Sunday, April 29, 2012

Will You Vote?

I'm not talking about the elections in November.  I'm talking about something important.

To Gameday or Not to Gameday.  That is the question.

ESPN started a contest where fans of various schools could vote for their team.  The winning school would then be host to a Gameday commercial on their campus.  WooHoo!  Didn't I tell you this was important!

According to CornNation, though, some schools tried to cheat.
Voting in ESPN's College GameDay Campus Commercial Contest was halted Tuesday after a inauspicious first day of voting. Voting was fast and furious in the early stages, and the numbers were staggering. By 11:00 pm Monday night, North Carolina State and Texas A&M were well out in the lead with over 400,000 votes each. For comparison, Nebraska only had 56,771 votes at that point. Was that a sign of the fervor of Wolfpack or Aggie fans? Hardly.
It was a sign of just how badly ESPN implemented this contest. It was just begging to be hacked, and that's just what a few N.C. State and Texas A&M fans did. Within a few hours, ESPN began restricting voting, but the damage was done. Tuesday morning, ESPN completely stopped the voting, posting the following message:
We've Been Overwhelmed With The Fan Response! We're Taking a Time Out to Ensure the Integrity of the Vote. Check Back for Updates.

CornNation notes in a more recent entry that the contest will be back on come May 1st.

But now that begs the question:  will you vote for PSU?

At first, I thought this was a no-brainer.  Don't we always want Penn State to win, whether it is a mascot contest, helmet contest or cutest cheerleader contest?

But then I saw some comments on one of the message boards.  ESPN has shown Penn State no love, and their coverage of the Penn State Jerry Sandusky scandal was, well, to put it bluntly, scandalous.  The New York Times may have leaked the Grand Jury presentment, but ESPN led the charge against Dear Old State and Joe Paterno with torches and pitchforks.

So it appears many fans would just as soon NOT have ESPN on our campus.

Where do you stand?
Seriously, I hate to sound like I'm complaining or ungrateful, but there's an article on Black Shoe Diaries that has 171 comments!  Granted, I probably don't even get that many hits most days weeks months, but how come when people come here, it's like the cat's got their tongue computer?



DO YOU WANT ESPN GAMEDAY AT PENN STATE OR NOT?

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

STEP UPDATE: April 25th Edition

Here are the latest numbers on seat availability by sections.  There is an overall decrease of 1,019 seats since the process opened this year.  But there are still 3,087 more seats available than last June.  There is a continued shoft from upper deck levels to the lower bowl.  Every section in the north upper deck saw an increase (or no change) in available seats, as was true for most sections in the south upper deck.

Will someone please take that lonely seat in EE?

When I logged on tonight, TicketMaster said that my payment was due May 14th.  Does anyone know if the deadline was pushed back from May 1st?  If that's the case, I can probably do another update next week.

Are there still folks out there waiting to pick seats????


