Nitt Picks Is Getting Thin

Alright folks, we're really scraping the bottom of the barrel here looking for Penn State news. Oh for the days when we were bringing in a new recruit every other day. If things don't pick up I'm actually going to have to start doing some work around here and think up some stuff.

Don't Call Them The Orangemen

It was announced yesterday that the Syracuse game is set for a 3:30 kickoff. Did anyone else notice they don't call themselves the Orangemen anymore? Now they are the Syracuse Orange because I guess Orangemen was discriminatory to women. When did this happen? Who consulted Jim Brown? Apparently this took effect back in 2004. Goes to show you how much I care about Syracuse.

If you drive up to see the game and can't score a ticket from a scalper (Ha! Yeah right!) go watch the game at the bar. There's a good chance you will see Syracuse star wide receiver Mike WIlliams sitting on the stool next to you.

Syracuse wideout Mike Williams, the Orange's leading receiver last season, has been suspended by the school over an academic issue, the university confirmed Tuesday.

 

Sue Edson, assistant athletics director for communications, said Williams was not enrolled in school. Head coach Greg Robinson cited privacy laws in not elaborating on Williams' situation.

 

Williams practiced with the team in the spring and university spokesman Kevin Morrow said he completed the spring semester.

 

If Williams, a second-team All-Big East Conference selection, does not return for his junior year, it will leave the struggling Orange without their top two offensive threats from 2007. As a team, Syracuse scored 24 touchdowns in 2007, with Williams and Taj Smith accounting for 15 scores.

 

Williams caught 60 passes for 837 yards and 10 touchdowns as a sophomore, including at least one TD catch in a school-record nine straight games. Smith caught 44 passes for 822 yards and five TDs and ranked second in the conference in average yards per catch. He decided to forgo his final year of eligibility and signed a free-agent deal with the Green Bay Packers.

I'll go out on a limb and predict the Orangemen don't score a single point on our first team defense.

Does This Count Toward The Fulmer Cup?

Former Penn State All-American wrestlers Eric Bradley and Patrick Cummins were arrested for burglarizing the State College Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.

Two former All-American wrestlers for Penn State jailed on charges they burglarized a State College fraternity last weekend have been implicated in six or seven other burglaries, according to court documents and a Centre County prosecutor.

Eric Bradley, 26, of 116 Edith St., Apt. 1, State College, and Patrick D. Cummins, of 110 Mustang Trail, Reinholds, were arrested early Friday morning after police said they stole almost $3,000 worth of items from Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity in the 200 block of East Beaver Avenue.

Cummins is a two-time All American at Penn State who is scheduled to be in Las Vegas in two weeks to try out for the U.S. Olympic team.

Bradley also is a two-time All-American, and a two-time Big Ten champion who was participating in mixed martial arts.

They are now being held in the Centre County Correctional Facility in lieu of $50,000 straight bail each.

The story goes on to say police raided their appartment and found items they believe to be stolen from six or seven unsolved burglaries over the past year. This is probably why the NCAA insists all college athletes actually go to class and get degrees.

In Other News of Former Player Hijinx

Defensive end Jed Hill made the difficult decision after the 2007 season to not return for his fifth year of eligibility. He earned his degree and it was just time to move on with his life. Afterall, he had a promising career waiting for him as...a bouncer?

An officer was passing by the nightclub and saw a crowd of people, according to court documents. As the officer was getting out of his car, he saw the victim arguing with bar staff, but not being physically aggressive, police said.

The officer then saw Hill, a former defensive end working as a bouncer, approach the victim and shove him backwards into a black Porsche SUV, police said.

The owner reported to police that $1,012.55 was done to his vehicle, according to court documents.

He's a former player, so there better not be any Fulmer Cup points on this one.

Headline of the Day

I opened up my google reader this morning to see the following headline:

Reasearchers at Penn State "Awaken" Dormant Bacteria

They must have opened Joe's playbook and found the coffee stain from 1963. Zing!