JBC Quick Slants...

• What ever happened to "street magician" David Blaine? Do you think he's still frozen in ice somewhere?
• What does it say about Pitt's season when they are "EVEN" against the spread with conference opponent Rutgers? Secondly, what does it say about Pitt football that this is the second week this season that they'll be playing on Friday night?
• The Steelers loss at home to the Patriots last Sunday was one of the most frustrating things I've ever watched. Can someone explain to me why Coach Cowher didn't burn his last timeout to give his team a few more ticks at the end of the game? Did he honestly think Vinateri was going to miss inside of 35 yards?
• Since Stephen A. Smith has his own show on ESPN2 now it's just a matter of time before we see "The Beano Cook Jiggling Neck Hour" (brought to you of course by "Beano" digestion pills and the Notre Dame Football Boosters.)
• Best new show of the year... "My Name is Earl"
• Why do the photos of sports columnists always look like dorky yearbook photos? Secondly, why do newspapers think we need to see their ugly arses at all? I guess so we can imagine what it would be like to pummel Ron Cook or Bob Smizik after reading their ridiculous rants.
• Old school shout-out of the day... "Kool Moe Dee in the House!!!"
• The Penguins finally won a preseason game Tuesday. What does this mean?... I have NO freakin' idea.
• June Bug Coffin's Hastily Prepared Top Five List...

5. Vanderbilt Commodores. 4-0 and looking like they'll be 5-0 after this week. That sets up big time showdown with LSU next Saturday... I never thought I'd ever utter the words "Vanderbilt" ande "big time showdown" in the same sentence in my life.

4. Wisconsin Badgers. (Also 4-0) Thank you for the toppling of the maize & blue! Now please fade into Big Ten obscurity.

3. Penn State's Michael Robinson. The much maligned QB delivered in the clutch against Northwestern. Reminded me of Thompson to Fields .

2. Michigan State's offense. Yowza! I'm glad we don't play them until the last week of the season. Hope you put another hurtin' on the Wolverines this week.

1. Mentions of Matt Leinart's Class Schedule. If I have to hear one more FREAKIN' time that he is only taking "Ballroom Dancing" this semester... I will literally strangle Brett Musberger (even if he's not the one that says it).

"Just Win Baby."

I have to admit I was in doubt when my Nittany Lions faced a 4th & 15, down by 2 in the final moments of Saturday's game at Northwestern. The entire game brought back flashes of the past few seasons of futility. I just knew this was going to be more of the same. But then something unexpected happen... Penn State found itself.

The Nittany Lions found that winning "we can do it" attitude that for the past 3 seasons, they only spoke of in post-game press conferences. They found the talented players who can beat defenses deep. Michael Robinson found his niche as a leader. Jay Paterno found the right passing plays to call. Penn State found a win where in the recent past there had been bitter defeat.

Just win baby!

Leading up to the game I had read articles and blogs demanding a 2-3 touchdown margin of victory over NW. I find that attitude insane and ridiculous on so many levels. Most importantly, PSU needed a win, nothing more and quite frankly, nothing less.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette jerk-wad Ron Cook believes that had Penn State been playing anyone else in the Big Ten, the outcome would have been different. Penn State, and in my opinion college football in general, is long past the era of "also-ran" conference opponents. Ask #9 Louisville about "also-ran" South Florida. Ask Ole Miss & Arkansas about "also-ran" Vanderbilt. I'm not a college football expert (not that any of these sports reporting yeah-hoos are either) but I know that on any given Saturday regardless of the spreads, last week's results, and season record that a conference opponent is dangerous, especially on the road.

In my humble opinion, Penn State can gain more from this close win than they would have from a 3 touchdown blowout. This win can give this team the confidence they need to springboard into a big season.

Only the Opponents Blood on the Field Will Suffice...

