If you can get pressure on the quarterback with four guys, you win.  If not, you lose.  And probably by a lot.

That's the entire season, and it's not even sufficient for a fanpost.  In order to get there I'll make an observation.  The pessimistc side of us all would say this team had a habit of starting slowly. But if you look back every team we beat had some manner of gameplan to get pressure on Clark which worked to some degree in the first half.  But almost without exception, the team played a great second half and won handily. 

You might make a case that a coaching staff that catches a lot of grief in losses for failing to make adjustments actually makes adjustments quite well.  It's just that there is no solution to not being able to block the other teams front four.  Just a thought.

I say let's hit the Orange Bowl, because nobody will remember in five years anyway,

Put on the music about two hours ago now.  It's time to rock out.  Suicide [prevention] tunes.

You know who saved the day?  Marvin Gaye, What's Goin' On.

The Band chimed in...Tears of Rage, and The Weight...

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[Bumped.  Bobby Bowden's wife, Ann, is now speaking to the press about how Bobby has been "used" by the boosters who have now turned against him.  Ugly stuff, this trading of barbs on a national stage, and an important distinction from what Penn State and Joe Paterno went through in the early part of this decade.  While there are some parallels between that situation and the current mess in Tallahassee, Paterno never lost support of the institution and boosters in such a public manner.  Inexplicable losing?  Yes.  Pissed off fans who wanted a change?  Sure, myself included.  But the big money remained firmly behind Paterno, along with decades of goodwill, enormous financial generosity toward the University, and a spotless NCAA rap sheet.  When Penn State was struggling, many of us said and wrote that there was no way for the Paterno era to end in a clean fashion.  The situation in Tally shows us why, especially because the parties involved seem unable -- and unwilling -- to handle the situation discreetly.  That said, I'd be lying if I said I was enjoying every moment of this unfolding FSU debacle. -- RUTS]

It looks like it's a matter of time for Bobby Bowden now.  Here is the link to a pretty excellent article detailing Coach Bowden's troubles, it seems like while academic fraud is bad, losing to South Florida & Boston College might be too much to bear.  I remain in the “I'll believe it when I see it” camp for the time being, but there are some interesting things to note.

1]  The article links to a YouTube video of a pre-game speech, Coach Bowden isn't very sharp in it. To put it mildly.

2]  Apparently after the Jacksonville State near miss earlier in the year, he referred to them as "Troy" throughout the post-game interview.

3]  One of his dummy kids (I think it was Terry) was talking about how they were going to raise the 5 Million for Jimbo Fisher's buyout so that he could continue to coach indefinitely.  This has actually led to a rush of people associated with the University trying to make the point that this was decidedly not going to happen, basically making the point that he is done after next season no matter what.

4]  Fans are now organizing “Blackout” protests, as a show of no support/confidence in Coach Bowden.  Right now, they want him out at the end of the year.

I don't know.  On one hand there is a tendency to gloat, at least a little.  But I feel bad for the guy.  It would have been a lot harder for Joe Paterno to get things going in the right direction again if we played 200 miles away from Florida instead of Pitt.  It also seems kind of silly how bad a lot of their fans have turned on him too.  It has all the makings of a bad ending for everybody down there. 

Like lots of people, once upon a time I was kid.  A kid that liked baseball.  I remember my first game, Phillies vs. Braves at Veterans Stadium.  Juan Samuel hit a home run.  My parents were split, I lived in State College, but my Dad lived in Allentown.  He took me to my first big league game, and every big league game I’d ever been to before I turned 18.  I was a Phillies fan.

1993 started with a game.  Opening day, the Phillies won.  They won the next day, and for whatever reason they kept on winning.  The Phillies went to the series that year, they lost, but I never had more fun watching baseball than I did that season.  I didn’t go to one single game.  But I’ve never lost sight of the fact that a team can go from worst to first.  It happens.   Baseball can be magical that way.

Regardless, I was still a kid, and I got it in my head that the coolest thing in the world would be to live in the city and have baseball tickets.  Life worked out the way it worked out and I wound up in Pittsburgh in 2000.  I went to Law School, married a yinzer broad, had a kid and settled down.  But my childish dream never quite died and in 2004 I bought my very own ticket plan for the first time.

There is nothing quite like taking your Dad to a baseball game.

My step-dad married my Mom when I was 18 months old.  He raised me like I was his own, and he grew up in North-Eastern Pennsylvania, as a New York Baseball Giants fan.  In 2005 my ticket package was ten games in the front row in right field.  Total cost $500, give or take.  But let me tell you, when your Father is seeing his favorite baseball team, and says “I’ve never been this close to a major league baseball team in my life”, it resonates. 

Today I live in Bellevue, a few miles from the park.  I have a full season plan this year, and every trip to PNC Park fulfills a childhood dream.  The Phillies won the series last year, and while I was so happy for them and their fans it did nothing for me personally.  I was surprised actually, but I didn’t even watch the game.

For better or worse, somewhere along the line, this team and this city grew on me.  I chose to be a Pirate fan.  So cut me some slack.

My name is jesse.  And I’m a Pirate fan.

Self Indulgent?

yes.

Of course, over the past three days I have read close to 230 posts about home brewing beer, so bear with me. In my opinion, bar-b-que is pretty much instant gratification when compared to home brewing beer. What follows is the decent into madness that is bar-b-que ribs at jesse.'s house.

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In our secret heart, we knew this might be coming.  We hoped for the best, but we knew this could happen.

I love these guys.

They played their guts out.  USC danced, but our guys kept their composure.  No cheap shots, they kept playing football the Penn State way.  With all their heart.

Our fans stayed.  We gave them all we had.  We'll get them next year.

I'm proud. God help me I'm proud. I love Penn State.

For the glory...

With respect to our games in 1999, 2002, 2005 I have reached the level of acceptance.  It's over; the games are what they are.  Winning Saturday won't make us undefeated in 2005, or give me back my senior day from 1999.

Michigan fans however may just be getting started.  "We still own Penn State", yea, that's denial.  The Toledo loss " is UNACCEPTABLE", garden variety anger.  We know where they are, we can relate.  Shit, remember when we thought our dark years were going to be nothing more than a passing phase?  We’ll be fine, we’re Penn State, and we can’t suck for long. Right?  Please? That my friends is called bargaining.

All I want from Saturday (besides a win) is a little closure.  As the dark era fades to bad memory, there remains one window that we have yet to close.  Remember when we said nothing lasts forever, and we’ll have our day again (whether you believed it or not)?  Well Saturday just may be our day.

I’ve seen it where some people say that last stage of grief actually is not acceptance, but rather, hope.  Anybody around here feel hopeful?  Yeah, I thought so.

Beat Michigan.