Blog Chips hearts JoePa

I was going to do my Former Foes post today because I know all of you are waiting with bated breath for my Akron – Buffalo analysis but there are some good things in these here intertubes today. Let's start with the on the field stuff.

OMG!! I didn't even know he was hurt!

File this under "I didn't know and I'm glad I didn't":

Penn State linebacker Sean Lee is practicing and expects to play this weekend against Michigan despite tweaking his sprained left knee last week… Lee played mostly on passing downs, finishing with two tackles.

Lee said Wednesday he "felt a little twinge" in the knee on his last play against the Gophers. Lee has felt some soreness, though he hopes to ease into more playing time as the season progresses.

So he was hurt worse than I thought but seems to be ok, good. Now is not the time to "ease" into anything, it's Michigan and Penn State will need everyone to win.

Confidence is good - QUIET Confidence!!!

Of all people to make a comment that would make the Michigan bulletin board, I would least expect Evan Royster:

"We have to go there with a confident attitude," Royster said Tuesday. "It's not to make anybody mad or anything like that. We feel we are the better team, and we want to show we're one of the better teams in the country. We have to beat Michigan to do that."

Ok, not the "I guarantee a win" type of trash talk but could he have chose his words a little more carefully, it definitely got some attention.

When he was told of Royster's remarks, Michigan defensive end Brandon Graham responded sternly.

"Oh, he's just going to have to show it," Graham said. "They better come hard because we're coming. I just don't think they really know how much we've prepared and how much we've been waiting for this game since last year.

"If he feels pretty confident, he better prepare. That's all I can say."

Greeeaaaaattttttt. That's what Michigan needs in a series they won 90000 in a row: motivation.

All those years of yelling at the TV have finally paid off

On any given Saturday my friends have told me time and time again that the officials that are blowing easy calls working the game I'm watching can, in fact, not hear my screaming lines of incoherent expletives, but apparently SEC commissioner Mike Slive heard me.

The Southeastern Conference has suspended officials from last weekend's Arkansas-Florida game after the crew was involved in its second controversial call of the year.

Referee Marc Curles' crew called a personal foul on Arkansas defensive lineman Malcolm Sheppard in the fourth quarter as the Gators were rallying for a 23-20 victory. The league said there was no video evidence to support the call.

The same group of officials called the LSU-Georgia game earlier this month, which included a late unsportsmanlike conduct penalty the league said shouldn't have been called.

FUCKING A!!! It's about time SOMEONE steps up and says enough is enough. This was the first time the SEC has publicly suspended a crew. So why?

"I believe our officiating program is the best in the country. However, there are times when these actions must be taken….The entire crew shoulders responsibility for each play. I have taken this action because there must be accountability in our officiating program," Slive said. "Our institutions expect the highest level of officiating in all of our sports and it is the duty of the conference office to uphold that expectation."

This is a giant chocolate covered sundae of awesomeness and there's a big ass, sweet as pure sugar cherry on top of this baby:

The league said the crew's bowl assignments could also be impacted.

That's right motherfuckers you're doing the Petro Sun Independence Bowl in Shreveport Louisiana, bitches!

Suck…

on….

that!!!

Geeeee, could you see the Big Ten doing this? No fucking way, not with our worthless commissioner, no Mr. Delaney turns his head closes his eyes and says everything's fine.

God, this puts a smile on my face and makes my week, THANK YOU Mike Slive! For your efforts Mr. Slive, you are now the proud owner of the TNL Balls of Steel award. We salute you.

Molder of men

Joe Paterno has been a hero of mine since I was a small lad, not because he's a football coach but because he's a great football coach who seriously cares for his kids. He's always put the lives of his football players first and I've been a critic of his in the past but every now and then it's a good idea to take a step back away from the wins and losses and remember how much he means to Penn State. Sports Illustrated has a fantastic article on Joe Paterno you simply must read (got the link through Penn State's Facebook page btw). Case in point:

In 2000, something changed. In the fifth game of that season—a struggle of a season for Penn State—a gifted freshman cornerback named Adam Taliaferro dived headfirst to make a tackle against Ohio State. He broke his neck and bruised his spinal cord. He was paralyzed. Doctors said he had almost no chance of walking again.

Joe was heartbroken. He realized that in many ways he had lived a charmed life: A loving wife. Five healthy children. A job that did not feel like a job. And, feeling charmed, he drove his players, pushed them, demanded more from them on the field. Hit harder! Ignore pain! Be tougher! "The first time I ever saw my father cry was when his mother died," Jay Paterno says. "Then there was the time Adam got hurt."

God bless you Joe.

One great coach on the way out, another just getting started

Wrestling season is fast approaching, in fact the Intrasquad match (formerly the wrestle-offs) are on Nov 5^th. You'll start to see a lot more focus on wrestling here at TNL as the season gets closer. The excitement is building to a feverous pitch right now and if you are a wrestling fan I suggest you get your season tickets now, I suspect a lot of tickets will be sold this year and next, and I also have a sneaking suspicion this will be the last year we watch the Nittany Lions in Rec Hall.

Cael Sanderson starts his inaugural season and there's definitely a feeling of change in the air.

Bubba Jenkins admits he wasn't even in shape at this point last season.

Each practice, even though the season has not started, has been harder than last year's most difficult practice, redshirt sophomore Clay Steadman said.

Sanderson is not only pushing the limits in the wrestling room he's also demanding discipline outside it.

The wrestlers were used to training for an extended period of time in the Lorenzo Wrestling Complex, but not spending a Friday night there for breaking a team rule.

Welcome to the Penn State wrestling team's version of Friday Night Lights.

The itinerary entails sweeping the filth off the practice mats with a broom, cleaning with a mop and running up and down the length of the four giant practice mats, paper towel in hand, to dry the floor.

After cleaning, wrestlers study in the bleachers of the facility, without any conversation, cell phones or iPods.