SECTIONDonationSeats AvailableSeats AvailableSeats AvailableSeats AvailableSeats AvailableDelta
6/8/20113/23/20124/14/20124/19/20124/25/2012
WB$400232270318293275-18
WC$400251594430300
WD600-200041180826851-17
WE600-2000129665-1
WF600-200037200876043-17
WG$40018143403623-13
WH$400302339385383323-60
WJ$1006131191917-2
NA$10018172976336-27
NB$10038200158141109-32
NC$10040207229195155-40
ND$10036171181169149-20
NE$1004819323421122211
NF$10017178183161145-16
NG$10035176220221207-14
NH$100301672202292323
NJ$10035208267264225-39
NK$10036173267274268-6
NL$10039207208202140-62
EJ$10014101262623-3
EH$400518428451451424-27
EG$400601651028671-15
EF600-2000731821269486-8
EE600-2000011110
ED600-2000389249167130120-10
EC$40028324713711612610
EB$40014810873768711
WBU$1000300000
WCU$400477581583595591-4
WDU$6006527217137137141
WEU$600303361339339338-1
WFU$600596708729733730-3
WGU$400318489497493491-2
WHU$1001102742-2
WJU$10025147817978-1
NAU100-40048111909911314
NBU$100535675839310
NCU100-40012110712914816214
NDU100-400949310210813830
NEU100-40010514214416417410
NFU100-400408211613014414
NGU100-4006580991031052
NHU100-40078517781876
NJU100-40012611313714315916
NKU$100100000
NLU100-400182220
EJU$10031265370364361-3
EHU$10091381328241-41
EGU$4001067115312421274128713
EFU$600882985101210131001-12
EEU$600762877865875867-8
EDU$60014441422140814101408-2
ECU$400154115261548154715481
EBU$10026846545-49
SAU$100881176753530
SBU$10015410013113715720
SCU$1001251091551691690
SDU$100106119126134124-10
SEU$100264240485810
SFU$10016362373-4
SGU$1001757434333-10
SHU$10087118118128127-1
SJU$1007910012712914213
SKU$1001139514514316017
SLU$1001011171151091134
TOTAL1228416390159611574115371-101915%
10021044887500649194731-15630.78%
40049895608542053805276-33234.32%
600+51915895553554425364-53134.90%

Paterno Wins Award Posthumously

Joe Paterno has been named the 2012 recipient of the Dick Enberg Award by CoSIDA.
Joe Paterno, who guided The Pennsylvania State University to 409 victories during his 46-year head coaching tenure from 1966 through 2011, will be posthumously honored as the recipient of the 2012 Dick Enberg Award, presented by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

Coach Paterno's son, Jay Paterno, will accept the honor on his family's behalf as part of the third annual Capital One Special Awards Gala on Monday, June 25th at CoSIDA's annual convention in St. Louis, Mo.
Joe Paterno was voted as the recipient of the Dick Enberg Award by CoSIDA's Special Awards Committee in March 2011 but was unable to attend last summer's workshop in Marco Island, Fla. to receive the honor. He was planning to appear at this year's event in St. Louis before passing away in January after a battle with lung cancer.
"I'm sincerely pleased that the Paterno family will accept the Enberg Award on behalf of Coach Joe Paterno," Enberg said of this year's honor. "The award was established to recognize those that embody my passion and commitment to academics and athletics. Coach Paterno's amazing record in that regard speaks of his greatness as a national leader in sport and education, and I'm deeply honored that his name will be associated with the meaning of this award."
For those who may not know, CoSIDA stands for the College Sports Information Directors of America.
The College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), now in its 56th year, was founded in 1957-making it the second oldest management association in intercollegiate athletics. Today, it is a vibrant 2,800-plus member national association comprised of the sports public relations, communications and information professionals throughout all levels of collegiate athletics in the United States and Canada.
CoSIDA has two primary missions: 1) Help the communications and media relations professionals at all collegiate levels with professional development and continuing education as it relates to strategically dealing in an effective manner with the various issues, challenges and opportunities that now exist within the fast-paced and ever-changing communications environment. 2) Play a significant leadership and resource role (i.e. "Strategic Communicators for College Athletics") within the overall enterprise of collegiate athletics.
CoSIDA founded in the mid 1950's the highly regarded "Academic All-America®" program, unquestionably viewed as the premier awards program in intercollegiate athletics for honoring combined academic and athletic excellence. CoSIDA, which became an affiliated partner with NACDA (National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics) in December of 2008, continues to fully manage and administer that program today.
Congratulations Coach Paterno!

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Bluish White Thoughts on a Gray Day

The weather called for scattered showers and cooler temperatures.  And while the thermometer did drop, the rain did not fall on Bill O'Brien's first Blue-White scrimmage.  Could that be a sign?



I tailgated with a friend at the new Lewis Katz Law Building.  As a physician, I felt like Daniel in the Lion's Den, or a shipwrecked survivor surrounded by sharks.  There were fins to the left.  There were fins to the right.  And I was the only bait in the building.  Actually, the food was great, the building is beautiful and I had a great time.  Nate Stupar's sister guided us on a tour of the building!

