The big man hits 85 today, and everyone at BSD wishes him a happy, healthy day. Joe has had a rough couple of months, so hopefully this birthday and holiday season finds him in the company of family and other loved ones.

Joe Paterno has a "treatable" form of lung cancer, as announced by his son Scott in a statment to the Associated Press on Friday afternoon:

Scott Paterno said in a statement provided to The Associated Press by a family representative on Friday that the 84-year-old Joe Paterno is undergoing treatment and that "his doctors are optimistic he will make a full recovery."

"As everyone can appreciate, this is a deeply personal matter for my parents, and we simply ask that his privacy be respected as he proceeds with treatment," Scott Paterno said in a brief statement.

Words fail me at this point.  Give it hell, Joe.

From Steve Yanda, at the Washington Post's Cavaliers Journal:

Steve A. Garban, chairman of Penn State’s Board of Trustees, reached out to gauge Virginia Coach Mike London’s interest in succeeding Joe Paterno on Wednesday, before the board announced the firing of the Nittany Lions’ longtime coach, according to a person with direct knowledge of the situation.

The person, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, said London has no interest in leaving Virginia and declined the overture. In fact, the person said, London would prefer to sign an extension to remain with the Cavaliers beyond the terms of his current five-year contract, which expires Dec. 7, 2014. 

Tom Bradley has acted in this capacity before, and will speak about doing so again in a couple of minutes.  You can get the feed from the Big Ten Network here. The corporate exodus has begun, starting with the backdrop, but not ending there.

The release, which is likely familiar to you:

As announced by The Pennsylvania State University Board of Trustees Wednesday night, Tom Bradley will assume head coaching duties for the Penn State football team for the remainder of the 2011 season, replacing long-time head coach Joe Paterno.

In his 33rd season on the staff and 12th supervising one of the nation's top defenses, Bradley has played a large role in the success of the defense and recruiting efforts during his tenure. Bradley helped develop four All-Americans in the secondary. In addition to the defensive backs, Bradley also has coached five other positions, including outside linebackers and defensive ends, coordinated the special teams and served as recruiting coordinator, bringing numerous prep standouts to Penn State throughout his tenure. Shane Conlan, O.J. McDuffie, Kim Herring, David Macklin, Bryan Scott, Alan Zemaitis, Justin King, Lydell Sargeant and D'Anton Lynn are among the standouts he has coached.

Bradley was a football letterman at Penn State in 1977-78, a graduate assistant in 1979 and became a full-time staff member in 1980. He is a graduate of Bishop McCort High School in Johnstown, Pa.

###

This is likely not a surprise to anyone:

Goes for students and commenters. Maybe we should all sleep on this, hmm?

Update #1: It's official. Paterno and Spanier ousted, Bradley named interim head coach.  No comment on the status of Mike McQueary.

Update #2: Uh, Tim Curley is still employed?

Update #3: Key words tonight as "best interests of the University".

Jim Gardner of WPVI in Philadelphia is reporting that at a 10 p.m. press conference following a Board of Trustees meeting in University Park tonigiht, Penn State will announce that Head Coach Joe Paterno will not coach another game, Graham Spanier has tendered his resignation, and Defensive Coordinator Tom Bradley will be named Interim Head Coach, effective immediately.

The press conference can be seen on ESPNEWS, abc6.com, and probably a hundred other places.

Update #2: The New York Times reports that Paterno will be out "perhaps within days or weeks".

Update #1: Well this isn't going to help.

via s1-02.twitpicproxy.com

...

Scheduled to begin around noon. We'll see how long it takes for someone to break the non-Nebraska seal.

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