Black Shoe Diaries: FanPosts

Blame it on the ball?

2009-11-20T20:27:38Z

Disclamer--in tough times I'm going to believe anything to make a teams problems smaller, but I dont really believe this one, I just want to.

I'll be first to admit, I've watched the past two basketball games and we lost based on our play, but I think there is something worth mentioning. The NCAA doesn't have a regulation ball, so as long as it bounces and is some shade of orange you can use it until it:

A) Pops

B) The game is over

C) Zug runs onto the court and steals it

Now where it gets interesting is the ball used in the Charleston Classic. It's called The Rock and it's similar to a street ball, it's sticky, and it's slippery when it get sweat on it (If I had a dollar for everytime I've head that..) but I digress..

Just so happens that the two teams Penn State has played so far in this clusterpryor of a tournament both use The Rock on a regular basis throughout the season, and while a ball is a ball a few things beg to question if somebody had an advantage going into the past two games.

The first game of the season Talor Battle is 11-20 for 27 points, he pretty much hit any shot he wanted, the next game he doesn't play much and isn't needed for a good portion of the second half because Chris Babb goes off and the team hits 12 threes. On the whole the first two games work out as follows:

First two games averages: FG=50% 3pt=40%

The next two games averages: FG=31% 3pt=23%

Meanwhile UNCW is shooting over 55% in every catagory including going 10-16 from three and Tulane and 8-19 from three.

Now I'm not suggesting anything, and I'm not trying to make up for bad defense or poor shooting but I do think it brings to light the need to have a single ball for NCAA games. You dont see teams and players go from the showings they had (70,80 point games) to games where a three ball shooting team couldn't hit a shot to save their life two games in a row. I would believe it maybe if the teams they were playing were top notch, but we're not exactly talking the big name teams here. It'll be interesting to see if the stats turn around once we're back home.

Heres to a good rest of the season, come out and support these guys, we've gone too far to give up on them for 2-2 record.

Pictures of High School Senior Girls, and some other stuff!!

2009-11-20T20:21:15Z

[EDIT: I started this post before the end of the game. It generally takes me 30-45 minutes. I come back and the world has blown up. Enjoy the pictures below while you recover.]

VOLLEYBALL UPDATE TIME!! I can never figure out how to address the team. All of my articles have been a mix of Penn State Women's Volleyball, the women, the girls, and whatever other concoction I could come up with. Well no more. After this past weekend's record tying performance (and tonight almost assured record breaking performance), the proper pronoun from henceforth shall be The Team. Analysis below. But first, this week's first repeat winner of the Favorite Player Not Named Megan Hodge Award, Blair Brown, deservedly so after her Big Ten Co-Player of the Week Award, seen here with last week's winner Ari Wilson. Nice stems.

via pennstatermag.files.wordpress.com

Last Weekend

On Friday night, The Team faced their hardest challenge of the end of the season, on paper at least. Problem is, no one told either team. The Team played with ease, hitting 39 Alisha Glass assists to a .350 mark. The Illini, then ranked No. 5, hit a meager .189. The Team won in three sets (-20, 27-25, -15). Dawson attended this game (Hi Dawson's dad!).

On Saturday night, as predicted, Northwestern was a pushover. The Team won handily (-20, -14, -20) to tie the all time Division One winning streak for a "one score" sport (that is actually how the media is labeling it now). This will also henceforth have a new name, The Streak. The Team once again throttled the opposition in hitting percentage, this time hitting at a .360 mark while holding the Wildcats to a .083 mark. Future leader of the Hottest Team of the Big Ten Katie Kabbes tallied 4 kills, and led the team in blocks and hearts broken.

This Weekend

The Team is on the road for tonight's record breaking match against Purdue. The Team then plays Indiana on Saturday. Both matches are at 7 pm and both matches are already over. I don't mean to sound arrogant, but The Team has already beaten both opponents this year with neither opponent scoring more than 19 points in a game. A win tonight guarantees at least a tie of the Big Ten title.

On a similar note, but not as important for Penn State fans, the ratings-juggernaut Final Four of Division III Women's Volleyball is tonight, with Juniata playing at 7 pm.

Awards, Accolades, etc.

As mentioned, Blair Brown was Co-Player of the week in the Big Ten, sharing it with a Golden Gopher whom I can only assume is a serious uggo. This is weekly honor (Player of the Week or Freshman of the Week) number 12 for the squad this year. Yikes. National Player of the Week was a player from Iowa State.

