Who Lurks?

And we all know that somewhere, the Big CM is smiling. Recap [ more... ]

This is the Penn State I remember ...

Penn State students get together every year for a dance marathon to raise money for children with cancer. [ more... ]

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Add another accolade to the SEC.

Strongest Cheerleader.

The football team probably needs her more than the cheer-leading squad ...

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The BCS and SEC values defense-first, low-scoring affairs. Sounds a lot like soccer.

I hope for Alabama's sake it doesn't come down to penalty kicks. [ more... ]

Bill O'Brien is the head football coach at Penn State.

And, as a Penn State alumnus, I think it was a good choice. He was the best coach available that wanted the job.

Here are some reasons why I believe this is true ...

1. If the scandal had not occurred, then Tom Bradley would have likely been the head football coach (full time) heading into the 2012 Regular Season. Joe Paterno is dealing with serious health issues, and I believe he would have walked away after the 2011-2012 season. The Penn State staff would have remained intact, but Paterno was/is done. And that staff would have deserved the job, because at the time of the scandal they were the top Big 10 team (by record) - and I honestly believe they would have played Michigan State for the Big 10 title, and finished the season with only 2 or 3 losses if you include the bowl game. [Note: Penn State was 8-1 before the scandal, with the lone loss being to Alabama in a non-conference home game. Granted, all of their big games were at the end of the season.] However, that being said ...

2. Bill O'Brien is a better hire than Tom Bradley. I'm a firm believer in bringing in new energy, hiring "outside" of the family, and rolling the dice with someone who brings a different perspective. Bill O'Brien is that person for Penn State. He'll retain enough of Paterno's staff to keep the recruiting train moving, but he'll bring some much-needed modernization of the offense to the team. I also think Bill O'Brien has a much better "presence" than Tom Bradley. He is a big, confident, and well-spoken person. And, even with the questions over and over about the scandal, he has always talked about moving forward.

3. If the allegations against Sandusky are true (and I believe they are), then he and his family need to get a grip on reality and Sandusky needs to "fall on his sword." Let the victims and their families get on with the healing process, don't make them testify, etc. [If Sandusky is innocent, then he obviously needs to fight the allegations with all of his resources, but again I don't believe he is innocent.]

4. Joe Paterno is probably 2-3 years away from death (given that he is 85 and dealing with cancer). I wish him a long and healthy retirement. He needs to spend some time with the grandkids and perhaps travel - once he beats cancer. In 10-15 years his legacy will not be stained with Sandusky, because after Paterno dies, then he will generate more sympathy, etc. But he needs to realize he will not generate that sympathy while he is still alive. [Note: This could obviously change if it comes out that he knew more about the incidents than he let on to the police, grand jury, and media.]

5. Former Penn State players (particularly LaVar Arrington) need to shut up. Bill O'Brien is the best coach Penn State could hire. I'm not particularly interested in Arrington (and former players) because they represent such a small part of Penn State. Penn State is one of the largest schools in the USA, and according to some sources has the largest alumni association, etc. etc. Which leads me to my next point ...

6. Penn State will be fine. Is this a hurdle to jump over? Yes. Were the right people fired? *Yes. (More on that in a minute.) Will the alumni support the university and team? Yes. Former players may get more TV time on ESPN, but there are plenty of CEOs and Board Members who write the big checks - and those people all understand that Paterno (and most of his staff) had to go.

7. Do I believe Paterno should have been fired? I am still contemplating this issue. At first, I thought he should be allowed to resign at the end of the season (and I thought he was going to anyway). But once he was fired, then I realized that perhaps it was the best move (considering what he knew from the Grand Jury Testimony, etc.).

However, Jim Boeheim is still the coach at Syracuse (and he even called the potential victims of that scandal liars, etc.) - and I don't see anyone asking for his resignation? So perhaps Joe Paterno being fired that quickly (before all the facts are out - which will take years - if ever) was a mistake, but it wasn't a big mistake. Here's why:

• i) Penn State was getting killed by the press. Firing all of the individuals allowed the organization to save some face.
• ii) Penn State's football team was in contention for the Big 10 title, but was not a 'lock' to win it, and Penn State (the university) needed to show that football wasn't #1 when it came to these crucial administrative issues.
• iii) In basic statistical theory, there are two types of error. One (the type everyone understands) is incorrectly keeping a bad apple. The second (the false-positive) is incorrectly tossing a good apple. Penn State's Board of Trustees opted to live with the second kind of error, knowing they could not be called to task for making the first kind of error (by the media, alumni, fans, etc.). Thus, Penn State may have incorrectly fired Paterno (and perhaps we will never know), but no one can say they didn't act!
  

