vBook: PSU @ MSU

[LightningRod]

More on Joe.

Saturday, November 19, 2005

Paterno has always known how to persevere

By Jerry Green / The Detroit News

The quarterback sat in the back row of the classroom, in his old olive Army jacket, and when he asked questions he croaked out the words. He had glistening black hair and when he walked across the campus it was with a slight list to the left, in short steps, hands jammed in his pockets.

And on Saturday, he huddled his team on the opening play, and then dropped back and threw a surprise floating duck of a pass deep up the right side. It went for a touchdown.

The legendary sports journalist, Stanley Woodward, wrote a description of the quarterback in powerful words in the legendary newspaper, the New York Herald Tribune, long out of business.

"He can't run. He can't pass. All he can do is win."

Those precious words were written more than a half-century ago, nay, nearly 60 years ago. And an identical description applies today.

The quarterback's name is Joe Paterno -- JoePa -- and he has proven to detractors, to enemies, to doubters that he can still win. An old soldier winning his battles.

Late this Saturday afternoon, and into this evening, Joe Paterno will run his Penn State team against Michigan State in East Lansing. In today's other football game in our state. His team will be playing for an undisputed Big Ten championship. It would be playing for an undefeated season and perhaps a chance for a national championship except for the last-play miracle at Michigan.

Hundreds miles to the east, in New York City, his old college team, Brown, will also play today for an outright championship vs. Columbia. Brown never has won an Ivy League championship uncontested, without sharing it with a Princeton or a Penn or a Harvard.

The hair is still mostly black and when Paterno paces the sideline, it is with the same chopping gait with the slight list. And he still croaks out his words in a scratchy, guttural voice.

He was the quarterback on the field at Brown, and I sat in the grandstand, with a brownish crew-cut, a sports addict, a student who had discovered that he lacked athletic abilities. I was his classmate, and we were uncertain about our futures. He became a football coach at Penn State after graduation, 55 years ago. Unable to hit a curveball or throw a floating duck of a pass farther than 10 yards, I ultimately chose sports journalism -- the next best thing for all of us of our generation who lacked the skills to play the games.

These words are now written with tears of remembrance.

There was no sports talk radio then, a forum for others who lacked the skills to be athletes and only could tear at the flesh and souls of those with the abilities to play or coach. There was no ESPN, no cable television. What television there was in the infancy years of the late 1940s appeared on tiny, snowy screens in flickering black and white in boxy furniture.

Joe Paterno's renaissance at age 78 and Penn State's revival into the Top Five of college football Americana is, to me, the most compelling sports story of the autumn season. He never cowered before the criticism, he refused to surrender. He rebuffed even the rabid Penn State alumni who suggested -- perhaps demanded -- his retirement.

The game of college football had not passed him by. The young cheerleaders who now populate the sporting media with their critiques failed to understand the value of knowledge and experience. They have their megaphones and they are heard in high volume and read in slashing words in black ink. And they were all wrong.

He was young enough and wise enough to change a few of his tactics and persevere.

The journey takes a lifetime -- from English D1 to No. 1. Penn State has won two national championships with the old soldier as its coach. His attackers a tried to dump him and he resisted and now he has returned with the strong chance that he will be No. 1 again, in the Big Ten. The vibrancy remains and the experience and the knowledge of how to use it.

Joe Paterno is an antique now. And so is his classmate who lacked the talent himself to play in the games -- the lover of sports who made his discoveries in an English classroom so long ago.

Perseverance. Antiquity. Remembrances written through tears.

 

[LightningRod]

This MSU team just might pull it off.

Friday, November 18, 2005

Football: Notebook

Seniors have become all too familiar with adversity

They've experienced highs and lows on and off the field in careers 'loaded with turmoil.'

By Dave Dye / The Detroit News

EAST LANSING -- Few programs have prepared their senior class better for the adversities of life than Michigan State.

"Loaded with turmoil" is how coach John L. Smith sums up the careers of the Spartans seniors, who will play their final home game Saturday against Penn State.

The fifth-year players have witnessed the elation of Jeff Smoker's last-second touchdown pass to T.J. Duckett to beat Michigan when they were redshirted in 2001, three victories at Notre Dame and a 49-14 rout of previously unbeaten and No. 4 Wisconsin last season.

