Big Ten Bowl Open Thread

Northwestern / Auburn at 11AM this morning in the Outback Bowl. Winner gets free Bloomin' Onions for a year. I did not watch any of Northwestern's games this year, so I have no idea what to expect.

Penn State / LSU at 1PM in the Capital One Bowl. By playing in the actual game, both teams get the advantage of not having to watch the stupid Capital One Credit Card commercials during each break. Seriously, has there ever been an advertising campaign that was any more annoying or stupid?

Ohio State / Oregon at 4PM in the Rose Bowl. My mom always told me if I can't say anything nice, then don't say anything at all.

Game Day GACK.

Oh my. Epic Fail. So much head-shaking.....
Now Penn State is the real deal, and they are a great football team, but holy moly football fan---we WHIFFED on that game.
No execution. No offensive flow. No go.

I can't even really be mad. I'm mean how young are these kids??? First rain game. Crazy hype with the flyover and the opening TD, followed by complete collapse. I at least give Rich Rod credit for saying that this one was mostly on the coaches and that he was really disappointed.

4 turnovers today, which is one less than the 5 against Iowa. A safety? Molk gone. Warren and Hemingway kneecapped in one play??? oh. my.

The one shining star?? BRANDON. GRAHAM.

discuss....

Game Day Open Thread: Penn State

“They are not stupid, you're just pissed off you cannot do it.”

----Coach Barwis

pic from dictailgate.com

Know your Foe – Penn State 2009

Saturday afternoon the 11th ranked Penn State football team will play the unranked Michigan football team in Ann Arbor. The game will be broadcast on ESPN/ABC. This will only be the 15th meeting between these two traditional college football powers. Michigan holds a 10-4 series advantage. Penn State won last year 46-17. Here are some other things you should know about our guests from central Pennsylvania.

History: The institution now known as Penn State originally started out as a “high school”. It was founded in 1855 under the name Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania. Like many new schools outside of major cities, the place was created to teach the scientific methods of farming. When the 1862 version of the Morrill Act was passed, the school took the Land Grant money for Pennsylvania and changed the name to The Agricultural College of Pennsylvania.

Like many of the original Land Grant schools, the internal struggle for the educational mission of the school created tension and division. As the curriculum drifted between the purely agricultural and the more profitable classical, public confidence fell and the student enrollment went with it. By 1875 there were only 64 undergraduates were enrolled. Eventually they righted the ship, renamed themselves again to Pennsylvania State College, and grew to the largest non-governmental economic engine in the state of Pennsylvania. The school now annually generates more than $8 billion in direct economic impact to the Commonwealth and supports more than 60,000 total jobs.

Location: The main campus is located in State College, Pennsylvania, though the mailing address is actually University Park, Pennsylvania. The area is commonly referred to as Happy Valley.

If you are confused, join the club.

In 1953, when the institution went from being a college to a university, Penn State President Milton S. Eisenhower wanted the town to also change its name. However the locals refused. Not to be dissuaded, Eisenhower asked his older brother Dwight (who just happened to be the US president) give the university its own post office and zip code and named it University Park.

Whatever you want to call the place; the people I know that went to school there love the campus and are very proud of their school. The most famous building on campus is called Old Main, and it serves as the administrative center of the school, housing the offices of the president and other officials.

They also have their own ice cream factory on campus called the Berkey Creamery. PSU’s Department of Food Science runs the largest university creamery in the United States, using about 4.5 million pounds of milk annually, around half of which comes from a 225-cow herd at the University's Dairy Production Research Center. They offer over 100 flavors and sell 750,000 hand-dipped ice cream cones per year.

Nickname: They call themselves the Nittany Lions. The name is derived from the mountain lions that roamed the area for thousands of years before they were all killed by local citizens in the 1880s. Penn State claims to be the first university to choose a Lion as their mascot after one of their baseball players (Joe Mason) went to a game at Princeton in 1904. He was jealous of the Tiger moniker used by Princeton and somehow convinced everyone to adopt “Lions” in 1907 without a vote or contest. The origin of the word "Nittany" is a little more obscure. The most commonly accepted explanation traces its derivation to Indian words meaning either "single mountain" or "protective barrier against the elements”.

