I hope you all had a splendid Easter. I spent the day trying to figure out how long it was going to take until the NHL came down on Brent Seabrook for the hit he put on David Backes. To set the record straight, the girl in the green Blackhawks jersey, which is pretty sweet, is a bit of an asshole for slamming on the glass and yelling at Backes, while cupping her sleeves extra tight. Anyone in their right mind could comprehend he was not looking good when he was trying to swing while maintaining his balance on the glass at the same time. Don't break a nail princess.
Even though Penn State will be number one in our hearts, or however that stupid ass chant goes, a little slump is never a bad thing. One thing I remember from my economics class was no matter how high or superior something gets, it doesn't stay at the top forever. I think that was called market regulation or something edumuchcational. The Nits always keep fighting! Was it over when Penn State lost a couple games? No. Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no.
Baseball
Rob Cooper is becoming one of the most popular coaches on the Penn State campus. I took an elevator ride down with him to one of his press conferences and I had a conversation with him like we've known each other for years. That is why I hope Penn State can get out of this six-game slump.
He's done a phenomenal job of making the program afloat and in contention for a Big Ten tournament spot. Penn State was in all three games this weekend with Illinois, but bullpen issues doomed the Nittany Lions in the first two. A late ninth inning rally just wasn't in the cards for Penn State on Sunday, but this is still a great situational hitting team.
Penn State dropped Tuesday's game with Kent State on Tuesday 4-1. The Golden Flashes have something brewing after making the College World Series in 2012.
This Week Ahead: Penn State heads to take on Minnesota for a three-game series starting Friday. The Gophers are currently in eighth place in the Big Ten.
Softball
The ladies picked up a pair of wins on Wednesday against Bucknell. The weekend series didn't go as planned, but there was on play that made #SCtop10.
It was a tough play made by the third baseman (I can't remember if it was Wisconsin or Penn State). She plowed into the railing on the dugout where you find players leaning over to spit their dip out and held on. Do they dip in softball? Everyone wishes they could make that phenomenal play of flipping over the railing without getting hurt as well. Keep working ladies and the wins will come.
Oh, and just so you all don't forget about the branch campuses, Penn State-Altoona is sitting at a juicy 24-9 record on the year. Got to respect the D3 studs
This Week Ahead: Ohio State is in town for a double header on Wednesday before Penn State packs up and heads for Minnesota over the weekend. Is it still cool for baseball players to show off to the softball girls in college or is that just a junior high/high school thing? We had a couple lookers on our softball teams during my day so that's why I ask.
Lax
The bros had a dominant third quarter to pull away from Delaware over the weekend. Senior Shane Sturgis lead Penn State with four goals, one in each quarter, on the day. Is that like the cycle in lacrosse or can I start that now?
The ladies took down Johns Hopkins on Friday 12-10. That's a hell of a victory for a team that has underachieved up to this point in their season. Sophomore Madison Cyr had all four of her goals in the second half to propel the rally. Fun fact the ladies play two halves and the bros play four quarters. I'm still learning the rules of this thing.
This Week Ahead: The bros wrap up their season at home on Saturday against Hofstra and the ladies take on Princeton at home on Saturday afterward. Lax Madness!
Tennis
My infatuation with tennis is starting to die down a little bit as the season is with it. The men picked up 7-0 and 6-1 wins over Nebraska and Iowa respectively. The women also took down Nebraska, but dropped to Iowa by a 6-1 count.
Keep whackin' away at it guys and gals.
**Editor's Note- Nice. -NP
This Week Ahead: Both squads head to their respective Big Ten Championship sites. The men will head to East Lansing and the women will head to Evanston. I have a vivid image that the women's team will come back with papers and flyers of some information that may or may not be helpful for their future plans.
If they came back with a certain head coach (Pat Fitzgerald) looking for work, I would be the first one to welcome him off the plane.
Golf
The only thing associated with golf we should be talking about is the shot John Daly hit out of a person's mouth. Daly is on my list of people to hopefully have a beer with one day, as long as he doesn't drink the other ones first.
I know the guy is a professional, but every once in a while you see a divot fly through the air. The divot would be that girl's head if Daly missed by an inch on the shot.
Anyway, the men and the women had the week off.
This Week Ahead: Try and watch that video again without getting a headache.
Men's Volleyball
The business trips were a success. 3-0 over Rutgers-Newark and 3-0 over NJIT.
Six members earned All-EIVA honors over the weekend as well. Junior Aaron Russell led the way winning conference player of the year for the second consecutive year.
This Week Ahead: It's conference tournament time. Penn State will host the tournament starting on Thursday with hopes of getting a spot in the NCAA Tournament in Chicago.