#12 Nittany Lions (3-0, 0-0) at Maryland Terrapins (2-1, 0-0)

When Henry David Thoreau withdrew to remote, bucolic Walden Pond to contemplate life, he wrote that “the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation…” He went on to say that they die with dreams unfulfilled.

Why the hell am I invoking Thoreau? Probably because he was on my mind due to some schmuck in our bear-managed community having posted on Facebook, “civil disobedience is a right.” Thoreau wrote an essay on that subject, too, although he did so in connection with slave issues in New England in the 1840s, not bear loving ladies in the entitled Twenty First Century. Anyway, we’re at the juncture of the season at which all good Sanguinarians must do a reality check and recognize that their dreams may well once again be unfulfilled. Yea, verily, it is the start of the real schedule for the Penn State Nittany Lions.

Or maybe it isn’t. Will Maryland merely serve as Cupcake #4, playing to lose as they did in the Temple game, or will they bring their A game, as in the big win over the Orangemen? Will they postpone the Sanguinarian Day of Reckoning (SDR) for yet another tortuous week?

I’m in a bullshit mood this week. I’m sure I’ll get to the game eventually. (Won’t I?) When I do, I’ll look at some comparisons through the first three games. Any notion of superiority might evaporate before your very eyes, but not if you’re a Sanguinarian.

[Read more…]

#13 Penn State 17, Pitt 10

No, they ain’t ready. While the specialty units have their act together, the offense and defense are nowhere near ready for the Big Ten schedule. With respect to the offense sputtering on third down, the offensive line generally sucking, the boneheaded coaching, and the defense not being able to get off the field, it’s déjà vu all over again.

They didn’t cover the spread. Not by a longshot. This game was up in the air until a dumbass coaching call by the other guy late in the fourth quarter, but even then, the Nittany Lions couldn’t conduct an extended drive to run out the clock. They just ain’t ready.

[Read more…]

The title for this post should have something to do with the Pitt Panthers, but I’ll temporarily digress from football felines to share some local ursine lunacy. The recent furor over an anthropomorphized, human habituated black bear and her two nine-month-old cubs (affectionately referred to as “the twins” by my illustrious neighbors) that roam around my ‘hood foraging for delectable garbage morsels convinces me that the humans are the ones who need to be relocated to the Ocala National Forest.

After an incident between Momma Bear and a woman trying to protect her yapping little mutt, many of my neighbors are protesting the Florida Wildlife Commission’s policy of trapping and euthanizing bears that endanger humans. These internet-reading, cabernet-sipping, social-media-empowered self-appointed experts think they know better than the FWC about how to deal with nuisance bears. They’ve been protesting and wreaking havoc on the FWC’s efforts.

To them, the bears are just giant, cuddly, mischievous raccoons who are sweet, people-loving critters who care as much about us as we care about them. They just looooooove watching their antics — including one schmuck who used to put food out for them. Bears are impatient. The guy was not halfway out his door when the bear kicked his ass. That was several years ago, and they still haven’t learned. People leave garbage, bird feeders, and food for feral cats (even Pitt Panthers) outside. The bears eat it all and come back for more. They will not be denied.

[Read more…]