BSD Mailbag 8.15.14

Volleyball questions.

Is Wisconsin the biggest threat to the Big Ten title this season? We only play them once, on the road to start Big 10 play. Nationally, who else looks like a candidate to stop a NCAA repeat?—jiminore

Wisconsin came out of nowhere to make a run last year at the NCAAs, and make it an all-B1G final for the first time ever. They had a spotty regular season, but turned it on when it counted under their first year head coach. They will most definitely build on that, as their team was relatively young last year and their phenomenal setter, Lauren Carlini, was only a freshman. They’ll definitely challenge Penn State and Nebraska in-conference this year, and we’re lucky we only have to play them once.

Nationally, the biggest threat is probably Texas—though you can’t discount the fact that we porched assistant coach Salima Rockwell back from them, so who knows what impact that has. They come into the season #2, and we actually don’t face them this year in the regular season. We do, however, face preseason #3 Stanford on September 5 at the Cardinal’s home court (live on tv)—so that could be a good barometer of where the season’s going to go.

If there was a Mount Rushmore of Penn State Coaches, who makes the list? Joe and Russ are obvious locks, and Cael is on his way (if not already there). Who else makes it?—Dbridi

I think the four would be Joe, Russ, Cael and Kaidanov.

Is it selfish for George O'Leary to retire after UCF's first game of the year against Penn State game this year?—irz813

I think that this has been pretty much dispelled, but yes, I think it would be a dick move to retire midseason—obviously if he was fired, that’d be a different story as that would be out of his control (though barring something crazy, UCF wouldn’t be doing that). I doubt he continues after this year, though, as UCF seems to have a good succession plan in place, and O’Leary has left the program in a great position, poised for continued success. Whether they can sustain that under another coach (presumably Brent Key), of course, is another story.

Will Matt McGloin be a Raider this Season? Or does he get cut? If he stays a Raider, will he see playing time?—87Townie

I didn’t watch the lone Raiders preseason game, but supposedly he looked decent. That being said, I’d be surprised if he stays in Oakland for the season. I think he makes a roster somewhere, but I doubt it’s still with the Raiders.

So Michigan is going to wear alternate unit's for there game with you. Two questions:

One, is it me or do their numbers look like they have been run over by a truck and is that them already admitting you will run them over?

Second, over/under before PSU joins all the cool kids and goes with them. You have names, now. And chipmunks. And B1G and Nike logos. It is just a small step, my dear, to join us on the dark side.—Former_DC_Buck

One. It is not just you. Those uniforms are awful. But, admittedly, not as awful as the uniforms they wore in 2012 (though they probably couldn’t be).

Two, OH HELL NO. I think Franklin is smarter than that, and he (and the athletic department) knows they’d have anarchy and rebellion on their hands were they to tinker too much with the uniform. PSU is consistently one of the highest ranked uniforms on most "favorite" lists for a reason—in spite of (because of) the classic, plain nature of the uniforms. The biggest change you may see soon is the removal of the names…maybe. We’ll find out in two weeks.

Is it weird that I never caught any grief about Sandusky from people in the real world?—WorldBFat

It probably depends on how much you wore your PSU-dom on your sleeve pre-IT. I did at first, because Penn State has always been such an integral part of my identity. But it died down very, very quickly.

Will James Franklin wear black Nikes on the sideline? If not, what will BSD change its name to?—Timetostepup

Whether he does or doesn’t, the name isn’t going anywhere.

But this makes me think—did O’Brien wear black nikes? Is this SOP for PSU coaches? Did the assistants under Paterno wear them as well?

Where should David Taylor hold his next wrestling clinic? Because we can cross Orwigsburg off the list. Note, "Spencer Lee’s house every day from now until 2017" is acceptable answer.—bveo12

Somewhere in the DC area so bscaff and I can go watch.

If HughGR offered to buy you a nice dinner, would you accept the offer?—Gerry Dincher

Sure, free dinner.

I firmly believe that most people who have generally thought of as bravado-filled internet personas are less abrasive in real life, plus I like to think that I would dispel some of his wonky stereotypes on Penn Staters. But I’d make sure I’d tweet out my location just in case.

Isn't it awesome being a lightweight and getting buzzed off of one good beer??? Cheap! So cheap!—Rambler

It IS awesome! I just changed a medication fairly recently that makes me way more of a lightweight and my bank account thanks me profusely. Though I have friends that now doubt the veracity of my bar stories of drinking at Penn State, which is an unfortunate side effect. Ah, well…

You know how when you get stuck behind a slow moving car and you try to use the Force to get them to switch lanes or turn off, am I the only one that gets disappointed when it doesn’t work, like I somehow think it will work?—Elihu

No, I get disappointed too. How the Force works in real life: you point at something and attempt to move it until someone else comes along and moves it for you.

Side note: I was at Dunkin Donuts for my coffee this morning, and the cashier complimented me on my Star Wars wallet. Clearly she did not notice my Star Wars heroes belt or my Rebel Starbird tattoo, but baby steps.

In memory of Robin Williams, what was your favorite movie that he was in?—Succss With Honor Always

I’m not sure it’s close. I do like What Dreams May Come and Mrs. Doubtfire, but it’s always going to be Aladdin.

Why is Rutgers?—letsgopsu

According to the Rutgers website, "Rutgers is the sole university in the United States that is a colonial college, a land-grant institution, and a public university. The university draws on a storied legacy of innovation and strong ties to a complex and diverse state to serve the public through education, research, health care, and community engagement." They also have a copious use of the term "we are" on that page. Just sayin’.

Should I try and raise money for charity from the BSD users, by getting and maintaining for a whole football season the Long Island Mediums hair style?—Big Maple

No.

So, today was the second time in the last 2 months that a grown man has cried at work over the conditions. What does that say about my workplace?—psualum9931

Nothing good, dude.

What are your top 3 favorite GIFs?—PSU12

OMG WHAT TO CHOOSE.

First of all, for recruits, it's this one:

Then, I feel like I have to have a Game of Thrones one (caution: improper, Cari-approved language):

And, finally, a Penn Statey one:

In comparison to SBNation's 305 other blogs, how has BSD been stacking up this year? Average hits per day, visitors, comments, whatever metrics the mothership uses and distributes?—Smee

I almost didn’t answer this question, for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is I don’t want to put other sites down or toot our own horn. I will say that the Big Ten portion of SBN’s College network is definitely the best performing portion, bar none; and there’s various metrics that the mothership uses to track, including overall page views, unique visitors, and number of posts—as well as comments, and fanposts, which indicate community involvement. Different blogs lead for all of these metrics, but I’m proud to say that BSD tends to consistently be top ten in most all of the metrics that the mothership tracks. That has to do with the staff we’ve assembled, as well as the community we’ve fostered.

So, thanks to everyone who is reading this, and who is a part of BSD—without you, we wouldn’t be here.