Also a future leader of the Hottest Team in the Big Ten, Megan Shifflett got some much deserved press this week. Or just an interesting fluff piece. You decide, and leave the "fluff piece" jokes at home, jtot.

In the rankings this week, nothing of note changed. Although when you really only care about the #1 team, finding things that change is difficult (I generally stop reading after one line). But since I like you guys, I read a little further - the Big Ten also has Illinois (who didn't drop, #5), Minnesota (#12), and Michigan (who we will see next week, #14).

Finally, the high school girls

In an un-siren-worthy announcement (not to me, but apparently to some), The Team signed 5 all star recruits (Katie Slay, Deja McClendon, Madison Martin, Mikinzie Moydell and Ariel Scott) this year. Good luck, rest of the country. Meet your new girls below.

Slay, a 6-6 middle blocker, hails from Raleigh, N.C. She is the blocker in the photo, not the about-to-get-stuffed (you know the drill by now, jtot) hitter.

via a.espncdn.com

McClendon is a 6-0 outside hitter from DuPont Manual High School in Louisville, Ky.

via farm4.static.flickr.com

Martin, a 6-2 outside hitter, is from Tampa, Fla. She is the hitter. And this picture took me 10 solid minutes of searching to find.

via www.tampabay.com

Moydell is a 6-1 setter who will join the Nittany Lions from Parker, Colo.

via www.frvbc.com

Scott is a 6-5 outside hitter-middle blocker hailing from Newark, N.J.

via media.northjersey.com

As jesse. noted, none of these women are from PA. Meh. One is from the same club as Megan Hodge, one was recently named Miss Volleyball in Kentucky, one is going for her fourth state title, one is arguably the best setter in the recruiting class, and one is a versatile player that will fit in any position (again, jtot, keep the jokes to a minimum).

So to recap...

1) Never enter into a land war in China.

2) Never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line.

3) Penn State women's volleyball will be really good for a really long time.

Everyone take a deep breath!

2009-11-20T19:51:32Z

I notice a mountain of skepticism coming from our most loyal BSD readers this week after the game preview post. 9 guys predicting MSU to win in the comments, vs. 8 for the good guys. Where's the love??? True, we had 2 make-or-break games this season, and we got broke both times, at home. True, our special teams looks like the Washington Generals against whatever competition we've come against. But let's not forget that our team has still has some dominant performers capable of taking over a game against lesser talented teams. One of my favorite posts each week was the statistical comparisons, but I didn't see it this week, so here are a few of the major matchups I looked up while I was at work today, between brief moments of productivity (games against FCS teams not included). I'm hoping this will get something of a collective deep breath out of the BSD community.

I heard their D-line was kinda awsum?

Michigan State in Big Ten games: 19 sacks

Penn State in Big Ten games: 19 sacks

But but but...our O-line SUX!!!!

Michigan State sacks allowed vs. FBS opponents: 12

Penn State sacks allowed vs. FBS opponents: 12

So the lines should be a wash, right??? Maybe not.

Michigan State 100-yard rushing performances: 1. 1! All season they've had 1 guy go over 100 yards.

Penn State 100-yard rushing performances: 6 (2 came against Illinois, and almost a 3rd)

Hey isn't their quarterback good though! He could slice us apart!!!

Michigan State 300-yard passing performances: 1 (Nichol and Cousins both hit 200 against Wisc though, so call it 2)

Penn State 300-yard passing performances: 1

Moral of the story: Penn State has performed better than Michigan State in almost every measurable offensive and defensive statistical category this season. We've been more consistent, more productive, less penalized, better. One last nugget: Michigan State has also allowed 4 quarterbacks to pass for 300 on them, and another for 291. Only Chappell of Indiana has done that against Penn State this year (298 last week).

Hey! What about that special teams thing? That wouldn't have supported the conclusion I came to before looking up all these other stats, so I skipped it. LET'S GO STATE!!!! HAAAAAAATEEE DANTONIO!!

No comment

2009-11-20T19:37:08Z

The voice was strange. Sounded like a cat. Cool, collected, cunning. He said his real name was a type of hair, but he wanted us to call him "Triple C with the big Gs".

I tuned the radio in shortly before 2:00 PM. He said the score was 38-33. "Rather high for a football game in the early minutes of the second half.

He kept repeating the same statements:

We weren't expecting Talor Battle to do this well at Fritz linebacker, but, by God he's great!

Shaun King will be a first round draft pick!

