PENN STATE UPDATE

Read the account for Victim 2 in the grand jury report. A graduate assistant walked into the locker room after hours to put away a new pair of sneakers he had just bought. He heared a "rythmic slapping sound" coming from the showers, where the lights had been on. The graduate assistant recognized the sounds to be that of a sexual nature, so he went to the shower to sneak a peak. Inside he saw Sandusky preforming anal sex on a 10-year-old boy. The graduate assistant left the scene and called his father, reporting what he had seen. The next day the graduate assistant reported to head coach Joe Paterno exactly what he had seen. Paterno reported the incident to the Penn State athletic director, who later told the assistant that the matter would be looked into. Paterno had gotten the information, it was under his watch, and all that was done was have Sandusky's locker room keys taken away. Stay classy, Penn State.

Hot Topic: Penn State and the Future of Joe Paterno

Happy Valley seems to have gotten a whole new meaning this week after former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky was revealed to have sexual harassed eight boys in a span of fifteen years while affiliated with the football program. This morning we learned that Penn State athletic director Tim Curley and school vice president for finance and business Gary Schultz with both leave their posts amid the scandal. 

The details of the scandal are gut-wrenching, to say the least. Sandusky, who played for Penn State for four years and coached another 23 under Joe Paterno, started a charity for troubled boys called The Second Mile. The Second Mile was started in 1977 by Sandusky and it was affiliated with Penn State throughout the years. According to the Grand Jury’s report (which can be found HERE), Sandusky performed oral sex on the first victim, “more than 20 times through 2007 and 2008”. The first victim, named “Victim 1” in the grand jury’s report, began to stay in Sandusky’s basement during the summers (starting as early as 2005). Victim 1 was taken around the Penn State campus and to Philadelphia Eagles games by Sandusky. 

The details of the report or sickening, to the point that I don’t even want to talk about the other seven victims as I originally had planned. In terms of the court case and the fate of Sandusky, what may be the most terrible thing is that the first evidence was gathered thirteen years ago, and it took this long to bring this pervert to justice. The lives of he other boys could be drastically different if it weren’t for the preverbal “red tape” that causes court cases to be dragged out to no end. However, all that is to be saved for a justice and law blog, not a sports blog. 

Penn State has been, for years, an esteemed and respected program for college football. Joe Paterno, who just won his NCAA record 409th career game, has been coaching at Penn State for 61 years, with little to no controversy. Needless to say, Paterno’s legacy is now tarnished. The fact that Sandusky was once considered the “coach in waiting” to Paterno is a black mark against Penn State. However, with Sandusky being a longtime coordinator under Paterno, the question has to be raised as to whether or not Paterno had any knowledge of Sandusky’s actions throughout the 15 year period of his...extracurricular activities. Sandusky and Paterno have had to be close, for him to name Sandusky the coach in waiting and keep him on staff as the defensive coordinator for all those years. 

Sandusky retired in 1999 from the Penn State coaching staff, while still maintaining a relationship with the school and Paterno. Whether or not the 55 year old Sandusky retired due to age (not likely) or because Paterno found out of the despicable actions remain to be seen. 

One thing that needs to be kept in mind is the case of Jim Tressel and the Ohio State Buckeyes. Tressel was fired this past summer when it came out that he had knowledge that a number of his players, including captain quarterback Terrelle Pryor, had willingly accepted gifts from local Columbus businesses, most notably a tattoo parlor that gave Buckeye players free tattoos, violating NCAA rules. Tressel was an esteemed coach, but not as esteemed as the NCAA darling Paterno. 

If Paterno had any knowledge of the actions by his former coordinator, then he needs to fired immediately. Paterno no longer coaches on the sidelines at Penn State games, instead sitting in the coaches booth. Cameras during the game show that Paterno doesn’t even wear a headset or call plays during the games. It is as if Paterno is just a face for recruiting and the aura of Penn State. People at Penn State believe Paterno to be a God (or more fittingly, a cult leader). They worship him, as do members of the media (watch last weekends Sports Reporters on ESPN, where they all backed Paterno 100%). If the NCAA wants to play judge and jury with student athletes and the coaches that oversee them, then Paterno needs to be fired. Now, if JoePa had no idea of what was going on (not likely), then sure, he deserves a pass. But, it needs to be reiterated over and over again, Paterno can not continue to be head coach at Penn State if he failed to report Sandusky to authorities after learning the facts. Forget his legacy or the aura at Penn State, 15-year-old kids lives have been ruined because a sicko took advantage of them in their weakest moments. The NCAA needs to do the right thing. Knowing sports and how prominent figures are treated in today’s realm, don’t be shocked to see Paterno retire at the end of this season, cashing his last paycheck and riding off into the sunset forever considered one of the greatest, cleanest, coaches in sports history. 

