Tag: football

Rioting in defense of a football coach? You’ve got to be kidding me

The scenes were awful and the anger was not just misplaced, but completely incomprehensible. And while it’s quiet in Happy Valley today, what happened on Wednesday cannot be wiped away.

Joe Paterno, in his 46th year coaching the Penn State Nittany Lions, was ousted yesterday as the school attempted to disentangle itself from a scandal so ugly it has tarnished both the coach’s legacy and damaged the school’s reputation.

Former  assistant coach Jerry Sandusky has been charged with sexual assault of eight boys over a 15-year period. Paterno was alerted to the alleged abuse at least nine years ago. He then alerted the athletic director and school vice president, but no one contacted police and the abuse apparently continued.

Paterno promised to resign at season’s end but the school’s board of trustees, rightly, opted to make an immediate break and fired Paterno.

The response on campus — a riot.

As word of the firings spread, thousands of students flocked to the administration building, shouting, “We want Joe back!” and “One more game!” They then headed downtown to Beaver Avenue, where about 100 police wearing helmets and carrying pepper spray were on standby. Witnesses said some rocks and bottles were thrown, a lamppost was toppled and a news van was knocked over, its windows kicked out. ablaze

This needs to be put in perspective: The ongoing Occupy Wall Street protests have been peaceful, aside from attacks by overzealous police, though the issues they are focused on — economic inequality, a bought political system, unending war — are far more important than saving a coach tarnished by his own silence.

I spent two years at Penn State as a student and understand the absolute mania for Penn State football. But loyalty should only extend to the gridiron and should not be used to excuse Paterno’s good-soldier routine or trigger a riot.

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Riding the bandwagon into Jets country

I think I picked a good football game to watch after having ignored the sport all season and for most of the last decade or so. I’m not a football fan, as most people know. But I grew up a Jets fan and I think I’ve earned the right to bandwagon the team this year, given how bad most of the teams I’ve followed have been for most of my life.

So, I watch a game in which my team tosses an 80-yard TD pass to open the scoring in the second quarter, makes a couple of impressive stands deep in the Colts’ zone (including a goal-line stop) and generally plays some good ball. Not that the Colts have been slouches.

So far, it has been a great game and I’m glad to be back on the bandwagon in Jets country, at least for one game (and, hoepfully, one more).

As they say in the land of the green, J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets!

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Another quarterback in Cranbury

Former Giant quarterback Scott Brunner lived in Cranbury for a while and now it appears — at least according to sportswriter Bob Mantz:

Broadway Brett Favre will possibly return to the New York Jets for a second season, sources tell the Blitz.

The Blitz was told that Favre has been shopping for million dollar homes in the central New Jersey area of Cranbury and East Windsor / Princeton.

Favre either really likes New Jersey or is leaning towards a second year with the Jets. We lean (and hope) towards the latter.

Newsday’s Bob Glauber, however, is a bit dubious:

Not sure what to make of this. I had heard a few weeks back that Favre had bought a home in Tewksbury, N.J. When I asked him about it, he said he had not. In fact, he remarked how expensive homes were in the area. He is currently renting a home in Morristown, N.J.

Favre is known to be thrifty. Laveranues Coles recently pointed out that Favre has been wearing the same pair of camoflauge shorts to practice just about all season.

As for Favre’s future plans, I don’t think he has made any definitive decision. In fact, had Mantz written that sources indicate Favre is leaning toward retiring after this season, he’d have just as good a chance at being right.

btw, Favre hates traffic in NY/NJ. If he were to move to Princeton area, it’d take him a minimum of about an hour (without traffic) to get to Jets’ training facility.)

As for Cranbury being in the “Princeton area,” I think if you asked people who live in Cranbury they’d tell you that Princeton is in the Cranbury area.

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