Bread and Circuses
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Archive for September, 2007
September 30, 2007 at 7:09 am · Filed under Uncategorized
We would have ripped the Babe apart in cyberspace. As we see with Barry Bonds it’s not the size of the sin in the sinner, but the size of the sinner who sins. The bigger the target the harder we hit. And Babe Ruth was a big target, physically and in society. How would we have done it?
Let’s start with the drinking. The man was a known substance abuser. Hit the sauce hard. Wasn’t always 100% at game time. Bad example for the youth of America.
Rumors? What papers didn’t print we’d go with. That stomach ache that kept him out of the lineup? Social disease. Count on it. Sources? We don’t need no stinking sources.
Unmet expectations. Sure, he hit 60 HR. But if he took care of himself it could easily have been 80. When you see a guy like Al Simmons out there early every day taking BP to make himself into a consistent .350 hitter and contrast that to Ruth’s training routine it makes you wonder how much of Ruth’s talent we’ll never see on display.
Cheapened records. How are we supposed to evaluate players in this home run crazy era Ruth has brought on. There are people who have seen both Ruth and old Buck Freeman play who swear that if Freeman played today he’d put up numbers that would make you forget Ruth.
Disrespect for his manager. You hold your manager by the ankles over the edge of a moving railroad car and nothing happens? What have we come to when this sort of behavior is tolerated. We all know there are two sets of rules on the team. One for Ruth and one for everyone else. But Huggins could have been killed. Someone has to stop him before he either gets himself or someone else killed or seriously injured.
We hate the Yankees. So I’m a RedSox fan. Why am I supposed to keep following the sport of the Yankees can just swoop in with an open wallet and buy the best player in baseball?
It’s the ball park. House that Ruth built? What about the House that was Built for Ruth? All those cheap home runs he hit at the Polo Grounds and now they build a new park with a short right field porch.
The game has changed and not for the better. What happened to bunting to set up a run? What happened to the beauty of a tight pitched game? Speed on the bases? Now, Ruth has given us least common denominator baseball. Ignore the little things that make the game great and sit back and wait for three run home runs. Sure, he got 60 home runs. By striking out 89 times.
The New York media. All we hear is Babe Ruth, Babe Ruth. Well, in case you didn’t notice, there is this fellow named Harry Heilmann who hit .398 for Detroit. Drove in 120 runs. Hit a dozen homers in a park where you have to earn them. And, by the way, only struck out 16 times. But did anyone notice? Noooooooo. The New York sportswriters don’t have time for anyone who doesn’t play with the Giants or Yankees. 60 HRS trumps .398.
Liberal disapproval. Society suffers while we pay outrageous salaries to sports stars. See the bread lines? See the stock brokers jumping out windows? See the poor kids leaving school to work to help their families? All the while we pay a Babe Ruth $70,000 a year. Do you have any idea what a school teacher in the Bronx makes? Besides, he went into the Army during Wilson’s war. A kid from the slums like Ruth should have refused to go to set an example for the exploited kids who went to Europe to protect the interests of John D. Rockefeller and Standard Oil.
Conservative disapproval. I never thought I’d see the day an athlete would say something like that. They ask him, “Why should you be paid more than the President of the United States?” And what does he say?
“What the Hell has Hoover got to do with it? Besides, I had a better year than he did.” I don’t appreciate the language, and I surely don’t appreciate the disrespect shown to President Hoover.
The race card. None of these records mean anything. Ruth plays in an all-white league and isn’t facing all the best talent. What has he said about this injustice? Nothing. You’re part of the problem or part of the solution. Besides, Ruth is Maryland. What do you expect?
The Commissioner needs to draw a line in the sand for these rowdies. They are ruining the image of the game. Driving too fast, living too large, no respect for authority. Mark my words, twenty years from now nobody will care about baseball. They are going to kill the goose that laid the golden eggs.
Oh well, at least he’s not Ty Cobb.
September 28, 2007 at 7:21 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
I don’t ask for much, but I wish that…..
Sometime in this lifetime I get the song from the Ipod Nano commercial out of my head. Altogether now…1,2,3,4…
http://www.listentofeist.com/
Fans of big time college sports read the writings of William Dowling (even though his recent comments about athletes at Rutgers used ill-advised language)
http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~wcd/message.htm
The Phillies make the playoffs. Not because I don’t like the Mets but because Philadelphia has fought so hard to get there, and because Jimmy Rollins may be both the MVP of the NL and the most over-publicized superstar in baseball.
