Friday, October 15, 2004
Paterno says team just “beaten down”
By Ray Parrillo
Knight Riddcr Newspapers
(KRT)
In full animation. Joe Paterno
stalked the sideline for his 457th game
as Penn State's head coach on Satur
day. tying Pop Warner for second
place on the all-time college football
list behind Amos Alonzo Stagg, who
coached 548.
After the Nittany Lions lost for the
10th time in their last 11 Big Ten Con
ference games, suffering a hard
fought 20-13 defeat against fifth
ranked Purdue, Paterno looked and
sounded like a guy who was in no
hurry to surpass Warner.
Paterno made it clear that he was
fed up and frustrated with the losing,
just like the 108,183 spectators who
had poured into Beaver Stadium and
the growing number of Penn State fol
lowers who would like to see the 77-
year-old coach step aside.
He didn't want to hear about a moral
victory. He didn't want to consider the
evidence that his team appeared to be
making progress. Slow progress, but
progress nonetheless.
Instead, Paterno said his players,
whom he put off-limits to the media,
were "beaten down." And that he and
they were emotionally drained.
After losing three straight games to
ranked opponents, Paterno and the
Nittany Lions (2-4, 0-3 conference)
get the break they apparently need
wdth this week's bye before lowa and
homecoming arrive on Oct. 23.
With the season at the halfway
point, here are some random thoughts
about Paterno's 39th team:
Although they remain prone to mis
takes at critical times (penalties wiped
out gains for first downs on their first
SPOTLIGHT
ON
Carrie Smock
Senior, Women's Soccer
What is your favorite
memory from your sport?
CS: My favorite memory is our
trip to Ireland that we took at the
end of the summer this year. We
didn’t eat for ten days, I was so
hungry! Haha...
BB: What are your plans for af
ter graduation?
CS: I don’t have any definite
plans for after graduation. I’m
thinking of moving out of Erie for
a while. Nothing else is set in
stone though, I’m pretty much up
for anything.
BB: What will you miss most
about Behrend?
CS: Definitely going to miss the
people and participating in my
sports
BB: What is your most
embarassing moment?
CS: There are too many of those
to write down! Anyone who
knows me knows there is never a
dull moment in my life.
fourth quarter during the team’s 20-13 loss to Purdue
two possessions Saturday) the Nittany
Lions are playing with pride and char
acter, which couldn't be said of last
year's 3-9 team.
At long last, they are playing de
fense with the nasty edge that was
missing in recent years, and youth is
on their side. Sophomore linebacker
Paul Posluszny, who left Saturday's
game early in the third quarter with a
shoulder injury, and freshman line
backer Dan Connor are emerging as
standouts. Connor, from Strath Haven
High, started at middle linebacker
for the first time Saturday, filling in
for injured Tim Shaw, and looked as
if he belonged, even though he had
practiced at the position for just one
America’s favorite pastime...
and I don’t mean baseball
Commentary by Chris La Furia
staff writer
Since 1903, the year which gave birth
to the World Series, the New York Yan
kees have won the Fall Classic 26 times.
That is three times more than the team
who has the second highest amount of
wins. From the beginning with players
such as Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle and
Derek Jeter, the Bronx Bombers have
fought their way to achieve a dynasty of
greatness, overcoming the opposition to
be considered the greatest sports teams
in history.
Alex Rodriguez, the shortstop for the
Yankees, makes $22 million dollars in
one season as one of the highest paid
players in sports history. Rodriguez has
helped his teams win many games with
his talent and will to perform on the dia
mond. Because of his consistency on the
diamond, he is worth a higher salary than
most players. But, when dealing with
superstar athletes, how high is to high
for one player’s salary?
This season, the Milwaukee Brewers
have a team salary of $27 million dol
lars. This means that every player’s sal
ary adds up to $27 million dollars. The
Brewers have also managed to accumu
late a mere 67 wins, which resulted in a
last place finish. Due to the fact that the
Brewers have suffered such a dismal
year, they have a team salary that is only
$5 million dollars more than one of the
leading superstars.
Many fans and baseball experts have
realized such a staggering trend form
ing in major league baseball. Kasey
Corbin, a junior CMPSC major and avid
Yankees fan, said, “I think baseball play
ers are ridiculously overpaid.”
Mon, Oct 11
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'if % j
"It's pretty impressive that a young
kid like Dan Connor can go in and
play middle linebacker and call sig
nals in his sixth game of (his first)
season," defensive coordinator Tom
Bradley said.
More often than not, the Nittany Li
ons play only one senior on defense.
If only half the team has been effec
tive, better that it's the defense.
"This was the best defense we've
seen by far," said Purdue quarterback
Kyle Orton, a leading Heisman Tro
phy contender who hadn't thrown an
interception before he was picked off
twice Saturday. "They're big and
physical."
igL igi _ung. .ry
plate during Tuesdays 10-7 win over the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Sta
dium.
