Week 13 Open Thread
We’ve still got some time before the most boring game of football since the Game of the Century assaulted our eyeballs and sensibilities a few weeks ago. Why not join in the weekly open thread before the offensive explosion that is Ohio State/Penn State happens.
Feel the excitement!
Penn Shtate Preview
(This was post was supposed to be posted tomorrow, but thanks to the site’s EIC fat fingering, it went live early. Either way, enjoy. – ed)
The season is almost over and it can’t end any faster for our beloved Ohio State Buckeyes. Off the field issues, poor performances by the coaching staff and players, and inconsistent play on the field by the “rotating” team leaders have left us where we are today. Where are we? Sitting pretty with a smooth 6-4 record and a more than realistic chance of losing the final two games of the season to finish 6-6. Thanks poor decision-making of college students (tattoos…smh) and adults (covering up tattoo bartering exercise with lame excuses).
Speaking of poor decision-making…get a load of Penn State. Someone should put together a case study on how to “not” run a school or athletic department in times of legal duress. This should be written up after someone puts together a case study on how to “not” run a school or athletic department in times of NCAA duress.
I have a special place in my heart for a few schools. They exist in this special place for various reasons. Michigan is a no-brainer and this isn’t a Michigan preview, so we will just save that vitriol for another time thank you very much. You would think that Wisconsin would be here, but really Wisconsin…they are the semi-attractive girl in high school that you know could look really good if she would just stop chewing on tree bark, smoking marlboro reds like a chimney, and eating the cafeteria pizza everyday (like a boss) in her spare time. I’ve got no time for her right now and it really doesnt matter. You already know how her story is going to end. She will remain ugly (ie be Wisconsin) and pop out a bunch of large ugly kids (ie. Wisconsin recruiting) before the marvels of modern dentistry, exercise, and nicorette are bestowed upon her.
Penn State is the school that encounters most of my disdain. Why Penn State? Talk to any living alumni or current student and they will all tell you the same thing. “Penn State does it the right way.” Ya know…with honor and stuff. We have all heard this for years no matter which team you supported. Even the media has jumped on it in the past that JoePa and mighty Penn State can do no wrong. While high profile schools like OSU and even Michigan have been in the crosshairs of the media and the NCAA for misdeeds (extra practice yielding no better on-field results for Michigan and tattoos yielding no better on-field results for Ohio State), Penn State and everyone that associates with the school has been “white-towering” all of us. They have been for years. I have always held the belief that State College has protected the Penn State name from a lot of things that we will never hear about. The only reason we have recently heard about the increasing number of incidents is because of Al Gore’s fantastic invention of the internet. Players can’t escape the scrutiny of social media with message boards and twitter. State College is the Ohio college geographical equivalent of Ada (Home base for Ohio Northern). If Ohio Northern packed up its bags and left Ada, there would be no more Ada (Yes, the Hardees would close down fo realz). Plain and simple, the lifeblood of State College (just like Ada on a larger scale) is Penn State University. We have the same thing out here with Washington State in Pullman. All of these schools are geographically located in areas of their respective states that no one wants to visit unless they are required (or maybe if you are on the run from the law). I know that this may be a reach to someone that supports Penn State, but bear with me and hear me out. Maybe, just maybe, it benefits State College to never place the school or its athletic department (aka the football team) in harm’s way if the town can avoid it. I am not saying that everyone that lives there is a liar and wouldn’t do the honorable thing (that distinction goes to the coaching staff for the PSU football team), but let’s just say that it is not out of the realm of possibility that the people in authority turned their heads upon seeing some poor player behavior. I know…it is a foreign concept that would never happen in Ann Arbor or Columbus. I may be kidding a little bit only for the simple reason that it does happen in these places, but the sheer population does not allow for these things to swept under the rug as easily as it is in a place like State College. I have often had (scary, scary) visions of Joe Paterno going all Coach Kilmer (Try and tell me you didn’t just pull a “I don’t want your life” and have visions of Vandermemes past.) on the State College PD for late night extra-curricular activities starring the players of the PSU football team. The fight club mantra of “On a long enough timeline. The survival rate for everyone drops to zero.” can also be fairly equated to major football programs. There is absolutely no way that Penn State could be that clean. It isn’t possible. It is like saying that graduates of SEC schools outside of Vandy and Florida can read beyond an 8th grade level. Sorry, it isn’t believable…not to me and not to anyone. I actually hope that Mike McQueary is telling the truth, because if he did go to the police…well…it will make this cover-up (Another Penn State dirty little secret) look even worse.