Baseball would get control of its umpires. The language used by Mike Winters in baiting San Diego Padres outfielder Milton Bradley into a confrontation is not uncommon. More and more umpires interject themselves into the game with chip on the shoulder attitudes. Easy rule to remember about umpires. If you know their name, they aren’t any good at their job.
A permanent vacation for Joey Crawford from officiating in the NBA. How much credibility does he have left after his confrontation with Tim Duncan last season? There are no promises of second chances when you affect the integrity of the game. Crawford did.
A Stanley Cup in Montreal. I suspect the team’s owners have figured out they can sell out their new arena without putting a championship caliber team on the ice. But, that uniform and the Canadiens name still means something thanks to guys like Jean Beliveau, Serge Savard, Ken Dryden, and Patrick Roy. Ownership owes it to them and the fans in Montreal to get serious and getting moving in some discernable direction.
A great team in the NFL. Is there one? One roster you’d put on the field against the great old Steeler teams and feel like they can stand in for sixty minutes? The Patriots? Even before the spying charges it felt like they were not great, but consistently very good. Away with parity, give me back the glory that was the NFL.
Another Gale Sayers or Barry Sanders. The long bomb is fine, but give me a broken field 40 yard touchdown run over a sixty yard pass play any day. Sayers and Sanders scared defenders so bad they looked tentative trying to tackle them. When a player like that comes along, enjoy it. They don’t last.
More interviews like the one backup US Women’s Soccer goalie Hope Solo gave after her team lost 4-0 in the first game she didn’t start. When a coach yanks the goalie a team road to the semi-finals for some reason other than performance they are open to criticism. Maybe it was bad form for Solo to say the game would have turned out differently with her in goal, but would you rather she mouthed the usual platitudes? We get bored with cookie cutter players and then rake them over the coals if they actually say something.
A quick start to the NBA season. Don’t know why, but I’m ready. It seems like a year since the finals. Alot of new blood in the league, like Kevin Durant. Should be fun.
One last thing. That someone please, make the IPOD nano song get out of my head.
1,2,3,4…
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Original post by WP-AutoBlog Import
September 24, 2007 at 7:41 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
(Interview with Grizz Lee Bear, spokesman for Bear Rights Council)
So, you’ve demanded the Chicago Bears drop the nickname Bears. Does the name represent a demeaning stereotype to you? An exaggerated potential for violence, the whole mauling thing?
No, quite the opposite. We are violent,and we do maul the Elmer Fudds of the world. I hope I don’t put too fine a point on it, but we are the baddest dudes in the woods. The same can’t be said of the "so-called" Chicago Bears.
Then it isn’t the name itself, just the team using it?
Look, when Dick Butkus wore the bear on his helmet you never heard a word from us. Dick, he was like family. Raw meat wouldn’t sit untouched in his cage, if you know what I’m saying. But today’s team? I mean, for crying out loud, the coach is named "Lovie". Who is the offensive coordinator, Thurston Howell the Third?
And this is causing the bear community embarrasment?
The stuff I’ve taken off the Lions and Bengals this week at work. You wouldn’t believe it. My kids have been taking shots at school all week from the Panthers. Little Christine, she got head butted by a Ram. Stuff that never used to happen. Some Dolphin, a dolphin, giggles in that little high pitched squeel at my youngest boy on the playground. He comes home, won’t talk to his mother, crawls straight up into a hollow tree stump and says he isn’t coming out until football season is over. It just breaks your heart. Breaks your heart.
Do you blame Rex Grossman?
Rex Grossman is no bear. Look, (choking up). Can we shut that off just a minute. (Deep breath). Look, when they brought down my dad, he, he had taken out two hunters. It took six shots from a high powered rifle. I, I’m sorry, this is really hard. And they tracked him fifteen miles back up a draw before they finished him off. That was a bear. Grossman, some Cowboy runs by and tags his shoulder and he’s on the ground curled up in the fetal position. If that had been my old man you’d be finding little pieces of boots and spurs in trees for days afterward. And you want to call Rex Grossman a bear? I take exception to that, I really do.
His form did appear to be off last night.
Look, you ever see a bear knock a fish out of the water. It’s a thing a beauty. Lock onto your primary, shift your weight smoothly during the transition, and follow through. I’m watching the game and I nearly jumped out of the den when I see Grossman’s passes. I honestly thought it was a wounded duck. ‘Here comes supper’. Then I see Henry running into the end zone. Disgusting, just disgusting.
