BSD Mailbag 10.26.18

The weather forecast has me thinking about the 2009 Iowa game. Can you think of a more miserable game?—bearwithscarf

Honestly, that’s what I was thinking too - but there’s probably been games similarly miserable since then, we just aren’t thinking of them because they meant less than that Iowa game (right now it’s supposed to be a high of 44, with a chance of rain hovering around 50% for the duration of the game).

Let’s just hope that the overconfident fanbase’s team isn’t the one that wins this year!

The stadium looked deserted in the 4th quarter....How did you find the crowd?—jiminore

I was actually in the only mostly full section in the fourth quarter - the Penn State section. The Indiana folks starting pouring out when we went up by 12, and then 75% of those left when the Hoosiers went three and out after that.

My friends and I kept saying how that was incredibly dumb, knowing how we blow leads, and my brother mentioned how the Indiana fans didn’t deserve to have a team that won...I had IU friends there, so I have to cut them some slack, but it did get miserable pretty quickly when the sun went down, with the crazy wind that had been there all day.

Did you know Indiana has a running back who’s nickname is Whop because he ate so many whoppers as a child? I think I recall hearing about that during last week’s game.—LionfanAllan

Well, the sarcasm font doesn’t work in actual posts - but no, I didn’t know that. I was at the game so I didn’t have to hear the announcers - and I would say I was happy about that, but anyone who’s ever been to an Indiana home game knows my pain when I say, I envy you (“FIRST. DOWN. HOOOOOOOSIERRRRRRS”)

How long before Penn State becomes “elite” again and is in the playoff or wins a national championship? I am 4 days from 54, who knows how many years I have left to wait. Seriously I want you younguns to experience the feelings of 1982 and 1986.—wvlion

Technically I experienced those feelings, but I don’t remember it. I do remember 1994, and the dejection of that year and knowing we were the best team and couldn’t prove it - kind of similar to 2016 and 2017 (I still believe we would have won our first round last year had we beaten MSU), only much worse.

I think we’re really close - 2019 looks like it should be really good, with only a handful of starters leaving and a veteran o-line.

Ohio State loss to Purdue: does it provide needed perspective?

Now that tosu has lost, do you feel any different about losing 2 back to back and looking ahead at the schedule? tosu could easily lose 1 more, and while it is easy to say “if we had only beat Sparty”, I have to admit that this season is settling in line with expectations that were probably too high at the beginning of the year.

by LukePSU89

Here’s why I feel different about losing: since Michigan in 2016, PSU has lost five games by a *combined* 11 points. That’s NUTS. Compare that to the Buckeyes, who’ve had a blowout loss in each of the last three years (after losing to PSU—Urban’s first B1G road loss, btw—they got blanked by Clemson 31-0; in 2017, Iowa destroyed them 55-24 last year, and they looked woefully lost at Purdue last week).

Do I like losing? Gosh, of course not. But I’ve seen some Penn State “fans” say they wish the losses had been by more points so they would’ve been less heartbreaking, but my god that’s totally wrong. I felt waaaaay worse and discontent after we lost to Michigan in 2016 than we did after we lost to Pitt two weeks before. Because eventually, those close losses turn into wins - the luck (like two weeks ago against MSU, when seemingly every tossup went the Spartans’ way) has got to shift.

Penn State has now gone 82 straight quarters without trailing by double digits at any point in any game. More impressive streak: that or Penn State Volleyball’s streak of 119 (I think that’s what it was) straight sets without dropping one from a few years back?—ckmneon

It was 109 Penn State volleyball victories, and it clearly was more impressive. But the Lions are very close to being elite - see above. There’s something to be said about not being blown out, and being ranked in the process; obviously it’s not as good as winning, but that’ll come. I’m sure of it.

Should we burn Culpepper’s and Hawkins’ redshirts? The situation at DT is critical at the worst possible moment (3 upcoming games vs power run offenses).

It looks like Jordan and Hansard are out for the season. The starters are somewhat solid, but the drop-off after them is huge.At this point, why not burn Hawkins’ and Culpepper’s redshirts? They will provide fresh legs and arguably are better DT prospects than Shelton and Thorpe at the moment.—lamgol

First of all, Judge Culpepper and Aeneas Hawkins could redshirt even if they play up to four games, so we could see them at any time.

But here’s why we shouldn’t: they’re both still relatively undersized, and as a DT at this level, you can be undersized, or you can be green - you can’t be both and succeed. For example, Anthony Zettel was undersized, but he was a redshirt junior when he went into the middle - he had the technique to overcome his size. On the other hand, Antonio Shelton and CJ Thorpe have 25 and 45 pounds on both Culpepper and Hawkins - and at that size, they can eat up a lot of space.

Lastly, I preach this all the time, but the coaches want to win, more than any of us. And if they think not putting Culpepper or Hawkins in the game gives Penn State the best chance to win, they’re more likely than not correct.

