Update number one from Florida

Penn State Friends--

Guess I over promised with the idea of a "daily" update. The fun and sun has kept me away from a computer. A really nice change of pace I must say. Think about it, how many days have any of us avoided a computer/balckberry this past year. For a New Years resolution we all should double that number in 2006!!

But, let's talk about getting ready for the Orange Bowl in Florida!

Wednesday, Dec 28:

• Woke up in Chicago at 4:00AM to a balmy 37 degrees. Caught the 6:15 flight to Fort Lauderdale.
• Step off the plane in Ft. Lauderdale to be greated by an Orange Bowl poster....a big smile appears on my face. Penn State is back in the big time! Pass a few more Orange Bowl signs and I am welcomed by a tour agency....must have been the Penn State shirt I was wearing. She wanted to know how many of "you Penn Staters" are coming to the game!
• Get to my rental car and enjoy the 77 degree weather. Why am I living in Chicago again?
• Start the drive down to the Keys, and pass the Orange Bowl stadium. It already has the temporary signage hanging on the outside. I was ready to just drive straight to the parking lot and start cheering...but there was scuba diving to be done first!
• Along the drive on US 1 I got excited because I came upon the world famous Shell World. Said to be the best store in the US that sells collectable shells. Of course, I stopped to browse and add something to my collection. Then about 20 miles further south there was another Shell World....hmmm I was feeling a bit cheated about the first store!
• Got to my Dive motel...and it was exactly what it is called! A huge dive, but very convenient for the following day.
• Watched MeCheatAgain lose to Nebraska. What a bunch of chumps! Big 11 Officials were on the field...no wonder so many calls were blown. At least they sucked equally for both teams!!

Thursday, Dec 29:

• Nothing like the first day of diving....spend an hour the night before setting up gear. Then awake at 7:00AM to get ready.
• Quick breakfast and on the boat at 8:00AM heading out to sea.
• The water in the summer in the Keys they say is 85 degrees.....but today it is 71 degrees. Think about laying in your bath tub submerged in 71 degree water for 45 minutes to get a sense of the cold. I was not a happy camper under the ocean...even the fish appeared cold as one was wearing a Penn State beanie!
• Saw lots of great fish, took lots of pictures...but let talk football.
• Ran into a Florida State fan...who thinks Penn State will "kick the crap out of Bobby and his dumb ass son!" Seems like the FSU fans are giving the Bowdens the same support we gave the Paternos last year.
• The news broke about the Florida State Penitentiary linebacker today. So typical for their team of thugs. Guess A.J. Nicholson was missing some team mates in jail. What is bad for FSU is good for PSU. Can you say M-Rob and Hunt up the middle????
• Met a PSU family at dinner. (Must have been another Penn State shirt I was wearing) Dad and I talked at the bar about the turnaround, Joepa, recruiting and the Bowl game. With a tear in his eye he told me he can't go, as his family is flying back to Philadelphia on Sunday. After his family was seated, and he continued to chat with me for another 15 minutes, his youngest daughter came to tell him that "Mom says you need to come sit down now or you can't renew your Penn State season tickets!"

Friday, December 30:

• Wake up at 6:30AM for a 7:00AM boat departure. Going to dive wrecks all day. More great fish to see and pictures to take. E-mail me if you want to see the pictures!
• Sat outside for lunch (it was 80 degrees) and watched Minnesota blow the game to Virgina. How can you be up so big in the first half, then lay an egg in the second? These Big 11 teams are making the conference look bad.
• Just read all of my key websites to get "up" on my Penn State info. The only highlights I dicerned were: Joe does not like how the team is practicing and D-Wheels is out for sure!
• Time to go catch my last dive of the trip....going out at night. Diving in the dark is so much fun...but even more cold!

Hope to update you again soon. Tomorrow in Key West for New Years!

Go State, beat the criminals.

And who starts for Penn State next year???

Today is the Eve of the Eve. Time to make predictions for 2006.

After much scrutiny here is my forecast for the 2006 first string starters for next year. Current Starters are in bold!

Offense:
QB- Anthony Morelli
RB- Tony Hunt
FB- BranDon Snow
WR- Derrick Williams
WR- Deon Butler
TE- Mark Rubin (gains weight in off season)
LT- Levi Brown
LG- Dennis Landolt
C- A.Q. Shipley
RG- Robert Price
RT- Gerlad Cadogan

Defense:
DE- Josh Gaines
DT- Jay Alford
DT- Ed Johnson (assume grades are improved)
DE- Jim Shaw (or Tyrell Sales)
OLB- Paul Posluszny (yes he will be back)
MLB- Tim Shaw
OLB- Dan Conner
CB- Justin King
CB- Tony Davis
H- Donnie Johnson
FS- Anthony Scirrotto (or Knowledge Timmons)

Special Teams:
K- Kevin Kelly
P- Jeremy Kapinos
KR- Rodney King and Derrick Williams or Justin King
PR- Justin King or Anthony Scirrotto
WR- Deon Butler


That is only 9 Starters returning….be thankful for a somewhat easy schedule!

