Thanks to the following for taking part in the Blue and White roundtable. I had many a laughs reading their responses. So here goes with my attempt to compile most of their answers into one post.

nwoemblem

http://www.blackshoediaries.com/

http://thenittanyline.blogspot.com/
http://gloryofoldstate.blogspot.com/
http://www.yurasko.net/wfy/
http://tangledupinwhiteandblue.blogspot.com/
http://thebigeleventh.blogspot.com/
http://mvn.com/ncaa-pennstate/
http://runupthescore.wordpress.com

The announcement Wednesday is that contract talks are on hold until the conclusion of this season, and that Joe might not even need a contract to coach, how do you see this saga ending? Is this the final year for Joe Paterno?

Joe will not be out following this season. There is no doubting that, but some might argue that he should for recruiting/stability sake. “The story needs to end when Joe says it’s over” sums up the position pretty much in a nutshell. But hey, there are those out there who wasn’t even aware that Joe had a contract until 1994, thats 28 years since he began in 1966!

Joe will clearly not be on the sidelines in 10 years time. Whether he is awarded another extension or is forced out against his will, a new face will inevitably be on the sidelines for the Lions in the years to come. Which candidates would top the list when it comes to a coaching search? Should it be an in-house hire or should we start off with a blank slate?

Anyone remember the number of coaches Nebraska has gone through since Tom Osborne? Or Michigan after Bo Schembechler? The list can go on with the legends that have graced the lucky few programs. But there is simply no easy way to follow a legend. Especially one like Joe Paterno who defined Penn State football.

But there is one common rallying cry for almost all Penn State fans. Whoever the new coach is, in-house or not, Jay Paterno must be purged without hesitation from the staff. Whether it be an in-house hire with Bradley, LJ, and Vanderlinden or an outsider like Greg Schiano, Al Golden, Larry Coker (just trying to plug my candidate in there), or simply anyone who is innovative and charismatic, I’m hoping for someone who will be the next future face of Penn State football. Not another 5 year temp we can expect to bolt for the NFL when the seat gets too hot.

It almost seems as if we find another athlete in trouble with the law each morning when we read the newspaper. What has gone wrong with the once pristine image of the Penn State program?

Two fold.

Kids today are simply not as disciplined as they once were. “If you’ve ever been to the Penn State sports museum, when it first opened (I don’t know if the display’s still there) there was a huge photo on the wall of students in Rec Hall in the 1950s or 1960s watching a sporting event in suits and ties.” TUWB points out exactly what’s wrong in this MTV generation where songs about “Superman’ing that Hoe”, “crunking” and “getting low” are widely accepted and promoted.

Then theres the technology argument. “Nowadays when a player gets in trouble there is someone there with a cell phone to take a picture. Then they go home and fire up their laptop. In a matter of minutes they are telling a thousand people on the message boards about a fight they just witnessed or heard about. Or they are telling their facebook group of 3000 people they just heard in English class that player X was pulled over for DUI.”

If I didn’t know any better, Penn State football is a pedophile charge away from chaos.

After 14 years in the Big Ten, Penn has not dominated the conference in football as most presumed when we joined winning only 2 Big Ten titles in that span. In 1994, Joe Paterno’s undefeated Nittany Lions were also backstabbed by its Big Ten breathern when most conference members voted for Nebraska instead of Penn State. Is the Big Ten the right home for Penn State? Or would Joe Paterno’s dream of an all-eastern conference be a much more ideal conference for the Nittany Lions?

You know when you’re the black sheep of the family, you tend to make a big fuss out of everything? Thing’s around the house are always just not good enough, family members aren’t treating you fairly, you always get the short end of the stick, type deal?

Well, “the reason the Big Ten doesn’t seem to fit us is because we haven’t yet made an impact on it. We’ve beat Ohio State once in the last six tried. The Michigan streak has gotten so long I honestly don’t know what the number is anymore. Wisconsin has become more consistent than us. We plain sucked from 2002 right up until the Ohio State game of 2005.”

So where do we go from here? Do we hide our tails and run, or do we turn around and give the Eastern schools the finger for screwing us earlier in the century? Let’s say we do leave the Big Ten which most are opposed to simply because we’re basically married to it at this point (think kids, a yard and a house) where a divorce would simply be too ugly, we could always join the ACC!

With the lack of our traditional rivals in the Big Ten conference, and our unwillingness to reschedule any of them in any consistent manner, which teams are emerging as Penn State’s chief rivals in the Big Ten? (USC-Notre Dame proves that rivalries aren’t all about geographic significance.)

I HAVE to point this out before we continue with this question. Big 11th points out “ND has lost the last six by 154 points (for you math majors that’s an average of over 25 per game)!” proving that rivalries can be about money and TV ratings. Hahahah! 154 points!

Ok back to business. Almost everyone agrees there is no tradition rival for us in the Big Ten with BSD going as far as to dub Penn State as the “pimple-faced Star Trek nerd that can’t get a prom date.” But common guys, we’re less than 20 years old in the Big Ten, that DOES make us the pimple-face teenager who is still too shy to make a move on any of our older conference brethren.

But there were those that did call out fellow Big Ten teams:

The Nittany Line hates Wisconsin;

“I’ll throw a curveball in and say it’s slowly becoming Wisconsin. The Badgers and Lions usually play a close, hard-nosed game and some have gotten a little chippy – anyone remember Zack Mills and Michael Robinson playing the role of punching bag? I know, I know it makes me queasy as well. Wisconsin is also similar to Penn State in that they both usually have a decent defense and a couple good players on offense that can score but neither offense is going to make defensive coordinators lose sleep at night.”

But the biggest surprise of the day was from Tangled Up in White and Blue who claims, Indiana is our biggest rival. He actually makes quite a compelling case for it and I am slowly warming up to that idea considering my brother attends IU and I would love nothing but to laugh at him on an annual basis.

“Why? The 1994 Nebraska betrayal, which was mentioned in question 4, is the reason. The only reason we were in the position to be betrayed is because of Bill Mallory’s Indiana Loosiers and that bleepity bleeping @$$hole Lee Corso, his ESPN mouth piece.”

Releated Posts:

1. Blue/White Roundtable: Y’Town State Edition
2. Blue/White Roundtable: Blue/White Game Edition
3. Blue White Roundtable: Blue White Edition
4. Blue White Round Table – Gopher Edition

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