Vacation: All I Ever Wanted

A more organized blogger about to head off for a (badly needed) vacation would have someone else post content for a week. Yeah, sorry about that. See you in about 10 days, unless the ocean dries up first.

John Butler Trio, “Ocean”:

Penn State Preview: Rivals.com

Might be a good time to start flagging the various Penn State previews, so let’s start with Tom Dienhart’s Rivals.com preview of the Nittany Lions.  It’s mostly optimistic, even suggesting that Penn State could win the Big Ten.  Some tidbits worth fighting over:

Deon Butler arrived on campus as a walk-on defensive back. Now a senior, Butler is one of the Big Ten’s top receivers. He’s neither big nor fast, but Butler is a reliable target whose attention to detail makes him stand out.

Well, he’s not big, but Butler’s a legitimate 4.4-range deep threat and our fastest receiver.  Easily the best bet to catch a pass of more than 30 yards. I mean, that’s pretty much his job.

Sophomore Evan Royster is a capable tailback, but he won’t keep defensive coordinators awake at night.

Personally, I’m hoping and praying that opposing defensive coordinators under-estimate Royster. He’s an excellent running back with perhaps the best vision of any RB in the last ten years at Penn State. If you love the weird, little things in football, pay close attention to Royster. He doesn’t waste a single step and gets the most out of every run. Two-yard runs become four-yard runs. Eight-yard runs become eleven-yard runs. It’s uncanny. Very Mike Hart-ish, if you will.  I understand the infatuation with speedy Stephfon Green, but Royster is the clear starter at this point.

Overall, it’s a rather bullish look at this year’s team. Dienhart loves both our offensive and defensive lines, and for good reason. Those two units should be good insurance against any horrible, jaw-dropping upset losses. I remain scared to death of our defensive secondary, but hope to be proved wrong. I’m also looking forward to the phrase “much-maligned Anthony Morelli” being used in every preview and national broadcast this year.

Recruiting: Same Story, Different Day

[Not really an update, but:  Penn State's "Lift For Life" is tomorrow.  A listing of all teams and a link to donate to Uplifting Athletes' fight against kidney cancer can be found here.]

It’s like Pennsylvania’s college sports writers are on autopilot.  This particular Tribune-Review piece is especially noteworthy for its quotes, however:

[Jordan] Hall said he did not commit to the Buckeyes because of Pryor, but he said he fell in love with Ohio State when he accompanied Pryor on his official visit. Tressel, however, was the deciding factor, Hall said.

“Coach Tressel,” Hall said, “he’s a real cool dude. He’ll do anything for you, on and off the field.”

Uh, oops?  But of course, this is another “Ohio State is taking all of our women jobs jarrrrrbs recruits and Penn State is dying on the vine” article.  So what better source than Jeannette head coach Ray Reitz?

With Bell considered a five-star prospect and Hall and Brown rated as four-star players, Ohio State has claimed the WPIAL’s top three recruits — not to mention Pryor, who turned down overtures from Pitt and Penn State.

“I think he really liked Tressel and them being in the national championship the last two years. Those were intangibles,” Jeannette coach Ray Reitz said. “Pitt is on the verge of doing some great things, but that wasn’t the type of offense Terrelle was interested in. Penn State has been in the middle of the pack, and these kids don’t want to be a part of it. Everybody wants that chance to be on the big stage.”

As a stand-alone quote, that’s fine.  Maybe even partially true (Pitt?  Verge of great things?  Really?).  But let’s not kid anybody here.  Pryor was most likely pushed by multiple parties toward Ohio State and Hall was part of that package.  As for losing the two Gateway kids (Dorian Bell and Corey Brown), that’ll keep happening until either Joe Paterno retires or he and Gateway coach Terry Smith iron out their differences, whatever the hell they are.  Whoever replaces Joe Paterno has a lot of work to do with mending fences with high school coaches across the state, not just western Pennsylvania*.  That’ll have to be Priority #1 for the new guy.  Still, if you’re losing recruiting battles that you only have a 5-10% chance of winning, are you really losing?  (Eh, maybe.)

As for Andrew Sweat, Penn State liked his teammate (Mike Yancich) better.  If that’s counted as a recruiting loss, okay.  However, it’s this quote from Trinity’s coach that stings most:

“I think (Ohio State has) come in and mined the field a little bit, and they keep coming back,” Trinity coach Ed Dalton said. “These were kids that would have been at Penn State 10 years ago. Everyone has a great recruiter on staff, but when the head coach is a great recruiter, that is an additional thing.”