More like Yogi the Bear?
Don’t get me started on that. I grew up hearing all the pic-a-nic basket jokes. Where’s Boo-Boo? I’ll show you Boo-Boo pal, got your Boo-Boo right here. Knock your scrawny carcass all the way back to Jellystone Park. Just when we put that behind us, just when we think we’re finally going to get some respect, here come ‘Da Bears’.
Do you really expect the Bears to change their name?
Do we do it in the woods? Of course, I expect that. There’s plenty of names for a team like that. The Chicago Gerbils. The Chicago Possum. The Chicago Squirrels. How about the Moose? The friggin, "wait until I strike a majestic pose for the camera, moose." See how they like being represented by Bernard Berrian. See how they feel waking up on Monday morning with the entire forest laughing.
Any last comments?
I believe in this country. I believe in the right to keep and arm bears. All we’re asking for here is a little dignity, a little respect. You know, there’s bears in New England. Alot more bears in Massachusetts than Patriots. We can live with the New England Bears. Just give us a team worthy of the name. Is that too much to ask?
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Original post by WP-AutoBlog Import
September 22, 2007 at 8:53 am · Filed under Uncategorized
A pennant is a narrow flag flown by ships at sea. Some just indicate the ship is in commission, other indicate the presence of a senior officer. In baseball September is the time recognized as the "pennant race." Win it, and you fly the championship pennant the next season.
But how is it a pennant race if you don’t earn a pennant by winning it? Technically these are division titles and wild card races, not a pennant race. Win a division and you just get to play another week or more. Division title? Yeah, that’s exciting. Let me warm up some skim milk and drink a toast to that.
Alot of people are excited about the RedSox and Yankees, who are supposed to be battling for the pennant. What they are battling for is a division title. The winner goes to the playoffs. The loser will be the wild card in the American League. And go to the playoffs.
The truth is the Beantowners and Bronx Burglers were in the playoffs as soon as the ink dried on the checks their management wrote to nuke the rest of their competitors into submission. The Devil Rays, Blue Jays, and Orioles (yes, Virginia there are still Orioles in Baltimore-of a sort) were mathematically eliminated on opening day.
So maybe I should be excited about the Mets and Phillies? Pretty much the same deal. The loser is probably the wild card although it is a closer question. The Cubs and Brewers, Diamondbacks and Padres matchups will probably produce just one playoff team. Meanwhile nobody is paying any attention to the Indians and Angels, who may just have the two best teams in baseball.
Then you have the Rockies, Braves, Tigers, and Mariners. They can’t win their division, but they could win the pennant. And just to make it more confusing, the Rockies are closer today to being a wild card team than the Brewers, who are trying to win a pennant (sorry, division championship).
Time out.
Baseball says there are pennant races underway. I say there aren’t. Just a massive geographic farce where losers can win, winners can lose, and getting to first place in your division doesn’t mean anything. So it’s the RedSox, or the Yankees? So what?
You don’t have to have the best team in baseball to win the World Championship. You just have to have deep pitching and good matchups in the playoffs. Remember the Cardinals, our most forgettable and regrettable pennant winners since the 1906 Cubs?
Aside from the confusion, why does it matter? It matters because baseball isn’t football where each regular season game is a festival, an event leading up to perhaps the greatest one day spectacle in sport-The Super Bowl. And it isn’t the San Antonio Spurs invitational, which staggers on week after week and intrudes into the summer. And it isn’t the Stanley Cup playoffs, where the sport awakens into something worth following after slumbering through the winter.
We are getting cheated. Give us two league championships and two wild card teams.
A real pennant race would be a five team AL race with the RedSox, Yankees, Indians, Angels, and Tigers racing neck and neck down the wire with three of those teams going home. We are being denied a National League home stretch where every game involving the Mets, Phillies, Padres, and Diamondbacks meant something. And where the Cubs would be what they are, the sixth best team in the NL, chasing down the fifth place Colorado Rockies.
So, you still want inter-league play and worry you can’t get it with two leagues? OK, we’ll give you three leagues. And put the Mets and Yankees in the same league, and the Dodgers and Angels, and Cubs and WhiteSox. And build magnificent rivalries, cut travel costs, and give fans a chance to follow their teams on the road more often.
