OT: Incredible start to NCAA Baseball Tournament

Sadly, Penn State's baseball season ended before the Big Ten Tournament. Three Big Ten teams made the field of 64 for the NCAA Baseball Tournament: Indiana (Tournament Champion), Ohio State (regular season champion), and Minnesota (regular season runner-up).

The first big story of this year's NCAA Tournament was the first loss of the year for San Diego State pitcher Stephen Strasburg, who is a lock to be the first pick of the upcoming Major League Baseball Draft by the Washington Nationals. Strasburg has been called by some the best pitching prospect ever. We're not sure if we believe that hype, but his numbers are ridiculous: 13-1 with a 1.32 ERA, 195 strikeouts and only 19 walks in 109 innings. If you live in the Capital region, be sure to catch Strasburg when he plays for the Harrisburg Senators.

Back to his loss: the Azteks opened the Tournament against eventual regional winner Virginia. Strasburg gave up a pair of runs over seven innings in a 5-2 loss. But what really caught our eye was 15 strikesouts and no walks against a really good team.

On Saturday night, Texas outlasted Boston College in the longest game in NCAA history. It ended after 25 innings and more than seven hours. Texas reliever Austin Wood pitched 13 innings, including 12⅓ innings of no-hit ball. He tossed the rock 169 times. (So much for pitch counts!)

Ohio State dropped their Tournament opener, a 24-8 woodshed beating by Georgia. The Buckeyes fought back, eliminating Marist and Georgia to reach the regional final against homestanding Florida State.

The Buckeyes fell behind 20-0 after three innings...then the wheels really came off the bus. After the 'Noles plated 11 in the top of the fifth it was 32-0! Then the Buckeyes roared back, outscoring F$U 6-5 over the final four-and-a-half frames. The final was 37-6. This is not a typo, it was thirty-seven to six. And yes, it was baseball, not a BCS Championship Game.

Florida State set school records for runs (37), hits (38), doubles (15), and total bases (66), while the four above mentioned records plus the 51 combined hits by both teams set NCAA Tournament single-game records. The Seminoles also tied a school record for RBI (34) and most combined runs by two teams with 43. The 15 doubles by the F$U also eclipsed the NCAA single-game record of 13 held by three different teams.

F$U is undefeated against the Buckeyes in football, but have never scored 37.

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Penn State Football Fans Due for A Sad Awakening

Well the pre-season poop sheets on college football are starting to hit the market.

The best of em all, Phil Steele has Penn State at #5. Athlon, #7.

I admit you have to respect Phil Steele. But, he has me wondering if he is sniffing glue. Penn State at #5? Didn't anyone learn anything back in 2003-2004?

I know we have the cupcake schedule that insures 6 easy wins. But the other 6? It will be a miracle if we win 4 of those.

I wonder where Phil thinks we are going to get points? We don't have a single wide receiver that will rank in the top 100 of college football. Not a single receiver that is going to be able to get separation.

The other thing we know from experience is, Daryll Clark won't be threading the needle when those receivers fail to separate. He is going to look like a bobble head doll back there when we get to the real season. Daryll is going to have to run for his life against the big boys. This does not bode well for his physical wealth.

Daryll and company complete 224 passes last season. 132 of those receptions graduated (Butler, William, Norwood). 58.9 percent.

Can you tell me the name of the player who was next in line with receptions? Try Evan Royster with 17.

Brett Brackett 13 games, 13 receptions. Graham Zug 13 games, 11 receptions. Give me a break. We would be better served to move Quarless to wide out.

What usually happens when Penn State has to replace a veteran offensive line? 8 in the box, that is what happens. It is going to be a long season for Royster and Green.

Its going to a long pitiful season on offense for the entire offense.

Does anyone really believe this years defensive will be comparable with last year's veteran group? They certainly won't play like the 2004 group that kept us in every game.

I am a Penn State fanatic fan. As a result, I'll predict 9 wins. For that to happen we will need to win this year's 6-4 slug fest.

Time to start using this popular Penn State phrase -- we should be really good -- next year.

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Wrestling recruiting: Cyler Sanderson to Penn State!

Cael and Cyler Sanderson

Cael Sanderson didn't have to look far for the Penn State Cyclones Nittany Lions most recent recruit. Little brother and two-time All-America Cyler Sanderson has been released by Iowa State and is heading to Happy Valley. Iowa State coach Kevin Jackson wasn't thrilled, but he understands...

"It's unfortunate. He's been on a team with a lot of teammates for the last four years and they're disappointed that he's leaving. They understand it's his brothers. He's been with his brothers his whole wrestling career, so to think we were going to be able to hold him back from leaving, I was hoping that might happen but obviously blood is thicker than water, as it should be."

Two-time NCAA qualifier Tyler Clark (125 pounds) has also been given a release and it remains to be seen if he'll follow Cael to State College, though that seems unlikely. Jackson said he gave Clark a partial release, not allowing him immediate eligibility at Penn State, Iowa, or another Big 12 school.

[Hats off to Dave Kroll of We Are...Penn State for alerting us to this story and hats off to UncleLar of Happy Valley Half Nelson for clarifying the Clark situation.]