Sounds like you have to break some serious rules to get something as grueling as Friday Night Lights, right? Wrong.

It's something you don't want to get, but it's really easy to get," freshman wrestler Ed Ruth said. "As soon as you get it, you're like, 'I've got Friday Night Lights.'

Jenkins had to attend Friday Night Lights for arriving at a meeting two minutes before it started. Under Sanderson, wrestlers must show up five minutes before any team meeting.

That's right you get in trouble for showing up to a meeting EARLY, but not early enough. One thing is for sure, there will be discipline in this wrestling team.

Blog Chips: the time to panic edition

Time to raise the Panic Level

Sean Lee is "very doubtful" for Penn State but Bowman will play said Joe Paterno in his weekly radio address. Well we all kinda knew that and we're all prepared for it so it's not so bad I think everything will be fi*HOLY SHITBALLS!!!*

New to the injury report is sophomore Nathan Stupar, who had been illing in admirably for Bowman. Paterno said Stupar may not be available Saturday after spraining an ankle this week.

With news like that it's time to dust off the TNL Fan Advisory System.

As always…brought to you by the Department of Nittany Lion Homeland Security

Down one captian of the defense and the best backup… we are definitely raising the level two notches to ELEVATED.

Speaking of overreactions

With all the terrorist plots popping up in the news lately schools across the country have been adding extra measures to help protect you the fan. Make sure you give yourself extra time if you are going into the game because they will be checking bags a lot more thorough from now on.

The university says the most visible change will be at the gates, where inspections of bags will be more thorough….fans should give themselves an extra 30 minutes to get to their seats for games.

Before you start grumbling to yourself ladies, just remember you could be Michigan fans.

Michigan is banning purses and all other bags from Michigan Stadium for security reasons

Iowa has injury problems too

Penn State loses a couple important cogs in their lineup but Iowa will play without their brick wall at left tackle.

OL Bryan Bulaga (undisclosed illness) is out. TE Tony Moeaki (ankle) and WR Derrell Johnson-Koulianos (hamstring) have a chance to play Saturday night at No. 5 Penn State.

Man that is some bad Herpes he caught, don't they teach them safe sex at Iowa? I think this might change things a little bit for Iowa, they can't leave the backup lineman on an island like they could with Bulaga. Penn State's pass rush just got a boost.

Redemption time?

Daryll Clark kinda sorta remembers last year's Iowa game.

"There's nothing that anyone can say to me to make me believe that it wasn't my fault. Period," Clark, now a senior, said Wednesday. "I feel like I owe our football team a lot given the fact of what happened last season."

But it was just one interception (albeit a backbreaking one that sailed over the head of a wide open wide receiver *cough*) but that's it right Daryll?

"It wasn't just the interception; it was plays that went along the entire game," he said. "I wasn't very accurate. There were plays to be made that I just did not make. Obviously, the interception was one of the biggest ones because it was in a crucial situation. But it's not the only one.

No worries I would be really surprised if Clark goes 9 for 23 this year.

Coach Kirk Ferentz: Evil Genius

I guess it's an honor to play in front of a whiteout now.

SO THIS IS what happens when you beat a team six times in seven tries, including a heartbreaker last season that prevented the losers from playing for the national championship.

In effect, you get promoted to arch-villain status.

"I have never been there for a 'whiteout,' " Ferentz said. "I've been there for day games, and it's a great atmosphere. It's really unique . . . one of the great environments in America.

Kirk Ferentz: the Lex Luthor of the Big Ten.

Blog Chips: the premium edition

Time to corral all the interesting PSU tidbits into one nutritious post. As always Blog Chips is part of a complete balanced breakfast.

Thank God for depth

It's looking more and more like Bowman won't play Saturday.

"These things are tricky," Paterno said. "He obviously can't do some things right now because he'll aggravate it again. Let's let it simmer down. ... That's a medical decision and they'll tell me when he can play. But right now, we have our fingers crossed and we're hoping he might be ready Saturday."

But, but we're ok coach right? I mean Stupar played well.

"Stupar's learning," Paterno said. "He's going to be real good one of these days. Every game, he'll get better. Every practice, he's getting better. So that's where we are. We're going to miss Bowman. Bowman, if he can't play, is a big loss."

Honestly, Bowman is a much BIGGER loss if they try and rush him back and re-aggravate his injury. I'd rather he sit out against the cupcake schedule and get back to 100% than come back too soon. Anyone that's had a groin injury knows, those things take time to heal.

Hopefully they'll have a nice reunion in the backfield

Jerome Hayes played football with 'Cuse QB Greg Paulus and Jared Odrick played against Paulus in basketball.

Penn State defensive end/linebacker Jerome Hayes played with Paulus in the 2005 U.S. Army All-American Game as Paulus quarterbacked the East and Hayes played linebacker.

"He's a great athlete, and I wish him the best," Hayes said. "Just not
against us."

Defensive tackle Jared Odrick played against Paulus in basketball at the Charlie Webber Invitational in Washington, D.C.

"He was something special," Odrick said. "I knew about him football-wise, but who wouldn't want to go to Duke to play basketball, you know?"

Hey, that world-class coach isn't going to pay for himself

Penn State wrestling fans can now get "Premium" seating, but it's going to cost you.

Two rows of 20 individual premium seats will be offered this season, just off the mat on the west side of Penn State's most historic athletic venue. Each of the 40 floor-level seats will come with access to an exclusive hospitality room offering complimentary snacks and soft drinks, a specially designed season ticket, and a copy of the match night media notes and event program. Row one seating, priced at $125 for the season, will be directly on the floor surface with the second row directly behind and slightly elevated at $100 per seat.

Nice idea really, but I think it will lack in the execution. As a long time season ticket holder this really doesn't have much appeal, most of the season tickets are great seats anyway so paying three times* the regular season ticket price doesn't make sense. Moreover, I don't like being down at floor level, having some elevation is nice to better see the match. Having said all that the PSU Wrestling community is so worked up right now that I'll bet they are already sold out. Capitalism rocks!

