General Lee
This weekend the team voted on their captains in a squad meeting. But Joe Paterno tapped one guy personally.
Lee, of Upper St. Clair, had been expected to be named a captain before the injury. He was tabbed by coach Joe Paterno at a squad meeting Monday. The players voted on the other team captains, but results were not available.
I think this is a great move. Keep Lee involved with the team in a quasi-coaching capacity. He can still fire everyone up and verbally kick their ass if he sees them dogging it. His experience in the film room is invaluable, and it's somewhat of a blessing that he will be around another year to coach all of these great young linebackers into shape.
As for the other captains, if I had to make a guess I think it's going to be Shipley, Williams, and Tyrell Sales. But I'm really pulling for Deon Butler to somehow get selected.
Eeeew that smell. Can't you smell that smell?
Remember last year there was a major concern about the number of port-a-johns at the Notre Dame game? It seems the university got the message and they are losing their patience with public urination.
I must say I after going to Michigan and Temple last year I think Penn State does an ok job of providing facilities. Public urination happens in Happy Valley, but I don't think it's out of control like I saw in Ann Arbor and Philadelphia. But the last part of the article did catch my eye.
Bodenschatz said that "a lot of the tailgating lots were left in pretty horrible disrepair."
"Blue/White is becoming more and more like a regular football game," he said.
"Our expectation is that people actually utilize the bags we have and they put their garbage and leave it for us to pick up. Some folks do that and some don't. It's obviously disappointing."
This is beginning to get seriously out of control. More and more I see tailgate parties that just throw their empty cups and cans on the ground and make no effort to pick them up. Is it so hard to bring a trash bag with you? For goodness sakes, the students go around handing out the blue trash bags to throw your recyclables into. All you have to do is leave the bag on the ground when you leave. I hate to make broad generalizations, but it's pretty much exclusively the younger generation of fans I see doing this. Frankly, it disgusts me. Can we do something about that?
Scott-Free
I'm late to the party here, but all of the charges against Austin Scott have been dropped.
Scott's defense attorney, John Karoly Jr. of Allentown, said that while the withdrawal of the charges was great news, he has mixed feelings and is "saddened at how unnecessary this really was."
Gee, it's with "deep regret" we have to turn an innocent man free. That's just the kind of attitude I love to hear from a district attorney. How do I know Scott was an innocent man? Maybe because the victim accuser has a history of raising bogus rape charges.
In both cases, the woman said the attacks happened after she spent the night drinking. And in both cases, she said she woke up to find the men forcing themselves on her, court records show.
Scott's attorney, John P. Karoly Jr. of South Whitehall Township, said the Moravian case shows the woman is ''pathological'' and has a history of falsely accusing men of rape.
''This girl has made similar allegations before that were not believed by a jury,'' he said. ''… If they insist on going forward with this case, we are going to petition the court to have her examined by a psychiatrist.''
The really sad thing here is that the DA knew about the bogus charges and tried to take this to trial anyway.
''I was prepared for this to come out sooner or later,'' he said.
Karoly said he will use the Moravian case to discredit the accuser. Marshall said he would fight any reference to it if Scott goes to trial.
''We don't think it's important at all, and we don't think the defense should even be talking about it at all at this stage,'' he said.
Marshall said he doesn't think the earlier rape accusation is relevant ''because it has nothing to do with what happened Oct. 5.''
So the credibility of the accuser has no importance in a case of he-said-she-said? Really? Nobody can convince me that the State College district attorney isn't out to score a big win in court and throw a Penn State football player in jail. If you still don't believe me, read the transcript of the phone conversation between Scott and the accuser the police recorded the morning after.
Scott: Oh, you're mad at me?
Accuser: A little, yeah.
Scott: Why?
Accuser: Because I told (laugher) you at the beginning of the night. Why do you think I left?
Scott: I don't know why you said you couldn't sleep there. I didn't realize that you were -- that's why I hit you up last night -- I was like, why are you walking home mad late?
Accuser: Because I didn't want to stay there because you upset me.
Scott: Damn, I wouldn't -- yo, I wouldn't have done that if you didn't want to.
Accuser: I told you no at the beginning of the night.
Scott: You said -- you said you just want to make -- respect you, that's it. I didn't realize that you -- I mean, damn, you try to flip it on me like -- you know what I mean? It sounds like you are mad at me or something.
Accuser: I am mad at you. (laughter)
Scott: Why?
Accuser: Because I said no (laughter) at the beginning of the night, and then with what happened...
Scott: What? I didn't -- (yawn) force you on top of me. I don't understand why you are mad at me now.
...
Accuser: Because, like -- I don't know. I don't even know what really happened. What --
Scott: What?
Accuser: Like, what happened last night? I have, like, bruises and stuff on me.
Scott: What did you say?
Accuser: I'm asking you, (laughter) like, what happened last night?
Scott: What do you mean? You came over. We were laying there, like, just cuddling and then we started doing whatever. Then we -- like, you got on top of me.
...
Scott: I thought everything was cool when you came over and I didn't -- like, I didn't force you on top of me. You were just laying there, and then like -- I don't know why you're so upset. Like, yeah, you said that at the beginning of the night but then obviously your feelings changed because you were on top of me. You know what I mean? I don't understand why you're so, like, upset now.
Accuser: I'm sad, because, like, I don't even -- when was I on top of you? You started it. You -- I woke up and you were on top of me.
Scott: What are you talking -- no, that's not what happened. You just said you didn't remember what happened.
Accuser: I don't remember, like -- I'll talk to you later.
This, was all the DA had to go on. Her word against his, and the DA knew she had a history of bringing false rape charges against people. Yet he pushed on with the trial. That, is "deeply regretful".
You know what else is "regretful" too? I remember after the charges were announced people were posting pages of the Daily Collegian all over campus with the story of Scott being dismissed from the team and they wrote in big letters "What about the victim?" on it. I think all of those people owe Mr. Scott a huge apology right about now. But I doubt one is coming.