Rich Rodriguez is an upcoming star in the ranks of college football. He's rumored to be a candidate for the coaching job at Notre Dame.

This new football stadium in Charleston is great!

Over. And over. And over again.

Quiet. Listen. Something about hot dogs. Berks hot dogs.

Buy season tickets at the PHEAA stand, he says.

Pay no attention to that bad defense, he says.

Tulane is ranked fifteenth in pre-season football polls, he says.

It's hard to figure out just what he means or what he's even saying. But I am beginning to figure it out.

He says the score is getting worse.

He names the starting lineup for both teams.

Penn State:

QB - Jay Paterno, RB - Mike Gasparato, WR - Jesse Arnelle, WR - Eddie Drummond, OT - Scarecrow, OG - Jan Jagla, C - Bob Casey.

Wait, what? Bob Casey? That Bob Casey? Just eight guys? What about the defense?

He continues:

Tulane starts Shaun King, that guy from Clemson when RichRod was OC there - Woody something or other, Drexler maybe? No, Dantzler. Woody Dantzler - Clyde Drexler, Dick Butkus, the spirit of Red Grange, Lenny Moore, Calvin Booth, Brian Bosworth, Johnny the jet Rodgers, Hopalong Cassady, Ronald Reagan, Lee Marvin, Commodore Perry, The black haired dude from "Dragnet", Jim Thorpe's evil brother, BSD Mike, Viscount Dundee, and Drew Brees. Most pundits believe they will defeat the Steelers next week. Should be a good one. Of course, I'm not drunk.

A phone rings.

It was not my intention to sleep with your wife, Abdullah. She did not reveal her identity. Your women have such charm. Perhaps a more modest dress is in order?

You'll get your money when I get my oil!

Yes, I heard them enter now. They are not very subtle, are they? Nevertheless, you are too cunning for me, Abdullah. I regret that we did not address this issue in a more, um, polite manner. Goodbye.

I hear a metallic noise.

Smith and Wesson. What a name.

All the people telling me to schedule Pitt can kiss my ass.

What the hell?

For the record, I don't regret scheduling New Jersey Tech. Or was it Montrose Tech? Whatever. Goodnight and good luck.

We won't be scheduling Tulane next year. Or ever. Or anyone from the state of North Carolina.

A sound of thunder.

Luck be a Lady Lion

2009-11-20T16:41:29Z

I'm surprised to hear myself saying this, but I like that the big11 powers stopped night games in November. Something seems wholesome and right about playing the rivalry games tomorrow at noon and 3:30. I like night games in September as much as the next guy, but fundamentally, night games are the province of major championship and bowl games and regualr season big east, acc, and wac contests.

In case anyone didn't see the first one of these, I am just picking against the odds in this space. These picks do not represent actual bets that I made or will make. I often will use analysis here to place a wager or two on Saturday, but sometimes I also reverse course (particularly if I pick against PSU here) and end up betting the other way than I chose. And I regularly bet on games that I don't list here. In any event, one last chance to get north of .500 before the big11 season ends.

Ohio State -12 at MICHIGAN;Wikipedia tells me that if Ohio State wins, their players receive a "gold pants charm." Of course they do. T. Cryor is going to go off on scUM. OSU -12

Minnesota +10 at IOWA;Enjoy Floyd of Rosedale, Hawkeye fans; he sounds delicious. Iowa wins, but not by two scores; Goldy +10.

Wisconsin -7 at NORTHWESTERN; apparantly no trophy here...but nevertheless one of the more compelling games. I think its closer than a td. NW +7.

Purdue -3 at INDIANA; Apparently the old oaken bucket is named after a poem, which "exemplifies the feeling the people of Indiana have towards their home state." That makes me want to pick against both teams. Since I can't do that, I'll take the points. Your Daddy +3.

Penn State -3 at MICHIGAN STATE; the defining game of the season of the week for Penn State. I really hope we win, ~~but fear we won't. SPARTY +3.~~ and feel confident we will. If JoePa can still nail an onside kick; our special teams can dramatically improve in a week. Road whites -3.

California +7.5 at STANFORD; Who knew that the winner of this one got the "Stanford Axe?" I know that this is a hell of a rivalry and that there's plenty of timbering in northern Cali, but this axe sucks. And so does Cal. Stanford -7.5.

Connecticut +6 at NOTRE DAME; Why in the world are the Irish laying 6 against a solid Connecticut team? The Huskies put another nail in Weis' enormous coffin on senior day. Uconn +6.