Don't try to throw him for a loop, he'll probably catch it

I have very fond memories of the 1994 team and a soft spot for certain players on that team. One of those players is former tight end Kyle Brady who always looked like a man among boys lumbering through frightened secondaries half his size. Well Kyle has found a new job after retiring from the New England Patriots in 2007.

Former Penn State All-American Kyle Brady has joined the Big Ten etwork as an analyst. Brady teams with Rick Pizzo on the set for Big Ten Football Saturday: Pre-Game Show, which airs at 10:30 a.m. ET every Saturday before the network's 12:00 p.m. games.

Awesome, just another reason to watch the BTN.

Blue and White Roundtable Roundup

The Nittany Lounge Football Blog has your B&W Roundtable wrap-up with all the interesting answers from all the Roundtable bloggers. That means he doesn't quote me much because I seldom have anything interesting to say so go over and give it a read, you'll get some fresh perspective.

*Honestly the season ticket prices are so low I buy three – one for me, my friend and an extra for our ass cheeks.

Blog Chips: The beer edition

Talking about beer is strange for TNL I know, but hey… I'm a creature of habit.

Big do-ins in tailgating
The biggest non-news news feature of the day: Paternovillians get to recharge their laptops.

This football season, campers will no longer have to trek to the Intramural Building or Findlay Commons to charge electronics. For the first time in the program's five-year history, Paternoville campers will have access to electrical outlets located on site at Gate A. ...the PCC is limiting use of the outlets for students to charge mattress pumps and computers only. Cohen said an occasional cell phone could be charged. Cohen, along with the other heads of Paternoville security, has the power to turn off the outlets if they are being misused.

Who's got odds on the first rain soaked Margarita blender incident that shuts the whole thing down? Anyone? An "occasional" cell phone charging is like an "occasional" beer to college students.

Speaking of beer…

Penn State officially bands the lowly peasants from drinking their common swill.

Penn State announced a new tailgating policy Monday that bans glass bottles from its grass parking lots, calling it a safety issue for children, students and animals. Even pouring the contents of a bottle into a cup won't please the police. Bottles won't be allowed anywhere in the grass lots, even if they're empty and in a recycling bag.

Yeah, so no more Jägermeister, or vodka people! We're only thinking of the children here. Oh the children in the concrete upitty parking lots?! Fuck them.

Those who tailgate on concrete will still be able to drink from glass -- the rule applies only to the grass lots.

Seriously, could they be any more transparent? The concrete parking lots (I've tailgated there many, many times thanks to my company) are full of high-priced, wine & cheese tailgate types and well… money talks so let's not piss them off but for the common folks: piss off.

Look I think this is a great idea, even though I've brought bottled beer to tailgates before (I'm one of the responsible ones that takes care of my trash) but you can't make different rules for different people, it's either a rule for everyone or it's not a rule at all. Letting come-late-and-tailgate-a-half-hour-before-kickoff-with-my-bottle-of-expensive-wine Harry has to follow the same rules as six-pack-Joe in lot 13. It's bullshit to do otherwise.

And speaking of bullshit…

Through the ever "effervescent" Black Heart Gold Pantaloons, Bud Light has started a "fan can" campaign.

The Bud Light promotion, which involves 27 different color combinations, started rolling out this month. Purple-and-gold cans are being sold near the campus of Louisiana State University, and red-and-gold containers near Iowa State University.

"Show your true colors with Bud Light," the company says, according to copies of internal marketing materials obtained by colleges. "This year, only Bud Light is delivering superior drinkability in 12-ounce cans that were made for gameday."

Basically, Bud Light changed the color of their two-toned cans to match the local college football team's colors and distributed them regionally. So if you're heading to the game and stop by W.R. Hickey you can pick up a case of (remember people cans only no bottles unless you give a lot of money to PSU) Bud Light in navy blue and white. *standing applause to the Belgium based InBev* I'm seriously impressed that I didn't think of this before, what a simple but effective way to get people to drink your beer. Impressive gentlemen and ladies. Of course I had to see this for myself so I ran into my favorite local distributor rep (or as I call him my pusher) the other day and sure enough he had the Penn State colored cans. Beautiful, but get yours while you can because they are truly evil.

Lisa Powers, Penn State's director of public information, said the school is a member of the Collegiate Licensing Co., and Penn State asked it to protest Budweiser's marketing for the school. Anheuser-Busch InBev's problems don't stop there. The Federal Trade Commission has discussed the issue with the brewer, the agency said. Regulators are concerned that cans will be marketed to fans under the legal drinking age of 21, said Janet Evans, a senior attorney at the FTC responsible for alcohol marketing issues.

Anheuser-Busch said if any of schools ask, they will pull the cans from local beer distributers and it looks like that will be the case for Penn State.

Yes, when I was 19 the color of a fucking can of beer got me to drink it. It wasn't the feeling of euphoria that pulled me in, no it was the color of the can. Thank you Lisa Powers for saving our children, we can all go to sleep at night knowing no one under the age of 21 will be drinking this weekend because the color of the Bud Light cans will not be the same as Penn State. Way to go girl!

Now excuse me while I try to find a bottle of Vodka in a gallon plastic container.

Blog Chips

Poll Position

Penn State starts the season tied for 9^th with Oklahoma State in the AP Poll.

For those of you that are into that sort of thing, frankly I put little stock in preseason polls, if you look back around week 6 the poll will, most likely, look radically different. Florida received a record 58 first place votes and apparently two AP members living in Texas voted for the Longhorns. Of course Notre Dame is back in the polls, the press loves them some Irish whenever they get the chance.