Mascot: In the 1920s, a pair of stuffed mountain lions was placed in the Recreation Building to watch over athletic events. About that same time, the tradition began of having a student dressed in a furry lion costume clown around on the sidelines at football games.

It appears that that costume from the 1940 is still in use today. It looks like it has been on the sidelines longer that Joe Paterno himself. Quite frankly, the Penn State Lion costume sucks and is embarassing for a traditional football power like Penn State.

In contrast to the stupid middle school quality mascot, Penn State has a dignified mountain lion statue in the place they call “Lion Shrine” on campus. The Class of 1940 gave their alma mater $5,430 to pay for the construction of the shrine located between the Recreation Building and Beaver Field. German sculptor Heinze Warnecke carved the lion on site in the summer of 1942, from a thirteen-ton block of limestone. He finished just in time for it to be dedicated at homecoming ceremonies on October 24th.


Colors/Logo/Helmet: Unless you have been living in a cave for your entire life, you know that Penn State wears blue and white. But that wasn’t always the case. In 1887 a committee was appointed to develop color options from which the student body would select the school's official colors. Dark pink and black was the unanimous choice of the student body after considering the color combinations presented by the committee.

The baseball team was the first to sport pink and black. However, issues arose when the pink faded to white after several weeks of exposure to the sun. The students then opted for blue, rather than black, and white. The official announcement of the new choice was made on March 18, 1890.

As you would expect, Penn State has a solidly designed / recognizable logo (displayed above). This is the second time around for this stylized mountain lion head icon, because it was actually replaced in 2001 with more modern logo designed by a professional market branding company. This change was met with disdain and only lasted three years before they went back to the old logo.

Penn Staters are as proud of their plain white helmets as we are of our historic winged masterpieces. Combined with their plain white pants and white or blue jerseys they wear the most ordinary, and yet at the same time most recognizable, uniforms in all levels of football. Penn State doesn’t even put bowl game patches on their jersey when they go to a bowl game, but they do have that omni-present Nike logo. There really isn’t any history to their helmets, except for a 5 year period (1968-74) where they put numbers on their sides (like Alabama). Just like the new logo, they went back.

Fight Song: Just in case you have not gotten the theme of this place, you need to listen to their fight song: Boring.

For my money, the most recognizable sounds coming out of Beaver Stadium is either the amplified toilet flushing sound they call a Lion Roar or Kernkraft 400 by Zombie Nation. The Penn State Fight Song is as boring and about as non-descript as you can get from a major college football program. It doesn’t even come close to any of their top Big Ten rivals. It sounds like a circus tune.



FIGHT ON, STATE
Fight on State (GO!)
Fight on State (GO!)
Strike your gait and win, (LET’S GO STATE!)
Victory we predict for thee
We’re ever true to you, dear old White and Blue.
Onward State, (GO!)
Onward State, (GO!)
Roar, Lions, roar: (LET’S GO STATE!)
We’ll hit that line, roll up the score,
Fight on to victory ever more,
Fight on, on, on, on, on, Fight on, on, Penn State! (S-T-A-T-E GO! STATE!)

Academics: Academically, Penn State is faced with a similar situation as Michigan State. When not compared to the in-state University in Pennsylvania, they stand on solid academic ground. Unfortunately for Penn State (and Sparty) the comparison with another major university in the same state is natural and not favorable.

The school is currently ranked as the 47th best National University in the US News and World Report rankings. That places them fifth in the Big Ten conference behind Northwestern (12), Michigan (27), Wisconsin and Illinois (both at 39). Their 2008 acceptance rate was 52%, however this a little misleading because many Penn State students begin their college careers at a satellite campus and transfer to the main campus after one year.

