Unverified Voracity STOP IT JUST NO Comment Count

Brian

Jay Paterno and saying things: a terrible combination. On this day we remember the Salem Witch Trials on twitter.

This is the reason the reaction gif was invented. There is no combination of words that can adequately express the feeling reading this tweet produced in me. The Germans probably have a word for a paralyzing combination of horror and laughter induced by a stunningly wrong decision or statement.

/scans German dictionary

Huh. "Klinsmann."

So this tweet filled me with klinsmann.

BONUS: hoo boy if you like terrible things, the tweet thread is your jam.

I am filled with klinsmann by this tweet as well. The Colts are in play!

This offseason is going to be awesome as every NFL reporter insists Jim Harbaugh is a candidate for every open job in the league. Harbaugh for the Colts. Harbaugh for the Lions. Harbaugh for league president. Harbaugh for assistant Ravens janitor.

Harbaugh might leave someday, but only after he's done something that allows him to do so saying he's done his job. And after his experience with San Francisco's little Napoleon my bet is he picks the place where he's the most important crazy person around.

Just Dayton and Michigan. Kyle Flood might coach most of college basketball.

@zachauguste @jetpeezy @ajturner11 @spidadmitchell @epaschall4 @bouncye_24 One more for y'all. Tag ya friends

A video posted by Aubrey Dawkins (@siraubreydawkins) on

The Harbump. Via Brendan Quinn:

According to the most up-to-date numbers provided to MLive by Dunn, Michigan's overall season ticket sales have risen from 79,014 in 2014 to 89,614 in 2015, a difference of 10,600 seats.

A big chunk of that comes from 7k extra students, which is pretty amazing. That section is 60% larger than it was a year ago. I wonder what it would have looked like without the drastic changes wrought by the Glorious Revolution. Hint: bad.

There was a chunk of complaining about student attendance against UNLV, but to me it looked pretty full after kickoff. Students tend to cram down; you didn't see the empty pockets in other sections solely because other folks spread out when given the room to do so.

A problem that 'Bama wants to address. It's no surprise that Alabama fans are peeved about ineligible men downfield in the aftermath of the Ole Miss game. I share that peevishness. Despite the fact that illegal men downfield is a "point of emphasis" this year, the biggest game of the early season sees a flagrant example of it go uncalled.

You get three yards in college but just one in the NFL, and you'll never guess the one weird trick RBR would like to impose on college football:

Personally, I think this rule change should be revisited. College offenses already have more latitude than their NFL counterparts on passes thrown behind the line of scrimmage - in college, linemen may drift as far as they like on the snap in these situations, while in the NFL they must stay within their one-yard window until the pass is released - so the only real effect of the rule change would be to require the pass to be delivered in the backfield. This makes sense, as the linebackers are given a fighting chance to rally to the football after it is caught and prevent a big gain. Assuming that such a rule change is a non-starter, and that better enforcement is the goal, the best solution would be to somehow incorporate instant replay.

I would like to see what the game looks like with an effectively implemented three-yard rule first. But since that seems impossible it might be better to do away with the rule altogether and just call offensive pass interference on any lineman who hits or impedes anyone other than a defensive lineman on a pass play beyond the line of scrimmage. That might be more enforceable—and the penalty would be much stiffer.

(A side note: do not title your post that is intended to be serious "A Modest Proposal.")

He was tranquilized shortly thereafter. Nik Stauskas wandered onto a local news set.

A Canadian one, I'm guessing.

Ibi Watson video. He can dunk.

Rutgers. I hate it when stupid things happen during the season because I can't write one act plays about them. The Kyle Flood thing is magnificently stupid. I'd rather look at football, but barely. If this happened in the offseason… well it probably still would have gotten drowned out by all the Harbaugh stuff, but I would have gotten around to it quicker.

Anyway. EDSBS surveys the wreckage and pulls out the nine dumbest things about the grade pressure scandal:

1. Kyle Flood Wants You To Know He's Breaking The Rules On Purpose

When Kyle Flood first reached out to this unnamed professor, he did so from his personal email account. It was entirely possible that he did so on accident, perhaps sending the email from his phone without realizing which account it was coming from. Of course, it was also possible he did so to purposefully avoid New Jersey's Open Public Records Act.

