—The Daily Collegian Friday, December 2, 1977
Should honest Joe get involved
in the underhanded dealings?
Joe likes to go down to the local club
to play poker on Saturday afternoons.
They play for high stakes in this
game, and there is a lot of under
handed fooling around.
Joe plays it straight. Everybody in
the game knows Joe doesn't cheat.
"Good old Joe," they say, "honest as
the day is long. I wish I could be like
him."
They notice that Joe wins more
hands than anyone. This they at
tribute to clean living.
But they notice something else: Joe
never has walked away with the kitty
at the end of the game. This makes
them think.
In a game where the stakes are so
high, they think, you have to have
high principles - not to cheat. Joe
Paterno has those principles. I:e has
a dream to make Penn State Np. 1
academically and athletically. He is
succeeding in the first no one can
call Penn State a football factory
but has come up short again in the
second.
Everybody and his brother can tell
you why Penn State isn't going to be
No. 1 this year: the loss to Kentucky,
the decision to move 'the Pitt game
back a week. But there is something
deeper, something that shows why,
when the chips are, down, Paterno and
Penn State end up with the soggy
ones.
This year's Lion football team
exceeded almost everyone's ex
pectations. It was not supposed to do
as well .as it did. It was a helluva
team, a great one. But Paterno would
never say that.
Arkansas has a helluva team, too.
At bowl bid time, it had the same
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(continued from page 11)
Then again, the parking lots at Adult
Book Stores are usually full. I'll never
know.
I can't figure how the NCAA expects to
determine a champion accurately. With
all of these .conference tieups and the
public caucusing for opponents, how can
it even call its rati,no and boivraystem
legitimate? 0 1
Of the eight majoi bowl teams, only
Texas has a better record than the Lions
and two teams Washington and Ohio.
State have worse marks.
One remedy would be to wait until the
season is over, which is only a week after
the bids are dished out now, to make the
offers. The bowls wait for the Big Eight's
champ, why can't they wait for the
Lambert Trophy winner?
In some defense of Eastern football:
Pitt, if it hadn't lost Matt Cavanaugh
against Notre Dame it was the first
game of the year with Pitt leading 7-0
many experts say, would be ranked No.
If that's true, a win over Kentucky
would have put the Lions in the No. 2 slot
and Saturday's game would have been
for the national title.
If is the biggest word in the dictionary,
however.
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There are factors that hinder the
Lions. They have lost the big games
lately. Excluding the Pitt Bowl, the
Lions have recently lost both biggies to
Ohio
.State (1975-76), one to Oklahoma
( '72 Sugar), one to Alabam'a ( '75 Sugar),
and one to the Irish:( last year's Gator).
But that's history and even though it's
hard to forget, each year is supposed to
start with a clean slate. Reputations
weigh a ton come rating and bowl time.
For example, it's odd how Michigan is
understood to be ahead of the Lions
before the Ohio State win. The Wolves
lost to Minnesota certainly not as good
as Kentucky, which was ranked seventh
by the Associated Press.
The Irish lost to , unranked Mississippi
but rebounded to smear Southern Cal.
But people forget -- USC lost three
games. They had an off year.
Penn State this year has a more varied
attack than ever. People are calling
Chuck Fusina perhaps the best quar
terback in school history; he has most of
the records, anyway. And Paterno says
Mickey Shuler is as good as any tight end
he's ever had. That says something.
Still the Lions are overlooked. It's
difficult to accept. Just call the whole
ordeal a slat, in the face for Eastern
football.
record as Penn State, its only loss
coming to No. 1 Texas. The Orange
Bowl had been leaning toward the
Lions, however.
But unlike Penn State, Arkansas
came out and said they have a great
team. They drummed up publicity,
even got the state governor to put in a
few good words. They played up their
geographic advantage: they're closer
to Miami than is Penn State, which is
equidistant from nowhere. State
College is where you end up when you
get lost on a full tank of gas.
In Little Rock, people outnumber
cows, unlike here. Arkansas
promised to bring them along. Penn
State could have brought as many
along, though. The Lions have
produced big crowds for major bowls
before. So why are the Lions going to
the Fiesta Bowl ( that's a football
game, remember, not a Mexican
salad) instead, of the Orange? Why
will they get suntans with cacti in
stead of beach bunnies?
That's simple, right? Just like an
Anthy 1 question: the Lions refuse to
play politics. That makes the Lions
and Paterno somehow better than all
those crooked card-players in the
game, right?
Maybe. You see, just like the guys
in the card game, one has to stop and
think. A textbook definition of politics
is "who gets what?" Paterno and
Penn State have never been the
"who" when the "what" was the
national championship.
In this racket we call "big-time"
college football, few have played it as
straight as Paterno and Penn State's
Athletic Department. But they're not
reacingtheir ultimate goal under this
system. Surely they see this.
Should they keep playing it
straight, hoping that some year they
won't be left holding the bag at the
end of the season, hoping that justice
will eventually prevail? Should they
continue to try to reach the top this
way?
Or should they change? Has the
situation reached the point where
things will have to be done differently
from now on? There are signs this is
happening: ever-increasing ticket
prices, expansion of Beaver Stadium,
bowing down to ABC's megabucks in
the Pitt affair.
And who could blame them? After
ail, if it weren't for the football
program's profit, the varsity and
intramural programs here would be
dead.
