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.

An obligatory look at Michigan

About the University

The university was founded in 1817 in Detroit as the Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania, about 20 years before the Michigan Territory officially became a state. The university moved to Ann Arbor in 1837 onto 40 acres of what is now known as Central Campus.

So Michigan (the university) was around before Michigan (the state)?!? You just blew my mind man.

The first classes in Ann Arbor were held in 1841, with six freshmen and a sophomore, taught by two professors. Eleven students graduated in the first commencement in 1845

Little known fact: those fist 7 students formed the school's first football team and won a game. To this day Michigan fans still consider that victory one of their 35 national championships before World War II. True story.

Cool Fact

The University of Michigan's fight song, The Victors, was written by student Louis Elbel in 1898 following the last-minute football victory over the University of Chicago that clinched a league championship. The song was declared by John Philip Sousa as "the greatest college fight song ever written."

You can argue fight songs until you're blue [pun intended] in the face but when John Philip Sousa says your fight song is great, you've got something there.

Football related datum

Current Record: 5 – 2
Last year's Record: 3 – 9 – feel free to snicker if you'd like

The scary side of things

Tate Forcier – DickRod was lacking the kind of quarterback for his spread system that he brought from West Virginia, but he's found one in Forcier. Forcier is more of a pass first spread QB who likes to throw on the run and when he's on, he can light up the scoreboard. For a true freshman Forcier has progressed quicker than a lot of people had anticipated and has already surpassed some of his Big Ten counterparts *cough Pryor cough* at least from a passing perspective. Forcier is completing almost 58% of his passes and is 4^th in the conference in passing efficiency. Michigan is second to Penn State in total offense in the Big Ten and at just over 37 points per game they are first in the conference in scoring.

Rushing attack – I was shocked to see that Michigan leads the conference in rushing. They are averaging 235 yards per game on the ground and yet they don't have a single running back that averages more than 56 yards per game. Carlos Brown leads the team with 336 yards; he and Vincent Smith are averaging over 7.5+ yards per carry, but Michigan does it by committee. 7 running backs have 100 yards or more and 8 have scored touchdowns. Pretty much this entire team is a running machine with interchangeable parts. The same goes for the wideouts, no one receiver stands out but the ball has been spread around to a lot of different options.

Of course what would a Michigan preview be without mentioning interstellar overlord Zoltan Mesko who leads the conference and is 7^th nationally in punting, averaging just over 45 yards per punt? Michigan as a team is 2^nd in the nation in net punting so don't expect anything from the punt return department.

Michigan is 4-0 at home although the only notable victory came against Notre Shame.

The not-so-scary side of things

Tate Forcier – while we can say that Forcier has done an amazing job he still is a true freshman and makes an occasional throw like one (see: OT - Michigan State). In fact good Forcier/bad Forcier really showed in the Michigan State game: he torched Michigan State up and down the field even though he was visibly exhausted only to throw the soul sucking pick in the endzone.

Defense – while Michigan is scoring at will, Will is scoring back; they are giving up over 363 yards and almost 22 points per game on defense. In comparison, PSU is giving up 9. Michigan's front four are 10^th in the conference in sacks and their turnover margin isn't spectacular. The Wolverines don't make a lot happen on defense and the games I've watched they've taken a page out of Penn State's "Bend and then Break our Hearts" defensive playbook.

Game Outlook

I said it last week and I'll say it again, if Penn State plays to their potential they should beat Michigan. Penn State's defense is heads above Michigan's and the offenses are at the very least a push. If Penn State doesn't turn the ball over (that's a big "if") and doesn't go into their road suck-ass conservative offensive they should win. Penn State has not allowed a first half touchdown on defense all season but that changes here. I think, just like last year, Michigan scores early but Penn State pulls away late when the offensive line starts to grind away at Michigan's front four. Time of Possession will be critical in this game if Michigan has the ball a lot more than Penn State it could be a bad sign for the good guys.

Also, did I mention the Big Ten officials suck?!? No? Well there you go.

TNL's Prediction
Penn State 24
DickRod 10

Austin Scott sues Penn State

I don't think he has a case against the university but the others, most definitely.