NFL: Week 9 Picks

Matchup	Jarboe	Sloth	Matera
Falcons (-7.5) vs Colts Saints (-5.5) vs Tampa Bay Jets vs Buffalo (-2.5) Texans (-9) vs Browns Chiefs (-4.5) vs Miami 49ers (-5) vs Redskins Seahawks vs Cowboys (-11)	Falcons    Bucs    Jets    Browns    Chiefs    Redskins    Seahawks	Falcons    Saints    Bills    Browns    Chiefs    49ers    Seahawks	Falcons    Saints    Jets    Browns    Chiefs    49ers    Cowboys
Broncos vs Raiders (-7.5)	Broncos	Broncos	Raiders
Bengals vs Titans (-2.5)	Bengals	Bengals	Bengals
Rams vs Cardinals (-2.5)	Rams	Rams	Rams
Giants vs Patriots (-9)	Giants	Patriots	Giants
Packers (-6) vs Chargers	Packers	Packers	Chargers
Ravens vs Steelers (-3.5)	Ravens	Steelers	Steelers
Bears vs Eagles (-7.5)	Bears	Eagles	Eagles
Last Week	7-5-1	7-5-1	7-5-1
Season	51-46-6	50-47-6	49-48-6

NFL: "Elite" Quarterbacks

“Elite” is a term that is thrown around way too often in the NFL. This past week John Clayton of ESPN called Joe Flacco an elite quarterback. Last season analysts were already calling Buccaneers quarterback Josh Freeman elite. This is the preverbal “rock bottom” of throwing around the word elite to any NFL quarterback that has a good season. Both Freeman and Flacco had great seasons last year, with Freeman throwing for 25 touchdowns to just 6 interceptions. Flacco threw for 25 and 10 while leading the Ravens to the playoffs before losing in the divisional round. Through his career, Flacco has a 4-3 playoff record with a 60.7 completion percentage and 86.4 quarterback rating. Freeman, on the other hand, has never made it to the playoffs and boasts a 59.5 completion percentage and a 79.8 quarterback rating. 

To call these two elite at this stage in their careers is just wrong. Focusing on Flacco, he has without a doubt been the strongest quarterback the Ravens have had in their current history of having a dominant defense. Flacco does have a decent playoff record for a fourth year quarterback, but much of that can be attributed to the Ravens all-world defense. New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez is said to be the weakest link on the Jets team. The Jets have a similar team structure to the Ravens; a team with a strong defense and emphasis on the running game. Through two and a half seasons, Sanchez has a 4-2 playoff record with a 72.9 quarterback rating and 54.7 completion percentage. Sanchez has thrown for less touchdowns and more interceptions than Flacco has, but the stats are not all that different. Factor in a difference 6% in completions and a 14 point difference in quarterback rating, the two players aren’t far off from each other. 

Using the same comparison as Flacco, Freeman has similar stats to Sanchez as well. Freeman and Sanchez both entered the league in 2009. With fewer games played, Freeman has thrown for three less interceptions and one more touchdown. Both players have 7,000 yards passing to their credit and a 6 yard average per attempt pass. Freeman has never led the Bucs to the playoffs, the closest being last season when they went 10-6 and missed the wild card by one game. 

The point of this is, if analysts are going to call guys like Flacco and Freeman elite, then using the same stats (playoffs, career qb rating, career passing stats), average quarterbacks like Sanchez and even Matt Cassel should be in the conversation as well. Which brings me to my point, none of those four players are elite. The purpose of the Sanchez comparisons were not to push that he is an elite quarterback. At this stage in his career, Sanchez is an average quarterback whose strongest skill is being a game manager. Looking at the stats and playoff records, guys like Freeman and Flacco cannot be called elite if they have similar resumes to game managers and decent quarterbacks like Sanchez and Cassel. 

