I will not justify this with a link, because I do not want to drive anyone to the media, outside of BSD and 247, which are the two places I have not found blind hatred in the past two months.

That said, there is something to be said for Pat Forde and his article at yahoo (I was only there to check on Bowman's stats, because I want him to DEMOLISH people today). Anyway, after the jump is a line from Forde's article that makes me wonder if people are starting to rethink how they treated Joe...

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This is very late notice, I understand. But, whatever. A friend and I will be heading to Damon's prior to the town hall meeting. If anyone would like to join us, please do. We'll be there around 5:45. This seems like a good time for us to have a drink and work out a plan of attack. Sure, they're unlikely to allow us to ask President Lackey any questions for which he has not prepped, but perhaps, with a coordinated attack, we can get to the questions that matter - why did facts concern you in the football hire, when they didn't in the fire? Did you cash the check JoePa wrote you? Just how does a geography degree prepare you to run PSU? Just how does a medical degree prepare you to run an athletic department? How can you expect to run a university when you weren't aware of the coming allegations when even casual fans had seen the Patriot News piece months ago? Are you capable of doing anything other than apologizing? Do you expect to succeed in fundraising when you have the personality of a fungus? When did BoT membership become a prerequisite to an administrative position at PSU?

I'll be in a blue suit, white shirt, red tie. At the bar, most likely. You can find me with a We Are!

This probably doesn't merit a fanpost, but I'm doing it. When are we going to learn who our new coach is? I preface this with the statement that I have no insider knowledge whatsoever, which puts me on equal ground with the media, but I'm using reason, which puts me far beyond the media.

We had this mystical Jan. 3 deadline. That's obviously passed, but more importantly, it was just sort of made up because it was after the bowl game. From the perspective of those making the decisions - Ira, Joyner, et al. - this date has no significance. The bowl game doesn't impact them at all.

What about Jan. 13 - the date all of those recruits are coming to campus? Well, clearly, we'd like to have our man by then, but that, too, has no direct impact on those making the decisions.

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Hindsight is 20/20. So goes the saying. We've seen Joe's statement "In hindsight, I should have done more" (paraphrase? I'm too lazy to look it up) treated as an admission that not only did Joe KNOW that sex abuse had occurred, but that he had actively encouraged it.

I thought that it would be worth noting that Joe has a history with hindsight. We heard, after Michael Robinson became the effing man in 2005 that Joe "probably should have" played MRob more before that year. Then, in 2008, we heard the same about one fist-pumping stud who needs not be named.

What can these instances of hindsight teach us about the current scandal? A lot, I think. First, they reiterate the point of the saying: hindsight is 20/20. MRob and DC17 were two of the better QBs in the B1G in the past 10 years, and probably could have been even better with more experience under center. However, there's a more important point to take (which, albeit is related, is significant here), after the jump.

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Just as it was Penn State that actually won two of OSU's "6 consecutive" B1G titles, it was Penn State that assured that they will not have a shot at another!  Now, let's go out and kick some Badger butt.  They don't scare me like they did three weeks ago. Rational Lion 4EVA!

Yeah buddy, I'm just trying to get to 75 words. I think I'm getting close. Actually, I'm not. But I'm trying. Almost there.

WE ARE!

Honestly, after this week, I don't trust the news, but this seems like one of those things they wouldn't lie about due to how readily verifiable it is.  You'll note at least one falsity in the article: Joe apparently did not report to the police, when he quite clearly reported to the police...

Who knew Frolik?  I never took any of his classes, but insight would be... interesting.

Anyway, are there EXTREMELY plausible reasons for the transaction?  Yes.  Are we likely to ever know the real reasons?  No.  Still, thought I'd share the info, because knowledge is power and all that.

So I've heard plenty today about us being the worst 4-1 team ever. Now, I agree - we do completely suck on offense. Like, painful suck. That's just the way it is (some things will never change). But our defense is good. Good enough to keep us in the game against OSU. And probably Nebraska, because we all know Martinez gets scared and then he sucks, and we can make that happen. Wisconsin is a sure loss, and NW and Illinois are likely, but that's not the point. I just put these teams in to make it to 75 words and state my point:

We are nowhere near the worst 4-1 team ever, because there were two Michigan teams that were 4-1 in the last two years.

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First, this is not meant to start another fight - I just can't post in the comments on the thread where we were arguing. But to everyone I was arguing with last night - Rambler and Fugi come to mind - I apologize for airing my disgust. I accept your points - you and I have just as much knowledge of the inner workings of PSU, so we're all making our own interpretations of what's going on. We're seeing completely different things, and that's fine.

That said, I really just don't see it. I don't see heart, good play calling, effort, improvement or anything like that. After Bama, and even after Iowa, I maintained some hope for this season - a rebuilding season that, with some good effort, could set us up for a big season next year. I don't see that now. This is honestly the first time since 2003 that I've had absolutely zero hope and zero expectations for a Penn State football team (that includes 2004). I fully expect to lose all but 2 of our remaining games, and even those are not locks. So, that's my opinion. I'm not against PSU football or anything like that, but this hopelessness is a new feeling for me. I hope I'm wrong.

