A few months ago, we had the brilliant-if-not thought out idea of having a weekly mailbag, where all the members of the Black Shoe Diaries community could as various editorial staff members of the site Penn State sports-related questions.
Well, we should've known how that would turn out.
We got a few semi-serious questions, so I'll tackle those first:
Misdreavus asks: "Why wouldn’t they redshirt both Breneman and Hackenberg if they can? I can see Hackenberg starting right away, but Breneman isn’t absolutely needed." I get your point. In an ideal world, they'd be able to redshirt both, but we all know that's not the world we live in. So, here we are, with the two arguably best players at their position coming in to Penn State next year--when was the last time we could say that?
The one argument I can give for not redshirting is the fact that O'Brien's made a point to play the best available options at all positions. If Breneman and Hackenberg are those options, why should they sit? If they would help the team win more games now, why make them wait? Ultimately, regardless of what happens, there will be those who'll second guess the coaching staff's decision, and complain that they were (or weren't) redshirted. But we're not there, and we don't see what they see. Based on the limited history of this staff, I have as much faith as I can at this juncture that they'll do what's best for the team (and that includes both players) when they make this decision in August.
Peter asks from Facebook: "Your life savings on who wins a fight between Michael Mauti and Quentin Wright. Who ya got? Oh, Peter. Peter, Peter, Peter. I bet you didn't know who'd be answering this first round of questions, did you? As it's me, there's only one right answer.
Quentin Wright
Just kidding! Don't get me wrong, I love Q quite a bit--he's the consummate Penn Stater, loves the town, loves his teammates, loves his coach and excels in his sport and off the field. But, come on...it's Mauti. Mike Mauti. The guy of Beckman's nightmares. The guy who drinks Miller Lite and publicly goes off on the NCAA. The guy who would probably scare the living daylights out of everyone if it weren't for this.
I like him. He wins.
GreenEggsandSpam asks: "Do the BSD staff think we should still be "moving on"?" I can't speak for any member of the BSD staff besides myself, but I personally take offense to the whole "moving on" notion--and the fact that some people (not necessarily you, GEAS) are claiming BSD's been a part of that notion since the beginning.
There's not two groups of people on it, those who want to "move on" and those who want to hash and rehash. This issue, as with most issues, is incredibly nuanced, all shades of grey. So, do I want to not talk about Sandusky any more? Of course, I don't want to (I'm not sure anyone does), but it will be news, so we will. But I'm not so sure that talking about it with every waking breath when there's nothing new to report because the trials of Curley and Schultz haven't happened yet is productive.
In other words, not at all. But kinda yes.
Now, onto the inanity!
Letsgo asks: "Why do fools fall in love?" I don't know, ask them. Though, I'm not so sure any of them have the time or inclination for romantic endeavors...
Nittanian asks: "Who wrote the book of love?" Warren Davis, George Malone and Charles Patrick.
BNitts asks: "What exactly is the "pompitous of love"?" Nothing. But I'm sure Ducky had something to do with it. Or maybe it was Maurice...
84 asks: "Do twins have doppelgangers?" Isn't that slightly redundant? Either way, I'm sure identical quadruplets might suffice.
WBF asks:"In calculating half your age plus seven, are you supposed to round up or down when you are an odd-numbered age? Which way gets me closer to a certain linebacker? I'd say round down, it's more forgiving that way.
Paige asks: "Who put the bomp In the bomp bah bomp bah bomp?" Frankie Lymon.
WBF asks: "Better song for a lap dance: Sunday Morning Coming Down or The Ballad of Ira Hayes?" Neither. Go with Tarantino on this one. Or, come to fact, any of these (except Nickelback, that's gross). If I had to pick one overall, though, I'd probably go with Aerosmith's Rag Doll. Don't know why. That's just how I roll.
BlackJackFishTaco asks: "why isn’t Boyz II Men the original boy band?" Because this boy band came before them.
That's it for me this week, guys; next week, another member of the BSD staff will tackle your questions...leave them here, or hit us up on Facebookor Twitter or via email (blackshoediaries.staff@gmail.com).
Oh yeah, and < insert shameless plug for our kickstarter here >.
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