Football: Any conversation about Penn State football needs to start with Joe Paterno. He has been at the school for 60 seasons, including the last 43 years as head coach. He has delivered two National Championships and has the most victories by any Division I coach. He has coached won more bowl games and delivered more undefeated seasons than any other coach in college football history. Paterno is one of four active coaches inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

In 1969 Michigan Athletic Director Don Canham contacted Paterno to see if he would accept the vacant Michigan job. Paterno turned down the offer and Michigan went on to hire Bo Schembechler. That same year, Paterno was also offered the Pittsburgh Steelers job before Chuck Noll took over and created an NFL Dynasty.

In 1993, after years of beating cupcakes like Temple, Maryland, and Rutgers, Joe and the Nittany Lions joined the Big Ten Conference. Life changed and Penn State has found the football a little tougher in the Big Ten. They have won only three Big Ten football titles since joining the conference and have set a new standard for complaining about the officials. They also currently (and temporarily) have the stadium with the largest seating capacity in the country, although they did not lead the nation in attendance last year.

The program has had such a propensity for producing great linebackers, the school has earned the nickname “Linebacker U.” The great Penn State linebackers looks like a who’s who of college football defensive greats: Jack Ham, LaVar Arrington, Brandon Short, Mark D’Onofrio, Andre Collins, Shane Conlan, Paul Posluszny, Dan Connor, and of course, Matt "NFL franchise killer" Millen.

Other Famous Penn State football players include Heisman Trophy winner John Cappelletti and Pro Football Hall of Famer Franco Harris. More recently they have produced NFL players like Larry Johnson, Kerry Collins, and Michael Robinson.

Other sports: When most people only think Penn State athletics, they think football. Most people don’t know that Penn State has one of the most successful overall athletic programs in the country. They have finished in the Top 25 in the NACDA Director's Cup every year since the inception of the program. Sports Illustrated recently ranked their overall athletic program as the 6th best in the nation. They have won 62 National Championships in sports other than football, the most recent being the 2009 Men's and Women's Fencing teams.

Famous alums: The Penn State Alumni Association—a network of 161,234 members—is the largest dues-paying alumni association in the world. Names that you might recognize: Mark Parker, CEO of Nike, Former Secretary of Defense William J. Perry, Former Pennsylvania and first Director of Homeland Security Tom Ridge, Steve McCurry, photojournalist (most famous for the National Geographic photograph of the “Afghan Girl”); Herman Fisher, co-founder of Fisher-Price toy company; Richard T. James, Inventor of the Slinky; Jef Raskin, human-computer interface expert (best-known for starting the Macintosh project for Apple); John Aniston, soap opera actor and father of actress Jennifer Aniston; ESPN sideline reporter Lisa Salters; Hugh Rodham, Hillary Clinton’s brother, and Tom Verducci, writer for Sports Illustrated.

Penn State also can claim two pretty cool fictional alumni: Bruce Banner (better known when he is green and angry) and Dunder Mifflin’s HR rep Toby Flenderson.

I have missed this over the last couple of weeks because Iowa and Delaware State did not have any US Presidents or Astronauts. Penn State can claim four astronauts including Guion Bluford, the first African American in space. No Presidents.

The Game: Going into the game last year, I could not have had lower expectations. We were terrible and they were undefeated. They were ranked #3 in the nation. After nine straight losses to us they were motivated to grind us into little bits. The fact we were actually ahead at halftime (17-14) is one of the small miracles in my lifetime. As expected, this euphoria did not last as we were out scored 32-0 in the second half. Penn State had finally beaten Michigan and everyone was finally Happy in Happy Valley.

This year, I don’t have the same low expectations. Strange things happen when Penn State comes to Ann Arbor. Penn State is a good football team, but as Iowa showed a couple of weeks ago, they can be beaten. I honestly believe the 2009 version of the Michigan football team is capable of winning this game. We will need to take care of the football, eliminate the big play defensive breakdowns, and get a little magic from a healthy Tate Forcier.

Michigan 27
Penn State 24

Roadkill

One of our readers sent me an email asked me to "make a wallpaper" out of this iconic 2006 image of Alan Branch at Penn State. I had some time yesterday afternoon and I was feeling creative. Here you go. Enjoy.