They've also experienced the train-wreck season of 2002, Smoker's suspension for a substance-abuse problem and coach Bobby Williams' firing, overtime heartbreakers the last two years against Michigan, and the unforgettable debacle this year in the final seconds of the first half at Ohio State, where a blocked field-goal attempt turned into a game- and season-turning play.

"We've been through some things," said receiver Kyle Brown, a senior from West Bloomfield. "We've been through a whole lot of things -- coaches being replaced, players being kicked out of school.

"The adversity I went through in this place, come time to get out in the real world, it ain't really going to be nothing."

The ups and downs of this season have typified the seniors' frustrating careers.

After a 4-0 start that took them to No. 11 nationally, with talk of contending for a Big Ten championship, MSU has plummeted with five losses in the last six games.

It's a season that doesn't make sense to offensive lineman Gordon Niebylski, a fifth-year senior from Birmingham Brother Rice.

"Even three years ago, John L.'s first year when we went to the Alamo Bowl, we lost to Louisiana Tech, which wasn't a very good team, and then we come back to beat Notre Dame at Notre Dame and then end up winning five in a row and having a very good year," Niebylski said.

"I've never been through a season here that made much sense."

Despite it all, Niebylski, Brown and several other seniors insist the tough times have been worth it.

"It's been ups and downs, positives, negatives," offensive tackle Stefon Wheeler said. "But honestly, I've loved it. It made me a better man."

MSU (5-5) needs a victory over Penn State to become eligible for a trip to the Motor City Bowl to play a Mid-American Conference team Dec. 26 at Ford Field.

Asked for the highlight of his career, center Chris Morris said, "I'm waiting for that to happen this weekend."

It might seem farfetched for MSU to bounce back, considering No. 5 Penn State is playing for the Big Ten championship and a Bowl Championship Series bid. But don't forget: MSU is 9-1 in its last 10 games against top-10 teams, including 6-0 at home.

Niebylski said he believes there's another reason to expect a strong effort from the Spartans.

"Senior Day is a powerful thing," he said. "Last year, they (Penn State) were 3-7 and we were trying to fight for a bowl game. They had nothing to play for, but they came out and annihilated us in the second half. They played with so much emotion that I hadn't seen on film from them in weeks before.

"They've got everything to play for (Saturday). But we're fighting for our lives. We're fighting for a bowl game. We're playing the last game as seniors. I can guarantee you that a lot of us are going to be playing like it is our last game. It will be an emotional day. It's going to be a dogfight. They've got to be ready for that."

Notable

Receiver Matt Trannon confirmed he will return to play football next season. Trannon was academically ineligible his first year, but he can regain that year of eligibility by staying on track toward a degree, which he has done. He said he won't announce whether he'll play basketball this season until after football ends.

... ESPN's "Game Day" crew of Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit and Chris Fowler will broadcast from MSU on Saturday. The focus will be on coach Joe Paterno and Penn State's chances to clinch the Big Ten championship.

... Paterno, on MSU fans putting pressure on Smith: "Just tell them to shut up. John L. is a heck of a football coach."

... Paterno, on whether his team might be overconfident: "If we're overconfident, we've got a bunch of knuckleheads."

You can reach Dave Dye at [email protected].

 

[justanotherbuck]

Is this bet going to be settled anytime soon?

 

[LoKyBuckeye]

vBookies... we're waiting for our vCash

 

[ScriptOhio]

Did anyone catch the TV comment during the Michigan State/Penn State game about Michigan State's yearly colapse or melt down at the end of the season under John L. Smith?

2005 Last 7 games (1 win & 6 losses) started out 4-0, finished 5-6
2004 Last 5 games (1 win & 4 losses) started out 4-3, finished 5-7
2003 Last 5 games (1 win & 4 losses) started out 7-1, finished 8-5

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</TD><TD vAlign=top>[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]Hometown:
Idaho Falls, Idaho[/FONT]


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</TD><TD vAlign=top>[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]Position:
Head Coach[/FONT]


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</TD><TD vAlign=top>[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]Experience:
Third Year[/FONT]


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The resurgence of the Michigan State football program began on Dec. 19, 2002, when John L. Smith became the University's 23rd head coach.
http://msuspartans.collegesports.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/smith_johnl00.html

Not really much of a "resurgence".