The common trend these days between sports figures and the media is to over-publicize any decision making process.
I’m not sure which one is worse.
The annual Brett Favre saga where he travels back to his hometown of Hattiesburg, Mississippi to practice with a high school team, which by the way is the only town I know in Mississippi (thanks ESPN for teaching me geography), and eventually decides that he will play even though everybody who knows anything about football already knew he wouldn’t retire.
Or the “The Decision”, which occurred in July, by the personally appointed king himself, Lebron James. Oh, how I wish I could have that hour back in my life in which I stared aimlessly at the television only to watch the longest interview in the history of interviews and to hear Lebron announce that he will take his talents to South Beach, even though everyone knew that was his decision before “The Decision” actually happened.
But unlike those two unnecessarily over hyped decisions by Favre and James, there is always one decision that occurs around this time every year.
Joe Paterno, head coach of Penn State since 1966, always is bombarded with the question, “Will you return for yet another season?”. Well, every year we are exposed to yet another season of Paterno at the helm of Penn State; however, his recent decision could shock a few.
Just kidding. Just as it goes every year, Paterno will return for another season, marking his 46th season as head coach at Penn State.
Whenever I find myself discussing Joe Paterno and Penn State, I tend to use the past tense more times than not.
For example, “Joe Paterno WAS a good coach,” or “Penn State WAS good 15 years ago,” and than my favorite one, “those glasses WERE cool in the 60’s.”
I’m not trying to put down Paterno because I’m simply just a student who’s privileged enough to have a knack for writing, whereas JoePa holds claim to two National Championships and a record 24 bowl victories in 36 appearances, also a record.
But Penn State has slowly diminished in the ranks of college football. The game is getting too fast for Joe Paterno to handle.
If you look at some of the top offenses in the nation, they all run a high-pace spread offense that can get anywhere from 30 to 40 points per game, or in Oregon’s case, over 42 points per game in every game besides one.
Penn State is ranked 81st in the nation in points per game with 24.8 and has yet to defeat a ranked opponent, let alone compete with a ranked opponent.
There needs to be a fresh, young face in Happy Valley to bring excitement to a program that is living in the past. We’ve all heard the rumors of Al Golden as the heir to Paterno, but why can’t we turn that rumor into a reality?
When you have coached at a school that has been around for 155 years and you have been apart of that school for 50 of those years (nearly one-third of the time), that’s your queue to hang up those coke bottled glasses and live a life outside of college.
“I’m just a student who’s privileged enough to have a knack for writing” Well, you don’t actually write that well, and your lack of perspecive is indicative of your youth. You are evidently an undergrad with no life experience, so your opinion means jack. Joe Paterno has run one of the finest Div. I football programs in history, and has earned the right to decide when he wants to retire all on his own. He historically graduates substantially more athletes than most DI schools, and has fewer arrests on the team as well. Plus, he attracts more boster money than anybody else in college sports, money that funds all of the other sports so that the taxpayers of the state in which the University exists have less of a burden. By the way Mr. Journalist, a “queue” is what they call a line in England, as in, to stand in a queue waiting for drinks at the bar. A “cue” is a hint or a suggestion. Shut up and go back to remedial english at your lame community college. Tool.
The fact that you make a statement like “Joe Paterno WAS a good coach” shows me immediately that you don’t have a clue about what you are talking about. Penn State is 7-5 this year with a team with almost 60 underclassmen. They have solid, young talent in key positions and most of the team returning next year. They have gotten significantly better as the season progressed, particularly on offense. Folks in the media that write this crap don’t have a clue what they are talking about. In the first place, its not like PSU is playing lousy football (11-2 in 2008 and 2009 and top 10 finish each year). They also choose to ignore what Paterno means to the University. He is the face of Penn State. I always know that while Paterno is coach the football team will win with class and dignity, graduate a high percentage of student-athletes, and will do it without scandal or NCAA investigation. I remember seeing Joe regularly at sporting events I attended while I was on campus, walking and talking with students in the stands. He was and is a class act and a quality coach and makes me proud to be a PSU alumnus. Next time, take some time to actually learn something about who you are writing about instead of telling us about your “knack for writing”.