Irish Wake
by Keith Platt on Jan 23, 2012 2:46 PM EST
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I don't know about the rest of you, but I've caught myself crying more than a few times over the past two days. Certainly, there will be a lot more tears shed this week and beyond. But, if only to escape for a few minutes, I thought it'd be useful for all of us to share our favorite JoePa stories, legends, etc.
They can be things he's said in the media, personal encounters with him, great games, etc. Anything. While mourning the passing, let us celebrate the life as well.
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Suppose I'll start
My favorite game is the 1986 Orange Bowl against Miami and Coach Hair Helmet. I think Testeverde still has nightmares about the beating he took.
Joe on the sidelines, chewing out a ref after a bad call.
There are too many individual moments to mention, but seeing Joe go off on a ref instantly livened up the stadium. He commanded respect from his players, coaches and the officials and he was never afraid to make sure he got it.
It is easy to go down into Hell; night and day, the gates of dark Death stand wide; but to climb back again, to retrace one's steps to the upper air - there's the rub, the task.
by Succss With Honor Always on Jan 23, 2012 3:36 PM EST reply actions
Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose - Janis Joplin
by AriesGD on Jan 23, 2012 7:50 PM EST up reply actions 5 recs
Irish Wake?
I thought this would be another online shot taking
Reporter: Can you give us a touchdown celebration, one that you would get penalized for?
Moye: I play at Penn State. I don’t celebrate.
by psupride on Jan 23, 2012 3:36 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
Also can you change the name of the title to Italian Wake
Joe never did care for the Irish
Reporter: Can you give us a touchdown celebration, one that you would get penalized for?
Moye: I play at Penn State. I don’t celebrate.
by psupride on Jan 23, 2012 3:36 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
Maybe started on that whiskey too soon
I think the game you are talking about is the 1987 Fiesta Bowl.. But a classic. 1986 Orange Bowl was against Oklahoma. But let us praise all about the man and his good accomplishments
Burger King
Just finished watching the Burger King commercial he did with Lou Holtz. I hated Lou Holtz when he was at Notre Dame, but over the past few months, he’s been super classy.
Remember when he chased that one ref into the tunnel
I think it was the Iowa game back in 2002 or 2003. At any rate, it was hilarious. And he was right. The call was atrocious.
by PSUPing on Jan 23, 2012 4:26 PM EST reply actions 3 recs
This
it had been too long since he had a good fight with a ref. Nothing got the crowd going quite like that.
"There are too many Irish guys on this team"
Joesph Vincent Paterno
April, 2010
Where to begin?
30 straight wins to jumpstart The Legend?
Telling Nixon to shove it?
1968? 1969? 1973? 1994?
48-14?
Beating Georgia in the Sugar Bowl.
Paterno running across the field and trying to break up a scuffle with Pitt at Beaver Stadium in 1986, screaming “You guys are a disgrace to the game!” Afterwards, Joe said “There are a few guys on this team that will fight at the drop of a hat. Looks like I’m one of ’em.”
THE Fiesta Bowl.
63-14.
But, to me, I think my favorite Joe moment was the night before we played #2 Alabama in Tuscaloosa in 1986. It had been raining all week, and on Friday somebody in the media asked Joe if he wished it would keep raining in order to slow Alabama down. Joe said “Nah. We don’t want it to rain. We don’t want them to have any excuses when we beat them.” After falling behind 0-3, ’bama never crossed the 50 again. That might have been one of our most dominant wins EVER.
by Ab4PSU on Jan 23, 2012 5:02 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
Testicles
That JoePa allegedly had quite huge testicles is one of my favorite things about him. And not just because the word ‘literally’ is so over- and mis-used in this day and age. But I get a twisted kick out of picturing this little eyetalian from the bronx, who’s running this operation with the ostensible primary premise of turning boys into men, walking into the locker room and just…‘yeah, that’s right.’