An attorney for Austin Scott filed the civil suit this week against Centre County prosecutors, Penn State police and the university in federal court in Williamsport. The suit said Scott suffered "mental pain and suffering" and diminished "earning capacity" because of the case.

Cutting to the chase, Scott and his attorney claim that the sexual assault case against Scott caused him to get kicked off the team and therefore go from a player in the draft (assuming he had a decent year with Penn State) to undrafted which cost him a lot of money. I totally agree with that blanket statement and I think the DA is at fault here, not the university or the university police. What I do have beef with is Scott's NFL claim.

The lawsuit alleges Scott enjoyed a "highly successful" high school and college career before his arrest, and that he was slated to be a third- or fourth-round draft pick in the NFL.

Now if they can bring some "experts" to testify that Scott could have gone in those rounds then fine but I don't think anyone had those high of expectations, then again Hunt went in the third round and had Austin had his numbers who knows, but it's hard for me to believe a guy that was only a starter his freshman and senior year would go as high as 3^rd or 4^th round.

So what do the main players say?

[Centre County District Attorney Michael] Madeira called Scott's legal claims "frivolous" Thursday evening, though he had not read the lawsuit.

Yes, the best thing to do is make a statement about a lawsuit you have not read. I'm beginning to believe Michael Madeira is something akin to a moron.

The University Police:

"These allegations are false. Employees of Penn State took appropriate action in following up on a report of an alleged crime, and we plan to vigorously defend the university against these charges," [school spokeswoman Lisa] Powers said.

True, I don't think they are at fault at all. Just one more little tidbit to throw on this juicy pile: Lance Marshall, the lead assistant DA on the case has since resigned because he is being investigation by the state attorney general's office for alleged inappropriate contact with a female victim in a domestic abuse case he was prosecuting.

Small world, huh?

Obama to bail out Detroit again

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.

The rematch is on!

I didn't actually think the stars would align themselves but not only did the Pens move past Carolina in the standings but they moved into 4^th place past the Flyers this weekend. If either the Hurricanes or the Flyers registered a point in their final regular season game either would have finished ahead of Pittsburgh but while the Pens were beating Montreal and the Islanders, Carolina was losing both their games to Buffalo and New Jersey.

That moved Pittsburgh into 5^th place but the good luck didn't end there, the two final wins tied Pittsburgh with Philly in points (both had 99) but Pittsburgh won the tiebreaker after the Flyers blew a third period lead to the Rangers yesterday.

Sean Avery and Blair Betts scored third-period goals to rally the New York Rangers to a 4-3 win over the Flyers on Sunday, spoiling Philadelphia's shot at home-ice advantage against Pittsburgh in its opening playoff series.

The Flyers (99 points) needed only a point in the finale to secure the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference and home ice in the best-of-seven series with Pittsburgh. Instead, the rematch from last season's conference finals will start in Pittsburgh.

So now we get the turnpike series renewed and it should be interesting. The fact that Pittsburgh is even in the playoffs is amazing considering they were looking from the outside in just a short time ago.

The Penguins climbed an astounding six spots in the conference standings by going 18-3-4 over the final 25 games of the season. They were 10th and out of the playoff picture when interim coach Dan Bylsma took over Feb. 15.

Let the hate build; Wednesday it all starts again.

Go Pens!

Suck on that ND!

Notre Dame: your shipment of FAIL has arrived first class

I’ve never had a man-crush on a basketball player before but Cornley is less of a basketball player and more of a bear who will rip your arm off and beat you over the head with it. Way to go state!

Hate Night: Penn State vs. Notre Dame

I've made it particularly clear that I'm by no means a basketball fan, my first love is college football (obviously) followed closely by college wrestling and then everything else pretty much follows at a distance. I've never really been a basketball fan at all, I've collectively watched about 15 minutes of the NBA in my entire life combined and that was just to see Michael Jordan. But I've always rooted for the school I love and it doesn't matter what the sport, when Penn State is playing for something I'll watch and tonight is definitely something. It's not the NCAA tournament but the NIT means something to this Penn State program that is desperately trying to establish an identity for itself. Even Coach Paterno recognizes the importance of the game tonight, taking time to point it out in his spring press conference.

