Black Shoe Diaries

At least he has the time to do

lot of evaluation, a lot of dialogue and a lot of documentation.

jtothep - January 11, 2012 reply

I wish we had a 27 month offseason

this one time only

hbeach08 - January 11, 2012 reply

LOL

But how would they graduate players and have room for new ones/

What's this "graduate" thing you speak of?

/SEC’d

IcersGuy - January 11, 2012 reply

Just paying attention to ST will help

ST doesn’t require a genius. It’s kind of like the same play every time, really. It just needs somebody who will take responsibity for it.

Leroy Jenkins!!

bbpennstate10 - January 11, 2012 reply

Any speculation out there about the GA's?

like DC17

GoodOleDays - January 11, 2012 reply

Would be great to see DC17 on the sideline

Cream - January 11, 2012 reply

This would be

another great way for BOB to earn some cred from the fanbase. Bring in another young PSU guy to get his career started. DC17 would be a huge addition in that regard.

Agreed.

I can only see positive outcomes stemming from that move.

DC17's been on the sideline a lot . . .

. . . to the point where my brother assumed he had some sort of coaching job. Might not be so far-fetched.

BurrowesBldg - January 11, 2012 reply

DC17 is da man!

I’m the small white dude in the pic . . . .

PSU_Lions_84 - January 11, 2012 reply

What pic?

Not to sound dumb, but the only pic I see is the one at the beginning of the post.
I somehow don’t believe you’re the little guy. If so, impressive writing for a 6 year-old. :)

wonderlin - January 11, 2012 reply

Godsey Bio

From other thread, in case people find it illimunating.

Godsey played QB at Ga Tech and was named 2nd team All-ACC. He received a BS and MS in Industrial Engineering (which I’ve learned is fake engineering). Played a year in Arena football where he won a championship. When O’Leary went to UCF, Godsey joined staff as a GA. He was promoted to QB Coach after a year as GA. After 4 seasons of being QB coach, he spent a year as the RB Coach at UCF. Then the Patriots came calling and he was named QB Coach in February of 2011.

Cream - January 11, 2012 reply

Those IE's make a lot of money though

It may be “fake engineering” but I know two who graduated from PSU and they are doing pretty well.

oh yeah

guess i could’ve mentioned that also. i guess they get the last laugh

NuclearLion - January 11, 2012 reply

I am honestly curious about what kind of work they do? What do their jobs entail?

Both of my friends

Are in consulting (not that I know specifically what they do), but they work closely with the defense contractors (McDonnell Douglass, Northrup Grumman, etc.) and make a boatload of money doing it.

It’s management consulting. Just telling people how to do things easier/quicker/with less money. It’s fantastic for lazy people like me – I’ve spent my whole life training for it.

“I have to walk to the kitchen to get beer? Hell, let me make a robot/get a minifridge/train my dog to get it.”

Truck O'Saurus - January 11, 2012 via Android app reply

PSU IE in the house

PSU’s Industrial Engineering program is consistently rated in the top 3 or 4 in the country. My relatively short IE career has been in Material Handling/Logistics and in the two companies I’ve worked for, many of the VP’s and Senior VP’s have been IE’s. In short, IE’s help companies do everything faster, cheaper, and more reliably. And they are likely to end up being your boss, so be nice to them. But, we don’t build cars or bridges or airplanes, so that kinda sucks :(

moosepsu - January 11, 2012 reply

We do have control of rapid prototyping though.

And that’s pure awesomeness. Literal 3D printers, can fabricate anything you design in CAD in a matter of hours.

dbl5030 - January 11, 2012 reply

yeahp

Rapid prototyping was one of my senior elective courses. Really cool technology.

moosepsu - January 11, 2012 via Android app reply

I am genuinely curious about this, not (merely!) knocking IEs...

How do you help the companies do things faster, cheaper, and more reliably?

hard to explain

To pick one example, imagine a car assembly line with multiple stations each performing multiple processes. An IE should be able to analyze each process and optimize it both for speed and safety. Then analyze the overall workflow of the assembly line to reduce total lead time. Then be able to analyze data to determine if the assembly is meeting specifications. All of that by using a mix of math and process analysis methods.

moosepsu - January 11, 2012 via Android app reply

So they Lean and 6S things.