8. So where does this leave Penn State's football team? I say, Penn State will be an above-average Big 10 team. I'm thinking in a 10-year cycle, the expectations of Penn State football should be:

• one or more Big 10 titles
• three or more Big 10 title game appearances
• two or more 10 win seasons, four or more 9 win seasons [counting bowl game]
• no more than one season of 6-6 or worse

9. McQuery is (and was) in a horrible situation. He was a graduate assistant (which if that makes him a student - it means that he had special laws pertaining to him) and the whistle-blower of this entire situation for that one victim (read the grand jury report for issues related to the other victims). I don't know how I would have reacted if I were in that situation, and I pray I never have to find out.

10. McQuery and Paterno will lose in the eyes of the media and public, but they legally met their obligations. They told their boss (or boss's boss) - who is also in charge of Penn State's police. Penn State (like most universities) has its own police force; thus, (in legal terms) they did tell the police. It may not have been an "official" report, but I don't see how they can be held legally responsible for any of this mess. (They may be responsible of some moral issues, but that is another matter.)

11. I do believe this is a cover-up issue that goes beyond Penn State. I wouldn't be surprised if (when it is all said and done) this goes a lot higher up the political food-chain than what we've seen so far. How Sandusky wasn't charged back in the 90's (read the grand jury report) when he admitted on a tapped telephone to a mother that he showered with her teenage son --- is beyond my comprehension. Even if he is tried (in a trial) and acquitted, there is no way he is working with Second Mile, Penn State, or getting near a kid if he is even charged with a crime in that situation. Someone(s) dropped the ball 15-20 years ago ... and unfortunately it has impacted many more victims.

12. Where I work and live - I may be the only Penn State alumnus that people encounter on a routine basis. And a lot of them have asked me what I think about the situation ... and my one word answer is "disgusted."

13. Ending on a positive note and getting back to Bill O'Brien ... I think he was the best coach available, and I think he'll do well. If he is 10-20% as good as the previous Brown University graduate head coach, then Penn State (university) and Penn State (football) will be just fine!
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(Note: this is my Who Lurks Fantasy Football Championship Post. Expect lots of gloating)

The Best team won. Or at least the team that was the best for most of the season, even if The Turd Ferguson's did have a freefall at the end of the regular season. Thank you injuries. And why did the Turd's win: Tebow. Because All he does is win.



Seriously though, The Turd Ferguson's were the class of WLFF until around week 10, when the Monster Fred Jackson went on IR. Couple that with RunDMC (Auction bargain @ $28, $1 more than Peyton Hillis, $14 less than Jamaal Charles, $13 less than Rashard Mendenhall?) not playing since getting hurt in week 7, and the fact that I bought Peyton Manning the day before the 2nd surgery was announced, I was actually very fortunate to win this thing. I loved Darren Sproles coming into this season, I knew he'd be the next Reggie Bush in that Saints offense. With lots of money left at the end of the auction, I overspent on AJ Green also, that paid off in spades, becoming a great value. The Dallas WRs were also very nice for me when they were healthy. Tebow ended up coming off the waiver wire once Orton was given the boot, and although the jury is still definitely out on him being a competent NFL quarterback, he's been a very productive, not spectacular, but productive fantasy QB. And all he does is win.

As for the loser, Morbo had a pretty solid year. One of the highest scorers all year, he fought through some terrible luck in the early season, being on the losing side of some of the highest scoring matchups, he fought his way into playoff position and made it to the championship game. His downfall was Tony Romo, he should've heeded the advice of my buddy Damon, who won my keeper league: "Romo was a last second scratch because I didn’t want to have Tony Romo be responsible for winning anything." Alas, CM was stuck with no other options on his team, and well, we all see where that got him. First Loser. Congrats. Also, Good work Brody in taking third, it really feels like we played about 7 times this year.

Until next season friends, signing off....




















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I’m currently on a plane back to Virginia for 5 days. There is no internet, and I just realized that my work laptop doesn’t have ANY games on it. Seriously. No games? Time to blog. But I’m going to blog from memory of the transactions from baseball’s offseason… some of the exact details in this might be wrong, and for that, I apologize in advance.


