It’s unlikely that Ohio State has a shot at the National Championship this year. Absent some kind of miraculous climb back up the polls by the Buckeyes I’ll be rooting for Penn State.
I was a fan of Penn State before they joined the Big Ten. I have a weakness for cranky old coaches and plain uniforms.
I find it mind boggling that Joe Paterno has been at Penn State for 58 years – 16 years as an Assistant Coach and 42 years as Head Coach. He is currently 82 years “old”.
People have been writing off Paterno for years and claiming that the game has passed him by. Despite the criticism his record over the last 3 and a half years is 35 wins and 9 losses. It would be one of the ultimate riding off into the sunset moments to see his team win the National Championship this year and have him retire. That thought makes this observation a little disturbing:
Yesterday, ABC sportscaster Brent Musburger popped by the Dan Patrick show to talk about all things college football and one of the topics that came up was the remarkable success of Penn State this season under 82-year-old head coach Joe Paterno.
But then the conversation turned a little grim.
Musburger admits to having a personal friendship with Paterno and says that through his candid conversations with JoePa, he knows exactly why he continues to Coach after all of these years.
“This is a tough one for me because I have to say up front that JoePa is a dear friend of mine…I’ll tell your listeners the truth as to why he still does it. He is fearful — and he looks back at Bear Bryant as the example — he is fearful that he would not be with us if he stepped away. He is a man that doesn’t fish, doesn’t play golf…he has no other interest other than his family and football. And he’s just afraid what would happen with the rest of his life if he walks away from it.”
Now, this is not Musburger speculating, but Paterno admitting he’s afraid he’ll keel over once he retires, which is just extremely sad. Remember,Bear Bryant died just 28 days after announcing his retirement from Alabama.
I had forgotten that Bear Bryant died right after retiring. When I looked it up to confirm the details this is what I found:
Bryant announced his retirement as head football coach at Alabama effective with the end of the 1982 season. His last game was a 21-15 victory in the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tennessee over the University of Illinois. When asked in a post-game interview what he intended to do while retired, Bryant sarcastically replied that he would “probably croak in a week.”
Bryant died on January 26, 1983 at age 69 after checking into Druid City Hospital in Tuscaloosa with chest pain. His death came 28 days after his last game as a coach. He is interred at Birmingham’s Elmwood Cemetery.
I’ll still be rooting for Penn State and hope he leaves as a Champion. Maybe Joe can take up blogging in his retirement.
Posted by strodeunplugged 
Posted by strodeunplugged 