Last week: 3-2 in big11; 2-0 in other games; 5-2 overall

Total: 16-19 in big11; 7-5 in other games; 23-24 overall

Basketball Open Thread

2009-11-20T16:30:24Z

So what we lost a game. It Isn't over!

Over? Did you say "over"? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!
And it ain't over now. 'Cause when the goin' gets tough...

:the tough get goin'! Who's with me? Let's go!

What the ZUG happened to the BSD I used to know? Where's the spirit? Where's the guts, huh? This could be the greatest greatest afternoon in work of our lives, but you're gonna let it be the worst. "Ooh, we're afraid to go with you Bluto, we might lose again." Well just kiss my zug from now on! Not me! I'm not gonna take this. Tulane, They're dead ! Michigan State, dead! Pryor...

[ESPN GameCast here.]

THURSDAY NIGHT OPEN THREAD AND OTTERS AND KITTIES AND STUFF

2009-11-20T01:29:05Z

It's as cute and cuddly as Penn State's defense was tonight.

You didn't record it? You did? Yeah, the game. Yeah, delete it. Just trust me.

Anyways, there's some basketball on now and at 9 on ESPN 2. Cuse and some other team, followed by the BUCKEYES of OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY and the North Carolina Tar Heels. Matta vs. Roy Williams! One year wonders vs. White guys with forty-five years of eligibility.

Then on the other ESPN you can watch Nintendo 12 crap. This time: Colorado (cough cough RichRod's next job cough cough) at Okie State. Exciting!

Rainy Day Bullet Points

2009-11-20T00:59:55Z

-I think it's time we all had the proverbial "This isn't football" talk. Losing to teams you should beat happens in basketball, even if you're in the top five. Sometimes your opponent has a great day, and sometimes you play like crap. Today, both things happened, and we were still within two with 3:00 left to play after being down 13 only 7:00 earlier. This was a crappy one to lose, don't get me wrong, but it's not remotely like the disaster it would be for the football team to lose to a cupcake OOC team.

-I think it's important to remember they shot 62% from three land. I kept saying in the thread that they'd cool off, but they never did. Yeah, you could blame some of that on our defense today, but 62% is spectacular unguarded, let alone in a game. You hate to say they got lucky, but things like that don't happen very often.

-And now my Curley rant. Pre-season tournaments are fun when you already have a decent schedule. Pre-season tournaments are stupid when you're counting on the to bolster your RPI. Two years in a row now, we've lost out on playing a team that could have helped our resume, win or lose, by losing early in a tournament. This loss is very similiar to the URI loss in the Philly Classic last year. Dropping that game hurt, but what hurt more was not being able to get the much-needed RPI boost from playing Villanova in the next round. Like I said. I don't have a problem with playing a pre-season tournament, but we shouldn't be making them the rock of our OOC schedules like this. Look, we shouldn't lose a game like today's, but when it happens, it should stand alone as one bad loss. Now, this is almost two bad losses in one because we were dumb enough to put ourselves in a position where we needed to win the game in order to play a good team, instead of just having one or two on the schedule that we could count on to give us a boost no matter what.

Ultimately, it comes down to the players, but this is another example of the suits not puting those players in the best possible position to succeed, and I'm getting sick of it.

This dog in a rain jacket picture was inserted to break up the text.

-All that being said, if we get out of here 2-1, we should still be in pretty good shape. It sucks to lose the RPI boost and chance to add a quality win or two, but losing those things aren't nearly as important as winning games, and having lost early, we should be able to do that against some weaker opposition in the loser's bracket.

-I didn't get to see most of the game, so I can't comment on anything but box stats, but it looks like DJ and Brooks played well again. In the past, we've lost games because those two, or Jones, disappeared, and it looks like that wasn't the case today, which is good. Jones, Brooks, and Jackson will be the keys this year, and it's nice to see that even in a loss, Jackson and Brooks remained consistent.

-The free throw shooting didn't suck today.

-The guards still found ways to score, even on a day when Frazier, Babb, and Battle went a combined 11/43 (25%)from the field. They scored 44 together, which is pretty good considering what the percentage suggests it should be. They got to the line, and we still managed to put up a pretty solid point total on a total crap shooting day.

-To summarize, the sky isn't falling, and it's not time to say "we suck" just yet. There were some positives we can take out of this one, like Jackson and Brooks, the free-throw shooting, and the guard play on a rough shooting day. We obviously have a ways to go on defense, but no one said this ride was going to be easy.