This fact was just too absurd for me not to comment on. Upon clicking on the NCAAF link on the ESPN homepage, I was treated to the pleasant surprise of a Penn State player (true freshman no less - did you know he's only been on campus 32 days now? - this is the new inane fact since Royster seems to have become boring and fat and slow). So, I clicked on the link, natch.

Well, there is no mention of Robert Bolden, at least in the 2 videos I could stomach. So... WTF is with the image, ESPN? However, Denard is now on ESPN's Heisman list because, as Randy Edsall said, "this kid is gonna cause problems for some people." Yeah, Edsall. Those people are the mediocre defensive minds and lesser defensive talents in the Big East. Richrod proving his offense works against Big East teams is redundant - he already embarrassed all of you several times when he had Pat White and Steve Slaton. But now he's playing bigger, faster, smarter players and MUCH better coaches. Richrod no longer has an enormous talent advantage over his opponents. Sorry, Denard will embarrass a few schools (I'm looking at Indiana and Illinois, in particular), but he will not dominate the Big Ten like he did UConn.

But seriously, didn't we do this same thing last year with Michigan? Remember how it was questioned whether Tater Tot was a better QB than DC17? Good GOD, get over it. Denard is fast, but he's gonna to get BLOWN UP when he plays OSU, Iowa, PSU, and even NW and MSU.

So here we are. We know our protected cross-division game is Nebraska (which I believe we're all thrilled with, right?), and we have a pretty nice division. I'll discuss that in a moment.

But first, I think I need to address one of the most disturbing things I'll ever say. We need to root for perennially overrated, consistently mediocre at best, Virginia Tech this weekend. Listen, I hate VT as much as any true fan of college football. They are more frequently overrated (in the past decade, at least) than Notre Dame or all but two Texas teams. Every year, they're a darkhorse national championship team. Frankly, PSU, OSU, most Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa teams, and all the big guys in the SEC would go undefeated most years in the inflated Big East of a conference they call the ACC. Yet VT never does it, and we always hear that this is their year. This year is no different - VT is a fringe top-10 team with one real challenge (I refer to real as in, if you're a true contender, this Miami team isn't gonna beat you, and nobody else in the ACC should tickle you).

So, VT's "championship hopes," if we can call them that (more like delusions), begin or end with a victory this weekend against Texas Tech-lite, Boise State. As we all know, system quarterbacks are great at absurd stats. Dig TTU or Hawaii offenses recently - absurd stats, but their QBs aren't really so good. Yet, BSU's QB, Kellen Moore, is a Heisman candidate (QB of a top 5 team and all) because his team plays exactly ONE TEAM WITH A PULSE - the aforementioned consistently worthless VT. Sadly, BSU does not deal with the schedule that TTU does - good programs like OU, UT and Nebraska, plus some moderates scattered across the conference.

So (here comes a 1-sentence paragraph), we need VT to beat BSU so VT can go on and lose several more games later in the season, and we won't have to see either undeserving team in the NCG (because that would ruin college football).

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So the TE, Carter... He's apparently been recruiting for us (scroll down to "Carter in charge"). The NJ kids, etc. The odd thing, though, is that Huggins says the coaches apparently haven't been talkin to him much. This is confusing. Anyways, I wanted to put this up here instead of in the FanShots because nobody would see what Carter's doing. Anyways, like this kid. So should you. I need five more words.

So I'm gonna take us away from expansion for a moment based on an idea I just came up with. It's pretty cool. (not). I was thinking, "hey, what kind of smart-ass comment can I come up with to express my dislike about Notre Dame, especially in conference expansion talk?" And it struck me: Notre Dame is kinda like a Commodore computer: everybody has heard of them, but nobody has a use for them anymore. So that got me thinking, what other brand names/meme-type things could we associate with college football programs? Here's what I've come up with, and feel free to criticize/make fun of me for my boredom:

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Look, we're all watching this stuff as it's finally boiling over, and this is too interesting to bury down in the FanShots, even though I'm not going to write very much up here, although I will most likely argue with most of you on the merits in the comments.

The AP is reporting that Swarbrick was at the expansion meeting today. FRICK. I, for one, was hoping we could leave ND to die a slow death. But, perhaps we still will?

Here's the language:

The 11 school presidents and chancellors along with Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick met for about 4 1/2 hours, and Big Ten commissioner Jim Delaney said the majority of time was spent on expansion dialogue

It seems we've received a commitment from an OT for the 2010 class.

I did a little searching, because who hears about football players from CANADA, eh? Here's what I found.

He certainly seems to do a good job turning his man away from the runner on rushing plays, and it looks like he's alright in pass protection too (although if we're gonna question Silas Redd and Khairi Fortt's HS competition because they're from Connecticut, I think we should question Canadian competition as well, right? For proof, see 42 sec. mark - DE clearly wants no piece of our boy).

Anyways, welcome to the family, Alex! Last Canadian I can think of on the PSU team turned out A-ok, so here's hoping we got another random foreign diamond in the rough. More info in the comments as I find it.