College Football's Coaching Carousel

Last week's firing of James Franklin at Penn State set off a chain reaction.

Have a new post up on Substack. 

Enjoy!

Linky Linky

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- James Franklin is dead man walking.

- Recommended reading: Empire of the Summer Moon. Sounds good.

- Jonathan Turley: Antifa deniers - Dan Goldman and the ghost of J. Edgar Hoover. Interesting parallel.

- Peter Attia on artificially sweetened beverages. Plain water is always best.

Some Memes You May Enjoy

Many a truth is said in jest.

- Funny because it's true.

- Heh Heh

- Brutal

- This is a harsh punishment

Some Memes You May Enjoy

 Many a truth is said in jest.

- This will be a big seller.

- Many a truth is said in jest.

- Brutal

- Like I sad - brutal

Bill O'Brien

Bill O'Brien is leaving Penn State to take the job as head coach of the Houston Texans. If you've been following the story - you've probably already read this excellent piece by David Jones.

As an outsider - I rooted for Bill O'Brien and his Penn State teams. I like O'Brien because he was from the Patriots but also because he just seems like a good man. Without O'Brien - I probably never would have rooted for Penn State - just the opposite. I would be wishing for them to lose every game because what they allowed Jerry Sandusky to do. And by "they" I mean both the University administration and Joe Paterno.

Penn State was Child Rape University before Bill O'Brien stepped in. His two years there haven't erased those painful memories but they have allowed the focus to come off of the innocent football players who were stuck in a very bad situation. A situation coach O'Brien gracefully helped them through.

The "Paterno people" make me sick. They make me think of this photo of a school in Northfield, MA burning while the football game continues. The "Paterno people" are so obtuse that they don't realize that without Bill O'Brien their chants of "We-are-Penn-State!" would be mocked everywhere with responding chants of "We-allow-child-rape!"

I'm done rooting for Penn State.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting and thought I'd share.

- If the JoeBots drive away Bill O'Brien - who do they think would wade into their toxic swamp to replace him?

- The Pogues Shane MacGowan seeking dental help so he can star in a Hollywood movie. You have to admit that would be great advertising for the firm that does it. "If we can fix Shane MacGowan's teeth - we can fix anyone's!"

- Interesting article about pool hustlers back in the day.

- Heh heh

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Just a reminder but Rex Ryan needs to go 7-9 this season just to equal the 4-year record the Jets had under Herm Edwards. With today's loss the NYJ are now 3-6. Rex Ryan - worse than Herm Edwards?... 55 things you might not know about the US armed services... With the Red Sox signing David Ross - it will be interesting to see whee Jarrod Saltalamacchia gets traded to. I think Salty could really rake in the NL. Most speculation has him going to the Mets... It would be interesting to compare the records of the schools kids transferred to vs Penn State's record. The grass is not always greened... One side effect of Obama being re-elected - 4 more years of incessant gold commercials on Fox News...

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Barack Obama should announce that he's become a Scientologist. That way if anyone criticizes him he can have the Church threaten to sue them... The things you learn on the Internet: According to Mental Floss the flags of Liechtenstein and Haiti were once identical - a fact that wasn't known until the flags were displayed at the 1936 Olympics... What an absolutely beautiful photo... Not sure about you but I was disappointed that the Olympic opening ceremonies didn't end with Lane Pryce from Mad Men hanging himself... I would love to listen to a podcast by actors pretending to be Andy Warhol and Muhammad Ali doing movie and TV show reviews... Penn State football coach Bill O'Brien had a clause in his contract that extended his deal a year for every year Penn State was put on NCAA sanctions. So with 4-years of scholarship reductions and bowl bans - Bill O'Brien's contract went from a 5-year deal to a 9-year deal... How to break the Internet - 1. Take all the Troy McLure scenes from The Simpsons 2 Have Ichiro record them in live action and 3 Post those scenes individually to YouTube...

Bill O'Brien and Penn State

I think the NCAA sanctions against Penn State were both fair and predictable. You knew there would be reductions in scholarships and a bowl game ban. I'm glad they took away the program's wins because that punished Joe Paterno's legacy. Make no mistake - Joe Pa was one of the bad guys in this saga. The $60 million fine? That I have an issue with but it is more because does anyone really trust the NCAA with that $60 million? How much of that money will be wasted on "administration" fees?

Going from 25 to 15 scholarships shouldn't be that big a deal in the first year since I'm guessing the number of recruits who bail on the program will whittle that number down to around 15 anyway. Bill O'Brien can sell the remaining freshmen on either redshirting so that they get the chance of going to a bowl in their 5th year or having the chance of playing right away - something they probably won't get at any other major program.