Give us something, anything, but this phony war with no winners and few casualties. Give us last place teams and not sixth place finishers in divisions. Give us a real pennant race again and a World Series that means something.
Mister Selig, tear down the walls of division and free baseball.
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Original post by WP-AutoBlog Import
September 20, 2007 at 8:41 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Is the real reason the Cowboys signed Tank Johnson that they are hoping he invites Terrell Owens over to his house and introduces him to his family pets?
If sports writers proclaim soccer to be on the edge of a breakthrough once every six years, and locusts return and destroy vegatation every seventeen years, how long will it be until Roger Clemens retires?
What is that spinning sound coming from Knute Rockne’s grave?
If Florida doesn’t win the national title this year will it be because they couldn’t program their Tebow?
If you could clearly see the sun shining, your watch said it was 10:00 a.m., and Bill Belichick said it was day time, would you still seek additional verification from an independant source?
Does anyone who is not a football player major in sociology at USC?
Is there still a football team at Duke?
And we cared about David Beckham because a)his wife reminded us of a stick figure we drew as a child, b)we fantasized about having an affair with a nanny and he’s actually done it, or c)all the other kids were doing it?
How do we honor Jackie Robinson by not letting anyone wear his number?
Has anyone attempted the Heimlich maneouver on the Mets?
Does anyone realize that Yankee Stadium is going to be demolished in less than two years?
Does anyone care?
Why did the NBA bring back Joey Crawford as a ref after he challenged Tim Duncan to a fight?
Won’t it be too cold to play baseball long before the World Series starts?
If Notre Dame misled QB Demetrius Jones about his chances to play this year and he voluntarily left the team, how does the school still get to have a say as to whether he can be on scholarship somewhere else this year?
And how can the A.D. say Jones can only go to a school that isn’t on Notre Dame’s schedules for the rest of his career?
Is there a better looking setting for a college stadium than at Cal?
Is there a cooler number than the #88 Dale Jr. will drive next year?
During those promo shots of Keith Olbermann is he in some sort of physical discomfort?
Next to O.J. Simpson, isn’t Pete Rose looking pretty good just about now?
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Original post by WP-AutoBlog Import
September 18, 2007 at 9:01 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
From across the nation and around the globe and down by the left field foul line it’s "Tuesday Night and I Can’t Think of Anything to Write Night".
After bouncing off the outfield wall, and passing completely through the cranium of outfielder Corey Hart, a baseball emerges from his ear. Hart was uninjured but has repeatedly sung "I Wear My Sun Glasses At Night" at inappropriate times since the incident.
After the game Grudzeliniak told reporters, "Of course I knew I was supposed to catch the ball. But did you see those shoes? Those shoes, those shoes were perfect."
The Florida Marlins today announced they had cut outfielder Brett Carroll after he once again defied team management by screaming "Grenade!" and leaping on a fly ball.
Ironically, after the game both Cabrera and Richar accused each other of talking out their posteriors.
After closing with an emotional rendition of the Righteous Brothers’ "You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin", Biggio and Lee brought the house down with their encore performance of Sam and Dave’s "I’m A Soul Man".
In a picture taken in 2014, Notre Dame football fans change a sign showing the length of the team’s epic losing streak. In a related story, local night watchman Jimmy Clausen announced he will attempt a comeback with the minor league Joliet Thunder Chickens.
Arroyo, who said he would gladly be changed into a dog if he did not win 15 games with the Reds this year. refused to respond to reporter’s questions other than to lift his leg and commit an extremely rude act.
Although impressive, Tejeda’s ability to fly could only be sustained at heights of no more than 18 inches and the propulsion system made it appear that he wearing women’s undergarments in his pants.
Spears’ representatives said the stadium was, "Like, really, really, big" and the crowd for the first stop on her comeback tour was actually much larger than evident in photos.
In a casting decision one critic termed "unfortunate" Placido Palanco as Maria sings "I Feel Pretty" while umpire Dale Halibutt as Officer Krupke and Toronto’s Gregg Zaun as Tony look on. Veteran announcer and critic Skip Carey derided the performance as "derivative" and an "injustice to a culturally significant musical."
And finally, the New York Yankees observe a moment of silence after learning that Paris Hilton was no longer "hot".
