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Joe Must Go.
A little over a year ago, a large chorus of Penn State fans and Joe Paterno detractors began chanting that phrase (and others, which happened to be a bit more colorful) in reference to the 77-year-old coach of their beloved football team. If you ventured close enough to State College, you could almost hear the murmurs echoing off of Nittany Mountain.
"Paterno can't recruit anymore." "The offense is outdated." "The game has passed him by."
The Nittany Lions had just finished a 4-7 campaign, a season that included a 6-4 loss to Big Ten rival Iowa. Just in case you don't follow college football, 6-4 losses don't play very well with the Booster Club, especially if they come in the midst of a six-game losing streak. Stories were written and comments were made and, through it all, Paterno steadfastly held onto his intention of coming back for another season as the head coach of the Penn State football team. Naysayers be damned.
Today, the chorus is silent. Because 18 days from now, those very same Nittany Lions are slated to face the Florida State Seminoles in the FedEx Orange Bowl on January 3. A team that finished ninth in the Big Ten in 2004 is currently #3 in the nation and was a single play away from running the table this year. Silence is golden.
Paterno claims not to listen to the critics, but a man who has been around Penn State football for the past 56 years knows when something is wrong with his team. The offense is outdated, they say? Fair enough. What did JoePa do about it? He gave offensive coordinator Galen Hall, a three-time Coach of the Year in NFL Europe, full control of the play-calling. And he allowed senior Michael Robinson - the most dangerous player in college football east of Texas - to play quarterback full-time and utilize his myriad of skills. The result: a 10-1 season, the most prolific offense in recent Penn State history, and a trip to a BCS bowl game.
Paterno can't recruit anymore? Says who? In the past two seasons, the Nittany Lions have pulled in a pair of Top 25 recruiting classes, with impact players on both sides of the ball. Sophomore quarterback Anthony Morelli is more than capable of stepping in under center once Robinson leaves for the NFL after this season. Fellow '04 recruit LB Dan Connor followed up his stellar freshman campaign (85 tackles, 9th in the Big Ten) with 69 tackles after being suspended early in the season for conduct detrimental to the team. Connor and junior Paul Posluszny (winner of the 2005 Butkus Award as the nation's best LB) form what may be the best linebacker tandem in college football.
Last year's recruiting haul was highlighted by the signing of WR/KR Derrick Williams, who was arguably the best player coming out of high school last season. Another member of that class was CB/WR Justin King, who began paying immediate dividends as a defensive back, earning a spot on the 2005 AP Freshman All-American team. The 2006 class is already shaping up to be another stellar group, and the fact that Penn State will be playing in a BCS bowl game won't hurt matters, either.
Paterno is in that elite class of older college coaches - Bobby Bowden, Eddie Sutton and John Chaney come to mind - who should be allowed to go out on their own terms. With 40 seasons under his belt as the head coach of the Nittany Lions and two National Championships, he's earned that right. And the naysayers who have been quiet this year should begin chanting another phrase in praise of the man who has returned their team to prominence: Joe Must Stay.
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Tony Dungy and the Dilemma of Fire
Wednesday, December 14, 2005, 06:34 PM EST
[super bowl]
It's quite simple, really. To avoid getting lambasted by media types and fans alike, all Tony Dungy needs to do is something that's never been before - guide his currently undefeated Colts to a 19-0 record and a Super Bowl win. Easy, right?
Some want the Colts to continue to go all out, despite the fact that their playoff position won't change regardless of what happens over the next three weeks. Others want them to rest the Big Three (Manning, Harrison and James) so that they're well rested for the playoffs. The fact of the matter is that Dungy really only has one option - do what he feels is best for his team and let the chips fall where they may. A coach should never make decisions based on potential fan and/or media reaction. He should, however, listen to his players. And the smart money says that the Colts will want to keep the momentum going, and no one could fault them for that. If a key player happens to go down with an injury, then so be it. Peyton Manning could just as easily get hurt shoveling snow as he can by playing these last three games. And, though I doubt Peyton shovels a whole lot of snow these days, the point remains that injuries are a fact of life. Some will argue that the Colts absolutely have to play all of their regulars for the simple fact that they would be jeopardizing their shot at an undefeated season - and supposed immortality - if they didn't. I've never understood the infatuation with a perfect regular season. Granted, it's only been done twice in the history of the NFL, but it means absolutely nothing if the Colts falter in the playoffs. Do teams get rings for undefeated regular seasons? If Indy allowed some of their marquee players to sit, lost a couple of meaningless regular season games, and yet still won the Super Bowl, would their accomplishment be somewhat diminished? In my opinion, it's far more important to play your starters from here on out for no other reason but to keep them mentally sharp. If you happen to remain undefeated along the way, then that's just an added bonus. With home field advantage locked up throughout the AFC playoffs, the Colts won't play a meaningful game for another month. Having never played professional football, I would assume that it would be difficult for Manning and Co. to keep the momentum going through three weeks of standing on the sidelines in street clothes followed by another off week before they strapped it up again in the divisional playoffs. For arguments' sake, let's just say that the Colts decide to take the foot off of the accelerator - there's a very good chance that San Diego could come into the RCA Dome this week and end the undefeated streak. Oh, by the way, the Chargers happen to be a very dangerous football team - a team that Indy could help keep out of the playoffs with a win on Sunday. So it probably isn't the smartest idea to trot out the second-stringers, get blown out, and give San Diego added confidence from the fact that they now know they can beat you (at least, a stripped-down version), especially considering that you might run into them a few weeks later when it really counts. Assuming for a moment that the Colts win on Sunday, the following week is a similar story. Indy travels to the Pacific Northwest to take on the Seahawks in what could very well be a preview of Super Bowl XL. Again, you don't want to give teams whom you may face in the playoffs the impression that they can beat you. In Week 17, the Colts play Arizona, and even the backups can pull out a win against those hapless Cardinals. If you were to ask every man on the Colts' roster what their primary goal is for this season, I guarantee that they would tell you that it isn't about chasing history, but rather to win the Super Bowl. The thought of hoisting the Vince Lombardi trophy above their heads on the first Sunday in February is what motivates every player on every team in the NFL. Undefeated teams are a novelty, but champions are forever. Tags:
Bubbachuck for MVP
Tuesday, December 13, 2005, 06:53 PM EST
[Sixers]
Allen Iverson is the best player in the NBA this season.
