As we made the turn off of I-80 and headed south towards the campus – as usual – there always seems to be some magic in the air for me. The setting sun was bright gold, and Beaver Stadium looked like the cathedral of college football that it is…looming on the top of a hill with the setting sun painting it in pink and gold.

After dropping Jordan off at his dorm, I did notice he needed a shave. “Doesn’t that need to go?” I asked, referring to his light beard. “Not sure anymore,” he said. One of Joe Paterno’s rules was “no facial hair.” Interesting.

I made my way back to Beaver Stadium, just enjoying the atmosphere and snapping a few photos. An absolutely stunning full moon was rising over Mount Nittany and I have to say that the view just took my breath away…no wonder I enjoy my trips down there so much. It still is a very special place not only for me, but for millions of football fans and Penn Staters around the world.

I did stop to take a look at the Joe Paterno statue, which is thankfully still there. It was weird to be there on this crisp  January evening without a soul around…think about it: there are plaques, there are trophies, and there are awards…but how many people do you know that have actually have a bronze statue cast of them commissioned? I know just one: JoePa.

I did check the bolts and – damn – too tight, or I would have just put the whole thing in my trunk for safe-keeping. Need to bring some power tools with me next time in order to protect this thing before the Board of Trustnuts has another outbreak of cowardice and has it scrapped.

As promised, I made my way over to the Lasch Football Building in a vain attempt to introduce myself to Coach O’Brien. I knew it wasn’t looking good when I pulled into the lot and there were four Penn State Police cars there (yeah, THOSE guys). I decided to try my luck but the front doors were locked, and I looked up and one of the cops was giving me the stink-eye with his hand positioned on his squirt gun. I did the right thing, I just smiled and gave him the finger.

The long drive home in the dark gave me some “quiet time” to think about my life, and what I might do to make the world a better place. Here’s what I came up with:

This year, I am going to take up golf again after a 3 year layoff. And after every shot – including putts – I’m gonna do “the Tebow.” I might even do it after I wash my balls!

Please contact me to arrange your golf date with me.

Imagine being on the cusp of a great season only to lose your head coach, athletic director, and university president all on the same day…plus a bomb-threat on game day. Wow.

Imagine having the press camped out in front of the football complex, dealing with riots, and STILL having to complete your studies while at the same time preparing for the last 3 games of the year, all to be shown on national television.

Here’s a great article I found tonight about the team. Enjoy!

Giger: More than a few good men: PSU players earn nation’s respect

Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz weighs in with a very thoughtful article that I found today on The Huffington Post.

Click here to read the entire article.

Here’s a few interesting links to what’s going on with Penn State Football today. For the time-being, everything has calmed down today mainly due to the fact that there is really nothing to report and there’s really only so many ways you can spin and re-tell the same information every single minute. But God knows they’re trying hard to do so.

Rose Bowl would welcome Penn State ‘with open arms’ if it wins Big Ten title

Finally, someone with the guts to say the right thing. Thank-You, Rose Bowl. We plan on being there!

Pittsburgh mayor wants Penn State alum Franco Harris off charity board for his support of Joe Paterno

Mr. Harris is having a tough week. That’ll teach him to be stand-up guy for his coach and mentor – he got fired yesterday from his job as a spokesman for a casino.

Cars.com pulls commercials from Penn State games on ESPN

Oh, NO! Wait, what is “cars.com?” A kid’s movie?

Very nice!

If you can’t read it due to the print being a liitle small, you can view the full size pdf file by clicking here.

I thought my readers  might be interested in some of the latest Penn State Football news and information, so here are some of the better links I’ve come across today:

Franco Harris fired as casino spokesman for defense of Joe Paterno

That’s what you get for sticking up for someone – fired. I hope the casino knows that this will tick off a ton of PSU fans and a ton of Steelers fans, too.

Penn State denies discussing removal of Joe Paterno statue

I did hear a rumor that some alums are considering stealing it and hiding it it until Joe’s name is cleared. Sounds good to me, let’s get really really trashed some night this weekend and steal the Joe Paterno Statue. I’m IN!

Former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell calls Paterno firing appropriate in light of “huge mistake”

Which just proves you can’t be on MSNBC every night AND stick by someone you consider a “friend.” With friends like Fast Eddie…

To bowl or not to bowl? And does anyone want PSU?

Will anybody pick Penn State for a bowl game – or is the PSU brand finally going to become toxic from 24/7 media blitz?

Rick Santorum: Penn State’s football team should be barred from bowl game in light of sex-abuse scandal

Thanks, Rick. Now get back out there and shore up your pathetic last-place position in the Republican primaries. Your fellow PSU alums wish you would quit telling people you went to Penn State.

First of all, I think that Joe Paterno took a big big hit on this one. If you watched any of the reports on the news during the week and turned the volume off, you’d think that was the one who personally sexually abused these kids. The “shock and awe” media did a great job, with everyone from Anderson Cooper, “Dr. Keith” and Ashton Kutcher weighing in.

