It's all personal at Penn State

I'm going to guess that LaVar Arrington and Brandon Short are not stupid human beings, at least not so stupid that they don't understand something bad happened at their beloved Penn State University.

So how do you explain this reaction to hiring Bill O'Brien as the school's new football coach?

“I will put my Butkus [Award] in storage. I will put my Alamo Bowl MVP trophy in storage,” Arrington told the Penn State Rivals.com website, BlueWhite Illustrated. “Jerseys, anything Penn State, in storage. Wherever Tom Bradley goes, that’s the school I will start to put memorabilia up in my home. I’m done. I’m done with Penn State. If they’re done with us, I’m done with them."

 "Penn State is a family and it is real and if they choose to get rid of Bradley and not hire a Penn State coach, then they’ve turned their backs on our entire family,” Short said.

And how do you explain some Penn State students, who I'm also going to assume aren't stupid, rioting after Joe Paterno was fired?



The answer is that it's all about them.

Let's go back to Arrington and Short for a minute.

“By these people making the decisions the way that they are making them, basically coinciding with everything that’s being written about our university, if they get rid of Tom Bradley, that means they, in essence, have accepted the fact that we are all guilty,” Arrington said.

"Penn State is a family and it is real and if they choose to get rid of Bradley and not hire a Penn State coach, then they’ve turned their backs on our entire family,” Short said.

By hiring an "outsider," Arrington and Short feel betrayed. Any "insider" they could have hired would be connected to Paterno -- the man they likely credit with making them who they are -- so by not hiring someone already connected with the program, Paterno's program, it diminishes Paterno ... and therefore diminishes them.

As for the students, it's actually another former player, D.J. Dozier, who sums it up with his complaints about the O'Brien hiring.

'Dozier said, 'It’s politics, it’s fall out, it’s everything that has nothing to do with a program and continuing to build a solid program.'"

Even though there's a Penn State alum who has been in the news a lot lately for reasons other than football, the college is defined almost entirely by its football team. If you see a kid wearing a Penn State sweatshirt, you think about the football team. If you ask a kid where he or she goes to school and Penn State is the answer, it registers with you because you know about the football team.

The football team in general, and Joe Paterno in particular, made Penn State relevant. And therefore, it made Penn State students relevant ... even if they had no aptitude for or interest in football.

So if anything makes Penn State football less relevant, it makes the college less relevant ... which makes them less relevant.

Now, that's probably what was not going through their minds when they rioted, but that's why they did it.

But the players don't deserve any money...remember that

When I first saw this ad last year, I literally laughed, not because it was funny, but because the message behind the propaganda couldn't have been more clear unless the ad actually said, "SEE! STOP ASKING US WHY PLAYERS AREN'T GETTING PAID!'


If you think that ad is justification for not allowing the people responsible for bringing in the ungodly sums college sports raises every year, I give you this report from ESPN. Some of the highlights:

-- After having to buy tickets Arkansas reported a measly $5,525 profit from the 2011 Sugar Bowl, while Ohio State made $288,876.

-- Meanwhile, the bowl's chief execituve, Paul Hoolahan, made $593,718.

But the players get scholarships and bowl game "swag bags" (at least in football, I have no idea what basketball players get, much less those awful "non-revenue" sports), so it's all good.

How many of your spouses analyze figure skating scores, huh?

We're big Johnny Weir fans in this house. Between his skating and his not really giving a crap about what people think of him, he's too entertaining for words.

Plus, if Johnny Weir didn't exist to skate to Lady Gaga, or Lady Gaga didn't exist to give Johnny Weir music to skate to, we'd have to invent one or the other.



We were hoping to see the now newly married Weir perform that routine during the exhibition at the Vancouver Olympics two years ago, but no luck. As my wife and I watched, we were convinced he got hosed by the judges, but she went out and did a statistical analysis of it. (I'll spare you the chart with the scores.)

"According to the scores:

In the short program, only Lysacek, Plushenko, Takahashi and Oda had more points in executed elements.  Weir’s only error was to go off on the wrong edge on his triple flip, which lost him 1.2 points.

In the long program, only Lysacek, Plushenko, and Oda had more points in executed elements.  And Oda was only slightly better (.02 points), and ultimately lost 3 points for losing his skate and falling down.   Weir’s only two errors were going off the wrong edge on his triple flip again, which lost him 1.2 points, and flubbing one spin, which cost him .54 points.

However, here is where things get interesting.

In the short program:

·         His choreography score was tied with Oda for last among the top 7 skaters. 

·         His transitions score was third from last among the top 7 skaters.  Only Plushenko and Oda were worse.

·         His interpretation score was second from last among the top 7 skaters.   Only Oda was worse.

·         His performance/execution and skating skills scores were last among the top 7 skaters. 

As a result, his artistic elements score was the second to last score among the top 7 skaters.  Only Oda was worse.

In the long program:

·         His choreography score was second from last among the top 7 skaters.  Only Oda was worse.

·         His transitions, interpretation and skating skills score were last among the top 7 skaters.

·         His performance/execution score was tied with Oda for last among the top 7 skaters. 

As a result, again, his artistic elements score was the second to last score among the top 7 skaters.  Only Oda was worse, and Oda ended up ultimately in 7^th place.

So if you looked at this competition on paper, without seeing the performances, you would conclude that Johnny Weir was an athletic skater with no artistic skills.  In nine out of 10 total categories in artistic elements, his score was worse than Plushenko’s – Plushenko, a skater who is constantly criticized for having no artistic skills.