The Heel - January 11, 2012 reply

Six-Sigma is so '97

So says my friend who still makes money teaching it.

reedjohnmiller - January 12, 2012 reply

Right, and then the buzzword was Lean in the mid-00's

So now everyone’s decided it would be best to put them together to make Lean Six Sigma. But even that’s not enough, now with so much focus on sustainability and “going green”, there’s a brand new branch that takes environmental responsibility into account as well. It’s called Lean Green Six Sigma.

Esteban d' Amur - January 11, 2012 reply

Next will be the

Lean Mean Six Sigma Machine.

jman07 - January 12, 2012 reply

process improvement

analyzing non value added time like moving products around. Setting up material orders to lower overhead costs, assessing skills of workers, analyzing equipment and upgrades, flow of work through shops, improving communication, analyzing product defect causes.

BMAN13 - January 12, 2012 reply

which sounds great in theory.

Until you find out that your techs threw out all of the material that they needed because they were cleaning up for a lean event.

Then it costs you twice as much to replace the material that you already had.

Where I work, Lean and 6S is such a huge part of what they are trying to accomplish, but usually guys are brought in from the outside that arent familiar enough with the current process to possibly understand the consequences of eliminating some of the steps they get rid of.

The Heel - January 12, 2012 reply

you don't even know.

Try throwing out spare parts and test consols for a 1950’s era designed missile system and then two years later being tasked to refurbish a bunch of them. I tried to explain it would be cheaper to lease warehouse space than throw the stuff out just in case we needed it for future workload but got shot down.

BMAN13 - January 13, 2012 reply

Actually thats pretty close to what I'm talking about exactly.

Heh.

I’m begining to think we may work at the same place…

The Heel - January 14, 2012 reply

So IE...

is a fancy way of saying logistics?

Logistics is one discipline

within the PSU IE degree.

rahpsu92 - January 12, 2012 reply

it's real engineering - it's just the "easy" one

This is what people do. They start in mechanical, then the go to industrial, and after joining a frat, they switch to business. Not judging. it’s just what happens…

belbijou - January 11, 2012 reply

Wow, that is hilarious....

Good call, Because that’s exactly what both of them did!

Hey now

My good friend is an IE. He went to West zpoint then PSU for his masters. He makes good $$ telling businesses what should be obvious but isn’t. He has all kinds of math skills, but a lot of it is just proverbial smacks upside the head.

He talks to the goddanmed customers so the engineers don’t have to.

Esteban d' Amur - January 11, 2012 reply

IEs are the "worldly" engineers.

dbl5030 - January 11, 2012 reply

I Have People Skills!

When I was at Penn State IE was known as I Easy.

A good buddy at Pitt (who majored in Chemical Eng.) said they called it Imaginary Engineering.

It was all in good fun. My best friend at PSU was an IE major and he’s a very intelligent guy. And any engineering would’ve been tough for me…I highly doubt I would’ve made it through the engineering school regardless of the concentration or college.

J Breezy - January 12, 2012 reply

The subject matter is definitely less complex.

You’d figure everyone would graduate with inflated GPAs like all the Ed majors right? Unfortunately, all the professors know that the material isn’t that difficult to grasp, so the exams shift from “how well can you regurgitate all these formulas and follow this exact algorithm” to “how well can you apply the concept to as many different scenarios as humanly possible”. This also allows the major to be a lot more horizontal, learning probably twice as many different concepts over a semester than most other majors. This makes exams a bitch to prepare for, and most professors grade you pretty hard.

I had one that would refuse to give any partial credit for arithmetic errors. The worst part is, her exams usually consisted of 3 or 4 multiple part questions where the answers carried over. Half the class would get C’s or worse the first exam, even though they demonstrated they understood the material being tested.

My buddy at Pitt once told me...

…that the mean on one of the tests in a chem. eng. class was a 21! That’s ridiculous. Either the prof. isn’t teaching it well enough or the tests are absurdly difficult. Sometimes I think some profs just want to prove a point about how difficult the material CAN be and use the test to illustrate it. But that defeats the entire notion of being educated.

I do remember our senior year that my IE buddy had a high level IE class in which the content I once looked at was eerily similar to what I was doing in an advanced accounting class. I could actually comprehend and solve some of the problems. Of course this was a very small sample of the entire course so I am in no way suggesting I could have taken the class and passed it, but that particluar part was similar.

J Breezy - January 12, 2012 reply

There's a whole branch of IE that entirely consists of economics.

