 2010 and at Penn State on Sept. 3, 2011.

The Sycamores? Reeeaally?

Intimidating, indeed.

-But can he roll a joint?
D coordinator and NFL defensive lineman manufacturer Tom Bradley had a Q & A session with ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg: Part I here and Part II here. The most interesting quote to come from our leader is about soon-to-be quarterback menace and Aaron Maybin-shoes-filler Jack Crawford.

One of the impressive things about him, after the Blue-White Game, I had a bunch of people up and they wanted to go down to see the locker room. They had their kids and everything. I went in there. I'll bet you it was nine o'clock after the Blue-White Game, and I opened up the team room to show them the team room and [Crawford] was in there looking at the Blue-White Game. So you see that and you start to say, 'Geez, that's a good start right there. A kid that really cares.' Most guys, after the Blue-White Game, they're out having fun or with their family or whatever, but he was down there looking at the film.

Obama to bail out Detroit again

2009-06-15T06:50:00.001-04:00

President Obama announced Sunday that he will bail out another failing Detroit business: the Red Wings. "It's apparent with the Detroit Red Wings play in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals that they need help from this administration," Obama said. "We have to be proactive, we can't wait for things to spiral out of control." Detroit lost Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals on their home ice in front of throngs of disappointed fans.

General manager Ken Holland was thankful for any help he could get. "Let's face it," Holland said, "we're not the team we once were, Pittsburgh is younger and more financially sound." Ironically, it was Pittsburgh that almost lost its franchise a few years back but with young stars like Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin the Penguins are a team on the rise. "We only have ourselves to blame," a humbled Holland said, "bad deals have left us in this position and the only way out is help from the government." Details of the deal have yet to be finalized but one of the major points of the agreement is naming rights. "The Hockeytown brand will now reside in Pittsburgh," Obama said "we can't honestly call a team that loses game 7 on home Ice Hockeytown." Philadelphia Flyers officials could not be reached for comment but it's certain that Pittsburgh's in-state little brother won't be happy with the news of the new Hockeytown.

Blog Chips

2009-06-12T06:36:00.001-04:00

-JayPa thinking of a political career?
So you thought JayPa's stumping for Obama was just a passing fancy but, as it turns out, there may be more to it.

IT STRUCK me as strange that Penn State quarterbacks coach Jay Paterno, son of the state's principal deity and an active campaigner for Barack Obama, spoke at a journalism conference recently in Gettysburg… …But when a "name" Pennsylvanian with links to politics goes outside his or her milieu into the arms of the statewide press, I start to wonder.

IT ALWAYS worries me when political columnists try to go outside their "milieu*" and try to give football related ideals or events a political persona, lucky for us, the only reference to sports in this column is the cheesy title: but I digress.

Jay says that he made 15 speeches for Obama last year as "an officially vetted surrogate," did robo-calls and helped register young voters. Then I mention that the region is rough for Democrats, he notes that congressional reapportionment is coming after next year's census, which suggests that he's paying fairly close attention.
But for now?
"I'm a coach first and foremost," he says, "so probably not now, but somewhere down the road, three years down the road, who knows?"

Wow, there years? That doesn't sound like the kind of resolve of someone dedicated to moving up the coaching ladder and eventually becoming a head coach.** Hell that sounds like someone that A) isn't interested in coaching too much B) needs a "Plan B" because his coaching career has stalled or C) can see the writing on the wall. You be the judge.

-Won't someone think of the children!!

Minnesota was given the "o.k." to sell alkeehaul at their new on-campus TCF Bank Stadium by state lawmakers but University President Robert Bruininks says 'thanks but no thanks.'

University President Robert Bruininks is expected to recommend Friday that regents ban alcohol from the new TCF Bank Stadium following a dispute with state lawmakers.
"We know people will drink before they get to our games. We're not naive," Bruininks told The Associated Press on Thursday. "But we do think this is the best, most responsible way to manage our game days and to really make this a high-quality experience for our fans."

This has long been a conundrum of mine I can see the good and bad for both sides. On one hand, selling alcohol during the game would probably increase the number of obnoxious drunks, on the other hand it would limit the number of flabbergasted drunks because beer servers could cut off visibly intoxicated patrons before they get out of control. It's naive to think that people aren't sneaking in flasks during games and selling alcohol would all but eliminate most of them. In addition we all know how inflated the prices are for anything sold during game time and this would certainly be a big revenue steam for the university; people will pay outrageous prices just for the convenience. On the same token though, it would probably mean an increase of drunks after the game which is never a good thing, especially if they are getting behind the wheel.

-Bowman out of Paterno's doghouse?

JoePa said Bowman has been a "leader" in offseason workouts. Sean Lee agrees:

"Bowman will be fine. ... He's a guy if you come to workouts who is always working hard, always up front," linebacker and captain Sean Lee said. "I think he'll be ready to go come this season."

