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 2010 Archives for November 2010

Archives for November 2010

Stanley Screws Up Again

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Do you remember PSU  defensive end Sean Stanley missing a couple of games early in the season because he got involved in some kind of trouble with the law shortly before the Iowa game? Nittany Lions head coach Joe Paterno would not comment on the specific issues involving both Stanley and Derrick Thomas at the time, claiming that he was not allowed to. Well, Stanley has committed another indiscretion, this one on the eve of the Ohio State game, and one has to wonder whether the kid has fouled out.

Cory Giger of the Altoona Mirror reports:

Penn State sophomore defensive end Sean Stanley was cited Friday for disorderly conduct for urinating in public, the second Nittany Lion player charged with that offense in a few days.

A court document obtained Tuesday lists Nov. 12 as the offense date. Running back Silas Redd was cited for public urination Monday morning.

This is Stanley’s second run-in with the law this season. He was charged Oct. 18 with marijuana possession after police found it in his apartment Sept. 28. He was suspended for two games for that incident.

So, what do you think? The arrest occurred at 12:42 AM. A police spokesperson stated that alcohol was involved, but did not confirm the level or whether testing had been done. People can check this resource from Pacific Ridge, if they need the best alcohol abuse treatments.   It’s not a great stretch to conclude that Stanley was out cavorting around, probably employing a judgment impairing substance or two. Boys will be boys, but less than 36 hours before a big game? By contrast, Redd’s indiscretion occurred on the Sunday night following an emotional loss and was his first offense.

Redd will definitely play in the Indiana game, although Paterno was coy about it when asked. Royster’s knee is not 100% and Green got his bell rung in the Ohio State game.

However, Stanley is a two-time loser and Paterno hasn’t been impressed with his level of play. He has shown that he has little regard for compliance with rules and the law. Do you think Stanley should sit some more? Will he fade into football obscurity at the behest of the old coach? Or will he be forgiven?

This is a tough one, as defensive end is a position at which depth has been an issue this fall. Paterno’s only comment was, “He hasn’t played as well as I hoped he would.” In the opinion of this Turkey, if Paterno doesn’t sit him  for at least the remaining two games, it sends a bad message about permissiveness.

Redd in Minor Incident

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You’ve all heard about Nittany Lion freshman running back Silas Redd being hauled in for public urination, right?

No joke, just look at the State College Police blotter.

Would someone mind telling me why this is such a heinous crime? Hell, when this Turkey was but a mere hatchling indulging in underage drinking in State College, I probably hit the same spot that Redd did. I had a favorite tree just outside the Rathskeller.

These damn laws must be written by women with penis envy. C’mon, girls, tell me you haven’t longed to write your name in the snow!

I hope that this trend toward politically correct public peeing doesn’t mean that I’ll be enjoined from pissing in the breeze when I hike in the woods. That will take a lot of fun out of getting the wind direction right, it will deny the forest plants their nitrogen based nutrients, and it will ultimately force me to hike 30 miles out of my way to find a non-public toilet. Well, a public toilet where public urination is allowed, or something. By that time, the warm, golden liquid would be uncontrollably running down my leg, anyway.

I think Redd will just get the proverbial slap on the wrist by the cops (hopefully it is the wrist and not somewhere closer to the bodily site of the initiation of the crime) for his egregious offense which, by the way, occurred at four-something a.m. There are few offendable people out at 4 a.m.—usually just drunks, cops, and newspaper deliverers.

As for Redd’s status on the team, no word yet, but old Joe isn’t going to be very happy about a freshman running back who is currently number two on the depth chart cavorting around town at 4:00 a.m., leak or no leak.

Redd’s latest tweets yielded no insight into the matter. He said that it’s been hard to get over this past game and that he could use a one pound bag of Twizzlers right now.

Let this non-incident blow over quickly.

OSU 38, PSU 14

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If someone from Mars were to have seen the first half of the Penn State – Ohio State game and then immediately put into a coma for the return trip to his planet, upon wakening he would have asked, “By how much did Penn State win?” He would have been shocked out of his Size 3 Martian shorts when he was informed that Penn State wound up being blown out 38-14.

“I think [McGloin] got a little bit too anxious. That’s what usually happens with a young guy.” —Joe Paterno

The first half was a display of dominant football, the best half of football this Nittany Lions team has played all year, controlling the ball and scoring two touchdowns on what is arguably the best team in the Big Ten Conference while allowing them a single field goal. Before this game, Penn State had never scored more than one touchdown and 13 points in an entire game in Ohio Stadium since joining the Big Ten.

What happened?

Both teams made halftime adjustments. ????? ??? ?????? ????????? Ohio State stiffened its pass defense. Penn State stiffened its anal sphincter. ?????? ??? ????

Joe Paterno dialed back the big play offense that had allowed PSU to dominate the first half, opting for ball control football to sit on what appeared to be a decent lead. Time and time again we fans have seen this behavior in big road games, invoking the spirits of Bo and Woody in playing some rock ’em, sock ’em terrestrial football.

It didn’t work. This is a team that was outclassed talentwise and needed gimmicks to win in the arch-enemy’s backyard. The aggression and risk taking in the first half achieved superior results. However, if you want to play smashmouth against Ohio State, you better have the goods.

Derrick Moye, Graham Zug, Brett Brackett, Devon Smith, and Justin Brown all took a backseat role in the second half, as did walk-on quarterback sensation Matt McGloin. In run-happy sphincter mode, the Lions came out running on first and second downs, usually ending up in third and long. It didn’t help that for most of the half they were down to a single running back, freshman Silas Redd, who is hardly the guy one would choose to be the point man for the Loc-tite Steel Sphincter Smashmouth HD offense.

When OSU took a 24-14 lead with about ten minutes left in the game, Sphincter Mode yielded to Desperation Mode, which of course led to Mistake Mode. McGloin threw his second pick-six of the day, which nailed the Nittany Lions’ coffin shut. For the Lions, it would be nothing but three-and-outs for the remainder of the game, while the Buckeyes added another touchdown just because they could.

Now, I’m not saying that Penn State would have won this game if their coaching brain trust had not gotten constipated in the second half, but at least they would have had a chance. Paterno defends this style of play by pontificating that against good teams you don’t want to make a mistake that will lose the game. It turns out that in this case the gigantic mistake was coaching anally for the second half, in which there were two big mistakes and several little ones on the field to boot. By the time Paterno went back to the pass, everyone in Ohio Stadium and in the vast television audience knew that Penn State had to pass. ?????? ??? ??????? ??? ????? McGloin’s confidence was visibly shaken at that point, too, and as the captain goes, so goes the ship. He’ll probably be blamed for the loss because of the two interceptions, but in reality it was ol’ Bear-Snare Butt himself.

Rob Bolden came in at the end and threw three incompletions. At least he won’t be blamed for any of this.

So, with two games to play, the Nittany Lions still look ragged. The next opponent is Indiana, upon whom Wisconsin just laid a 83-20 shellacking yesterday. Then, Michigan State and, thankfully, the end of this tempestuous Big Ten season. Rumors are, of course, flying by all over the place about this being Paterno’s last year.

This Turkey is hoping that the Michigan State game will be his swan song. I further hope that President Spanier and the Board of Trustees set the criteria for the search to exclude anyone with close coaching ties to Paterno, including Tom Bradley, Larry Johnson, Sr., and Jay Paterno. This program needs a new broom to sweep it clean. Sphincter Mode, the soft zone (inherited from Jerry Sandusky), and the prevent defense must go. And while we’re at it, some new blood will be helpful in taking a good, hard look at the strength and conditioning program, as far too many PSU players are getting hurt on the field and, as I’ve previously noted, those reaching the NFL seem to be more fragile than other rookies. Joe will go out his way—and I hope he is spared the obnoxious treatment Bobby Bowden got—but when he does, this crumbling program needs to embark on the immediate implementation of a top-to-bottom rehabilitation strategy that will bring back the glory of dear old State over the subsequent five years. While you can’t expect immediate results from a new coach, he must immediately commence to swing the wrecking ball before he can effect a renaissance. But I digress yet again.

The Lions, now 6-4 (3-3 Big Ten), don’t deserve a decent bowl game, but they’re liable to do better than their record would suggest, just because the greedy bowl promoters know that they have a cash cow in Penn State.

I haven’t looked at any of the rags this morning, but I bet that at least one hack headline writer comes up with “A Tale of Two Halves.” Just sayin’…

Sigh