I’ve come to believe that Iowa, when playing at home, gets an automatic extra D20 roll per drive

and an extra D8 roll per trip to the red zone. They also get a D6 roll per defensive play. I’m hoping when we play them we can reduce them to D4 rolls on both offense and defense. If you rolled a D10 what do you think would come up for the chance that they’ll be limited to the D4 versus the D6 or even the D8?—RWReese

I am really not sure what this all means? Something about dice?

I’ve strategically avoided my friends’ efforts to get me to join their D&D games over the years, so you’ll have to elaborate in the comments.

why are iowa fans the second most insufferable in the Big?—gestaltshift

‘Cept, they’re not. I’ve met a LOT of really great people who are Iowa fans - some of whom hosted me when I went to Kinnick in 2012, and one of whom is even coming down to the Maryland game over Thanksgiving weekend. Of course there’s gonna be bad apples in the bushel, but that’s true of every fanbase. Look at some of the insufferable people in our fanbase, for godsakes!

I can go through every fanbase in the Big Ten and point to one (or more) people that I genuinely like who are alums and/or fans of that team. Except Illinois, for some reason.

Is Kirk Ferentz less than, equal to, or greater than Hayden Fry? Same question between Ferentz and Dantonio?—Dbridi

I was prepared to go all in on Fry without it being close, but looking at their records, they are pretty similar. I will give the edge to Fry, though, because he coached in an era where he wasn’t making over $4 million a year - and he won the Big Ten three times (Ferentz has only one 2x).

Give me either one of them over Mark Dantonio, though.

How come you all don’t have a headline for David Taylor winning gold at the world championships? Please fix that.—ranger995

You’ll have to ask one Clay Sauertieg about that - he’s the editor in charge of wrestling now.

David Taylor just won a world title! Who is the next PSU wrestler to get one?—kavija66

Besides a Magic Man repeat, there was only one other non-coach PSUer that I saw coverage of in Budapest besides DT was his training partner:

There’s a reason that Bo’s likely to move up to 197, and that he traveled to Hungary.

Win, Bo. Win.

What do you think of the NFL playing all these games in London? I feel like it is like E$PN trying to force soccer down our throats but I suppose there is a revenue stream that they are trying to tap across the pond.

Also…The Jags-Eagles game comes on here at 6:00am. Not enough bloody marys to make that worthwhile.—LarzLion

I love it! Going to watch the Penn State game in Dublin in 2014, I didn’t realize how many fans of American football there actually were in the British Isles - there were folks wearing the randomest of random NFL jerseys to the game, just excited to see football in person. I didn’t expect that, and I’m really happy for them that the NFL is taking the game to them.

Also, I do enjoy soccer if there’s nothing else on, or if it is the World Cup. It’s a good sport to put on when you’re reading, writing, or cooking - because you don’t have to pay attention to every minute.

Plus, the Penn State women are pretty darn good at it, winning the regular season of the Big Ten outright again this year.

I’m heading to state college for a university job interview this weekend till Monday. Where are some places I should go to help sell the town to my partner? I haven’t been to state college since 2010.—psualum9931

I’d definitely check out Otto’s, if you can, and Liberty Tap Room is now one of my favorite places downtown. If you and/or your partner like wine, there are some good wineries in and around State College, and I’d check out the arboretum once the rain clears up.

There’s always a ton of sports going on, so if your partner is someone who likes a variety of sports, there’s a volleyball game Saturday night, and field hockey and soccer on Sunday if the weather is good.

Is halloween way more fun as an adult than it was as a kid? Putting some work in on this year’s costume (mad scientist), coming together nicely.—phillyfanisc

I actually don’t really care too much for Halloween. It’s fine, I guess, and candy is great and I like to see how my friends and family dress up - but I just don’t like attention, so dressing up is just not for me. I do love pumpkin flavored stuff, though, save pumpkin beer.

What is your favorite Halloween candy?—Malkin’s Milkshake

Reese’s Peanut Butter pumpkins, Indian corn (which I think is no longer appropriate to sell, apparently), Snickers pumpkins, twizzlers.

You’ve been given the gift of eternal life. The gift comes with two rules:

1) Every communication you make (written, verbal, electronic, etc.) must be a direct or very close paraphrase of a movie line.

2) All your lines must come from only ten movies.

Which ten movies do you choose?

My suggestions:

• A Few Good Men
• Casablanca
• Field of Dreams
• Ghostbusters
• Kelly’s Heroes
• Monty Python and the Holy Grail
• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
• Sandlot
• The American President
• The Princess Bride—Smee

This is a great question! The movies I quote all the time are Star Wars, Serenity, Clueless, 10 Things I Hate About You, Empire Records, Finding Nemo, Mean Girls, and your suggestion, Princess Bride. Two standalone quotes I say all the time, even if just to myself, are from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (“I’m going to bed before either of you get us all killed, or worse, expelled”) and Some Like It Hot (“Nobody’s perfect!”).

I’m sure I’ll have my family pointing out quotes I say from other movies that I’ll have to insert in the comments, but leave me your favorite quotes of the movies you quote the most in the comments - but don’t leave the title, it’ll be up to your fellow community members to figure it out.

Happy Iowa week!