Joe Paterno used to be that recruiter.  As Brian said in his “Profiles In Heroism” piece on Greg Schiano:

Recruiting’s mostly about energy, not personality — do Ron Zook and Charlie Weis seem like guys you want to spend four years around? — and Schiano has that.

At this point, other coaches simply have more energy for the recruiting grind.  Compared to those coaches and their respective programs, Penn State and Joe Paterno often seem to cruise on their reputation.  When the reputation becomes stale and outdated, what’s left?  That’s not to say that Penn State’s current recruiting efforts are awful by any means — in all honesty, it’s better than most expected given the circumstances.  However, if Penn State relies on it’s reputation for producing great defensive players, it has to deal with its offensive reputation as well.

* - The most overrated football region in the world, unless we’ve been transported back to the 1970’s and nobody told me about it.  But God Freaking Forbid you travel west of Altoona and say the WPIAL has been cruising on its reputation even longer than Penn State.

Driving While Awesome

If you’ve been wondering how DUI laws apply to motorized coolers in New York, here’s a hint:

Leslie J. “Bomber” Marr, 57, could face felony DWI and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle charges because of prior arrests and convictions in drinking-and-driving cases, said Whitehall Police Chief Richard LaChapelle.  The electricity-powered Cruzin Cooler that Marr was riding contained 14 beers, the chief said.

LaChapelle said Whitehall Police Patrolman Andrew Mija stopped Marr at about 7:45 p.m. after the officer saw Marr swerving and preparing to cross William Street on the motorized cooler.  The machine has handlebars, and its operator sits on a seat atop the cooler, LaChapelle said.

“We were told it can do up to 12 mph,” the chief said.

Marr had apparently just left the nearby American Legion Post 83, but it was unclear where he was going, LaChapelle said. He was not headed toward his Lafayette Street home, and he refused to take a breath test, the chief said.

It’s not fat twins on mopeds.  But close.

Every spring, it seems that people from our Penn State tailgate have pitched the Cruzin Cooler idea.  Dude, seriously, this is the year.  I’m buying one.  One of these, too!  But you know that the campus police would not stand for this very long, and certainly not on a crowded football Saturday.

Still, man, the Cruzin Cooler.  That’s some seriously forward thinking.  One of those inventions that goes on the, “Crap, why didn’t I think of that?” list.  By now, humanity should be only a few steps away from a Jetsons-style hovercooler.

Then again, maybe we’re already there.

July Fools?

That’s a good one. I’m imagining Graham Spanier trying to keep a straight face while Joe Paterno says he’d like (1) a three-year contract extension and (2) Jay to take over for him afterward.

In a way, I actually hope this is what’s going on behind the scenes, if only for personal amusement. Doubt it, though.

Squib Kicks: Sean Lee Ain’t Got Time To Bleed

When it comes to linebackers, Penn State fans will always view Paul Pozluszny as an all-time great for his role in rehabilitating the program a few years ago. Still, Sean Lee’s personal rehab is quickly becoming the stuff of legend:

With three weeks to kill lying down, slouching over a throbbing knee and no appetite, Sean Lee had ample opportunity to mope. But then he stumbled upon unexpected inspiration while watching television.

For some reason one night, Lee lingered on the channel where a minister was talking about his battle with cancer. Penn State’s all-conference linebacker was struck by the minister’s declaration that he wanted to be a public example of recovery.

”Maybe I was just fishing for something, or maybe I was meant to see it,” Lee said. ”But I decided that that’s how I wanted to attack this knee.”

At some point, we’ll learn that Lee’s rehab includes saving kittens from burning buildings and carrying old ladies across the street. And nobody will be surprised.

On the recruiting side, Penn State received a commitment from Trinity H.S. running back Christian Kuntz, who projects as a wide receiver / safety prospect in college. Midstate newspaper accounts abound (BSD has an opinion, too), but your money quotes are:

“My dad and I searched the internet looking at UConn and Penn State’s rosters and where they are in terms of depth at wide receiver. Penn State doesn’t look like they have much (coming back) and me coming in as a freshman that’s going to be a huge advantage for me to hopefully play four years for them.”

And this doozy, which is making more than a few Nittany Lion fans squirm:

“I liked the coaches, and I think it’s an up-and coming program,” he said, adding that “I really do believe better days for Penn State are coming.”