*rant fin
Now onto the game?
Oh yeah…I guess there is a game this week between the Buckeyes and Nittany Lions. I guess there was also some type of email that was sent out telling OSU fans and students to keep it on the level this weekend and not be John Q. Wisconsin fan, John Q. Penn State fan, or even John Q. Michigan fan tailgating on the golf course. I appreciate the sentiment, but if the roles were reversed and OSU was playing at any of these schools (maybe an exception of UM), we would not get the type of “quarter” that is being asked of us by our own university. From urine bags to beer cans, Penn State fans have earned every bit of the upcoming vitriol this weekend and every weekend going forward.
One of the biggest surprises of the year (outside Denard’s annual post-September Heisman collapse), has been Penn State’s ability to put together a solid season rolling off to an 8-1 start prior to an almost expected loss to Nebraska. Granted, this has been thanks to the B1G scheduling gods for putting Minnesota on the schedule 6 times before having to play anyone with a pulse until Nebraska rolled into town.
On offense, PSU has a solid ground game with Silas Redd who is averaging over 100 yards per game and basically is the PSU offense. Penn State has been winning in spite of the terrible QB play (imo) of the walk-on Matt “Moxie” McGloin. He is more of a blue-collar QB that will make plays through sheer will where a lack of talent may be exposed. McGloin has at least eliminated the amount of interceptions this season with only three for the season. It is going to be a lunchpail game for Penn State. They are going to run the ball…A LOT. This should help OSU’s defense, if they are ready to start tackling people on Senior day. If Silas has 60+ yards in the 1st half, I would just start punching yourself in the balls over and over again instead of watching the second half. This would be a perfect game to get Christian Bryant into the star position and have him run around and try to make something happen against the run game, because that guy is feast or famine against the pass (mostly famine).
Penn State has never had any issues with playing defense in the past and it wont be the case in this meeting either. They are currently 3rd in the FBS in scoring defense, which is around the area where we normally find the OSU defense in this statistic…but not this year my friend. OSU is 16th in this category, so the expectation will probably have this game in the low 20′s on either side. As is always the case, there will be a defensive lineman that plays the game of his life against OSU and that one will most likely be Devon Still. Still has had a very good season and should show favorably in this game if Shugarts isn’t available. This terrifies all OSU fans…or at least it should, as OSU is craptastic at protecting the QB this season (dead last in the B1G in sacks allowed). Did you know that Ohio State is 27th in the country in rushing offense without a single player in the top 14 rushers in the B1G? I am not sure if they will hit their 200 yard rushing average in this game, but let’s hope for everyone’s sanity in Columbus that they get close.
Game Prediction: PAIN and lots of ugliness. This game will be won on the ground unless Moxie has another first half like he had last season in Columbus. Most of us on the OSU side would prefer the second half Moxie show up in Columbus again where he was a walking “pick 6″ machine. Obviously, the game will be won on the ground, which is the way Old Testament God intended in the B1G.
So that leaves us with the weekly questions……
1.) Will OSU slow down Silas Redd and hold him under 100 yards?
2.) Will OSU score any TDs?
3.) Over/Under passing attempts for Braxton set at 8. What do you got?
4.) Who has more rushing yards Boom or Braxton?
5.) How many times will Braxton be sacked in this game?
6.) Greater number of media mentions? OSU NCAA Issues or Penn State Issues
7.)What is the final score?
YNBA Score Prediction: 20-17 Ohio State
Penn State By The Numbers
Since I more or less stole the format for the By The Numbers posts whole from Black Shoe Diaries, I’ll just point you to their post. (Just remember, the good guys are in the right column this week).