It's easy to say, "change the
system." Paterno has • been a voice
for change. He should be. He's the one
the system is shafting. But change is
slow, and may very well never come
at all. What to do in the meantime, or
the long run?
What it all boils down to is this: at
some point the desire to reach the
very top and the benefits including
monetary with it will catch up with
the desire to keep up high principles.
Most of the big-time football teams
have reached the point. It is now the
rule, rather than the exception.
Is Penn State foolish for not
adapting to the system? Or can it
continue to be an exception, continue
to play it' straight? Is the hope to
reach the top this way a blind one?' Is
winning _regular-season and bowl
games (but not the championshipl,
enough? "
These questions do not come up
every day, and it is easy to go along
with the status quo and ignore them.
But they are important questions for
Penn State. Somebody is going to
have to start answering them.
Maybe the decision already has
been made, and frustrations like this
seasons are the result. Maybe Penn
State eventually will succeed under
this system. Or maybe the desire to
be a bride, rather than a bridesmaid,
will drive Penn State to marry the
same kind of bums other big-time
teams do. And let's not forget the
monetary issue.
And if change comes, will it be good
in the reaching of an ultimate goal or
bad in compromising oneself to reach
that goal?
I don't have the answers. I only
have the questions.
But it's something Penn State will
have to swallow and pocket for future
reference.
Looking ahead, the Lions might as
well set their sights • on the big, slow
Buckeyes because Paterno will lead his
by then hungry troops to Columbus for
what will be next Year's second game.-
A win there should bolster the Lions'as
one of the teams in line for the national
title.
And unless the Lions have an "off"
year like this one, and unless they get
politicked right out of contention for a
major Bowl bid, they will have the
chance, at what was pulled out from
under their noses this year.
It's roads to national championships
that are paved with seasons like this one.
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Three 'road games this weekend
lcers meet
By RON WENIG.
Daily Collegian Sports. Writer
The Penn State Hockey Club is a team
in search of an identity.
Team president Bill Tracy says the
team is two years away from varsity
recognition. That's when a new hockey
rink is scheduled to be constructed.
Coach Clayton John thinks the team
can probably compete in Division 111
company, but as of now they must settle
for playing one of the toughest schedules
a club hockey team could ask for.
The Penn State Hockey club cannot
rely on recruiting top notch players
because they simply have nothing to of
fer them. In fact, the players must pay to
play for the team, and its no small sum.
Sixty-five dollars is the basic fee and that
does not include equipment or travelling
expenses. -
What the Penn State Hockey Club does
have is about as talented a group of
players to compose a club team that you
will find anywhere.
The team will attempt to win the title
in the Mid Atlantic Hockey Conference.
They have already played four games
and are off to a fine start with a 3-1 mark.
The high point of they young season thus
far has to be the team's 8-4 victory over
New Hampshire College, the first.varsity
opponent in their history. .
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Penn State's Tom Horgas (14, dark jersey) completes a
line that ice hockey coach Clayton John says may be the
best in the league. Horgas and his mates will be on the
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tough slate, costs
The following is a look at• what to ex
pect for the rest of the season:
The Defense
"We have a mix of old and new faces
on defense," John said. "It takes awhile
for them to learn to play together, but
last weekend they played well."
Scott Wohlford and Jim Rock are two
of the new faces on defense for Penn
State. But, captain Jim Lynch remains
the main man on the back line. Lynch is
not extremely offensive minded,
however, John says he is a good puck
handler and one of the best at skating it
out of the defensive zone.
The Forwards :
' Coach John thinks his top line has the
potential to be the best line in the league.
The line he was referring to' , is that of
Dennis Herr, Eric Putsch, and Tom
Horgas. That line had their hands in 7 out
of the 13 goals Penn State scored during
their thiee-game weekend. •
"On our line anyone can score,"
Horgas said. "But, I'm not that worried
about scoring goals this year. I'd rather
work on the team aspects of. the game
such as penalty killing."
Jamie Hettema, Jim Granda and Fred
Berns are three newcomers who may
add toPenn State's potent scoring punch.
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coliagian prior
road this weekend, meeting Rutgers, the Philadelphia
Junior Flyers, and Lehigh
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"It's not that they have such puce
skill," said. John in regards to his tafr„
ented forwards. "It's just that they work,l
extremely well together."
The Goalies
Two MVP's man the nets for Perm ,
State. Pete Lambert was the league
MVP last year while Bill . Richardson wag,:
MVP •in a Flyer; Invitationalgamo-t
played at the Spectrum.
em
It's a tough decision for the coach otii
which player he should choose to start.
"You have to go with whomever yd./
think is the hot goalie," John said,V,
"Sometimes one of them has played welt.
against an upcoming team in the past;
and I'll go with him."
But, whoever plays, Penn State isnall
going to be losing much. xt%
Depth:
Coach John thinks the primar&
strength in this year's team is the depth:?
"The major difference between this -,
year's team and last years is the bench, If
Tracy said. "Clayton (John) can go try
the bench and get as much as he needs.'m 4
Penn State will get a good chance t . ft r ,
see how good they really are thts:l
weekend when they will play three=
games against Rutgers; the. Junidt,
Flyers, and Lehigh. All the games will bev
played away.
A ow -t1
865-2602
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