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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Tamba Hali Signs Rich New Contract

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Kansas City Chiefs outside linebacker, Tamba Hali, the former Nittany Lion, has signed a 5-year, $60 million contract, with $35 million guaranteed money. Hali had been a defensive end at Penn State, but he has been converted to an outside linebacker in the NFL who has become a superb pass rusher. His talents were so highly regarded that KC management hung the “franchise player” tag on him so that they could match any offers in the free agent market.

It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. Recall that when Hali was at PSU, his major goal was to bring his mother over her from Liberia. Now, he can practically buy Liberia!

New Look

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The Nittany Turkey’s tired old header with the old, grizzled gobbler had been around in various forms since 2005. Today I got the inspiration to take a dive off the deep end and get creative. I’ll admit that the turkey in the lounge chair watching football was a great 3-D royalty free clip-art find, and it was exactly the punch the header needed. Actually, it gave me the kick in the butt I needed to get going with the project after having spent much time thinking about it. Besides, that turkey in the chair reminded me of this here foul old fowl. Today, I wasn’t even procrastinating on something more pressing and important when I chose to tackle the new header. So, anyhow, above is the new header and I hope you like it as much as I do.

Shaking Things Up at UNC

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Boosters, those deep-pocketed, foul smelling would-be gladiator owners, can’t be happy about what is going down at University of North Carolina. In the wake of head football coach Butch Davis’ dismissal yesterday, athletic director Dick Baddour today announced that his own contract would not be renewed. Moreover, even though it was the right thing to do inasmuch as academic impropriety was involved, the grand football program shake-down brings major negative financial implications for UNC.

A coach is a coach is a coach, you say, and an athletic director is but a figurehead in the overall scheme of NCAA Division I semi-pro college football. It is a fancy high wire act they play, skirting the rules until they either get caught or safely move up to the real pros in the NFL.

But if they stay around long enough to put their brand on a program — and for Davis and Baddour, five years was more than enough — there is a lot more at stake than conducting a national search or two for replacements. The booster buddies they’ve made are not so easily replaced, particularly in a state in which just about everyone has a better football reputation than UNC, whose program uncharacteristically thrived under Davis. Commitments were made to these people, including a massive stadium expansion colloquially named “The House That Butch Built”, on which the university will have to make good in spite of the uncertainty in the future. And we haven’t even touched upon Davis’ $2.7 million contract buyout.

Sports Illustrated dug in and grabbed the story here.