Basketball open Thread?

2009-11-19T21:07:05Z

If one is supposed to go up delete this, otherwise. Who's in to talk about PSU's first game of the Charelston Classic. According to ED UNCW is the best team they will have faced so far. Sounds like JoePa speak to me. Last couple games Jeff Brooks and a few others have stepped up and played well. Hopefully they continue that success so that Battle doesn't have to do it all. I'd also like to see Jones improve his handling under the basket. Better hands will lead to more points.

Go State Beat the Seahawks!

Rose may not be Froze

2009-11-19T02:36:47Z

Looks like we might not have to worry about freezing Russ Rose's head.
Penn State Womens Volleyball Team Hitting Percentage at risk of dropping below 0.400!

Still, most of the rest of the world seems to have dropped below 0.300!

Damn, these kids are good!

NCAA stats today.

Rank	Name	Kills	Errors	Total Attacks	Pct.
1	Penn St.	1300	298	2505	0.400
2	Texas	1018	286	2262	0.324
3	Hawaii	1280	385	2788	0.321
4	Florida St.	1412	447	3244	0.297
5	Florida	1214	398	2791	0.292
6	Md.-East. Shore	1147	377	2662	0.289
7	Kentucky	1522	476	3624	0.289
8	Middle Tenn.	1404	511	3112	0.287
9	Washington	1220	349	3046	0.286
10	Ohio	1358	467	3178	0.280

Score is JoePa: 2,394 Reporters: 0

2009-11-19T00:01:09Z

This week's classic examples of Joe PWNING a few reporters, from his Tuesday press conference:

Q. Why didn't Drake play more earlier?
A. Why didn't he play more? Because Powell was better. Don't you go to the games?

A .....(on Newsome) He can run with the football, change of pace. You know, you hate to be out of style. The wildcat style... I go down every once in a while and look at new suits, stuff like that, buy a decent tie. My wife says, "You're not going to wear that tie to this press conference." I say, "Some of these guys don't even know what a tie is." I just want to be stylish, so we stick the wildcat in there one play a game (laughter).

Q. You usually wear a jacket.
I know, I usually wear a jacket. But after watching you guys for 11 weeks, I felt I was a little overdressed (laughter).

Penn State's Other Football Team

2009-11-18T16:59:04Z

The Big Ten got 5 teams into the NCAA tournament including: Ohio State (seeded 4th), Penn State (seeded 7th), Northwestern (seeded 9th), Michigan State (seeded 14th, even after we trounced them 3-0 in the Big Ten Tournament semi-finals) and Indiana (un-seeded).

Penn State suffered a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship Game, but still earned a first round bye. They will play their first game on Sunday, November 22 at 1:00 pm and it will be at home, where Penn State has not lost this year; however, in what will almost surely evoke memories of Cresap's War, they will take on the winner of the Loyola, Md. vs. University of Maryland game. The University of Maryland is the defending NCAA champion.

Anyways, admission to the game is free to all PSU students and, although it likely won't be the highlight of your weekend, it should still be fun to watch this game. Penn State boasts the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year and the Big Ten Tournament Offensive MVP, in Jason Yeisley and Corey Hertzog, respectively.

NCAA Men's Soccer Bracket

http://www.gopsusports.com/sports/m-soccer/spec-rel/111609aaa.html

Michigan State photoshop thread

2009-11-18T03:03:18Z

Here it is folks. It's the last football photoshop thread of the year. Let the artistic juices flow and fill your images with SPARTY HATE!

Here are some starter images to work from...there are a ton of them out there.

via z.about.com

via grubbhub.files.wordpress.com

via images.rcs.realclearpolitics.com

via assets.espn.go.com

Buggy says:

                                        Make 'em good

                                        Make 'em great

                                       Make 'em full of HATE HATE HATE!

Michigan Fan Intervention

2009-11-18T02:08:26Z

Dear SCUM fanbase,

..Get a hold of yourselves! It's Tuesday of Ohio State week and what do I see on Maize N Brew & MgoBlog? OMG Devin Gardner.. I heart John Beilein.. Are you freaking kidding me? You are 'expletive' Michigan! Don't get me wrong I hate your freaking guts and I sustain myself with your tears but for the love of God we went 0-9 against you from 1997-2007. You singlehandedly got John Cooper fired even though he didn't get beat by anybody else but you! If there is anything as irritating as having one of your rivals stride across the conference like a goliath its watching the same fan base dwindle into an apathetic funk of suck.