Joe once again' took his right leg out' in the Big Ten expansion hokey-pokey.

"In all fairness, I said something without having all the answers. The problems it would cause with the schedule and things," Paterno said. "Jim Delany has taken it upon himself to say, 'Hey, let me look into it.' He's looking into it. Whatever Jim comes up with will be good for the conference."

-Well that clears things up!

USC has finally said something in the Reggie Bush/O.J. Mayo debacle long after the NCAA started its probe into the scandal.

"We have already interviewed approximately 50 people and spent many hundreds of hours investigating these allegations," Dickey said in the statement. "We have no idea how long this investigation will continue, and no one is more anxious to bring this process to a conclusion than we are -- but we remain committed to getting to the truth."
"No one wants to find out what happened -- to get to the truth more than me," he said in the statement. "But there is a process -- and that process is dictated by the NCAA rules and making sure that the investigation is conducted in a manner that will ensure that we indeed do get to the truth."

So in other words, we have spent 10's of days looking somewhat into this and I'll be damned we can't find anything. I'm convinced.

-speaking of NCAA infractions

Nick Saban has done a fine job of continuing a long tradition at Alabama:

The NCAA placed Alabama's football program and 15 other of the school's athletic teams on three years' probation for major violations due to misue [sic] of free textbooks.

Seven football players used their scholarship benefits to obtain free textbooks for their friends and we're not talking small beans here.

As a result, the NCAA ruled the football team must vacate any wins in which any of those seven players took part during 2005-07.
The four biggest offenders in dollar value were among the seven football players, who received from $2,714 to $3,947 in improper benefits.

That's a lot of textbooks! But the football players were not that important right? Just a bunch of second teamers?

Saban, who replaced Mike Shula after the 2006 season, suspended five players…for four games when the university uncovered the violations in 2007. The Tide was 5-2 at that point, and its only wins in the next six games came against Tennessee and Colorado in the Independence Bowl.

So yeah, they were important. In Saban's defense this is one of those violations that I doubt he knew anything about and he reacted appropriately by suspending them when he found out. The problem is, just like criminals, it's difficult to trust repeat offenders.

Alabama, which didn't contest the allegations, is a repeat violator because the program was placed on five years' probation in February 2002, when it was also under the five-year window for basketball violations.

*don't bother looking it up it's another word for "context" which is just another example of why sports columnists are such an easier read than political journalists, but I guess if you are pandering to the pretentious crowd it's best to sound like a pompous ass… and have a decent resume, because we all know the more titles after your name the smarter you are.

** Stop fucking laughing!!!

Penn State gets a huge Wrestling recruit

2009-06-09T06:20:00.000-04:00

There has been rumor and speculation for some time now that erstwhile Iowa State wrestling recruit David Taylor was leaning heavily toward following Cael Sanderson to Penn State and it's now official.

It's been a much longer road than all-everything Graham High School wrestler David Taylor had ever expected, but now that he's finally reached its end, he'd grateful for the journey. Taylor announced Monday, June 8, that he has accepted a full-ride scholarship to wrestle for Penn State University and its new head coach, Cael Sanderson.

Taylor is a huge get for Penn State and Sanderson, he was only the 17^th wrestler to win four state titles in the state of Ohio, finished his high school career with an amazing record of 180-2, and won the prestigious Ironman Tournament four times (he's the only wrestler to accomplish that feat). He also won the 2009 Dave Schultz National High School Excellence Award given to the high school wrestler who displays excellence in wrestling, scholastic achievement, character, citizenship, and community service.

Penn State steals another lineman from Pitt

2009-06-04T06:05:00.000-04:00

After yesterday's fiasco with WPIAL offensive lineman Miles Dieffenbach you would think Pitt would get a break, I mean Miles' dad is a tennis coach there, that must have stung. Well the universe can be very cruel sometimes because, on the heels of Dieffenbach's commitment comes the second WPIAL lineman to spurn Pitt and choose Penn State: Tom Ricketts. The thing is Ricketts father isn't some non-revenue women's athletics coach, no it's much worse for Pitt; much, much worse:

Ricketts' decision might have been even a bigger blow to Pitt. Ricketts father, Tom II, was a standout lineman at Pitt in the 1980s. His mother, Sandy (Albright) Ricketts, was a standout swimmer at Pitt. The parents have season tickets to Pitt football games. Ricketts' great grandfather was Charles "Doc" Hartwig, who was a first-team All-American at Pitt in the 1930s.

The dude's a Pitt legacy the entire freakin' family has award winning athletic ties to Pitt. That, my friends is cold.