Browsing around the normal Penn State blogs and columns I notice an on-going trend in thinking on this season's Nittany Lions. That being, their 3-0 start isn't enough. In fact, even a win on Saturday on the road at Northwestern doesn't seem to suffice for the cynics, haters, and nay-sayers. Apparently, they want blood.

My all-time favorite "cup is half empty" blogger, Todd Sponsler, of the "50-Yard Lion" had this to say about his expectations for the upcoming Northwestern game...

"Seeing how ASU took NW behind the woodshed and shredded the purple defense for 700 some odd yards, I believe PSU has to win by at least two TDs. Fourteen
points. That, though, doesn't mean we're back. "

Easy there Slappy. How about we worry about winning the game?

Who really cares about what Arizona State was able to do against Northwestern? To place "margin of victory" expectations on this team is just ridiculous. Enjoy the streak we're on and don't look at every game through a freakin' microscope.

Go Lions! Beat the Wildcats (by any margin)!

June Bug Coffin's (Even More) Quick Slants...

• Good to see Penn State's offense find some success and finally put some points up on the board. Three phenomenal freshmen receivers which have absolutely played up to expectations. One more tune up until the Big Ten season starts!
• What's the deal with ESPN and their utterly confusing college football broadcast schedule. I think its great that their producing all these games but with 10 million ESPN outlets (ESPN, ESPNU, ESPN360, etc.) it's like sensory overload. Plus, ESPN Gameplan is scheduled to produce the CMU-PSU game this weekend yet there's no sign of it on DirecTV or Gameplan's upcoming schedule... huh?
• Speaking of ESPN... who was the genius that added Nick Lachey and Lou Holtz to their college football coverage? One has absolutely nothing of value to say, the other has a ridiculous speech impediment that makes him impossible to listen to. You might as well have added Justin Timberlake and Elmer Fudd.
• Old school mullet of the day: Ricky Morton of the Rock n Roll Express...
• The "I Saw This Coming All Along Award" goes to Ron 'Jaws' Jaworski who claimed on PTI that he always knew undrafted Steeler RB Willie Parker would be a star. Whatever Jaworski, you schmuck.
• Jun Bug Coffin's Hastily Compiled College Football Top Five List...

• 1. Vanderbilt Commodores - 2-0 with two come from behind victories. Next up Ole Miss... Go Dores, Go!

  2. Penn State Freshmen Wide Receivers - Any truth to the rumor that D-Will got pulled over for speeding while jogging across campus?

  3. SMU - by the algebraic property of transference if SMU beat TCU who beat Oklahoma... SMU is better than Oklahoma.

  4. Dave Wannestadt's mustache - I think if Wanny loses the crumb-catcher, Pitt will win-out this season.

  5. Lynn Swann's run for the Pennsylvania Governor's Mansion - Here's hoping #88 makes a diving leap for the touchdown over Ed Rendell in the next election.

The Seedy Under-belly of Penn State Football...

In what can be dubbed the State College equivalent of Watergate, David Jones of the Patriot News sheds "light" on the latest activity with recently un-suspended star Penn State LB Dan Connor.


It seems Connor was merely a "pawn" in an on going power struggle between Coach Paterno and Penn State President Graham Spanier. Jones paints the picture of a tenuous relationship between Spanier and Paterno. (Which comes as a surprise to me seeing as how Spanier was eager to extend Joepa's contract a few years back, during PSU football's darkest days and the fact that Spanier seems to speak out frequently on the coach's behalf.) Jones even goes so far as to say...

The perception exists in the (Penn State Football Building) that Spanier's attack dogs in Judicial Affairs and the university police are bent on building a dossier of a
program "out of control," however valid such a folder might be.

To a slick university president, that's higher caliber ammo to present before the 32-member board of trustees this December or next than the gauche "we've been losing an awful lot lately." Spanier can sigh and say, "I hate to do this, but I think we have to act."

Gentlemen, start you conspiracy theories!

