As PSU head coach Joe Paterno turned 79 years old Wednesday, he received the news that he had been selected as Coach of the Year by both the Associated Press and The Sporting News. The Nittany Turkey didn’t bring anything to Joe’s low key birthday party, primarily because he wasn’t invited, but I wish to make amends by declaring Joe the winner of the Nittany Turkey Phoenix Award for taking the necessary steps to revive a program that many thought was permanently mired in the ashes of mediocrity. (There is no actual trophy because Joe doesn’t like anyone making a fuss over him—in other words, the Turkey is too cheap to fund the purchase of a one-time award. But I digress…)
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Archives for December 2005
Swan Song?
Sports Illustrated’s latest off-the-wall prediction (December 26–January 2 issue, p. 83):
SWAN SONG After beating Florida State in Miami, Penn State’s Joe Paterno will turn the reins over to defensive coordinator Tom Bradley.
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Kansas City Star
Not only has Penn State’s Larry Johnson finally “arrived” in the NFL after two years of bench warming but also the media are now giving him serious accolades. Recently, for example, The Turkey read a comment in Sports Illustrated that said if the NFL season was 20 games long, Johnson would win the rushing title. A hypothetical impossibility, yes, but it tells the story of Larry’s accomplishments in the second half of the season. Since taking over the feature back position for the Kansas City Chiefs from the injured Priest Holmes, Larry has shone like a magnitude 10 star, albeit still with some attitude problems. This Turkey is genuinely happy to see a Penn State running back doing so well in the NFL after all the disappointments of the past decade.
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