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September 17, 2007 at 7:48 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Meet the new Pirates GM, same as the old Pirates GM. Won’t get fooled again. Instead of changing management a new approach is needed. Run the Pirates like PBS. Do a fund drive. Raise $5 million toward a new starting pitcher. Get matching pledges from employers. If you had a choice between keeping Garrison Keillor on the air or getting a clutch #5 hitter for your team where would your donation go?
Who would have figured that while O.J. Simpson was out looking for the real killers he would run into a guy with a bunch of his old football stuff? What were the odds?
In 1919 the Chicago WhiteSox shook the foundations of baseball by undermining the integrity of the game. Fans didn’t know whether competition was on the level or not. In 2007 Bill Belichick uses technology to provide an unfair advantage. Fans don’t know if the games they have watched were on the level or influenced by cheating. The "Black Sox" got thrown out of baseball and Belichick lost some tip money and the lesser of two first round Patriot draft choices in 2008. Just saying.
What stops USC? If Pete Carroll stays, who is to say they won’t win at least 3 more national championships over the next 10 years? Like UNC in basketball, USC has become the destination program for high school football players.
Not a Mets fan, but how about a hand for Pedro Martinez. He’s battled back from an injury when he didn’t need to financially. He spends time with young Mets pitchers teaching them the art of pitching with nothing in it for him. He’s good with the fans and seems to genuinely enjoy the game. He gives back from his wealth and has a reputation for treating even the lowest paid Mets employees with respect and consideration. Not much to work with from a blogger’s standpoint, but baseball could use alot more like him.
I’m a hard core fan, but I can’t get excited about baseball’s division races. Means nothing but admittance to a tournament. That’s not a pennant race and that’s not baseball. Do away with the AL and NL, split the teams into three leagues geographically and have one wild card time. Now that would be something to watch.
Excited about the NBA. Part of the reason is HDTV. Don’t know what it is, but the game is so much better in HD. Now if they just had a way to speed up the offenses. Sometimes waiting until the clock runs down for a good shot results in only a bad shot. Why coaches don’t see that is beyond me.
The Isiah Thomas trial won’t hurt the NBA’s image, which has bottomed out already, but a quick read of the testimony (particularly that of Stephon Marbury) looks like a recounting of Rome under Nero. The gap between Thomas’ public personna and what appears to be his private actions is becoming a yawning chasm. If the Knicks lose the case Thomas has to go. And win or lose, getting Marbury out of New York should be a priority.
Lost in the background of last week’s USC-Nebraska game was the Alabama-Arkansas shootout. The 41-38 Alabama win was made all the more impressive by the fact that Bama’ was physically whipped and still managed to come back at the end.
And finally, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
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September 16, 2007 at 7:13 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
New Orleans Saints Reggie Bush: "Yeah, yeah, tell coach I’ll be right there." (on cell) "Man, why can’t we park the Hummer in front of the Subway in the ad? It’s called cross promotion. You guys are supposed to be pros. Focus, man, focus."
Tampa Bay Bucaneers Coach Jon Gruden: "Boys, it’s like I’ve always said, chicks dig a man with a visor."
New England Patriots Coach Bill Belichick: "You’ve got to hold it steady or the image will blur."
New England Patriots Cheerleader (beginning to cry): "But I have to shake them, they’re pom poms."
Seattle QB Matt Hasselbeck: "Come on guys, yeah we’re down 10. To ARIZONA. Just don’t turn over the ball and we’ll be fine."
Dallas WR Terrell Owens "Just get me the ball. I’ve got this bit where I wind a handle on a camera in the end zone. It’s going to be great."
Dallas QB Tony Romo: "But won’t they call a penalty on that?"
Dallas WR Terrell Owens "You’re not listening. I’m in the end zone. I’m cranking a camera. What is it you don’t understand. Three years watching and holding that clip board and you still don’t know what this game is about, do you?"
Giants Coach Tom Coughlin: "Ah, but the strawberries! That’s, that’s where I had them. Barber laughed
at me and made jokes, but I proved beyond the shadow of a doubt, and with,
with geometric logic, that, that a duplicate key to the locker room icebox
did exist."
Atlanta Falcons QB Joey Harrington: "Oh yeah, well maybe you should have thought about that before your pal ended up headed for prison. And just for the record, I get timed with a stop watch like everyone else. I have never, never been timed with a sun dial."