Slainte to our little big-balled wop! You’ll be sincerely missed.
jtothetweet
They don't even bind feet in China anymore, mostly.
by jtothep on Jan 23, 2012 5:24 PM EST reply actions 2 recs
I never got to meet Joe,
But I have so many fond memories of him. His speech after 324 was one of my favorites as well as the pep rally before the 2007 Outback Bowl. But one thing I always loved and looked forward to each week during football season was his Tuesday press conferences. They always made me laugh!
"Believe deep down in your heart that you're destined to do great things." Joseph Vincent Paterno 1926-2012
Always picture this with Joe at a preser
Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose - Janis Joplin
by AriesGD on Jan 23, 2012 7:47 PM EST up reply actions 3 recs
Ab-sooo-lutely!
…further, JoePa pulling-out his white hanky, whilest in mid-response – using it, and then looking into it, then putting it away – and completing the response … because it was ‘Tuesday’ … there shall not be another like him…
God Bless you JoePa.
" When you cross that Blue Line, you are mine...Across the Blue Line, it's all football. " " And what you need to do in your life is paint Blue Lines everywhere. " - Joe Paterno 2009
by BlueWhiteLife on Jan 23, 2012 8:31 PM EST up reply actions
Wow, that just hit me. No more Tuesday pressers with him.
Though I didn’t always get to see/hear them, I always loved reading the transcripts. I especially enjoyed when it was simply transcribed as “inaudible” because I found myself making the little noises that I imagined that he made, and laughed to myself. God, I am really going to miss that.
did you wave your hand dismissively when you made the noise?
that would be perfect
"There are too many Irish guys on this team"
Joesph Vincent Paterno
April, 2010
Even if I didn't see the presser,
I still read the transcript, in my mind, in a Joe Paterno voice.
"Believe deep down in your heart that you're destined to do great things." Joseph Vincent Paterno 1926-2012
I don't remember when I first heard of Joe
because my Dad talked about him my whole life. He was just…there.
I loved the feisty who fought with refs and gave the media a hard time (I think he did it with “love”). I loved the Joe who yelled at Big Red, the passion he showed for the game.
I mostly loved the stories you heard from the people who met him, who spoke of how kind he was. I know Bani was not everyone’s favorite player, but he posted on Facebook “thanks Joe, for taking a chance on me even when you knew about my character issues. Look at me know. I am the man I am because of Joe”. Those are the stories I love best.
Now I will have a glass of Italian wine.
Dio vi benedica Giuseppe Vincenzo Paterno, Resto a Peach
"There are too many Irish guys on this team"
Joesph Vincent Paterno
April, 2010
by letsgopsu on Jan 23, 2012 6:54 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose - Janis Joplin
by AriesGD on Jan 23, 2012 7:49 PM EST up reply actions 4 recs
After 6-4, I think, Joe mentioned it felt like a wake
I think he said something along the lines of whether it would an Irish wake or an Italian wake “where all the women are crying”
I remember the post-game tailgate we had on one of the Johnny Cash American recordings. His rendition of Danny Boy seemed appropriate.
Washingtonian and heartbroken Penn Stater -- My blog features the triumph of hope over experience that is being a DC sports fan (especially the Nats) as well as the Nittany Lions, life in BeltwayLand and other things I find interesting. @doubleuefwhy
I don't have a particular Joe moment
because I didn’t go to Penn State nor live in PA very long. But he was a coach that built a library. He looked like your grandpa, no matter what your grandpa looked like. Alumni who hadn’t stepped foot in the Commonwealth of PA in decades loved him. He was as much an anachronism 50 years ago as he was 5 years ago. He was a man that even the most ardent atheist would (well, should. any group has the “idiots”) admit that he was a good man.
He was a man that, to the world, was a college football coach. But to college football, he was a memory of times past where the best college players went to school to get an education first and foremost. He was a good man, if not a great man, placed in an impossible situation.
But most of all, he was a man that’ll be missed by millions today, millions tomorrow, that decades from now he’ll be missed by new millions still.
It's Great! To be! A Tennessee Vol!
by falconnuke on Jan 23, 2012 10:38 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
If they ever tell my story
Let them say that I walked with giants. Men rise and fall like the winter wheat, but these names will never die. Let them say I lived in the time of Bradley, tamer of offenses. Let them say I lived in the time of Paterno.