This probably means we're in for a Hurricane

Penn State will once again try to host "Penn State Football Eve" the night before they kickoff the season against Akron (Friday, Sept. 4^th). It's the sixth time they've done it and it usually means a torrential downpour. Interesting side note in the article:

Four Penn State home games are sold out, with a limited number of tickets remaining for Akron, Syracuse (Sept. 12, 12:00 p.m.), Temple (Sept. 19, 12:00), and Eastern Illinois (Oct. 10), TBA.

Huh. That's interesting, the shit-sandwich parts of the schedule are not sold out, who would have thought that?!?!

Fun with Numbers

Here's an interesting look at PSU's sports revenue compared to other big schools. It's a bit surprising that Penn State's football department only brings in 53.8 mill, I would have expected it to be more. In comparison Ohio State brings in 65.2 and Texas pulls in a whopping 73 mill. I'm thinking Penn State needs to do a better job of marketing themselves because it's difficult to explain why PSU isn't near the top with over 100,000 people packing the Beav every weekend. 100,00 times 60 bucks per ticket times 8 home games is roughly 48 million alone just for the ticket sales.

And you thought you had a good weekend

Matt McGloin, he of the preferred walk-on status, has earned himself a full scholarship.

A redshirt freshman quarterback who joined the Penn State football team last year as a preferred walk-on, McGloin was put on full scholarship by Paterno late Friday, one day after McGloin authored an impressive showing in the team's second scrimmage of summer practice.

We sometimes forget that not all the Penn State players are of the VHT 4 or 5 star variety and many of them are busting their asses just to make the team. For Matt he's living a life that you and I could only dream about and he's been rewarded for his hard work.

His father, Paul, said he was "crying his eyes out" after speaking with his son. His mother, Cathy, said she "really didn't expect it."

"Here's the typical conversation when he calls home," Paul McGloin began. "'What are you doing?' 'Nothing.' 'How's everything going?' 'OK.' That's pretty much the conversation.

"Tonight, I ask him, 'What are you doing?' 'Nothing much.' 'How's everything going?' Then he says, 'Dad, I got a scholarship.' I just told him, 'I'm so proud of you. You've worked so hard for this.'"

It's feel good stories like this that make me love college sports so much.

"I really don't know what to say. I'm just speechless," McGloin said. "I'm really just glad."

Blog Chips: the dog lover edition

Ron "Pitbull" Mexico returns

As if it's not so easy to hate Philadelphia already, the Eagles make it even easier with the signing of dog lover and all-around good guy Michael Vick to a 2-year deal. PETA, the coalition of batshit crazy vegans, responded quickly.

"PETA and millions of decent football fans around the world are disappointed that the Eagles decided to sign a guy who hung dogs from trees. He electrocuted them with jumper cables and held them under water," PETA spokesman Dan Shannon told The Associated Press.

Andy Reid came to Vick's defense.

"This is America. ... We do make mistakes," Reid said. "He [Vick] has a chance to prove he's doing the right things." "I think our fans will understand."

Yes Andy because Philly fans are KNOWN for their kindness and understanding.

JoePa Presser

JoePa's media day transcript can be found here in its entirety. Some important points that jump out at you:

• Dennis Landolt has moved from right side tackle to left to cover Clark's blindside. We heard rumors of this but Paterno makes it official. De'Ontae Pannell will man the other tackle position.
  
• A.J. Wallace is suspended for a couple games… or not… you figure it out.

Yeah, I told A.J. I might not play him in a game or two because he cut classes. If he cuts any more classes, he won't play….I think he'll be all right. Now, when I'll play him will depend on what I hear back from our academic advisors, and find out whether he's going to class and he's doing what he's supposed to do academically. If he does, then we'll think about when we want to play him.

So is he suspended or isn't he? If the academic advisors give him the thumbs up is he going to be suspended for "a game or two" or not at all, you can read it both ways. I'm going to miss trying to decipher Joe's press conferences when he finally retires in 10 years.

• Both Lee and Bowman can play both inside and outside and Joe hasn't committed on the starting three linebackers.
  
• As was speculated by most, Zug will return punts and *gulp* Evan Royster will return kickoffs. Not cool at all. Paterno did say some of the freshman will get a look, let's all hope it's a very loooonnnnggg look.
  
• What would a press conference be without a classic Paterno exchange?

Reporter: Any thoughts on being ranked No. 8 in the coaches' poll?
Coach Paterno: Is that where we're ranked?
Reporter: Yes.
Coach Paterno: What's it mean (laughter)?

Paterno is happy to be alive:

What excites you the most about this team and this upcoming season?
Coach Paterno
What excites me? Nothing excites me yet (laughter). I'll be honest with you. We're lousy. I have nothing to be excited about right now as a team. I'm serious about that. We've got too many things we've got to get accomplished. I mean, we've got a lot of work ahead of us, I mean, to be a good football team. So I'm excited to be alive. That's about it (smiles, laughter).

• Paterno loves Royster, almost as much as we do.

  Royster is a good receiver. He's an excellent athlete, an all around athlete. I could put Royster over on defensive and he'd be a heck of a defensive back. He was the best lacrosse player in the state of Virginia when came out of high school. That's pretty good lacrosse.
  
  But I think if Green hangs onto the football, we could probably use Royster and Green in there at the same time, but put Royster at slot or put him as a wing or do something with him.

Now that would put the HD in Spread HD.

Blog Chips: The Big Ten Media Day 1 edition

Lots of items of interest out of the first day of the Big Ten media days in Chicago. The Big Ten media voted Terrelle Pryor as the league's preseason Offensive Player of the Year instead of Daryll Clark and Cory Giger of the Altoona Mirror is having none of it.

Daryll Clark is better than Terrelle Pryor right now. Hands down.

Until Pryor proves differently on the field, I'll take Clark
in a heartbeat.

Somehow, though, most people seem to believe Pryor has
gotten so much better during the offseason that he, not Clark, will be the Big Ten's best QB this year.