Despite what the Bearcats, Redneck Rocker, or Terrelle Pryor might have you believe, this is Penn State week. As such, it is probably a good idea to spend sometime thinking about them. I've watched Paterno's 2009 team a couple of times, and outside of a nasty rainy night against Iowa -- they are pretty darn good. We are going to need to play a very solid mistake free game to beat them.

Regarding this game this year... For the life of me, I don't understand why Brandon Graham has to say things like 'We had them last year'. Dude, we lost 46-17. Now, don't get me wrong - I LOVE Brandon Graham. He is the rock this program has leaned on during this brutal transition. But I wish someone would tell him to stay silent and wreck shop during the game.

I guess it doesn't really matter. Penn State doesn't need any bulletin board material to get them motivated to come into Michigan Stadium.

Rewind: 1993 at Penn State

This week Michigan plays Penn State for the 15th time in the storied history of both programs. It may be hard to believe, but prior to Penn State joining the Big Ten these two schools had never met on the football field. This week I am going to rewind to the initial game between the Wolverines and Nittany Lions. The game was nationally televised (on ABC) and was called by the classic team of Keith Jackson/Bob Griese/Lynn Swann.

Heading into the game Penn State was undefeated and ranked in the top ten. Michigan had 2 losses, including one the week before in East Lansing. Key players for Michigan on offense include QB Todd Collins, RB Tyronne Wheatley, WR Derrick Alexander, and a very young Jon Runyan.

1st Quarter: Michigan took the opening kickoff and marched right down to field in ten plays to the Penn State 20 yard line. At this point the ridiculous "college football crowd noise" rule that was in place became a factor. The Beaver Stadium crowd was so loud that the game was delayed 3 times and it cost Joe Paterno a time out. Eventually it was quiet enough for Michigan to run a play. The offense failed to convert and Peter Elezovic missed an easy field goal, much to the delight of the Penn Staters.

Penn State took over featuring RB Ki-Jana Carter and QB Kerry Collins. Their inital drive was essentially an exact replica of the Wolverines drive, minus the crowd noise penalty. They slash and smash the ball for 11 plays taking it inside the 5 yard line, but were stopped in the shadow of the goal line. Penn State kicker Craig Fayak missed his 25 yard FG attempt.

Penn State does eventually hits a field goal near the end of the quarter to take a 3-0 lead.

2nd Quarter: Penn State opens the quarter much like they spent the 1st quarter, riding on the shifty moves of Ki-Jana Carter. Collins throws a beautiful touchdown pass to Bobby Engram to give Penn State a 10-0 lead. Things do not look good at this point for Gary Moeller's team.

A couple of series later, Derrick Alexander breaks off an exciting 48 yard punt return for touchdown. Making the score 10-7 with about 5 minutes left in the half. There was no more scoring heading into halftime.

3rd Quarter: Michigan opens the 3rd quarter much like the opened the game, running the ball into the teeth of the Penn State defense with Wheatley and Ricky Powers. Just like with the first drive, Michigan misses a short FG -- but Penn State was flagged for being off sides, giving Todd Collins a first down and another chance inside the 20. Collins hits Mercury Hayes for a diving toe-touching 16 yard touchdown. Michigan now leads 14-10.

Penn State gets the ball back and quickly marches inside the five yard line, helped by two questionable pass interference calls made on Ty Law. At this point, the Michigan defense prevents a touchdown run for 3 straight plays and the quarter ends.

4th Quarter: Penn State starts the 4th quarter inside the one yard line facing a 4th down. Paterno goes for it and our line beat the Penn State line like it was the 2007 wolverines and Ki-Jana Carter was stuffed. The defense celebrates a HUGE goal line stand.

Michigan digs itself out from the 1 foot line with the help of freshman Jon Ritchie. He is a Pennsylvania native that eventually transferred to Stanford and played for fullback for 49ers and Eagles in the NFL. But we had to punt, giving Paterno great field position. Penn State takes the ball, drives inside the 10 yard line but stalls and settles for a field goal. Michigan still leads 14-13.