.....that which we are, WE ARE;
One equal temper of heroic hearts
by SarcasmJam on Jan 24, 2012 8:13 AM EST reply actions 7 recs
So, it's springtime 1962 and.....
My lifelong friend Dave says to me, “Hey, before we head out, do you want to meet my sister Sue’s fiance? and I say sure, what the heck and I walk into the Pohland’s living room and sitting on the couch with Sue was Joe Paterno…Dave says, this is—and I complete the introduction by saying Joe Paterno! Do you know Joe, says Dave and I say, hell everyone knows Joe, he’s the QB coach at PennState!” And thy rest was history…that’s my story…I will weep for awhile still and I will never forget this as long as I live, because it will always bring a big smile to my face and a warm feeling in my heart to a MAN that made an impact in his lifetime.
"The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God."
by DerryPharmer on Jan 24, 2012 9:26 AM EST reply actions 7 recs
I'm fairly certain you could fill up an entire thread with stories.
And I would make sure to read every one of them. Hope you’re doing well Derry.
It is easy to go down into Hell; night and day, the gates of dark Death stand wide; but to climb back again, to retrace one's steps to the upper air - there's the rub, the task.
by Succss With Honor Always on Jan 24, 2012 9:42 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
YES, we would like to read all you are willing to share DerryPharmer!
When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used everything you gave me'.
Erma Bombeck
by ComfortHePuHuTh on Jan 24, 2012 1:39 PM EST up reply actions
That was Sue, though.
"Believe deep down in your heart that you're destined to do great things." Joseph Vincent Paterno 1926-2012
This Stuff Is Great
I just wanted to thank all the people who shared their memories. I too loved the Tuesday Pressers. I especially liked the one where the guy (I forget who) asked Joe if he was overwhelmed and Joe said he didn’t even know what that meant. Then the same guy asked a really conveluted (sp?) follow up and Joe goes “I guess you were overwhelmed by the question.”
I may be wrong on the details, but I love that story.
FAHK
I’ve mostly held it together the last few days. I deal with death rather “internally”…especially with someone who lived as full a life as JVP…85 years….dude had a good run I say. But seeing these stories, made me want to share one more.
1996 or 1997, my grandparents 50th wedding anniversary. I never liked asking Joe for anything, and especially for an autograph. But my brother and I though it would be cool if Joe signed a beaver stadium print and my brother and I would write a nice note to go along with Joe’s sig. Of course, looking back, Joe’s sig blew our notes away…it read:
“To Don & Mary, Happy 50th…let’s go for 50 more!!!….JVP”
Grandpa is gone, but the print hangs in my 90 year old grandma’s room still.
"my dad says Michigan used to be good"
by hbeach08 on Jan 24, 2012 3:33 PM EST reply actions 5 recs
my point in posting that of course
is that I expected just an autograph, and Joe made it personal.
"my dad says Michigan used to be good"
He always did if he was signing personally for something.
He was the exact same age as my Grandfather, who is still with us, but ailing, and he put a personal note on the ball he was kind enough to sign for him on his 62nd birthday.
When he signed a receipt for me when he came through my grocery line, he asked me my name and took a few seconds to write “best wishes”, etc. He was really good about that, and a lot of people are not.
...may we compete with fierce intensity, with the gifts that we have been given...
My First Memory
Other then remembering my family and doing things around the home, my first memory is of Joe. When I was little, my dad coached the Penn State Summer Football Camps and when I was around 4, my grandma brought me up to spend the last day of camp with him. I was playing around while they were having a meeting when I went around a curtain and ran into Joe, literally…I fell over running into his leg. He picks me upand asks who I belong to. After my dad raises his hand, and Joe tells him to pick me up later at his office. I got to see some of the football facilities, play touch football with some of the players who were there for the summer (evidently, I don’t remember that part), and then play cards with Joe. The fact that he took time to give me a special day there, and spend time with me, going way beyond what could have been expected or even wanted, will stay with me forever.
by mahaffe on Jan 24, 2012 10:50 PM EST reply actions 3 recs
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