What is everyone basing this on? Easy. Potential
and hype.

You want concrete evidence of the difference between the two QB's, Giger's got you covered.

Clark threw for 2,592 yards last season, Pryor 1,311.

Clark threw 19 TDs, Pryor 12.

Pryor ran for 631 yards to Clark's 282, but Clark had 10 rushing TDs to Pryor's six.

Where's the logic in assuming Pryor will make up all of that ground and even more this year?

Someone forgot to tell Cory that hype is what drives paper sales and if there's one town that owns the patent to super-over-hype its Columbus.

Paterno dropped the bombshell that tackle Abe Koroma and cornerback A.J. Wallace may be gone from the team.

"Wallace has a question with cutting some classes," said Paterno after his stint atop the Big Ten media day dais. "Koroma's got some personal problems. I'm not sure what's going to happen. I doubt if Koroma will be because he really has got some problems."

The loss of Koroma won't be a huge blow, he wasn't projected to be a starter and Penn State has a lot of young guys at that position but Wallace's impact will be huge. Not only was he suppose to be the experienced guy in a secondary full of fresh faces but losing him as a return man drops PSU from one of the best return teams in the Big Ten to something around average. We've covered this before but cutting classes will get you in a lot more trouble than any other off the field indiscretions in Paterno's world. If Wallace does manage to stay on the team he will be climbing out of Joe's doghouse for a while. The most interesting quote (interesting in a serious way) from Paterno was about the uncertainty of his team.

"I would just like to answer some questions. I don't want to get into some things as to where our football team is exactly because I'm not quite sure right now where we are for a lot of reasons," Paterno said. "We're going to have to take some young people and put them in key spots. There will probably be a couple of kids I haven't seen play yet. But that will go on for a while."

Hmmm, could that possibly mean that Paterno thinks some of the incoming freshman will have significant roles in the upcoming season? My Paternoese is a little rusty but I think that is what he's getting at.

Now that all the serious stuff is up to date, how about some typical Paterno fun quotes?
Of course the first question of the day for Paterno was about retirement and his response:

"Oh, I'd miss you guys," Paterno said when asked what brings him back. "What else would I do on a beautiful July day?"

Paterno's not real keen on twitter either.

"What do you guys call those things? Tweedle-doo? Tweedle-dee? I haven't got the slightest idea what you're looking at."

Talk to your son Joe, he knows a little something about Twitter.
Finally, Wisconsin coach Brett Bielema has his doubts about visiting Happy Valley, especially when you beat Penn State.

"You go to Penn State and beat them and you don't have hot water. He (Paterno) has a little switch by his office, I swear," Bielema said.

Just be thankful he only pulled the "cold water" switch on you Brett, other coaches have been known to disappear after bad losses.

Blog Chips pledges to make fun of Michigan

Penn State Undefeated
At least that's what Dave Curtis, he of the Sporting News College football fame, wants you to believe.

Daryll Clark and Evan Royster bring stability to the backfield, and strong recruiting over the last few years will dull the loss of three offensive linemen to the NFL. Need a group to reconstruct a defense? Having Tom Bradley and Larry Johnson in charge seems like a great start. And then there's the schedule, which includes four nonconference gimmies among eight home games, seven of which will have PSU as a double-digit favorite. Penn State's playing in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day again this season.

So pretty much like everyone else has predicted: Penn State has holes to fill but with their creampuff schedule only need to get by a few teams to make it back to the Rose Bowl. I can't say that I disagree per se, but I still can't fight off that nagging feeling that, even if the line comes together and the secondary is somewhere on the serviceable side, Penn State will lose 1 or 2 games probably to someone they should beat. Actually Curtis' article is more of a BCS hatin' perfect storm of undefeated teams. He lists six teams that are "most likely" to go undefeated (read: I hope they all do so it really screws the system). As a card-carrying BCS hater, I like his style although I simply can't root for Notre Dame to go undefeated. The other four are Florida, Oklahoma, Boise State, and Georgia Tech. All distinct possibilities but, as I've said before, there's no way in hell Notre Dame beats USC (really the only threat with a pulse on their schedule).

Because you will watch like the drooling dogs you are
The Big Ten Network and ESPNews have teamed up to bring you all the coverage of the 2009 Big Ten media days from Chicago on Monday.

Coach Joe Paterno and seniors Daryll Clark, Sean Lee and Jared Odrick will represent Penn State at the event as the Big Ten prepares for its 114th season of football competition.

The network will carry Paterno's news conference at 1:45 p.m. and, its coverage on Monday concludes with [Big Ten commissioner James E.] Delany's news conference at 2:30 p.m.

So set your DVR's for the wise wisdom of our glorious Nittany Lion leader and then stay tuned for the pompous arrogance that only Jimmy Delany can pontificate.

I Pledge to never wear a shirt that has a pledge on it
If making fun of Michigan football seems to be getting more and more difficult, fear not the Michigan Athletic Department will do the job for us. Take a gander at the 2009 student T-shirt design.

Ok, just totally skip by the "All in for Michigan" slogan that sounds like something you are more likely to hear at a Friday night poker game, and go straight to the slogan. Allow me to transpose it for you because it's difficult to read.

I pledge to make my way to the Big House every football Saturday to cheer on my maize and blue as they take the field in the name of Michigan. I will join the chorus of Wolverine faithful as they hail the victors. I promise to give everything I have to the Maize and Blue and I will dig deep for something extra when the team needs me most. I will bring it all for four quarters and I won't stop until the clock reads all zeros. I will do all of this because I am… all in for Michigan.

Yes that's the slogan the Athletic dept. wants its students to adhere to. It's so damn long it's barely legible in the space provided by the back of the shirt and talk about specific, was it really necessary to be that precise? Actually that isn't the full pledge they just ran out of space for the rest of it.

Blog Chips is back from vacation

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.

Blog Chips

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.