It is always a difficult task to break this scrimmage down and make any sense of it.  In almost every case, the results are meaningless; the pursuit fruitless.

But you don't want to stare at a blank screen.  Well, maybe you do.  Maybe that would be better than the actual blog.  But now we're waxing too philosophically for a blog devoted primarily to football.

So I will attempt to summarize my thoughts on the 2012 Blue-White Game.

The atmosphere.

The attendance was estimated at 60,000 and I think that would have been exceeded easily with better weather or less scary meteorological prognostications.  There also appeared to be significant numbers in the parking lots that did not actually go into the game.  All-in-all, it was one of the larger crowds for a day with less than pleasant weather.

I took comfort in seeing Larry Johnson, Sr. on the sideline.  Vanderlinden was probably there, but I did not personally see him.  I miss Joe.  For as much as I complained about his conservative play calling, lack of recruiting in these last few years, and various other sundry coaching decisions, I really felt his absence today.  Penn State football is just not the same.  Maybe never will be.  Maybe it will be better.  Who the hell knows at this point?

On the other hand, I saw a coach walk out onto the field after one of his QBs threw an INT (Bolden) and talk to the QB.  I saw him do some coaching.  In the past 10 years, I'm not sure I saw Joe do anything on the sideline but yell at the refs or McQueary or get hit.  I saw another QB (Jones) celebrate a big play with his head coach.  Like . . . Did you see that!  That's what I'm talking about!  I really liked to see that kind of communication and rapport between coach and players.   Whether that will ever translate into points on the scoreboard or wins in the record books, time will only tell.

Granted, Joe wouldn't have been on the sideline for this game anyway (he always was up in the pressbox), but you know what I'm talking about.  There is a hole left that will take time to heal, and I have not yet healed.

The Scoring System.

First impression?  WTF.  (That was my first impression when I heard the announcement that O'Brien was to become Penn State's 15th Head Football Coach.)  But just as I am growing to like O'Brien as our coach, I found the point system more interesting as the game went on.

For my readers who did not attend or see the game, Blue was the defense and White was the offense.  Unlike other years (since 1950?) the blue team did not take a snap on offense.  Rather, the defense scored points by making plays.  Hence . . . .


2 points for Gryffindor for an explosive play!
 7 points for defensive TD
6 points for a turn over
4 points for a sack
2 points for a tackle for loss
1 point for forcing a 3 and out

The score almost started at 1-0, but white converted a fourth down to take the 3 and out point off the scoreboard.

For the offense, the scoring was different as well . . .

6 points for a TD and 1 for the PAT
3 points for a field goal
2 points for a play over 15+ yards (an explosive play!)
1 point for the PAT

The final score was Blue (defense) winning 77-65 over the White (offense.)

The Quarterbacks.

All six QBs played in the game. I know!  Where did these other two come from????  Tyler Lucas (SO) and Garrett Venuto (SR)?  It makes my head hurt!

I don't think any single QB stood out over the others.  MacGregor actually had a really nice drive to put the first TD on the board.  Bolden threw some nice passes, but then he threw some bad ones as well, including at least two interceptions.

None of the QBs ran the ball.

There were 5 INTs and 8 "sacks" overall.  I put the sack number in quotes because all the defender had to do was touch the QB to down him and I think it was pretty clear that in an actual game situation, several of those would not have been sacks as the QB could have spun away.  But we have what we have to look at.

My gut feeling?  Paul Jones will be the starter, and McGloin will be the annointed back-up.

Here's what Coach O'Brien said about the QBs in his press conference:
I feel pretty good where we're at quarterback-wise. I really have to watch the film, I really do. I've got to see the film. It's hard to see from the sideline. But, all three of those guys (Matt McGloin, Rob Bolden, Paul Jones) made some plays today. And again, I have to reiterate, all three of these guys, we've asked a lot of them. We've asked them to learn a system that's totally different than anything they've ever learned, and that takes time. And different guys learn at different rates, and some guys get it right away, other guys get it the next day, other guys get it two days from now.