First, this will be known as the offseason that Albert Pujols left St. Louis. For all the other quasi monumental activity, it all comes in 2nd to Pujols. I, like most people, am pretty shocked that he ended up leaving St. Louis. But I don’t blame him. The Cardinals didn’t really make an effort to retain the guy. Sure you could say they made him a 200 million dollar offer, great..but they wanted him back the same way the Mets wanted Jose Reyes back. They wanted him back on the cheap. There isn’t any other way to put it…to me? That’s stunning that an organization like the Cardinals could treat an icon like Pujols that way. Pujols wanted icon-type money. He is the best player in baseball… and yes, his numbers have been sliding in recent seasons. That being said, looking at the numbers he posted this season (basically one hit away from another .300/100/100/30 season) and one could argue he still is the MVP. He changes the way a lineup is constructed. Add in the fact he’s a gold glove first baseman? Come on now. Take care of the guy. The Angels make out like bandits….
I’m never going to assume that anyone is clean anymore, but if Pujols stays clean (for all we know) then the Angels will benefit from his ridiculous run of hall of fame numbers , most notably, his chase of Barry Bonds. The Angels might sell 20 million dollars worth of merchandise during that particular run. Never mind the jerseys, hot dogs, bobble heads and anything else they sell because of Pujols. I’d venture a guess that the auxiliary money generated by the Pujols signing will come close to 100 million over the next 10 years. This includes the increase in tv ratings, sponsorships, suite sales, ticket sales, merchandise, parking, and everything else. Oh..and we haven’t mentioned how much better the team is and how the Angels are officially one of those teams players like Lance Berkman will join on the cheap to team up with a Pujols to make a world series run. All that being said, it is borderline moronic that St. Louis balked at his asking price. Sure, I don’t want to be paying Pujols 25 mil when he’s 40-42 years old… but if I manage my team correctly, that won’t be an issue.

Ryan Braun testing positive
This is beyond sad for baseball. He’s one of the good guys that I think everyone can and was rooting for. He’s fun to watch play baseball. And was content to sign and stay in Milwaukee. Apparently the circumstances surrounding his positive test are unique… but isn’t that what everyone says? Everyone says, oh I THOUGHT I could take this because it said it was just like Dr. Pepper (or whatever they say). Fact is, this is a bummer for baseball. Should something be done about the MVP award? I think so. Listen, I’m not the biggest Matt Kemp fan in the world, but one could make a fairly easy argument that he should have won to begin with. He played a premium defensive position in an extreme pitchers park and still put up silly numbers. The Dodgers, if I recall, were barely above .500. But they played respectable ball all year… basically because of two guys. Clayton Kershaw and Matt Kemp. The rest of that team, with the exception of Andre Either, kind of sucks. It doesn’t help that I think I currently have more net worth than anyone who “owns” the Dodgers… which is still yet to be determined. I wouldn’t have a problem taking the award away from Braun and giving it to Kemp. That seems like the fair thing to do… or at least putting a GIANT asterisk next to Braun’s name in the MVP record books.

The Miami Marlins
What the hell? So they changed their uniforms, moved into a new ballpark, signed a big time manager and paired him with a trio of marquee free agents… and after all that, I’m still not buying them. Why? Two words. Jeffery Loria. We’ve seen this before…remember when they signed Carlos Delgato? Remember how they always dump their young guns for younger guns? This is the same team that has taken baseball’s revenue share money and ran by having a lower payroll than what baseball allocates to each team. NOW they want to compete? NOW they want to pay players and be a major player? Sorry, but I don’t buy that this is for real. Look at what they did… they bought valued commodities that they could easily flip without reservation. This is actually a brilliant fantasy baseball move… maybe not the best idea in real life baseball. What is stopping them from flipping Jose Reyes in 2 years when the team is still drawing 20k people to the game? You don’t think a team like Seattle or the Angels or the Cubs or some other desperate franchise gives up a couple of their best young prospects for a locked in Reyes ? What about Heath Bell? How many times have we seen a good closer fetch a couple decent prospects at the trade deadline? Shit. Mike Adams who SET UP Heath Bell got the Padres a couple fantastic prospects this year… and he wasn’t even closing. And we all know starting pitching is always in demand. I’m just saying… read between the lines. I don’t think the Marlins win a world series with these guys, but I do think they sell them off, get cheap again, and repeat the cycle.

This is the same thing the Oakland A’s have been trying to do. Problem is, the guys they sign are on the significant downside to their careers. Nobody wants them and if they do, they aren’t giving up a single B level prospect much less a young kid with value. Is it any coincidence that the Marlins’ farm system has finally thinned out? Sure, they’ll sell some tickets (probably) and some merchandise (maybe) and make a few dollars initially, but give this 18 months. There was a reason they weren’t giving out no-trade clauses. What do you think the Yankees or Red Sox would give for Pujols in two years? Just saying, read between the lines.

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