Nitt Picks Works Weekends Too
by BSD on May 18, 2008 10:13 PM EDT
in Link Dumps
Email
PrintIf you're not already, make sure you follow Ron Bracken's fairwell tour at the Centre Daily Times. It's been a good read so far. This weekend he covered his top ten Penn State games of his career.
Penn State 35, Illinois 31
When Penn State took possession of the football that November night in 1994 there was 6:07 left, the Lions had the ball on their own 6, they were trailing Illinois 31-28, it was raining and the wind had picked up in Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.
No problem at all. Kerry Collins ignored all of those factors and marched the team down the field for the 35-31 win in as flawless a drive as you’ll ever see. There was no margin for error, no room for an off-sides penalty, a botched handoff, a dropped or errant pass or a wrongly run pass route. It all had to be perfect and it was, completing Penn State’s recovery from a 21-0 first-quarter deficit and guaranteeing a trip to the Rose Bowl.
I'm afraid I was too young to remember most of the games on his list, but I remembered this one. Reading Bracken's recollection of the 1994 Illinois game brought back a lot of memories for me. I remember falling behind 21-0 in the first quarter and not even worrying about it. That offense was so amazing you knew they were going to score 30 points before the day was over. So when Brian Milne crossed the goal line I really didn't even jump off the couch. That team was amazing.
Need More Proof Mel Kiper is an Idiot?
Remember last year Kiper had Dan Connor listed as the best linebacker in the draft and a sure fire top ten pick? Then he sat around on draft day and didn't go until the third round on day two. If that doesn't make you scratch your head about Mel Kiper, take into consideration that James Laurinaitus tops his big board for 2009.
1. James Laurinaitis, LB, Ohio State (6-2½, 242)
If he had declared for the 2008 NFL draft, Laurinaitis most likely would have been a top-10 pick. In addition to being extremely athletic, he has a great nose for the ball and plays with a great deal of intensity. In 2007, he had 121 tackles (8½ for loss), five interceptions and two sacks. What separates Laurinaitis from USC's Rey Maualuga is his week-to-week consistency.
Yeah, he has a great nose for the ball alright. That's because teams run right at him all the time. And he usually makes the tackle about five or seven yards down field from the line of scrimmage. And of course it helps to have a generous home field score keeper who gives you credit for a solo tackle any time you jump on a pile.
Student Ticket Changes
If you're a student hoping to get student tickets next year you better listen up. You'll only get one shot to get them.
Despite what was written in an e-mail about the 2008 student football ticket allocation, students can only purchase 2008 football season tickets during one sale period.
Although the e-mail, sent Thursday night, suggests upperclassmen will have multiple opportunities to purchase tickets, that is not the case, Greg Myford, associate director of marketing and communication, said Friday.
Tickets were so much less confusing when I went to school. There was no internet. you just mailed in your form with your check within a week of getting it in the mail and you were set. This getting up at 7 AM and mashing the mouse button really sucks for the students today. I feel bad for you guys. But I think tying the student tickets to the ID cards is going to help a lot next year.
Great Scott
I know it's hard to believe this, but some people actually want to poach our assistant basketball coaches. And last week someone actually succeeded.
Assistant Nittany Lion basketball coach Hilliary Scott has been named the new head coach at Lynchburg College in Lynchburg, Va.
The NCAA Division III Hornets introduced Scott as their new head coach Thursday afternoon. Scott will be taking on his first head coaching position after 11 years as an assistant coach, 10 under Nittany Lion head coach Ed DeChellis. Scott has served the last five years on DeChellis' Penn State staff and spent the previous five years helping DeChellis guide East Tennessee State University to three straight Southern Conference North Division titles and the school's first NCAA Tournament appearance in a decade.
This is a huge loss for the men's basketball program. Scott was our best recruiter on the staff and will be very difficult to replace. But it sounds like he left for personal reasons, so we wish him the best of luck in Lynchburg.
Etcetera
Purdue safety Torri Williams is arrested for shoplifting. That in itself is funny, but it's what he was busted trying to purchase with the five finger discount that takes the cake. This is why you will never read about a Purdue football player paying for prostitutes. They can't even afford to buy condoms.
9 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Top 10 games
Yeah, I’ve seen zero of those games. Well, I actually did watch the Fiesta Bowl in 1987, but I was 6 and wasn’t a Penn State fan. Only thing I really remember is Curt Warner being on the sidelines b/c I was/am a Seahawk fan. But, my top 10 would be (I started at PSU in 1998 so there hasn;t been a lot):
1. 2005 Ohio State
2. 2002 Nebraska
3. 1999 Arizona
4. 2001 Ohio State (324)
5. 1999 Purdue/1999 Miami (tie-both awesome road games before that season fell apart)
6. 2006 Florida State
7. 2000 Purdue
8. 2005 Minnesota (Dominated both sides of the ball. That’s when I knew that season was going to be special)
9. 2007 Tennessee (Although that game gave me false hope for Morelli)
10. 2005 Wisconsin (great atmosphere for that game. pretty much gave us the Big Ten championship)
Random Thoughts.......
anyone who says Strenth is an idiot.
Don’t they give away condoms at Purdue’s Health Services Building ?
