Off Tackle Empire

You mean in two weeks when Ohio State and Penn State participate in the inaugural Urban Meyer Bowl. The can probably sell of the Meyer portion of the name to..well..Meijer. Can’t make statements about ANYTHING two weeks in the future in the Big Ten this year.

snoopblue - November 8, 2011 reply

Agree with Graham and offer some additional thoughts from a Buckeye.

          Caring passionately about your team means investing your team (and coach) with certain good qualities: strength, resilience, excellence, tenaciousness, virtue, heart, winning. talented, etc. Not all the attributes are — or need to be — lofty. My team is fun, fast, big, smashmouth, flashy uniforms … whatever, fill in the blanks.

          In my view, whatever fills out our definition of “good,” we fervently impart those things to our team. This is one reason we get so mad when our “high powered” offense sputters and our “solid” defense gets owned.

          Reality intervenes, of course, and modulates our adjectives. “Talented” is on a spectrum from “true” to “delusional” and is relative to what team is next on the schedule.

          A bad game or even a bad season does not seriously undermine or challenge the core beliefs that we hold about our team (or coach).

          However, a scandal of the Penn State magnitude rocks those beliefs — to the core. Is this really my team? You find yourself in a place of pain, bewilderment, rage and despair made worse by the media and victious fans of rival teams. After you finally accept what has happened, you wonder if you can ever get back to where you were.

          I can report that, for me, I am going to get back to where I was; but the place will be different (but not too different). Already, even at three-losses, I can see my team as talented, excellent, passionate and resilient; just not in the same way the team had those qualities under Tressel. Like NUFTW, in general, I find CFB less enjoyable this season. I cannot imagine I will watch every bowl game this year like I did last year. But that is just fatigue. I think next season, I will enjoy CFB, in general, like I have in the past.

          As for my team, right now, with the OSU implosion less than six months in the past, I have no problem being “up” for my team and their next game. I still enjoy the games; but … in a different way. In past years, i’d be screaming, “why are we kicking a FG?” Now I scream: “Why can’t we complete a forward pass!?”

          And … this is important … enjoying it “differently” is okay. So,in the end, I will be able to reattach all the good adjectives to my team (and to CFB in general). Penn State fans are going to be able to do that too; and probably quickly.

          As for the journey, if it provides any insight, I will offer the following thoughts: my journey involved three processes: (a) blocking out the “haters”, (b) removing my coach from the pedestal and © really accepting that, sometimes, life is unfair. For me, these were not steps, but three interacting processes.

          Blocking out the haters was the easiest. I simply stopped reading the comments and going to websites inhabited by haters.

          Taking your team and coach off the pedestal is more complex, although, in the end, it is a simple mental step: you accept that your team and coach are not perfect. As linked yesterday by BamaHawkeye, Posnanski put it very well: “people are complicated and contradictory and mysterious and often bewildering. Good people do bad things, bad people do good things, happy people get lost, lost people become heroes.” How it worked for me: someone wrote on a Buckeye board, “I guess Tressel was not who we thought he was.” That was, many weeks later, how it finally “sank in.” However, importantly, is was only a small mental step. Admitting that your coach is not who you thought he was does not mean your coach is who the haters say he is. He may still be a “good man” or a “role model” or many other good things. He is just not “perfect” and “without flaw.”

          [As an aside, complaining about play calling or some such is not inconsistent with having your coach on a pedestal. I personally found Tresselball very frustrating. And yet, I agreed with the slogan “In Tressel We Trust.” Likewise, some coaches don’t get put on a pedestal. Les Miles, for example, doesn’t seem to be idolized by LSU fans, for whatever reason, despite his great success. I suppose my point is that “dealing with a disaster” is easier if you think your coach is a bum. Off hand, I would say only about a third of the coaches in the B1G are idolized by their respective fanbases.]

          For me, the most difficult part was/is the next step. If my coach is not who I thought he was, then who is he? For Penn State fans, this is probably easy: Paterno is flawed but still a great man, great coach, etc. etc.

         The third part, for me, has also been — and continues to be — difficult: accepting — really accepting — that life isn’t fair and sometime sh*t just happens. By the way, in case you haven’t heard, the NCAA recently closed its investigation of Newton and Auburn. They got away with it. That was real cheating and my Buckeyes go down for chicksh*t tatoos …. grrr… and 24/7 media coverage by eSPIN and the rest of the media, but Miami vanishes from the headlines after a day or two…. grrrr… still makes me want to chew nails and spit out my teeth.

          But, eventually you get over it and you move on.