Basically, how to make correct decisions with your money. If Project A costs $20 million over the next 5 years and projects an increase of $3 million per year in revenue for the next 10 years, is it better than Project B that costs only $10 million over the next 3 years and projects an increase in revenue of $2 million the first year, $3 million the second year (etc) for the next 5 years? Are either of these projects really even worth it, after you take maintenance, taxes, resell value into account? What if you could defer the costs even more by sub-contracting your work?

It gets more complex in the higher-level classes, but these are some of the basic concepts in the intro IE economics class that are probably pretty similar to accounting.

I had stuff like that

in PNGE. Was annoying.

FB6244 - January 12, 2012 reply

I had this grizzled old tool maker

by the name of Dr. Knott for a machining class. He took no mercy. I don’t know if anybody passed his class. And God forbid if you wore a hat, chewed gum, , wore flip flops, or too short skirts. If you arrived after the door closed and made the mistake of attempting to enter the class – you were gelded.

He was also the mentor for the Senior Design Project.

rahpsu92 - January 12, 2012 reply

What the Hell is wrong with too short skirts?

The Heel - January 12, 2012 reply

Engineer chics were wearing them - zing

I hate stereotyping but this is hilarious.

BMAN13 - January 13, 2012 reply

In the case of lady IE's, there were

actually a fair number I would have invited to the party in my pants.

Oh man

his kid has that chin too.

skarocksoi - January 11, 2012 reply

If I had Bob's chin I'd keep a little sword toothpick in it during all waking hours.

LOL..he'd need more than one.

divided by 100 though

tlrpsu - January 11, 2012 reply

Don't like the Roof & Butler hires...

But I like the rest of the compiled staff. I think our defense takes a hit this fall, while our offense does improve (and I think by a lot). Who knows right now how that will translate for the season. Again, it’s only my opinion.

Overall, I’d give BO’B a B+.

Butler will be a good hire, if for nothing else, special teams

he was one of the best at Minnesota..

Thats, of course, assuming he has a hand in ST

swiggy04 - January 11, 2012 reply

Despite my feelings on those two,

I am giving both of them a shot. New team, new atmosphere; hey, things could change. Overall I have a much better feeling about the team than two months ago. I will echo the feelings in the posts above…lookin’ forward to September.

If he goes with a single punt returner (Alex Kenney, anyone?)

and sticks with him – as opposed to endlessly cycling through slow-footed safeties and putting two men back at the expense of a blocker – I think I’ll be pretty darn pleased with him.

PSU_Buch - January 11, 2012 reply

Kenney is nasty, I hear

But I’m a State High homer. I hear his sister has wheels too. Could we use her as a DB?

Pete the Streak - January 11, 2012 reply

His sister sounds hot!

Kenney is a burner

and yes, I’m also a bit biased toward the local product, but he deserves a look returning kicks of some sort. Joe was always too slow to pull the trigger on letting the younger speedsters get a crack at punt return duty for my tastes. Maybe that will change with the new regime. It will be interesting to see what results from a completely fresh set of eyes on our skill personnel.

PSU_Buch - January 11, 2012 reply

Always have to support the SCAHS kids!

wonderlin - January 11, 2012 reply

Maroon & Gray forever!!!

It’s amazing how much better that football program has become since I graduated in ‘91. I don’t think any player who graduated my year played college football except Todd Kulka, who rode the pine at PSU and now works for the program.

But you guys in the band were good!

I think a few may have gone on to play at smaller schools, I don’t really remember. I don’t even remember who from ‘91 played football, except Todd and Alex J, but I don’t think he really counted.
I know guy the year behind us played for Bucknell (yeah, well, Bucknell wasn’t good while I was there- I think I jinxed my schools when it came to football!

wonderlin - January 12, 2012 reply

Alex J is a good friend of mine

He played rugby at Army, so that’s pretty cool.

The band was/is good. I had very little to do with that.

I dont want to trash a guy before he's done anything but......

“The Gamecocks finished eighth in the SEC in punt returns and 11th in league punting. They were seventh in kickoff returns and last in SEC in covering kickoffs.”

thats from espn….

platnumkid - January 11, 2012 reply

Shut up with your logic!

Everything new is awesome and shiny and full of rainbows and chicken cosmo sandwiches!

Ibleedblueandwhite - January 11, 2012 reply

East halls flashback

Chicken cosmos and cheese curls!

pauljonline - January 11, 2012 reply

Chicken cosmos FTW!

yum

tlrpsu - January 12, 2012 reply

maybe

but minnesota was one of the best in the big ten when he was ST coach there.