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Penn State's Joe Paterno banging a lonely drum on Big Ten expansion

Purdue AD Morgan Burke

Joe Paterno has been stumping for another team in the Big Ten, but is anyone listening? Apparently not, because of the subject of expansion wasn't discussed at last week's Big Ten meetings, according to Purdue athletic director Morgan Burke...

"He's right now a committee of one."

Michigan State athletic director Mark Hollis echoed Burke...

"I think Jim Delany would consider it if the right circumstances ever presented themselves. But right now there's nothing before us."

What would be the right circumstances? Burke explained...

"In (Joe's) mind, if you added a 12th team that would cause us to look at a conference championship game, spread your season out, and you would stay in the national limelight. I think that's what driving him.

"A decision to ever expand the Big Ten will not be made on that basis. It will be decided just like we did with Penn State. It's not a hot topic right now.

"I do share his concerns whether or not it affects your ability to be really sharp when you get into a bowl game in December. But if we were out of sight and out of mind, why would we have been picked as a second team in the BCS so many times?

"There's no reason we couldn't extend our season into the early part of December and take an additional bye week in the fall. But do people really want to sit in Ross-Ade Stadium when it's 15 degrees or Madison or anywhere else? The longer you go out, there's more weather issues."

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Ohio State's Jim Tressel dreams of LeBron James

Did LeBron James miss his true calling?

Jay Paterno isn't the only coach who tried to recruit LeBron James as a wideout. Radio host Dan Patrick asked Ohio State Coach Jim Tressel if he recruited the Cleveland Cavaliers star...

"I was in (Akron) St. Vincent-St. Mary one day after his junior year and we were recruiting another guy, and I felt this big pair of hands on the back of my neck. It was LeBron. He said, 'I could play wideout for you.'"

Tressel's response?

"You've got a scholarship if you want it. He said, 'I'm not even going to play my senior year of football in high school.' He said if he did come to Ohio State, (he'd want to run) mostly fade routes and alley-oops. He probably wasn't going to run a whole bunch of square-ins."

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Wisconsin jumps on bandwagon, dumps media guides

Barry Alvarez is counting pennies, if not calories

The other day we reported that neither Michigan nor Ohio State will print their athletic media guides. Perhaps it's only a matter of time before the rest of the Big Ten follows their lead. Wisconsin Director of Athletics Barry Alvarez announced that UW Athletics will no longer print media/recruiting guides in a cost-cutting move...

“Athletic departments across the country are looking for ways to operate more efficiently from a financial standpoint. Our communications, marketing and Web site services staffs have embraced new media and continue to be innovative with Web site content. We feel the time has come to fully move our printed content, including the media guides and annual report, to UWBadgers.com.

“This is a move we have been discussing for quite a while now and it’s being discussed within both the Big Ten and NCAA. We believe there are a number of different approaches we can take with our online content and our staff will continue to work to determine what works best for our student-athletes, coaches, fans, and media.”

This move is expected to result in savings of close to $200,000.

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North Carolina asks Penn State for football home-and-home

North Carolina head coach Butch Davis wants to upgrade the Tar Heels football schedule...

"We have sent letters to Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, and Oklahoma. We've tried to reach out and get a future home-and-home series."

We believe Penn State should agree to this only if we can also get a men's basketball home-and-home with UNC.

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No assistant football coaches on Penn State salary list?

Yesterday we reported on Penn State's million dollar man, Joe Paterno, and wondered about the entire list...

"Left unanswered for the time being are the salaries of Penn State's assistant football coaches..."

We thought that Tom Bradley and perhaps Larry Johnson, Sr. might be among the 32 salaries released by the University, but that doesn't appear to be the case. JoePa, men's basketball coach Ed DeChellis ($642K), and PSU President Graham Spanier ($590K) are on the list, but...

Medical school executives and faculty round out the highest-paid employees' salary list. Most of them earn salaries of $300,000 and above.

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Penn State great Kerry Collins is old school

Kerry Collins during the epic 1994 game at Illinois

The Tennessee Titans have scheduled four "throwback" games this season where they will be sporting the look of the 1960 Houston Oilers. Most people are talking about the uniforms, but what excites quarterback Kerry Collins is the black shoes...

"This will be the first time for me in a pro game. It feels good, going old school. I'm excited. And of course going to Penn State, we were the pioneers of the black shoes, so I think it will be cool. I think the guys will really like it."

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Big Ten vs. Pac-10 in Rose Bowl? Not necessarily

The Rose Bowl hasn't always featured the Big Ten

Tony Barnhart of the Atlanta Journal Constitution found something interesting in the new BCS contract with ESPN, which will begin after the 2010 regular season...

In past contracts if the Rose Bowl lost one of its traditional partners, the Big Ten or Pac-10 champ, to the BCS championship game, it could simply fill with another Big Ten or Pac-10 team that qualified. That’s how a 9-3 Illinois team got to Pasadena two years ago.

But in the new contract, I’m told, there is an interesting clause: The first time in the deal that the Rose loses one of its champions to the BCS title game, that opening will be automatically filled by a Coalition (non-BCS conference) team if one has qualified.

