The slow blogging this past weekend was due to the fact that I was out celebrating my birthday. But I feel like I could have still written some interesting posts drunk.

While I was gone:

Penn State’s dominating mens volleyball team faces the Buckeyes of Ohio State out in California for the national semifinals.

How can I call them dominating? Well this year’s squad holds a 28-1 record with their only loss to George Mason early in the year. They eventually redeemed themselves by sweeping George Mason in their second meeting for the EIVA championship.

Penn State should have no trouble with the Buckeyes in this match up. They have met twice this year with a 3 game sweep in Columbus and a 4 game victory in University Park. But lets hope history does not repeat itself.

2 years ago, the anteaters of UC-Irvine was in the exact same position Penn State finds itself in this year. They were the #1 seed filled with All-Americans yet they were upset by the #4 seeded Nittany Lions at Rec Hall. This year, Penn State finds itself in the exact same position except it is the Lions that have to travel across the country to bring back its second national championship.

If they manage to avoid the upsets, Penn State will become only the second school to win the men’s and the women’s volleyball championship in succession. Stanford being the first.

So if there are Lion fans out there in the Los Angeles region, head on out to UC Irvine this Thursday and root for the Blue and White at 6 pm.

Ticket Information

All Tickets are sold through the Bren Events Center Ticket Office by calling (949) 824-5000 or
Box Office Hours
Monday-Friday 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Ticket Prices
All-Session Adult Pass - $25
All-Session Youth/Student Pass - $18

Single Session Tickets will only be available to purchase beginning April 28.
Please note there is no guarantee that any single session tickets will be available.

Adult Single Session Pass - $15
Youth/Student Single Session Pass - $10
$1.50 service charge per ticket.

(session one - Thursday, May 1st and session two - Saturday, May 3rd)

Do we need a recount?

There are five captains for this season’s football team.

Yes. Five.

This either means there aren’t true ‘leaders’ on this years squad to pinpoint an individual offensive and defensive captain, OR there are so many playmakers and leaders that they couldn’t settle on just 3 captains. I’m hoping for the latter, but with all the off-the-field issues with the law, I can’t help but think its reason number 1.

But in addition to our sideline captain, Sean Lee (LB), Gaines (DE) and Scirrotto (S) were selected defensive captains and Shipley (C) and Williams (WR) were chosen as the offensive leaders. It was interesting to see Scirrotto on that list seeing as he was in Joe’s doghouse, but I guess Joe realizes there are worst crimes out there.

Count 5 for the NFL

Linebacker Dan Connor slips to the third round when he was selected by the Carolina Panthers as the 74th overall pick.

Cornerback Justin King was selected as the 101st overall pick in the fourth round.

Wide receiver Terrell Golden was signed as a free agent to the Philadelphia Eagles.

Fullback Matt Hahn was signed as a free agent to the Oakland Raiders.

And most amazing of all, Anthony Morelli was signed as a free agent to the Arizona Cardinals.

…more on the NFL draft through Blue and White tinted glasses tomorrow later this week.

Source: York Daily Record

Knowledge Timmons, the former William Penn standout, said he was reinstated to the team late Wednesday — along with starting defensive tackle Chris Baker, linebacker Navorro Bowman and tight end Andrew Quarless, two more potential starters.

That should be great news for the depth of our defensive line.

Thanks to Mike at Black Shoe Diaries, we present a Big Ten bloggers roundtable!

I love spring. Flowers blooming. Birds chirping. Bones breaking. ACL’s tearing. List the injuries your team sustained and describe their impact on 2008.

With 3 out of the 4 injured players projected to be back by the fall, the most glaring loss on that list is obviously Sean Lee. The fact that he will probably still be named a captain for the 2008 squad despite being sideline by his ACL injury is telling. He was is the leader of the defense and hopefully he will continue to help the young linebacking corp along from the sidelines.

“It’s not just the physical loss to us. He’s everything you want in a football player. He’s got poise. He comes to practice everyday. He works like a dog and the whole bit. When he got hurt it was a big loss, particularly in the drill. It wasn’t even a contact thing. It’s going to hurt us, but as I said to the squad, if you’ve got a good football team, somebody comes to the front.” - Joe Paterno

Luckily for us, we are Penn State. That means we run before we have to pass, we will be in blue home jerseys and black cleats a century for now, and we are never low on linebackers. Joe feels Tyrell Sales have ’stepped up’ and put himself in the position to fill the athletic void that was left by Sean Lee. So Sean Lee’s injury is not a good thing come 2008, but he has already promised to come back in 2009 and our linebacking corp should be one of the best especially with younger players forced to play this year.

Break down the major position battles going on with your offense

There are 2 for Penn State.