"Penn State has always been my secret favorite," Ricketts said. "Growing up, Pitt was a favorite, too. But just looking at the opportunities given to me, Penn State was the best thing for me. ... This past week - and maybe even a little less than that - I was pretty sure Penn State is where I wanted to go. The past three days, I said, 'This is where I need to be.' I love the campus, the coaching staff, everything about Penn State."
More from young Tom about his commitment: "Really, it's just about the best fit for me - as a student and player. Maybe as Tom Ricketts' son, it might have been best for me at Pitt. But as Thomas Ricketts III, Penn State is where I need to be."

Ricketts really didn't have a chance though, he was recruited by Penn State's best recruiter at a VERY early age:

Fourteen years ago, Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Bradley sent a recruiting letter to Tom Ricketts. Ricketts was 3 years old at the time.
Bradley knew Ricketts' father, Tom II, and sent the letter as a joke. Fourteen years later, Bradley recruited the younger Ricketts for real - and got him.
Both Ricketts and his father talked tonight in a phone interview about the letter from Bradley and laughed about it. They have the letter framed in their home.

Somewhere Ron Zook is frantically constructing thousands of recruiting letters for newborns of former college football players.

Blog Chips: It’s the little things in life

2009-06-03T06:08:00.000-04:00

-Sometimes it's the little things in life that make your day. BSD is reporting that Penn State has landed four star center Miles Dieffenbach. Good, yes but the schadenfreuderific twist to this is that Miles is from Pittsburgh and grew up a huge Pitt fan until…

"I wasn't really holding out for it. I mean, I grew up a Pitt fan all my life and always hated Penn State, so when they offered me, I wasn't really that into it," said Dieffenbach. "But then I visited and it was different from what I thought. I loved it, and the tables turned."

As Mike points out, head on over to the Pitt message boards, if you don't have a smile on your face for the rest of the day… well… you're just not an ignorant ass like me.

-The AP is reporting that the NCAA has responded to Florida State's appeal of sanctions from their academic cheating scandal and they've done so with a carrier pigeon and decoder ring.

The NCAA's Committee on Infractions responded Tuesday to Florida State's appeal of sanctions from an academic cheating scandal, but kept its answer secret and gave the school 15 days to respond.

FSU's response?

"Our comment will be the rebuttal," associate athletic director Rob Wilson said. "We'll all know a lot more when we send this thing back."

Super secret probation and an equally clandestine response = not good news for FSU.

-Things have been quiet on the wrestling front since "the day the wrestling world was turned upside down" when PSU hired Cael Sanderson but the rumor mill hasn't stopped buzzing. Some items of concrete certainty have surfaced though. A week after the announcement, two of the nation's best high school wrestlers signed on with Penn State: twin brothers Andrew and Dylan Alton. Recently, all-American and erstwhile Iowa State wrestler Cyler Sanderson was given a release to join his older brother and wrestle his senior season at Penn State. This will instantly give Penn State a shot in the arm for this season, it's been widely speculated that until Cael gets his recruits in place that Penn State would be in a rebuilding phase at least for the next couple years, but if this is any indication of things to come, perhaps not.

-Speaking of Penn State wrestling, if you want a great blog of all things PSU Wrestling, visit Happy Valley Half Nelson. I have to admit, we wrestling fans may be small in number but we make up for it in fanaticism.

Who wants to be a millionaire: JoePa

2009-06-01T06:20:00.000-04:00

This is as surprising as someone revealing that Rush Limbaugh is fat:

Records released Friday by the university show the 82-year-old Hall of Famer is Penn State's highest-paid employee, making more than $1.03 million last year.
That includes his base salary plus any bonuses, but does not include compensation from outside the university that top coaches typically collect. Paterno's compensation from other sources is not a public record.

We've long speculated that Mr. Paterno (will be fine thank you very much) made much less than the top college football coaches and here we have empirical evidence. Sure, he probably makes a boat-load of money from endorsement deals but what big-name coach doesn't? The point is Paterno makes less than 1/3 of the nation's highest paid coaches Les Miles and Nick Saban (3.8 M) and let's face it, would Nittany Nation be proud of the recruiting tactics that Saban has displayed? Yeah, we'll take that old guy in a heartbeat, we still have a soul.

Now that we know does this change anything, people? Not for me, but hey, thanks to the lawyers for bringing this to light.

Paterno's salary was once one of college football's most closely-guarded secrets until his base salary of roughly $500,000 was made public two years ago as part of an open records request of state retirement data initiated by the Patriot News of Harrisburg.

Oh, the good old Harrisburg Patriot, collecting your puppy's droppings since 1986. Hope the money spent to get this info helps you guys sell papers.*

More fun with numbers:

Men's basketball coach Ed DeChellis made more than $642,000.
Of other salaries released, five were for officers of the university and therefore paid mostly from public funding or tuition. That includes president Graham Spanier, who made $590,000.

So Spanier makes almost as much as the Men's Basketball coach, interesting indeed. I would say that a half Mil isn't that much to pay for a major university president but 600 Grand is really really cheep for a big time university basketball coach. I think in Paterno's and DeChellis' case we have a very good bargain.