<Insert your manic rant or anti-PSU joke here>

-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.

Blog Chips

-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!!!

Blog Chips: It’s the little things in life

-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.

Blog Chips: the filling the void edition

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!

Blog Chips: the Jamaican rum edition

Sorry about the lack of posting lately but I've been extremely busy getting ready for vacation in Jamaica mon! Suffice it to say for the next 4 days (starting Thursday) my life will consist of the following:

I'm booked at an all-inclusive (read: all the alcohol you can drink!) resort and I plan to take full advantage of it.

Goal #1: Have more fun than an adult should be allowed

Goal #2: Stay out of Jamaican prison

Yes, in that order.

In the mean time the Big Ten conference handed out men's Basketball awards and Penn State is well represented. Talor Battle was selected first team by both the coaches and the media, Jamelle Cornley was selected second team by the media and third team by the coaches, and Stanley Pringle was honorable mention by both.

The Big Ten Wrestling championship was last weekend and Penn State finished a very disappointing 7^th place with no Big Ten champs. Quentin Wright and Dan Vallimont were the lone bright spots for the Nittany Lions but the team finished at or near their pre-seeds and often lost by fall. Questions are really starting to mount about the future of head coach Troy Sunderland.

Penn State athletic director Tim Curley attended both days of the Big Ten Wrestling Championships at the Bryce Jordan Center.

Curley said he's waiting until after this month's NCAA Championships in St. Louis to assess the state of the program.

"Right now, we are anxious to see how we come out of this weekend and how well we can do in two weeks out in St. Louis," Curley said before Sunday's 184-pound final. "We will see where we are from there."

"The Big Ten is a strong conference," Curley said. "We certainly would like to be in contention year in and year out, but there's a lot of good competition and programs in the Big Ten."

I'm not one of these "what have you done lately" kind of fans but this season has fallen way short of expectations. From the Dual meet season to the Big Ten's this team just hasn't performed like most would have expected.

Blog Chips: now with more Philly content

Really tonight’s Basketball game against Ohio State is huge for the Nittany Lions, it’s on ESPN in primetime and it’s a chance for the Nits to get some much needed TV exposure. Flop in this one and it might be detrimental to a very fragile team, people are finally talking about Penn State in the same sentence as the big dance. Penn State needs this one, bad.

Thanks to the world champion Pittsburgh Steelers and their stellar 3-4 defense guys like Aaron Maybin are getting long looks as outside linebackers/rush specialists in the popular scheme.

Maybin, who elected to forgo his senior season with the Nittany Lions, is too small to be a defensive end in the NFL. But he has the body type (6 feet 31/2, 250 pounds) and athleticism that teams desire in an outside linebacker in the 3-4 defense. That should increase his chances of being a high first-round selection in April, especially after Maybin added nearly 20 pounds since the end of Penn State's season.

Even with overly pedestrian results in the combines.

Speed and computer numbers or football skills? That's the question scouts must answer when deciding where a number of prospects they saw on Monday will end up in the draft. For example; a number of prospects ran poor 40 times including Michigan's Tim Jamison (5.03), Penn State's Aaron Maybin (4.75) and Brandon Walker of Texas Tech (4.94). Yet all three displayed terrific quickness, footwork and football skills during position drills. Does timed speed win out or do scouts go by what they saw the players accomplish once the football was brought onto the field?

Another Penn Stater whose stock is quickly falling is Maurice Evans.

Evans' decision to enter the draft was questioned from the start and his choice looks worse today. Evans ran his 40s in 4.97 and 5.09 seconds. He later looked sluggish in drills. Evans weighed in at 274 pounds and only completed 17 reps on the bench.

By comparison other defensive end prospects managed somewhere around 30 reps, nearly doubling Evans totals.

Philly fans can begin fretting over the Donovan McNabb saga because it appears he's not going anywhere and the Eagles have some tough off-season decisions to make if they want to keep him.

Although McNabb wants to remain in Philadelphia, if the Eagles aren't successful in significantly upgrading an offense that needs help at wide receiver, running back and offensive tackle (veterans Jon Runyan and Tra Thomas are free agents beginning Friday), not only may McNabb drop his request for a new contract, he may consider going as far as to ask the Eagles to trade him.

Some of the big names on the market include T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Anquan Boldin, and tight end Tony Gonzalez but any one of those guys would most definitely want assurance that McNabb will be an Eagle before signing so it's come down to a chicken and egg dilemma. That and throw in the recent release of this guy and Philly is at a cross roads: accept an aging Donovan McNabb as your guy and stick with him or dump him and forget about any of the prized free agents. One thing's for certain, Marvin Harrison would be a significant upgrade on an Eagles team that was one game away from losing to Pittsburgh in the Super Bowl (sorry Eagle's fans it's true). Add him to this Philly team and they would probably be the favorite to come out of the NFC as champs.

Blog Chips

Not a whole lot to discuss recently, Penn State finishes 8^th in the AP poll and the USA Today Coaches poll. Aaron Maybin is going pro… maybe.

But despite a recent report on fightonstate.com that Maybin informed Joe Paterno Thursday night that he will enter the 2009 NFL Draft, Maybin has remained publicly silent about his future.

Maybin's teammate and close friend, linebacker Jerome Hayes said he had also not heard from Maybin about his plans to stay at Penn State or enter the NFL Draft. "[Aaron's] been very discreet with his plans on what he's going to do," Hayes said Friday evening. "So obviously he worked really hard this season to better himself and he's gotten himself into a pretty good predicament."

"He hasn't said anything to the tune of 'I'm going to the NFL.'"

Maybin has until the 14^th (Wednesday) to declare for the NFL.

Speaking of leaving, Larry Johnson Sr. has been officially offered the defensive coordinator's position at Illinois.

