SB Nation User Blog: jtothep

A Lesson in Hate

jtothep — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 19:15:39 -0000

A Lesson in Hate

While Cairo has helped us all learn to hate a little better, and Michigan week always helps, check out Tennessee Hate Week down at Roll Bama Roll. My favorite: 'Also, keep your redheaded, diseased children at least 15 feet from our fans as we don’t want acquire any of those God-forsaken sicknesses that plague your backwoods state. I swear to God they shouldn’t allow some of your repugnant children to leave their home, much less the state.'

Coaching Player Arrogance

jtothep — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:47:39 -0000

Coaching Player Arrogance

This is a really thoughtful piece on something we Penn Staters talked quite a bit about before and after the Rose Bowl last year: player arrogance. Matt Zemek takes twin swipes at both USC and Va Tech onfield player boastfulness, while simultaneously chastising the coaches who allow it and praising those same coaches for all of their positive work on the CFB landscape. It's number 3 on the list, and aside for a few unfortunate over-alliterations, contains some real nice thoughts like this one:
"If college sports is to fulfill its promise, the people who teach on the frontlines of practice fields and gymnasiums must do more to mold their players into better citizens. Making a distinction between healthy celebrations and arrogant behavior would be a mighty fine place to start. "

Man, I freakin Hate Eastern Illinois

jtothep — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 22:09:10 -0000

Man, I freakin Hate Eastern Illinois

thusspakejtothep.org

With wifey struggling through the first trimester, I had to cancel plans to attend the Akron and...

jtothep — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 15:17:40 -0000

With wifey struggling through the first trimester, I had to cancel plans to attend the Akron and Syracuse games. But she surprised me opening day by asking me if I'd like pancakes for breakfast. And when this appeared on the plate delivered to me in front of the tube, the room got a little dusty.

Cheerleader of the Week

jtothep — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 19:19:23 -0000

Cheerleader of the Week

Lizzie. From Kansas. Here's hoping her celebrity crush never happens. Literally.

Erin Andrews Column in the Washington Post

jtothep — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 21:11:46 -0000

Inspired this week by Horse N Buggy to heed the Call to Service, I bring you some personalized jtot coverage of a nice Sally Jenkins column on the challenges of Erin Andrews doing her job and managing her beauty. The pretense of Jenkins posting the column today is that, starting tonight, Erin must 'reassert that she's a professional in control of her own image, while acknowledging that she was victimized by voyeurism' when she returns to the sideline in tonight's USC vs. NC State game (I know you see what I did there)(btw, does this information change your plans for that invigorating Indiana game on the B10 network?). Now, beyond this questionable (to me) assertion, Jenkins goes on to pontificate and predicate and predict more than a few sillinesses, but in general puts forth a reasonable read on the complex subject of sexism in the workplace*

* Erin Andrews in her workplace:

More gripping jp commentary after the jump.

Now, although EA turned her down for an interview request, Jenkins remains a fan:

She built her on-air personality with a solid understanding that while beauty matters, because it leads to interest, it can also lead to damning criticism and easy disparagement, so her real career drivers better be smarts and preparation.

And provides more than a few provocative little nuggets:

When Playboy named Andrews the Sexiest Sportscaster two years in a row, she laughed and enjoyed the compliment without prudishness, while making it clear it would be "a cold day in hell," as her father put it, before she would actually appear in that magazine.

And:

It would be a genuine shame if voyeurism caused Andrews to like her job any less. And it would be an equal shame if it caused her to disassemble who she is, de-emphasize her natural attractiveness, or sleepwalk through interviews with less rapport, for fear it might be misinterpreted or invite creeps.

Other goodies include comparisons to Tony Siragusa and Keyshawn Johnson. In the end, it's clear that Jenkins has nothing but admiration for EA and her original assertion that EA must somehow reassert herself after this summer's invasiveness just gently fades away. And no good fanpost on the coverage of Miss Andrews would be complete without a few more offerings from the rest of blogistan:

At work:

At play:

Here end with this post.

In nomini Zugtris et Zugii et Zugitus sancti

A PSU Take on the 3-4?

jtothep — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 15:18:53 -0000

Ok, so Joe has announced that they haven't practiced any nickel packages. Which seems a little weird (both the fact and definitely the announcement). And we can guess it's because we have deeper stronger linebackers than we do corners. Fight on State has some brief coverage of how they're guessing the coaches might work that plan. It includes this nugget I found interesting:

[Bad, jtot! No posting the premium part of the stories here.

- RUTS]

Whose Play Are You Most Looking Forward to Seeing on Sat?

jtothep — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 17:18:27 -0000

So, with only Zug days till ~~football.~~... Zug days, we've still got a little work to do. Our fearless bloggers have done us proud with the Inside/Outside features( 2?), Reasons to Hope and Reasons to Quake, aka We're Going Undefeated / We're Never Winning Again segments and the wonderfully random Fear This columns. They've mercilessly absolved us from wadiing through another list of Unit , Player or Team Rankings, have dropped out from the bloggers ballot poll and even saved us from reading anything at all about our opponent this week ;) But we've had pretty decent coverage of our own team at least and by now we're all familiar with the abundance of new ~~faces~~ helmets we'll be cheering on this fall (even if we're not all that familiar yet with their numbers). So let's weigh in on those players we are each most interested in following on Saturday and provide some reasons why. To help with Roster Knowledge, please provide the players' numbers, and maybe pick one on D and one on O. My picks after the jump.

On offense, I'm going with (You're My Boy) Lou Eliades. First off, I love his name. Lou's a classic name. Sounds like a Guard. Second, in 2007, all I read about was how freakin nasty this cat was and how he's battlin and battlin and sure to be a studly force. Then, injuries laid him low and when he tried to come back, he was beaten out by the rising star that was Rich Ohrnberger. Here he is now anchoring the right side of the line between Young Wisniewski Will Be Fine and another rising star in Deontae Pannell. So, I'm very much looking forward to the play of #77, right guard.

On defense, I picked another unlucky sonofabitch. You're all familiar with him. He's your 'other number 5', Jeroooooooommee Hayes! Ask anybody who's been through the rehab of an ACL and they'll tell you it's the hardest thing they ever did. Now ask em quick if they've ever done it twice. Jerome has. Anybody else remember the Blue White game April 2006? Remember that young stud linebacker blazin all around the field making plays. My bros and I fell in love that day, and we all thought we'd see more of that same aggressive play in 2008. Til that go*(&(&##m beaver cheapshotted him on special teams (why was he even playing special teams again?) and it was deja vu all over again. Well, now he's back, and allegedly starting on Sat. at the hybrid PSU stand-up defensive end position. Here's hoping he goes wire to wire this year, crushing qb's at every stop!

I abstained from the poll (the twins have tweeted they'd like their father to be straight for some reason), so as not to bind you in with only my selections. The whole roster's your oyster: go buck wild! Pick one on Offense and one on Defense and try to include the jersey number. Looking forward to reading your posts.

Yours in Almighty Zug,

What do OSU and pot have in common? They both get smoked in bowls!" This was my first 'targeted...

jtothep — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 15:14:22 -0000

What do OSU and pot have in common? They both get smoked in bowls!"

This was my first 'targeted ad' after switching to gmail. That is all.

Cheerleader of the Week

jtothep — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 20:48:42 -0000

Cheerleader of the Week

Not sure this segment would have a nice acronym, so am continuing to spell out. Here's the link again if you don't want to jack up your ctrl-z's. She's Mellissa, a bio major. Anybody got any Cameron University stories? Hopefully the photo gallery link there will be fixed soon....