BSD Mailbag 11.8.19

Rank from one to 10 your most likely All-Americans in the PSU wrestling lineup this year?—wvlion

1a. Cenzo

1b. Hall

1c. Cassar

1d. Nick Lee (all four of these guys are going to be All-Americans)

5. RBY (as an AA last year, without a ton of guys redshirting, it’ll be surprising if he doesn’t make it again)

6. Conel/Beard (whomever is in the lineup at 197)

7. Shakur Rasheed (last two years have been disappointing finishes in March, especially this past season when injuries cut short his Big Ten tournament and he didn’t make the podium in Pittsburgh)

8. Brady Berge (he was super close last season, and now will be up to a more natural weight)

9. Jarod Verkleeren (if he is the starter at 149!)

10. Brody Teske (the uncertainties at the lower weights continue)

Minnesota is ranked 13th as an undefeated team and is ranked behind two loss Auburn and 5 teams with one loss. Where would a traditionally bad to mediocre SEC program (Ole Miss) be ranked if they were 8 – 0 going into the 11th week of the football season?—Gerry Dincher

I think it depends on the “traditionally bad to mediocre” team, and also preseason expectations. I think, for most pundits, what they thought about certain teams before the season started has a lot more to do with later season rankings than they’d care to admit - because most won’t admit they could have been wrong (Joel Klatt excepted). If it was a traditional bad squad that returned a lot and was preseason ranked? They might be ranked higher. But if we’re talking an Ole Miss squad that squeaks by Chattanooga and barely wins in subsequent weeks against sub-.500 squads, I think 13th is pretty likely.

Coaching carousel insurance: Keep hearing semi-serious people say semi-serious things about USC and FSU kicking the tires on Franklin. I’m sure it won’t they won’t be the last before the year is out.

At what point do our Boosters and Sandi need to back up the Brinks truck to keep him and as many staff as possible happy enough to stay? Who do you think we lose from the staff first?—SarcasmJam

I think Sandy’s gonna do her best to get James Franklin as much as possible, as quickly as possible, in order to tamp down on speculation. And let’s face it, FSU isn’t a contender for CJF - but USC might be, depending on Franklin’s priorities and what he thinks will more quickly get him to be the first African-American NCAA title-winning head coach.

As far as staff, I think Bowen may be the first to go, to an offensive coordinator position somewhere. I’d also look for Gerad Parker to be gone within 2 years.

Willie Taggert Firing: How many games should a Head Coach get before a school can tell if he needs to go? Taggart coached 21 games at FSU. He pretty much sucked, but this looks like the path to being the next Nebraska.—Paebr332

More than 21 games!

I think Taggart was going to get canned no matter what this year, but a year and a half is nowhere near enough. Firing a coach midway into his second season isn’t just the path to being the next Nebraska, it almost supersedes it - because it’s not giving the coach even a chance to make a bowl in his second year (FSU wasn’t going to make a bowl, to be fair). Jimbo Fisher arguably left some off-field issues for the coaching staff to clean up (not unlike Larry Coker at Miami).

3 quick ones.... How many TDs is Clifford responsible for this weekend?

Do you see Parsons having a game with stats like 13+ tackles, 2 sacks, 1 FF?

Did Epstein kill himself?—PeteZockyU

1. Sean Clifford gets 4 TDs (either three through the air and one on the ground, or all in the air)
2. Micah Parsons gets more than 13 tackles, fewer than 1 sack, but an interception
3. I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but I’m also a “the most logical explanation is often right” kind of person. And it’s not the most logical thing for him to kill himself, there’s just too many coincidences. So I’d be surprised, but we’ll never know the truth.

PSU-O$U to kick at noon, nobody it seems is happy with the time. when will they finally announce the Indiana kick time?—kingkub

Around 5 pm on Saturday, most likely - and watch it be noon again. And noon for Rutgera.

What is your policy on using “we” when discussing a team you root for? I think it is acceptable for college teams (if you attended the institution in question), but not for professional teams.—CaptBombs

I know it’s unpopular, but I use “we” quite a bit. You can see where my feelings around certain teams lie when I change out third party nouns for the “We”s (beginning to end of this past year’s Nats team is a big example of this).

Is it just me? Or does the on-field mascot for Minnesota look like Sandy the Squirrel (Spongebob’s friend):

—Precious Roy

I had never made this connection before, and now I can’t unsee it. Thanks for that.

Should Lovie Smith’s Beard have its own twitter account? And no, Alma Otter’s lame account won’t do. The person who did Capt. Andrew Luck’s twitter should take this on. It’s what America needs right now.—Paebr332

Yes!

One of my favorite parody accounts (@jwerthsbeard) started out that way and devolved into something much greater: a tribute to the player that it was devoted to, who wasn’t (and isn’t) on twitter. The account has gone dark on and off at times, but the owner’s love of baseball, pets, and the players shines through.

Urban Meyer or Pete Carroll: Who wins in a no-holds-barred cage match, and why?—Paebr332

If they make it to the cage without Meyer feigning injury or otherwise shadily not making the bout fair, it’s gonna be Carroll, who’d rip his shirt off and start pummeling Urban almost immediately.

What’s a reasonable amount of anger for when someone is late to call you for a scheduled phone interview by 10 minutes? I find myself getting more and more angry with each minute that passes after I’ve stolen away to some hidden area of the office or park outdoors.—Succss With Honor Always

I think a fair amount of anger is justified, but hold that anger in so that it doesn’t come through on the interview process. Especially if you are offered the job, later is when it’d be helpful (to the organization if not the interviewer themselves) to register your frustration and how unprofessional tardiness like that is.

And yes, I’m aware this happens fairly often. That doesn’t make it any more professional or a good idea.