Feel free to disagree all you want. But you would be wrong. Yes, his team is barely treading water with an 11-11 record. MVP trophies don't often go to players on squads with .500 records. And yes, he continues to gamble on defense, which contributes to the fact that the Sixers are the 3rd-worst defensive team in the league. But if you take the award at its' literal meaning - "most valuable player" - then no one makes a better argument for it than Allen Iverson. Iverson's case for the award this year can be summed up in two numbers: 34 and 8. Through 22 games this season, AI is averaging nearly 34 points and 8 assists per game (the actual numbers are 33.7 and 7.9, respectively). Assuming that all of his assists lead to 2-point baskets, Iverson is directly responsible for 50 of his team's points in every game. Fifty. Case closed. Last time I checked, Most Valuable Player trophies aren't handed out in December, so there's plenty of basketball to be played before we know how it will all shake out at season's end. Elton Brand is having a monster year (25.5 ppg and 10.8 rpg) with the new-look Clippers. LeBron is reaffirming his spot (30.3/5.8/4.9) as the next great superstar in the league. And Tim Duncan is doing Tim Duncan-like things (20.7 ppg and 12.0 rpg) as he's led the Spurs to a 16-4 record so far. But no one is more "valuable" to his team than Iverson. And if AI keeps playing the way he has been, there should be little debate come April. That being said, where is the love? In his tenth season in the league, Allen Iverson is no longer a novelty. Though he remains the icon for the hip-hop generation, he no longer has that "I wonder what he's going to do with the ball next" mystique that followed him throughout the early portion of his career. Most NBA fans have seen the blur of cornrows and muscle and tattoo ink and desire attack the heart of their team's defense time and time again. And now, at the age of 30, he isn't the same Bubbachuck as he was coming out of Georgetown in 1996 - injuries have taken a toll on his not-quite 6-foot, not-quite 165-pound body. He doesn't attack the basket with the same fervor he once did. The crossover doesn't break as many ankles as it used to (although he did use it to embarass Jacque Vaughn this past Saturday in New Jersey). But the game is better than it's ever been, and that's what it should be about. The Game. In the SportsCenter era, that gets lost at times. Despite his many accomplishments, he is not - nor was he ever - the poster child for the NBA. He dazzled crowds and filled arenas, but he has never had the polish or the marketability of His Airness. He is the Past and the Present, but the recent accomplishments get lost because he is not the Future. The Future is King James and Flash. Lebron and D-Wade. The Future is not The Answer. But this year, The Answer is the MVP. Case closed. Tags:
The Artest Currently Known As Tru Warier
Monday, December 12, 2005, 08:58 PM EST
[Ron Artest]
If the articles on Wikipedia were actually true, there would be a picture of Ron Artest on the page for the entry for the word "enigma." As such, one of the few places you will actually find Ron Artest is in Conseco Fieldhouse as a member of the Indiana Pacers. But probably not for much longer.
In a recent interview with the Indianapolis Star, the 26-year-old Queensbridge native asked to be traded from the Pacers because, among other things, he believes that his past with his current team still haunts him. Under normal circumstances, this wouldn't be front-page news - players ask to be dealt all of the time. Then again, there aren't many players like the Pacers' small forward. Let the record show that Artest - who refers to himself as a "Tru Warier" - is a former All-Star, a former Defensive Player of the Year and a more-than-capable scorer, averaging 19.4 points per game this season. But let's not forget that this is also the same man who was suspended for destroying a television camera at Madison Square Garden and who asked for a month off during the season because he was tired from promoting an R&B album he had produced. Yet neither of those transgressions are what got Artest to the point where he is now. No matter what happens for the remainder of his career - and, quite possibly, his life - he will forever be linked with the infamous brawl at the Palace on November 19 of last year. Despite the fact that he was provoked, he will forever be that man who crossed the invisible barrier between athlete and fan, between spectator and sportsman. Not that he was the first to do so, nor will he be the last, but the images from that night - folding chairs thrown into crowds, players climbing into stands to throw punches at fans, children needing to be consoled - will be ingrained in us for generations to come. And, for better or worse, the one man most associated with that surreal incident is Ron Artest - Tru Warier. It seems that Artest simply wants to start fresh with a new team, and who can blame him? He is an incredibly talented player and, if you've been watching sports for long enough, you know that incredible talent will keep you employed, regardless of personal issues. So there will be many suitors lining up for the services of the Tru Warier, despite all of the "baggage" that he freely admits that he's carrying. And he will be traded to another team and continue to be the defensive stopper that he's been and help his new squad on their quest for an NBA championship. He may even make a few more All-Star teams and put a couple more Defensive Player of the Year Awards on his mantle at home. But his past will be there right along with him, following his every move. No matter how hard you try, there are certain things that you can't run from. Tags:
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