I would like to extend my best wishes and thanks to all of those who have served in and who are currently serving our armed forces. The sacrifices that we have made allow us to enjoy our everyday freedoms that so many take for granted. I ask any and all of you, on this day, to please reach out and thank a serviceman or servicewoman. If you see a soldier at a Starbucks or restaurant, buy them a coffee or simply say 'thank you for your service.' It means more to them than you can ever imagine. God bless them all for all they have done and will continue to do. May the wings of liberty never lose a feather...

It is the SOLDIER, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the SOLDIER, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the SOLDIER, not the campus organizers, who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.

It is the SOLDIER, who salutes the flag, who serves the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag,

Who allows the protester to burn the flag.  AMEN.

-General Douglas MacArthur

TheMightyErik - Former USAF enlisted and damn proud of it...

I would like to extend my best wishes and thanks to all of those who have served in and who are currently serving our armed forces. The sacrifices that we have made allow us to enjoy our everyday freedoms that so many take for granted. I ask any and all of you, on this day, to please reach out and thank a serviceman or servicewoman. If you see a soldier at a Starbucks or restaurant, buy them a coffee or simply say 'thank you for your service.' It means more to them than you can ever imagine. God bless them all for all they have done and will continue to do. May the wings of liberty never lose a feather...

It is the SOLDIER, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the SOLDIER, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the SOLDIER, not the campus organizers, who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.

It is the SOLDIER, who salutes the flag, who serves the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag,

Who allows the protester to burn the flag.  AMEN.

-General Douglas MacArthur

TheMightyErik - Former USAF enlisted and damn proud of it...

Here we go again... so we had Pitt riding the failbus to perfection and for some reason Minnesota got everything it wanted from MTSUCCA&M etc etc... So why does USC refuse to field a kicker for extra points? All will be revealed... Is there some reason I have to continue to type in this window? Oh, it's my friend the 75 word rule. How I have missed you. What makes teflon stick to the pan if nothing sticks to it? Why is it elephants swim so well and I sink like a rock in the pool? Are we seriously going to start a true freshman at QB?

I am buying all the beer tonight if anyone happens to drop by the house, FWIW. That's just the kinda guy I am

Just wanted to post this so everyone would have access to whatever games were on on any week to include coverage maps. The link will take you to football but the root will also give you NCAAB listings when the season rolls around. This came referred to me by my lovely cousin Holly from EDSBS and I think Matt Sarz did a great job with this site and I refer to it pretty much every week especially since I am one of the weird PSU fans living out on the best west coast. Enjoy and see you in the threads every Saturday!

ED: Meant to do this in a fanshot but I am an idiot and made it a post. My bad... sorry guys!

Continue reading this post »

Per ESPN's Adam Rittenberg Penn State and the rest of the Big 10 have seven players listed on the preseason watch list for the James Laurinitis    Butkus Award. We have Lee and Bowman on the list and tOSU surprisingly has zero. A little weird considering how much love the media likes to give them but thems the breaks.

On a sidenote... there is some weirdo that provided some comments that Mauti should have been put on the list even though he has a blown knee and he took some for it. Those are the fans I hope stay in the shallow end and stay over at that other blogsite with all the other crazies and SJ's.

Yeah. Didn't need to wake up this morning and read that AJ Wallace may miss a couple of games due to cutting some classes. The only upside I see is getting some much needed playing time for the greener defensive backs and I am a bit curious as to who will be stepping in on some of his returning duties.

I can honestly say I would rather see us lose him due to academics rather than off the field indiscretions but it still tastes nasty either way.

Yeah. Here we go. As if many couldn't figure out by themselves that recruiting one of the most top-tier high school athletes to a basketball squad that had little going for it at the time might raise some eyebrows we now have this:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=4162444

We all know that the Reggie Bush thing has been dragged out to one of the most ridiculous timeframes ever we see that the men of Troy may be in real deep trouble over their basketball program. This is moving along in a much more expedient fashion and could cost them plenty in the next few years.

Many people say under our breath that many programs have some dirt in them and that it may happens in every school but when the head coach is allegedly passing envelopes of cash to 'handlers' on some street corner I think a big ass hammer drop is in order to teach a lesson.

The 'one year and off to the NBA draft' is much to blame for this, in my opinion. I am so damn thankful that that clown Clarett was crushed in his attempt to ammend the NFL policy of early NFL entry or more of this kind of thing would be happening in the NCAAF world.

In closing:

BSD rules, bacon, Zug, 'sounds hot', beer, pierogies, nomorestupidoffseasonruninswiththecops, tailgating, shirtless Posluzny pics (for the ladies)

A nice little piece from ESPN about expanding our conference and some other good stuff from JoePa:

"We go into hiding for six weeks," Paterno said, referring to the hiatus between the end of the Big Ten regular season and the BCS bowls. The other major FBS conferences play into the first weekend of December.

"Everybody else is playing playoffs on television," Paterno said. "You never see a Big Ten team mentioned. So I think that's a handicap.