Buckeyes get the Schott rocking
In only the second game of the 2011/2012 Mens basketball season the 3rd ranked Buckeyes hosted a fellow top 10 team. The Florida Gators ranked 8th in the nation came into a seemingly revitalized VCA where the students are grouped together and actually on the first level where they can make a lot of noise and disrupt the opposing team. The Buckeyes are extremely young with 11 freshman or sophomores on the team. OSU started 4 Soph. in Smith, Craft, Sully, and Thomas along with senior William Bufurd. The gators have a bevy of upperclassmen that they mix in with some younger players.
Early on the youth of OSU showed as Florida seemed to have their way driving the ball down the court and dishing it off to wide open shooters behind the line. The Gators hit 4 of 5 behind the arc before the 16 min TV timeout and had a sizable lead. Coach Matta quickly subbed in some other guys to give him a chance to calm the guys down and remind them to play better defense. It seemed to work well as OSU closed out the first half by going on a run and taking 35-32 halftime lead.
In the second half of the game the Buckeyes controlled the pace and played well on defense while hitting some big shots. OSU had gotten the lead up to 15 points late in the second half before OSU again showed their youth and inexperience by letting the Gators climb back into the game although it proved too little too late as OSU won the game 81-74.
OSU was led in the game by William Bufurds 21 pts and 6 rbs. OSU had 4 players score in double figures led By Buford with 21 and Jared Sullingers 16 pts and 6 rbds and DeShaun Thomas 15 and 6 and Aaron Crafts 13 pts and 7 assts. Coach Matta stayed true to his typical self not playing many bench players in big games. Evan Ravenel and Jordan Siebert got most of the bench minutes with 14 each. They gave the starters time to rest and played great defense and even a little offense.
It was a good win early in the year against a really good opponent. The Gators were an elite 8 team last year and are solidly a top 10 team this year. OSU will have plenty of time to get better before their next big game when DUKE comes to town on November 29th with 4 cupcake games. They will need to get these bench players more playing time and experience before then and rest the starters for tougher games. All in all OSU is off to a 2-0 start and the skies the limit this year.
Poll Dancing: Week Eleven, or Then There Were Two
If the season ended today, they would probably throw a party in the cobwebby underground BCS lair where a dozen of the most evil sports minds ever assembled tirelessly toil to make our lives as college football fans miserable. With losses by Stanford and Boise State over the weekend, we have reached the system’s sweet spot of only two undefeated major-conference teams, the maddening situation that generally lets the abomination of a post-season off scot-free.
But it’s not over yet, and that’s very good news. The primary thing to cheer for right now is an Oklahoma victory on December 3, when the Sooners take on the currently unbeaten Oklahoma State Cowboys. This is not at all unlikely, and it wouldn’t surprise me if Oklahoma is the favorite going into that game. They are easily the best team on Oklahoma State’s schedule. Of course, the outcome of that game could be rendered moot by an Arkansas upset over LSU on Black Friday. The Razorbacks have only one loss (@Alabama) and if they shock the Tigers, it would create a three-way tie atop the SEC West–complete with circular head-to-head–and those are always fun. If not, then a surging Georgia might do it in the conference championship the following week.
Once again, it’s time to revisit some earlier prognostications and see how I did.
Pre-Season Pretenders Update
These were the teams from the preseason Coaches’ Top 10 that I thought would lose at least 2 games this year.
Wrong So Far
#4 LSU (currently 10-0, #1 BCS)
The Tigers have @Ole Miss, Arkansas, a possible SECCG berth, and a bowl game upcoming. Could they lose half of those? Probably not, but it’s not impossible.
#8 Oklahoma State (currently 10-0, #2 BCS)
The Cowboys just squeezed past Kansas State but still have Oklahoma coming up. I’m pretty sure they’ll lose that one. Will they get caught coasting @Iowa State?
#2 Alabama (currently 9-1, #3 BCS)
Alabama still has the Iron Bowl on the road or an actual bowl in January to get that second loss. Although, if Arkansas beats LSU, the Tide could find themselves in the SEC title game for another chance.