The much talked about one is the quarterback position, but I’ve mentioned many a times, this is basically Daryll Clark’s to lose. The signs are already there. He had the most production last year in limited snaps, and he took all his snaps solely with the first team offense while Pat went with the second team offense before moving to the first team when Daryll was pulled in the spring game. If the competition was as even as everyone thinks, wouldn’t Daryll have had snaps with the second team offense as well? But I’d much rather have 2 heralded quarterbacks that are capable of running our offense than none at all.

The second position would be at the running back position. This spot became a position battle since Green turned a pitch into a 57 yard touchdown at the Blue White game. Before that, no one doubted Royster’s place on the depth charts after his efficient production in limited carries last season especially after Scott was removed due to legal problems. But Green has put himself in the position for a second look with his electrifying runs both during the spring scrimmage and during practice.

Break down the major position battles on defense

Where do I start?

First there’s Sean Lee’s injury, which means younger players like Sales, Hull and Gbadyu will have to step up. This can be a two way street though. While we might be a little vulnerable at the linebacking spot for this season, imagine next year when we get all 3 back including Sean Lee. We can rotate them at will. Imagine the fresh legs at that spot.

Then there’s the defensive line. Last year the injuries sort of depleted our defensive line leaving very little room for error on defense. When you don’t have depth on the defensive line, you can’t pressure quarterbacks fast enough leaving your corners and safeties into vulnerable positions. And it is one of multiple reasons why our defense broke down in a few games, Ohio State and Michigan State for starters. But this year we have so many capable defensive linemen we are able to rotate them like a carousel. We already have Odrick, Koroma, Still, McEowen, Ogbu and less heralded Okoli. Imagine if we get Baker and Taylor back from suspension. Offensive coordinators shall tremble before our line.

Lastly we have secondary battles going on. Cornerback is our biggest concern with Justin King bolting prematurely for the NFL. There will be two prime candidates for this one. Tony Davis and Lydell Sargeant will fight for the second cornerback slot since Wallace is a lock for the first one. But both Davis and Sargeant are seniors with experience in our defense so the transition should not be too rough.

Who are the unknown kids on your team that will be household names come December?

I wonder if Green is even an ‘unknown’ kid anymore. With all the talk from spring practices, opposing defenses will be more worried about Green than they are about Royster.

But in all honesty, keep an eye out for Derek Moye. I know we have the super trio of Williams, Butler and Norwood, but the staff realizes we need to get some of our younger guys in the game seeing as all 3 are forced to graduate following this year. Rumors out of spring practices are that Moye could be the next big one for Penn State. Remember when Penn State last recruited Williams and Butler became our most productive receiver? Look for Moye to step up a little bit this year seeing as defensive will be more focused on our seasoned trio leaving the relatively unknown offensive players to slip through.

How would you describe the general mood around your program? Are you gearing up the tailgate party for a conference title run or do you get the impression there are going to be a lot of empty seats in your stadium this year?

Who do you think we are? Pittsburgh? Nittany Lion fans packed Beaver Stadium during the Zack Mills dark ages and there i no doubt we will continue to do so this year even if it turns out horrendously bad, which will not happen.

But Nittany nation is itching for the season to start. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who watched Green turn a simple pitch into a 57 yard sprint to the endzone. Then there’s Daryll Clark who conjures up memories of our last athletic quarterback, Michael Robinson and we all know how that season ended up. So spirits are high. The only hesitation I have with this season is our conference schedule. Not so much the dates we have to play specific teams, but the time we are slated to play them especially on the road in prime time.

Usually teams that are expected to make a national title run are slated for multiple night/prime time games in one season. Think USC, Ohio State, Florida, LSU. These are all teams that were expected to be national title contenders with potential Heisman candidates in their respective seasons and prime time television not only provides them further exposure, but makes for great television if they do indeed stumble along their path to glory.

So why exactly is Penn State playing 3 night 8pm prime time games in 4 consecutive weekends? The player who is even remotely close to a Heisman candidacy might be Derrick Williams and even then, he isn’t our most productive receiver on the squad. And lets not kid ourselves, we aren’t the juggernaut that can march into the Horseshoe and Camp Randell and roll over teams. We would struggle just to beat Northwestern if it was an away game.

So it’s basically clear the television networks smell blood in the form of Joe Paterno’s retirement and the sharks are circling. This might be his last visit to the Shoe and Camp Randell, even if he doesn’t retire following this year, he probably will in 2009. Unfortunately, this Penn State squad with a little glimmer of potential is thrust into the limelight because of Joe Paterno’s inevitable retirement which is a bit unfair, but nothing about college football is fair.

So no, there will not be any empty seats come 2008, but if Joe’s Lions manage to pull off the impossible running through the gauntlet of Illinois, Ohio State, Michigan and Wisconsin unscathed, you can be sure there won’t be an empty seat in all of Happy Valley.