This whole thing is starting to sound like a "movie of the week" script. Frankly, I'm not sure I buy all that Jones is selling here. To say Joe threatened to quit if Connor's original punishment had been upheld seems far fetched at best. The incident with Connor may in fact have been Joe's way of sending a message to the players to quit acting like idiots. OR Penn State's Office of Judicial Affairs may have just wanted to flex their muscles at first but then realized on appeal that the punishment doesn't fit the crime... it happens everyday in our criminal justice system.

So what is the REAL truth behind all this? Why does Jones want to shine a big spotlight on an incident that seems to have handled itself? My opinion... David Jones wrote this article as retaliation for Coach Paterno's recent comments about the media. That may not be true but it sounds as good as the theory Jones is pitching.

Mike Meyers & Kanye West to drop a remix album...

I'm sure most everyone has seen or heard about the Kanye West tirade on MSNBC. If you have not seen the video you can check it out here. It's one of the most ironically funny things I've seen in a long time. The funniest part is watching Mike "Shrek" Meyers squirm as Kanye goes into an incoherent babbling on the state of affairs after Hurrican Katrina.

Kanye... my man... next time... use some index cards.

You gotta give credit to Mike Meyers though. He stood strong during Kanye's nonsensical rant and tried to bring it back to the script on the teleprompter. You just know every bone in his body was telling him to "exit stage left". God knows what he was thinking when Kanye dropped the old "George Bush doesn't care about black people" on live TV. He couldn't get out of that studio quick enough. Even Chris Tucker , who they cut to next, seemed disoriented by the whole ordeal.

I got to be honest. I'm a Kanye West fan. I like his music and I think he's got real talent. I just hate it when musicians that I like (i.e. Bruce Springsteen, the Dixie Chicks) feel the need to open their mouths and spout off about politics. It's just completely unnecessary. Kanye West's opinion has no more bearing on the situation than mine. He knows nothing about President Bush, other than what he sees on TV. But because he's a celebrity he feels the need to spew his nonsense when given a live TV venue. I'm quite sure thats not what the organizers of the event had in mind when they asked him to appear. They wanted as many famous people as they could to get to go on TV and ask America to donate to the Red Cross. Instead we get more gobbledy-gook from a celebrity who wants to use his 5-minutes in front of the camera to tell everybody what HE thinks. Bravo Kanye. We're all very impressed. Next time, save it for side B of your album.

Week One of the College Football Season "Quick Slants"...

• For some reason I feel humbled by Boise State's utter defeat to Georgia this weekend. I had predicted a Bronco upset but I guess the critics were right... Boise wasn't ready to play with the big boys.
• Am I the only Penn State fan who wishes they would ditch the shotgun for the old school I-formation? I think Tony Hunt/Austin Scott could really do some damage if they got the ball a little more regularly behind a fullback.
• ND's offense looked scary-good. What I wouldn't give to see those offensive lineman in blue & white.
• The "O" in Oklahoma stands for "Overrated"
• The Myron Cope "Jag Off" of the Week Award ... Texas Longhorns beating up on La-Lafayette. As if its not bad enough that half the team's family was washed out in the hurricane, Mack Brown felt the need to run it up on the Ragin' Cajuns. As always... classy move Mack.
• Hines & the Steelers finally came to terms on an extension. For Steeler fans everywhere I breath a sigh of relief and say, "Thank you."
• Derrick Williams certainly lived up to the hype in his debut. What was most impressive to me was his down field blocking and all around veteran-like performance.
• Jun Bug Coffin's Hastily Put Together Top Five List...
1. Teams with 3-letter abbreviations (TCU, UAB, etc.) - Now if only we can get SMU to come around...
2. Charlie Weis's offense - Simple, smart playaction passes and great run blocking.
3. DJ Shockley & Georgia - I'm sorry I ever doubted you.
4. Penn State's defense - As good as advertised.
5. Vanderdilt Commodores - First season opening victory in 8 years. Kudos to you VU!