#7 Boise State (currently 8-1, #10 BCS)
The Broncos are coming off their first loss to TCU. In August, I identified the back-to-back TCU/SDSU games as a potential stumbling block. One down…
Already Right
#5 Florida State (currently 7-3, #25 BCS)
The Seminoles haven’t lost since I last updated this list. Good thing they choked early!
#9 Texas A&M (currently 5-5, unranked)
The Aggies have gotten brutalized in conference play lately. Good thing they’re leaving!
#10 Wisconsin (currently 8-2, #17 BCS)
The Badgers got stunned by late TD throws two weeks in a row on the road against Michigan State and Ohio State, a two-game stretch I singled out in August.
FraudWatch Update
These were undefeated teams through week 5 that I determined would lose a few games.
Projected Losses: 5+
1. Kansas State (8-2)
The Wildcats hung on to beat Texas A&M and will now need to lose all remaining games (Texas, Iowa State, bowl) to hit 5. Looks like they’ve dodged the bullet.
2. Texas Tech (5-5)
Since opening 4-0, the Raiders have lost every game except for a stunning 3-point upset of Oklahoma. This is how fraud teams work.
Projected Losses: 3-4
3. Illinois (6-4)
The Illini have lost four straight and close out with Wisconsin and Minnesota.
4. Georgia Tech (7-3)
The Yellow Jackets have Duke and Georgia remaining. That last one is probably a loss as the Bulldogs look to streak right into the SEC title.
5. Oklahoma State (10-0)
The Cowboys would have to lose out (@Iowa State, Oklahoma, bowl) to reach three losses. Probably not happening.
Projected Losses: 1-3
6. Texas (6-3)
7. Oklahoma (8-1)
8. Wisconsin (8-2)
Other Teams (0-2 Projected Losses)
LSU (10-0), Alabama (9-1), Stanford (9-1), Boise State (8-1), Clemson (9-1), Michigan (8-2), Houston (10-0)
BlogPoll Ballot Week #12
Men of the Scarlet and Gray Ballot – Week 12
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oklahoma St. Cowboys |  1 |
| 2 | LSU Tigers |  -1 |
| 3 | Oklahoma Sooners | 2 |
| 4 | Oregon Ducks | 2 |
| 5 | Alabama Crimson Tide | 2 |
| 6 | Arkansas Razorbacks | 2 |
| 7 | Clemson Tigers | 2 |
| 8 | Stanford Cardinal | -5 |
| 9 | Houston Cougars | 3 |
| 10 | Boise St. Broncos | -6 |
| 11 | Virginia Tech Hokies | -1 |
| 12 | Georgia Bulldogs | 2 |
| 13 | Kansas St. Wildcats | – |
| 14 | South Carolina Gamecocks | – |
| 15 | Michigan St. Spartans | -4 |
| 16 | Wisconsin Badgers | – |
| 17 | Nebraska Cornhuskers | 3 |
| 18 | USC Trojans | – |
| 19 | TCU Horned Frogs | – |
| 20 | Penn St. Nittany Lions | -5 |
| 21 | Michigan Wolverines | -2 |
| 22 | Southern Miss. Golden Eagles | -1 |
| 23 | Texas Longhorns | -5 |
| 24 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | -2 |
| 25 | Florida St. Seminoles | – |
| Dropouts: Cincinnati Bearcats, Ohio St. Buckeyes, Auburn Tigers, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets | ||
SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings »
This week I completely scrapped last week’s ranking. I discussed this heavily with SYR and this is what we’ve come up with. There will be questions. Please don’t hesitate to ask.
Train Wrecked
On a blustery day in West Lafayette, the Buckeyes had the opportunity to put themselves into the driver’s seat for a spot in the B1G championship game.
Instead, they spent three hours reminding us why Ohio State will spend a lot of time this offseason in search of new coaching.