I’ll take 4 year sample size of work at a trash school in the Big Ten over one year of work at a trash school in the SEC as a comparison to how he will do at PSU.

swiggy04 - January 12, 2012 reply

WHy don't you like Butler?

Just curious. I know nothing about him.

speedomike - January 11, 2012 reply

I am very interested and excited to see...

…what the new coaching staff can do with the existing team. I bet it will be good!

LowcountryLion - January 11, 2012 reply

Have any of these new coaches showed up on campus yet?

Nectir - January 11, 2012 reply

I don't think so...

But I am not 100% sure, so I could be wrong and feel free to correct me, people…

Aside from LJ and Vandy...

London was supposed to be there yesterday. The rest, I’m not sure. They’ve all been actively scouting and contacting recruits, and there are already plans to hit the road ASAP once the dead period is lifted Friday and the big weekend goes by.

Does he need to take his NCAA recruiting test?

Or can he start calling guys as soon as he’s officially hired?

I'm 99% certain any coach that actively recruit has to take the test.

I’m not sure how long the test is good for (do you take it yearly? 3 years?), but I do know it takes one hour. Once they’re approved, phone calls for everyone!

Gotcha.

I didn’t know if since he was out of CFB less than a year that maybe he could renew without taking it. Would be nice to know someone very familiar with BOB could be on the phone with these players already.

I'm certain LJ and Vandy are/have been on the phone.

As has BOB, once he passed the test. The rest, I assume, will be taking the test ASAP, especially given the weekend (majority of commits set to be on campus).

Oh BOB's done?

Killer.

NCAA test

You take it every year.

tsbulldawgs64 - January 12, 2012 reply

Is this the DB coach whom Spurrier

brought out in front of the media at a weekly press conference so they could grill him? As I recall the Ole’ Ball Coach basically hung the cat out to dry.

This was two seasons ago I think.

SubLime - January 11, 2012 reply

I think this one

was only ST at SC.

Cari Greene - January 11, 2012 reply

He also coached the Spur position.

Uhaul - January 11, 2012 reply

Promises...

I’m paying especially close attention to the words coming out of BOBSled’s mouth and one of the things he said at the presser was putting a staff together quickly.

Well, mission accomplished. He also said he wanted to get the best staff together possible. That remains to be seen.

possible is the key word. best staff possible.

tlrpsu - January 11, 2012 reply

What?

We’re NOT going to have Les Miles as OC and Nick Saban as DC?

TWITTER LIED TO ME!

BOB IS ALREADY PERJURING HIMSELF!!!

/espn comment section’d

tlrpsu - January 11, 2012 reply

BOB QUITS PATRIOTS AMID CHEATING SCANDAL

/cnn’d

BOB should have done more.

Too early.

Inappropriate.

Still wrote it.

Cory Giger smells like bologna.

The Heel - January 12, 2012 reply

We won't get an idea on how good this staff is, really...

Until around late October/early November..when we start facing our Big 10 opponents. Even then, I would still say for the most part that this upcoming season is a “test” season for all of them, including BO’B.

So with BOB and Godsey

filling those HC/OC/QB roles, safe to say there is no one with input into offensive gameplan/style to recruit until the Pats lose?

That is a great question.

And I wonder if they’ve actually accepted that the recruiting class will lose commits this year, basically sacrificing the class. If that is the case, I’d be disappointed. I want the best of both worlds, getting a decent class while settling in and recruiting an even better class with the new staff next year. Oh well, you can’t always get what you want….

And, if they are sharing the

playcalling duties, can we call them BOBsey?

+1

Ha, I know I will!

http://www.patriots.com/team/coaches/godsey_george/0f970c4e-3b9e-4d5d-a8e6-07a778ea46eb

Godsey

Wiki says he’s 33 yo. Working with Belichick must take its toll.

Ha,

and after only 11 months as an “offensive assistant.”

Rob Corddry?

I think BOB and Rob Corddry are from

towns very close to each other.

So is he any realtion to Ike Godsey?

icavalera - January 11, 2012 reply

I for one welcome our new overlords.

PSUPing - January 11, 2012 reply

?

I've been saying it for years

We require more vespene gas.

Peter Gray - January 11, 2012 reply

Can you imagine if PSU just massed marines every game?