(Ed: Pictures added April 23, 2008)

Boy does it feel great when the sun comes out in the state of Pennsylvania. 73,000 people sure thought so when they descended upon Happy Valley for a spring scrimmage. 73,000! That’s equivalent to 2 capacity crowds at Fenway Park, and 42,000 more people than the 30,286 that showed up for Notre Dame’s scrimmage.

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With the weather cooperating, we decided to partake in the tailgating festivities where our tailgating neighbors decided it would be a great idea to invite some kids to play a game of dizzybat without the beer. The little boy even managed to whack the ball successfully which is more than I can say for their mom who tumbled head first into a SUV parked adjacent to the festivities. Regrettable, but funny as shit nonetheless.

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We didn’t even think about making our way into the stadium early seeing as this is only the Blue/White game, but when we were standing in line to get in only minutes after the game had started, the entire stadium erupted in a roar. Moments later someone informed us that Stephon Green, the lighting back had turned a simple pitch from Pat Devlin into a 57 yard touchdown run down the sidelines. Can you imagine the possibilities with Green and Royster in the backfield this year? Penn State will finally have a ‘lightning and thunder’ combination that has been sorely lacking in our run-first type offense. Think Clemson, Michigan State, USC, and LSU type of reliable backs. Green’s display of speed single handedly re-energized this fan base for next year.

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By the time we made it up to our seats in the top level of section WA, the entire lower bowl of Beaver Stadium was filled. It was clear we had broken last year’s record crowd of 71,000. Last year, the crowd barely filled up the entire lower level of the stadium. This year, there were no noticeable empty sections in the lower section. The PA announcer only confirmed it when he announced a new record crowd of 73,000 fans for this year’s Blue and White game in the middle of the third quarter.

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And like I said before, there is no quarterback ‘controversy’. It’s clear who is in the lead between Clark and Devlin. Clark took all his snaps solely with the first team offensive while Devlin switched to the first team only after starting with the second team offense. Clark was 9 of 16 for 106 yards and 2 touchdowns and Devlin was 12 of 18 for 122 yards and 1 score. We all know Clark can run. Texas A&M learned it the hard way in last year’s Alamo Bowl. But for the doubters of his throwing accuracy. Clark’s nice 33-yard strike to Derrick Williams for a TD should help answer his critics.

In 2005, Robinson showed that throwing accuracy does not define a successful team, Morelli confirmed it in 2006 and 2007. And after the last 3 years, I would much rather have an less accurate, but efficient passer like Robinson than a supposed ‘cannon for an arm, cannonball for a brain’ type quarterback like Morelli.

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The quarterback situation isn’t so much a ‘controversy’ as it is a ‘competition’. Come Coastal Carolina in the fall, Clark will be the man under center. The question should be whether Devlin will be beside him in Jay Pa’s new HD offense.

On the topic of the new HD offense, nothing went on Saturday that indicated an overhaul of Penn State’s offensive strategies. Maybe we are saving it for the fall, or maybe it was a bluff on our end in a desperate attempt to land Terrelle Pryor. But we will just have to wait and see.

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Spring games mean relatively little. First team players rarely go all out every play of the game and if they do, they definitely wouldn’t want to risk injury with a hard tackle. But this year’s Blue and White game meant more than year’s past. In an off season full of disappointing news ranging from players’ arrests to Sean Lee’s injury, the Lion faithful needed a break, a celebration of what Penn State football was really about. And 73,000 of us gathered to do exactly that this Saturday.

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What IS important at a spring game is for future recruits to get a glimpse of the fan support here at Penn State. Remember Alabama’s record shattering crowd of 90,000+ last year? It was no coincidence that even with a lackluster record last season, Alabama still landed the top recruiting class this year. Recruits love excitement, the hype and the possibility of exposure. Let’s just put it this way, having 73,000 people show up to watch the final spring practice does not hurt recruiting whatsoever.

Below is a list of possible future recruits that paced the sideline last Saturday:

	Position	Rivals Rank	Holding offer?	Home State
Mark Aridiacono	OL	-	Yes	Pennsylvania
Alex Blake	WR	-	-	Maryland
Scott Drosendahl	QB	-	-	NY
Danzel Manley	OL/DL	-	-	Maryland
Terrence Stephens	DT		-	Maryland
Jason Ankrah	DE	-	-	Maryland
Anthony Young-Wiseman	Ath	-	-	Maryland
Andrew Shoop	QB	-	-	Pennsylvania
Mikel Berry	DL	-	-	Pennsylvania
Dominque Cole	-	-	-	Ohio
DeAndre Harris	-	-	-	Ohio
Trevor Smith	-	-	-	Ohio
Mike Herns	-	-	-	Ohio
Maurice Jones	-	-	-	Ohio
Matt Couch	OL	-	-	Pennsylvania
Tariq Tongue	WR	-	-	New York
Andre Civil	DE	-	-	New York
Kevin Douglas	-	-	-	-
Jake Fagano	-	-	-	-
Christian Zemaitis	-	-	-	New York
Lewis Toler	-	-	-	Delaware
Cameron Thomas	-	-	-	Delaware
Rob Stupar	FB	-	-	Pennsylvania
Brian Fields	RB	-	-	Pennsylvania
J.R. Refice	-	-	-	Pennsylvania
Evangelos Regas	OL	-	-	New Jersey
Brent Caprio	QB	-	-	New Jersey
Anthony Stroffolino	LB	-	-	New Jersey
Arthur Fontaine	TE		-	Mass.
Khalil Wilkes	OL	-	-	New Jersey
Nate Papso	-	-	-	New York
Nate Cadogan	OL/DL	-	-	Ohio
Travis Hawkins	CB	-	Yes	Maryland
Stephen Obeng-Agyapong	-	-	-	New York
Mike Hull	LB	-	-	Pennsylvania
Tavon Austin	RB		Yes	Maryland
Jaleel Clark	WR	-	Yes	Pennsylvania
Jelani Jenkins	LB		Yes	Maryland
Ty Howle	C	-	Committed	N. Carolina
Justin Brown	DE		Yes	Delaware
Jordan Hill	DE	-	-	Pennsylvania
Nick Kindler	OT	-	-	Pennsylvania

One name especially pops out from the list and that is linebacker Jelani Jenkins. Rivals just released their updated top 100 and he jumped from #79 to #10 overall. Ohio State just received a commitment from top linebacker Dorian Bell (another Pennsylvania traitor) this past weekend so landing Jenkins would definitely be a boost.

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Our group left the game right before the fourth quarter not because we wanted to get more tailgating in, but because Paul Cianciolo was on the field which meant we were at the 3rd string quarterback point. Regardless to say, I walked out of the stadium appreciating the game for what it was, simply the last practice of spring. Anything more would be over exaggeration and anything less would be dismissing the hard work young players put into trying to get onto the roster.

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Notable Bits:

• Michael Robinson’s and Levi Brown’s rousing reception by the fans
• Conversely, the boos that rained down on Anthony Morelli who has yet to officially leave Penn State when he was introduced as one of the players of the game.

What was even more surprising were the looks on some of the fans who still turn around to look for the people booing as if it was a shocking revelation. Morelli sucked, Penn State is glad to get rid of him. History will see Morelli as a failure who could not use one of the best receiving corps in the country to his advantage in both 2006 and 2007, nor a great offensive line in 2007, nor a stellar defense in 2006. He never stepped up as a leader, never faced the media after a bad game and simply started under center because of some undying loyalty Joe Paterno has to his seniors (which I do commend), but unfortunately we got a super senior who couldn’t pee under pressure let alone throw a pass.

• The small group of red or orange clad fans sitting across from our section of the stadium. They were about 20 strong and all decked out in red or orange gear, couldn’t tell exactly which. I have no idea what it was for, but if someone does, please enlighten me.
• That Paul Cianciolo was actually being planted to the turf despite his red jersey. Just shows the hill he has to climb to fight Devlin for that #2 spot.

I did not intend to blog during the weekends, but recent events have not only disturbed me, but jolted me out of my weekend hiatuses.

I could stomach football players making boneheaded decisions. Its definitely unacceptable, but not as sickening as the two idiots who dressed up as shooting victims from Virginia Tech for a Halloween Party. I refuse to post the images simply because they do not deserve further recognition. The two, a male (Nathan Jones) and female (Jessica M*), decided it would be a good idea to dress up as dead students from a massacre just as recently as last year. I have always deemed myself Penn State proud, but after finding out about these images in a phone conversation with someone in Boston who saw the images on television, I was starved for words. These two morons were unable to make the right decision a two year old could make when deciding to dress up as either the ‘good guys’ or the ‘bad guys’ for Halloween. I am ashamed to call them students at Penn State and understand any of the backlash that people around the country will soon shower upon this university. But do remember there are 90,000 of us. These two might not be the only idiots in town, but they are definitely not the majority. If I had my way, I would have them both expelled and tossed out on their rear ends in the freezing weather, but unfortunately ‘free speech’ gives them a wall to cower behind.

WE ARE! … Ashamed!

*Updated (1/08/2008): I was contacted by Jessica with an apology to those affected and upset over the incident and parts of her email is posted. We at NittanyWhiteOut commend her for stepping up to the plate and apologizing for her actions. As 18-23 year olds, there is no doubt students make mistakes, some more evident than others, but it takes guts and courage to simply say “I’m sorry” which Jessica has done. We wish her the best of luck and time will heal all things.