Introducing my sons to the classics.....too soon? I have 14 & 17 year old sons. Thinking about exposing them to some classic film humor, but I am concerned in this age of correctness that I might not be doing them any favors.

Some of the classics to consider:

• Blazing Saddles
• Animal House
• Caddyshack
• Blues Brothers

What say you? Should I wait a while or have at it? At a minimum, I could show them the edited / PG versions. Any other suggestions?—LukePSU89

I think it’s past time they saw most of those. And there’s no need to go the edited route - anything that would be in any of those movies, they’ve heard at school 10 fold (if not far worse). Especially if you’re sitting there watching with them, and can explain any ahem generational differences between when the movies were made and kids nowadays.

And I second one of the commenters in the fanpost, definitely add Spaceballs to that list.

While we are on the movie topic my question is what movie have you never watched and never plan on watching that “everyone” loves? Sorry guys and gals but mine is Star Wars. Never saw or plan on seeing any of them. My older brother was a big fan but I never enjoyed science fiction since I was a kid. Probably my least favorite genre. I have always been a big comedy fan. (saw all of the classics)—bva-psu

I haven’t seen some classics like Gone With the Wind and Jaws that are on top box-office lists, but generally I’ve seen most movies that are widely beloved.

I do get how some of the genre-specific movies might not be everyone’s cup of tea, and I don’t begrudge anyone who knows in advance they won’t like something so won’t want to spend their time or money on it. Just because I love it, doesn’t mean everyone will!

Do you have a movie that you love now, but just didn’t really get the first time around? Mine is “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”—dmetz

I didn’t really like Robin Hood: Men In Tights at first, but now I love it. Generally I won’t revisit movies I’ve watched and don’t like, though, unless I’m practically forced to. And it takes a lot for me to be practically forced to, as strong-willed as I am.

Please weigh in on a long-running debate: Who is more of an exemplar of the Harvard man, Ryan Fitzpatrick or Ted Kazcynski?—WorldBFat

I can’t be the only one who had no idea until this very moment that Ryan Fitzpatrick went to Harvard, can I?

Thus, since one of the tenets I ascribe to being a Harvard man is making sure everyone knows that you went to Harvard, I guess we’re going unabomber here.

How much chocolate is too much chocolate?—Smee

I’m not sure there’s such a thing. If you’re growing tired of one kind, there’s so many varietals of chocolate you can always switch to dark or white to keep up the momentum!

you have a button on your dash that can vaporize one type of driver...which driver do you use it on?

-the “I’m not sure what a turn signal is for” driver

-the “I’ll sit at this red light with no cross traffic and only when it changes, will I turn right, wasting everybody’s time” driver

-the “it’s heavy traffic but I am going to pretend this is a video game and swerve through traffic, switching lanes without a signal” driver

-the “I cannot parallel park for the life of me but I will hold up all of the people behind me while I spend 7 minutes trying” driver

-the “it’s snowing/sleeting/heavy rain and I am going to pass everyone at an unsafe speed” driver

-other?—kingkub

The driver that sits in the left lane on a four-lane highway, passing no one and going five miles below the speed limit when there are semis in the right lane that make it impossible to pass on the right (which, since I live in Maryland, is actually a legal recourse).

any word that you can’t seem to type correctly and always have to go back and correct? any word that ends in ‘ould’ like would or could….seems I always type is woudl or coudl

maybe it’s just me—kingkub

For some reason, I always type “the” wrong (as “teh”). I think it’s because I type so fast that my brain and fingers work far ahead of the computer or device I’m working from.

What is your most useless skill? Mine is ordering the exact right amount of pizza for any situation—vern05

I am a font of useless sports information, mostly based around Penn State. I remember times of year and individual plays and situations surrounding dual meets, but I can’t for the life of me remember most folks’ birthdays or phone numbers or names. Priorities, amirite?

Additionally, I am great at analyzing and compartmentalizing Hallmark movies. Last year, I did a fanpost on Christmas Eve with my ranking of all of the Christmas movies on the Hallmark family of networks; this year, I’m far more organized and have starting analyzing the movies on a more granular basis. You’re welcome.

How early is too early for Christmas stuff? Satellite radio kicked off their holiday music station already. Too soon in my book.—bearwithscarf

I would listen to Christmas music year-round if it was socially acceptable, but I did start listening to Christmas music on November 1. I love Christmas so the point in which it’s a huge thing, as it represents so much to me - joy, giving, laughter, and hope, as well as time spent with and thinking about those you love and how to make them happy.

This year, though, I’m planning on putting up my Christmas tree and all my decorations on Veteran’s Day. Normal years, I’ll put everything up the week before Thanksgiving, or Black Friday if it’s a PSU away game. This year, though, I’ll be up in State College from Thanksgiving through the day after the Rutgers game, then I’ll be leaving to go out of the country that Monday until the Saturday of the Big Ten Championship game.

Since I put up decorations to actually enjoy them (not just haphazardly or for one or two days), I’d decided to put up the tree prior to Thanksgiving; then, though, I got a work trip scheduled the week before Ohio State. So I’ll be out of town from the Friday before the Indiana game through the day before the Ohio State game, which means that between November 15 and December 7, I will have had exactly five days to enjoy my Christmas decorations. Putting them up on Veteran’s day means I get nine days in four weeks to actually enjoy them!

I think the moral of the story is, putting up Christmas decorations is a personal decision that every person and family has to make for themselves. I don’t judge those who put up their tree on Christmas Eve, though that’s not my personal choice; and I don’t think it’s fair for you to judge me for putting mine up early, as it impacts no one besides myself. And it makes me immeasurably happy.