For example: Let’s say Southern Cal wins the Pac-10 and qualifies for the BCS championship game in 2010. And let’s say Utah or Boise State goes undefeated again the wins the Mountain West or WAC. That team, if it doesn’t get into the big game, would automatically go to the Rose, where no Coalition team has played before.

What’s the significance of this, you ask? It is another way that the BCS is increasing access of the five Coalition conferences to all of the games in system. Should the BCS get sued and hauled back before Congress, it is another way it can counter the claim that the Coalition schools don’t have enough access.

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Tim Brewster echoes Penn State's Joe Paterno: Rutgers to Big Ten

Jersey native Tim Brewster

Minnesota football coach Tim Brewster, who grew up in Phillipsburg, New Jersey, agrees with Joe Paterno that Rutgers makes sense for Big Ten expansion...

"I am definitely for the addition of another team, and it would be great to bring in a team from the Eastern market. I certainly believe Rutgers is a tremendous candidate, one that obviously makes sense.

"I think this is going to happen--it's a matter of when and who. Joe is very partial to Rutgers, and you look at the commitment they've made to the football program and the success Greg Schiano has had, there's a lot of great things Rutgers has to offer."

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Joe Paterno: Penn State's million dollar man

One million dollars!

Penn State is media savvy, releasing news about Joe Paterno's salary late on a Friday afternoon...

Penn State University football coach Joe Paterno topped $1 million in salary for fiscal year 2008, making him the highest salaried employee at the university, according to data the school will file under the state's new Open Records Law.

Mr. Paterno's salary for the period ending in June 30, 2008 was $1,037,322, the university said today.

Penn State President Graham Spanier earned about half the salary of Mr. Paterno--$590,004, according to the university.

His salary and that of Mr. Paterno will be reported in the filing following guidelines of federal Internal Revenue Service Form 990, the university said. In November 2007, the Pennsylvania State Employees Retirement System revealed that he made $427,220 for the first 10 months of the year, putting him on course to make $512,664 over 12 months, provided his pay did not fluctuate during the last two months.

The questions left unanswered for the time being are the salaries of Penn State's assistant football coaches and the much-rumored salary of wrestling coach Cael Sanderson. We'll have to wait a year on Cael, as the IRS filings are retrospective, not prospective.

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Pac-10 having buyer's remorse over 9-game conference schedule?

ESPN's Ted Miller brings us some interesting news...

In an informal poll conducted by the Pac-10 blog, conference coaches voted 6-4 in favor of ending round-robin conference scheduling and reverting back to an eight-game slate, which was how things were before a 12th game was added in 2006.

That's about how a straw poll went in May during the Pac-10 meetings in Phoenix, and feelings were strong enough against the nine-game conference schedule that the athletic directors will review the issue during their June meetings in San Francisco.

The biggest challenge is that the ninth non-con game replaces a patsy. Arizona State and Stanford both finished 5-7 in 2008, which was the difference between five bowl-eligible teams and the conference would have filling all seven of its bowl contracts.

Arizona athletic director Jim Livengood has come full circle...

"I probably have changed on this. I believed [adding a ninth conference game in 2006] was the right thing to do. It just seemed to be fair to go around and play everybody.

"Now that we've been through it, I'm probably on the other side totally. I'm not sure it's a great idea any more.

"A bigger part of it is how to get out of it."

We imagine the Big Ten is monitoring this closely as it contemplates a move to nine conference games.

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Football recruiting: Penn State target Dakota Royer is way athletic

We were seriously impressed by the strength, power, and athleticism displayed by major Penn State target Dakota Royer of Manheim Central in this video. Royer (6-3, 211) is ostensibly being recruiting as a defensive end, but we wonder if he'll end up at outside linebacker or even strong safety at the next level. Enjoy.

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Big Ten: Richest conference in college sports

Ranking BCS revenues:

1. Big Ten: 2006-07 revenue to share: $154.2 million among 11 schools. Each school received $14 million. Commissioner Jim Delany’s base salary: $800,000.

2. ACC: 2006-07 revenue to share: $137.6 million among 12 schools. Highest: Wake Forest $12.5 million. Lowest: Boston College $8.8 million. Commissioner John Swofford’s base salary: $601,186.

3. SEC: 2007-08 revenue to share: $135 million among 12 schools. Highest: LSU: $11.8 million. Lowest: Mississippi $10.8 million. Commissioner Mike Slive’s base salary: $551,250.

4. Big 12: 2007-08 revenue to share: $103.1 million among 12 schools. Highest: Texas $10.2 million. Lowest: Baylor $7.1 million. Commissioner Dan Beebe’s base salary: $548,700.

5. Pac-10: 2006-07 revenue to share: $80.1 million among 10 schools. Highest: USC $10.8 million. Lowest: Washington State $6.3 million. Commissioner Tom Hansen’s base salary: $458,880.

6. Big East: 2006-07 revenue to share: $77.6 million among 16 schools, eight which don’t play Division I-A football. Highest: Louisville $7.88 million (football and basketball). Lowest: DePaul $1.6 million (basketball). Commissioner Mike Tranghese’s base salary: $509,000.

The Big Ten didn’t list revenues by categories in its IRS Form 990 filing, but the conference is known to have the largest TV package through ESPN/ABC and the Big Ten Network.

