The trophy awarded to the winner of the Big Ten Championship game will no longer be called the Paterno-Stagg trophy (or whatever amalgamation of the two names it was).
Big deal.
Amos Alonzo Stagg, along with being one of the most important coaches in the history of college football (nay, all football), was fundamental to the foundation of the Big Ten. He coached for the same number of games as JoPa. He made numerous contributions to pre-T formation football such as the 7-2-2 defense (which could be considered a forerunner to today's 3-4 defense).
Joe Paterno was an active coach when the trophy was named -- not a fan of that kind of thing, just throwing that out there (think about it, he could have won a trophy that had his name on it already; the Lombardi Trophy wasn't named until Vince was way done with fooball, possibly even life). Plus, Paterno isn't even memorable as a Big Ten coach. He made a name for himself, had all of these undefeated and one loss teams -- including two national titles -- as an independent. After joining the Big Ten, he has only 3 conference championships or co-championships, 1 undefeated season, and 2 completed one loss seasons (he had only one loss this season before being fired). His lifetime Big Ten record is only 63.8%, compared to his overall of 74.6%. Between 2000 and 2004, he had only one winning season -- wherein Larry Johnson rushed for over 2,000 yards and averaged about 8 yards a carry.
Is Joe Paterno important to the history of college football? Yes. Is he important to the history of Big Ten football? Not Really.
I guess what I'm saying is -- is it that big of a deal that Paterno's name is being taken off a trophy that I'm really not sure he deserved to have his name on in the first place?
-- Knuttel
11.10.2011
Why Joe Paterno Needed To Go
As most are aware, Joe Paterno, head coach of Penn State for 46 years and coach for 61, has been fired due to the connection to the Sandusky scandal. Some people are upset by this, as evinced by the riots in streets of State College last night.
Joe Paterno had to go though. Maybe for most coaches, not following up on a report that a GA gives you on one of your longest serving and most trusted coaches doing something heinous could be something to be ignored. The fact of the matter is Joe Paterno isn't that kind of coach, and he doesn't run that kind of program. To expect a coach who would suspend and dismiss players who aren't getting good grades, a coach who would suspend key players for difficult games, a coach who would suspend his star wide receiver for an entire season, not to be held accountable for something like this is an embarrassing double standard. Coach Paterno always seemed to run a tight ship, and his program occupied the moral high ground of college football because of it. To even have knowledge of a circumstance like this existing should have warranted more action than reporting it to the AD by a coach like Paterno.
Mike McQueary, the then GA who saw the actions in 2002, should be judged, but not in as strong a light. Should he keep his job at Penn State after the season is over? Probably not. But he was just a GA at the time, with aspirations of becoming a head football coach. Ratting on JoPa and Sandusky would pretty much kill that goal from ever happening. With a coach like JoePa, it shouldn't have even come to that point, it should have been trusted to have been taken care of. If McQueary had seen the incident recently, where he holds the much much more esteemed positions of wide receivers coach/offensive coordinator/recruiting director/assistant head coach, then yeah, by all means it would be a huge obligation on his part to make sure the observation did not go ignored.
The only reason I can think of for keeping him, is the fact that Joe Paterno is Penn State. He occupies a unique position within college football where his cult of personality identifies him not as a supporter or member of the university, but rather the university itself. To think of Penn State is to immediately think of JoPa. The only circumstance which can even come close to that is Bear Bryant's association with the University of Alabama -- but he hasn't coached in 3 decades, has coached at many other schools (Kentucky and Texas A&M to name a few), and the black and white houndstooth he made iconic is a far more identifiable and imitable image than rolled up pant legs and thick glasses
So many students and alumni just can't imagine Penn State football without Joe Paterno; so many students and alumni just can't imagine Penn State without Joe Paterno.
That he is brought down with what amounts to strong hearsay is really a tragedy, but his inaction frankly lost him the right to call his own departure. The board had asked him in 2004, in the midst of some very painful seasons, to retire. He said no. There are no other coaches who are able to do something like that. Earning the right to say when you leave is virtually impossible for a football coach to do, maintaining that amidst many powerful people who want you to leave is even more impossible. I'm not saying the board was looking for a reason for him to leave, but there was simply no reason for him to stay.
Yes, the main screw ups in this affair are all administrative, but any involvement in a case that is growing to this magnitude simply has to be recognized and dealt with. No, JoPa didn't touch any young boys, but he had the power to stop it and he didn't.
