Page 12
Sporting View
Loss
young Lions
by John Musser
Collegian Sports Editor
Losing a football game on
the final play is tough. The
loss is even tougher when that
final play is a short-range field
goal attempt that gets stuffed.
Add to this that on the next
to last play your best tailback
fell just inches short of the
goal line, and the loss becomes
even more frustrating to take.
This is what happened to
the ; -Perm IS tate :3 Nittany • Lions
and taßbaCk Blair Thomas last
Saturday against the Alabama
Crimson Tide, who ended up
on the short end of a 17-16
stick.
Not that this means that
Thomas or the Lions have
anything to be ashamed of.
Heck, Blair can be darn proud
of himself. He carried the ball
35 and rumbled for 160 yards,
including 11 consecutive
carries for 59 yards on State's
final ill-fated drive in which
Thomas almost carried his
team to victory on his
shoulders.
If the Lions would have had
more time or another_ time out
available, Thomas most likely
would have danced into the
endzone. Unfortunately, the
Lions were out of TO's and
only 13 ticks remained on the
clock. Ray Tarasi's field goal
attempt on third and goal from
the one was blocked by llama's
6-7 lineman Thomas Rayam.
I'm not going to debate
whether JoePa should've handed
the ball to Thomas one more
time and risked not scoring and
having the clock run out. Mr.
Paterno is far more
knowledgeable than I and
hindsight is pretty much
worthless as it is anyway.
No, what I want to talk
about-is- Penqr.S!ate's. resident
Heisman Trophy candidate and
future NFL first round draft
pick, Blair Thomas. I'm sure
that after getting so close to
paydirt without hitting it, Blair
probably was down on himself
after the game. I'm not worried
about him, though. This time
next year, some NFL team will
be paying Thomas big bucks
to do what he did Saturday.
And if he scores that big
touchdown, I'm sure he'll get a
nice bonus.
•The 'Barra game was a
record breaker of sorts for the
Lions. Consider:
-That this was the third year
in a row that JoePa has lost to
the Crimson Tide. Joe had
never lost to anyone three
times in a row.
-'Bama back Siran Stacy
was the first opposing back to
net 100 yards against the Lions
since Pitt's Curvin Richards
broke the century mark in
game 10 last year.
-And finally, Penn State
lost a game in which Blair
is tough on
Thomas rushed for more than
100 yards. Their record is now
11-1 when Thomas breaks 100.
•Speaking of Heisman
Trophy candidates, you may
want to get a piece of paper and
a pencil and write this name
down: Willie Hicks.
Hicks is the sophomore
quarterback for the Boston
College Eagles. Against the
West Virginia Mountaineers
this past weekend he completed
13 passes for 340 yards, doing
a fair imitation of the
Mountaineer's Heisman
candidate, QB Major Harris, in
the process: Although he may
not have Harris's savvy or
experience, Hicks certainly has
the same ability to take a play
thats headed for a loss and
make it into a great play.
If Mr. Hicks keeps on
progressing, he may just do for
BC what a former exciting,
scrambling signal caller did for
the Eagles just a few years ago.
His name was Doug Flutie.
•Is it just me, or are
football (or baseball) games
played in domed stadiums
morally wrong?
•The NBA season, which I
belieire ended jiist two weeki
ago, is ready to kick off
another 82-game regular
season. Will Larry Bird have
an impact on this season? Or
will his only contribution be
snazzy sweaters and snappy
comments about his
teammates?
After missing all but six
games of the 'BB-89 season
with bones spurs on his
achille's tendons, Bird's
comeback was slowed down
this summer by a back injury
that occurred in practice. At
the age of 32, the Birdman is
nearing what normally would
be called "the end of his
prime."
However, considering how
many minutes Lany plays per
game (around 40) plus all of
the "extra" games he has
played in the play-offs and
NBA Championships, his
body has been worn down. In
other words, his body has
taken more abuse that the
average NBA 32 year-old and
is now more prone to injury.
Boston Coach Jimmy
Rodgers will have to be
careful when determining how
long he keeps Larry in the
game. Keep the big guy in
too long and Mr. Rodgers
runs the risk of Larry getting
a season (perhaps career)
ending injury. Give Bird too
little PT, and a repeat of last
year's disappointing losses
may re-occur.
•By the way, would the
person who stole my
basketball please give it back.
It may be just a piece of
cheese, but its mine and I
want it back. Just drop it off
at The Collegian office.
Erie Panthers win
home opener in front
of 3,041 hockey fans
by Robert Kitchen
Collegian Staff Writer
The Erie Panthers defeated the
Johnstown Chiefs 6-5 in their
home opener of the 1989-90 East
Coast Hockey League season at
the Tullio Covention Center on
October 27th. A total of 3,041
fans attended the game.
The Panther trailed 1-3 after
the first period. Simon Gagne, a
New York Rangers product,
scored the only goal in the second
period to go into the third period
2-3. The Panthers then tied the
game 4-4 and eventually came on
top in an exciting 6-5 victory.
Martin Bergeron scored the game
winner.
New York prospect and goalie
Mike Rosati turned aside 26
shots. The Panthers pelted the
Chiefs with 41 shots.
Defenseman Steve Wienke
took a stick to the ribs early and
had to leave the game. Although
no bones were broken, Wienke
The Collegian Wednesday, November 1, 1989
will probalbly sit out a few
games to let his sore ribs heal.
The Cats next traveled to War
Memorial Coliseum to defeat the
Johnstown Chiefs 3-1 to boost
their record to 2-0 on the season.
Johnstown took an early 1-0 lead,
but the Panthers struck back with
two goals to end the first period
up 2-1. A third goal was made
by Erie in the second period and
the Panthers held their lead to go
on to win 3-1. Bergeron netted
the game-winner once again.
Erie's next home game is on
Thursday, November 2nd, when
the Panthers host Nashville at the
Civic Center.
NOTES: Other goal-scorers
have been All-Star right winger
Doug Stromback, Rob Gador,
and Rob and Bill
McDougall....The Panther's
power play has hit on four of 16
attempts for a 25 percent success
rate.... The Cats have only
allowed one power play goal in
13 short-handed situations.
The Collegian is
now accepting
applications from
students interested in
serving as editor for
spring of 19901
Interested persons
should apply
immediately by
placing letters of
application in The
Collegian mailbox.
Letters should include
information about
your past experience as
well as an explanation
of your personal
philosophy of running
a student newspaper.
Deadline for
applications is
November 10.