November 04, 2006

Joe Pa hurt in Penn State's 13-3 loss.: Get well soon Joe. I'm a Michigan fan but seeing a Penn game without you on the sideline just wouldn't feel natural.

posted by commander cody to football at 08:25 PM - 34 comments

Saw the game and the incident on TV. It looks like he may have some ligament damage, but the MRI hasn't been done yet. My son is crushed. Joe Pa is one of the reasons he wants to go to Penn State. Here's hoping that Joe Pa is not hurt too badly, and that he will be back on the sidelines soon.

posted by Howard_T at 10:28 PM on November 04, 2006

Don't worry about JoePa. He didn't want to leave the field. The doctors practically had to drag him onto the cart. He is tougher at 79 than a lot of other people who are a lot younger.

posted by dta123 at 10:56 PM on November 04, 2006

...but seeing a Penn game without you on the sideline just wouldn't feel natural. I disagree.

posted by Aardhart at 12:18 AM on November 05, 2006

From downtown, nice shot Aardhart!

posted by tommybiden at 01:19 AM on November 05, 2006

(sigh) Picky, picky, picky!

posted by commander cody at 01:39 AM on November 05, 2006

I was born and raised in SE Pa, get well soon Joe Pa, he is a hero to all Pennsylvanians. That said, what the hell is a Nittany lion?

posted by GoBirds at 04:08 AM on November 05, 2006

Yeah, I don't think Paterno has made it to many Penn games since his playing days at Brown. The university is in Nittany Valley, Mount Nittany is the mountain by campus, next to Beaver Stadium. The baseball team was on a trip to Princeton in the early 1900's, and Princeton was just starting to connect themselves with "Tigers". A Penn State player liked the "Tiger" idea and came up with Lion, to be more original he tacked "Nittany Mountain" in front of it.

posted by SummersEve at 08:20 AM on November 05, 2006

I know the announcer apologized but you don't make fun of Joe Pa during a broadcast that makes me sick

posted by luther70 at 10:27 AM on November 05, 2006

I wish Joe a quick recovery. At 79, it's always good to see him on the Penn sideline. At his age he's got alot of spunk and enthusiasm. Here's to a speedy recovery, and get back to where you belong. On the Penn State's sideline. By the way,thanks SummersEve for the info on how the Nittany Lions name came about. Always wondered what a nittany lion was myself, but never bothered to look into it. Pretty cool story.

posted by Ghastly1 at 10:27 AM on November 05, 2006

I didn't see the game or listen to it in any way. How was Joe made fun of luther? Pretty lame on the announcers part to make fun of anyone on the field, never mind a 79 year old man that knows football and could probably talk circles around him if it came to it.

posted by Ghastly1 at 10:39 AM on November 05, 2006

I saw the apology, but not the actual comment- what happened?

posted by tieguy at 11:13 AM on November 05, 2006

I don't know, but once it was clear that he was more or less okay (when you're 80, a broken leg or liganemt damage is nothing to sneeze at, but the prognosis looks like he's going to be alright), I don't think a touch of levity would be out of line. I didn't see it live, so the commentator may have crossed a line, but if I saw Paterno get up, shake his leg a little, and indicate he wanted to stay on the sideline, I'd assume that the danger was over too. Joe Pa laughs at the gallows humor, why can't we?

posted by chicobangs at 01:08 PM on November 05, 2006

I saw the game live, and the commentator just kept talking about how he shouldn't be out there, that he's too old and an incident like this was bound to happen because of his age. (At least I think that's what the stink was about.) And leave it to a Michigan fan to get something so easy so wrong. (Penn & Penn State are not synonymous.) GO BUCKS!

posted by Jeffwa at 01:41 PM on November 05, 2006

Nitanny Lion

posted by Ufez Jones at 01:43 PM on November 05, 2006

Awww come on! I got it right in the title and any football fan should know JoePa is at Penn State. I say again, picky, picky, picky!

posted by commander cody at 02:35 PM on November 05, 2006

Pair of fractures, ligament damage.

posted by bargle at 04:48 PM on November 05, 2006

The "old fart" comment came at halftime before the injury. Paterno was pissed that Beilema and the Badgers ran the time off the clock by going offside twice on the kickoff to run out the half instead of giving PSU the ball with some time left. He basically took advantage of the rule that has the clock start when the ball is kicked instead of caught. Since the Badgers went offside twice when the ball was actually kicked there were only 4 seconds left. Paterno was pissed, yelling at the refs then he shooed a camera crew away. As they went to the studio Craig James said something along the lines of "Atta guy Beilema, give it to the old fart." James has something against Penn State. As they were making their predictions last week before the Purdue game, he said, "I am not a Penn State fan." Who cares if you're a "fan" or not, that's not your job. Pick a winner and say why.

posted by SummersEve at 05:32 PM on November 05, 2006

Youtube comes through again. Video of Craig James calling Paterno an "Old Fart." Video of Paterno's knee injury. Somebody bandaged the knee of his statue outside the stadium.