"I've tried to talk to the Big Ten people about, 'Let's get a 12th team -- Syracuse, Rutgers, Pitt -- we could have a little bit of a playoff.'"

Paterno spoke to several college football reporters before a booster meeting at the Plaza Hotel. The comments came in response to a question on whether a team from the Northeast could win a national championship. The 1986 Nittany Lions are the last No. 1 team from the region.

"The only [Northeastern] team that's got a shot would be us, and yet we've got a tough job because the Big Ten is not as visible in the key times as the Southeastern Conference and the Big 12."

Asked what sort of response he had received, Paterno raised his eyebrows in a facial shrug.

"You know, it's a conference that's dominated by a couple of people," Paterno said. "If I start talking, they're polite, but they snicker.

"They don't know I know they're snickering, but they're polite. ...I wish I were younger and going to be around [more] 20 years."

With the conference commissioners holding so much power, Paterno said, the whole landscape could change if two or three people change.

"We're not talking about invading Normandy," Paterno said. "We're talking about some alignments that could happen very quickly."

 

There are a couple of other neat quotes about him storming the sidelines again and the link is here

While I love the fact that the old guy is still full of piss and vinegar and firing for our conference I think it's sad that he is the only one trying to keep our conference from being left out in the cold. Then again, who else in the Big 10 would you trust with that responsibility?

Attached are some pics from the Rose Bowl. Nothing too award winning, I am afraid. The Blue Band was great and our fans represented in a big way and I was proud to be among them. Most of the pictures look like I shot them from space so I only uploaded a few. I was lucky enough to have a seat at the 'USC' endzone goal line so I got to see all of our scores up close but trying to take pics with my loaner camera didn't do much good (I didn't dare bring my SLR knowing what condition I would be in). Well enjoy and thanks for a great '08 everybody!

These pictures are all up on Flick.com under TheMightyErik tag '2009 Rose Bowl'. Sorry I couldn't do better! (BTW... do you know how hard it is to get all of the PENN STATE lettered flags in one shot? Good grief... I am a lousy photographer)

Hey BSD nation! We are heading to Pasadena to meet USC (not the one in South Carolina) in the Rose Bowl on January 1st!

Some of us have already purchased tickets and this would be a good spot to throw some ideas around for those who still need them or to get some good ideas for the BSD nation tailgate, t-shirts, and / or travel.

For a view of the field from the different Rose Bowl sections see this site http://www.tickets.ucla.edu/map/rosebowl.html . Our sideline will be the 13-24 section, or the bottom sections on that map.

Original post: http://www.blackshoediaries.com/2008/11/22/668117/pasadena-travel-plans

Hey BSD nation! The boys manned up in a huge way and paved our road to Pasadena to meet :::insert Pac 10 winner here::: on January 1st! So now we have to get the ball rolling on getting as many of us out here to Cali to cheer on our beloved Nittany Lions and see JoePa and company take home our second Rose Bowl trophy.

So now, here is where we could use some inputs. StubHub is absolutely ridiculous on ticket prices so if there are any other avenues for package deals I, for one, am defi-Nittany in and I will try to help anyone out on this end as far as info from the local area and I know there are others who will be glad to do the same.

Let's keep this awesome season going and I hope to see many of you out here in January!!!

Thought I would drop a couple of things to do while in LA with my personal and parental ratings (if traveling with family... I am much closer to those lines as I have a 4yr old). These are the things I take every outside family member to see when they visit:

Hollywood Blvd / walk of fame: 4 Stars... not to be missed, a great time walking around and seeing the sights. Mann's Chinese and the Kodak theatres, wax museum, lots of bars and shopping. G-daytime / PG-evening (it gets weird down there after dark)

http://www.seeing-stars.com/Streets/HollywoodBlvd.shtml

Santa Monica Pier: 3.5 stars... a wonderful walk with some good restaurants (Bubba Gump and locals) and cool entertainment. It will be a slower time of the year but it is a boardwalk complete with gaming and rides on it (ride the ferris wheel!). I just dig hanging out and watching the performers and fishermen when it's slow. G/PG at anytime

http://www.santamonicapier.org/

Disneyland: 5 stars... need I say more? It's damned expensive but nothing else compares to it. I would go with any of you but my passes will be dark over the holidays. If you have kids coming and they have a birthday while they are here they get in free! (A longshot, I know, but just thought I would tell you about it). G all the time

http://disneyland.disney.go.com/disneyland/en_US/home/home?name=HomePage

Venice Beach: 3.5 stars... the freaks on parade. You haven't lived until you experience what VB has to offer... and after it, you may not want to (j/k). Here is what makes California what it is. Great sights, muscle beach, NBA talent with felonies playing on the public courts, nice shopping including local artists of all flavors, and acts of depravity are all on display. You never know what you get down there, so.... PG/MA depending upon who shows up

http://www.venicebeach.com/

For other recommendations:

http://losangeles.citysearch.com/?brand=smx_tlp

Most of these are quite a trek from Pasadena but they are some of my personal favorites and I thought I would include them for you. There are tons of comedy clubs, famous restaurants, shopping areas, Universal Studios and lots of other attractions, to be sure. If anyone has any special interests please let me know and I will give you as much info as I can and I will be sure to update this as people give me more ideas. See you soon!