So we have to let it soak a little bit, let it soak for ourselves as a staff, and then we'll make a decision headed into training camp on who we're going with or who the top two are.

Paul Jones has gotten better every single day. Paul Jones and I have a unique relationship because we both have unique senses of humor. He's been a fun guy to coach, and I'll keep between he and I what he needs to do to win the starting job, but he made a lot of strides this spring, and he's doing better in school, and I've really enjoyed being around Paul Jones.
The offensive line.

I was not impressed with the o-line.  We could not run up the middle, although maybe that is because the defensive line is pretty good.  Who knows at this point?  Eight sacks is not a good stat for the o-line either, although as I said before, some of that was the fact that a mere touch brought the QB down and the QBs didn't run when they could have, but I think this will be a weakness heading into the season.  I could be wrong . . . new strength and conditioning program will play a role, and I think McWhorter (o-line coach from Texas) will do a better job than our old staff at getting these guys ready to play.

Other notes:

Enjoyed seeing Ki Jana Carter.
Limited playing time for Silas Redd.
Belton and Zwinak looked good at RB.
Robinson (So) led the team with receptions and looked good.
O'Brien stated in the post-game conference that fans only saw about 10% of the playbook today.  Whew!
Defense appears to be ahead of offense at this point but that is to be expected.
Defenders played up at the line of scrimmage on receivers.  Is that even allowed????

Awards:

Jim O'Hora - Stephon Morris
Red Worrell - Matt Stankiewitch
Frank Patrick Total Commitment Award - Steve Urkel  John Urschel

Virtually Real Hockey

Thursday, April 19, 2012

STEP Update: So You're Picking Friday Edition

I'll probably do another update over the weekend.

I also changed the bottom formula so that the delta reflects the number of seats that have changed since last June.  The delta at the top of the list is the change from the last update.  So 649 seats have moved off the available list from the nearly 4,000 extra seats we saw at the beginning of this year's selection process.

SECTIONDonationSeats AvailableSeats AvailableSeats AvailableSeats AvailableSeats AvailableDelta
6/8/20113/23/20123/30/20124/14/20124/19/2012
WB$400232270275318293-25
WC$40025159884430-14
WD600-2000411801458268-14
WE600-20001295660
WF600-2000372001428760-27
WG$400181431064036-4
WH$400302339371385383-2
WJ$10061315519190
NA$100181721639763-34
NB$10038200195158141-17
NC$10040207229229195-34
ND$10036171189181169-12
NE$10048193199234211-23
NF$10017178181183161-22
NG$100351761882202211
NH$100301671752202299
NJ$10035208216267264-3
NK$100361732052672747
NL$10039207213208202-6
EJ$1001410110226260
EH$4005184284344514510
EG$4006016516210286-16
EF600-20007318213412694-32
EE600-2000011110
ED600-2000389249199167130-37
EC$400283247247137116-21
EB$4001481089273763
WBU$1000308000
WCU$40047758158558359512
WDU$6006527217277137130
WEU$6003033613683393390
WFU$6005967087237297334
WGU$400318489491497493-4
WHU$10011024874-3
WJU$100251471328179-2
NAU100-400481119390999
NBU$10053567275838
NCU100-40012110710712914819
NDU100-40094931071021086
NEU100-40010514212814416420
NFU100-40040829011613014
NGU100-400658094991034
NHU100-40078515377814
NJU100-4001261131111371436
NKU$100100000
NLU100-400184220
EJU$10031265309370364-6
EHU$100913812613282-50
EGU$4001067115311981242127432
EFU$6008829851011101210131
EEU$60076287785586587510
EDU$600144414221414140814102
ECU$40015411526153415481547-1
EBU$1002685646548
SAU$100881171156753-14
SBU$1001541001101311376
SCU$10012510912315516914
SDU$1001061191291261348
SEU$10026424240488
SFU$100163628237-16
SGU$10017575143430
SHU$1008711812211812810
SJU$100791001131271292
SKU$1001139599145143-2
SLU$100101117117115109-6
TOTAL1228416390162041596115741-64915%
100210448874897500649193231.25%
40049895608558354205380-22834.18%
600+51915895572455355442-45334.57%

Monday, April 16, 2012

Oops!