On a personal note, I'm pretty pissed with Schulz. Curley may have done more to cover this up, but Schulz was head of the the University Park police (for those who don't know, University Park is the entire campus of Penn State, and State College makes up the town around it) and instead of stopping a known child molester, he waged an excessive war against underage drinking and the like. Maybe Penn State does have a reputation as a party school that the administration doesn't necessarily want, but where are your fucking priorities?
I don't think the program deserves the death penalty. Many of the issues were administrative and only tenuously connected to football. Not to mention, I don't think the team itself committed any NCAA violations or infractions, I don't think any of the issues dealt with players themselves involved in the cover up, and the cover up doesn't directly give the players any sort of competitive advantage. Giving Penn State football the death penalty might be cathartic, but it won't solve any problems and it only hurts fans and players of Penn State Football. House does need to be cleaned though.
Allegations against Sandusky are about to get stronger, and this situation will only get messier. Paterno needed to be thrown out of the mud because he's too senile right now to understand he should've walked out when these first came to light.
The one fact nagging at me about this whole situation is Sandusky's retirement in 1999 -- which followed a 1998 University investigation into the matter (findings were "inconclusive"). I can't help but think Paterno knew what was happening and offered a clean slate if he retired. This makes the 2002 report all the more troubling. That Paterno wouldn't know that his number 2, his heir apparent, was getting investigated by the University itself is a fact that I simply can't grasp -- it doesn't make any logical sense.
It's really a shame something like this has come to engulf my alma mater.
"May no act of ours bring shame/to one heart that loves thy name/may our lives but swell thy fame/dear old state, dear old state" - the Penn State Alma Mater, Fred Lewis Patee
-- Knuttel
Joe Paterno had to go though. Maybe for most coaches, not following up on a report that a GA gives you on one of your longest serving and most trusted coaches doing something heinous could be something to be ignored. The fact of the matter is Joe Paterno isn't that kind of coach, and he doesn't run that kind of program. To expect a coach who would suspend and dismiss players who aren't getting good grades, a coach who would suspend key players for difficult games, a coach who would suspend his star wide receiver for an entire season, not to be held accountable for something like this is an embarrassing double standard. Coach Paterno always seemed to run a tight ship, and his program occupied the moral high ground of college football because of it. To even have knowledge of a circumstance like this existing should have warranted more action than reporting it to the AD by a coach like Paterno.
Mike McQueary, the then GA who saw the actions in 2002, should be judged, but not in as strong a light. Should he keep his job at Penn State after the season is over? Probably not. But he was just a GA at the time, with aspirations of becoming a head football coach. Ratting on JoPa and Sandusky would pretty much kill that goal from ever happening. With a coach like JoePa, it shouldn't have even come to that point, it should have been trusted to have been taken care of. If McQueary had seen the incident recently, where he holds the much much more esteemed positions of wide receivers coach/offensive coordinator/recruiting director/assistant head coach, then yeah, by all means it would be a huge obligation on his part to make sure the observation did not go ignored.
The only reason I can think of for keeping him, is the fact that Joe Paterno is Penn State. He occupies a unique position within college football where his cult of personality identifies him not as a supporter or member of the university, but rather the university itself. To think of Penn State is to immediately think of JoPa. The only circumstance which can even come close to that is Bear Bryant's association with the University of Alabama -- but he hasn't coached in 3 decades, has coached at many other schools (Kentucky and Texas A&M to name a few), and the black and white houndstooth he made iconic is a far more identifiable and imitable image than rolled up pant legs and thick glasses
So many students and alumni just can't imagine Penn State football without Joe Paterno; so many students and alumni just can't imagine Penn State without Joe Paterno.
That he is brought down with what amounts to strong hearsay is really a tragedy, but his inaction frankly lost him the right to call his own departure. The board had asked him in 2004, in the midst of some very painful seasons, to retire. He said no. There are no other coaches who are able to do something like that. Earning the right to say when you leave is virtually impossible for a football coach to do, maintaining that amidst many powerful people who want you to leave is even more impossible. I'm not saying the board was looking for a reason for him to leave, but there was simply no reason for him to stay.
Yes, the main screw ups in this affair are all administrative, but any involvement in a case that is growing to this magnitude simply has to be recognized and dealt with. No, JoPa didn't touch any young boys, but he had the power to stop it and he didn't.
On a personal note, I'm pretty pissed with Schulz. Curley may have done more to cover this up, but Schulz was head of the the University Park police (for those who don't know, University Park is the entire campus of Penn State, and State College makes up the town around it) and instead of stopping a known child molester, he waged an excessive war against underage drinking and the like. Maybe Penn State does have a reputation as a party school that the administration doesn't necessarily want, but where are your fucking priorities?
