I mentioned the other day that Dontey Brown was conspicuously absent from the 2008 Spring Roster. It slipped past me that Travis McBride was also not on the list of players taking part this spring. Now we know why. Both players have transferred to Cal University of PA.

McBride had trouble cracking the two deep his entire career, and academic problems made it hard for him to earn Paterno's favor. If you recall, he did not make the trip with the team to the 2007 Outback Bowl for this reason. Brown also had trouble making the lineup, which is understandable when you're playing your whole career behind guys like Paul Posluszny, Dan Connor, and Sean Lee. His departure just prior to his final year of eligibility tells me Chris Colasanti is probably the leader to take over the middle linebacker spot.

We're Penn State. You're not supposed to talk about basketball in March

Just a little basketball related info to share. Jeff Rice from the CDT has an excellent article on how the PSU basketball program is shooting itself in the foot by scheduling too many out of conference cupcakes.

And then there's this part, which is almost laughable.

So much like in football, the almighty dollar is winning out. We have to sell tickets, and since we don't sellout any of our home games we have to put more games on the schedule. Then scratch your head when your season ticket holders don't show up for your big game against Denver. It's one thing in football where you can wave the $300,000 carrot in front of a mid-level MAC team to come to Happy Valley to take a beating, but you'll never get any self respecting Div-I basketball team to schedule a 2-for-1 with Penn State.

If Curley and DeChellis want to build a good program they could do so, but it's going to take sacrifice. It's going to take money. Make a commitment to do whatever it takes to give the players and coaches whatever tools they need to have the best facilities in the country. Then put good teams on the schedule. Call Pitt and line up a ten year series. If Pitt wants to play six or seven of those games in Pittsburgh, do it. Schedule some tough competition, because these high school kids aren't dying to come to State College to play against Bucknell and Princeton.

The Wizard Hat Wearing Snake Oil Saleman Strikes Again

I'm sure the rest of you love watching the Michigan fan base squirm as much as I do. This week they are convinced the end is near as Justin Boren, a starting guard and center in all of Michigan's games in 2007 and an All Big Ten Honorable Mention recipient, has left the team leaving Michigan desperately thin on the offensive line with just three scholarship players to plug five spots. That's great, unless you're a Michigan fan, but what the Wolverines should find particularly troubling is Boren's comments about why he left.

Wow. The family values of the program have "eroded in just a few months." Sounds like Rich Rodriguez is a great guy afterall. This isn't at all suspicious after all of his other conduct in the past few months since taking the job. I don't want to be a know-it-all, but I said it before and I'll say it again: I hope Michigan is happy with their new coach. He may bring a lot of wins, but he isn't bringing much honor to their program.

Predictably, Michigan blogs laugh Boren off as a dumb fat kid that didn't want to work, but I find it hard to believe one ascends to the role of starting at guard and All Big Ten Honorable Mention for the Michigan Wolverines by loafing through practice. When you read this very well prepared statement you get the sense this is a very bright kid with a good head on his shoulders. You can't help but wonder if all of this was happening to Notre Dame, would Michigan fans be as tough on the kid, or would they just call Charlie Weis a colossal asshole?