Please keep this in mind the next time you're tempted to complain about Penn State's membership in the Big Ten.

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Cats and dogs living together? Michigan, Ohio State agree to dump media guides

Woody and Bo must be spinning in their graves with the lovey-dovey cooperation of Ohio State and Michigan...

The Ohio State University and the University of Michigan have agreed to halt the printing of athletic team media guides in an effort to develop new media initiatives for more effective communications and help with cost containment.

Blame the recession. Though in Michigan it's quickly becoming a depression...

The elimination of printed media guides will take place immediately and effectively will result in a total cost reduction of more than $250,000 per year.

Gene Smith, Ohio State Director of Athletics, commented on the changes...

“All athletic programs are in the midst of cost containment discussions, but our decision is not only based on economics, the structure of media consumption has changed rapidly and we need to meet the challenges head on. New initiatives will have to be developed to allow media, recruits, alumni, and fans to follow our teams. Social networking already plays a role in our communication plan and new platforms will continue to develop.”

Jay Paterno is hip to social networking and new platforms, but somebody in Columbus better explain it to Jim Tressel.

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Athlon Sports ranks Penn State #7

Athlons the Really Big Ten

We love this time of year. The weather is perfect and the college football preview magazines are starting to hit the newstands. First to weigh in is Athlon Sports, which has Penn State ranked seventh. We are a bit less sanguine, ranking the Nittany Lions around #15, as we share Joe Paterno's concerns about the secondary.

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Wisconsin negotiating with Notre Dame for football home-and-home

Wisconsin and Notre Dame have not played in ages

We'd love to see Notre Dame return to Penn State's football schedule, but with Joe Paterno's comments yesterday we suspect it will be a while. In the meantime, Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez is working on a Badgers-Domers matchup, with 2012 through 2015 as the window of opportunity.

Alvarez revealed his efforts Tuesday afternoon during a radio interview on WTSO-AM in Madison...

"We haven't confirmed yet. But yes, there is work being done on it."

Meanwhile, Penn State is stuck with Rutgers in 2014 and 2015. Sigh...

[Hats off to Adam Rittenberg of ESPN for alerting us to this story!]

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Football recruiting: Penn State and the Pennsy Class of 2010

Bill Kurelic of ESPN did a nice job of summarizing Penn State's chances with the best of the Class of 2010 in the Keystone State...

1. RB Corey Brown (Springfield/Cardinal O’Hara)
Schools considering: Penn State, Ohio State, Rutgers, Florida, Boston College, Michigan State, Florida State, Pitt, Maryland, West Virginia, Miami and others
Penn State offer?: Yes
The Skinny: Brown seems to be favoring Florida, Rutgers and Ohio State, though he is not close to selecting a college.

2. LB Mike Hull (Canonsburg/Canon-McMillan)
Schools considering: Committed to Penn State
Penn State offer?: Yes
The Skinny: Hull committed to the Nittany Lions in November over scholarship offers from Michigan, Pitt and West Virginia.

3. DE/LB Dakota Royer (Manheim/Manheim Central)
Schools considering: Penn State, Pitt, Notre Dame, UCLA, Michigan State, Illinois, North Carolina, West Virginia, Virginia Tech and Oregon
Penn State offer?: Yes
The Skinny: After watching Royer hang out with PSU commit Silas Redd and Khairi Fortt - both Connecticut natives - at the Penn State NIKE Camp, I like the Nittany Lions’ chances with both Royer and Fortt.

4. DL Sharrif Floyd (Philadelphia/George Washington)
Schools considering: Penn State, Florida, Miami, Rutgers, UCLA, Wisconsin, Pitt, Temple, West Virginia, Boston College, Syracuse and a few others
Penn State offer?: Yes
The Skinny: Floyd plans to take all five official visits and says Penn State will be one of the five.

5. WR Alex Kenney (State College/State College)
Schools considering: Penn State, Illinois, Stanford, Virginia, Northwestern, Temple, Minnesota and a few others
Penn State offer?: Yes
The Skinny: Kenney is not a Penn State slam dunk, but I still like the Nittany Lions’ chances.

6. QB P.J. Jones (McKees Rocks/Sto-Rox)
Schools considering: Committed to Penn State
Penn State offer?: Yes
The Skinny: Jones’ committed to Penn State over scholarship offers from Pitt, West Virginia, Stanford, Iowa, North Carolina State, Duke and a few others.

7. DE Kyle Baublitz (York/Central York)
Schools considering: Penn State, Pitt, Rutgers, Michigan, Michigan State, Illinois, Northwestern, West Virginia, Boston College, Virginia, Wisconsin, Maryland and some others
Penn State offer?: Yes
The Skinny: Baublitz would like to select his college before the end of the summer. He says he is currently wide open on his choices.

8. QB Anthony Gonzalez (Bethlehem/Liberty)
Schools considering: Penn State, Pitt, Illinois, Maryland, Florida State, West Virginia, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Clemson and a few others
Penn State offer?: Yes
The Skinny: Paterno would like a quarterback tandem of Gonzalez and Jones in his 2010 recruiting class.