One thing before I go. I hope you guys are giving this basketball team a little bit of attention. We don't play a game for 100 days and they have a big game coming up Tuesday. I hope you guys talk about what a great job Eddie (DeChellis) and staff have done with those kids. They've played some great basketball games.

Not only is it a big game for Penn State but it's against Notre Dame of all teams. I secretly rooted for Notre Dame to make it to play Penn State because I'll not only be tuning in to root for my beloved PSU but there will be some added hatred involved. It would do my heart good to watch Penn State beat any Notre Dame team but especially in this sport. It's a team from the Big East (read: best basketball conference since Jesus played) and the Irish arrogance transposes nicely to basketball. For them this is a meaningless game against an opponent they should beat soundly, after all Notre Dame belongs in the NCAA tournament not the second rate NIT. So grab a frosty adult beverage, sit back in your favorite recliner and watch Penn State continue its great season tonight, hopefully it won't be over when the final buzzer sounds.

Go State, beat the Irish!

Just Because Tis The Season

Penn State is hosting George Mason in the NIT tonight, Happy St. Patrick's Day. Time to get my Irish on. Most have spent the last 2 days bitching why the Nittany Lions aren't in the NCAA Tournament. Granted, Mike Slive gave the most bullshit argument for Arizona's inclusion, possibly the finest work of a talking asshole since Ace Ventura, see Kevin's fine work over at BSD for actual stats and stuff for those that don't really follow the nuances of college basketball and need an explanation as the why. Regardless, from this point on, I'm putting an end to the whining about the schedule. I know, it wasn't great, but it's not what kept the team out of the Tournament. Stop crying the schedule is too weak! The schedule is too weak? The fucking schedule is too weak? You're weak! The season ended up hinging on 2 games and the team didn't come through, that's it, plain and simple. The season slipped away losing to Rhode Island, thus missing an opportunity to play Villanova, and closing out the regular season losing to Iowa. Penn State plays 'Nova instead of Towson, there's your strength of schedule out the window or conversely beats Iowa, locks up number 2 seed in the Big Ten and punches their ticket. Unfortunately, they've been inconsistently great and that's been the problem (that and free throw shooting). Celebrate the year and the team and stop crying.

P.S. ESPN can take ESPNU and shove it up their ass, no one gets your shitty offspring network. Put the worthless play-in game on it. Sláinte!

There was a game last night?

Talor Battle for president.

If the impassioned speech by Darryl Clark or the gutsy nationally televised effort didn't say it, Talor Battle's basket certainly did.

The Penn State men's basketball team belongs in the NCAA tournament.

The sophomore Battle made the biggest shot of his collegiate career, a layup with .3 seconds remaining to lift Penn State to an improbable 64-63 win against No. 23-ranked Illinois in front of white-wearing frenzied fans at the Bryce Jordan Center.

Grainy YouTube video in 3…2…1…

Oh by the way Illini fans… Remember this?

2-0, suck on it pricks!

More SEC fun from ESPN

Put your "way back" helmets on and remember back to August of last year when it was announced that ESPN had reached a 15-year (YIKES!!) agreement with the SEC for exclusive television rights to sporting events for the hugegantic sum of…

2 BILLION dollars!!!

Remember I told you this was a very very very bad thing for sports fans in general (ok, let's face it ESPN is already become a bad thing for sports fans but at least they used to show some objectivity). Well get ready because the spoon feeding is about to begin.

Alabama's annual spring game isn't just attracting huge crowds. Now the Crimson Tide's A-day game will have a national television audience. ESPN announced Tuesday that it will televise the game nationally on Saturday, April 18.

This is one of the most ill-conceived ideas out of all ill-conceived ideas; this gives bad ideas a bad name. Sure I'll watch the Blue/White game it's an excuse to tailgate ed.note- ok, it's an excuse to drink, no I really don't need an excuse but it makes me feel less of an alcoholic if others are drinking with me but if you are seriously considering watching another team's glorified scrimmage, one that isn't in your conference or on your schedule then you are:

A) Addicted to college football and need help; like real professional help

B) Bored out of your mind and are out of beer and all the stores are closed and all the bars are closed and those old prescription pain pills sitting in the back of your medicine cabinet look too scary for you anymore.