Indianapolis QB Payton Manning: "Marvin, does it ever seem to you that the sun is shining on us and the crowds aren’t even there. And it’s so quiet that all you hear is the wind moving over the laces of the football as it perfectly spirals into your hands. It’s like it’s all in slow motion and no matter what they do you just look over at Coach Dungy and have this feeling of contentment like nothing bad is ever going to happen."
New York Giants QB Eli Manning: "And I kept telling him, I don’t even eat strawberries. And he’s got this glazed look in his eyes. Then he leaves and I finally get to sleep and have this dream where Brett Favre is pointing at me and laughing. And my dad is telling Favre that he has a son who plays QB named Payton. But he doesn’t mention me. What do you think that means?"
Oakland Coach Monte Kiffin: "It’s just lightining. There is not a thing to worry about. Now everybody hit the field. (team files out) JaMarcus. Over here. Look, you’d better stay in here until after the game."
Steelers RB Willie Parker: "So I tell him. Look, I’ll be running for 120 yards a game in the pros long after they’ve forgotten the name John Bunting."
Bengals Coach Marvin Lewis: "Now let’s get out there and play some defense."
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September 15, 2007 at 9:17 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
At first it was exciting. A pair of F-15’s flew low over the stands at the start of the game. Then I saw Tank Johnson in the stands (I wondered what he was up to during the suspension). Then I realized it was a woman. Things went down hill from there.
I might as well get this out of the way as well. Similar story, different row. If you’re a woman over sixty you probably want to stay away from tight fighting lycra. I’ve seen the gravity and the damage done. Oh, the humanity.
And there was a football game, one that marked a turning point for 0-2 Wake Forest. But based on the team’s play today, it could turn into a last cigarette before the firing squad. This is not last year’s BCS caliber team. The Demon Deacons were neither demonic or deaconesque today. Demon Deacons? More like the Mildly Annoying Organ Committee.
The problem is simple. Wake is a system team which appears to have come to believe, based on last year’s success, that it is a talent team capable of pushing past less talented opposition. USC (the United Sociology majors of California) is a talent team. Arkansas is a talent team. Even Michigan is a talent team, (although the talent is for self destruction). Wake Forest is not a talent team. The guys from Camel City are a system team that must execute a complicated offense with precise blocking schemes to win.
Army is neither a system team nor a talent team. They are a hustle team. Hustle teams work harder than their opponents. They run to the ball in numbers. They execute an offense with fewer plays than the number of felony arrests on your typical SEC team. Likeable, lovable, admirable, they are a home for all the kids who are small in size but big in heart.
But heart isn’t enough. Early on Army put together some first downs and held the line defensively. Then Kenneth Moore returned a punt 55 yards for a TD and Army’s illusions were knocked as flat as their punter trying to bring down Moore. A turnover later, Wake was up 14-0 on a 10 yard run from Josh Adams. Army was winning on most plays, but losing the war on the big ones.
The script from this point should have included Wake hitting their stride on offense. It should have ended with a 35-7 win and alot of smiles and good will. Instead it turned into the football equivalent of a speech by Hilary Clinton. You hope it will end, intellectually you know it eventually will have to end, but then why won’t it….ever….stop.
Army got back to 14-7 in the second quarter and was deep in Wake Forest territory late in the half. Then the Black Knight quarterback, Carson Williams spotted a man open and laid it right in the numbers. That the player was Wake linebacker Aaron Curry who ran the INT back 84 yards is a pity. It was a really well thrown pass.
Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe went in at the half and made some adjustments, hoping things would change. They did. The Deacons were shut out in the second half by Army, a team that had been muscled by Akron and nearly lost last Saturday to Rhode Island. To their credit, Army hung in and nearly hit some big passes which would have made a game of it.
The Deacons also threw the ball, racking up 49 yards in the air. Let’s say 147 feet. That sounds more impressive. Being good hosts they also fumbled the ball away three times. And when it was over Army had run 15 more plays and gained 43 more yards. But lost 21-10.
The star of the game was Wake Forest’s special teams, specifically Moore and punter Sam Swank. Swank is a junior and maybe the best kicker in college football. After an off day against Nebraska he consistently nailed the ball on punts and kickoffs and had one kick downed on the Army 10. Moore is a senior receiver who hadn’t shown much before this season but is very explosive with the ball in the open field.
After the game Grobe praised his defense, which did keep the game in hand when Army had chances in the second half. But this was a defense that consistently gave up positive yardage to a much smaller opponent.