9. WR/DB Brandon Ifill (Pittsburgh/Penn Hills)
Schools considering: Penn State, Michigan, Pitt, Maryland, Minnesota, West Virginia, Purdue, Connecticut and some others
Penn State offer?: Yes
The Skinny: This is going to be a tough one for Paterno to win. Maryland currently leads Pitt and Michigan.

10. OL Miles Dieffenbach (Pittsburgh/Fox Chapel)
Schools considering: Penn State, Pitt, Stanford, Ohio State, Boston College, Virginia, Notre Dame, Michigan State and a few others
Penn State offer?: No
The Skinny: Dieffenbach is interested in Penn State, but the Nittany Lions have not offered. Pitt is the odds-on favorite.

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Penn State's Joe Paterno: Just say no to Notre Dame

Joe Paterno thinks Notre Dame should GO pound salt

Expansion remains a hot topic in Big Ten Country. Joe Paterno continued to lobby for Syracuse, Rutgers, or Pitt at an alumni event in Fogelsville yesterday. But there's one school Joe would cross off the list...

"I supposed there would be pressure on Notre Dame, to go back and ask them again. I would not be happy with that. They've had their chance."

With all due respect to Joe, we continue to believe it should be Notre Dame or bust for the Big Ten.

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Florida's Urban Meyer a Wuss, Georgia's Mark Richt a Man

You probably know that starting in 2010 college football coaches intend to keep their college football poll ballots a secret.

Urban Meyer likes this proposal...

"I think that's good...I think at some point you have to trust the people who vote."

What? Urban has to get a real life outside football. Trust? They wouldn't need to make the ballot a secret if coaches, like the wuss Urban, had some nads.

It's OK, I am sure the true believers at Florida will get behind this idea.

Fans at Georgia might be happy to know that their coach, Mark Richt, has nads...

"I think there needs be some accountability. I want to be able to defend my vote every week whether it's public or not."

South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier weighed in...

"I thought we would stay public on that last vote, I sort of think we ought to stay public, you know. It keeps everybody pretty honest so I don't know, that was surprising."

The Visor has nads.

Meanwhile, Joe Paterno won't have to worry. They already threw him out of the poll because he wouldn't vote the way they wanted him to vote...

"They said, ’You can’t do that,’ They didn’t want to count my vote, and they didn’t. But what did they want me to do, go against what I believe is right? I can’t do that. I won’t do it."

JoePa has Nads.

The dumbest quote of them all came from AFCA executive director Grant Teaff...

"[The changes are] making our poll the best poll it can possibly be. Confidentiality and anonymous voters get the purest vote, that's the whole concept behind it".

Grant would probably be coaching if he could find a coaching job. Pretty hard to make those hard calls when all you got is --peanuts.

So I ask.
Do you think the poll should be done by secret ballot?

Do you think Urban Meyer is a wuss?

Football coaches to keep poll ballots secret starting in 2010

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Bowls fibbing about charitable donations?

Dan Wetzel and Josh Peter are at it again. The Yahoo! Sports investigative reporters who broke the stories about cheating at USC have uncovered evidence that the Alamo Bowl's executive director may have inflated claims about how much money bowls donates to charity during testimony to Congress...

Derrick Fox spoke against a playoff, stating “almost all the postseason bowl games are put on by charitable groups” and “local charities receive tens of millions of dollars every year.”

In fact, 10 bowl games are privately owned and one is run by a branch of a local government. The remaining 23 games enjoy tax-exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service, but combined to give just $3.2 million to local charities on $186.3 million in revenue according to their most recent federal tax records and interviews with individual bowl executives.

“That doesn’t seem like something that’s really geared toward giving to charity, does it?” said Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) after being presented with Yahoo! Sports’ findings.

“It’s perjury if it’s knowingly said,” Barton said of the sworn testimony, which he called “misleading.” “It’s also contempt of Congress. You’ve got to give [him] some sort of due process, but ultimately the remedy is to hold [him] in contempt of Congress on the House floor or send it to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution of perjury under oath.”

Some playoffs plans, including one produced by the NCAA, concluded they could produce so much revenue that even a lesser percentage share would result in more actual dollars for the six major conferences. However, it likely would require ceding power to the NCAA’s central office, which presumably would run a playoff.

Seeking answers to these questions was the purpose of the initial hearing, Barton said. Now he has new questions about whether inaccurate information was used by Fox to paint an anti-playoff picture.

“This is political dynamite,” Barton said. “Never underestimate the power of entrenched interests to fight back in an unfair way.”

[Hats off to Jay Christensen of The Wiz of Odds for alerting us to this story!]

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The fix is in for Florida State and Bobby Bowden

Chris Griffin

Yesterday we reported on the delay of Florida State's appeal of Bobby Bowden's vacated victories. Not to worry, F$U fans, the fix is in, Bowden's fake wins will stand.

The chair of the NCAA's Division I Infractions Appeals Committee is Christopher Griffin, an attorney with the law firm of Foley & Lardner.

Griffin is listed as an "independent" member of the committee. Wanna take a wild guess as to where he went to school?

Mr. Griffin received his J.D., summa cum laude, in 1978 from Florida State University College of Law, and his B.A. in 1976, summa cum laude, from Florida State University.

But wait, it gets better!