The York Daily Record calls Kuntz, “the first pure receiver prospect” of this class. If you believe that, a high school running back is now Penn State’s first pure receiver prospect. So, yeah. Awesome.

Back on the Curtis Dukes front, the Watertown Daily Times has it covered:

Dukes said he likes what he’s seen from legendary Nittany Lions coach Joe Paterno.

“We met and talked,” Dukes said. “He’s a real down-to-earth guy. We hit it off pretty good.”

Dukes, though, said he received no assurances regarding playing time.

“They don’t promise me those types of things,” Dukes said. “I expect to earn my way onto the field.”

A relatively interesting trend is developing — the further away a prospect is from Pennsylvania, the less they seem to care about Joe Paterno’s contract status.

Sporting News provides an Oregon State preview, if you’re into that sort of thing. Nothing groundbreaking there. The Sporting News and Phil Steele have a very different outlook for Penn State’s 2008 season, however:

The Sporting News lineup had Illinois in the Rose Bowl, Michigan in the Outback Bowl, Michigan State in the Insight Bowl, Penn State in the Champs Sports Bowl and Northwestern in the Motor City Bowl.

Phil Steele, which had Michigan, instead of Purdue, in the Alamo Bowl, had Penn State in the Rose Bowl, Iowa in the Outback Bowl, Northwestern in the Insight Bowl, Illinois in the Champs Sports Bowl and Michigan State in the Motor City Bowl.

The Mifflin Streak legal saga winds down. A former Penn State student is in the running to be the next Miss America.

Turn To Me. Just Believe.

Currently wasting a Sunday afternoon watching a PSU v. Michigan State basketball replay on “The Big Ten’s Greatest Games”.  An amusing thing about the Big Ten Network is that their only commercials are self-promotional — mostly plugs for other BTN shows with the various universities’ 30-second spots sprinkled in.  I’m slowly coming to the conclusion that Penn State’s isn’t that terrible, but only by default*.

For the longest time, I couldn’t come up with thirty more torturous seconds than this:

Maybe 30 seconds of Lloyd Carr smirking.  But that’s it.

The truth is that most of the commercials are dry and awful**.  So yes, Penn State’s is terrible, but it’s terrible / memorable.  With that begrudging admission, dear Penn State marketing people, PLEASE TO CHANGE COMMERCIAL NOW.

* - I believe the Blue/White Rapper Contest uses a similar sliding scale.

** - Wisconsin’s is rather amusing.  (First video on the page)

Quite A Legacy

Jesse Helms died yesterday.  Probably wanted to check out before Obama took office.

Getting Weird Out There

Obama with a five-point lead in…Montana?

Posting should be sporadic this weekend. Do the American thing by eating freshly grilled meat and blowing something up.

Seriously, Restart The Presses Already.

Call it a non-story about a non-story, but I thought I’d throw out a David Jones blurb about the “in-house successor” rumor that made the rounds this week:

Paterno has never told recruits anything else. He told Terrelle Pryor that over the winter.

Paterno has told recruits that for the last decade. He seems confident of it playing out that way.

Except it’s not his call. It’s that of PSU president Graham Spanier. And Spanier is not committing necessarily to that direction. So, there is no story here.

I don’t think Cory Giger of the Mirror, who wrote the brief piece, intended that it be treated as stop-the-presses news. He was just pointing out that recruits continue to be told something that may or may not be a fib.

Agreed that Giger didn’t intend it as a groundbreaking story. It’s just a column written in the doldrums of college football coverage that was most likely intended to give a little context to what recruits are being told. After all, the only meaningful stories being written about Penn State football in late June are about recruiting. I’m guessing that the folks at the Altoona Mirror got quite a laugh at how the little story made temporary national waves.

Jones has some very good contacts within Old Main, so I’d pay particular attention to the “Spanier is not committing necessarily to that direction” line.

Keeping The Streak Alive

Mifflin Streak charges dismissed against one participant.  More surely to follow.

Charges of open lewdness and disorderly conduct were dismissed Wednesday against one of eight “Mifflin Streak” participants after the commonwealth could not prove anyone was “affronted or alarmed” by the behavior, as required by law.

Daniel Mozer, 20, of Cherry Hill, N.J., smiled and thanked his attorney, Stacy Parks Miller, after the charges were dismissed by Centre County District Judge Allen Sinclair.

And once again, Centre County’s tax dollars at work.

How Do You Spell “Retard”, Brett?

You think the Phillies should’ve told Brett Myers he was being sent down to Japan?