Well, PSU lost the Terrelle Pryor bowl. Oh, well. It is probably best for Pryor not to go there. After all, the chances of his getting to play his freshman year under JoePa are pretty slim. But selfishly, I think it would have been great for PSU; it would have helped their recruiting. And it would have been exciting to watch such a talented athlete play. I guess I will now have to despise OSU more than UofM (or maybe I can just be happy for OSU).
I thought Pryor said a curious thing about PSU, something that most prospects don't say, or at least they did not used to. He said he would have considered PSU more if he knew that Tom Bradley, the defensive coordinator, would have succeeded JoePa when the latter retires. In the early part of this decade/century, PSU lost out on recruits b/c some of them were afraid that JoePa would not be there all of their playing years. I wonder how many people still feel that way.
I used to attend the Penn State luncheon that comes to the Burghs every year. I think I have missed the last four, so it is possible that JoePa is not as sharp as he was during all the years of my attendance. Watching that man speak, you just knew he was smart, witty, pretty much irreverent. He is probably still those things now, but really, who of us can continue to keep all that up into our 80s?
Should JoePa be forced to retire? I don't think so, but I am pretty blinded, I suppose. People say PSU does not have the football program it once had, and that is true. But how many football programs can remain in the top 25 year after year, decade after decade? I thought it was great last fall when JoePa made the entire football team clean the stadium after the first few home games, after quite a few of them had some off-field problems. I am not sure it helped, but I think it said a lot about the man JoePa is. And when JoePa ran onto the field the first game this year, I was in my car listening (stinkin' Big10 Network not on cable), and I cried. I cry for a lot of stupid things, but picturing that 80 year-old man running onto the field after his awful leg injury last year made me happy. And I loved JoePa more!
I used to hope that JoePa would be the coach when my kids went to PSU. I am quite sure that is not going to happen since the earliest Jordan will be at PSU, if she goes at all, will be in 13 years. But I used to also think that when I left PSU, I would come back with my RV in a few years and tailgate at all the home games.
I guess it is good to dream...
I thought Pryor said a curious thing about PSU, something that most prospects don't say, or at least they did not used to. He said he would have considered PSU more if he knew that Tom Bradley, the defensive coordinator, would have succeeded JoePa when the latter retires. In the early part of this decade/century, PSU lost out on recruits b/c some of them were afraid that JoePa would not be there all of their playing years. I wonder how many people still feel that way.
I used to attend the Penn State luncheon that comes to the Burghs every year. I think I have missed the last four, so it is possible that JoePa is not as sharp as he was during all the years of my attendance. Watching that man speak, you just knew he was smart, witty, pretty much irreverent. He is probably still those things now, but really, who of us can continue to keep all that up into our 80s?
Should JoePa be forced to retire? I don't think so, but I am pretty blinded, I suppose. People say PSU does not have the football program it once had, and that is true. But how many football programs can remain in the top 25 year after year, decade after decade? I thought it was great last fall when JoePa made the entire football team clean the stadium after the first few home games, after quite a few of them had some off-field problems. I am not sure it helped, but I think it said a lot about the man JoePa is. And when JoePa ran onto the field the first game this year, I was in my car listening (stinkin' Big10 Network not on cable), and I cried. I cry for a lot of stupid things, but picturing that 80 year-old man running onto the field after his awful leg injury last year made me happy. And I loved JoePa more!
I used to hope that JoePa would be the coach when my kids went to PSU. I am quite sure that is not going to happen since the earliest Jordan will be at PSU, if she goes at all, will be in 13 years. But I used to also think that when I left PSU, I would come back with my RV in a few years and tailgate at all the home games.
I guess it is good to dream...
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