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 Archives for Penn State

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.

Chris Bell Off Team for Good!

Posted on Written by

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.