The Nittany Turkey

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

Search This Site

Enter keyword(s) below to search for relevant articles.

Home 2008 Archives for April 2008

Archives for April 2008

Lee Tears ACL, Out for Season

Posted on Written by

Nittany Lion linebacker Sean Lee tore his ACL during practice on Friday, ending his season. This is a devastating blow to both Lee and the Penn State defense. Lee would have been the mainstay of the linebacker corps this year. He will undergo reconstructive surgery, after which he will embark upon a nine-month rehabilitation journey.

Lee still has one more year of eligibility after this season, which he’ll watch from the sidelines.

This is a major loss for several reasons, not the least of which is that Lee would have been a spiritual leader of a team that has had a leadership void ever since Michael Robinson departed. His leadership will now have to take place off the field. It is ironic that the defensive unit has been the biggest band of outlaws in the off-field crap, give or take an Austin Scott or a Chris Bell, and now it will have to rely on [cough] Anthony Scirrotto for direction.

The implications regarding Lee’s future professional career are rendered uncertain by this injury. He had been regarded as a top NFL draft prospect heretofore.

The defense didn’t need any significant losses this year. Yet here we are, losing arguably the best defensive player.

PSU: Theatre of the Absurd

Posted on Written by

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.

So, Yo!

Posted on Written by

Yo, yo, Randy! What the hell were you smoking when you lauded Jason Castro’s ukulele accompanied song on Tuesday night? Did you pass some of it to Simon, too? Is the next American Idol also going to be the next Tiny Tim?

Simon and Randy agreed that “Jason is back!” Redhead and I agreed that It Sucked. Who’s right?

That’s subjective, I know, but when you consider that the voting demographic is not replete with the ladies from Canasta Night at The Villages, why would you expect that Jason would do well with that crap? I suppose if Taylor Hicks can be an American Idol, anyone can!

David Archuleta delivered another winner, and is safe.

Surprisingly, plucky, leggy Kristy Lee Cook, who did a Martina McBride number that was right up her alley (and this Turkey would like to get right up her alley), will be safe for another week. Her confidence is growing, and she might be good for another couple of weeks. I think that her popularity with the voters is increasing.

Carly Smithson might have hurt herself a lot with her song selection. If she manages to hang on, how about putting some duct tape over that damn tattoo?

Syesha Mercado wasn’t bad, so I think her ass is safe. Same for Michael Johns and David Cook. No great shakes for any of these three, but they’ll survive.

Well, let’s see…who does that leave? Ahh, Brooke White. This Turkey believes that it will be sayonara for Brooky tonight. Her voice was shaky on Tuesday, and it left me wanting to see less of her. So, it’s goodbye for Brooke tonight, methinks.