The reduction in scholarship will certainly hurt Penn State's ability to get Blue Chip prospects and I agree that the depth chart may become an issue. But that too could be turned into a positive. Bill O'Brien could go after players who may want to play both ways. Highlight that the Patriots did this all the time and that this flexibility may make them more attractive to NFL scouts. No other major program could offer this up to players torn between playing offense or defense. At Penn State you could play both.

I think the NCAA sanctions were fair but now I'm rooting for Bill O'Brien to be successful.

Why Penn State Won't Get Death Penalty

Many people are either talking about or calling for Penn State to get the NCAA "death penalty" but there is one simple reason why that won't happen - money.

Just as a guess the school will end up paying between $20-30 million per victim. With potentially 50 or more victims that's between $1 and $1.5 billion dollars in damages. Minimum. The school will need the football program to pay off those suits and if the program gets shut down for a year or more that might not be possible. The NCAA will have to punish the school in some way but the death penalty is not going to be part of the equation.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

It is hard to believe that it has just been a little over 2 months since the Penn State Athletic Director was charged with perjury which was first domino in chain that led to Jerry Sandusky being arrested, Joe Paterno being fired and Bill O'Brien hired as Paterno's replacement as head football coach... Not to be racist but if you have fears that your penis is shrinking then you are probably Asian. If you suffer from anorexia - you are probably not from Africa. Culture bound syndromes... Congratulations to Romeo Crennel on being named head coach for the Kansas City Chiefs. When good things happen to good people... People wonder why Bill O'Brien left the Patriots to take the Penn State job but that is simple. O'Brien will be paid much more money than he was making and his contract is for 5-years. Does anyone think Tom Brady will still be the QB for the Patriots in 5-years?... The highest unemployment rate under George W Bush was 7.7% and he was crucified for it. President Obama has an unemployment rate of 8.5% (the real rate is 10.9% but that's another story) and he is getting praised for it?...  The two best teams in the NHL may be the Bruins and the Rangers. They are also the two teams that lead the NHL in fights. There is some correlation there...

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting and thought I'd share.

Interesting read: "How Many Stephen Colberts Are There?" Long but amusing look at Colbert today and where he came from 

Bob Ryan takes a look at Danny Ainge and Doc Rivers. For the record - I loved Ainge as a player but I thought Doc was just slightly better.

Girl with great balance doing yoga - impressive in many ways

Was Ron Jaworski The Puppetmaster Behind Penn State's Odd Coaching Hire?

Louis C.K.’s lesson for marketers: Honesty is the best strategy

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers, who won the NL Cy Young today, was the 7th pick of the 2006 MLB draft. The Tigers took Andrew Miller who had 5.54 ERA for Red Sox this year with the 6th pick... I still say that NCAA should give a blanket waiver exemption to any Penn State athlete who wants to transfer. Players should not have to sit out a year in order to get out of that situation... I had one of these mats once but if it was like this one I'd still be playing with it (probably NSFW)... Interesting point by Doyle Brunson - 100 years ago the population of Las Vegas was just 30 people. Amazing what can happen in a century... If the Tigers took Kershaw with that 6th pick instead of Andrew Miller in the 2006 draft would they be World Series champs today? Justin Verlander and Kershaw would be very tough to beat... John Amaechi on Joe Paterno: “You can’t be a part-time man of principle”. Amaechi perhaps the most eloquent athlete I can recall... I'm going to invent a version of Spanish Fly but for women. I'm going to call it Spanish Spider... I think the Red Sox should make a trade offer of 1st baseman Lars Anderson and outfielder Josh Reddick to the Dodgers for Andre Ethier who is free agent after 2012 season. I think that would be a win-win for both teams... Awesome photography... I'm still ticked that Andre the Giant wasn't even nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his work in The Princess Bride... Next time I'm in Las Vegas I'm going to put some coin on a prop bet that Jonathan Papelbon will lead the NL in saves for 2012. That seems like a lock to me.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting and thought I'd share.

- The Devil stopped by Update to talk Penn State

- Heh heh - the Tug Toner

- Clueless members of Congress stopping people from playing poker

- Excellent interview of Robert Kraft who speaks to the NFL lockout, the Patriots and his deceased wife Myra

- What happens when you bet $11 on the 11 in roulette at 11:11 am on 11/11/11? Cool story.

- I agree that if this was George W Bush - the comedians would be joking about this picture to no end. Obama gets so many passes.