So you are 5-6? Cry me a river. I attended Penn State from 2000-Spring 2005.. That's five years and 4 losing records. And as much as I'd love to see RR go up in smoke and Jim Harbaugh give double middle fingered salutes to sweatervest after throwing for that 7th TD pass with 30 seconds left in a 49-14 win 3 years from now, can you imagine how great it would be if you could spoil the Rose Bowl season by getting bowl eligible against Ohio State in the finale. A season in which OSU had no right to be the Big 10 favorite anyways that had been resurrected with a Rose Bowl birth would fall into Epic FAIL category. Admit it.. deep down if you could be 8-3 right now with a 49-7 beating on the way wouldn't you trade it for a 2-6 record with a season ending win over "The Ohio State University." Come on.

So you say.. Sure that would be great? But come on.. how do we even have a chance? Have you seen the UM defense?

Yeah I've seen your defense. You've got a great defensive end and a decent D-line.. You've got one decent corner and then three guys who can't cover to save their lives. Your linebackers are basically useless. But I tell you a secret.. Ohio State can't throw the ball...

Here's another one. Terrelle Pryor can't read a defense to save his life.

The closest thing that Ohio State has faced to your offense, and for that matter your defense... is Purdue. You played them a couple of weeks ago, it was like mirror images of chokedom and somehow they came out on top. They beat Ohio State too.. That means you can.

To which you say? You just want to be involved in a 17-way tie for the Big 10 title. Think of the glory of being tied with Iowa, Ohio State, Wisconsin, The University of Chicago, and insert branch campus here for the Big 10 championship.. Who couldn't want that? Guilty.. I wouldn't mind winning 3 of the last 5 Big 10 championships(none outright.. is that correct? Jesus). That would be a nice consolation prize.

But more than anything else.. I want their fanbase to turn on Tressel. And I think this game is just the game to do it.

So suck it up Michigan fans. Preview the damn game. Pay attention, send some damn letters to GERG to give him a freaking clue, and if you want to talk about basketball then talk about it when the fans of the bigtime programs do.. in March.

HATE WEEK: Michigan State!

2009-11-17T23:41:16Z

[Hate or go home, kids. - RUTS]

Here it is: the Big One to the Buckeyes/Wolverines Big Two, the most earth-shaking of rivalries, the one that makes the movie "2012" look like a Sunday evening cake walk, the bloody series that puts the "iv" in "rivalry". IT’S LAND GRANT TROPHY WEEK! The regular season hate reaches its apex now, where the storied rivalry between these two schools descends into a maelstrom of pain, passion, and anger. Hate Week Michigan State never ends!

The Breakdown:

WHO

Is Sparty grabbing the statues... uh??? Hmm. So help me, I don’t know where the other hand is about to go, but I’m guessing it’s some sort of "Sword and the Stone" thing.

WHO: The Michigan State Spartans. One of the oldest rivalries in the Big Ten since 1993, the Spartans represent everything we hold dear except the opposite of that. Once again, Michigan State has nothing to play for in this series. Michigan State has faltered after contenting for the Big Ten title last year (how did that 2008 game end up, Sparty?) and now stands at 6-5 in the regular season, and is playing for the chance to represent the Big Ten in the Champs Sports Bowl. Whoopee.

If their coach was a West German music act from the late ‘70s/early ‘80s:

Guess the decade?

Sixth in a six-part series, but be prepared for some postseason hate. Why "Love System" by italo West German group The Twins? Remember MSU head coach Mark Dantonio’s decision to spend two time outs at the end of last year’s game? Well, this is the only thing more LAME than that.

WHAT

WHAT: The Land Grant Trophy. A trophy that was created by the same man who coined the "Little Caesars Pizza Pizza Bowl." That man was MSU coaching legend George Perles. Never heard of him? Me neither--some legend. As it stands, we are the only annual rivalry with a trophy featuring 1970s den shelves. A 2008 move to rechristen it the Abe Lincoln Land Grant trophy faltered, but the effort did end up with the unexpected result of becoming the primary source of inspiration behind the new Northwestern-Illinois "Land of Lincoln" Trophy, which is just a bronze top hat.

Secondary Source of Inspiration for the Land of Lincoln Trophy. Pennsylvania Avenue is worth more.