How many people outside of the state of Alabama are going to watch this thing, I mean really?? Come on, this is as transparent as Fox's "fair and unbalanced" approach to news; ESPN is plugging anything that slightly resembles the SEC. What's next a night out with Tim Tebow's aunt?

Announcer: This Wednesday see how Bingo is played with SEC speed… only on ESPN.

Penn State loses to Michigan again…

…in attendance that is. For the third straight year Penn State has finished 2^nd in average attendance.

Penn State drew an average of more than 108,200 fans for its seven home football games in 2008. According to recently released figures from the NCAA, that was recond among major college football programs behind only Michigan's average of about 108,500.

The 2008 season average was 650 fans less per game than the 2007 season. If you remember, Penn State is the largest stadium in North America, BIGGER than Michigan's Big House, so how in the Hell could a team with a smaller stadium, who went 3-9 average more fans per game than a team that won the Big Ten?

Wait for it….

Michigan's Home Schedule
Utah (13-0)
Miami (Ohio)
Wisconsin
Illinois
Toledo
Michigan State
Northwestern

Penn State's Home Schedule
Coastal Carolina
Oregon State (9-4)
Temple
Illinois
Michigan
Indiana
Michigan State

*Best records in bold, red indicate FCS team

It's no mystery, we don't need a team from CSI to painstakingly sift through the remains or Jack Bower's terrorist interrogation methods to find an answer...

I assure you Mr Curley, schedule a team like Coastal Carolina again and your attendance won’t be the only thing that suffers.

...when you schedule absolute SHIT TEAMS for OOC home games people aren't going to come and when you schedule the (oh by the way undefeated) Utah's of the world, well you are going to fill the seats even when your team is going through the worst record in its proud history. This ain't rocket science it's business and the business of scheduling horrible teams will only last as long as the Big Ten Championships do. Better keep winning Tim Curley or things are going to go south really, really fast.

Michigan Week: Bulletin Board Material

Perhaps you heard Penn State plays Michigan this week and has lost 9 in a row to the Wolverines. Thought I'd offer a helping hand to find motivation from the past.

2005
Two seconds.

The freshmen of that loss are now seniors.

Michigan Week: Bulletin Board Material

Perhaps you heard Penn State plays Michigan this week and has lost 9 in a row to the Wolverines. Thought I'd offer a helping hand to find motivation from the past.

2006
An image speaks a thousand words (even though this happened on Morelli's best pass of the night).

Mr. Clark surely has a chip on his shoulder from this game as well.

Michigan Week: Bulletin Board Material

Perhaps you heard Penn State plays Michigan this week and has lost 9 in a row to the Wolverines. Thought I'd offer a helping hand to find motivation from the past.

2007
Mario Manningham celebrates the kneel down by doing the worm.

And you thought ESPN loved the SEC before…

Now they have 2 billion more reasons why.

The Southeastern Conference has signed a 15-year deal with ESPN reportedly worth more than $2 billion to televise sporting events, including football and men's and women's basketball.

"This agreement makes the SEC the most widely distributed conference in the country," said SEC Commissioner Mike Slive.

ESPN will have rights to every SEC home football game not on the network package and all league matchups will be shown on some outlet, including at least 20 a year on ESPN or ESPN2. That includes two primetime Thursday night matchups and Saturday night games.

15 years, and 2 billion (that's with a 'b') dollars!?!?! Think the rest of the college football world will get equal billing on ESPN from now on? Yeah, think again. I didn't think it was possible for me to hate ESPN more but they just keep pushing the boundaries.

The real issue at hand is now you have a major network with a tie in to a second major network (ABC) who has an underlining agenda. They just paid 2 billion dollars for a product (SEC) that they need to succeed so they are going to promote them every chance they get, I know I would if I paid that kind of coin. Can we really trust Kirk Herbstreit or Lee Corso when they suddenly start pushing for Florida or LSU at the end of the year when there are only three 1-loss teams left? Maybe, but you get my point it's going to tough to take ESPN as in impartial observer/reporter of college football from this point forward.