In my eyes, being an “elite” quarterback puts you in the pantheon of NFL starters. They are the guys who when you see their team on the schedule, you cringe and think that they will beat you. Nobody looks at a game against the Ravens or Bucs and says, “Flacco/Freeman is going to beat us in that game”. The elite title should be reserved for quarterbacks who are the best players on their team, players who have been deep into the playoffs and remained the last man standing. Players who throughout their career have put up big numbers and big win totals. Not guys like Flacco, who one week could throw for 300+ yards and a few scores then the next week throw for 8 yards in an entire half (Jacksonville game). Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, and Ben Roethlisberger. Those guys have won games single handidly. They take their teams to the playoffs year in and year out and have been the last man standing in February. Phillip Rivers could become elite. Eli Manning is right there, too. But right now, as we sit in week 9 of the 2011 season, the “elite” quarterback list starts and ends with those five names. Maybe in two, three, four years Flacco and Freeman could leap into the conversation, but to call them elite at this stage and with their current career stats is defacing the title all together. 

NFL: Week Nine Power Rankings

1. Green Bay Packers (7-0): The bye week did nothing to knock the Packers off of the number one spot. If anything, the off week and extra time to rest and get the offensive line healthy will only make the Packers better from here on out. Beware though, most teams this season have come out flat after the bye week, most likely due to the new CBA stating players get four days off during the bye week. 

Last Week: #1

2. Pittsburgh Steelers (6-2): Pittsburgh’s victory over the Patriots launched them up four spots to the number two ranking. Big Ben and the Steelers offense looked great, utilizing Heath Miller and the tight ends to expose the Patriots depleted secondary. Crucial matchup this week against the Ravens, a rivalry game that could decide the division. 

Last Week: #6

3. San Francisco 49ers (6-1): The 49ers are six wins away from clinching the division. If they do get to 12 wins, they could be heading to a first round bye. Not enough words can be said about the job that Jim Harbaugh has done with this team and the offense. On defense, rookie Aldon Smith is making a strong Rookie of the Year campaign. 

Last Week: #5

4. New England Patriots (5-2): I have the Patriots higher than the Ravens by a hair. The Patriots schedule gets tough from here on out, with a home game against the Giants this week before playing the Jets in week 10, a game that could decide first place in the AFC East. 

Last Week: #2

5. Baltimore Ravens (5-2): Ravens. Steelers. Tied for first place in the division, playing eachother this Monday night. Does it get any better than that? The Ravens did not play well against Arizona on Sunday, and even though Joe Flacco led them back in the second half, I still don’t believe he’s the type of player that can lead this team deep into the playoffs. 

Last Week: #4

6. New York Giants (5-2): That was almost a huge letdown for the Giants if they had lost on Sunday against Miami before playing New England this week. Eli Manning did a great job in the comeback effort, but it will be detremental to the Giants for them to put the Miami game behind them and look to air it out against the Patriots defense. 

Last Week: #7

7. New Orleans Saints (5-3): One week the Saints look like the second best team in the league. Last week against the Rams, they looked horrible. Steven Jackson ran the Saints defense into the ground, and Drew Brees had his worst game of the season. With Atlanta getting hot, the Saints have to be looking over their shoulder in the division. 

Last Week: #3

8. Detroit Lions (5-2): Good losing streak ending game against Denver for the Lions. Matt Stafford and Calvin Johnson connected for 125 yards and a touchdown, a combination that needs to be consistent if the Lions want to make the playoffs this year. 

Last Week: #8

9. Buffalo Bills (5-2): Buffalo completely demolished the Redskins Sunday in Toronto, racking up 9 sacks in the process. Ryan Fitzpatrick got banged up but remained in the game. Huge divisional matchup with the Jets this week, a game that could make or break the Bills postseason run. 

Last Week: Not Ranked

10. New York Jets (4-3): A bye week for the Jets this week, with a huge game against Buffalo on the horizon this week. The Jets absolutey need to be able to run the ball against a poor Buffalo defense. If they do that and manage to take Fred Jackson out of the game, they should win. Look out for Bills wide receiver David Nelson against Antonio Cromartie this week as the prime matchup. 

Last Week: #10