*not really I hope you go bankrupt for this obvious attempt at publicity.

TNL Way too early schedule breakdown Part III

2009-05-29T06:29:00.002-04:00

Hammering out our early bird look at the Nittany Lions schedule we move on to the final third. Part 1 here. Part 2 here. First a look at the schedule in its entirety:

Date Opponent
09/05/09 vs. Akron
09/12/09 vs. Syracuse
09/19/09 vs. Temple
09/26/09 vs. Iowa
10/03/09 at Illinois
10/10/09 vs. Eastern Illinois
10/17/09 vs. Minnesota
10/24/09 at Michigan
10/31/09 at Northwestern
11/07/09 vs. Ohio State
11/14/09 vs. Indiana
11/21/09 at Michigan State

Northwestern

The bad news for Northwestern is that QB C.J. Bacher and RB Tyrell Sutton are both gone. The good news is the Wildcats had to play without the services of those two a lot last season due to injury problems so the backups will come into this season with game experience. The offensive line was forced to start three freshmen last season yet ranked second in the conference in sacks allowed. They'll be very good after a year of experience in the trenches. The defense will be very good if D end Corey Wootton recovers from a knee injury he suffered in NU's bowl game. The secondary is experienced and led by safety Brad Phillips who tallied 109 tackle last season. I previously claimed that the Minnesota game was TNL's official trap game of the year and I still stand by that but this will be TNL's official 2^nd trap game of the season (Hey, I make the rules up as I go). Sandwiched between a trip to hated Michigan and a HUGE game against Ohio State at the Beav, if the Nits are looking ahead, Northwestern will bite them in the ass.

Probability of loss: 45% - this game worries me
Impact of loss: devastating – with OSU on deck a loss here could kill momentum
Blog(s) of note: Lake the Posts – if you're not reading LTP shame on you for six days!

Ohio State

Hey did you guys here that Terrelle Pryor is OMG the most awesome quarterback in the universe!?! He's exponentially better than last year and can run over a charging rhino without breaking a sweat! He's winning like, 3 Heismans for sure!

There, I thought I'd point the OSU overhype machine* in TP's direction since the greatest linebacker ever is now in the NFL. All kidding aside Pryor will be much better this year but returns as the team's leading rusher and with loses on the line and at wide receiver we may see a lot of running by TP, especially early on. Pryor does have a reliable target in senior tight end Jake Ballard so look for a more balanced, short passing game but the line has to play much better than last season for the offense to thrive. The defense will be great again. The defensive line returns all four starters and the secondary returns three although the loss of Jim Thorpe winner Malcolm Jenkins will certainly hurt. OSU lost two very good linebackers but when doesn't Ohio State have good linebackers? OSU will be challenging for the Big Ten title yet again.

Probability of loss: 60%
Impact of loss: depressing but not unexpected
Blog(s) of note: Eleven Warriors, Our Honor Defend, The Buckeye Battle Cry

Indiana

If you're a Hoosier optimist I feel for you. Gone is reliable RB Marcus Thigpen and Andrew Means, Indiana's leading receiver. Coach Bill Lynch, in his infinite wisdom, moved Indiana's best offensive weapon Kellen Lewis from quarterback where you know, he touched the ball every play to wide receiver where he needs someone else to get him the ball consistently. The move was necessitated by a weak receiving corps but still makes little sense because even more head scratching is the move of second leading wide receiver Ray Fisher to the secondary. QB Ben Chappell did throw for 1,000 yards last season and is serviceable but not nearly as mobile as Lewis and the offensive line wasn't all that great last season although all five starters return. The defense returns eight starters but they were one of the worst D's in college football last season (107^th in total, 105^th in passing and 108^th in Scoring). D end Jammie Kirlew returns and tallied 10.5 sacks last year so I guess that's at least a bright spot. Don't look for any huge improvement from the Hosiers this season.

Probability of loss: 20%
Impact of loss: soul crushing
Blog(s) of note: The Crimson Quarry – sounds like a cool place for the kids to drink beer

Michigan State

Defense and special teams will be the name of the game for MSU this year. Sparty returns an All-conference player at both kicker and punter and All-Big ten linebacker Greg Jones. In fact all three linebackers return and three of the four in the secondary along with two D lineman. Javon Ringer left and took with him most of the offense and what little he didn't take went with QB Brian Hoyer who left as well. Both wideouts and starting TE Charlie Gantt return so whoever takes over at quarterback will at least have decent targets. The line gets back three of the five starters, but they will have to gel quickly with the new guys, early visits to Notre Dame and Wisconsin will prove tricky.