My first point: Joe did what he was supposed to do with the information he had. In the end, he reported it “up the chain” and his career got tangled in the very same chain.

Yep – he could have done more. We all could do more. Please take a moment to look at your life and tell me you can’t think of one single thing that you regret.  I am SO SICK of these self-sanctimonious ”news” anchors and their opinions because they attempt to come across as experts on everything when in fact they know nothing.  They are just news-readers and couldn’t carry Joe’s morning coffee to him without spilling it.

The fact of the matter is that Joe didn’t do anything illegal. He just made a very big mistake in judgement nine years ago, and he’s out.

How does Curley get administrative leave – with pay, no less – and Joe gets fired? Really? Curley was Joe’s boss, and did nothing with the information that Joe gave him – and he’s still on the payroll?

“Tarnished” Legacy: Sorry, but you just can’t do so much good for 62 years and have it all taken away in one week. I know that Joe had to go – there was no way he could be on TV during the game this week – but Jeez –  how about just putting him on “administrative leave” until the end of the season and then make him retire? He earned the right to be treated much better than this.

The Greatest Scandal in College Sports History: Not true. Nice tag-line for  CNN and ESPN, but this was NOT a “sports” scandal. The team did not break any rules and neither did the coaching staff. Instead, this would be more accurately named for what it really is: a major college ethics scandal. This whole problem goes from the football administration to the university president. The football program as a whole is still clean as of this time, meaning no NCAA violations. Period.

On shutting down the entire football program: I could say a lot, but hey – why didn’t we just eliminate the Presidency after Clinton had oral sex in the Oval Office with an intern? Again,  people are entitled to their opinions, but that is just crazy-talk.

On the football team: These are sterling young men who have been trained from day one in the program to take responsibility for their own actions and to focus on what is in front of them. Arguably some of the finest young men you would ever meet and be fortunate enough to hire. They walk a very fine line being student-athletes at one of the most visible college football programs in the land, and they do it the right way – the Joe Paterno way.

On Saturday’s game: If you missed it, it was one of those moments in your life that you’ll never forget. 107,000 people showed up to gather, mourn, grieve, comfort, and to support their team. A class act from start to finish…I don’t know who was in control of putting this together, but Penn State certainly turned the corner on national TV on Saturday…these people showed up not knowing what to expect amidst threats of protests, violence and even a bomb threat at Beaver Stadium right before game time. They don’t just love the football team – they love Penn State and came to stand in silent support of a University that is under siege. At the end of the game, nobody left…they stayed until they could cheer the team as they left for the locker room. Over 80 former PSU players flew in from around the world to be on the sidelines in quiet support of the program that means so much to them.

On Jerry Sandusky: How is this guy not in jail? Are you kidding me?

Personally: It’s been a constant process for the last 7 days with co-workers, family members and nasty remarks and comments on my past Penn State articles and YouTube videos…as always, the great unwashed among us have more time than most to troll the internet to find people to attack. I was fortunate enough to be one of them this week.  I’m not removing or deleting anything I have written or produced about Penn State, because that would make me a coward.

I was fortunate enough to have a conference call with the new coach, Tom Bradley and his staff this week…he gave all of us parents his personal cell phone number should we have any questions about the program or our kids. Nice.

The Silver Lining: Today, almost every person in America knows much more about the horrors and silence of child abuse. My hope and dream is that Penn State will develop a world-class training program to end it. Perhaps take the profits from the football team – after normal expenses for scholarships and housing – and create the greatest program in the world that  is dedicated to exposing and eradicating child abuse. I would expect nothing less.

In closing: At one time this week, I sadly took down my Penn State flag out of both embarrassment and also for concern of having a brick thrown through my front window…today, the flag is back up and snapping in the wind in front of my home. Before Saturday’s game – my normal ritual – I put it back up. After Saturday’s game, I’m proud to keep it there.

I love Penn State.

WE ARE…STILL…PENN STATE!

Check out these photos, and see if you recognize any of the people in them.

The real question is – where did we go?

Hint: we’re downtown…and the name of the place is a state in New England.

Just a really nice spot with an “adult” crowd as in no baseball caps and everyone has their pants pulled up.

Any guesses?

BTW…Nice boots.

We were married at the beautiful Church of The Covenant on Sixth Street, and our wedding reception was at what once was the Waterfront Restaurant (it’s the Cove now.) It was really kind of weird to watch them demolish the place just a few months after our honeymoon…I think we were their last really big party. It was awesome.

Allburn Florists transformed the place from top to bottom, and the marina looked stunning through the windows at sunset…guests were there from across the entire country, some we haven’t seen since.

Our video guy – Dale Evanoff – did a spectacular job AND he was smart enough to take the entire 2 hours of video and condense it down to just these few minutes…