Although the trophy itself isn’t worthy of this great rivalry, I want to stress that we do not belittle the Land Grant game itself--for this game should mean something more than ourselves. I propose that this series evolve, that we not only represent Penn State in this series, but all Land Grant institutions south and east of Detroit:

BIG PICTURE! What the Land Grant Trophy represents. Suck it, Utah State University!

This has already become a sensation that crosses ten time zones and dozens of land grant institutions. Pictured here is the pandemonium surrounding the PSU-MSU pep rally on Monday at the University of the Virgin Islands. We Are!

We can’t let 'em down. The Land Grant Trophy belongs here in the East!

WHERE

A proud couple standing at ~~Nuremburg in the 1930s~~ Lansing in the 2000s. Seriously, that’s a whacked out statue. Did the ancient Spartans have no floating ribs and have poptarts for abs too?

Source: Scott Stetson Photography, I guess.

WHERE: Lansing. Screw their pretentious, "it’s East Lansing. If you don’t say ‘East Lansing’ you’re clearly an outsider." Whatever--like it’s supposed to embarrass me that I’m not from Michigan? Lansinglansinglansinglansing! You can easily see the State Capitol of Michigan while standing in East Lansing, so it's not like it's a massive mistake. Perhaps MSU students, alumni, and professors are ashamed of the Capitol, ashamed of their state and all it represents. MSU = unamerican? Hate Week reports, you decide.

WHEN

Pretty sure it's on Saturday.

WHEN: So help me I don’t know. Every time I put a time and a channel in one of these posts I get it wrong some how. How about I just say it’s this Saturday? Seems like a safe bet. Since it’s November, it won’t be a night game, so just hit the "Guide" button on your remote and figure it out. I hate the TV networks waffling about on where they put teams until a week or two before the game actually occurs. Let’s make it easy: in my unbiased opinion Penn State should be primetime, everytime.

WHY

JoePa after the 2007 loss. It. IS. ON.

WHY: Everything about this series is irritating. PSU owns the Spartans with a 12-4 overall record, but even in the Dark Years PSU went 4-1 and averaged 38.4 points per game in the series--capped with a 61-7 beatdown where Larry Johnson, Jr. turned the MSU defense into a walking Twitter post. A John L. Smith collapse was as reliable a November event as Thanksgiving falling on a Thursday. After watching the team put up 38+ points, most of us left the game/TV station scratching our heads going, "Where the hell was that all season long?"

Still, you could hardly choose worse years for the remaining three losses to occur. The 1997 loss cost us a berth in a BCS (technically Bowl Alliance) Bowl, the 1999 loss ended the worst season slide since 1914 and put a team that was #2 at the beginning of November in the Alamo Bowl, the 2007 loss was a monumental collapse that sealed He Who Formerly Could Not Be Named's position in the doghouse of Penn State QB lore. Ohhh, that game suuuuucked. It also began the irritating rise of Mark Dantonio, pictured below:

DANTONIKHAAAAAAAAAAN!!!!!

This series has devolved into an endless sequence of beatdowns, occassionally punctuated with a devastating loss. It’s the worst of rhythms as you’re stuck somewhere between a PSU-Temple lopsided speedbump and a quality rivalry. So where are we? Stuck with a mediocre rivalry when an end-of-season game against Pitt or Wisconsin would be ten times as compelling. I hate MSU for being content with mediocrity. I hate Michigan State for never bringing anything to the table but leftovers. I hate Michigan State for making me sleep halfway trhough the game when I want to be entertained, and making me pull out my hair when I just want an easy win. I hate Michigan State for claiming it’s a football school when every November the basketball program is the only thing on everyone’s minds. I like the good-natured fans at Iowa, Michigan, and Ohio State--because deep down I know they want to see us openly weeping at the end of the game. I hate good-natured Michigan State fans because, deep down, it’s just a nice way to spend a Saturday. In short: I hate MSU for just being MSU. HATE! HATE! HATE!

hypothetical-ness...because i feel like it

2009-11-17T22:48:23Z

My TV didn't work on Saturday. A major storm knocked out my cable, and i was left to frantically refresh my blackberry for PSU updates. This afforded me plenty of time to let my mind roam a little bit. And I may have come up with a few hypothetical topics for discussion. I'll air them out there and see what you all think about it. Here we go...