The Penn State defensive line coach and top recruiting assistant met with UI officials and head coach Ron Zook on Saturday and was offered a deal in the $400,000 range, possibly with the title of Assistant Head Coach to Zook as his title. Johnson would be the de facto defensive coordinator and earn close to double his salary at Penn State.

Penn State better pony up and match the offer or they will lose a great recruiter and a great line coach. This is a no-brainer in my mind, offer him whatever he wants, you don't want a coach of LJ's caliber at another Big Ten school.

Blog Chips

Links from around the interwebs for your Friday reading pleasure.

Ya think Daryll Clark is looking more and more like Michael Robinson? There's a very good reason:

When Daryll Clark needs tips on how to run the spread, he calls the last man to operate the Penn State offense with smashing success.

No wonder fans are noticing similarities between Clark and Michael Robinson, the dual-threat quarterback who took the Nittany Lions to the Orange Bowl three years ago.

"When they call me 'Little Mike-Rob,' I'll take that compliment any time," Clark said.

Welllll… 'Little Mrob' maybe, because 'Little Mike-Rob' just doesn't have the zing; we need to come up with something better than that, but I'm drawing a blank right now. Anyho, Robinson has no problem giving out pointers to Clark:

Clark also knows there's a ways to go before any comparisons can be drawn to past glory teams. Robinson reminded Clark as much in a recent lighthearted text message about a 20-yard gain off a sweep that Clark turned into a first down in the Oregon State game. "He said, 'You got to score on that quarterback sweep. If it were me, I would have scored,"' Clark recalled. "I thought it was hilarious."

The linebackers are starting to come around and some leaders are emerging. Tyrell Sales had a great game against Oregon State.

Sales finished the Oregon State game with 10 tackles, including nine solos, to the lead the Lions. It was a performance that had his coaches saying he played markedly better in week two than he did in week one… "I just played a little more comfortably," Sales said. "I've played a lot of football, but the first game's always the toughest one.

But he's not the only one that has stepped up Navarro Bowman had an equally impressive showing against the Beavers despite splitting time with Bani Gbadyu.

During one drive against Oregon State, Bowman brought down the speedy Jacquizz Rodgers on three consecutive plays as he finished with 10 stops.

Bowman has also made a name for himself on special teams.

Bowman has been a central figure in securing good field position. Against Coastal Carolina, he brought down D.J. Brunson after two short kickoffs as both drives started at the 21-yard line.

"He's very prideful," defensive coordinator Tom Bradley. "He wants to be the best. He wants to be a guy who wants to be a great linebacker."

The student section has always been clever with their signs but I have to admit this one takes the cake.

It stood out in a long line of signs made by fans to support players. One, for Lydell Sargeant, reads "Sargeant's Army." Another, for linebacker Nate Stupar, reads "Stupar's Studs." As far as attention and creativity go, they all paled in comparison on Saturday to one that read "Blue Royster Cult."

We need more cowbell!

Jordan Norwood had a career game against the Beavers and it's pretty obvious why:

Oregon State assigned safety Greg Laybourn to follow Norwood for much of the game. It went horribly for the Beavers, too. The 208-pounder couldn't keep up and Norwood caught eight passes for 116 yards and a touchdown.

Clark said after the game, "[Laybourn] tries hard but him against Jordan Norwood, I'll take Jordan Norwood all day."

Finally, Penn State's opponents have been lackluster to say the least and they don't get any better over the next couple weeks. Jeff Rice of the CDT suggest Penn State's best opponent so far has been themselves:

Until Illinois comes to town on Sept. 27, Penn State's best competition is going to come from ... Penn State. And most of that competition will come on Tuesdays, the only day of the week when the Nittany Lions' first-team offense and defense square off against one another.

"Tuesday's our work day," linebacker Tyrell Sales said.

The rest of the week, the first-team units battle the scout team, which should closely resemble each of the next two opponents.

Blog Chips

First and foremost, I hesitated covering this because I don't like adding to the rumor mill (that's what message boards are for) but it appears there has been another "incident" involving Penn State football players.

For at least two hours Tuesday night into this morning, Penn State Police investigated a Nittany Apartments residence that, according to an online Penn State directory, is inhabited by multiple football players.

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.

At least four Penn State Police vehicles were at the scene -- a Special Response Unit, two cruisers and an SUV.

OMG, it's the end we're losing our best D linemen and our best kick returner! Now's the time to light yourself on fire and run through the streets naked, right? Ah, maybe not.

News reports about police converging on an apartment shared by three Penn State football players turned out to be based on a pretty routine incident — police breaking up a loud party.

But…but, but… the Special Response Unit!?!? Why, why, WHY?!?!

News reports about police converging on an apartment shared by three Penn State football players turned out to be based on a pretty routine incident — police breaking up a loud party.

Penn State police Lt. Bill Moerschbacher said police did find and seize a small amount of marijuana from the residence, but he said that a “Special Response Unit” truck was at the scene only because that’s the vehicle police happened to be driving last night.

When police arrived, they saw a small amount of marijuana, Moerschbacher said. Police got a search warrant from District Judge Carmine Prestia and seized several related items from the apartment, Moerschbacher said.

Moerschbacher said he could not comment on any suspects, but there was no arrest made last night. Any citations filed will likely be sent through the mail, he said.

Yeah, we can all back away from the panic button this is really nothing, if the police are sending "citations" "through the mail" and not making arrests it's a slap on the wrist deal and not a Nate Newton pot-a-thon. No one is even sure if any of the Penn State players were involved, it was a party, anyone could have had the weed.

Now that that is behind us let's move on.

Just to make things totally official, Penn State officially announced that "starting" quarterback Daryll Clark has officially earned his 5^th year of eligibility.

Clark needed to complete at least 80 percent of his credits toward graduation by next summer in order to be eligible for the 2009 season…

"Daryll has completed more than 85 percent of the credits required to earn his degree in telecommunications and will be eligible to play in 2009," Penn State assistant athletic director Jeff Nelson said.

