Tag Archives: Jay Paterno

Crib Sheet: Giant Chocolate Egg

It’s warmed over, too.  This week’s Crib Sheet celebrates Easter by dropping news eggs all over the place.  Grab your basket and find them buried in the grass of the Crib Sheet.  Don’t get your fingers messy:

  • It looks like Texas new defensive coordinator’s had a weird upbringing in coaching terms.  He’s been at ESPN first, then a video guy at Florida State, and then on to coaching positions.  It also looks like he takes inspiration from other sports, too.  Will this shake things up enough for the Longhorns and turn the defense around?  We’ll find out.
  • The Big 12 Conference announced a mega-deal with Fox for broadcasting rights.  Dan Beebe was right.  They reportedly negotiated a $90 million a year deal through the next 13 years.  The big plus?  Every home game will be on some form of television starting in 2012.  Well that and each school has a the chance to kick up their own network.
  • The officer who shot and killed the Pace University football player, Denroy Henry Jr., received the Officer of the Year Award from the police union where he works.  Their reasoning is that the officer showed bravery through that time and all of his time working for the department.  This angered alot of folks.  It depends on who you believe on what happened.  I just don’t like that it’s a union that gets to dole out the award.
  • Not to be outdone by fellow conference fashionistas Oregon, Arizona State unveiled their new uniforms for the year.  They will be changing colors left and right.  On top of that, their helmets are new, with big giant pointy tridents.  The Ducks did this and they won but they also hired the right coach.  That’s the kind of makeover the Sun Devils could really use.
  • In another case of me-too’s, Auburn will build statues for their Heisman Trophy winners, like what Florida did.  The only difference is that there’s a darker cloud hanging over Cam Newtan than there is hanging over Tim Tebow.  I wonder if they’ll add that to the design.  Oh, and Nick Saban had his own statue erected, too.
  • There will be even more Blubaughs in prison as Tom’s wife, Charlette, will get 57 months in prison for her role in the Kansas ticket scandal.  I didn’t know women’s prisons had Blubaughs too.  Maybe they should make a movie about it.
  • Dennis Dodd of CBS has an interesting article on 7-on-7 leagues in high school.  It seems they are the AAUs of football.  Jay Paterno is correct about how coaches can’t tell if a kid can take a hit.  I hope something gets down soon about these because I don’t want football to turn into a ballet.  We could use a couple of big hits in a game.
  • Now that the Fiesta Bowl is in trouble, they are scrambling to get money back from lawmakers who took the kickbacks from them.  If it’s anything related to government, then it will take a long time before the Fiesta Bowl sees a dime.
  • A couple of rule changes are coming down the pike for next year.  The NCAA approved more stringent below the waist penalties and gave the option for teams to run 10 seconds off the clock on penalties within the final minute of the half.  Nothing earth shattering but an improvement indeed.
  • Notre Dame released the investigation report relating to Declan Sullivan’s death earlier this year.  They found the no single person was responsible but there was a lax in safety.  Apparently the weather data was out of date.  This does seem kind of fishy,  I hope the school pays tons of money to parents of Sullivan to avoid a lawsuit.
  • There was a tussle online about the Boise State’s AD, Gene Bleymaier, and his fiery words about the BCS.  That’s just talk.  What’s more important to me is that the school trademarked the blue turf and will protect the likeness of the field in FBS terms, while allowing it to happen to divisions below.  Since when is a blue field trademarkable?  That seems a little too much to me.  At least one coach in the Mountain West Conference, sees it as an unfair competitive advantage as well.  San Diego State’s Rocky Long hates it and I suggest the Aztecs change their field to candy striped or fractal like patterns.
  • So while the NCAA is busy messing up student athletes and their lack of scholarship funding, they find time to make some even dumber team name penalties.  North Dakota passed a state law to keep the Fighting Sioux nickname but it will not stop the NCAA from administrating penalties because of their perception of the name.  The NCAA considers it offensive and will take money away from the school.  The deeper issue is that two tribes in the area are split over the decision.  Why is the NCAA trying to influence an issue that clearly doesn’t involve them?  Let the tribes and the state figure it out and get out of the way.

Crib Sheet: Pluggin Up the Expansion Spill Hole

Okay, we are begging to plug up the hole speculation regarding the Big 10 expansion.  Our series covered what we think and we’ve had just about enough talk to last us awhile.  It’s time to start focusing on real football and clean up for the mess left behind from the slick speculation.  Don’t worry, we’ll leave the camera on while we do it.  We’ll also leave it up to the Crib Sheet if you need your fix.  Here ya go:

  • Where Joe Paterno wants the Big 10 Conference to expand, his kid Jay doesn’t.  His major point is the erosion of rivalries that kept the league strong for so many years.  You’d think the tradition argument would come from the old Paterno and not the young one.
  • BCS Commissioner Bill Hancock responded to Congress’ questions on the BCS with a 5 page letter basically telling them to back off.  Money’s at play here and it looks like Washington wants to step in an regulate some flow their way.  Is this really the right way to get to a college football playoff?
  • Tulsa World columnist Dave Sittler layed the smack down on Missouri athletics last week.  The Tigers spend more money than five schools in the Big 12 and only has 8 championships to claim.  That’s the lowest in the conference.  Does the Big 10 really want to invite a traditional loser?
  • A bunch of big wigs piled onto both Texas Tech and former head coach Mike Leach for the handling of concussed daddy’s boy Adam James.  House Judiciary Committee member Linda Sanchez and NFLPA doctor Thom Mayer both were wondering why the injury was hidden and not available for doctors to treat.  Nasty drama aside, the doctor’s should be there to help treat players if they get a concussion.
  • Remember all of the hub-bub about Michigan getting in trouble over practicing players too much?  Well, today the university self-imposed restrictions to head off and NCAA troubles.  Essentially they are cutting back practicing hours and shrinking down some of the coaching staff.  Will this affect the Wolverines play next year?
  • Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops weighed on the expansion speculation, telling reporters that the Sooners would be a good fit anywhere.  Way to really stand out on the ledge Bobby.  Sure the Sooners would be great anywhere, how does that add any more insight into the expansion talk?  What we have here is coach talk 101.  You say your team is the best no matter the scenario.