Our supreme overlord speaks: Jim Delany interview with ESPN

Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany (pictured here speaking during Big Ten media days) enters his 20^th season collapsing naysayers' throats with his mind eating small kittens and terrorizing Japanese cities at the helm. His accomplishments are plentiful: he's added Penn State as the 11^th member, negotiated several lucrative TV contracts, alienated an entire conference and its fan base, crushed all who opposed the BCS, kept non-BCS conference teams from getting their piece of the lucrative BCS pie and hammered big corporate cable companies into submission with the Big Ten network. ESPN writer Adam Rittenberg sat down with Jimbo and asked him the same watered down questions every reporter asks picked his mind. Here is Part I and Part II.

Highlights of interest to me (after all it's all about me damnit).

He mentions gender equity:

I've always been pleased to see the level of commitment our schools have to [gender] equity. At one time we were 71 percent male, and today we're near 50-50

But then tosses out this little nugget in an answer to another question:

We've grown women's opportunities, we've gotten better at other sports, we've won championships in other sports. But the fact of it is, they're going to have to pay their way, and that means healthy football and healthy football means winning football.

So it's good from a PR perspective that women have equal opportunity in sports but bad from a financial perspective. If having a near 50-50 split is so necessary for a healthy sports environment why are the "other sports" not being supported? Why is it we're force feeding sports that no one cares about down the throats of the consumer, is it all just in the name of gender equality? The real problem I have is schools are not necessarily growing women sports to meet equality criteria but shrinking men's sports to get to the magical 50-50 mark. Women's opportunities are not always growing but rather men's opportunities are sometimes dwindling.

Big Ten scheduling is just fine thanks:

Everyone talks about TV, but the turnstiles are what drives the revenue, which is what drives the athletic department. Michigan is already playing an away game every other year (at Notre Dame), Ohio State is as well. Penn State historically has, but not recently. In my heart of hearts, I'm the guy that's largely behind the (ACC/Big Ten) Challenge, I'm the guy that's largely behind the Big Ten-SEC bowl games. They weren't here before. I'm the guy who wants to play the SEC, the Big 12, the Pac-10. So if anything, I could be accused of overscheduling, not underscheduling, but our schools are going to be the ones who determine what's best for building their programs.

Translation – I like the big matchups but the schools need money. Kind of a copout if you ask me, and he's spinning it to make the schools look good but I'll give Delany a pass on this one because there really is nothing he can do when it comes to member schools scheduling patsies *cough* Costal Carolina *cough*. The problem of too many cupcakes will never be addressed until fans get fed up with watching crap OOC games and stop buying tickets (like I did this season – just sayin').

Along those same lines when asked about the Big Ten's negative perception nationally:

To be honest with you, we've run up some pretty impressive records, but if you're not playing people, you're not going to get the credit, and I don't think necessarily that you should.

Finally I'm in total agreement with something Jimmy says.

And since I like to bang the playoff drum quite a bit, when asked about a playoff in the next 10 or 15 years Delany had this to say:

When I was 30, I saw the next 10 years pretty clearly, and at 60, I don't see the next five years as clearly. Maybe that's why there's a visionary out there who can tell you what's going to be there in 15 years.

This is particularly interesting to me because the #1 hurdle to a playoff has always been the Big Ten because of Jim Delany, but for him to admit, however vaguely, that in the next 10 to 15 years there might be change in the system it speaks volumes of the pressure playoff advocates are putting on college football. Maybe there is a dim light at the end of the tunnel, but it's a loooonnnng tunnel.

The rest is pretty bland stuff about his legacy, number of bowls, blah blah blah. Feel free to read on, but the rest isn't worth mentioning in my mind. One thing is clear though, until Delany retires (like JoePa he expects to be around the next 5 years) don't expect much to change in the Big Ten or BCS.

Oh but I’d never treat you that way.

So Dick Rod claims the $4 million buyout clause in his West Virginia contract was fraudulent... could someone tell me why that is different than the $4 million buyout clause in his Michigan contract?

Rich Rodriguez may present evidence to try to prove his claim he was fraudulently induced to sign a coaching contract with West Virginia that included a $4 million buyout clause he now refuses to pay.