Great news! Now we don't have to wonder which one it was. This is one of the dumbest things I've ever seen committed to a permanent electronic record. It's like leaving a knife in your carry on bag at the airport with a note that says "LOL I KNOW THIS ISN'T COOL BUT WHATEVER."

That is not even the worst one.

On the bright side, Flood is much better at hiding his inner Tim Beckman than Tim Beckman. You would never know Flood is barely capable of dressing himself based on his press conferences.

Are Rutgers blogs considering who their new coach should be yet?

image

Oh, well done. On The Banks is the most competent thing about Rutgers athletics by some distance.

This is blunt. Utah basketball coach Larry Krystkowiak gave some sort of lecture recently; in it he broke the omerta surrounding basketball recruiting:

"Did you know," Larry Krystkowiak asked in his Montana drawl, leaning over his lectern, "that there's a lot of cheating in college basketball?"

His earnest delivery prompted some chuckles among the audience of roughly 40 people. But Utah's men's basketball coach wasn't going to leave it hanging without telling a story. He asked two compliance officials if he could venture on.

The tale: He was once recruiting a top-level player, and the player (or his representatives) called Krystkowiak in the middle of the night. They told Krystkowiak the recruit's transcript would cost the Utes $50,000, and "it'll probably cost you $50,000 more to sign him."

Follow the recruits and you'll find the money. Again, all Michigan fans should be in favor of the NCAA paying players outright. Michigan has piles of money. They do not use it in this way.

BYU's walking wounded. BYU NT Travis Tuiloma is a big deal for the Cougars, and he went down in the same game Taysom Hill did. At the time he was expected to be out 4-6 weeks, but Bronco Mendenhall is making noises like he may be available this weekend:

Nose tackle Travis Tuiloma (knee) is also questionable for the Michigan game, a development that didn't seem likely when doctors said he'd be out 4-6 weeks after the Nebraska game.

"This will be a great week [for Tuiloma to come back] because we will see power [runs] about 5,000 times," Mendenhall said, having previously noted that the Wolverines under new coach Jim Harbaugh look like Stanford when Harbaugh was there.

That would be literally and metaphorically huge for BYU. Tuiloma is going to be in the NFL next year and they run a 3-4; he's the centerpiece of their D.

Etc.: Bo's steakhouse was a thing. Ian Bunting profiled. Falk on Harbaugh. We'll have an excerpt of his new book during the bye week, BTW. Jon Baxter with the fire tweet. Harbaugh wants to meet the pope. Leonard Fournette is living Bowser. Film Focus. Guards doing better.

Comments

matty blue

September 22nd, 2015 at 12:04 PM ^

when i saw that headline, i hoped that the modest proposal was that we'd solve the problem of alabama fans by feeding them to actaul florida gators, or some such.  alas.

ijohnb

September 22nd, 2015 at 12:20 PM ^

actually has a partial, wobbly leg to stand on regarding his culpability or lack thereof in the whole thing, but members of his family constantly say ridiculous things that completely undermine any possible legitimate attempts to get people to even have the beginning of that conversation.  If it is Jay Paterno's goal to attempt to salvage any portion of his father's legacy he is not going about it very well.

FreddieMercuryHayes

September 22nd, 2015 at 12:24 PM ^

It makes no sense.  You can be an otherwise great person and make a stupid decision.  Acknowledge Paterno's essential humanity and resulting ability to actually make mistakes and it goes a long way to shifting perception back to what good things he was able to accomplish. 

BlueCube

September 22nd, 2015 at 12:59 PM ^

At least 95% of non Penn State fans have realized he buried his head in the sand and allowed a pervert to use Penn State facilities as a resource to continue to molest children. There is no question he knew. The only debate anyone has was whether he did enough to stop it in a town he controlled.

Joe didn't even have the guts to admit it at the end. Jay is pissed that he isn't getting what he viewed as his sure fire annointment as Penn State head coach which would have been based on his father's legacy. To bad Jay. Man up and make something of yourself. Jay might start by accepting history instead of trying to revise it.