- Hawkeye Pierce as a serial killer

- 11 Famous People Who Started as Lowly TV Writers

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Not for nothing but I'm surprised that the Penn State students didn't go to Jerry Sandusky's house if they wanted to have a proper riot... 80% of U.S. millionaires are the 1st generation of their family to be rich. They earned it. They are the real 1%... Jim Cramer turned into a big bag of quivering mush when brow-beat by Jon Stewart on the Daily Show but now sees fit to yell questions at Republican candidates? Absolutely no respect for Jim Cramer - he's a clown... Very cool view of the Northern Lights over Norway... Mitt Romney's "away game" line last night was great but was that him saying he plays for the other team? NTTAWWT - was he making a play for Log Cabin Republicans? (Just kidding)... One thing the NCAA can do is give Penn State football players blanket waivers to transfer to any school without sitting out a year. Players are perhaps only innocents here... Wow - just wow!... I would like to see Donny Osmond sing the Trololo song. I think that would be comedy gold... Still amazing to me that Brian Urlacher was a safety in college... He's a question (not really a serious question) but Bill Clinton contends that oral sex does not count as sex and if that is so - how can Herman Cain asking for oral sex (allegedly) be sexual harassment?

Jerry Sandusky

Flay - verb; to to strip off the skin especially by whipping or by knife

Jerry Sandusky deserves to be flayed. Seriously. When people ask me why I support the death penalty - I will point to people like Jerry Sandusky. He really does not deserve to live.

Speaking of the death penalty - it will be interesting to see what the people who were calling for the NCAA "death penalty" for the University of Miami in the wake of the Nevin Shapiro allegations of wrong-doing have to say about Penn State. What the Penn State football program enabled for years and years is magnitudes of evil worse than anything Nevin Shapiro may have done. Not even close. How can anyone possibly root for Penn State football after this?

Woody Hayes was a great coach but for generations he is known only as the old coach who was fired for punching an opposing player. Joe Paterno is the winningest coach in college football history but now his legacy will be that he fostered a monster in his program. If Paterno knew even the smallest details about Sandusky - then he deserves for that to be his legacy.

College Football Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous college football thoughts and observations.

Just saying but Penn State faces Iowa - the team that ruined their national championship hopes NEXT WEEK. Can you say looking ahead? Today they are favored by 29.5 points over in state "rival" Temple. There actually isn't a real reason (other than practice) for Penn State to throw a single pass. Could the Nittany Lions be overlooking today's game?... Rice and Houston are just 6 miles apart but Michigan (-23.5) and Eastern Michigan are almost as close at just 7 miles apart. Rich Rodriguez may upset some boosters who went to Michigan but married a spouse from Eastern Michigan if he tries to run up the score against the Eagles. Besides Eastern Michigan has one of the best punters in the country in Zach Johnson and that's always helpful in slowing down a route... Not that he needs extra incentive but North Carolina's Butch Davis has never beat East Carolina as a head coach (0-2 at Miami and 0-1 at NC). The Tar Heels are favored by 7.5 points... In order for Minnesota to beat Cal - they will have to force turnovers but Cal (-13.5) hasn't turned the ball over yet in their first two games...

Penn State

Watching Joe Paterno's reaction after yesterday's game was tough to take. He's an old man and he knows it. This may have been his last shot at a national championship and he knows that too. Joe was almost in tears talking about the 24-23 loss to Iowa. It was tough to watch.

It has to be said though - Penn State has nobody to blame but themselves for the loss. The truth is - yesterday they played not to lose more than they played to win. How many times were they in the Red Zone only to seemingly play for a field goal? I can't recall a single instance where they took a shot at the endzone. Even on their 2 TD's - the Nittany Lions played it safe with rushes up the middle.

It also has to be said - Penn State even though they were ranked 3rd in the country are not close to being the 3rd best team in the country.

I still feel bad for Joe Paterno though.

Greetings from Penn State

I've been at State College for the past few days - a very beautiful place. Now I'm off to buy some shirts or sweatshirts for the wife and kids.

Is it bad that I refuse to buy "Happy Valley" shirts for my teenage girls?

Those of you whose mind works like mine - know exactly what I'm talking about.

Ohio State at Penn State

Just thought I'd note that Moses was 80 years old when he went up Mount Sinai to get the 10 Commandments. Joe Paterno is also 80 years old. Can Penn State climb the mountain today against the number 1 team in the country?

Ohio State under Jim Tressel has had problems playing at Happy Valley. I can see the Buckeyes winning a squeaker and I wouldn't be surprised to see them win exactly by 4 which also happens to be the Vegas line on the game. By the same token - I also wouldn't be shocked to see the Nittany Lions win by a hair.

If Paterno is Moses - who is Jim Tressel's Old Testament counterpart? One of the Pharaoh's of Egypt maybe? This is just a personal observation but when I think of Jim Tressel perfectly coiffed and in his sweater vest I think of the word "pride". And who is most associated with pride in the Old Testament? I'd argue that Lucifer is most connected to pride (cast from Heaven for thinking he was equal to God). Would anyone really be surprised if archangel headcoach Tressel has a fall from grace? Maybe that fall from grace comes today in Happy Valley against the Moses of college football coaches?