I don't think the program deserves the death penalty. Many of the issues were administrative and only tenuously connected to football. Not to mention, I don't think the team itself committed any NCAA violations or infractions, I don't think any of the issues dealt with players themselves involved in the cover up, and the cover up doesn't directly give the players any sort of competitive advantage. Giving Penn State football the death penalty might be cathartic, but it won't solve any problems and it only hurts fans and players of Penn State Football. House does need to be cleaned though.
Allegations against Sandusky are about to get stronger, and this situation will only get messier. Paterno needed to be thrown out of the mud because he's too senile right now to understand he should've walked out when these first came to light.
The one fact nagging at me about this whole situation is Sandusky's retirement in 1999 -- which followed a 1998 University investigation into the matter (findings were "inconclusive"). I can't help but think Paterno knew what was happening and offered a clean slate if he retired. This makes the 2002 report all the more troubling. That Paterno wouldn't know that his number 2, his heir apparent, was getting investigated by the University itself is a fact that I simply can't grasp -- it doesn't make any logical sense.
It's really a shame something like this has come to engulf my alma mater.
"May no act of ours bring shame/to one heart that loves thy name/may our lives but swell thy fame/dear old state, dear old state" - the Penn State Alma Mater, Fred Lewis Patee
-- Knuttel
11.08.2011
Rye-se To See You
My first attempt at actual brewing produced a rye beer, so I decided to go back into this well to create my next session beer (I've decided it's probably a good policy to have a session beer on hand, something you can drink a few of without getting obliterated). I've used rye in other beers since then (being a favorite grain of mine), but both Lycanthropic Lager and Sasquatch Stout (oh god, the alliteration) don't have hugely significant amounts of it.
You see, rye can be a difficult grain to brew with. It is husk-less, like wheat, and is high in beta-glucans. Both of these can create an especially sticky mash that is especially susceptible to getting stuck. Both Lycanthropic Lager and Sasquatch Stout have low enough proportions that this isn't a huge issue, but this beer's grist was made up of about 40% rye, definitely enough to jam some stuff up.
To tackle this issue, I used a mash schedule I found in Brewing With Wheat that's designed for whit beers (malted wheat has a decent amount of beta-glucans, with flaked wheat and unmalted having even more) that called for a protein rest and two saccharification rests. I also added a pound of rice hulls just to be sure (compensating for the lack of hulls in rye). The downside to the mash is it can be complicated to pull off, changing temperatures by adding hot water at specific intervals. The downside to the rice hulls is it can hold sugars back during the sparging process, bringing down efficiency.
The results were awesome. The sparge ran cleanly (though I only had the valve open half-way, just to be sure) and my efficiency actually exceeded my past efficiencies in my newer, larger mash tun.
I hopped it with French Strisselspalt hops, which had a nice sweet smell to them, definitely unique among hops. The alpha-acid on them is ridiculously low, so it should only be bitter enough so that the beer doesn't taste like sugar. The beta-acids were surprisingly high, so it should retain a stronger aroma. I'm using a kolsch yeast to ferment it, so it will be closer to the cleaner tasting American rye beers, as opposed to the German roggenbiers, which use the weizen yeasts and thus have the distinctive clove and banana flavors.
You see, rye can be a difficult grain to brew with. It is husk-less, like wheat, and is high in beta-glucans. Both of these can create an especially sticky mash that is especially susceptible to getting stuck. Both Lycanthropic Lager and Sasquatch Stout have low enough proportions that this isn't a huge issue, but this beer's grist was made up of about 40% rye, definitely enough to jam some stuff up.
To tackle this issue, I used a mash schedule I found in Brewing With Wheat that's designed for whit beers (malted wheat has a decent amount of beta-glucans, with flaked wheat and unmalted having even more) that called for a protein rest and two saccharification rests. I also added a pound of rice hulls just to be sure (compensating for the lack of hulls in rye). The downside to the mash is it can be complicated to pull off, changing temperatures by adding hot water at specific intervals. The downside to the rice hulls is it can hold sugars back during the sparging process, bringing down efficiency.
The results were awesome. The sparge ran cleanly (though I only had the valve open half-way, just to be sure) and my efficiency actually exceeded my past efficiencies in my newer, larger mash tun.
