The Nittany Turkey

Primarily about Penn State football, this is a tale told by idiots, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

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Home Archives for 2004

Archives for 2004

Kranchick Survives NFL Cut-Down

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Matt Kranchick is a Steeler. Selected on the second day of the NFL draft this year, he has made it to the final, 53-man regular season roster. ???? ??? ????? The Nittany Turkey congratulates him on this achievement.

The Steelers do not expect an immediate contribution from Kranchick, but they believe he can potentially help the team. ????? ?????? ????? ?????? Kranchick is the only player selected on the second day who made the team. ????? ??????

“You look at what (Kranchick) has done through this camp and what we really feel like he can become,” Cowher said. “I’m not so sure he is ready to do that now.”

In other roster moves involving this year’s Penn State NFL draftees, David Kimball and Sean McHugh did not survive roster cuts by their respective teams. Good luck, guys!

Pollyanna Lives!

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So, I picked up the 2004 Football Preview Issue of BWI. The first thing I looked for was Phil Grosz’ prediction. ????? ?????? ??? ??? ????? Last year, he predicted an 11-2 season. You know where we wound up. Phil’s predictions are mildly described as extremely optimistic pie-in-the-sky. Although he seems to have tempered his expectations of this year’s team somewhat, he did not disappoint me. His prediction? Well, hang on.

First, let me say that of all his assembled pundits, no one picks PSU go do any better than 8-4, including an extra game for whichever cold weather bowl venue those few delusional so-called experts think we’ll be playing in sometime before New Year’s Day. Most of the more sanely grounded people are looking at 5-6, with no bowl game. ????? ???? ????? As you might recall, this Turkey predicted a 4 or 5 win season, which I will hastily change to 2-9 if the boys lose to Akron. In any case, anyone seeing this team finishing on the north side of .500 ought to have his head examined!

Well, thanks for wading through that last paragraph before testing the deep water of this one. ???? ???? I’ll keep you in suspense no longer. Phil’s prediction? 9-3. I’ll say no more.

What the heck is a Nittany Turkey?

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The domesticated version of the wild turkey, the Nittany, was bred for market use by Pennsylvania (College) State University in the 1930s. Selections were made for developing a docile temperament, improving egg production and increasing the quality of a finished carcass. Proposed standard weights were 20 pounds for a adult tom and 12 pounds for a adult female. These weights show the smallest sex differences of any variety of domesticated turkey. The Nittany’s covert and main tail feathers are marked transversely with brown and black penciling, and tipped with a solid black band, which in turn is edged completely with chestnut brown. It seems to have lacked the coppery bronze band in the tail that is in the Eastern wild. Even though no one indicated having Nittanys on the survey, I believe it is very possible that some of the captive wild turkeys listed under the Eastern wilds are Nittanys or Nittany crosses with wilds. One interesting survey came in that describes his flock resulting from saving light-colored turkeys that are similar in color to Bourbon Reds, out of his original flock of commercially raised Eastern Wild turkeys. These birds are colored like Bourbons, but retain “all the wild traits” such as “thin necks, long legs, alert, intelligent and can fly.” It is possible that they could be Nittany descendants?

http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/SPPA/TurkCensusRept.html