Chris Griffin was a young defensive back for Florida State in the early '70s...

Griffin has undoubtedly recused himself from ruling on F$U's appeal, but we can't help but wonder how the committee will be influenced by its chair.

Moreover, another committee member, Noel Ragsdale, is a Clinical Professor of Law at Southern Cal, which has it's own NCAA problems. Only a cynic would suggest that Griffin will take care of U$C if Ragsdale takes care of F$U.

Noel Ragsdale

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Football recruiting: Is Penn State chasing the next Maurice Evans?

Dominique Easley

Some are calling Dominique Easley the second coming of Maurice Evans. If he picks Penn State, we sure hope he makes better decisions than Big Mo.

Not that it will be easy to sign him. Easley's offer list is impressive and growing rapidly: Boston College, UConn, Duke, Georgia, Maryland, Miami, Michigan, Oregon, Penn State, Rutgers, South Florida, Syracuse, Tennessee, and Texas Tech so far.

Easley (6-3, 260) has led Staten Island (N.Y.) Curtis to a 21-2 record over the past two seasons. Curtis won the New York City Championship during Easley's sophomore season.

Penn State is in close contact with Easley and recently paid him a visit...

“They were out about a week ago. Kermit Buggs watched me at a spring practice.”

Scouts, Inc. is impressed...

Easley is one of the quickest players off the ball in this class and at times it seems like he has the offensive huddle wired and knows the snap count. He possesses good size and can be disruptive because he can get going so quickly and explode through the gap to cause disruption in the backfield.

It can be jaw-dropping at times how explosive Easley is. Still a bit raw in some areas and often looks to be a notch better then his competition, but this kid has promise because it is tough to teach quickness off the ball like that.

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NCAA to rule on Florida State's Bobby Bowden appeal by June 2nd

F$U fans hope Bowden can keep fake wins

For all the blah, blah, blah from F$U about the appeal of their academic scandal penalties, they are concerned about only one thing--preserving Bobby Bowden's fake victories. An adverse ruling would all but end the race between Bowden and Joe Paterno. Now comes word that we'll have to wait even longer for the resolution...

Florida State has been hoping for a while for an end to come to the academic fraud case that has lingered over the institution for nearly two years. Now, though, FSU will have to wait at least a week longer than expected to learn the fate of the appeal it submitted to the NCAA’s Infractions Appeals Committee.

In a letter from the NCAA that the university released on Wednesday, the appeals committee granted a seven-day extension to the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions, which had requested additional time to respond to Florida State’s appeal.

The infractions committee now has until June 2 to respond to FSU’s appeal, which the university submitted on April 23. If the ruling is upheld, FSU could be forced to vacate as many as 14 football victories from the 2006 and 2007 seasons.

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Video interview: Penn State's Devon Smith after winning Maryland 200 meter Finals

Here's a good interview with Devon Smith after he won the Class 3A Boys 200 Meter Dash Finals in 21.88 at the Maryland Track & Field Championships...

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Smith talked about missing the 100 meter preliminaries after getting caught in a traffic jam on Friday. Smith was going crazy while spending three hours in the car, which is an hour longer than it should have been, even with traffic.

Smith also talked about getting ready for football camp at Penn State. He heads to Happy Valley in about a month.



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Penn State's Christian Kuntz: From Gold to Gridiron

Christian Kuntz won gold in the 300 Meter Hurdles

Christian Kuntz took double Gold at the PIAA Track & Field Championships, but it wasn't easy. He had to overcome a knee injury suffered during football season...

“I think it was a blessing in disguise that I got hurt, to tell you the truth. It really put everything in perspective. I know in a couple weeks, I’ll be at Penn State and it’ll be a whole different journey I’ll have to be accustomed to. Being able to rehab my knee, all the hard work...just coming back and being faster than I was before. It’s all worked out.”

Now the real work starts...

“I have a whole book of what I have to do. I’m probably in good shape now but I’m sure it’s nothing like Division I football, especially like Penn State and being in the Big Ten. I have light-years to go. It’s like (Penn State assistant coach Mike McQueary) said, ‘If you give them to me, I can teach them to play football.’ I’m ready to go.”

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Double Gold for Penn State's Kuntz at PIAA Track Championships!

Christian Kuntz

Incoming freshman wideout Christian Kuntz of Trinity High School in Camp Hill won two Gold medals at the PIAA Track & Field Championships at Shippensburg University. Kuntz won the Class AA Boys 110 Meter Hurdles in 14.40 and the Class AA Boys 300 Meter Hurdles in 39.07. Not bad for a kid who's 6-4 with "large, soft hands who has sound concentration and attacks the football in traffic while showing good leaping and high-point skills."

Meanwhile, Class of 2010 target Alex Kenney of State College High took Silver in the Class AAA Boys 100 Meter Dash with a time of 10.67. Kenney will be favored to win Gold next year, finishing a full quarter second ahead of the next fastest junior. Kenney also finished fourth in the Class AAA Boys 200 Meter Dash in 21.86.

Another 2010 target, Corey Brown of Springfield Cardinal O'Hara, took Bronze in the 200 with a time of 21.69 and was fourth in the hundred (10.92).