It can’t just be me who has noticed – since the Cooper era – that Ohio State often comes out flat in noon kickoff games, and today was no different. It’s almost a university tradition at this point, and there has to be a rational explanation for it. Given the stakes of every remaining game this season it’s incomprehensible that a team that had so much to gain – and lose – could come out looking like Zach Galafanakis in both Hangover movies. If anyone has thoughts on this I would absolutely love to hear them. My opinion is that it all boils down to coaching. And today was by far the worst display of coaching that I have seen in my fifteen years of following Ohio State football.
I had a 1500-word post written to recap this game, and that was before it went to overtime. I’m tossing the entire thing out and replacing it with the following:
7 Penalties for 50 yards – almost every one of them impacted the game at a critical moment, and that doesn’t count the ones that were declined or offset.
5 sacks for -19 yards – indicative of the completely uninspired performance put forth by the offensive line.
One blocked XP (which would turn out to be the biggest play of the game) and a missed FG – either of those being good wins the game for the Buckeyes in regulation.
About three thousand missed tackles – reminiscent of the Miami game
Completely unimaginative playcalling – especially in the first half.
I’m not going to rag on the players today, even though by halftime Antonio Underwood had played the worst game I’ve seen by a lineman since Alex Boone in the 2006 MNC. Most of them are extremely young and are going to make mistakes. Think back to when you were 18. I know I did a lot of stupid things back then, and I bet you did too. I don’t expect Braxton Miller to be 2005 or 2006 Troy Smith just yet and I know he’ll throw a few BauserBombs (5 today by my unofficial count) along the way, but he’ll be great some day. Ditto with Roby, Shazier, and Devin Smith.
The bottom line is that this team came out and underperformed in every aspect of the game. They came out and didn’t make a positive play until early in the second quarter. The lone phenomenal play – Miller’s magical touchdown pass to Jordan Hall with 55 seconds remaining – almost immediately was stripped of its importance as the Buckeyes allowed Purdue to block the PAT attempt.
The entire debacle was just a giant, rolling ball of suck. And I wish I had spent the day punching myself in the nuts rather than watching it.
On the bright side, we now don’t have to worry about falling ass-backwards into a good bowl game and getting annihilated by a team with a competent coaching staff. So we’ve got that going for us. Which is nice.
Answering Jason’s questions from the preview…
1. Ohio State is averaging fewer than 9 completions per game and has earned honorary service academy status. Will the Buckeyes complete double-digit passes this week? Nope. 8/18 for 132 yards.
2. Purdue gives up nearly 260 rushing yards in games against teams with a winning record, about 8 fewer than Indiana. Last week, Ohio State produced 3 100-yard rushers against the Hoosiers. Will it happen again? No. They had 18 yards rushing in the first half. Total. The second half was a little better, but ultimately Purdue’s playing with a 6-man front ended up being effective enough.
3. The game is on Big Ten Network, so we should hopefully be spared of too much moronic announcing. Still, there’s only one topic in college sports this week and the team involved is playing at the same time as we are. How soon after the opening stadium shot does someone mention Penn State/Joe Paterno, how many plays do we miss due to cutaway coverage, and does anyone compare a decade-long cover-up of serial child rape to lying about ineligible players? Not that I heard. The coverage still sucked, being BTN
Purdue Preview
The last time Ohio State visited Ross-Ade Stadium, things didn’t turn out so well. Back in mid-October 2009, Purdue was 1-5 with only a season-opening win over Toledo to their name. On the other hand, the Buckeyes were 5-1 with just a 3-point loss to USC against them. Purdue won that day, thanks to some pretty hapless offensive play on our part (including 5 turnovers), and that is what makes Saturday’s game frightening for some. After all, I’m pretty sure Bollman actually has a formation called “Hapless.”
This year, we meet a little later and Ohio State is 6-3 and on a bit of a roll with three straight wins since the return of the still somehow underappreciated Boom Herron. Purdue is 4-5 and has lost three of their last four. It’s tempting to argue that this Purdue team is better than the one that broke their five-game skid against the Buckeyes two years ago, but it’s just not true.