We’d never lose.

This recruiting class is just 25 zerglings

Adjust expectations accordingly.

Peter Gray - January 11, 2012 reply

Oh, so we are 2008 Michigan then.

that’s why Michigan just 6 pools every game

moosepsu - January 11, 2012 via Android app reply

You have no idea how incredibly happy I am that this joke was not lost on everyone.

Me too

Sometimes being a nerd is cool.

Assorted Fruit - January 11, 2012 via Android app reply

Do they have speed?

platnumkid - January 11, 2012 reply

Help!!

I stupidly got into a pissing match on the Collegian site comments about the old “Vanderlinden and Johnson knew” crap. I know it’s probably a waste of time, but it would be cool if you all could come to my defense. I know it’s stupid, but I feel like we have to defend the truth over witch-hunters where ever we can. I have a slim hope that eventually if we “flood the zone” and stick up for evidence vs ignorance that maybe the Collegian will stop printing such assinine LTE.

I can’t find the link but if you go to the LTE page today on the collegian website, you’ll see it in the comments. I use my real name because I want to show I’m not afraid of trolls.

Well, I am afraid of cave trolls with clubs and trolls under bridges.

They have a cave troll

PSUPing - January 11, 2012 reply

Image fail

PSUPing - January 11, 2012 reply

The Collegian...

has been spewing crap since I started school in 1987. And probably long before. That’s why I never read it while I was there…nor since.

pennst92 - January 11, 2012 reply

Whoa.

Collegian crossword puzzle got me through every bullshit class at the Forum. Don’t besmirch the good name of the Collegian crossword.

Tailgate Shogun - January 12, 2012 reply

I worshipped at the altar of the Collegian crossword as well

hbeach08 - January 11, 2012 reply

They were great for meeting girls

What do you have for 6 across?

bscaff - January 11, 2012 via iPhone app reply

This one says "in your pants"

but “nine inch hog” won’t fit.

Oh, “pockets”. Right. I was just kidding.

What are you doing later?

OctaShields - January 11, 2012 reply

It's funny 'cause it's true.

Ah, college and random girls.

Agreed, so why am I the only to rec it so far??

J Breezy - January 12, 2012 reply

The Collegian crossword was too easy.

It was the appetizer for the NYT crossword (which was admittedly too hard).

True.

But it beat paying attention to ASTRO100 or BLOG301 or whatever.

or the hardcore EE classes to which I should have paid attention

BLOG301?

Could you wear your pajamas in the Forum’s basement classroom?

Chris Grovich - January 11, 2012 reply

Amateur.

PSU_Buch - January 11, 2012 reply

I was on campus for the Career Fair this year.

Took an Oklahoma grad around campus. Made a pit stop in the Forum for a restroom break. Skipping LARCH 60 and the Collegian on the john…just like old times.

You're nuts! Those are arguably the worst restrooms on campus!

Willard being the other front runner

Well, when you gotta go...

Better

than listening to LARCH 60.

/got a B

That's B LOG to you

Business Logistics, or, as we called it: Truck Driver 301

"Female defecates in police department

I fourth this.

it is one that is widely used in newspapers across the country.

Cari Greene - January 11, 2012 reply

There was something in the Collegian besides the crosswords?

psuphysicist - January 11, 2012 reply

There was also Sudoku.

Not to mention the Police Log, which on Mondays in the fall was one of the best/funniest reads anywhere.

Bob Sacamano - January 12, 2012 reply

truth

hbeach08 - January 12, 2012 reply

I'm specifically referring to a November 7th, 2005 report from The Collegian.

Not only did I cut the article out of the paper and hang it up on my refrigerator, but we also discussed the ethical decision of omitting the student’s name in my COMM 250 News Writing class.

A 20-year-old Penn State student was cited after an incident at 3 a.m. Saturday in the lobby of the State College Police Department, 243 S. Allen St.

A Penn State University Police auxiliary officer found the semi-conscious, partially dressed woman after she had defecated on the floor and rolled in it, police said.

The woman told police she thought the building was her home, and she was taken to Mount Nittany Medical Center to be treated for an alcohol overdose, police said.

Janitors had to be called to clean and sanitize the area, and the doors were left open to air out the building, police said.

Police said the building’s doors are always left unlocked, but the public bathrooms on the first floor are locked at night.

The woman was given citations for a minor’s law violation, public drunkenness, disorderly conduct and criminal mischief."