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Anthony Gonzalez not bothered by P.J. Jones verbal to Penn State

Competition doesn't scare Anthony Gonzalez

Anthony Gonzalez led Bethlehem Liberty to a 15-1 record and the PIAA Class AAAA State Championship as a junior last year. He passed for 1,580 yards and 12 touchdowns with just four picks. He did even more damage on the ground, rushing for 1,670 yards and 24 touchdowns. Gonzalez is holding offers from Cincinnati, Clemson, UConn, Florida State, Illinois, Maryland, Missouri, Northwestern, Oregon, Penn State, Pitt, Stanford, Vanderbilt, and West Virginia.

Penn State has received a verbal from P.J. Jones and is hot on the trail of Barry Brunetti and Robert Bolden. What does Gonzalez think of Jones’ commitment?

“Wherever I go I will have to compete. So it doesn’t bother me.”

It's our understanding that Penn State is recruiting the left-handed Gonzalez as an athlete and doesn't anticipate him playing quarterback at the next level. Nor do we anticipate Penn State signing more than two quarterbacks in the Class of 2010.

Then again, Scouts, Inc. believes that Gonzalez can be effective in the right system. Did someone say Spread HD?

This kid is a beast of an athlete and a terrific overall football player. Gonzalez is a powerful, athletic football player that also doubles as a safety/outside linebacker and is impressive in this role too.

Gonzalez is very raw mechanically. He tends to wind up a bit and shows adequate-to-good arm strength and is capable of making most, if not all of the necessary throws when he is set and balanced to throw.

He throws very well on the move and when rolling out to either side. Squares shoulders and is such a threat to run that he puts defenses in a real bind on the perimeter. He can change ball speeds and shows very good touch and timing in the passing game. Set up and balance is quick, but he is not a true pocket passer.

If he can't get rid of the football early, he will often start improvising and this is where he becomes dangerous. He is a big, physical runner with deceptive speed and quickness. Has great feet and change-of-direction is very good for a QB. He will flat out run over would-be tacklers and is a load in the open field.

The thing that stands out about this kid is his competitiveness and football savvy. Some guys are just football players regardless of where you line them up and Gonzalez is one of them.

As a passer he is going to have a lot of refining to do in terms of his throwing mechanics. He must tighten up his release and get rid of the ball in a compact manner that eliminates wasted motion.

As far as football players go, he is one of the better ones we have seen in this class because he just makes plays and gets things done despite being very raw. Excellent prospect that could end up being a very productive and exciting player at the next level in an offense that accentuates his strengths.

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Top-ranked David Taylor verbals to Penn State and Cael Sanderson!

David Taylor

We had previously reported that the Class of 2009's top-ranked wrestling recruit, David Taylor, was interested in Penn State after being granted his release from Iowa State.

Now comes this note from the Springfield (Ohio) News-Sun...

David Taylor, son of Dave and Kathy Taylor, will attend Penn State University, majoring in Undecided Business. He has accepted $34,000 in scholarships from Penn State University.

Taylor, who has known Cael Sanderson for more than ten years, picked the Nittany Lions over Ohio State and Oklahoma State.

[Hats off to UncleLar of Happy Valley Half Nelson for alerting us to this story!]

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Video: Penn State's Devon Smith makes Maryland 200 meter Finals

Penn State football signee Devon Smith of Westlake owns the Maryland record for the 100-meter dash (10.42)...

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Unfortunately, he got caught in traffic and missed his preliminary heat at the Maryland State Championships. He didn't leave anything to chance in the 200-meter preliminaries. The finals are today.

We're looking forward to seeing Smith in Happy Valley, especially returning punts and kickoffs. He's just a sliver (140-155 pounds, depending on who you listen to), but Scouts, Inc. was impressed...

Smith has marginal size but may be this class' biggest homerun threat. He simply has excellent "play speed" and lateral quickness. Accelerates to top-speed within just a few steps and is gone at the high school level when he finds an open crease in the second level.

Great perimeter speed but is deceptively productive between the tackles picking and darting his way through traffic with his great balance, body control, and foot-quickness. Very sudden and is slippery to get a clean shot on. Is a determined runner who will fight for extra yards and keep his legs churning on contact.

Plays bigger than his measurables. Displays good hands out of the backfield and the ability to catch the ball smoothly in stride. Our main concern is his smaller frame and ability to take a hit and remain durable at the next level. Yards after contact should diminish as well.

Would need to polish up receiving skills to play in the slot, but he could be a major mismatch versus slower linebackers in space. Flashes the stop-start foot-quickness, speed and ball skills to develop at corner as well.

Smith will most likely get recruited as a running back or simply an athlete. A major sleeper in our eyes with elite speed you just can't coach.

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Wrapping up the Big Ten meetings

Adam Rittenberg of ESPN did a nice job of summarizing the Big Ten meetings...