Of the five losses that preceded their upset victory, only one (the 35-20 drop at Minnesota) came by more than a single possession, including a 2-point road loss to an Oregon team that would end up taking on Ohio State in the Rose Bowl. The Boilermakers would lose two more games that year, a 37-0 trouncing at Wisconsin and a three-point loss to Michigan State at home. Only two of their wins were by less than a possession (and Ohio State would’ve needed the two-point conversion just to get to overtime). With just a little shift in luck, 2009 Purdue could have easily been an 8-, 9-, or even 10-win team.
Meanwhile, this year’s version has a good chance of ending up with the same 5-7 record (remaining games: Ohio State, Iowa, Indiana), but is simply not the same team. Already, the Boilers have two close wins this year (against Illinois and Middle Tennessee) and two close losses (at Penn State and at Rice) and have been blasted by Wisconsin, Michigan and Notre Dame.
Only two teams beat 2009 Purdue by a significant margin. Three have already done it this year with three games left to go. Luke Fickell, bound by the Coaches’ Code of saying things you don’t really believe in the name of motivation and focus, reminds us that Purdue is much better at home than they are on the road. And that’s true, technically. By the way, which of these teams would you say is the most like Ohio State:
Middle Tennessee
Southeast Missouri State
Minnesota
Illinois
Those are the four teams Purdue has beaten at home.
I get that the nightmarish memories of Purdue road trips in 2009 and 2004 make people nervous for tomorrow’s game, but keep in mind that the only player remaining that contributed anything of significance to the last meeting is Boilermaker RB Ralph Bolden.
The main thing that sticks out to me (statistically) is that in almost every game this year, Purdue is essentially a non-factor. Teams tend to score and allow points near their season averages when playing the Boilers (only Illinois put up significantly fewer points than usual). If that holds exactly true for Ohio State, the final score will be an appropriately vengeful 26-18. Personally, I think the Buckeyes continue to improve and do a little bit better than that: Ohio State – 30, Purdue – 14
Questions:
1. Ohio State is averaging fewer than 9 completions per game and has earned honorary service academy status. Will the Buckeyes complete double-digit passes this week?
2. Purdue gives up nearly 260 rushing yards in games against teams with a winning record, about 8 fewer than Indiana. Last week, Ohio State produced 3 100-yard rushers against the Hoosiers. Will it happen again?
3. The game is on Big Ten Network, so we should hopefully be spared of too much moronic announcing. Still, there’s only one topic in college sports this week and the team involved is playing at the same time as we are. How soon after the opening stadium shot does someone mention Penn State/Joe Paterno, how many plays do we miss due to cutaway coverage, and does anyone compare a decade-long cover-up of serial child rape to lying about ineligible players?
4. And, of course, what do you think the final score will be?
Failures of Courage
“Hey, Paterno’s been fired.”
The salacious and horrific nature of the allegations were notable enough, but their presence in the context of the PSU program was what elevated the story to stratospheric-levels. Paterno and PSU had built a “brand” of integrity and honor unrivaled anywhere else in major college sports. To see such a well-perceived institution involved in the most heinous of acts drew attention beyond that which would normally occur.
Humans notice when an ivory tower crumbles. In other words, we’re suckers for when the self-righteously high and mighty are humbled.
Buckeye fans had a small taste of this when our goody-two-shoes Senator Sweatervest was forced to resign, and the blue-and-white disciples of all things JoePa were first in line to serve up a dish of crow.
OSU supporters were subjected to the faux righteous indignation of a school and its fans that boasted ethical integrity while ignoring their own shortcomings: brutal physical assaults on guest fans, “urine bomb” attacks on opposing schools’ marching bands, 46 players racking up 163 criminal charges from 2002-2008 alone, and even murder, just to name a few.
That the players and fans were engaging in all these activities at the same time their coaches and administrators were allegedly engaging in and covering up pedophilia is all you need to know about the real Penn State culture versus the false, idealized Penn State brand.
But reality rarely matters. Humans like to see high-profile figures fall because that allows us to assuage our own internal resentment towards social hierarchies. Yes, the same cognitive process at the heart of the Occupy Wall Street movement is what causes human beings to crave seeing their mighty opposers fall.