Bob Sacamano - January 12, 2012 reply

Any post referencing public defecation

deserves a rec in my book.

icavalera - January 12, 2012 reply

Breaking in and defecating

I remember another police log about a student who went to some old lady’s house thinking it was her friend’s house. The old lady answered the door and the student went in and sat on the couch, where she defecated.

The police log was my favorite part of the paper on Mondays.

psfann - January 12, 2012 reply

The drunk kid on the couch is common

That just happened across the street from me, which is odd because I don’t live that close to campus, downtown, or student apts. A few blocks, but somebody that drunk usually can’t stumble more than a few hundred feet.

If it happens to me, I won’t call the cops. No harm no foul.

Everybody - out of the holding pen!!

Yes, we'll

I read it because nobody else covers the PzsU non-revenue sports. Nobody. The CDT’s coverage of hockey, for example, is negligible.

Damn phone typing.

Esteban d' Amur - January 11, 2012 reply

It was crap for the ten years before that at least.

sfredd - January 12, 2012 reply

Now he just has to get a real D1 QB to transfer in and we're rolling....

'85Fan - January 11, 2012 reply

2 O'Briens

in 1 year you say?

TJM5054 - January 11, 2012 reply

Additional Coaches

I like the DC17 GA idea. Maybe add MRob as Beast-mode Coach to our requests?

DHLions - January 11, 2012 reply

MRob knows football

I follow him on twitter, and during the playoff games he was dropping all kinds of knowledge.

Oh, and he’s repeatedly and consistently talked about how he wants to coach at Penn State after his career. Like point blank, direct statements.

OctaShields - January 11, 2012 reply

I love Twitter...

for things like that. I did enjoy Matt Barkley poking fun at the simplicity of the Bama pass routes during the mNC.

Suggest tweet him an FYI that Joe and Jay dont work there anymore...

'85Fan - January 12, 2012 reply

I am heading to the alumni town hall in valley forge

I am for keeping o’brien but ditching the board of trustees- anyone got anything special they would like me to say? Keep it clean!

pauljonline - January 11, 2012 reply

Earsed my measage 6 times...

I can’t keep it clean so tell them I said “hey”

PSU_sincebirth - January 11, 2012 reply

A great start

Gone are the sycophants, the nepotistic hires, the fossils, and the incompetents.

Roof is disconcerting, but frankly anything is better than what we saw against pass-happy teams the last few years. Bringing pressure regularly will be nice.

As for the offense, whatever your thoughts, literally it couldn’t be any worse than what we had. The McWhorter hire was really significant I thought.

Consequently, I think things are off to a nice start.

hatch - January 12, 2012 reply

You mean all those terrible coaches that we had?

The ones that averaged over nine wins a season since 2005?
The ones that had top 10 defenses six of those seven years?
The ones that produced offenses several of those years that averaged more than thirty points per game?

The last two years can almost squarely be placed on Devlin having delusions of grandeur and leaving. Develin at QB in 2010 wins us 9-10 games easily. We wouldn’t have lost to Illinois or Sparty, and I doubt Devlin turns it over three times against Bama. But luckily he transferred out over playing time issues and is being a productive member of the Miami Dolphin’s practice squad.

Devlin leaving when he did forced us to throw all our eggs into the Newsome basket, he didn’t pan out, and we were stuck between McGloin or Bolden. Even counting Newsome as a complete bust, an extra year of no pressure development for Bolden may have been able to work wonders. Maybe it wouldn’t have, no way of telling, but it’s not like he could have played much worse.

These last two “horrible” years have centered around a lack of proper time to develop a QB due to one players decision to leave. Thus our offensive playbook that was amazing in 2008, and pretty damn effective in 2009, had to be completely retooled around the lack of a signal caller that could recognize a blitz. And despite all that, we were still right in the hunt for the Big 10 title right up until the last week of the season.

I feel pretty sad for you, minus the scandal, I’m going to look back fondly on these last few years, because these teams didn’t give up. They did their damndest against Sparty, the Buckeyes and UF last year but made some bad decisions and caught some bad breaks, and this year short of the Wisconsin game, manned up and did everything they could until the end.

I frankly don’t care what you think about this team, it was pure Penn State, and I will gladly boast about them to my kids in 15 years, telling them about the team that had the entire world thrown in their face, calmly went about business and still almost got it done against odds that would buckle anyone.

mvrck - January 12, 2012 reply

Yes!