And the Orange Bowl Winner is....

Orange Bowl Prediction:

Friends I am so excited about this upcoming week. My Bowl trip begins tomorrow, as I travel to Key Largo for a few days of scuba diving, then will spend New Years Eve in Key West, before heading to Miami for the Pep Rally and the Big Game.

Be sure to check here on a daily basis for updates regarding the Bowl Trip...

But let’s talk some football. Hopefully, by now the state of Pennsylvania has quit bellyaching about the match up. Penn State has so much to gain from winning this game. Just look how the recruits are flying into Happy Valley wanting to play for Joepa and the Lions. A win next week will continue the influx of talent.

To pick the winner of the Orange Bowl just review the statistics:

Comparing Offenses:
PSU
Total Offense: #31, 424 yds game
Scoring Offense: #13, 35 pts game

Criminals
Total Offense: #51, 384 yd game
Scoring Offense: #41, 29 pts game


Comparing Defenses:
PSU
Total Defense: #18, 307 yds game
Scoring Defense: #11, 16 pts game
Turnover Margin: #41, +.36 game

Criminals
Total Defense: #15, 302 yd game
Scoring Defense: #28, 22 pts game
Turnover Margin: #83, -.42 game

Record vs. Bowl teams:
PSU Criminals
5-1 3-4

Record vs. Top 30 teams:
PSU Criminals
5-1 3-2

Schedule Difficulty Ranking:
PSU Criminals
#15 #26

Why the Prisoners could win:
- They just beat the #1 ranked Defense in the country in the ACC Championship game.
- They just halted an Offense led by a multi-threat Quarterback
- They do have talent and speed

Why the Nittany Lions could win:
- This team is not going to ruin a great season by losing the last game of the year
- The cocky FSU players are already under estimating the Lions…and the team has already proven how this motivates them. Read this article: http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/13489546.htm
- Joe and the staff will NOT be out coached by Bobby
- Expect our Defense to get at least 2 turnovers!

My Prediction is:
Let’s just use Penn State average Offensive and Defensive scoring numbers…

The Nasty Nittany Lions: 35
The Ditry Indians who have yet to change their NCAA law breaking name: 17

Erik's Bowl Picks for some key games

Here are my Bowl picks:
Note: During the Regular season I was 19-4 (83%):

Alamo bowl = Michigan
Vitalis Sun bowl = Northwestern
Chick-fil-A bowl = LSU
Outback bowl = Iowa
Capital One bowl = Auburn
Tostitos Fiesta bowl = Ohio State
Nokia Sugar bowl = Georgia
Rose bowl = USC

As for the Orange Bowl....the full analysis is coming soon.

Statistically speaking....

Do statistics lie?? Find out tomorrow when the Penn State and Florida State stats are reviewed....

Joe Paterno is Coach of the Year

Congrats to Joepa!!

A great early Birthday gift....more awards to add to the mantle at home.

And in a very classy way Joe diverts attention to not only his Coaching Staff, but also the University of Texas. He and Mack Brown have a major love fest going on!

See the press release for more info: http://www.gopsusports.com/pressreleases/pressrelease.cfm?anncid=9215

Basketball....Are we getting better?

Penn State Fans-
The men's team is now 5-3....one of the best starts in years. But is the program truly in better standing? Will our mens basketball team EVER be GOOD...a player on the National scene??

The normal excuses are:
1. Penn State is a football school, therefore basketball players don't want to be overshadowed.
2. Penn State is not in or near a large city, where the best basketball talent resides. And the best players don't want to live in "cow country"

If these reasons are true, then please explain how these other schools have both a solid Football and Basketball team:
- Texas
- Florida
- Oklahoma
- Michigan
- Iowa
- Michigan State
- Maryland
- Ohio State
- UCLA

What are these schools doing that Penn State can't seem to replicate?

Ed gets one more year by my calendar. Then, if we aren't better, it is time to bring in a big name coach. Not a dirty, scum dragging, NCAA rules breaking coach. But a big name to help us recruit big time.

And yes, the team has suffered transfers and injuries over the years, but that is part of the game...one the coach must prepare to handle.

It is time for Penn State to have two Nationally Ranked revenue generating programs. It will help continue to fund all the other sport teams, who bring great pride to Penn State due to their accomplishment on and off the field.

Go State, beat the Florida State Penitentiary

The 2005 Golden Gelt Awards

There are just so many awards in College Football today, and most are given by some big corporate entity. In addition, they are so serious! Therefore in normal Erik fashion I have created the “Golden Gelt” Awards. But these are some valuable awards for two reasons:

First, Gelt can be traced back to Syrian and Maccabee erea, which dates over 2,300 years ago. Therefore, these awards have a long standing tradition of deep meaning.

Second, there really aren’t any qualifications needed to earn a Golden Gelt award. The awards are purely based upon any witty commentary that I could create.