That tendency also causes a rational blindness that makes humans tend to support their own ivory tower inhabitants, regardless of whether support is actually deserved. What’s more inappropriate than large crowds rioting in support of Joe Paterno?
Now, perhaps one can argue that Joe does deserve support; perhaps he does deserve acknowledgement of his legendary status and of his role in college football history.
But the difference is that those of us disconnected from the fanatical fervor are rational enough to know that there is a time for such things, and that time is NOT NOW. Those mobbing acolytes are doing nothing but disrespecting Sandusky’s victims. They should be ashamed.
Years from now, when the anger wears off and the maturity of adulthood has deepened, will those rioters realize that they were knocking down lampposts and turning over news vans in defense of the right to cover up pedophilia?
The same shame should be felt by the thousands of anonymous Internet supporters of Penn State and Joe Paterno. Posting in forums, you can tell who they are as they White-Knight their Grand Leader with reasonings like: “hey let’s all remember these are only allegations;” “Paterno didn’t do anything illegal, here, he’s just a scapegoat;” “We’re protected from NCAA violations, not like Tressel;” and the absolute worst, “obviously I feel bad for the victims BUT…”
It’s sickening.
In fact, one can argue that this type of devotion reveals an even-more-damning question: do these supporters share a certain level of responsibility here? The primary motivation for the alleged coverup was the protection of the Paterno and Penn State brand. That brand has now been exposed as a toxic illusion. But was Penn State nation (as a generalism) playing the role of “enabler” to some extent?
The JoePa Tower can’t be built without the mortar of abject irrational support.
He had to go. Not only for the moral aspects of it, but he gave the PSU Board of Trustees no choice. They are chartered with protecting the university, and Paterno had become a terrible liability to them. They did everything they could to keep him from speaking: they canceled his press conference, they surrounded him with protection, they ushered him into cars and chauffeured him to practice. They bent over backwards to keep him quiet.
But it was more important for Paterno to be heard than to protect his university. He was visibly upset that his press conference was canceled. He opened his windows at night and chatted with the crowd. And finally, after the Board was initially willing to discuss his retirement at the end of the season, he issues a statement saying “I wish I had done more.” Six words that will cost the university millions when they are (rightfully) used by the victims’ lawyers in the years to come. But just like in 2002, Paterno thought of no one but himself.
And it’s only just beginning for the PSU Board. Yesterday’s news that the Federal Government was initiating an investigation, on the basis of potential violations of the Clery Act, was likely the straw that broke the camel’s back.
For those suggesting that six decades earns the right not to be fired by phone call, consider that a simple phone call ten years ago might have ended all this before it began.
So while we rack our brains trying to figure out how this all will end, perhaps remembering the bigger picture can be a useful exercise:
It’s just a game, folks.
It’s a game. Played, coached, and watched by human beings. And as human beings, we all share responsibility for one other.
We all have the responsibility to protect innocence. We all have the responsibility to control our level of support for the leaders of any institution we patronize. We all have the responsibility to act courageously, even in the face of awkwardness, danger, or self preservation; because it’s the human thing to do.
Jerry Sandusky fails at humanity, for obvious reasons. But Mike Mcqueary, Paterno, Tim Curley, Gary Shultz, and many others failed as well. They failed to courageously defend the innocent.
In contrast, the victims that came forward (and the loved ones that supported them) have real courage. Courage to willingly suffer through the indignity and pain of reliving the most scarring event in one’s life, over and over again in front of strangers, grand jury members, and other authorities. To voluntarily subject yourself to that indignity, all in order to prevent other people from encountering the same suffering as what you endured, takes authentic human courage.
Against that, Paterno & Co. and their rationally-blind supporters are nothing more than cowards. These same hypocrites recite the stanza from the PSU alma mater: “May no act of ours bring shame/to one heart that loves thy name.” (Unless someone’s legacy and agenda gets in the way, apparently.)
At its core, this misery is due to greed and a failure of courage. Greed in one form or another: for personal satisfaction, for power, for money, for status, for 409 wins, for legacy. And cowardice: for being more afraid for oneself than for the innocent, for being more afraid of losing friendships and influence than doing what was right, for fear of being found out that your brand was a sham all along.
