There has been a number of quality candidates throwing their name into the ring, hoping to bring some sanity, clarity, guidance and transparency to what most of us think is a damaged Board of Trustees. The gentleman above is someone who brings a track record deep enough that he is not likely to get pushed around by the BoT power brokers. Please take a second to read the linked article to get a sense of who this man is.

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NOTE: THIS POSITION HAS BEEN FILLED. THANK YOU.

In case you haven't noticed, there has been a marked increase in our recruiting coverage as of late, primarily due to the fact that there is no actual football to discuss and Eric and Tim can only do so much fantastic basketball writing, and Galen can only cover so much wrestling.

And we're just getting started. There are many plans in the works that we're excited about, but can only cover so far with the current staff. With an increased emphasis on recruiting coverage means an increase in workload, and thus the need for additional writers. Despite an already stellar staff of writers here at BSD, we're looking to add at least one more for now. So what do we need?

BSD is in search of a recruiting analyst/reporter, who would assist in this new coverage. If you like to follow Penn State recruiting, are interested in writing about it on a regular basis, and can commit some of your free time to helping us out, then please send me an email. We're looking to move on this opening relatively quickly, as the Class of 2013 recruiting is heating up, and there isn't much time to waste.

So please send me an email (jeffjunstrom AT yahoo DOT com) if you're interested, and we can discuss further details.

I'm not sure if anyone can answer this, but the question came up the other day and I honestly have no idea here.

Are the PSU coaches that were not retained able to get new coaching jobs elsewhere? Or would this mean they don't get or have to give up remaining severance pay?

I wonder b/c we really haven't heard anything about them in other coaching positions. I know Scrap has been associated with some openings in a few rumors, and I'm assuming Galen Hall and Dick Anderson have retired since they are over 70. I haven't heard anything about the others. I didn't know if they can be out there looking or not. Just curious as to whether anyone has any insight. Thanks!

Hi Everyone,

I posted this on Facebook but had a few friends request I also put it on here. This is something I wrote for Joe Paterno on his passing.

Raise the Song

What legends the fall has made.

From crisp scholastic stacks emerges

no broad shouldered brute, no gridiron giant

but a bookish, bifocaled man.

Disciplinarian. Educator coach.

A man with a thousand sons -

all who passed through his care

when they needed him most.

Great men begin with an ideology

With this they build an institution.

If they continue long enough

those of us who share their ideology

are prone to confuse the man with the institution

From the slings and arrows,

the trials and horrors life uncovers - we witness

no canonized saint, no infallible demigod

but a human being.

A man who also felt overwhelmed. A man who also felt fear.

A man who was betrayed by his own institution.

Of that institution, the simpler parts -

the brisk October Saturdays,

a valley soaked in golden foliage,

sun simmering on the rim of the stadium -

that's when we'll miss him most.

He was a man who never asked for praise,

but demanded respect.

A man who showed pride in quiet humility.

He spent a lifetime building the character

of all those around him.

One hundred thousand voices have raised up

to sing his name.

The lights burning on from an empty stadium.

leaves swept away from empty trees

As Mount Nittany stands in silent requiem.

Coke-bottle glasses collapsed.

Khaki pants neatly folded into a dresser.

A modest man who has left behind an institution

that the rest of us will carry on.

Penn State won the bout, 34 - 7, with another strong performance in the heavier classes. Matt Brown moved up to 197 against number 15 Max Huntley; got a late fall to take that match, 3-1. McIntosh was cleared to wrestle, but State led 25 - 7 at that point, so apparently Cael held him out for later on. Brown, as you recall, gave up 23 pounds by moving up two classes (from 174 - 197) against his Ohio State opponent on Friday. Thanks for Patrick Donghia (@pennstatepat) for getting his tweets to the web.

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I met JoePa on a warm summer day. Well, I didn’t actually meet him; it was more of a fly-by.

We were walking the beach in Avalon, New Jersey. Paterno was chugging north--shirtless, shoeless, determined. I was drifting south.

We passed and nodded to one another ever so slightly, a metaphorical tip of the hat, as it were, from me, a little "I know you know" from Joe. It was as spare and fine as a Penn State uniform.

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Forgive me for linking a Cory Giger article, but there was actually some good info in this recent piece about Coach O'Brien and the possible looks of the future Penn State football squadron.

UNIVERSITY PARK -- Matt McGloin's first thought when he finally got his hands on Penn State's new playbook was, "It's big."

"It was exciting to get it at first," said the quarterback, noting he's only received "some form of the playbook" so far and not the whole thing.

"I've been trying to get my hands on one for a while," McGloin added. "I finally got it and was just reading through it. And as difficult as it's going to be to get that system going, it's exciting."

Why so exciting?

"The playbook is definitely different, and it's very similar to what the Patriots do," McGloin said.

Read more for some reactions from Silas Redd and McGloin. A fresh, new, exciting offense in Happy Valley? Color me intrigued.

Even as the Icers entered their final month of club hockey play, there is still time for firsts for Penn State ice hockey. On this first weekend in February, the Icers welcomed the Oklahoma Sooners to the Greenberg Ice Pavilion for the first time in team history. The 9th-ranked Sooners are a team stocked with talent, but they have yet to seemingly put it altogether to find consistent success. Coming off of a weekend sweep of the Bobcats and a 3-0 win against the Sooners a month ago, the Icers looked to keep their solid play rolling for another big weekend of hockey.

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I found this article rather interesting, in hindsight, for the accolades it showered over him.

Sandusky SI

Here are a few examples:

"If Sandusky did not have such a human side, there would be a temptation around Happy Valley to canonize him: Saint Sandusky, leader of linebackers, molder of men."

"( Tom Bradley, a former Nittany Lionsplayer who is in his 21st year as a Paterno assistant, is more colorful in describing what it's like to follow a legend: "Next guy in always gets whacked.")"

"Here's the best thing you can say about Jerry Sandusky: He's the main reason that Penn State is Linebacker U...and linebackers aren't even his enduring legacy."

If you're anything like me, you want to throw your television out the window anytime anything that has to with the Kardashians, or The Real Housewives of McKees Rocks, or some other trashy program comes across the screen. Don't even get me started on 16 and Pregnant and Looking for a Reality Show Contract. That show sucks.

That being said, there are certain celebrities I don't mind hearing about, as I'm genuinely interested in what they do. And not from a professional standpoint, per se. I mean, sure, I want to know what the next movie that Daniel Day-Lewis will star in, but I'm similarly intrigued by what he does in real life. Does he enjoy a nice Maker's Mark on the rocks after work, too? What does his Pandora station list look like?

Other names that, if they starred in some show about their actual lives, I'd tune into, include: Tina Fey (Philadelphia born, funniest all-around woman on TV), Jon Bon Jovi (made it out of the hair band era alive, probably has some stories), Blake Griffin (the face of the NBA youth, that commercial with the deer kills me every time), and Reese Witherspoon (I want to put her in my pocket and carry her around, she's so cute), among others.

You?