The Nittany Turkey

Nittany Lion head coach Joe Paterno dismissed defensive tackles Chris Baker and Phil Taylor from the team today, stating that he was “fed up” with their shenanigans. The two have been notoriously involved in off-field incidents over the past couple of years.

No one seems to know what specifically set Paterno off this time, but I can guess that the recent Outside the Lines report on Penn State’s off-field issues might have had something to do with it. Additionally, a Collegian report regarding a ruckus at a pool party stated that football players might have been involved. So, let the conjectures begin.

While I don’t think Paterno would cut these guys loose as sacrificial lambs if they hadn’t done something else to merit scrutiny, the ESPN-generated notariety has undoubtedly put the program on edge. Certainly, it has ruffled feathers in Old Main.

In my naivete, I’ll view the dynamic duo’s dismissal as a much needed tightening of the reins and a step back to sanity from the laissez-faire of recent years. If accomplishing that requires dismissing half the defense, I’m all for it. In spite of PSU being ranked the third best party school in the country, let’s get discipline back into the football program and let’s see the resurgence of the football team as a collection of positive role models instead of the gang banger crap we’ve seen over the past decade.

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The Centre Daily Times reports that Nittany Lion defensive lineman Phil Taylor and linebacker Navorro Bowman have pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct and each was sentenced to a year’s probation. In addition, they will each have to perform 100 hours of community service and make restitution to the victim and to Penn State. This relates to the October ruckus at the HUB, where a group of PSU’s defense’s finest kicked the crap out of a hapless victim, whose offenses were frontin’ and party walkin’, whatever the hell those terms might mean.

Earlier, safety and co-captain Anthony Scirrotto was sentenced to a year’s probation as well.

Centre County Circuit Judge Bradley P. Lunsford admonished the athletes:

This community is becoming more and more frustrated with the actions of some athletes. I imagine the coaches are becoming frustrated. I imagine other athletes are also frustrated. And I know from the court’s perspective, I too am losing patience. It’s embarrassing to have to keep explaining to my kids why premier athletes keep getting into trouble.

And this Turkey wholeheartedly agrees. The off-field activities have been an embarrassment for far too long. We can no longer take the high moral ground in arguments about such events at other schools. Yeah, sure, the charges were knocked down to misdemeanors and no prison time will be served. So what? Is this the kind of crap we have to look forward to? I’m sick and tired of reading the words of apologists who say they’re just kids doing what kids do when testosterone overrides prefrontal cortex function. To hell with that—if they want to play football for one of the nation’s historically cleanest and most prestigious programs, then they’ve got to quell this obnoxious street thug crap. (And I haven’t even mentioned Lavon Chisley, the convicted murderer, until now.)

Is some of this the coaches’ fault? You bet! If these kids were brought up in deficient homes where the goals for a successful kid were either professional athletics or gang leadership, it is the coaches’ roles as surrogate parents to help these kids grow up and understand their responsibilities. Same thing if they grew up in sound, protective environments and are expressing their misdirected glee over escaping from the cage. The coaches and the kids share responsibility here.

We, as fans, should not tolerate this kind of thing. To handwave and say “boys will be boys” will only promote future recurrences. Let us not fail to learn from the mistakes of history.

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So here I am—I who said that I didn’t want to write about off-field incidents and Paterno’s future during the off-season—yet again writing about off-field incidents and Paterno’s future. Just a few tidbits here for you today.

1. Defensive tackle Phil Taylor has been sanctioned by Judicial Affairs for his involvement in last October’s HUB fracas. He’ll finish up his spring classes (Playground Management, Advanced Weight Lifting, and Applied Bling Maintenance) and then be suspended for the summer semester and banned from dorms forever. Of course, that doesn’t mean that he’s off the team in the fall. He can just get a nice condo at Toftrees and whatnot. Yo! You know what I’m sayin’? See the Post-Gazette story.
2. PSU President Graham Spanier has put the quietus on further discussions of head coach Joe Paterno’s contract, stating that there will be no more contracts for Joe, essentially putting him on a year-to-year basis and defusing the media firestorm that threatened to engulf the entire campus by its entrails (or some such mixed metaphor that only I could come up with as it approaches 3 AM). This could mean one of three things: a) Paterno will retire or be retired at the end of the 2008 season, b) Paterno will not retire or be retired at the end of the 2008 season, or c) none of the above. The whole thing has been much ado about nothing. Paterno will continue to have the upper hand and he’ll step down when he’s damn good and ready. This move takes the heat off Spanier and Curley to name a successor, as they are no doubt sick and tired of being harangued by the press and broadcast media every time they turn around. So, what does this mean, really? I don’t know. I’ll tell you later. Spanier said, “We are in agreement that a contract would have little practicality, given coach Paterno’s seniority.” In other words, the contract could outlive Joe or Joe could outlive the contract. Still grand scale obfuscation. Nevertheless, perhaps these revelations will end the rampant, off-the-wall speculation by vast numbers of self-appointed experts about “what is going to happen.” Or not. See the story in the Post-Gazette.
3. Linebacker Sean Lee has suffered a serious knee injury in practice Friday. Details of the diagnostic work will be known soon as will the extent and implications of the injury.

Sean Lee aside, we need some serious image adjustments. This stuff is wearing us all down. This is not the Penn State all of us know and love. Something’s gotta give here.

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In yet another of the series of incidents involving players whose names are becoming notorious for such shenanigans, Nittany Lion (or should I say ex-Nittany Lion) wide receiver Chris Bell pulled a knife on another student in Pollock Commons and is now in the Centre County jail.

Bell, if you care to remember, has been involved in lots of other shady incidents. At the time of the incident he had been suspended from the team because of that and because of his poor grades.

This Turkey feels that based on this and other incidents, Bell should be voted Most Likely to Follow in Lavon Chisley’s Footsteps.

No great loss, though. He couldn’t catch, anyway.

The Athletic Department has as yet made no comments on this latest nonsensical incident.

See the story in the Daily Collegian.

Addendum: The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is reporting that Bell not only has been kicked off the team but also has been banned from the Penn State campus.