Following the Penn State field goal, Tyronne Wheately took over literally carrying the team inside the 10 yard line with about 6 minutes left in the game. The long 47 yarder was classic a Wheatley rumble, combining speed/size/power better than any Michigan back in history. On 3rd down, Todd Collins hits fullback Che Foster on a swing pass for a touchdown. Michigan expands the lead to 21-13.

Penn State's offense is silent on the next drive and punts the ball down 8 points with 4:20 left. Wheatley and the offensive line officially welcome Penn State to the Big Ten , grinding out several first downs and chewing up the clock. With about one minute left, Moeller goes for a fourth down on about the 35 yard line, looking to close the game out. However, Foster is stuffed and Penn State gets the ball back with 52 seconds and no time outs. But Kerry Collins shows why he was last in the B10 conference in passing, throwing an interception to Shante Peoples.

What did we learn ? The crowd noise rule sucked. Despite the two losses, the 1993 version of Michigan was a strong team. A strong offensive and defensive line can make a difference in a tight game. Goal line stands can provide a huge emotional lift for a team. Penn State fans learned how to deal with the first of many heartbreaking losses to Michigan. Both Tyronne Wheatley and Ki-Jana Carter were great college running backs. Joe Paterno was really old in 1993.

You can snag a copy of this game here or watch the Wolverine Historian's YouTube highlights.

Penn State week 2009

Because I am sick of looking at the Detroit Lions.

Let the wild rumpus begin!

We are... stoned

You have to admit that it wouldn't really be a football off-season without a couple of Penn State football players getting busted for smoking dope and/or beating the crap out of someone on campus.

According to our friends at Black Shoes Diary, this one likely includes starting QB Daryll Clark. No charges have been pressed. No names released. But the address matches the University listing for Clark. I can only hope that the other three players that reside in that apartment are also starters.

Penn State University police searched the apartment where four football players reside on campus the night of the spring Blue/White game April 25, court papers say.

According to an application for a search warrant, police wrote that around 11:10 April 25, university police responded to apartment 4103 in the Nittany Apartments complex on campus to assist residence life with dispersing a loud party.

As soon as they entered the apartment, police say they could see marijuana "in plain view" in the kitchen and smell it throughout the apartment.

Brilliant.

Penn State opens their season on September 5th with the Akron Zips.

Edit: Black Shoes Diary is reporting that Clark no longer lives at that apartment. He moved out in the fall. The directory was not updated.

Joe Paterno agrees with ME

Should the Big Ten add a 12th team and hold a post season championship game ?

I posted about the need for Big Ten expansion in December. It is refreshing to see that Joe Paterno agrees with me. There are soooo many things that are right with B10 expansion. The most fundamental is the competitive advantage the other conferences get heading into the bowl season.

Joe's remarks

"We go into hiding for six weeks, Everybody else is playing playoffs on television, You never see a Big Ten team mentioned. So I think that's a handicap. I've tried to talk to the Big Ten people about, 'Let's get a 12th team -- Syracuse, Rutgers, Pitt -- we could have a little bit of a playoff.'..."

There is a reason they call it DOPE...

Navorro Bowman is an idiot. He may have been Penn State's leading tackler, but he is not very smart.

In October 2007 he participated in one of several Penn State football fan stomps. He had only one month left on his probation. But then he admitted to his probation officer that he had smoke pot (twice) while on probation. Including once before the Rose Bowl.

The judge was not happy... and Bowman will now serve an additional year of probation. He was promised that another "slip" will earn him 6 months in prison. To add insult to injury, Navorro had an outstanding speeding ticket and had not performed a single hour of the one hundred hours community service he was ordered. Brilliant.

Penn State Head Football Coach Joe Paterno had "no comment" -- likely because Paterno because can't seem to recall ever actually meeting or talking to Navorro Bowman. "All these players... they seem to blend together in my mind..."

Penn State fans are lighting up message boards everywhere claiming the judge assigned to the case is a most likely a "Wolverine fan with a clear anti-Penn State bias". There have been claims that the judge even wears a Michigan jersey under his robe.