Eric Watters Atlanta, Ga.
1982 Nebraska
Previously a guy posted a diary about how he became a Penn State fan. This game is how I became a Penn State fan. I was five, I don’t have many memories of the actual game, I very specifically remember is how happy my Mom was when they scored the winning touchdown. Obviously I didn’t understand the finer points, I remember carrying on the same way about a Penn State win a few weeks later, a 54-0 win over NC State, I had the same reaction, while my Mother was on the phone and needless to say, annoyed. I watched it on tape several years later, and was able to better put it into context. Simply put one of the most exciting football games Penn State ever played.
If you go back and watch the Sugar Bowl, you really recognize that it was more coronation than football game. Georgia was number one, but Penn State was favored. Penn State was better too. They got sloppy late and let Georgia make a run, but the game was not as close as the 27-23 score indicated. It was the Nebraska game that made the 1982 national championship possible, and in my opinion, makes the second biggest win in Penn State history behind the Miami game. Further, you could very easily say that aesthetically, the Nebraska game was far and away a better game and If you argued it was actually a bigger win than the Miami game, I’d argue against you, but my heart wouldn’t be in it.
Anyhow. History has treated this game well, although it does not get anywhere near the attention it deserves as far as an “all time great games” go. Nebraska had the best team in the nation that year other than Penn State, and this was really an all timer. It was also the first of the three “first night games” in Beaver Stadium history, certainly one for the ages.
For the Glory; National Champions 1982, 1986, 1994
More NE '82
I remember this game more vividly than some in the late nineties (perhaps the difference in joys between attending a PSU game as a wild-eyed and sharp 11yo and attending as a wild and drunk 25-29yo?). In any case, I remember the night aspect of it, my first one. We didn’t yet say this back then, but that part was off the hook. Our season seats up in row 70something in WJ gave this 11yo and his 10 & 8yo brothers a magnificent view of the lights, the whole stadium, the night sky, and the darkness of Mount Nittany over the south end zone. Dag, that was cool.
And, although we were about as far away as we could get from that winning touchdown, the exuberance was felt everywhere, all the way up there. I also remember being really confused when they announced this backup tight end who caught it. Even at that age, we knew everybody’s numbers and his #80 didn’t register. At that time, we had a state champion wrestler from our high school whose name was Kurt Bowman, and when the announcer said this was Kirk Bowman, we went scrambling to the program our grandfather always bought for us. I also can’t believe Bracken didn’t mention this kid was missing a finger! (and now I’m not seeing reference to that, other than his nickname was Stone Hands; which begs the question: who throws a possible TD pass to a dude named StoneHands with the game in the balance? WTF?)
Hey, can anyone verify this missing finger thing? I was sure of it, but see no references in my first google; thanks!
Convivite Nudem!
If
you combined Poz, Connor, and Lee they would still not be as good as Laurinaitis…what is it with the lovefest for tosu LB’s, seriously if they played for any other school they would not get the recognition are recieving…seriously how does “little animal” beat out connor for best LB
Dan the man’s stats
145 tackles (69 solos)…Registered 6.5 sacks for minus 50 yards and 15 stops for losses of 63 yards…Recovered two fumbles, deflected six passes and intercepted another for a 2-yard return
Sad commentary
I was at or watched every game on Bracken’s list. It’s a sad commentary when PSU has been in the Big 10 for almost 15 years and only one Big 10 game makes the list – and only one game total since they joined. It does sort of indicate the mediocrity of the team since joining a league. I do think the 2005 OSU game at Beaver Stadium should make this list. It was better than Pitt smackdown IMHO from a pure game excitement standpoint. White out – night game. Really loud.
Yea but,
Take a look at the list a few posts up, there have been some pretty exciting games since PSU joined the Big Ten. That list excludes both the Ohio State and Michigan games in 1994, the Michigan Snow Bowl game in 1996, and the Ohio State game in 1997 when both teams were in the top five.
10 games in close to 40 years covering the team is a pretty small percentage, and Bracken is old also he will tend to idealize old games versus new ones, we all do the same thing to some extent, I think.
Penn State was hardly mediocre in the 1990’s. We went 7-3 in Bowl games, eight of those games being on New Years Day. We also won three BCS games in the 1990’s albeit before there was a BCS. If anything we so good during that era that the whole program we got soft, spoiled and lazy, which is exactly the attitude I remember from my student tenure (1995-1999).
When I went to Pitt for law school in 2000, I would not have traded one Pitt student for three Penn State students when it came to passion for the team, the game, showing up on time, being loud, and generally "non-pouty". Thankfully, that has changed to a large extent.
For the Glory; National Champions 1982, 1986, 1994
90's spoiled fans
I was a student at PSU in the mid/late 90’s, it was a sense of entitlement to win almost every game.
I agree w/ the above post for the most part. The UM snowball game, Nebraska, AZ, and Miami games were all great. I graduted in summer 00, thank god I didn’t have to endure being a student during the dark years.
When PSU won a big game…the weekend got even better. I also loved the build up to the big game…the game buzz around campus was lots of fun.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
SHOP THE BLACK SHOE DIARIES STORE
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
