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Nitt Picks Keeps Going...And Going...And Going...

It's hard being a blogger. I'm not looking for sympathy or anything. I'm just trying to paint the picture for you. Imagine if you will you have some things you want to get off your chest that you think other people would be interested in reading. So you start up a blog. You pour your heart out putting out the greatest stuff ever written since the advent of pen and paper. But after a week you find yourself out of ideas and the site meter reads ten hits per day, and you're pretty sure nine of those are you. It's hard work coming up with new material day in and day out. So it's not surprising to see many blogs come and go. Every blogger hits a wall where they don't feel like blogging anymore. The good ones keep going. The rest, well, it's easy to see why so many of them fizzle out after just a few weeks.

That's why I feel we established bloggers have a duty to lift up promising bloggers that look like they have what it takes. They do more than just link to other blogs and throw up an occassional photo shop. They show the ability to come up with an original thought. Tangled Up In White and Blue is such a blog. Add it to your daily reading. And make sure you clear a half an hour and read his Penn State Football Carol. It's absolutely brilliant and a highly entertaining read. (Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV)

...

In a way I'm glad Joe Paterno broke his leg last season. It delayed his induction into the college football Hall of Fame by a year, but it prevented him from sharing the stage with Bobby Bowden. I'm glad Paterno got the podium to himself this year because frankly, I've always felt he's a better man than Bowden. You need no more proof than what we saw this week. While 20 Penn State football players were earning Acedemic All-Big Ten Honors, 20 Florida State players were caught cheating on internet exams. (HT: platnumkid in the diaries)

...

Remember the horrible officiating we saw in the Purdue game? Remember how that crew was supposed to be suspended but ended up working the Illinois-Ohio State game the next weekend and botched several calls in that one too? Turns out the leader of that crew has a history of casino gambling, bankruptcy, child abuse, sexual harrassment, and sexual assualt against his step daughter. (HT: The Nittany Line)

Seriously. Does the Big Ten have any kind of screening process for its officials? And I thought it was bad when one of your lead officials turned his office into a shrine to the Michigan Wolverines. Is there any reason to trust the Big Ten officiating at this point?

Anyone wanna bet me this comes up tails?

...

MGoBlog took exception with this statement I made.

What happens if Rodriguez starts ignoring cherished time-honored traditions? What happens if he fails speak of Bo Schembechler and Fielding Yost as if they were saints? What happens when he loses to Ohio State and says "Win some. Lose some" in his post game press conference?

Here is his response.

...what happens if Rodriguez slaps himself in a press conference after losing to Illinois? I agree that if it turns out Michigan has hired a lunatic, it will be bad for the program. It's not something to fret about until we hear he's slapped Tyrelle Pryor.

Uh, what?

My point was that Rodriguez cannot fully appreciate Michigan tradition and history at this time. He admitted this himself in his press conference. He may learn to appreciate it, but right now he is new to the program. Not only is he new to Michigan, he really has no experience playing for or coaching a premier college football program. Nothing in his past experience has prepared him for the pressure he is going to feel coaching the Maize and Blue. So I expect he'll step on his toes a few times and say some stupid things, but he'll figure it out. If he wins all will be forgiven. If not it will annoy the Michigan faithful and they will say he wasn't the right man for the job. But I didn't mean to imply that Rodriguez is a lunatic. I see no reason to believe that.

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I'm still here
No worries Mike, I still plan to have my blog intact (btw, thanks for finally adding me in your links section).  That is at least, until March Madness ends.  I figure by then though, I'll start focusing more on non-sports related stuff to pass the time.

I'm also waiting for word to come out that one of the Big Ten referees murdered three guys in cold blood back in the 60's, much like a former PSU professor had done before the school found out in 2003.  Jeez, I never thought an organization like the Big Ten could be so laissez-faire in its background checks.  

by Tim Aydin on Dec 20, 2007 1:48 AM EST reply actions  

blog
Hey Mike, no sympathy, just a comment.  BSD has become the premier blog for PSU football, and as such does have many readers and is a great forum for discussion. I have also noted alot of reader/writers have some really great thoughts and input. When you are feeling a little burned out you could ask for input (like the week you were off) or move some of the diaries to the front page.  I think the main thing is just having a recognized site led by a great writer like yourself for us junkies to log into.  Also it would be wonderful if Rodriguez slapped himself after a loss, that move is classic.

by PSU86 on Dec 20, 2007 9:13 AM EST reply actions  

Thanks
Thank you for the kind words. I'm humbled that you consider this the "premier" PSU blog.

I don't consider myself a writer. I'm just a fan like the rest of you. A few years ago I got into blogging for mostly political purposes. For reasons I won't go into I got burnt out on it because I found politics didn't interest me anymore. It was right after the 2005 season when the program was riding high. I was looking for anything I could read about the PSU program. So I started looking for PSU blogs and to my amazement there weren't any. Recognizing an opportunity to provide a forum for Penn State fans like myself I started up a little blog called "Hail to the Lion".

I ran that off and on for about six months when Peter from Burnt Orange Nation invited me to join SBNation. We started up BSD in August of 2006 and haven't regretted one minute of it.

When I started this thing I thought it would be cool if I could get 100 hits per day. That was it. I never dreamed BSD would be averaging 1500-2000 hits per day like we are now. I think that is really a tribute to all of you. My opinions aren't any better thought out or correct than any other blogger's. What makes this site great is the interaction of the community. The hits are great, but I get more satisfaction when a post I write gets 40 comments to it. That tells me people think it's worthy of discussion, and that makes me feel good that I can provide the forum for them to do that. All I have to do now is throw anything up there and you guys will run with it. That makes my job easy as a blogger.

I'm particularly encouraged by all the diaries you guys have been writing. That tells me you have taken ownership of this site. I read each and every diary even though I may not comment on all of them. Sometimes I like to let you guys go and just watch. Because I'm the administrator here sometimes I'm afraid if I jump into a conversation people will assume that I want to have the last word. So in that sense I try not to get involved for fear of squashing debate.

I really enjoyed the Open Blog Week we had a while back. You guys all did an awesome job. In fact I'm thinking about setting aside one day a week during the offseason where we'll have open blog day for you guys. Maybe I'll put up a tutorial to show you how to load pictures and put links into your posts. I know you can use flickr and other online photo sharing programs to do it, so maybe some of you want to look into that.

Mike
Black Shoe Diaries

Hail to the Lion!

by BSD on Dec 20, 2007 9:43 AM EST up reply actions  

Woot, front page mention!!!
As for mgoblog's comments: I think what he was saying is that the examples you gave of RR not respecting THEM were too obvious and he would have to crazy to make a mistake like those.  

by platnumkid on Dec 20, 2007 10:24 AM EST reply actions  

good stuff
BSD this site is top notch and I think you are right on in that is because you do such a great job of combining great posts with a sense of community.

I finally got hooked up on sitemeter.com and am noticing several of my hits are links from you site, so, just wanted you to realize your impact on the PSU blogosphere is greater than you can imagine...did I make that sound too noble?

Anyway, coachs slapping themselves is good material.  I love how Michigan fans are, at least from the one's I've talked to, pretty much counting on Pryor to commit (not that I don't think he won't go there, but it is an interesting point).  

http://thebigeleventh.blogspot.com/

by Big 11th on Dec 20, 2007 11:00 AM EST reply actions  

Dittos
PSU86 said it for many of us including me ... you are the premiere Penn State blog, the FIRST read for Penn State if not Big Ten blogs, and probably wider than that.  You're an inspiration to me and thanks for the encouragement.

by Blue Blooded on Dec 21, 2007 9:27 PM EST reply actions  

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