East German Judge

September 22nd, 2015 at 5:29 PM ^

I would love it if 95% of their fan base was rational and lucid, is that a published documented figure?  If not, I think that only 5% are of the rational and lucid sort and the other 95% are rabid paterno slappies who think that their icon did no wrong.  FUCK penn state and all their delusional paterno loving fans.

NittanyFan

September 22nd, 2015 at 1:34 PM ^

Jay is a terrible advocate in terms of actually being effective at "beginning that conversation."  He is absolutely terrible.  

One thing that is remarkable about the "Paterno Loyalists" --- the most public of them are UNIVERSALLY THE SAME WAY!!!

No way to win what is, essentially, a PR battle.

InterM

September 22nd, 2015 at 1:57 PM ^

Jay Paterno doesn't say what "recent events" he has in mind.  Maybe he's seeking to stand up for, say, undocumented workers in light of the anti-immigration rhetoric of some leading Republican presidential candidates?

Seth

September 22nd, 2015 at 3:06 PM ^

Jay is the ringleader of the 409s. The other brother has been saying "I was horrified like all Penn State fans. I love my dad and miss him. We should all be thinking about the victims" to anyone who puts a microphone in front of him.

xxxxNateDaGreat

September 22nd, 2015 at 12:10 PM ^

I don't think I will ever know of a person that I could hate more than Jay Paterno.

Sandusky is a fucking monster but at least he knows he it and the whole world knows it, what little comfort that brings. Jay thinks he's fighting a one family crusade against the pinnacle of injustice and he has a cult of apologist morons that enthusiastically eat up and regurgitate every idiotic fucking word that spews from his mouth.

These people are the reason that I hope karma exists. Fuck the Paterno family.

xxxxNateDaGreat

September 22nd, 2015 at 12:16 PM ^

And yes, I know that was an uncalled-for rant, but I still see too many Paterno apologists who truly believe "it was all a conspiracy just to ruin Penn State's good reputation." Hell, I've been stuck in a fantasy work league with the guy for three years and his team name is still "The Sandusky Squealors". It takes every ounce of my energy not to punch the dude every time I see him.

saveferris

September 23rd, 2015 at 7:33 AM ^

So this guy doesn't understand that Penn State's reputation was ruined the second Joe Paterno took the report by McQueary that he witnessed Sandusky abusing children in the shower and did nothing with it?  I mean, there's not much you can do with people like that except name your fantasy team "Paterno Bears Blame".

mGrowOld

September 22nd, 2015 at 1:20 PM ^

"And yes, I know that was an uncalled-for rant,"

It was a very "called for rant" and Jay Paterno himself called for it when he tried to draw a comparison between innocent children burned alive at the stake based on completely unfounded accusations and his pepophile-protecting piece of shit gutless coward of a dad.

Rant on brother.  Rant on.

m1jjb00

September 22nd, 2015 at 1:50 PM ^

No one was burned at the stake in Salem.  All the witches were hung -- really strangled as none of them were dropped to break their necks.  They were "turned" off of ladders.  

No children were hung.  I'm too lazy to look it up, but one 4 year old was accused with her mother, was left in jail with her for a while and after the mother was hung, the child went insane. Otherwise, I can't recall if any children died in the epsiode.

Most of the children involved were accusers, claiming the spectre of so-and-so was pinching them, pricking them with pins, and otherwise haunting them.  Why they did this remains a mystery  Some simply write it off as children wanting attention, intoxicated with power and let things get out of hand.  Others say they were simply bad.  Some were clearly affected by the wars with the Abenakis in Maine that was threatening northeastern Massachusetts.  Others stress the adult feuds that were going on in Salem Village that did not stop the accusations in their tracks.  My favorite explanation is ergot poisioning, which is chemically a percuror to LSD.  It's obvious to me that Increase Mather had some reservations but took his time objecting to the trials, especially admiting spectral evidence.  Cotton Mather was just more of a ding dong.  The Chief Judge Stoughton was just a bad man.

The trials are not an appropriate metaphor.  I'm confident that the executed witches are innocent.  I'm confident that Sandusky is guilty.  The very best you can say about Joe Paterno is that he failed in his responsiblity to be the adult and stop the evil.  Personally, I'm fine with leaving it at that, though others might go further in their accusations against him.