And so it goes. It was the kind of game which leaves you with questions. For instance, why would someone in a furry Army mule mascot suit walk back and forth in front of the mist blowing fan device? Could it possibly help? Why did Army have an Air Force flyover if the Army Air Corp has been out of business since 1947? And why does Wake Forest insist on calling their stadium the "Wrigley Field of College Football"?
I can’t answer those questions, but I can tell you this. Unless the Wake Forest offense gets it’s act together, it will be a long Saturday next week against Maryland.
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September 15, 2007 at 9:27 am · Filed under Uncategorized
Three hundred and sixty five wins is quite a yardstick to measure against. But the best measure of Joe Paterno’s record at Penn State is to look at where he started from.
Paterno’s tenure as head coach coincided with Grace Slick joining the Jefferson Airplane. Slick retired 19 years ago and is now an accomplished painter. The generation she sang to have mostly cut their hair and grown old with more than a few having become Republicans, Rotarians, or some such representation of all they once despised. But Joseph Vincent Paterno hasn’t changed, not even his haircut, and that is either strange or reassuring depending on your point of view
A Brooklyn kid, Paterno starred in baseball, football, and basketball in high school. Arriving
at Brown just after War II ended, he became the quarterback and a starter in basketball. That happy coexistance between sports and their coaches is just a memory today.
After graduating in 1949 Paterno was ready to become a lawyer when Rip Engle, his coach at Brown, persuaded him to become his assistant at Penn State. His success can be seen by the roster of All-Americans and NFL players he developed. Names like Milt Plum, Pete Liske, Galen Hall, Dick Hoak, Tony Rados, Jack White, and Dick Lucas. Liske, the last of the assistant’s proteges, ended his professional career in Canada 33 years ago.
By February of 1966 it was no surprise that Paterno, then the 39
year old associate head coach at Penn State, would become the head
man. There had been a flirtation with Yale the year before, with JoePa turning down an offer to be head coach. Sixteen consecutive winning seasons as first among equals among the assistants, and Engle’s blessing, made Paterno a sure pick. The new coaches first salary was something more than the $14,000 Yale had offered, and something less than the $4 million a year Nick Saban is now getting from Alabama.
Engle hasn’t looked over Paterno’s shoulder since 1983 when he
passed away. Back in the early 1900’s Paterno’s successor had worked
as a child driving a donkey cart in a coal mine. Now, the only
donkey’s coaches have to deal with are the……well, you can fill in
the blanks yourself.
As Paterno started his career as head coach he talked about the continuity at Penn State, which had enjoyed 28 straight winning seasons. "My switchover to head coach has been smooth. My job has been easy. We have a winning tradition and do not need gimmicks as do some new head coaches. And we are a good team."
On September 17, 1966 the record will show Paterno’s first game ending in a 15-7 triumph over Maryland. Ironically, the offense minded Paterno would see his team mount only one touchdown. The win came mainly on the strength of three safeties and the outstanding play of defensive tackle Mike Reid. It was a game the Nittany Lions were supposed to win, but Maryland made it closer than expected. Their head coach was Lou Saban, who had won 4 AFL titles before going back to the college ranks.
Today a game with 3 safeties would result in calls on web sites for Saban’s removal. Posters would also be second guessing Paterno’s hiring. "So called offensive genius and he only gets one touchdown against Maryland." You can just hear it.
Penn State fans today probably wouldn’t be too happy with a 5-5 season, which is how Paterno’s first ended. Nor would internet bloggers stand by silent after Paterno ordered a fake punt with his team up 41-12 on Pitt early in the 4th period of the final game. Times have changed.
At the end of the season Paterno attempted to lead a revolt among Eastern College coaches against two platoon football. Unlimited substitutions had been allowed, then restricted, then allowed since the early 1950’s. That Paterno was a little behind the times in 1966 is reflected by a comment from the athletic director at Delaware that he was "amazed" that Penn State and 18 other schools wanted to take the game back in time.
In a big game against Syracuse at Penn State earlier in the season, Paterno also caused a minor controversy when he would not permit Syracuse coaches to use television monitors to show players replays during the game. Ara Parseghian, then coach at Notre Dame, had made the practice popular but Paterno wouldn’t permit it on his home field.
At the start of this blog I mentioned the Jefferson Airplane in the context of Paterno’s career. It’s only fitting that I finish off with a quote from another Bay area band that sums up his coaching career. When you look at where he started and where he’s come to, you can truly say "What a long, strange trip it’s been."
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