posted by SummersEve at 05:42 PM on November 05, 2006

Video of the clock being ran out as mentioned above. Creative.

posted by bargle at 06:28 PM on November 05, 2006

After watching that video, I can't believe JoePa, at 79, shrugs off that injury as well as he does, even accounting for adrenaline. He's a tough old fart. As they were making their predictions last week before the Purdue game, he said, "I am not a Penn State fan." Who cares if you're a "fan" or not, that's not your job. James is a commentator. He's paid to have opinions.

posted by rcade at 07:19 AM on November 06, 2006

Exactly, he's paid to have an opinion, not to cheerlead. Give me more than "[insert team name] will win because I don't like [insert team name here]." He might as well have said "Penn STATE R GHEY!!!1!!!!" Trust me, I get the whole broadcaster-opinion thing. I'm not saying this because of any allegiance to Penn State. I don't think this is a very good team either, and I actually thought Purdue was going to win... But when you can't discuss a team because you don't like a team, in my opinion, you're unable to do your job.

posted by SummersEve at 08:21 AM on November 06, 2006

In 1982, Penn State won their first national title, voted consesus #1 in the AP poll, despite a 42-21 loss to Alabama on October 9. SMU, meanwhile, featured the "Pony Express" that year with Craig James and Eric Dickerson. They finished the season 11-0-1, but ended up #2 in the AP poll. There are those who think that's why James is a bit harsh when dealing with Penn State. Yes, 4 of the last 6 posts are from me. There's gotta be some kind of rule against that. I'll go away now.

posted by SummersEve at 09:09 AM on November 06, 2006

Exactly, he's paid to have an opinion, not to cheerlead. I didn't see James talking about Penn State, but "I am not a fan" doesn't necessarily mean "I'm rooting for them to lose." People say it all the time to mean they haven't bought the hype, don't think a team or athlete's as good as touted, yadda yadda. But if you're right and James is nursing a 20-year-old grudge, why is that a bad thing? Animosity can be great in sports. I loved the way the Wings and Avs hated each other for a few years in the '90s.

posted by rcade at 09:47 AM on November 06, 2006

Video of the clock being ran out as mentioned above. Creative. Crazy strategy right there. I'll admit that if that happened against Michigan I'd probably freak out. I would think that the NCAA will do something to fix that. Animosity can be great in sports. I loved the way the Wings and Avs hated each other for a few years in the '90s. What could be better than seeing Darren McCarty beat Claude Lemieux's ass?

posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 04:02 PM on November 06, 2006

Not sure what one of the best rivalries of the past decade has to do with a second rate analyst, but that rivalry it made for one of my favorite sports quotes: "Dook at be. I'b a freak."

posted by SummersEve at 04:30 PM on November 06, 2006

"Dook ad whad dad guy did da by phadje."

posted by The_Black_Hand at 07:20 PM on November 06, 2006

This was the point I so uneloquently did NOT make... James is just a symptom of a larger disease spreading throughout the broadcast sportsscape -- the pox of Fox.

posted by SummersEve at 05:33 AM on November 07, 2006

Not sure what one of the best rivalries of the past decade has to do with a second rate analyst... When did Craig James get promoted to second rate?

posted by Howard_T at 08:25 AM on November 07, 2006

What could be better than seeing Darren McCarty beat Claude Lemieux's ass? SWEEEEEEEET...

posted by wingnut4life at 08:25 AM on November 07, 2006

I love Joe Pa but I'm afraid this might be a sign from the big booth up above that it's time for a change in State College, PA. It will always be his program like Alabama is the Bears. I just don't want to see him die of broken heart I'd much rather that happen to any TEXAS fan.

posted by thatch at 09:09 AM on November 07, 2006

SWEEEEEEEET... Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...........one of the greatest moments in sports ever. Almost as good as sex, scotch or really good weed. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

posted by commander cody at 04:32 PM on November 07, 2006

I'm afraid this might be a sign from the big booth up above that it's time for a change in State College, PA. Everyone knows the "Big Booth Up Above" is directly above the hole in the roof at Texas Stadium. It will always be his program like Alabama is the Bears. And Brady Quinn is one of Knute's boys, I reckon. I just don't want to see him die of a broken heart I'd much rather that happen to any TEXAS fan. We survived John Mackovic and David McWilliams, worry not.

posted by mjkredliner at 04:52 PM on November 07, 2006

The guy's just shy of 80 years old and was trying to stay on the sideline after breaking a bone in his leg. That doesn't tell me it's time for him to go. In fact, the exact opposite. He can stay until he's 120.

posted by SummersEve at 01:42 AM on November 08, 2006

Love Joe-pa but this is hilarious: http://thesportshernia.typepad.com/blog/2006/11/free_of_cast_ba.html

posted by Tbonez at 08:34 PM on November 09, 2006

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