The father of a current Crimson Tide player got his foot caught under a rug and sent the National Championship Crystal Trophy to the floor.  All of Saban's horses, and all of his men, couldn't put the trophy together again.

This is why your mom told you not to play football in the house

The handmade trophy sculpted in Ireland is valued at $30,000. The university previously had two such trophies, one at the Paul W. Bryant Museum and the other at the athletic facility. A university spokesman confirmed that they will immediately begin the process of replacing the trophy.

The crystal football has been a fragile piece in recent years. In 2008, Florida had its broken when then-recruit Orson Charles fumbled the ball away. In 2004, Florida State had a pair of trophies stolen from a glass case outside of coach Bobby Bowden's office during renovation of the building.
So one has to wonder who the starting player is, and will he still be a player next fall?  I hope there isn't a lot of competition at his spot!

Sunday, April 15, 2012

STEP UPDATE: Tax Day Edition

Here's an update on the available seats as of this weekend (Saturday.)  I may post one more update next week if any one is interested (hint hint . . . leave me a comment so that I know that somebody besides Carolyn Todd is even reading this crap), but I don't think I can access the venue after I pay for the tickets and the due date is May 1st.  If I don't hear from anyone in the comment section, I may just skip doing any more updates.

There is statistically no real change in the total number of available seats (15%) but the actual number dropped by 243 seats.  The trend is still toward people moving from $100 seats to better locations.  Tomorrow, NLC members with 2-99 points start the selection/relocation process, which I presume will include new NLC members who currently do not have season tickets but donated at least $100 to get two points, and will be selecting for the first time.

So here is the breakdown of available seats.  The delta value reprsents the difference from the current # of seats available to the number available at the last update.  A negative number means there are FEWER seats available in that section and a positive means there are more available in that section than before.

SECTIONDonationSeats AvailableSeats AvailableSeats AvailableSeats AvailableDelta
6/8/20113/23/20123/30/20124/14/2012
WB$40023227027531843
WC$400251598844-44
WD600-20004118014582-63
WE600-2000129561
WF600-20003720014287-55
WG$4001814310640-66
WH$40030233937138514
WJ$10061315519-36
NA$1001817216397-66
NB$10038200195158-37
NC$100402072292290
ND$10036171189181-8
NE$1004819319923435
NF$100171781811832
NG$1003517618822032
NH$1003016717522045
NJ$1003520821626751
NK$1003617320526762
NL$10039207213208-5
EJ$1001410110226-76
EH$40051842843445117
EG$40060165162102-60
EF600-200073182134126-8
EE600-200001110
ED600-2000389249199167-32
EC$400283247247137-110
EB$4001481089273-19
WBU$10003080-8
WCU$400477581585583-2
WDU$600652721727713-14
WEU$600303361368339-29
WFU$6005967087237296
WGU$4003184894914976
WHU$1001102487-41
WJU$1002514713281-51
NAU100-400481119390-3
NBU$100535672753
NCU100-40012110710712922
NDU100-4009493107102-5
NEU100-40010514212814416
NFU100-40040829011626
NGU100-400658094995
NHU100-4007851537724
NJU100-40012611311113726
NKU$10010000
NLU100-4001842-2
EJU$1003126530937061
EHU$10091381261326
EGU$400106711531198124244
EFU$600882985101110121
EEU$60076287785586510
EDU$6001444142214141408-6
ECU$400154115261534154814
EBU$1002685646-10
SAU$1008811711567-48
SBU$10015410011013121
SCU$10012510912315532
SDU$100106119129126-3
SEU$10026424240-2
SFU$10016362823-5
SGU$10017575143-8
SHU$10087118122118-4
SJU$1007910011312714
SKU$100113959914546
SLU$100101117117115-2
TOTAL12284163901620415961-24315%
100210448874897500610931.36%
4004989560855835420-16333.96%
600+5191589557245535-18934.68%

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

JoePa Tribute

I didn't write this one (and perhaps more importantly, didn't SING this one,) but I still like it . . .