I hopped it with French Strisselspalt hops, which had a nice sweet smell to them, definitely unique among hops. The alpha-acid on them is ridiculously low, so it should only be bitter enough so that the beer doesn't taste like sugar. The beta-acids were surprisingly high, so it should retain a stronger aroma. I'm using a kolsch yeast to ferment it, so it will be closer to the cleaner tasting American rye beers, as opposed to the German roggenbiers, which use the weizen yeasts and thus have the distinctive clove and banana flavors.
11.06.2011
The Legacy of JoPa
Shortly after becoming Division 1's all time winning-est coach, Joe Paterno's program, and the entire administration of Pennsylvania State University appears shaped up for a drastic change.
Longtime former Defensive Coordinator Jerry Sandusky is being tried of about 40 counts of various child abuse -- sexual abuse, corruption of minors, etc -- I don't feel like getting into legalese. He was recently released on bail, and the charges are still going through the legal process, though it appears at least 10 of the charges have hard evidence and will stick.
That's all I'm really going to say about Sandusky's part. I don't like getting into that gossippy he did this, she did that kinda thing. If the person is guilty, then hopefully the courts will be able to prove that.
What bugs me is the timeline of this whole situation and how it affects the Penn State football program and athletic departments. Both the Athletic Director and University Park Chief of Police are being convicted of perjury on the matter -- for not willingly ignoring the situation, but enabling it to continue. The charges go back to 1994. Sandusky retired in 1999, and now it seems apparent he was forced out due to this situation -- despite being an awesome defensive coach and heir apparent to JoPa, he never coached again. JoPa, for his part, acknowledges one instance in 2002 (Sandusky was allowed to continue using the facilities and kept an office by JoPa's), and given how the AD and Chief of Police were both complicit on the matter, JoPa's reporting to the AD of the instance, and any (if at all) follow-up would have went nowhere. The thing is, though, if this is really the only instance that JoPa knew of, then why did Sandusky retire? It is possible Sandusky was just tired of waiting for JoPa to move on, and maybe he really was done with coaching, but it just seems bizarre.
The thing I want to know is, why, if people, including many higher-ups, knew about this, was it allowed to continue? Why, if he was no longer a coach for the team, or an employee of the university, was he allowed to use the facilities to do these things? Why was it covered up for so long? If it had been nipped in the bud early it simply would be "Longtime JoPa assistant diddles kids, JoPa and program move on". Now it's "Longtime JoPa assistant diddles kids, JoPa and program are done".
I guess the one thing to take away from this, that is very easy to forget, is that the one person in Penn State who even approaches the "untouchability" of JoPa is Sandusky, innovator of Penn State's vaunted Cover-3 defense.
While the roles of the AD and Chief of Police have been made clear in this, I kinda want to know the role of JoPa in this. I feel like he knows more than the '02 incident, but kinda wants to be left out of it. He hasn't really had much of a role, or power, in Penn State Football for most of the decade, so if he did know, his inability to do anything isn't much of a surprise. Anyone who's watched him coaching can tell you that -- He is one of 4 offensive playcallers, the only one of the 4 who doesn't wear a headset, and Bradley and the position coaches run the defense themselves. In 2004, LB Dan Connor told me Paterno's role on the team was pretty much just to bust balls.
Anyways, it looks like JoPa might be done because of this -- though if I had to bet, he'll wait until the end of the season. What is Paterno's legacy?
Joe Paterno has almost no coaching tree to speak of -- this article points out that the only one of them with a winning record was UVA's George Welsh, though Al Golden and Greg Schiano both spent time turning around really crappy teams (Temple and Rutgers, respectively), and Jim Caldwell has had success as coach of the Indianapolis Colts. Adding former players, the only one that comes to mind is former Quarterback John Hufnagel, who is now Head Coach of the Calgary Stampeders.
His professional player output is also not very impressive, especially considering how long he's been coaching. There's the running backs Franco Harris and Lydell Mitchell; but Curt Warner never amazed, and everyone afterwards seemed to either always be hurt or wash up. With the exception of Kerry Collins, most of the qbs spent their careers as backups. Really the only positions that could produce something of consistent NFL-quality players were Linebacker and Offensive Line.
So Paterno's Legacy is Happy Valley. It is Penn State. Nothing more, nothing less. Penn State was a semi-successful .667ish team before Paterno, and Paterno's all time winning percentage is around .750. That's not that huge of a change, but the scale of the wins is exponentially greater. Paterno took more advantage of the independent status, scheduling tough opponents, and playing big bowl games. Paterno is the only coach to win all 4 of the current bcs bowl games (though he's only won the Rose bowl, the berth for the Big Ten, once) and still has the record for both bowl wins and appearances (though given his overall wins record, that shouldn't be a huge surprise). Penn State was never really a terrible football school before Paterno, but it was never a big one.