Some are even suggesting that the Penn State football program should simply pack up and leave Happy Valley altogether... because the attitude towards standard football player behavior has changed so dramatically and it is "impossible to get a fair trial in this town."

UnHappy Valley

The Penn State University Riot Police and a team of grief counsellors were called out in force this week in Happy Valley after the NCAA announced the highly anticipated final results of the 2008 College Football attendance race. Nittany Lion fans poured into the streets, many of them with tears running down their faces screaming uncontrollably. Some even resorted to rioting as they loudly protested their stunning second place finish in the standings. This is the sixth time this decade that Penn State has finished second to Michigan in the attendance race.

"I don't know what to say, we thought we had it made when they had to eliminate so many seats during their expansion project..." stated Penn State Athletics Director Tim Curley. Despite having a capacity of 107,282 (larger than Michigan Stadium's 106,201) the Nittany Lions were once again outdrawn by the Wolverines by about 200 fans. Penn State averaged 108,254 while Michigan packed in 108,571.

Penn State football coach Joe Paterno was less diplomatic following the NCAA announcement: "I don't know what it is that we have to do to beat these ASSHOLES !!! We beat them on the field 46-17, they only win three stinking games, and they STILL put more fannies in the seats... It is really embarrassing..." Penn State has expanded Beaver Stadium seven times since Paterno became football coach in 1966. Rumors of further expansion including a 9th deck have not been confirmed by anyone inside the program.

Penn State fans were burning up the internet message boards with all kinds of complaints and whining about the results. "Maybe they mis-counted us because we were all dressed in white..." Some even suggested that Penn State would be better off "dropping out of the NCAA" and joining another college athletic association that would recognize how superior their storied program really was.

Paterno also stated that he is planning on complaining loudly to the Big Ten Commissioner at the next conference meetin regarding inconsistent counting methods used by stadium officials in Ann Arbor. "It is bad enough that we have to put up with the 'REF-ERINES' making sure Michigan wins on the field, but this is getting to be too much. First it was Tony Johnson's foot, then it was Jason Avant's heel followed by Lloyd's extra second. I just can't take it anymore..."

SpawnIcon Contest : Coaches Division

We had some good entries for the SPAWNICON contest. Rather than just choose a couple and risk forgetting someone -- I decided to break them into different divisions, vote for divisional finalists, and then we can select the final winner. So here is the "Coaches Division".

Tressel	Dantonio	Paterno
Weiss	Woody	Schembechler

Online Surveys & Market Research

Other divisions to follow.

Wanted

Penn State police are looking out for Joe Paterno's Coke bottle-thick glasses. Vandals apparently cut the glasses off just above the base of the ears of the 7-foot sculpture outside of Beaver Stadium between 11 a.m. Friday and 11 a.m. Saturday, when a police officer noticed the damage. This is not the first time that the statue of JoePa has been vandalized -- and Penn State fans are getting pissed off. We were able to contact some of the other coaches in the Big Ten had and they provided these comments and support about the missing glasses.

Jim Tressel: I have no idea why anyone would steal such an iconic part of this great conference. I have asked each of my players to look inside themselves (and their gym bags) to come up with any clues to help the Penn State police. If I find anyone from my team did it, I swear I will sit them down for one, maybe two plays. Maybe you should check with those smart kids at Northwestern, they seem to know all the answers on tough tests...

Pat Fitzgerald: I know that no one from Northwestern had anything to do with the missing glasses. We are all studying so hard, plus we didn't even play Penn State this year. Did you check with the criminals that Ron Zook is collecting down at Illinois ? I bet they had something to do with this...

Ron Zook: Are you kidding ? I have no idea where those ugly things are. We have been out on the recruiting trail since the season ended and I know that none of my guys would do this. Check with Ferentz at Iowa, they are a suspicious bunch...

Kirk Ferentz: I know that we should be the primary suspects, since we were the only conference team to beat the Nitts this season -- but I swear I have no idea where those glasses are. If I wanted a pair, I could just go out and buy my own pair. Oh yeah, we were the only Big Ten team to win a bowl game. Suckers.... You might want to check with Sparty.