So go home, Paterno & Co. And go home, you irrational mob of Paterno acolytes who think a game is more important than anything else. Just go home, sit, and quietly ponder what it means to be human.
Maybe that’s good advice for all of us.
Purdue by the Numbers
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Presented, always, without comment. But not without emoticons: :/
As always, stats are grabbed from cfbstats.com.
Joe Pa Out At Penn State
As of right now. Not the end of the season, as we thought earlier today.
A lot of people think it’s a shame he’s going out like this, and I guess it is in a way. The man’s been coaching since the Spanish-American War. On the other hand, he was told that someone had been caught in the shower abusing a ten year old boy and never thought to call the cops. I’d say he earned this one.
As I said on the Twitters the other day, the order of people (in my opinion) in which they deserve our sympathy is as follows: 1 – the victims; 2 – the victims’ families; 500,000,000 – Joe Pa.
Poll Dancing: Week Ten, or Field Goal Of The Century
Sorry for the lateness of this week’s Dance. I’m still recovering from the riveting drama and unparalleled excitement of Saturday’s Game Of The Century between LSU and Alabama which–despite what that ad might lead you to believe–did not actually contain any of those show-offy “touch-downs” that are all the rage with the kids these days. How thrilling was the Greatest Game That Has Ever Been Played Since The Beginning Of Sentient Life, Including Imagined Contests And Computer Simulations? Well, let me tell you: one quarter actually saw two separate field goals scored in under five minutes!
But if you missed out on all that craziness, don’t worry–the BCS is working hard to make sure you get another chance. Thanks to the entire sports media universe pretending this was a great defensive battle, Alabama moved down from #2 to #3 in the BCS standings, ahead of Stanford and Boise State, who are actually still undefeated. Now, you’re probably cool with Bama being on top of Boise, and I’m not entirely against it either (although it makes it impossible to argue that this system is inclusive of non-AQ programs), but you may be wondering how they’re ahead of Stanford. Are you ready for Computer Bias?
Since no one is actually allowed to look at the computer formulas that make up that component of the BCS numbers, all we have to go on is what we can see. And what we can see from looking at the difference in the human polls and the computers is a pattern that suggests that a pile of supposedly indifferent machines somehow looks more favorably on SEC and Big 12 teams than those from other AQ conferences.
On average, an SEC team’s ranking in the computers will be 2.42 spots higher than it is in the polls. A Big 12 team will get a stunning 5.6 spot boost (this number would be higher if I could include Baylor, who sits at #19 in the BCS computers and is unranked by either human poll). Meanwhile, the ACC’s three teams rank 2.33 spots lower in the computers, the Pac-12′s two get dinged 3.25 spots, the Big East’s lone representative (Cincinnati) is 4 spots worse, and the Big Ten’s five teams are a whopping 7.8 spots lower. Of the 11 teams from these 4 conferences, just one actually sits higher in the computers than the human polls. That would be Clemson, checking in with a 0.5 spot bonus. By contrast, only one of the 11 teams from the SEC and Big 12 is ranked lower by the computers (Georgia, at -1.5).
The most reasonable argument for this would be strength of schedule, which one has to assume the computers are programmed to look at. However, this seems unlikely considering the three mid-major teams in the Top 25 (who unquestionably have easier schedules than any other ranked team) also benefit from the computers, besting their human rankings by 1.33 spots on average.
Granted, these numbers are based only on this week’s standings (although I noticed the discrepancy weeks ago), so it could be a coincidence. Then again, it’s no secret that Big 12 and SEC play for BCS titles a lot and that the computer portion is the only part of the formula that is completely hidden from the public (at least we know who votes in the human polls).
For the record, if it were entirely up to the humans, the top 10 would be:
1. LSU
2t. Oklahoma State
2t. Stanford
4. Alabama
5. Boise State
6. Oregon
7. Oklahoma
8. Arkansas
9t. Clemson
9t. Virginia Tech
For your patience, I give you Gorilla Fight Of The Century!
el Kaiser - 
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