          So, despite how bleak it looks today, Penn State will survive and the pride and joy you have in being a Penn State fan and alumnus will return. Afterall, as people are beginning to say over and over, these are monstrous crimes committed by a few men not approved or condoned by the Penn State community.

          I will end by saying that Paterno should go and by the end of the week. Trust me (and other Buckeyes). This media firestorm must end; you as individuals and PSU CANNOT endure successive days of every sports media outlet writing 10 stories each about this. Victim 9 has come forward; the mothers have given interviews. What happens if Victim 2 2002 comes forward. How about Victim 10? What does Victim 11 have to say? THIS. CANNOT. GO. ON.

          Furthermore, you do NOT want Paterno around any longer because you do NOT want to find out that he knew about Sandusky in 1998 (or earlier), or that McQueary was “bribed” to keep quiet in 2002 by being promoted to WR Coach (in 2003), you do NOT want to see the photos of Paterno and Sandusky talking and smiling with each other in 2008, you do NOT want to find out that McQueary gave graphic details to Paterno in 2002, you do NOT want …. any of this. I’m not saying any of this is true, but as long as Paterno remains as HC, the media will be searching.

          Paterno needs to go so that he can remain a “good man and a good coach.”

          And, come to terms with this too: Spanier must go and so must McQueary. The media is braying for those sacrifices and the media will keep digging until PSU has no choice. They should go today.

WarBuck46410 - November 8, 2011 reply

Joe Pa may be done coaching PSU

I do not think he will coach on Saturday.

spartynation - November 8, 2011 reply

oh, I posted on the NYTimes thread; Amos Stagg family reevaluating having the Stagg name on the CCG Trophy alongside Paterno's name.

http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/11/08/stagg-family-may-take-issue-with-stagg-paterno-championship-trophy/related/

WarBuck46410 - November 8, 2011 reply

From a current PSU student...

Thank you for the words. I think we’re still all in shock, and don’t quite know how to react to everything just yet.

Obviously our thoughts go to the children and the families involved throughout everything that is happening.

For the student body, this has been a unifying experience. As shocked and disgusted as we are at those involved, we have rallied behind the school itself. Hopefully, the icons we have looked up to for our entire lives will be shown to be innocent. If not, Penn State will live on, we will still cheer for the young men on the field and celebrate our successes.

I’m writing this sitting here at Paternoville, where we can’t wait to cheer our team and classmates on to victory on Saturday. See you next week.
WE ARE

apalski - November 8, 2011 reply

if anyone is still following, yet another new article up.

Reiter at Fox.com describing how the media/press chased Paterno from his home to practice today with Sue driving. Headline is: “For Paterno, there’s nowhere to Hide.”

some of the quotes: “Again Sue Paterno hit the gas, carrying her disgraced husband in a blur back toward Holuba Hall. This is what it’s come to: Joe Paterno’s elderly wife must use a silver Toyota Camry to avoid — and wear out so they give up — those asking questions that absolutely should have been answered by now.”

http://msn.foxsports.com/collegefootball/story/Joe-Paterno-Penn-State-pressure-mounts-as-tension-boils-in-Happy-Valley-110811

WarBuck46410 - November 8, 2011 reply

PA Congresswoman calling for federal investigation of PSU.

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2011/11/pa_lawmaker_wants_investigatio.html

WarBuck46410 - November 8, 2011 reply

thx

Thank you for the article. I pray for everyone involved.

smokesV - November 8, 2011 reply

Attorneys acquainted with the continuing court suit of previous Penn State football defensive coordinator Gerald Arthur "Jerry" Sandusky have observed that head coach Joe Paterno may not face criminal charges for reporting Sandusky’s alleged sexual abuse of an underage child to the school’s athletic director instead of regulators. The New York Daily News reports that Sandusky apparently sexually abused an underage boy in the Penn State locker room during the 2002 season. He might need personal loans to pay for court fees.

PrescillaD - November 8, 2011 reply

Thank You

I can honestly say, as a Senior at Penn State who lived through the great Ohio State riot and can really appreciate our rivalry to its fullest, I never thought I would say this- thank you. I know I am not a big enough person to ever write such a nice thing (besides the last part about the big 10- i wouldn’t be so sure). But you’re right, “The spirit of a program, of a university, and of a state is so much bigger than any one person,” and I hope everyone remembers that.

The reason us Penn Staters are who we are is because of that indescribable bond we all share from the moment we get that acceptance letter. It never fades or dies. The 78,000 undergrads, 14,000 graduate students and 400,000 alumni and their drives and passions and beliefs are what define our university. Everyday we are adding to the value of this institution, and by standing up to all those who are tainintng its name, we are showing that love.
“May no act of ours bring shame, to one heart that loves thy name. May our lives but swell thy fame, Dear Old State, Dear Old State.”