Mark Dantonio: I think we should have a moment of silence for Penn State and JoePa's glasses. I am just trying to build a program here that the good people of the state of Michigan can be proud of and change the culture of the conference at the same time. Did you check with those arrogant assholes down in Ann Arbor. You know they went 3-9 last year.

Rose Bowl Open Thread

Believe deep down in your heart that you're destined to do great things.
~ Joe Paterno

Penn State holds the national perception of the Big Ten in their hands tonight.
It is time to stand and deliver.

Kitty's been hitting the sauce......

This just in from the AP wire......

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - The Penn State senior who plays the Nittany Lion mascot was arrested on a DUI charge and his status for the Rose Bowl is in doubt, police and school officials said.

James Sheep was pulled over on campus around 3:15 a.m. on Nov. 22, hours before Penn State’s 49-18 win over Michigan State, University Police Capt. Bill Moerschbacher said Monday. The officer who made the stop saw that the vehicle was overloaded, with passengers piled onto each other and blocking the driver’s view.

After determining that Sheep had been drinking, the officer administered sobriety tests and took him to the hospital for blood tests, Moerschbacher said. He was later charged with DUI and summary traffic violations.

A telephone message left for Sheep by The Associated Press was not immediately returned Monday.

At the Michigan State game, the final home game of the year, Sheep was honored for serving as the mascot since January 2007.

School spokesman Geoff Rushton said he expects some action from the Office of Judicial Affairs, but said that it would likely be up to the coaching staff to determine if Sheep can attend the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., on Jan. 1.

The student in the mascot suit receives a scholarship, but Rushton said he did not know how much it was worth. In addition to football games, the mascot attends several hundred events a year and must maintain a 3.0 grade point average.

University sanctions can range from requiring students to take mandatory education classes to expulsion, Rushton said.

Honestly. How did ANY of us survive college?????????? I almost feel sorry for Mr. Sheep

Sparty tugs on JoePa's cape

This gem comes to us via the Lansing Sports Rage.

This a real Sparty fan taking a road-trip to State College last weekend to witness the Spartans being fed to the Lions. As you already could have guessed, this rocket scientist was in fact accepted into Michigan -- but decided to attend Michigan State instead.

The night before the game he was walking around Penn State's Beaver Stadium looking for some furniture to burn when ran into the famous statue of Joe Paterno.

So what does he decide to do ? Taking the cue from his classy head coach, he thinks it would be a good idea to kick JoePa in the groin. But he seems to forget that Joe is the all-time leader in DI college football wins AND he has a pair of iron balls. Joe does not flinch and decides to hang 49 on the toothless Spartans the next night.

I can only hope that Sparty the Rocket Scientist learned his lesson. I doubt it.

Caption Contest #2

Spawn of MZone Caption Contest #2

Winner will be selected by T9 and will receive 49 Spawn Points redeemable for future prizes and the coveted title of KING (or QUEEN) of CAPTIONS, most recently won by Nick for his winning entry in September.

My entry: You!! .. You are not so great, look at your butt, it is soft and squishy.

Why it' s SOOOO easy to hate Sparty

As if I didn't already have a reason to root for Penn State this weekend. Dantonio provides this gem:
"I'm not rooting for Michigan," Dantonio said, according to espn.com blogger Adam Rittenberg. "I'm going to focus on our task at hand here and worry about the things we can control. I have too many good friends and too many people that wouldn't let me back into their house to let me do that. "So Go Bucks."

Here's the deal 'Daventonio'. In order for YOUR team to go to the Rose Bowl, WE have to beat tUOS and YOU have to beat Penn State. SO it's actually in YOUR team's best interest for US to beat the Buckeyes thereby helping YOU out of your choking place, you short-sighted wonk.
But, I guess that making sure you have somewhere to 'stay' after the season is more important, eh Coach??? yeah. my bad.

Appropriately named Happy Valley...

Happiness: an agreeable sensation arising from contemplating the misery of another.
~ Ambrose Bierce