So, enjoy the 2005 Edition of the Golden Gelt awards:

- The Top Gun Ice Man Award: Michael Robinson

- The Gladiator Award: Paul Posluszny

- The Casper the Friendly Ghost Award: Austin Scott

- The Dennis the Menace Award: Tamba Hali

- The Freshman Award: Deon Butler

- The Flash Gordon Award: Derrick Williams

- The Kamikaze Award: Ethan Kilmer

- The Tasmanian Devil Award: Tony Hunt

- The Tivo Award: The final 2 minutes of the Northwestern game

- The Home Improvement Award: The entire Offensive Line

- The Natural Award: Kevin Kelley

- The Ray Charles Award: All Big 11 Officials

- The Venus flytrap Award: Alan Zemaitis

- The Butterfingers Award: Calvin Lowry

- The White Men Can Jump Award: The Student section

- The Back to the Future Award: The final second of the Michigan game

- The Lion King Award: Joepa

Penn State Football Awards

The football program has rightfully earned a tremendous amount of national attention. And in the process has hauled in a bunch of awards. Here is what has been won to date:

Joe Paterno:
- Home Depot Coach of the Year
- AFCA Regional Coach of the Year
- Big 11 Coach of the Year
- Finalist for Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year
- Cover of Sports Illustrated

Paul “Poz” Posluszny:
- Butkus Award winner – Best Linebacker
- Bednarik Award winner – Best Defensive player
- ESPN Academic All American
- FWAA/Cingular All American
- AP All American
- Walter Camp Foundation All American
- Sports Illustrated All American
- First Team Big 11

Tamba Hali:
- FWAA/Cingular All American
- AP All American
- Walter Camp Foundation All American
- Big 11 Defensive Lineman of the Year
- AFCA First Team All American
- ESPN All American

Michael Robinson:
- Big 11 Offensive Player of the Year
- Big 11 Silver Award – Conference MVP
- Finished 5th in the Heisman voting

Alan Zemaitis:
- AP 2nd Team All American
- First Team Big 11

Levi Brown:
- AP 2nd Team All American
- First Team Big 11

Calvin Lowry:
- First Team Big 11

Scott Paxson:
- First Team Big 11

Who is the BEST EVER College Football team? VOTE NOW!

Which team is the best EVER in College Football?? What about the 1994 Nittany Lions??
Vote on ESPN Sportsnation now!

http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/sportsnation/listranker?id=405

Why the Whinning?

Fellow Penn Staters:

Sometimes I just don't get us! Why are we complaining about the Florida State match up? Are we somehow above playing this team? Are we automatically better?

That is a load of Blue and White crap. REALLY, stop seeing the glass as half empty!!!

Here is the situation as I see it:

1. Win this game and Penn State finishes #2 in the final rankings!!
2. Win this game and it shows that Joepa is the better coach
3. Win this game and Joepa will have 21 Bowl wins to Brat Bowden's 19...and he may never catch Joe
4. FSU never travels well to Florida Bowl games, so Nittany Lion fans should be the majority
5. Win this game and show potential recruits how Penn State can beat Florida schools
6. Win this game to prep the team for next season

My request, as a fellowPenn State fan, is that we look at reality. Florida State Penitentiary WON their conference championship, which automatically earned them a spot in this game. Discussion over!

But please don't act like we, or the team has been done a disservice. Our players deserve better from their fans....as they did better than we expected.

Go State, kick some Florida State Criminals butt. See you in Miami!!!

When it absolutely, positively has to be the FedEx Orange Bowl

Today is "Selection Sunday!" When the BCS attempts to generate the same excitement at the NCAA Basketball tournament field of 64.

The problem is that we already KNOW which Bowls everyone is going to attend. Everything has already been decided by the rich men who run the Bowls and the even wealthier ABC Sports. But, hey it is a great time to get major Brands, like my old Tostitos, to sponsor a 1 hour show!!

So, my picks from last week were WRONG...very wrong indeed. As two teams did not follow the script, and two teams never missed a beat.

Bowls should (hey something crazy could happen today...like the NCAA forces a playoff system) turn out as follows:

• ROSE: USC vs. the Shorthorns. Both ran the tables as predicted back in August. Should be a great game. My pick: Trojan dynasty continues
• Sugar: Georgia vs. WVU. Surprise win for Bulldogs...and now I pick them to win again
• Fiesta: Notre Lams vs. Ohio State...the crazy nuts finally show the world that the tarnish still remains on the Dome
• Orange: What a story line for this game now! ABC must be tickled green with ratings. Joepa vs. Grandpa Bowden. Pennsylvania vs. Florida. Penn State vs. Florida State penitentiary! Extra motivation for the Boys to prove they are the best...and so is their coach. A win here further cements Penn State's return to greatness....and will enable the team to finish #2 in the final rankings. Penn State all the way!

There you have it...my much adjusted picks after two big upsets. Unfortunately for the Lions they weren't the upsets we really wanted!

I just can't get over the loss to MeCheatAgain

One last chance to get back at Lloyd: