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

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Sudden Impact: Lay Off Sam Ficken, Already!

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I’m back to Sudden Impact for a while. Laser Focus was getting on my nerves.

On this 11th anniversary of the 9/11 massacre, either of my two titles for this potpourri column seems to be irreverent and inappropriate. However, I won’t be sweetcarolined here — Neil Diamond didn’t write his song about child molestation and I didn’t write Sudden Impact and Laser Focus to connote terrorism.

I hope we all can take time to think about what happened on that horrible day in 2001, in which a few hours made a sudden impact on all of our lives that will be a part of us forever, for better or worse. Remember those who perished, and those who continue to perish in Afghanistan. And remember that to maintain our freedom requires a great commitment to ideas that were codified long before all of us were born, but time-tested as they are, we are loath to ignore them.

 

This issue of Sudden Impact begins with the title story. Lay off Sam Ficken, Already! Okay, so the kid missed four field goals on Saturday. And an extra point, yeah, I know. So what? He had the courage to go out there and try, and he has the continued courage to stay with it when the chips are down and the dorks are on his case. His teammates are behind him. Take a lesson from them.

From Nitknee via BWI: “The last time we had a kicking performance similar to today, it was by Robbie Gould. It just so happens that Gould is now one of the best in [the] NFL. Ficken has been pushed into this position due to Fera’s transfer. Otherwise, he would be redshirting this year. I still believe he will be an adequate-to-good kicker in the future.”‘

I was fine with that paragraph until the “adequate-to-good” adjectivalization burst my bubble. The fact is that none of us who watch the game on TV or in the stadium have the slightest idea how Ficken will turn out. The vast majority of us have not seen him kick in practice. Accordingly, neither can I agree with Nitknee’s fair-to-middlin’ assessment, nor can I make one of my own. The coaches have some kind of idea, though, and if he didn’t have the potential to be good, he wouldn’t be on the field kicking for us.

“Hypocrisy runs deep in college athletics, but after all that has happened this off-season, one would think that the student athletes at Penn State deserve much, much more from their ‘fans.'” —Chad Markulics, Penn State football blogger

What’s that you say? He’s our only kicker? Not really, but close. One thing we all can say with impunity is that the responsibility for winning or losing a game being invested in a 19 year-old leg has got to be an almost unbearably heavy burden for the first few times out. Most of us will never know that kind of pressure. No matter whether surrounded by friendly or hostile fans, all eyes, tens of thousands of them, are on a kid who must concentrate on his mechanics while the butterflies beat a fluttering drumbeat in his stomach. A millisecond here or there, and he’s wide of the mark. Then the boos or the jeers start, and he has to stew in his own juices until the next time he’s called out there — alone— to repeat the performance. How easy it could be to screw up, to feel snake bit. Coaching, practice, and most of all, game experience is the only way to beat that.

Some guys never get over a day like Ficken had. I recall the sad case of Nick Anderson, a guard with the NBA Orlando Magic, who back in 1995 missed four straight free throws in the NBA Finals against Houston. If he had made any one of those four, the Magic would have won the game, which was Game One. As it turned out, they got swept by the Rockets. Anderson, who had been very good from the line and sometimes magical from the floor, lost it after that episode. The team sent him to sports psychologists, and god knows what else, but he was never the same. So, you never know. If a guy who had been a pro basketball player for several years can screw up and get so shook that he can’t do the job anymore, then what about a 19 year-old kid?

“It’s okay to be disappointed — that’s inevitable. Don’t be discouraged — that’s a choice. Keep believing.” —Michael Robinson via Twitter

We don’t know how Ficken will turn out, but he deserves our support, unlike the jerks on Twitter who gave him a load of crap after the game. These Twitter jaggoffs have never been in Sam’s shoes, and they probably lack the brains to pass a course at Penn State, let alone do so while being committed to football concomitantly. They exist, though, and it’s ugly. Take a look at this crap.

Worse than disgusting, isn’t it? Give the kid a chance!

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Will you be hanging around State College on Wednesday, October 3? This Turkey would like to be a fly on the wall at the State Theater, where they’ll be having a confab entitled, “The Future of the NCAA and Its Membership” on October 3 at 7 p.m. The announcement begins with, “The rapidly evolving governance of college sports will be examined…” I believe that should read, “The rapidly disintegrating governance of college sports will be examined…” In any case, thanks to Joe for digging this one up. You can find the announcement on Penn State’s site.

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Maybe we’re becoming frustrated with a team that wasn’t destined for greatness, and we should set our sights a little lower so we won’t be too disappointed. It is certainly true that recruiting wasn’t going all that well even before Showergate unfolded, and then we had Mass Exodus, Phase I (with Phase II forthcoming, after the season). Bill O’Brien, as all of us should know, has on helluva tough job working with a dearth of talent and trying to make do with far fewer scholarships for the next four years. It will be fun to watch him do  what he can do with what he has been given. To paraphrase the Liza Minelli song, “If he can make it here, he’ll make it anywhere!” The ever insightful Frank Bodani of the York Daily Record discusses this in “Penn State’s 0-2 record can help the rebuilding project.” Thanks again to Mr. 12-0 Joe for the pointer.

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I hit both my personal goal ($1,250) and my team goal ($2,000) for Saturday’s 2012 Greater Orlando Heart Walk. Of course, that shouldn’t mean that you are off the hook! Just click here or on the thermometer widget at the top of the column to the right to donate. Every bit helps, and the American Heart Association is a very worthwhile cause! Big thanks to those of you who have helped me meet my goals for 2012. You guys rock!

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Hey, I got through almost a whole column without even mentioning Vicky Triponey. Oops!

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My eyes are giving out on me. It’s late and I haven’t even checked Twitter yet. However, if I do, I’ll be up half the night.

Sudden Impact: Rumours

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I know you’re hopin’ to find someone who’s gonna give you peace of mind.

When times go bad, when times get rough, won’t you lay me down in the tall grass and let me do my stuff.

I’m just second-hand news, I’m just second-hand newsssssssssss…

Fleetwood Mac sang “Second Hand News” back in 1977, even before Penn State met Alabama head-on at the goal line in that fateful 14-7 Sugar Bowl loss back in our callow days of Nittany Lion innocence when Sandusky was the name of a coach, not a scandal, and, hell, before some of you young whippersnappers were even born. The album was “Rumours,” which quickly went platinum, having been carried by Stevie Nicks’ mournful croaking of the hauntingly overplayed “Dreams.”

So much for my career as a musical historian—I’ll keep my crystal visions to myself. Therefore, let us abruptly shuck our reveries of mystical musical “rumours” and segue to Penn State’s notorious Board of Trustees. The subject of today’s Sudden Impact is rumors, spelled the American way, with heartfelt Turkey thanks to Noah Webster for removing the unnecessary “U”.

Tuning into Twitter, the Internet’s version of “Can You Top This?”, one encounters a surfeit of Penn State rumors. This week’s potential activities seem to be at the temporal focal point of speculation connected to the much maligned (deservedly) BoT. Well, hell, everything Penn State does or has had done to it involves the BoT either directly or indirectly. Accordingly, the fact that those university overseers are holding an open meeting this weekend has generated a maelstrom of speculation about the reasoning behind and the timing of the meeting.

The Star Trekkian term “damage control” entered into the Tweetsteria at some point. Yeah, the board has done lots of PR damage by being a bunch of putzes (and Peetzes) with respect to accepting the flawed Freeh report and scurrying on with a laser focus on the future. Coherent light beams aside, the board seems to want to publicly present the impression that it is open to governance changes and suggestions. Naturally, Penn Staters for Responsible Stewardship (PS4RS) has a keen interest in any forum that is even ostensibly poised to meet the challenge of improving oversight; thus, PS4RS is coordinating representation at the public sessions, to wit:

The BoT will be holding a retreat this weekend that will include public sessions. Penn Staters for Responsible Stewardship (PS4RS) is currently looking for alumni, students and friends of Penn State interested in attending the August 25 & 26 Board of Trustees Public Meeting. It is very important that the Penn State community remain engaged in the dealings of the Board of Trustees to reinforce our position as stakeholders of our University.

The August meeting will be held over two days in Room 207 at The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel, University Park, Pennsylvania. Public session meeting times are listed below. Please note times may adjust slightly.

Saturday, August 25 – 3:45 pm until 5 pm

Sunday, August 26 – 9 am until 2 pm

The agenda: http://www.psu.edu/trustees/agenda/scheduleaugust2012.html 

PS4RS is looking to have a delegation of members attend the meeting. Dress is recommended to be what you would wear to a business meeting.

Please fill in the survey below so our event coordinators can contact prior to the meeting.

REGISTER TO ATTEND THE MEETING

Now, back to the Tweetanoid rumors.

One rumor that is at least partially based on fact is that former president Graham Spanier will spill the beans from his perspective, perhaps via ESPN, during this week. He and his lawyers have been hinting at a press conference for a couple of weeks now. Tweeps are saying that it will happen this week, and that the board is quaking in its boots. Ooh, baby, baby, Spanier has big connections and knows what’s going on in everyone’s closet! He can bring down some big-ass trustees with one stroke of his mighty mouth, er pen, or whatever. OMG heads will roll! So goes the thinking of the Titans of Twitterbole, anyway. More likely, Spanier is planning the presser just to cover his own ass, as he has avoided criminal charges thus far but is certainly not immune from indictment. Give us your best shrug, Graham baby!

Another rumor is that the Clery Act investigation being conducted by the US Department of Education will come to a head this week, and OMG heads will roll. Let me not be too facetious here, as this one has credence, at least with respect to the potential that Penn State will take a serious hit from the investigation’s findings. In the worst case, PSU could incur a large fine, in addition to the possibility of losing federal grant money, student aid, and loans. So, yeah, it’s a big deal, and while much of the Freeh report can be disputed, there is enough good data in it to leave little doubt that Penn State was seriously out of compliance with the law. (We won’t debate the merit of the onerous record keeping and statistics generation required by the law, which is bureaucratic overkill typical of reactionary legislation. Suffice to say that it is the law.) The Executive Branch of the sitting administration in Washington seems to recognize no boundaries, and with a presidential election right around the corner, Penn State’s dirty laundry makes it the perfect target for yet another grandstand play. The dubiously good news is that the maximum fine levied thus far for violations of the Clery Act has been $350,000, a mere drop in the bucket compared to the $60 million assessed against PSU by the NCAA. However, that amount is chump change compared to what loss of Federal grant funding would cost Penn State. Furthermore, for political reasons I’ve already stated, Penn State is likely to break the record for fines, just to add insult to injury. On this one, be afraid! Be very afraid! The phone calls are coming from inside the apartment!

Of course, we’ve already covered the accreditation warning by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, which stated that Penn State’s accreditation was “in jeopardy.” We attributed this slack-jawed quasi-threat to a vortex generated by a liberal interpretation of the Freeh report and the validation provided by the NCAA’s sanctimonious sanctions, stirred by the ubiquitous, vindictive Vicky Triponey’s input to her new boss, who just happens to be chair of the accreditation committee. Yeah, sure, we here at the Turkey have been known to start a rumor or two ourselves! While the Philadelphia Inquirer doesn’t think there’s much danger here, the coupling of loss of accreditation with loss of Federal funds would be absolutely devastating.

Other rumors swirl around The Second Mile’s connections with highly placed Pennsylvania politicians. There is probably lots of dirt to be dug up following the money there. In some cases, though, Tweepsters are giving the governor a free ride by misdirecting their vitriol toward social welfare agencies and police departments when they should be setting their sights higher. Follow the money! This Turkey sees the faint glimmer of the 24K real stuff among the plethora of fool’s gold nuggets — big-time politics is a dirty game, one dirty hand washes the other, and so on, and so on. On the surface, we see a mutual protection society composed of Governor Tom Corbett, the board of trustees, and Rod Erickson. Let the digging commence. Much as Joe Paterno’s denouement served as a smokescreen for the board of trustees’ culpability, so could the Penn State situation in its entirety be a big diversion from a major statewide scandal.

That does it for rumors. Sometimes, where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Other times, the smoke and mirrors send you way astray of the mark. Trust your intellect and judgment to separate the worthy ones from the pure folly. And keep on Tweetin’.

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Joe Posnanski’s biography of Joe Paterno is available today. This Turkey has a copy and will begin reading it forthwith. Advance copies were given to the media, so there are plenty of reviews out there. Among them:

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I’ve bloviated incessantly, so let me now cess with a touch of ironic humor from Jeff Byers of StateCollege.com, who reports that Penn State will be revamping its hygiene policies, enjoining shower-taking on campus.

 

Have you any dreams you’d like to sell? Try eBay. I ain’t buying.

Sudden Impact, Post BW Style

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We here at the Turkey sure hope y’all enjoyed the Blue-White extravaganza.

Hey, what’s with this “y’all” stuff? Ain’t no boats around here. No, Bubba, this Turkey is way south of the Masonic-Dixonial Line of Grammatical Demarcation. North of it, the word is “yinz”; south of it, we say “y’all.”

Problem is, there’s no separate plural form of “you” in the English language. We just use “you” for second person singular or plural. But if you’re from the South or from da Burgh, you can rectumfy that natural language deficit by creating your own plural, thus “y’all” and “yinz”. In Philly it’s more like “yuz.” But I sanctimoniously digress.

The Monday Morning reactions to the Blue-White Game seem to be concentrated in three major areas:

  1. McGloin is this Turkey’s presumptive starting QB unless Jones or Bolden suddenly develops. Jones looks like he might make it — eventually. Bolden does not. The latter exhibits the same flaws as he did two years ago.
  2. Bill Belton looks like a stud running back. His role will be backing up Silas Redd. Perhaps that’s not enough, given his solid performance.
  3. A hearty good riddance to the soft Sandusky zone, the vaunted BBDB, and the conservative, 1980s defensive schemes.

With the spring classic done, and Monday Morning sophomoric analyses complete, this edition of Sudden Impact takes another look at Paul Jones, assesses Penn State players’ chances in the forthcoming NFL draft, and elucidates the Paterno family’s ire over Penn State’s handling of post-firing details.

 

Jeremy Elliott of the Patriot-News reiterates the obvious: Penn State defensive players have had great success in the NFL, but of late (meaning from the end of the Kerry Collins era), we have seen scant few offensive players get drafted.

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Our old buddy Bob Flounders of the same publication has a more robust take on the NFL’s penchant for selecting Nittany Lions defensive players in the Draft. We all have high hopes for Devon Still this year. Separately, in Flounders’ blog, he lists Penn State’s NFL draft selections since 1992.

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Paul Jones has had a rough time since coming to Penn State. His high school grades and SATs were good enough to get him admitted to Stanford and Duke, but he came to Penn State and languished academically. Why? Rich Scarcella of the Reading Eagle shares the results of his digging into that matter.

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More fallout from the Sandusky scandal: Mark Sherburne, whom you might recall was the first appointee as interim athletic director when Tim Curley was placed on administrative leave, was fired for withholding documents relating to Curley, says Susan Snyder of the Inquirer.

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The Paterno family remains outraged about the University’s attempts to smooth things over, including dangling the notion of renaming Beaver Stadium as an appeasement. Sara Ganim, Pulitzer Prize winning reporter, has dug into this story.

 

That’s it for another edition of Sudden Impact. Well, it’s a long, long time, from May to December, but the days grow fun when you reach September. We’ll try to fill in some of the football withdrawal gaps for you with our brainless humor and occasional factoids.