Comments on: JOE PATERNO, EPICUREAN

By: Al

Al — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 06:36:30 +0000

Luv ya JOE PA!. You ARE football, father figure, grandpa, ETC. You went through it when these modern-da buttwipes were still in diapers. I have the UTMOST respect for you.

By: michael mahoney

michael mahoney — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 23:00:58 +0000

I, among many others, really dogged you for the “Count Giggity” thing a couple of weeks ago. So, please let me say that writing like this is the reason I read this site every single day.

You are gifted. You must never forget all that that implies.

Thank you.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 17:43:57 +0000

Is this the national perspective: That JoePa is dying? You got to be kidding me. He needs hip surgery and he’s putting it off to the end of the season. Yeah, he’s 82 and that’s pretty old, but I’ve stood next to him while he was doing some motivational speaking last year and he’s a smart and funny dude — didn’t seem old at all. He isn’t going to retire anytime soon. So how bout we shelve this angle until he really does retire or die, and discuss hou good PSU has become this year without many of their projected Defensive starters.

By: TheMightyErik

TheMightyErik — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 17:10:06 +0000

@51 – Yeah, he’s just like that. You have it all figured out (except for the facts, that is). As psuphiman80 pointed out, PSU doesn’t do Juco. JoePa’s ‘thugs’ are dealt with quickly and more harshly than any other program and most are thrown off the team immediately. All of this while maintaining one of the highest grad rates in the nation while the program has never been on probabtion or even under investigation.

Yeah, you figured him out, Jerry.

By: Biff

Biff — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 15:03:52 +0000

As a current Michigan student and fan, I must thank you for this Orson. Before the game tomorrow, I will pour out a shot of whatever I’m drinking to numb the pain for JoePa.

By: Delicious Pundit

Delicious Pundit — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 06:12:09 +0000

Is he really an Epicurean? He seems to me more like Aurelius, here talking about the single wing:

“Every part of me then will be reduced by change into some part of the universe, and that again will change into another part of the universe, and so on forever.”

Or like Montaigne — “To philosophize is to learn how to die,” where philosophize = put in a new offense.

By: Flatlander

Flatlander — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 02:22:39 +0000

Lump me in with the “Orsonologists”, I don’t give a damn. Pieces like this breathe fresh air into the muck of blogs which treat football like it exists in a vacuum. +100 to you, lawya.

By: Phil

Phil — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 02:08:45 +0000

Jerry, you’re wrong. While Penn State has had their share of off-the-field problems, the program still graduates over 78% of it’s players (compared to the national average of 67%). Paterno cares more for developing kids into men than he cares for wins and losses. To lump Penn State with the rest of the “slime” that you mention is absurd and the only one here who looks foolish is you. There’s not going to be any major university that does things entirely perfect, but Penn State — and Joe — does more things right than wrong.

By: Capsu78

Capsu78 — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 02:02:34 +0000

Hey Jerry, Which coach do you think has run more kids through their program with higher graduation rates by any metric you chose- Joe has simply coached more kids than any head coach in any one school, and I would hold up Joes stat on any metric you can think of based on his career.
So who would you like to compare him to?

By: psuphiman80

psuphiman80 — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 01:20:37 +0000

#51

Fun fact Penn State has only had three JUCO players in there history. The current two on the roster have done nothing wrong, and they don’t even play. They also have a high graduation rate, good grades, and there have been many good kids to come out of Paterno’s long tenure. Joe has held his program to a higher standard for a long time and when some of his kids didn’t live up to the programs expectations he took some heat. The man is a legend on the college football landscape.

By: Benny Lava

Benny Lava — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 23:53:01 +0000

Orson,

A quadrillion cocktails to you for one of the best short reads I’ve had in a long time. (Puts handkerchief down)

And to you douchenozzles who racked on this masterpiece, well,…..time passes more quickly and cruelly than you evidently understand. You’ll get yours.

Pat @36 – great add. You hit the nail on the head. Great coaches are about a lot more than the game….they change lives. JoePa is still doin’ it every day.

And no, I’m not a PSU fan.

By: jerry

jerry — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 23:47:12 +0000

Congrats to him for hanging in there, in his last few chapters… On the other hand, his program lives in the slime with the rest of the currently “successful” football programs. Just don’t paint him as a saint. PSU is at the top of a weak Big10, and may even be the best team in the country. With that schedule, we won’t know until they play in the top game. However, they got to where they are, with jucos and thugs. That is what is being ignored with all of hte JoePa love in the media. It’s ok to admire him, but you must also lump him in with the other “schools” who recruit athletes-not-students (Oklahoma, Southern Cal, you know who they are). Joe’s just creative in coming up with new ways to fool the media: Send someone to the ER? Then clean out a section or two – brilliant. He’s got you all fooled.

By: Crabapple Buck

Crabapple Buck — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 22:51:57 +0000

You are a genius. I am old enough to have seen JoePa as an assistant to Rip Engle beat my Bucks in 1964 (I was 7) 27-0. I saw him coach PSU to a 19-0 win over us in 1978 in Art Schlichter’s first game as a freshman. He is truly an icon in CFB. I hope he stays in the press box for his safety, I was always worried about him getting caught on the sidelenes like he was vs. Wisconsin.

All that being said, I still hope tOSU can beat him in Columbus next weekend. He has brought that team to the brink of a championship when there were few expectations. I guess that rumors of his demise were indeed premature.

By: psuphiman80

psuphiman80 — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 22:34:07 +0000

#41

Clearly the only bitter pitter who reads EDSBS.

By: Tailgate Shogun

Tailgate Shogun — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 22:29:38 +0000

Some of the most insightful reading I’ve ever read on a college football blog.

Thank you.