As for Jay Paterno, all I know of what he has been accused of and is clearly guilty of, is being a very bad football coach.

m1jjb00

September 22nd, 2015 at 3:00 PM ^

Corey was accused along with his wife of witchcraft.  He thought the whole thing was so stupid that he refused to enter a plea.  So, the people of Salem did what Brits had done in the past, pile rocks on top of him until he entered a plea (or died).  A couple of times the obstinate old man cried out, "more weight".  

If you're going to go out, giving the middle finger to the authorities strikes me not the worst, even if your last hours are as unpleasant as described in the wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giles_Corey_(Salem_witch_trials)

 

ijohnb

September 22nd, 2015 at 12:22 PM ^

what you did there.  Paterno's crusade has nothing to do with Sandusky.  I believe your comment is a big portion of why the apologists exist - because in your mind you treat Paterno and Sandusky as the same kind of monster.  I think that what the Paterno family truly wants is recognition that Paterno, himself, is not responsible for Sandusky's acts, and that their "mens rea" was not comparable.  I don't think they go about it very well but I think that is their baseline "need" in order to put it to bed. 

RuebenRileyonRye

September 22nd, 2015 at 12:26 PM ^

JoePa was the problem as well. Turning a blind eye to a child molester is almost worse because there is no way he didn't know or heard rumors. It's unacceptable. Your argument will never fly. You just plan wrong.

ijohnb

September 22nd, 2015 at 12:44 PM ^

advancing a position.  I am just speculating as to what the Paterno family wants.  They may want you not to say such things as "turning a blind eye to a child molester is worse" than being a child molester.  Both are unacceptable, but they are in fact much different things.  One involves cowardess and lack of conviction, the other one is child molesting. 

NittanyFan

September 22nd, 2015 at 1:43 PM ^

From my POV, I'd like others to recognize that "the penalties were imposed and they have been served.  They were served willingly by the University - Penn State signed the consent decree when they could have instead entered into a long battle against the sanctions.  School leadership did not publicly complain while the penalties were ongoing, and school leadership filed no lawsuits against the NCAA.  The sanctions are now over, and we look forward to the future in which Penn State will be a full and upstanding member of both the NCAA and the Big Ten Conference."

BlueCube

September 22nd, 2015 at 2:00 PM ^

filed lawsuits, however I would be very surprised if the threat wasn't used to coerce the NCAA to reduce the sanctions.

I think most fans would have accepted that it was a new start if the sanctions had been fully served. I feel like most are offended that they were reduced and may never let it go. The weak NCAA caved in.

Jay fighting for his "rightful" place on the throne only pisses people off more.

NittanyFan

September 22nd, 2015 at 2:08 PM ^

"The executive committee's decision to restore football scholarship opportunities for more student-athletes at Penn State is an important recognition of the University's progress --- and one I know it was pleased to make."  

--- Mark Emmert on 25-September-2013, when the first wave of sanctions reductions occurred.

"Penn State's committment to the integrity of its athletics department and its progress toward meeting the requirements of the Consent Decree are clear.  The Board Members and I believe the Executive Committee's decision today is the right one.  It allows both the Unviersity and the (NCAA) to continue to move toward a common goal of ensuring that educating, nutruing and protecting young people is a top priority."

--- Northern Arizona President, who was the chair of the Executive Committee, on 8-Septemebr-2014, when the second wave of sanctions reductions occurred.

To me, that doesn't sound like people who reduced the sanctions because they were afraid of some lawsuit from a University that wasn't even in a position to "coerce the NCAA."  

The NCAA had Penn State University "by the balls" (for lack of a more eloquent phrase) in the 2012-2014 era, certainly not the other way around.

NittanyFan

September 22nd, 2015 at 2:26 PM ^

Maybe you're right.  I don't think that makes any sense, though, given that the NCAA had ALL the power in terms of its relationship with Penn State in the 2012-2014 era.

FWIW, some of the NCAA's e-mails from that era have been released as part of the discovery process for the Paterno lawsuit ---- and there's absolutely zero evidence thus far of "anything going on behind the scenes."

The Penn State NCAA sanctions case was unique in every way --- including (a) the reasons for the sanctions being given and (b) the way in which the sanctions were administered --- as such, I don't think it comparing it to any other probation case (including "Stretch-Gate") is necessarily valid.