Yet the criticism of Weir is always exactly the opposite.

Bottom line:  they couldn’t get him on technical elements, so they nailed him on artistic stuff, and denied him the bronze medal he should have won."

This is why I have the best wife.

Philadelphia fans live up (as in down) to their reputation

Philadelphia is, without a doubt, one of my absolute favorite places, but let's be honest, its sports fans have a wee bit of a bad reputation. Just ask Michael Irvin.

Or Santa.



But maybe things have been changing in the City of Brotherly Boos; at least Gary Smith of Sports Illustrated seemed to think it was a possibility.

Alas, it seems as if some Flyers fans were hankering for the "good old days" after the Winter Classic game against the Rangers Jan. 2.

"Neal Auricchio, 30, has worn the uniforms of the Marine Corps and the Woodbridge Police Department, but it appeared to be his Rangers hockey jersey that made him a target of the attack earlier this week."

"Auricchio, a former Marine, earned a Purple Heart in Iraq, and even went back for a second tour after he was shot in the leg."

Outstanding work guys, really.

Tim Howard plays it cool

"Act like you've been there before."

It's the argument against doing a flashy dance after scoring a touchdown, a reason why people liked Barry Sanders handing the ball to the referee.

Maybe that's why Tim Howard acted the way he did after scoring for Everton against Bolton today. Or maybe it's because he didn't want to show up his fellow goalie. Maybe it was utter shock at what he had just done ... and by that I mean scoring a goal, not being an American other than Clint Dempsey or Landon Donovan actually putting a ball in the net (although that's only slightly less shocking).

But whatever the reason, Howard seemed awful nonchalant after scoring, especially since it's probably a place he hasn't been in a long time ... or ever.



That's all well and good, but c'mon ... he's a goalie. What would have been wrong with cutting loose a little bit?

San Diego Chargers: super-geniuses

So Norv and A.J. are coming back. Surprise, surprise, surprise!

I believe. I really do. I'm going to put on my powder-blue Junior Seau jersey, grab some Chargers pom-poms and march down the street.

“Bottom line, I believe these two men give us the best chance to get back to the playoffs, "(Chargers Chairman of the Board & President Dean) Spanos said. “A.J. Smith is the best man to improve our roster, and Norv Turner is the best man to lead that roster on the field. Together, we have stability and experience that’s hard to find in the NFL. They’ve both been in this league a long time. I don’t think there is anything they haven’t seen or experienced. They’ve led us through some difficult situations."

And the numbers don't lie:

"During Smith’s nine-year tenure as general manager (2003-11), the Chargers have won 88 games and five AFC West titles. Only three teams (New England, Indianapolis and Pittsburgh) have won more games or division titles during that time."

"Since Turner took over as head coach, he has earned an impressive 52-34 overall record (including 3-3 in the postseason), the highest overall winning percentage in franchise history (.605)." 

Preach it, brother! I have the faith of 1,000 men! Surely Smith will never again pass on stars to draft guys who have accounted for nothing or limit his free-agent signings to guys who everyone (except seemingly him) knows won't make it through the season because he never does!

And Norv, no doubt, has after several years finally discovered the magic elixir to install proper discipline in his team so they don't lose games left and right due to their own mistakes! I believe!

Clearly, that's the case, right? Otherwise, bringing both guys back just seems ... kind of dumb.

NBC Sports Network isn't going to be ESPN ... and shouldn't try (at least not now)

The NBC Sports Network (the artist formerly known as Versus) starts today, and Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing provides this from the Philadelphia Inquirer in his take on the launch.

"Programming this first year will lean heavily on the Olympics, 38 regular-season Major League Soccer games, 13 IndyCar Series races, 14 hours a day of Tour de France coverage for most of July, 90 regular-season NHL games along with 50 NHL playoff games, 20 hours of horse-racing coverage around the Triple Crown, and 40 college football, basketball, and hockey games."

Writes Yoder:

"That lineup should worry NBC execs because it's not exactly the NFL and the NBA.  However, there's enough of a live sports portfolio to at least get off the ground.  The Olympics (and all of the trials that go along with it) will be a huge boost in this first year with the 2012 summer games in London.  NBC is also putting a lot of stock in MLS numbers growing in the same way NHL numbers have risen in their time on Versus/NBC.  Soccer is a growing television power, but MLS has not received the same impressive ratings that international soccer and the EPL have experienced."

On the other hand:

"You can bet the folks in Bristol will also be watching the NBC Sports Network debut closely.  For sports fans generally, this is a good day because competition breeds quality.  NBC stepping up to challenge ESPN will push both networks to be better.  Whichever way the competition breaks, it'll be fascinating to see just how much of a challenge NBC Sports Network can provide ESPN in 2012 and beyond."

The folks at ESPN probably will be paying attention, but it would be a mistake for NBC Sports Network to think it can go head-to-head with The Worldwide Leader right away because it doesn't have the programming heft. However, there is room for an alternative, and NBC is in position to be just that.

One effective thing they've already done is the "NBC Sports: A Storied History" show, which I watched last night. While it's a complete infomercial, it is a good reminder that NBC Sports has shown a lot of great sports programming over the years and carries with it the implication that the network will do the same on its new sports network.

At a minimum, whatever NBC Sports Network does, they'll have to do it well, and even then, it is going to be an uphill battle to let people know there's another sports channel out there. For example, the "Cold War on Ice: Summit Series '72" documentary today looks really interesting.


Too bad it's on opposite the Rose Bowl.

Maybe they'll show it again?