Probability of loss: 35%
Impact of loss: momentum destroying – PSU will certainly be heading to a bowl game with their schedule
Blog(s) of note: Sparty MSU, The Enlightened Spartan

*seriously, does Ohio State have the patent on the overhype machine or what?!? It's like a tradition.

Update: reader JD has given us a great idea when speaking about overhypness. Which player is overhyped more: Jimmy Clausen or Terrelle Pryor? Vote now on the sidebar!

Paterno to Notre Dame: you’ve had your chance

2009-05-28T06:58:00.003-04:00

While JoePa may have backed off the pressure last week for adding a 12^th team to the Big Ten he's still singing the same tune.

Paterno, meeting with reporters Wednesday at an alumni event near Allentown, has long pushed for Big Ten expansion.
Paterno said he'd like the Big Ten to add an Eastern school, especially one that plays in the New York media market.
"If I had my choice, someone that can give us the biggest TV exposure in the East," Paterno said, offering as possibilities "Syracuse, Pitt, Rutgers. Not in that order."

It makes perfect sense, from a Penn State perspective, you get much more exposure in markets that PSU has had success recruiting and it adds a more east-coast flavor to the Big Ten. Of course Michigan and Ohio State would never go for any of those three schools because they are old rivals of Penn State and would give PSU a tactical recruiting benefit given its geographical advantage. Just like before, those schools would want someone with the name recognition of Notre Dame a team the Big Ten wooed a decade ago trying to entice them into Big Ten membership. But Paterno has a message for those that still want Notre Dame:

"There's some pressure, I would suppose, to maybe go back to Notre Dame and ask again, which I would not be happy with," Paterno said. "I think they've had their chance."

Even though Notre Dame plays a lot of Big Ten schools (they played 3 teams last year and are scheduled to play the same 3 this year) I'm totally in agreement with Paterno on this one, Notre Dame had their chance the Big Ten shouldn't even consider them anymore. If there ever is a playoff in college football Notre Dame will have a lot of pressure to join a conference assuming there are automatic bids. If that scenario ever comes to fruition the Irish will surely choose the Big Ten over the Big East and hopefully the Big Ten lets them hang out to dry. As JoePa said, you had your chance.

The BCS can’t get any worse can it?

2009-05-27T11:31:00.002-04:00

Apparently the answer is 'yes.'

For the first time since 2005, the final regular-season ballots for the USA Today coaches' poll will not be disclosed to the public beginning in 2010, the paper reported, citing an anonymous source.

You'll remember that the coaches' poll is one of three polls used to calculate the BCS ratings, the problem is it's been proven that the coaches intentionally rig the poll in their favor so it's unfortunate that it's part of the process in the first place but add in the prospect of anonymity and it just becomes absurd. If you think Steve Spurrier gives himself a big bump in the polls now, just wait till he doesn't have to show his vote. The BCS apologists say that the controversy surrounding the polls is a good thing but controversy like this is just plain silly, the system sucks.

Rematch!

2009-05-27T06:55:00.003-04:00

Unless the Red Wings have a cataclysmic collapse the Pens will get a rematch of last year's Stanley Cup finals. And yeah, Sid touched the Prince of Wales Trophy whopidy do, the Pens are winning it this year because they have the Devil on their side!

Nobody beats the Devil!

Happy Memorial Day from TNL!

2009-05-25T06:50:00.003-04:00

Happy Decoration Day from the hosts of TNL. If you know someone that has lost a loved one to military service take a moment to thank them today for all of us that are way too scared to serve. If you're reading this and lost someone, words cannot describe the appreciation I have.

Happy Memorial Day!

Would Jim Delany please shut up?

2009-05-21T06:55:00.001-04:00

I wanted to post an initial reaction to this but I thought it would be a better idea to sleep on it so I don't… you know… start rambling on incoherently but the more I thought about it… well… I should have just posted it because it's about to get very unintelligible. Jimmy boy felt he needed to respond to President Barack Obama's push for a playoff.

"It's very hard to be disagreeable with a popular president," Delany said, according to the Chicago Tribune. "He's a scholar and a lawyer and a great politician, but I don't think he understands the complexity of the issue."
Delany wasn't done; adding in jest that Obama should stick with college basketball, where he correctly picked North Carolina would win the 2009 national title.

Let me preface this by saying I didn't vote for Barack but unlike Oxycotton and Big Mac addict Rush Limbaugh, I want him to succeed because if he fails we all do and most of us are out of a job and what sane person would want that. We can all agree that Obama is a very intelligent and charismatic guy even if you disagree with the polices, he's very smart. So yeah, onto Jim's comments. <extreme sarcasm> Yes a playoff is very complicated, way more complicated than say…

A) the GLOBAL economy
B) a war in a far off middle east country
C) a failing health care system
D) a social security system plummeting toward bankruptcy
E) delicate foreign relations with countries that have nuclear missiles pointed at us.