Yeah they were fun

but doesn’t that ’05 game against Michigan stick in your craw where they kicked to a really good return man who set up their drive?

Or ’06 Notre Dame, ’08 USC, and ’11 Houston where the zone got pwned?

Statistical defensive categories are bogus. Just ask the SEC. They don’t mean much when you play teams that by and large run similar offenses. Overall, the defense has been good against defending the run and generating a pass rush with 4 linemen. That works in the Big Ten (only NW and Purdue run anything that’s pass-heavy). It worked against SEC teams that did the same thing. But in the games against pass happy teams, there were no substantive adjustments. Just clinging to the same tired crap as the boat went down.

Enjoy your rah rah crap about how great things have been. I’m glad Jay is gone – maybe now to paraphrase Kirk Herbstreit, Penn State might have something “remotely resembling a quarterback.” I’m glad the defensive scheme will be different. And I’m sure you’ll enjoy the victories that will follow.

P.S. I thought the kids played hard and all that stuff after the scandal was exposed but I really lost a lot of respect for this bunch when they started tweeting garbage about Houston comparing them to a high school. Classless punks do that, not Penn State. One more area that this coaching staff failed in at the end of the season – an inability to control the players or keep them in a disciplined frame of mind. Once more, good riddance.

hatch - January 12, 2012 reply

Last time I checked with the SEC,

they were boasting about statistical defensive categories, especially this year. And it’s hardly fair to generalize all 11 other teams in the Big Ten as similar. There’s nothing similar about Ohio State’s service-academy-like offense, Northwestern’s dink-and-dunk efficiency offense, Wisconsin’s pro-style offense, and Indiana’s pistol offense.

I’m with you on the lack of adjustments, especially this year against Houston, but I’m tired of USC 2009 being blamed entirely on our style of defense. That USC team would have destroyed anyone standing in their way in that postseason, including Florida. We were completely out-classed in terms of talent (and we know now that it was for illegitimate reasons), and that’s why we lost. I don’t care what type of defensive scheme you run, that USC team would’ve carved absolutely anyone up.

Referencing Herbstriet

Is like relying on a wikipedia article for your doctoral thesis. Good job completely self-negating your argument in one fell swoop.

Doboy36 - January 12, 2012 reply

So now that the sycophants and nepotism is gone

what do you plan on bitching about now?

jman07 - January 12, 2012 reply

Fossils because soon they will be old.

jetskijoe - January 12, 2012 reply

Probably losing

and bad coaching.

hatch - January 12, 2012 reply

I'm a Fan which is

short for Fanatic
which is Latin for “Whale’s Vagina”
no just kidding,
it is Latin for “bitching about my team if they don’t go undefeated and lead the nation in every statistical category”. Look it up.

I feel ya

it really is a tortured existence, isn’t it?

hbeach08 - January 13, 2012 reply

Fan doesnt stand for fanatic, maybe

One explanation is that it’s short for “The Fancy,” which what they used to call “the cranks” who attended baseball games. Fancy, in this case, meaning “being really into it.”

The more you know..

reedjohnmiller - January 13, 2012 via mobile reply

I guess it depends on who you believe

Paul Dickson, in his Dickson Baseball Dictionary, cites William Henry Nugent’s work that claims it comes from fancy, a 19th century term from England that referred mainly to followers of boxing. According to that unsupported explanation, it was originally shortened to fance then just to the homonym fans. However, Merriam-Webster, the Oxford dictionary and other recognized sources define it as a shortened version of the word fanatic, and the word did first become popular in reference to an enthusiastic follower of a baseball team. (Fanatic itself, introduced into English around 1550, means “marked by excessive enthusiasm and often intense uncritical devotion”. It comes from the Modern Latin fanaticus, meaning “insanely but divinely inspired”. The word originally pertained to a temple or sacred place [Latin fanum, poetic English fane]. The modern sense of “extremely zealous” dates from around 1647; the use of fanatic as a noun dates from 1650.) However, the term “fancy” for an intense liking of something, while being of a different etymology, coincidentally carries a less intense but somewhat similar connotation to “fanatic”. The word emerged as an Americanism around 1889.

I'm intrigued by your ideas and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

reedjohnmiller - January 14, 2012 via mobile reply

Maybe this was mentioned

But the official release says BOB is still finalizing the DC position. Is there a snag with Roof??