Year of Revenge II

September 22nd, 2015 at 12:44 PM ^

He looked the other way, and kids got molested, so his pedophile buddy could continue to have a job and help PSU win football games.  What a guy!

Never thought I would see people defend child molestor enablers.  Paterno's actions were not as heinous as Sandusky's, but the "mens rea" if you will, the criminal intent, bolis down to almost the same thing.  

All I know about Paterno is what I read, and many laud his character, but when it came time to make a difficult choice between right and wrong, he chose wrong by intentionally looking the other way.  

I think you make a valid point, but as far as I am concerned, Paterno's lack of contrition, now carried on by his family and the PSU sheep since his passing, will haunt him, and PSU, forever.

In reply to by ijohnb

Year of Revenge II

September 23rd, 2015 at 11:23 AM ^

And this is the problem I have with Joepa.  There must have been rumblings about Sandusky's pedo personality before that, but something happened in 1997 to start JS on the downward slide.  I have a pretty good guess what that looked like.

Joepa, for reasons only he could answer, and now he is gone, chose to simply disassociate himself from JS rather than do something about the problem.  Kids suffered as a result, and the thing that Joepa apparently wanted to avoid, the stain of child abuse on PSU football, was guaranteed to be even bigger, so big now it will probably never not be prominent.

Joepa was human, I get that, and perhaps he just made a mistake, as we all do.  Too bad he did not get a chance to acknowledge it before his death, which I suspect the whole tragedy brought about prematurely.

Sad story from every angle, and IMO Jay not taking right approach, just like his dad.  Admitting and accepting your part in a tragedy is the first step to healing.  Sometimes outside forces preclude that---the courts, the government, etc.---but until it is done, you can never really move on and move forward.  

Here's hoping that for Jay.

gbdub

September 22nd, 2015 at 1:02 PM ^

And if Jay Paterno came out and acknowledged that his father made serious mistakes, asked for forgiveness, and only THEN said "and now I'd like to focus on the many positive aspects of my deceased father's legacy", then he wouldn't be getting nearly as much flak.

Instead he jumps right to the "you're all conspiracy theorists, my dad was a saint, and firing a man for failing to prevent decades of child rape is EXACTLY EQUIVALENT to executing people for witchcraft." He's an ass, and at this point has done almost as much to tarnish JoePa's public legacy as Joe did.




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xxxxNateDaGreat

September 22nd, 2015 at 3:03 PM ^

"...in your mind you treat Paterno and Sandusky as the same kind of monster."

I don't really. I mean, they are both monsters but I'm not crazy enough to state that the act of child molestation is the same as the act of playing the victim while simultaneously trying to discredit the real, proven victims.

Sandusky is a true monster and I will never say he is not, but my issue with Jay and the Paterno family is that they are all playing the "We are the true victims, here, not those lying kids!" card in a case that deals with sexual violence and irreparable mental harm towards children. If that itself is not some form of a monsterous act, then I do not know what to tell you.

ijohnb

September 22nd, 2015 at 3:26 PM ^

no member of the Paterno family attempts to discredit the victims of Sandusky's crimes. They are after the Freeh report and allege that the report is biased, assumes facts not "in evidence," and reaches conclusions based on hearsay at best and complete speculation at worst.  Once again, you conflate the two, Sandusky and Paterno.  Paterno has nothing to gain by "discrediting" the victims, it was never alleged that he committed those crimes.

Year of Revenge II

September 22nd, 2015 at 7:43 PM ^

Paterno's dad is dead.  Kid is left to live with the legacy of unwashable stain.

I understand JoePa was never charged,  probably never would have been, and he probably was not convictable in any event.  But, please, c'mon man, we are not talking criminal justice system here, or even the Freeh report, we are talking reality.  I choose to believe that JoePa had some inkling what was going on, and that is likely an understatement.  

He chose to look the other way, and decide that Sandusky could never be the coach at PSU, rather than turn him in, or can and ban his ass.  I cannot prove it, but twenty-five years of trying criminal cases did teach me a thing or two.  

And you don't need to be no stinking lawyer to know how it went down, no pun intended.