There's no WAY the president of the most powerful nation in the world could fathom the intricacies of a college football playoff, it's just too complex for him to understand. </extreme sarcasm>

GOD Delany you are such an arrogant ASS. Jim, do us all a favor and just shut the fuck up! Just don't say anything. When someone shoves a mic in front of you don't speak, don't say "no comment" just wave your hand and walk away. You are the most blatantly transparent man; everyone knows all you care about are the truck loads of money you can fleece off the BCS for your conference. You're a terrible spokesperson for your conference and a terrible liar. Why do you continue to make the most asinine statements at the most inopportune time?!?! WHY? Every time the Big Ten's image is damaged you open your mouth and make things MUCH worse. Remember when OSU got destroyed by Florida in the championship game making the Big Ten look weak and you felt the appropriate response was attack the SEC's admission standards!?!? You made yourself and the Big Ten the butt-end of jokes around the intertubes. Just stop it.

Here's my plan. Hire a spokesperson for the office of the commissioner of the Big Ten. This person will do all of the talking for you. You don't say a damn word, not one. But that's not all, we don't want your illogical comments going straight through to said spokesperson you need a filter. Hire the best, and I mean the BEST PR guy available. Send all of your comments to him so that he can decipher the meaning, reword, and relay them to the spokesperson so that they don't come out as an egotistical assault. I'm no PR guy but let me show you how easy it is to not sound like such a douche.

"It's very hard to be disagreeable with a popular president, He's a scholar and a lawyer and a great politician, but implementing a playoff system is a very daunting task and it would be a very complex process, one that I think most university presidents are not willing to undergo. But it is obvious by the president's ability to pick the NCAA Men's college basketball tournament winner, that he has a deep understanding of college sports and I respect that.

See how much less assholeish that is?!?!? See how you wouldn't have shown your ass if you had worded it that way? It's not that difficult.

Make

happen

Jackass!

TNL Way too early schedule breakdown Part II

2009-05-20T06:27:00.000-04:00

Moving along with an early look at the PSU schedule we take a look at the middle or Oreo Cream filling part. Again here's a look at the schedule in full. Part 1 here.

Date Opponent
09/05/09 vs. Akron
09/12/09 vs. Syracuse
09/19/09 vs. Temple
09/26/09 vs. Iowa
10/03/09 at Illinois
10/10/09 vs. Eastern Illinois
10/17/09 vs. Minnesota
10/24/09 at Michigan
10/31/09 at Northwestern
11/07/09 vs. Ohio State
11/14/09 vs. Indiana
11/21/09 at Michigan State

Illinois

The Zooker's defense lost an All-American cornerback (Vontae Davis) to the 1^st round of the NFL draft, a team and Big Ten leading tackler (Brit Miller) and the best returning defensive lineman (Josh Brent) to "legal complications."* Considering Davis was the NFL's 25^th pick and the fighting [non-offensive-mascots] defense was dead last in the conference in interceptions, it's not a leap of faith to believe Illini's defense will be slightly worse than last year's version which wasn't great.

The offensive side of the ball looks much more promising returning all but one skill position player from an offense that led the conference in passing and total yardage. The combination of Juice Williams and Arrelious Benn will terrorize opposing defenses (Benn led the conference in receiving yards in conference play despite double teams). Zooker used a running back by committee approach last season with mixed results but the entire committee returns. Most of the mistakes at the running back position were of the fumbly kind. That's all the good, now for the bad news: Juice led the league in sacks last season and although some of that could be blamed on his propensity to hold onto the ball way too long, take sacks, and deposit the ball to the opposing defense, much of the blame could be levied on the offensive line. To make matters worse the Illini loose two All-American linemen. Oh, they'll be prolific once again but it's going to be a Chinese fire drill in the backfield.

Probability of loss: 40%

Impact of loss: crushing, but understandable if not forgivable, considering it's the first road game.

Blog(s) of note: Hail to the Orange, The Quad

Eastern Illinois

Apparently the schedule makers decided October was Illinois month as Penn State hosts Eastern Illinois right after visiting Illinois. The Panthers return 7 starters on offense and six starters on defense from a team that went 5-7 in the Ohio Valley conference in 2008. The returners on offense are mostly offensive lineman including 1^st team All-Ohio Valley Conference guard Chaz Millard, but they do return quarterback Bodie Reeder who threw for 1,931 yards, 13 TD's and 7 INT's last season. The defense returns no one of note (the combined sack total of all key returning defenders is 3 – Aaron Maybin laughs at your sack total).

Probability of loss: No Freakin' way

Impact of loss: I start looking forward to Wrestling and Hockey season

Blog(s) of note: NONE – It's Eastern freakin' Illinois: here's their official site.

