JoePa Lucky Number 13

Sporting News, with little else to talk about, decided to put together a list of all-time great coaches, regardless of the sport.

That was their first mistake.

How do you compare a basketball coach to a foot ball coach? To pro hockey? NFL? Damn those inconsistencies. . . full speed ahead.

Paterno debuts at #13, with two college coaches ranked higher--Knute Rockne and Bear Bryant.

Notable notables:

1. John Wooden, college basketball
2. Vince Lombardi, NFL
3. Bear Bryant, college football
10. Knute Rockne, college football
13. Joe Paterno, college football
15. Chuck Noll, NFL
20. Bill Belichick, NFL (apparently integrity isn't a criterion)
23. Eddie Robinson, college football
24. Bobby Bowden, college football
27. Woody Hayes, college football
34. Tom Osborne, college football
36. Bo Schembechler, college football

As I said, there are apples to oranges as well as fruit to minerals comparisons going on here. While I don't like having the Bear ranked ahead of Joe, and although Joe has outpaced teh Bear's all-time record, when the two met head-to-head, the Bear won.

Knute Rockne? Give me a break. All-time list--sure. Top 10? Really?

I'll let our midwest friends fight out the Woody Hayes-Bo Schembechler ratings. That should provide some interesting blog material.

Recruiting Ups and Downs

I originally was going to title this post Royer Continues Recruiting Roll at Penn State, and while it is true that Penn State is on quite the roll this season with highly prized verbals, it also came to light today that highly touted Darrell Givens (class of 2009) will not be joining Penn State this fall due to academic reasons.

Here's the profile on Royer. Yippee!

And here's Donnie Collin's report on Givens . . .

This is quite a blow to Penn State's secondary down the road. Givens was a four-star prospect according to Rivals.com, and there were plenty of people -- myself included -- who thought he would play immediately. Among the 2009 recruits, only West Scranton's Eric Shrive had a higher rating. And the secondary, the way it shapes up, was going to need a big-time player to step in. At 6-foot, 170 pounds with great speed, Givens was that guy, by all accounts.

Of course, this isn't about Givens' ability to play at Penn State. According to BWI, it's an academic issue.

Apparently Givens would rather play elsewhere with lower standards, such as Miami, Florida, Rutgers, North Carolina, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Nebraska or South Carolina. (This is his list of alternatives per the above article and I cannot confirm or deny whether he would qualify at those places. . . .but I am not surprised by that list at all.)

Hopefully this opens another scholarship for a shutdown corner in this class, if there are any left out there.

WhiteHouse Invitation

Joe's Cup of Joe

Hail to the Orange, a blogger from Illinois, was at the Big Ten Media Circus and relates his experience with Paterno . . . Please Don't Ever Retire.

Then I noticed that in front of Paterno, right next to his cup of coffee there was something written on the table cloth So I took a picture with my camera phone.

Can you tell what it is? Thats right its a play diagram.

Apparently Paterno wanted to demonstrate some of the intricacies of the spread offense to the reporters. The story was related as follows by one the photographers who heard the whole thing. (Note: All of this is paraphrase, not direct quote)

Joe wanted to show the reporters that the spread offense was nothing new, in fact according to Joe, "we were running it back in the '40s!" Joe then proceeded to draw up an example of how he would run the backfield at Brown, drawing it up on the table cloth next to his coffee with a pen.

"Sometimes I would hand it off to him, sometimes to this guy, some times I would take it myself and sometimes I would throw it. But I couldn't throw for beans."

And, apparently, he still can't download a jar of peanut butter. And as for Twitter, the legend has this to say . . .

"You guys have to talk about something. The fans have got to put something on those, what do you guys call those things, Twittle-do? Twittle-dee? I haven't got the slightest idea what you're looking at."

Irish Urns

For the Notre Dame fan who has eveything, Trappist Caskets presents Notre Dame Caskets and Urns.

Doesn't that just burn you up? No--it catches the ashes afterward! I wonder how many fans are dying to get one?

Season Tickets Have Arrived!

I got my season tickets in the mail today, which kind of helps my summer doldrums.

Last week, we vacationed in Ogunquit, ME. Should have known better to go north for vacation. The weather was in the 70's and the water was COLD--56-64 degrees. The high point of the trip was seeing Former President George H.W. Bush. He was dining at Barnacle Billy's in Perkin's Cove and we saw him leave the restaurant and board his boat. It made me nostalgic as the Reagan-Bush ticket in 1984 was the first time I ever voted in my life. Obama isn't half the statesman that either of those two were, but that's just my opinion.

And I digress.

Since being canned from PennLive, my dedication to blogging has waned. It used to be that I would post updates while on vacation--and I felt guilty if I didn't. Gone are those days, but it has given me a new freedom--just not sure I was ready for forced retirement yet.

But it appears I did not miss much while away.

Penn State back-up receiver James MacDonald has been thrown off the team following a DUI. I knew we couldn't go through an off-season without something bad happening. Hopefully this fills our quota for this year.

Penn State's uniforms came in at #6 for coolest uniforms according to The New York Daily News. The Detroit Redwings came in at #1. Sorry, I can't explain that, so please don't ask me to.

The NY Yankees came in 4th. And speaking of the Yankees, there's a rumor on the messageboards about Penn State playing a game at Yankee Stadium . . .

Just spoke with my friend who works for the Yankees. Penn State has agreed to play a game in Yankee Stadium at least once in the next 4 years. The Yankees want Penn State to play at the end of the season during the same week other Conferences play their Conference Championship Game (this basically leaves the Military Academy's, the Pac 10 and the Big East for us to choose from).

Word is George Steinbrenner wants his good friend and long time Yankees fan Joe Paterno to coach at Yankee Stadium. Joe has often spoke about his admiration for the Yankees and even pattern some of his beliefs after them (same iconic uniforms, building a family atmosphere, winning tradition, etc.).

I can't get excited until we see who the opponent will be. God I hope it's not Indiana State!

Man With the Bolden Gun

Per FightonState.com, Robert Bolden has chosen Penn State!

Michigan standout Robert Bolden is the third four-star or better QB to pick PSU in the last year.

The latest to commit to Joe Paterno and his staff is Robert Bolden, a 6-foot-4, 195-pounder from St. Mary Prep in Orchard Lake, Mich.

Bolden announced for the Nittany Lions at his school Friday morning, according to Scout.com recruiting expert Allen Trieu. He picked Penn State over Oregon and Louisville.

Bolden is a four-star prospect as rated by Scout.com and the eighth-ranked quarterback in the nation. He is the 12th player to commit to PSU for its class of 2010, which is expected to have a maximum of 19 members.

Welcome to Penn State!

Happy Fourth of July!