 

Looks like we have our 20th commit of the season in Garry Gilliam (maybe a little siren)

http://blog.pennlive.com/bobflounders/2008/11/milton_hersheys_gilliam_commit.html

He is listed as a 6'7" 260 lb DE/TE. (Can't image why we'd be looking for another tight end...)

We still have five slots available, as it sits right now, and two more solid weekends of kids who may be taking unofficial and official visits. Here's hoping for a strong finish with our '09 recruits!

Gee.. a big surprise posted on ESPN late tonight... The BCS Presidential Oversight Committee is against the call for a playoff by Omaba on MNF last week. No    freaking     way.... who woulda guessed? So if you were to believe all of the campaign talk, Obama could be the man to help end the economic crisis, pull our troops out of the gulf and give us universal healthcare... But a playoff in college football? Sorry, not a chance. Kinda funny, if you ask me...

One person who won't be swayed by President-elect Barack Obama's recent call for an eight-team national college football playoff is Oregon president David Frohnmayer, chair of the BCS Presidential Oversight Committee.

 

"We deeply respect the president-elect and we are glad that he is a fan of college football," Frohnmayer said in an e-mail response to ESPN Tuesday. "We have the most compelling regular season in all of sports, and I'm sure that contributes to Senator Obama's enjoyment of our great game."

 

Frohnmayer opposes a playoff for the former Division I-A. Other presidents on the committee are Rev. John Jenkins (Notre Dame), Robert Khayat (Ole Miss), Mark Nordenberg (Pittsburgh), John Peters (Northern Illinois), Harvey Perlman (Nebraska), Graham Spanier (Penn State) and Charles Steger (Virginia Tech.)

 

"My colleagues and I on the BCS Presidential Oversight Committee have discussed the future of postseason football on many occasions and we do not believe a playoff would be in the best interest of the sport, the student-athletes or our many other constituencies," Frohnmayer said.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3697109

I had nearly forgotten all about Spanier being on there until I saw this article.

To add another anti-playoff wrench, ESPN is bidding to air the BCS games and we know what that does to slow playoff talks...

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3697923

Man today hurt... we all know how much this loss sucked but throwing tirades about officiating or playcalling / coaching is getting us nowhere.

Let's come to terms with it... we made too damn many mistakes out there. Playcalling did not leave a receiver wide open down the field for a float pass for a TD. The refs did not make receivers drop ball or not hold blocks or have errant throws. (note: the refs DID give us that first Clark fumble back at the 1 and I still have no clue how in the hell that happened) Coaching did not commit a stupid penalty or poor block in the redzone to make us settle for 3's.

It   just    wasn't   meant   to   be.

So let's get our minds straight and get to the Rose Bowl. I hope to see many of you out here as it is an hour from me and I know how well we travel. Let's keep rolling and shake it off and hopefully we continue to kill it on the recruiting trail for good years to come.

WE ARE....

OK... so I just watched one of the greatest games I have seen in some time (TX vs/ TT). But there is one thing that bothers the hell out of me... Where's the defense? Many of the other BCS contenders are putting up XBOX scores on other opponents but what does that really tell us?

I can see an argument that Texas Tech gave McCoy hell tonight in the first half and some of the second half but come on! Quarterbacks in this conference seem to set records every drive and receivers look like they are playing against a scrimmage squad. Oklahoma had their chance but allowed themselves to be victimized on long plays and specila teams blowups. In the SEC Georgia continues to lay eggs against reasonable opponents and Florida is the latest to receive praise for crushing a team who came in falling all over themselves while giving up massive points mostly due to their own mistakes. The list goes on but I think you all know where I am going there...

Many will say that our weak Big 10 has no strength but we really shouldn't be taking the beating we are over defeating tOSU by a touchdown in their house a week ago. While many offenses in our conference are rebuilding or are tinkering with new systems I still believe that our kids would give the same amount of chaos to the Big 12 or the SEC that some of the much more heralded D's in those conferences have been getting credit for.

I am just saying we should not be passed over for the ineptitude of some of our foes and should be given the fair chance to prove our worth on the field where other southern schools have failed to do so when they do not have the ball. Our D could stand up to most any test with Bradley studying the films so give us a break, BCS. I honestly believe that we will not disappoint you.

Well, it appears that the recruiting train is continuing on at a nice pace after the Michigan home game visits. Former UM commit kicker Anthony Fera looks like he has de-committed from UM and his heading to State College according to numerous sources.

http://bwi.rivals.com/

http://www.michigansportscenter.com/2008/10/anthony-fera-has-decommitted.html

This is a really nice get with Kelly moving on after this season. Gotta love Happy Valley and what it does to recruits!