Minnesota

The wheels fell off Tim Brewster's Gophers last season after starting out 7-1 they lost the last four games. Still, it was an impressive turnaround from the 1-11 debacle a year earlier. Even bigger things are expected of the 2009 version of Minnesota. 19 starters return in total including 10 on offense. All-Big Ten QB Adam Weber and All-Big Ten Wr Eric Decker create a formidable 1-2 punch and the entire offensive line is back with several backups that saw significant playing time. The defense lacks star playmakers but is a very veteran group (8 of the 9 returning starters are seniors) led by All-Big Ten CB Traye Simmons. This is officially TNL's trap game of the season, with so many returning veterans on both sides of the ball if Penn State is not playing well they will lose. This game has me feeling the same way I felt about Iowa last season and we all know how that turned out.

Probability of loss: 50%

Impact of loss: See Iowa 2008

Blog(s) of note: The Daily Gopher

Michigan

The DickRod regime moves on to year two and Rodriguez's fingerprints are starting to show by way of a Top 10 recruiting class. Last year's starting signal caller Steven Threet left Michigan after seeing the writing on the wall which leaves the reigns to incoming freshman Tate Forcier. The offense returns 6 starters with the strength being the offensive line a group that gave up only 22 sacks last season which is impressive considering how awful the Wolverines were and how clubfooted Threet was. Forcier will bring an elusiveness that defenses could ignore last season and there will be an influx of young talent at the receiver position. But… before Wolverine fans start dreaming of complete turnarounds, Forcier is just a true freshman and there will be plenty of growing pains. Forcier will be able to get himself out of trouble with his feet but the good defenses on the schedule will force him into freshman mistakes.

The defense was horrible last season and only returns one starter on the line and one in the secondary. The new defensive coordinator is erstwhile Syracuse coach Greg Robinson who, while failing miserably as a head coach, has a very decent resume as a defensive coordinator. They won't be great but they will probably be better. Wolverine fans should be very worried about Western Michigan a team that upset Illinois last season. That could be a tough game for a very green team to start out with.

Probability of loss: 40% - would be less but it's on the road, 8 games into the schedule when all the young guys will have experience under their belts

Impact of loss: All of PSU Nation moans "here we go again!"

Blog(s) of note: Maize and Blue Nation, Maize and Brew*

*Any blog that fits a reference to beer into their title is tops in my book

Your 2009 Nittany Lion Captains

2009-05-19T13:29:00.002-04:00

This should come as no surprise to anyone.

Linebacker Sean Lee and quarterback Daryll Clark have been elected captains of the Penn State football team.
Lee and Clark were selected by their teammates after spring practice. Their election was expected, and the team made it official with a statement Tuesday.

Lee was an honorary captain last season and Clark had been taking on the "leadership" roll in practice so this was just a foregone conclusion.

TNL Way too early schedule breakdown

2009-05-18T06:19:00.000-04:00

Not much to talk about lately (which is a good thing because we're not talking about players running afoul of the law) so we might as well look way ahead to next season. With that I give you the TNL way-too-early-schedule breakdown. Here's the schedule in its entirety:
Date Opponent
09/05/09 vs. Akron
09/12/09 vs. Syracuse
09/19/09 vs. Temple
09/26/09 vs. Iowa
10/03/09 at Illinois
10/10/09 vs. Eastern Illinois
10/17/09 vs. Minnesota
10/24/09 at Michigan
10/31/09 at Northwestern
11/07/09 vs. Ohio State
11/14/09 vs. Indiana
11/21/09 at Michigan State

Now let's look at each team individually, shall we?

It's-Only-Akron*

The Zips return veteran Chris Jacquemain at quarterback, four starting linemen and three veteran wide receivers. Jacquemain is in his third year as the starting quarterback. But gone is 1,000 yard rusher Dennis Kennedy, All-MAC tackle Chris Kemme, and linebackers Kevin Grant and Doug Williams who were first and third respectively in tackles. It will be a test of the new secondary but not much of one.

Probability of loss: Not Bloody Likely!

Impact of loss: Mass hysteria, Jay quits tweeting due to death threats from his readers.

Blog(s) of note: Ohio.com

Syracuse

New 'Cuse head coach Doug Marrone begins his attempt to resurrect a Syracuse program that went 10-37 in the last four seasons. It will be a tough task and the fact that Marrone's recruiting class was rated last in the Big East and one of the worst in the country won't help. Of the 14 players signed, 8 are on the defensive side which should help; Syracuse ranked 101st in the nation on total defense and 83rd in passing defense, but don't expect things to get a whole lot better. Syracuse starts off with Minnesota, Penn State and Northwestern, so yeah… good luck with that.

Probability of loss: Not gonna happen

Impact of loss: Worse than It'-Only-Akron, ticket prices drop as does home game attendance.