Rodriguez resigned in December after seven seasons with the Mountaineers to take the coaching job at Michigan, where he's also agreed to a $4 million buyout, and took some of his coaches and recruits with him.

Do you think Michigan administrators are sleeping good at night these days?

An Open Letter to Comcast

Dear faceless media provider,

It's wonderful that you and the Big Ten Network have come to an agreement of sorts to carry the channel on your basic service tier months after the close of the 2007 football season. As you may know, several games involving some of the elite Big Ten teams were shown exclusively on the Big Ten network leaving many fans without TV coverage in the comfort of their own homes last season. Fear not, many found a friend or local bar that had the Dish Network or Direct TV and didn't miss a moment of their favorite team's games. You see, Dish and Direct understood that offering the BTN gave them a competitive advantage over the lumbering cable company and they exploited that fact. Forgetting that both satellite providers offer more channels for less and far more High Definition channels than Comcast could even think of offering, not to mention top-notched service you seldom see with any cable company, most customers were resistant to switch. Well apparently even the stodgiest customer, apprehensive of change has seen the light and moved on to satellite, that's why you're saying you'll lose customers in 2008. Oh, you can blame it on the housing industry or the economic climate but in the end you offer an appalling product with limited capabilities and a high price tag; it's easy to see why people are flocking to Direct and Dish in droves. Now after a year of squabbling with the BTN, outrageous claims about caring for your customers, and underhanded PR tactics, you have finally relented and given in to the inevitable. As a recent, former customer who has made the switch to Direct I say kiss my ass you money-hungry pricks, you've way too late; take your overpriced service and shove it where only a colonoscopy could find it.

Fuck you now and in the future,

Galen
The Nittany Line

Yo TNL, step off!

* Spudd Mckenzy here – yeah THE Spudd Mckenzy bitches! I'm the shit that won the PSU Rap Contest. Don't act like u don't know. I've been chillin' n workin' on my new, yet-to-be-released album: C-PA Gansta available in August on Caucasian-boy records. It's hard work makin' this shit look so good but I do it 24/7, u know what i'm sayin'? One of my boys dropped some knowledge on me the other day talkin' about this punk ass site TNL, all up in my grill and all, so I dropped some knowledge of my own on you punks, for real, you know what i'm sayin'?

all u kids are faggots...none of u little internet critics who rite comments on people's blogs in between rounds of masturbation and dungeons and dragons intermissions...u have no balls, i would like to see you stand up and perform in front of 100 people let alone 110,000 people and have have the success i
did...what this clearly biased and rather spotty article writes is also ludicrous, i never used the word "nigga" in my performance and i cant even hear anything that resembles the word in the part of the video that is posted here

pete the steak- i had actually performed the song live three other times during the whole contest winning part of the contest, the reason for the delay should be obvious to any1 with half a brain i had no earpiece in my ear and there was a delay btwn the mic and the stadium speakers, so u can lick my grundel and tell any of the hicks u chill with they can too

nick- i would beat the piss out of you facebook me and u can come meet me on campus

you guys can all sit behind ur computers and think ur the men but in reality u have tiny penises and have few friends

with love, spudd mckenzy

Aaatt's rite! All aboard cause the truth train is leavin' and it's about to run you asses over. I keep this shit real, dog. U faggots didn't even see that shit coming and it's like... *bam* all over you shit. That's how I roll, I'll pop a cap in your ass if I ever meet up with you, don't disrespect me like dat. I even added the love ending because it's all ironic and shit because I have nuthin' but hate for u bitches. Hate and pain, you know what I'm sayin'!? So come out of da basement and tell u momma I said Hi and I'd hit that and all but she's so fat... Yo mama so fat she sat on the beach and Greenpeace threw her in. For real. So pete the "steak" and nick, watch your back, I'll be lookin' for your asses in the SC. Peace out!

Spudd Mckenzy is a guest columnist who has an unhealthy fixation with small penises and the area betwixt the anus and scrotum.

*100% absconded from BSD

Gentleman's Agreement

Fallout from Signing Day has created a little debate on whether or not such an agreement exists. There is only one solution, choose your destiny.

Mortal Kombat!!!!!!!!!!