Friday, April 6, 2012

What To Do About Joe?

My loyal readers may have noted that I haven't posted much about Joe since his death.  It's just not a subject I wanted to talk about.  I'm not the kind of guy that expresses his feelings well.  Oh, you'll know whether I'm happy with the kicker or our starting quarterback, or how I feel about the coach's decision to punt instead of going for it on fourth down, but you won't find any touchy feely kind of emotions in this blog.

But now I am faced with an emotional dilemma.

What do I do with Joe?

I have two stand-up Joe's--the original (I think) in my home office, and one in my office at work (a later version in a suit.)



Do I leave them up?  Years of dust and bumping and moving around could wear and tear on them.  Would it be best to try and preserve them, away in a closet or attic?  Or should I proudly display them as I have done for years anyway, and let time take its ravages whatever the cost?

Right now, I just can't put Joe away.  But I must admit that a deep sadness comes over me whenever I look at him.  Then there is still the anger at how he was treated; the tragedy of the last months of his illustrious life.  We have known for years that there would some day be a Penn State without Joe Paterno.  We just didn't know it would come so soon.  So many emotions.  So few words to properly express them.

If you have a stand-up Joe, what are you doing with your Joe?

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Joe Pa's Ghost Seen Walking on Park Avenue

Okay, it's April 1st, and I foolishly resorted to a prank to get you reading this, but hey, that's life.

I once had to pull an article on another site that I titled Joe Paterno Shot.  It was right after my house was broken into.  The police came and went through the house to make sure no one was still in there.  The officer who went in was talking to another officer afterward--a neighbor of mine--and he joked that the stand-up Joe in my office startled him when he went in that room and he shot him in the chest.  My neighbor wanted to check the cut out to see how good a shot he was.  We all laughed.  But apparently the title offended and misled some people, so live and learn.

But there is no ghost that I know of roaming State College tonight.

But there is some magic being worked on the recruiting trail by Bill O'Brien.  Here's Ben Johnson's take on the situation.
While O’Brien has yet to coach a game inside of Beaver Stadium, his impact on the football program’s future has already been felt.
As of Thursday, Penn State had received the verbal commitments from a quartet of four-star athletes, as well as five-star tight end prospect, Adam Breneman.
The sudden burst of success on the recruiting trail has been a welcome sight for Nittany Lions fans who have seen only one recruiting class rank in the Top 10 nationally since 2002, according to Rivals.com.

“What made Penn State good hasn’t changed.” Farrell said. “The locker room hasn’t changed the fans, the stadium, the history and tradition hasn’t changed. I didn’t think it would be this quick and immediate, but I knew Penn State would be better off with an active head coach. People don’t understand the limitations the staff was working with since around 2006 or so.


"When kids took visits to campus they limited the amount of time they spent with Joe. He wasn’t the kind of guy you could bring out and say ‘he’ll be your coach for the next five years’, Bill O’Brien is a guy you can trot out front and center and say ‘Hey, this is our guy.’
"It’s less about getting him off campus and more about the experience kids have when they visit on campus.”

Farrell says that O’Brien deserves a lot more credit for what he has done so far, despite losing on out Maryland transfer quarterback Danny O'Brien (Wisconsin), offensive tackle Mike McGlinchey (Notre Dame) and wide receiver Ryan Switzer (North Carolina).

"Kids have grown up wanting to play for Penn State, but that hasn’t landed them all there over the past five years. They’ve lost some of those guys, and now they’re not. That’s O’Brien.”
Penn State apparently hosted the top running back recruit in the state, David Williams, this weekend.

I could have titled this post DAVID WILLIAMS PICKS PENN STATE!

But that is not an April Fool's joke.  It's an aspiration.  And hopefully it will be a reality.