Blog(s) of note: Orange Football

Temple

The Temple offense returns 10 players including senior wide receivers Jason Harper and Dy'Onne Crudup, but will be without the services of three year starter Adam DiMichele at quarterback and All-MAC and school record holder Bruce Francis at wide receiver. The line should be young but experienced. The defense returns 9 starters including All-MAC honorees Andre Neblett at nose tackle and senior strong safety Dominique Harris. The defensive line will be the strength of TU's defense.

Probability of loss: Greater than last season but still improbable

Impact of loss: See It's-Only-Akron and Syracuse

Blog(s) of note: The remarkably well-written and surprisingly intense Temple Football Forever**

Iowa

The loss of Mac Truck Shonn Greene and DT's Matt Kroul and Mitch King will be very difficult to replace. But Iowa returns 7 starters on offense including two experienced tackles in Bryan Bulaga and Kyle Calloway so whoever takes over for Greene should have running room and quarterback Ricky Stanzi will have time to throw as long as he cuts down on the back breaking interceptions. The defense returns 8 starters and boast a linebacking group that is as good or better than the guys in Happy Valley. A.J. Edds, Pat Angerer, and Jeremiha Hunter are all experienced and will make up for the loss of King and Kroul. They could be the best linebacking group in the nation.

Probability of loss: 50% - this will be PSU's first test of a team with a pulse – will they be ready for the challenge?

Impact of loss: Crippling. A slip up this early in the season could spell doom.

Blog(s) of note: PSU arch enemy and JoePa chronicle architects BHGP

That's the first quarter of the schedule and all I really care to look up right now. It's a busy week, with the Holiday coming so my blogging will be limited but I'll try and knock the rest of this out but you get no promises from me.

*Thank God Akron is back on the schedule I get to once again use RUTS "It's-Only-Akron" reference yet again.

** It's Temple!! Yeah writing about Penn State is easy but Temple? That's a different story.

Blog Chips: the filling the void edition

2009-05-13T06:18:00.001-04:00

I know it's offseason but it's really quiet out there… too quiet.

<cue gratuitous pic>

There are some items of interest if you are bored at work and need some reading material to kill time (don't worry I won't tell your boss).

-Penn State AD Tim Curley was in Washington on Tuesday arguing before the Knight Commission about the NCAA going to congress to ask for an antitrust exemption so that the NCAA can put a salary cap on head coaching salaries. The Knight Commission is a watchdog group that seeks reform in college sports. With the economy being what it is right now universities are feeling the pinch and one such plan put on the table is a the cap to keep costs under control. But Curley isn't buying it.

"This area of salaries is very complex," said Penn State AD Tim Curley. "I just don't know if going to Congress for that exemption is the appropriate thing to do. The bottom line is we're in a competitive marketplace no different from the universities are in a competitive marketplace for presidents, provosts, deans, other people on campus."

While he's against the cap, Curley hints that if things don't change we could see a reduction of athletic programs.

"I believe the economic conditions and realities facing athletics will have a major impact on sponsorship and participation in the years ahead," Curley said. "My main concern is if adjustments are not made, we will see a reduction of both men's and women's programs in the next three to five years. I believe Olympic men's sports will see the biggest reductions."
What adjustments should be made? Curley said "everything should be on the table," including schedules, personnel and the activities that take place outside of a sport's traditional season.

-If you think we lost a lot of D lineman last year think about this: Jared Odrick had some serious thoughts about going out early last year.

"I was considering it to a certain extent," Odrick said. "I talked to coach (PSU's Larry) Johnson about it and heard things through word of mouth, but it really wasn't a hard decision. It was a combination of things. I thought I should come back and get my degree. I thought I should play another year for Penn State. And I didn't want to leave my friends.

-Penn State jumped five places in the Director's Cup thanks to a pretty good winter season. Unfortunately, Michigan is in fourth.

Stanford leads with 1025.25, while Minnesota is in second place with 776.25, North Carolina is third with 740.75 points and Michigan is in fourth with 715.30.

The men's and women's gymnastics teams and the indoor track & field team all finished seventh but the big hit came from our ringers.

On the strength of 100 points from fencing's 11th National Collegiate Championship, Penn State has accumulated 702 points.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, don't mess with our fencing team bitches!

-Finally, thanks to Jay and his twittering we have pics of the Penn State All-Americans.

Thanks Jay!

Fall Guy

2009-05-07T12:35:00.002-04:00

The police have arrested a man in connection with 'pot gate'

A man faces a misdemeanor drug charge after police said marijuana residue and related items were found in a Penn State apartment rented by four Nittany Lions football players. University police say Ronald Bridges, of Bear, Del., was charged with the controlled substance drug, device and cosmetic act.
Deputy police chief Tyrone Parham says Bridges was not a student, and that he was visiting the apartment the night of April 25, after the Blue-White scrimmage. Parham said Thursday the case is closed.

Considering Joe's reaction to the whole thing I would say little if anything is going to come in the way of punishment. You may now resume your normal lives.