The harder part will be figuring out how/if this Sandusky scandal changes his legacy.
Longtime former Defensive Coordinator Jerry Sandusky is being tried of about 40 counts of various child abuse -- sexual abuse, corruption of minors, etc -- I don't feel like getting into legalese. He was recently released on bail, and the charges are still going through the legal process, though it appears at least 10 of the charges have hard evidence and will stick.
That's all I'm really going to say about Sandusky's part. I don't like getting into that gossippy he did this, she did that kinda thing. If the person is guilty, then hopefully the courts will be able to prove that.
What bugs me is the timeline of this whole situation and how it affects the Penn State football program and athletic departments. Both the Athletic Director and University Park Chief of Police are being convicted of perjury on the matter -- for not willingly ignoring the situation, but enabling it to continue. The charges go back to 1994. Sandusky retired in 1999, and now it seems apparent he was forced out due to this situation -- despite being an awesome defensive coach and heir apparent to JoPa, he never coached again. JoPa, for his part, acknowledges one instance in 2002 (Sandusky was allowed to continue using the facilities and kept an office by JoPa's), and given how the AD and Chief of Police were both complicit on the matter, JoPa's reporting to the AD of the instance, and any (if at all) follow-up would have went nowhere. The thing is, though, if this is really the only instance that JoPa knew of, then why did Sandusky retire? It is possible Sandusky was just tired of waiting for JoPa to move on, and maybe he really was done with coaching, but it just seems bizarre.
The thing I want to know is, why, if people, including many higher-ups, knew about this, was it allowed to continue? Why, if he was no longer a coach for the team, or an employee of the university, was he allowed to use the facilities to do these things? Why was it covered up for so long? If it had been nipped in the bud early it simply would be "Longtime JoPa assistant diddles kids, JoPa and program move on". Now it's "Longtime JoPa assistant diddles kids, JoPa and program are done".
I guess the one thing to take away from this, that is very easy to forget, is that the one person in Penn State who even approaches the "untouchability" of JoPa is Sandusky, innovator of Penn State's vaunted Cover-3 defense.
While the roles of the AD and Chief of Police have been made clear in this, I kinda want to know the role of JoPa in this. I feel like he knows more than the '02 incident, but kinda wants to be left out of it. He hasn't really had much of a role, or power, in Penn State Football for most of the decade, so if he did know, his inability to do anything isn't much of a surprise. Anyone who's watched him coaching can tell you that -- He is one of 4 offensive playcallers, the only one of the 4 who doesn't wear a headset, and Bradley and the position coaches run the defense themselves. In 2004, LB Dan Connor told me Paterno's role on the team was pretty much just to bust balls.
Anyways, it looks like JoPa might be done because of this -- though if I had to bet, he'll wait until the end of the season. What is Paterno's legacy?
Joe Paterno has almost no coaching tree to speak of -- this article points out that the only one of them with a winning record was UVA's George Welsh, though Al Golden and Greg Schiano both spent time turning around really crappy teams (Temple and Rutgers, respectively), and Jim Caldwell has had success as coach of the Indianapolis Colts. Adding former players, the only one that comes to mind is former Quarterback John Hufnagel, who is now Head Coach of the Calgary Stampeders.
His professional player output is also not very impressive, especially considering how long he's been coaching. There's the running backs Franco Harris and Lydell Mitchell; but Curt Warner never amazed, and everyone afterwards seemed to either always be hurt or wash up. With the exception of Kerry Collins, most of the qbs spent their careers as backups. Really the only positions that could produce something of consistent NFL-quality players were Linebacker and Offensive Line.
So Paterno's Legacy is Happy Valley. It is Penn State. Nothing more, nothing less. Penn State was a semi-successful .667ish team before Paterno, and Paterno's all time winning percentage is around .750. That's not that huge of a change, but the scale of the wins is exponentially greater. Paterno took more advantage of the independent status, scheduling tough opponents, and playing big bowl games. Paterno is the only coach to win all 4 of the current bcs bowl games (though he's only won the Rose bowl, the berth for the Big Ten, once) and still has the record for both bowl wins and appearances (though given his overall wins record, that shouldn't be a huge surprise). Penn State was never really a terrible football school before Paterno, but it was never a big one.
The harder part will be figuring out how/if this Sandusky scandal changes his legacy.
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