• It won't happen until at least 2012, but the push for a ninth conference game really seems to have some life right now. Most athletic directors favor the addition, and it's just a matter of working out the logistics, which are far from easy. Of course, adding a 12th team would allow every Big Ten member to play nine league games. Ah, to dream.
• Most Big Ten coaches want to see official visits moved up to June of a prospect's junior year, which makes a lot of sense, given the current recruiting calendar. This idea certainly has legs, and I wouldn't be surprised to see a change sometime in the near future.
• Negotiations for bowl agreements won't begin until the fall because of the shaky economy, and it will be interesting to see what happens with the Capital One Bowl and the Champs Sports Bowl. If there's really no hope for a Citrus Bowl Stadium renovation, I could see the Big Ten looking elsewhere for one of its top teams.
• There were some discussions about equipment, and whether players should be allowed to wear more protection during the first few practices of the spring and preseason, which are required to be in shorts and shells. Though there isn't much contact during the early workouts, extra padding could reduce the risk of injury.
• Teams throughout the league are exploring ways to reduce expenses, which include not having non-revenue sports teams stay overnight on road trips. Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith mentioned that reducing the number of official visits prospects can take from five to three would be a good cost-cutting measure.

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BIg Ten Commish disses President Obama

President Obama and Jay Paterno

Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany is one of the most powerful men in sports and a staunch defender of the BCS system. What does he think about President Obama's repeated calls for a college football playoff?

"It's very hard to be disagreeable with a popular president, that's my first thought. The reality is that he has a pulpit and people listen.

"I think his strength is probably basketball brackets. He probably has an interest as a fan. He's a scholar and a lawyer and a great politician, but I don't think he really understands the complexity of the issue.

"The people I work for are the presidents, the coaches, the faculty, and the athletic directors. It's not unanimous, but there's a super majority in each of one of those groups that support what we're doing."

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Penn State's Deon Butler wows Seahawks

Deon Butler torches Tennessee in 2007 Outback Bowl

Rob Rang of CBS had good things to say about a familiar name...

After conversations with insiders throughout the league, I've compiled a list of 10 players who made the most impressive and immediate impressions upon coaching staffs through the May rookie minicamps...

Deon Butler, WR, Seattle Seahawks: While most of the attention centered on No. 4 overall pick Aaron Curry, the rookie who stood out the most in Seattle's minicamp May 1-3 was the speedy Butler. The 4.28 speed Butler showcased at the scouting combine was on display during practices, providing the Seahawks with an element of big-play potential no other receiver on their roster possesses. Butler's soft hands, sharp route running and intelligence also impressed coaches.

Dan Arkush of Pro Football Weekly echoed Rang...

Judging by the way Deon Butler has been flying around during the Seahawks’ early offseason camp work, team sources have had no problem justifying GM Tim Ruskell’s decision to sacrifice fifth- and seventh-round picks in this year’s draft and a No. 3 in 2010 to the Eagles in order to trade up in the third round to select the fleet-footed receiver out of Penn State. “In college, he was known more for his precise route running, but the speed he displayed at the Combine and in the recent minicamp has just blown people away,” one source on the scene said of Butler, who has been commonly described as a much faster version of fellow Penn State alum and former longtime Seahawks WR Bobby Engram.

“Before, when the Seahawks were talking about having four wide receivers they could really count on, they were including (TE John) Carlson in that group along with (Deion) Branch, (Nate) Burleson, and T.J. (Houshmandzadeh),” the source added. “Butler gives them four pure wideouts, provided Branch is healthy. With the team planning on throwing the ball more downfield, he will definitely see action in three- and four-WR sets.” We hear the team is also thinking about using Butler on punt returns in order to get his speed on the field as much as possible.

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OT: Bang the Drum Slowly

Robert De Niro as Bruce Pearson

We spent some time on the professional TEGWAR circuit during our youth. (We play Western Canadian style which is, for our money, much faster than Southeastern TEGWAR.)

This TEGWAR experience influenced our choice of movies last night when we relaxed by watching Bang the Drum Slowly on TiVo. It features Michael Moriarty (best known as Ben Stone on Law & Order) and a young unknown named Robert De Niro as dying catcher Bruce Pearson.

Bang the Drum Slowly has aged really well since 1973 and remains one of our favorite films. In some ways it's the Brian's Song of baseball movies movie. It's sad, but it doesn't yank your heart out at every turn. However, we must admit that Piney Woods' rendition of Streets of Laredo brought a tear to our eyes. Check it out.

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Lacrosse: Three Penn State seniors selected for North/South All-Star Game

Rob Forster

The North/South All-Star Lacrosse Game has lost some of its luster. When we attended the 1978 game at Cornell and the 1990 game at Johns Hopkins, it was after the season and all the best seniors were in attendance. This year's game is this afternoon and won't include any players from the Final Four, which will be played this weekend. That being said, this news made us happy...

STATE COLLEGE, Pa.--Three members of the Penn State Nittany Lion lacrosse team will take part in the 2009 USILA North/South All-Star game, to be played on Friday, May 22, at Harvard.

Senior goalie Drew Adams (Springfield, Pa.), senior attack Rob Forster (Jenkintown, Pa.), and senior defender John Stuckey (Summit, N.J.) will all play on the Division I-II South Team.

Adams ended the year with a 7.96 goals against average and 212 saves and leaves Penn State as the school's all-time save leader; Stuckey started all 14 games for Penn State and anchored the Nittany Lion defense while Forster led Penn State in scoring with 35 points off 26 goals and nine assists.

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