AmandaScobie - November 9, 2011 reply

Solid job on the letter

Captures some solid thoughts that will be hard to keep in mind as things devolve in the next days, weeks, months, and years.

I live in Milwaukee and I can’t help but draw parallels between the ongoing PSU scandal and the sex abuse scandals of the Catholic Church. (Point of information, Milwaukee, given its German/Polish/Irish communities, has been hit particularly hard by the catholic church scandals.)

There are absolutely differences to be sure, and the scale is much, much smaller at PSU. But some similarities are hard to ignore. Gruesome stories of child molestation. Unfathomable actions (and inaction) by well respected and revered figures of the community. Leaders of the community struggling mightily to deal with extremely difficult ex post questions regarding some very questionable judgment and behavior. A systematic failure by those in power to perform their moral duty to protect the most vulnerable members of our society. And a community whose faith in the institution has been shaken to its core. A community struggling to parse what it all means. A community questioning whether they should continue to believe in the beloved institutions that have coldly betrayed them.

Your letter captures the remedy well. Reflect on the wrongs, pray for the victims, be vigilant against future missteps, but continue to have faith in the institution. The institution, whether it be the Catholic Church or Penn State University, is what embodies the ideals on which the community was built, continues to unify, and something that existed before, and will outlive, all of this. Believe in that.

kmals - November 9, 2011 reply

spirited rivalry

the only way you have a rivalry is when you have immense respect for the other program, and acknowledge the fact that the opposition is either just as good or better. Fact of the matter is, I always root for the Big Ten in Bowl games, no matter how much I despise a team like Ohio State when they are on the same field as Penn State. I will always be a Nittany Lion, but I’d rather be a Buckeye than anywhere outside of the Big Ten

B1G proud

angigolo - November 9, 2011 reply

The most poignant commentary on the situation

has been written by a Buckeye fan. Wow, if there was any question that our world has been turned upside-down…seriously though, many Penn State fans were quick to judge Ohio State when the whole tattoo-gate issue came up (I’ve seen that t-shirt that you have pictured there on sale in apparel places in downtown State College, though I’d imagine they’ve since been removed), but it appears that we were throwing stones in our glass houses. Ohio State fans certainly have the prerogative to laugh and say “told you so”, so such a well-measured and dignified take on the subject is much appreciated.

EaglesPhan53 - November 9, 2011 reply

Thank you

This was very nice to hear, and very classy of you. There are many people out there from rival schools and even schools that we’d never play, but just hate Joe Paterno who are loving every second of this, so it’s nice to see some support. When all that stuff was going down with OSU last year, I thought to myself “what a shame that the students and alumni have to be put through this, watching their school and people they had a lot of respect for being torn apart and vilified by the media.” I never EVER thought that I would be in the same position. It hurts, but I still love my school and will try to focus on all the good things they do that have nothing to do with sports.

Thanks for giving me some perspective.

BrookePSU - November 9, 2011 reply

Thanks

The actions of your beloved president, coach, and athletic director have shaken your program to the core and have threatened your own faith in humanity.

I assume you meant “beloved coach” and not “beloved president”. Even before this scandal hit, I had uneasy feelings about Spanier and Curley. Unlike previous PSU administrators, they just loved to be in front of the cameras. I have to admit that part of me is not surprised that they would try to cover this up.

I’m glad that there are still rival fans out there like you guys. Never in a million years did I think such evil could take place at my alma mater. It’s been hard having to read the comments in places like Yahoo and ESPN this past week. Thanks for showing us some support in this difficult time.

NJLion1992 - November 10, 2011 reply

Another Thank You

First of all, we are going to whoop you in Columbus, that’s just a fact of nature. Seeds don’t beat lions. :P

Secondly, thank you for writing this. Tressel’s firing and JoePa’s firing aren’t very similar at all; one being NCAA violations and the other being a criminal investigation that swallowed him up. But one thing that we all agree with are that our college football programs would not be what they are today if it were not for these men. While I don’t expect it from other fans, as I don’t necessarily respect your coaches, you respected mine as best you could. I just hope that the healing will start soon.

If I could ask you OSU fans a favor though, it would be to support programs like The Second Mile, and other local programs that support underprivileged youth. We need to protect them and help them grow, so that they can take our mantles of fierce rivalries on later.

Again, thank you, and Michigan still sucks.

timothy.kreuter - November 10, 2011 reply