This past winter, the New England Pa
triots won their second Super Bowl in
three years. They have also managed to
amass 19 straight wins, the most in NFL
history. Even though their two champi
onships fail to resemble the Yankees’ 26,
the Patriots have been branded a “dy
nasty in the making.” Many factors tie
into the colossal difference in Major
League Baseball sovereignty and that of
the NFL.
In 1993, the NFL created the salary
cap to place boundaries on the amount
of money teams can spend on certain
players each season. The salary cap for
the 2004 NFL season was set at roughly
INTRAMURAL FLAG FOOTBALL SCORES
Tues, Oct 12
MEN’S
Niagara 13 - LAX Legacy 0
TOE 2,40 - TA's 8
TOE 24 - Da Truth 8
Other Team 1 - TKE 3,0 (forfeit)
Sweet Fitchy 40 - LAX Legends 0
Banana Peals 28 - NO Clue 0
Crimson Tide 1 - Skins 0 (forfeit)
Lawrence Slayers 20 - Angus 6
The other side of the ball doesn't
look so promising, and it isn't the fault
of Zack Mills.
Mills outplayed Orton, throwing for
293 yards and a career-high 29
completions without an interception.
But quarterbacks generally don't suc
ceed without the help of a running
game, and the Nittany Lions haven't
had much of one in their losses.
Against Purdue, they gained 18 yards
on 17 carries the third-lowest yardage
total of the Paterno era. In their four
losses, they have totaled only 182
yards on 86 tries, an average of 2.1
yards a carry.
The mystery of Penn State's inabil
ity to turn out efficient an offensive
line continues, and the inability of its
receivers to stretch the field com
pounds the problem. The result is that
the defense rarely gets a breather.
Paterno's stubbornness, which often
served him well during better times,
can be self-defeating.
Case in point: On a 37-yard TD pass
from Mills in the second quarter,
Terrell Golden, a redshirt freshman,
made the kind of tough catch that is
so infrequently made by Penn State
receivers. He didn't return to the game
until the final play. Paterno explained
that he was upset with Golden because
of the unsportsmanlike-conduct pen
alty the receiver was hit with for ex
cessive celebration after the touch
down. He also said Golden hadn't fig
ured in the game plan anyway. Huh?
The most difficult part of their
schedule behind them, the Nittany Li
ons will have a good chance to win
each of their five remaining games if
they continue to play with resolve. A
feel-good finish for such a young team
would be reason for optimism next
season
$BO million dollars. Penalties for vio
lating the cap include hefty fines and re
jection of draft picks.
The reason that the New England Pa
triots have gained such status after win
ning only two championships is because
the salary cap adds to the competitive
ness of teams, since no team can spend
$22 million dollars on a single player
without reaching a penalty.
“If I had the chance to make that sort
of money, I would take it, but adding a
salary cap wouldn’t be a bad idea,”
Corbin adds.
Money has done everything to sports
but take over. Presidents and general
The Behrend Beacon 112
Big Ten Standings
%mw BiglO AH
mmasfa 3-0 6-0
Michigan 3-0 5-1
ftatiae 2-0 5-0
Mgeseta 2-1 5-1
Michigan State 2-1 3-3
HOrttnrestera 2-1 3-3
%'mm 1-l 3-2
OMoState 0-2 3-2
UttliOis 0-3 2-4
Mteft 0-3 2-4
State 0-3 2-4
BIG TEN T.V. GAME
Minnesota at Michi
gan State
Oct 16,12:00 p.m.
liii ESPN
Michigan at Illinois
Oct. 16,11:00 a.m.
ABC
OWo State at lowa
Oct 16,2:30 p.m. ABC
Wisconsin at Purdue
Oct 16,4:30 p.m.
ESPN2
managers of teams have become busi
nessmen instead of coaches. Players
sign multi-million dollar endorsing con
tracts because teams cannot afford to
pay them what is desired. Players who
cannot comply with the salary cap jeop
ardize the whole system of sports.
Recently, the NHL decided to lock of
their players in order to settle the labor
struggles that have transpired. In the
2003-2004 NHL season, the players’
salaries controlled almost 75 percent of
the revenues that were received by the
teams. Two-thirds of the teams in the
league lost money due to the players'
pay. When the league decided to lower
the salaries of players and deliberated
instituting a salary cap, the athletes
walked out.
Currently, the league has locked its
players out in an attempt to settle the
labor disputes.
Baseball, “America’s Past time", for
merly involved players who gathered
for the love of throwing a ball around
and hitting it with a stick. Kids and
adults both enjoyed sporting their fa
vorite players’jersey, grabbing a foam
“#1” finger and some peanuts, and
spending hours at a ball park enjoying
a game ofAmerica’s top athletes.
Presently, we have athletes who sign
$250 million contracts and high school
players who dream, not of winning a
world series by hitting a home run, but
of penning their name on million dollar
shoe contracts and being featured on
MTV’s Cribs. Can a salary cap make
the income of a sports star more rea
sonable? That we may never know. A
better question to ask would be, “Can
sports stars return to playing the game
for love and not money ?”
Wed, Oct 13
COED
Anti Witt 24 - Niagara 6
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MEN’S
TKE 1, 38-Sig Tau 1,0
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