WWN 2005 PENN STATE PREGAME #2 - William F. Yurasko

Cincinnati at PENN STATE

As the Post-Gazette reminded us the other day, the Week 2 result usually foretells Lions’ fate. Since the Big11Ten era began, the Lions have gone onto the postseason every time they won the second game. Every time they lost game 2, the missed out. So, this is an important game, which means we must all be roaring to get to Happy Valley for it…

TAILGATE

…um, no one from the crew is making the trip this weekend. No one. I have to go to Jersey for some family business and a number of people have baby related events (shower, birth?) too. If you are in the D.C. area, you may want to check out Uncle Jed’s in Bethesda where the Metro Washington D.C. Chapter of the Penn State Alumni Association are holding a viewing party. WWN’s own Fritz Hamme is the host. Next week, tailgating will resume, as will the Field Goal Challenge.

LAST WEEK

I covered last week’s lackluster 23 – 13 victory in the WWN Post Game #1. A few more thoughts:

One tailgater, in his fifth decade of going to Penn State games, thinks that Mike Robinson needs to be replaced at quarterback and the reluctance of Joe Paterno to recognize that is why the coach needs to step down.

We toast to victories with a little bit of bourbon, something that presumably Paterno does too. We started the practice after the thrilling come from behind victory over Northwestern in 2001. Following the win, his 323rd, Paterno said “I’m going to go home, get in trouble with a good stiff bourbon and then watch some Ohio State tapes.”

So, that is why we toast to victories with bourbon. However, ever since the practice started, this may be the victory that seemed least deserving. Typically, Beam has been the choice, but this victory seemed unworthy of that good a bourbon, it was Old Crow or at best, Old Grandad.

The Ombudsman, a bit under the weather in NYC, may have had the most appropriate toast on Saturday — Robitussin.

Sam came very close in predicting the correct score; he guessed 24 – 13.

THIS WEEK’S OPPONENT: CINCINNATI BEARCATS

81 – 0. Read that again: 81 – 0. That was the final the last time the two squads met up. It was in 1991 , the first game after Beaver Stadium expanded with an upper deck. Call it a hunch, but someone snuck an “81 – 0” sign into the Bearcats locker room. I would expect a very motivated team to be coming out of the visitors tunnel. The ’83 edition upset the Lions in Happy Valley.

What we know about the 2005 Bearcats: Their head coach, Marc Dantonio, was defensive coordinator at Ohio State, so he knows what to expect from the Lions and has had success against them. The Bearcats also run the ball well.

Official Penn State release for Cincinnati game PDF

9.6.2005
Transcript of Joe Paterno Press Conference Previewing Cincinnati Game

ARTICLES FROM THIS WEEK

CDT

Paterno now happy with offensive performance
On second thought, Paterno was happy with the offense on Saturday. On THIRD thought, I still think they are in need of dramatic improvement.

Position Player
Paul Cronin is a utility DB.

Kapinos improves control of punts
Remember when Virginia coach got overwhelmed by Penn State and their kicker power? That was before Kapinos was even on campus. Groh would probably have a heart attack now.

Patriot-News

University investigating Connor situation
Judicial Affairs has a tendency to be very heavy handed in punishments. We may not see Dan Connor play all year now. Paterno will announce his punishment after JA has their way.

Posluszny says defense still needs work
The junior captain makes an accurate assessment of the current defensive situation.

Paterno: I can’t trust media anymore
This is not even newsworthy, fans and media have known for years his feelings on reporters.

TREV TRACKER

…has been cancelled because HE WAS FIRED! Hallelujiah! Apparently, Trev “did not want to play a second fiddle role any more” and stopped showing up for work. Do not expect to see him on national TV ever again. He has now washed out of the NFL and ESPN. Good riddance chucklehead!

More from Chicago Tribune: ESPN fires no-show Alberts

I can think of just the person to take his place…

BEANO WATCH

Carroll H. Cook (’54 Pitt) returned to ESPN Insider for his weekly chat this week and naturally he fielded a Penn State question.

Craig (PA): Beano, what do you feel about Joe Pa’s comments about not trusting the media? Do you think this will be his last year at Penn State?

Beano Cook: I think he is 100 percent wrong. Penn State had a controlled press in the central part of the state at one point, but it is not longer there. Centre Daily Times in many ways was the second school paper for Penn State, but that is not the case any more. Part of the problem is Paterno’s attitude. He gets nasty with the media. Joe should remember the papers come out every day…he doesn’t come out at all. That was the same advice LBJ gave to Spiro Agnew.

I find myself in the uncomfortable position of agreeing with Beano on Paterno’s attitude. Those are some pretty harsh words for the CDT too, though not without some merit. What do you expect though? Almost all sports sections are full of homer-isms.

Beano also took a swipe at the Big11Ten:

3FF (Arlington, VA): Just a comment: Big Ten 10-0 in their first week games (heck, even IU and Illinois won)

Beano Cook: OK, every so often France has a good afternoon. Rutgers blew a 27-7 lead against Illinois but give Ron Zook and his team credit for coming back. The Indiana win over Central Michigan, well, I had planned to go to Bloomington but I ended up with other plans.

C’mon Beano, that’s just harsh.

MORE ON THE MUSIC IN BEAVER STADIUM

Penn State Faces the Music – FightOnState.com
More about the music that is being forced on fans at Beaver Stadium. They are going to change the playlist, but when it comes down to it, they need to eliminate it.

The article reveals that the person responsible for the music is Guido D’Elia, Penn State’s director of communications and branding for football. It seems odd that somebody with branding in his title would choose to take a wonderful brand like Penn State and tarnish it with the constant audio assault that is heard in most professional arenas. After all, isn’t the point of branding is to distinguish the brand, not make it more generic?

I have decided to e-mail Mr. D’Elia to voice my displeasure with the current situation. If you want to do the same, you can e-mail him at gnd3@psu.edu. That is what I wrote:

Mr. D’Elia

I went to my first Penn State game ten years ago today. Since that time, I have been to all but three home games.

Last Saturday’s game was probably the least enjoyable victory I have ever experienced at Beaver Stadium. A big part of that was the constant barrage of hip-hop and Guns N’ Roses that was been piped through the public address system at obnoxious volumes. This is not the Beaver Stadium that I know and love. This kind of atmosphere more like a typical professional sporting event, and a bad one at that.

I find it very discouraging that Penn State feels it need to make such a grand event as a football game a generic experience in order to entice people to attend. One of the things that have made Penn State games so wonderful is that they used to be free of the aural assault that occurs in most venues. Please, respect history and tradition and get rid of the piped in music and give us back our Blue Band.

Keep Penn State, Penn State!

Respectfully,

William F. Yurasko (’99 Media Studies)

There is a letter to the editor in The Collegian on the topic as well.

DAVE JONES WANTS A TRAIN

DAVE JONES – Train to State College makes sense – Patriot-News
Jones takes a break from his usual topic (how bad Penn State has become) and makes a good case for having passenger rail service to Happy Valley on football weekends. While a Maglev may be pie in the sky, a standard train makes a lot of sense to me. Not just for football games either.

PREDICTIONS

While the Bearcats will run the ball, I expect Penn State to be much more settled on offense and play more seriously on defense. Still, it will be a little tight. Penn State will win 27 – 19.