1.) 4-win Purdue played 5-win Michigan State. Purdue needed to win their last two while MSU needed just one. Had Purdue won that game, both would have been 5-win teams, needing a win this Saturday. Purdue against Indiana (a possible win) and MSU against PSU. Now, it didn't work out that way, so this is a moo point, but if Purdue had won and become bowl eligible, MSU could add another Big Televen team to the bowl season. We all know that more B10 bowls means more conference money in the pot, and the B10 shares its money among its teams (I believe). What are the odds that Penn State (or any team in this scenario, since we know JoePa would never allow this) would allow MSU to "pull off the upset" and become bowl eligible? OSU, Iowa, Wiscy, and PSU all stand to go to high-payout games in the Outback ($3million+), CapOne ($4million+), Rose ($17million+) and Fiesta/Orange/Sugar ($17million+) any any debatable order. Northwestern is a lock for Alamo ($2million+) and MSU for the Champs Sports ($2million+). If Purdue were to join the mix, they could be invited to the Insight ($1million+). Theoretically, if MSU were to "pull the upset" against PSU, the conference would stand to profit. Obviously this can't happen now, but it could have. What are your thoughts? Discuss.

2.) A little research yielded these trends. The Big Ten is likely looking at 4 10-win teams. The SEC could get 3 if LSU beats both Ole Miss and Arkansas. The Nintendo 12, Big East, MWC, and MAC are all looking at 2 10-win teams (likely). However, the Big Ten will only have 5 7-win teams. This is fewer than the ACC (6), Nintendo 12 (7), the SEC (8), and PAC-10 (6), and even with the likes of the Big East, C-USA, and MAC. Only the MWC, WAC, and Sun Belt stand to have fewer 7-win teams (as expected). What does this say about our conference? Top-heavy or just mediocre and fat on an awful bottom half? Looking at our showing in big games, and other teams' reputation for the same, I'd consider joining the club that our conference is flat out lousy for the foreseeable future, with few "prove-it" opportunities to change the national perspective (except PSU-Bama, which could be VERY interesting the next two years). Is our conference's strength at the top just smoke and mirrors?

3.) If Michigan can surprise OSU this Saturday,

there could possibly be a 4-way tie for the conference title. I know the BCS is already decided, but has anything like that ever happened, where more than 1/3 of the conference shares the conference title?

Everyone chew on that for a little while. I'm gonna get some Advil.

via redriverpak.files.wordpress.com

Don't Blame Temple, the last Week

2009-11-16T23:51:05Z

It may be my imagination, but this situation seems to get worse every week. The computers hate PSU.

The reason is the Big Ten. Take a whiff of every one of PSU's wins, and MSU.

PSU's wins according to Sagarin this week. Sandwiched between 8-2 Temple and 8-2 Eastern Illinois are a bunch of 60 and lower losers. MSU will probably drop if we beat them.

21 Penn State

54 Michigan State

61 Temple (8-2)

62 Minnesota

76 Northwestern

78 Purdue

82 Michigan

91 Indiana

95 Syracuse

96 Illinois

124 Eastern Illinois (8-2)

Knee hating gods

2009-11-16T20:57:48Z

[This fanpost beat me by about 10 minutes. The story is front-paged here, so I'm going to close comments on this one for the sake of housekeeping. - RUTS]

For the love of Zug, we have yet another torn ACL. Brandon Beachum will be out for the year with a torn ACL. I could blame this on our strength and conditioning program but in reality that would be nonsense. This is just another instance of bad luck and one that worries me for next year. If, which I doubt, Royster leaves early I would much prefer to have a fully healthy Beachum providing the thunder to Green's lightning.

"Other" PSU Sports Updates

2009-11-16T16:38:16Z

Women's soccer team was shocked by Virginia's six second half goals and was bounced from the NCAA tournament, 6-2.

In the 90th minute, the men's soccer team lost to Ohio State in the Big Ten championship game, 1-0. Their post-season prospects are dicey.

The wrestling team beat up on Bloomsburg.

The men's basketball team takes on Robert Morris tonight at the BJC. Robert Morris has made the last two NCAA tournaments, so it's not a gimme.

The women's basketball team beat NJIT.

Penn State received an at-large bid to the NCAA cross country championships.

Michigan State Game

2009-11-16T16:34:01Z

A group of us will be heading to East Lansing for the first time this weekend. I was wondering if there were any tailgating/parking restrictions or rules we should be aware of before I get there. Does anyone know which lot the PSU tent will be set up in?

Also, any suggestions about where to go or where not go while visiting East Lansing? Restauants, bars????

"Success without honor is an unseasoned dish; it will satisfy your hunger, but it won't taste good.”