So we've got that going for us.

Paterno's presser is out and there's really nothing earth shattering (big surprise) but I do have a favorite response from JoePa: when asked if he would like a yearly Pac 10-Big 10 matchup ala basketball he gave the usual mumble, mumble, I haven't thought about it… mumble, mumble…

But I won't have a say about it. Television will tell us what we're going to do.

Amen.

Finally, on the lighter side… this has nothing to do with football but I absolutely LOVE ditsy blondes.

I knew I was displaced when we pulled onto campus and I noticed this big structure in a field. I was mystified. "Wow. What's that big, old monster? It looks like that ancient Roman thingy? The Colosseum! Or the Pantheon." Everyone stared at me, askance. "Uh? That would be the largest football stadium in the United States? Beaver Stadium? Ring a bell?"

Embarrassed, I muttered "Ohhh yeah. Heh, heh."

Blog Chips

Lots of little tidbits on the intertubes these days so here are some things for your linking pleasure.

-Paterno met with reporters for the first time since dismissing Baker and Taylor and admitted he may have made some mistakes.

Later, Paterno said, "I think all of us are under the gun" to keep players out of trouble. "Whether I've done a good enough job, I'm trying, and my staff is trying."

"If you want to walk out of that tunnel, and want people to cheer for you and respect you, there's an obligation that goes with that," he said. "Sometimes it's hard for a kid."

"Some people have not really understood the effort we've made and in a lot of cases, have overcriticized some things that happened. Not that we were not wrong. We were wrong."

-So what's the other big news item to come from practice? Oh yeah, there is that whole quarterback thing.

"Daryll's done very, very well, and part of that is because he's played in games more than Pat has," Jay Paterno said. "And so when he comes into preseason and does really well, Daryll hasn't left the door open for anyone to jump him."

"I think I've made it clear that I would prefer to play one quarterback," Paterno said. But the way the game is played today with the quarterback really physically so much more involved in it, I think you got to be careful."

So is it Daryll's job or is it still open? In running back Brent Carter's mind the competition is over.

"Right now, Daryll is our guy," running back Brent Carter said.

It's hard to get a feel for what is going on in Paterno's mind but if the past is any indication then I'd say that Clark is the man but it sounds like they want to get Devlin some valuable playing time.

Paterno said it may be three or four games before a decision. More than likely, game-time situations will expose a leader in what's certainly a close race. That could mean splitting snaps…

-Finally head on over to the ever expanding Black Shoe Diaries and wish the guys there Happy Birthday. They've been putting out quality stuff for two years now and are a daily must-read.

Weekend Roundup

Lots of little tidbits this weekend so here's a look at the events affecting our beloved lions:

• The annual lift for life occurred this weekend and your winning team was a bit surprising.
  

The winning team, nicknamed 'A million here! A million there!,' wasn't comprised of the senior lineman. Instead, senior quarterback Daryll Clark, linebacker Josh Hull, and tight ends Greg Miskins and Mickey Shuler took the crown.

The event raises money for kidney cancer and other rare diseases, which are diseases that affect fewer than 200,000 Americans. Because of their obscurity, rare diseases do not receive the same amount of funding as other diseases.

• Sick of hearing about the Paterno contract issue? Well here's some more.

Penn State President Graham Spanier today denied a news report saying Joe Paterno has a succession plan in place for the next Penn State football coach. "We haven't made any decisions nor have we named anyone," Spanier said, later adding, "We've made no commitments, and we've made no decisions."

The "news report" the articles was referencing was the Altoona Mirror piece that somehow got traction and ended up on the ESPN news ticker setting off internet/message board speculation. Until the season is over I don't think we will get a good feel for where Spanier wants to go next.

• Bani Gbadyu's family escaped war-ravaged Liberia a decade ago but his older brother is in danger of getting deported back after running into trouble with the law.

Emmanuel, the 22-year-old brother of emerging Penn State linebacker Bani Gbadyu, faces possible deportation to Liberia after a litany of legal issues.

Online court records from Maryland indicate Emmanuel Gbadyu first ran afoul of the law with a first-degree assault charge in 2002, four years after his family arrived in New York City and later settled in Gaithersburg, Md., where other members of the family lived.

In February of 2007, Gbadyu pleaded guilty to second-degree assault and served 78 days in a Montgomery county jail. Seven months later, and fewer than five months after his release, he was found guilty of marijuana possession and served one year in jail with one year of probation.

The apparent final straw came June 20. The string of charges: possession of firearms, second-degree assault and reckless endangerment, among others.

Gbadyu was sentenced to an additional 364 days.

Not exactly the feel good story of the year.

• Apparently Costal Carolina is a big draw because Penn State's home games are nearly sold out.

Unprecedented demand for Penn State season tickets has another Nittany Lion football season nearing a complete sellout, approaching the record-setting totals set in 2007 for public and student season tickets.

The tremendous demand for tickets to watch the Nittany Lions has resulted in sellouts of three home games. Tickets have been exhausted for Penn State's contests with Oregon State (Sept. 6, 3:30 p.m.), Illinois (Sept. 27, 8 p.m.) and the Homecoming clash with Michigan (Oct. 18, 4:30 p.m.). Tickets are close to exhausted for Big Ten foe Indiana (Nov. 15) and the Senior Day clash with conference rival Michigan State on Nov. 22.

Ok, maybe not Coastal Carolina but demand is still through the roof.

• Finally, the mysterious Spread HD apparently is nothing more than last year's offense without Anthony Morelli.

"We had pretty much a spread offense last year, but with the talent me and Pat bring with being able to run the ball, we're going to have some option with a couple of wrinkles," Clark said. "Wideouts being in the backfield, things like that. Things we're going to work out during camp."

Wideouts in the backfield?!?! Tricky, they'll NEVER see that one coming. They should have called it the Spread SAM as in Spread Sans Anthony Morelli. Now that's catchy.