Odds & Ends

We'll get back to our regular schedule tomorrow, but tonight we just wanted to mention a few different items. It's not much, but we're still hungover from the loss like any other PSU fan, so hopefully you understand.

First of all, it's been pointed out by a number of sources how eerily similar this year's scenario is to 1999. We vaguely remember that season, as we were barely in high school, but we have at least some recollection of the Minnesota loss. In case you don't remember, the Lions were 9-0 coming into that game. The final score? 24-23, Minnesota. The dagger? A last second field goal. Weird.

That team went on to lose it's last two and went to the Alamo Bowl. We can say with a good bit of confidence that the team will emerge victorious this weekend, but Michigan State will be a tough one. The Rose Bowl is no small deal, so let's hope they get back on track.

Moving on, you'll remember that last week we posted about a certain t-shirt being sold by a certain prominent clothing company in State College. Well, to the store and everyone who bought the shirt: thanks for jinxing the season. Much appreciated. At least the people who bought it won't ever be able to wear it again without being ridiculed by the general public.

In good news, Evan Royster has been named a semifinalist for the Doak Walker Award for the nation's top running back. It's not likely that Royster will be a finalist, especially with Ringer and Greene on the list, but it's a nice honor for a guy who's only a sophomore.

Finally, the Penn State/Big11Ten bashers have surfaced in a big way. A couple prominent sports media members congratulated Iowa for keeping a Big11Ten team out of the title game. Pat Forde (pronounced Ford-ie) of E!SPN leads off his "Forde-Yard Dash" column by giving props to the Hawkeyes, and Jim Rome, as if he read Forde's column and liked the sound of it, said almost the exact same thing at the end of "Rome Is Burning" today.

First of all, congrats to you two for having such creative names for your column/show. Trust us, 20 and 30-something sports fans just love a 3rd grade-level play on words. Second, and more importantly, way to go out on the limb and repeat the same sorry old argument every half-ass national sports writer has recycled the last 3 weeks. Very creative. If we wanted to see people mailing it in, we'd go read Rick Reilly. Why don't you use your time to plead to get rid of the sorry BCS system and install a playoff. And if you don't like that, maybe you should just campaign to get rid of all the college football conferences besides the Big 12 and SEC, because as we all know, they are the only ones who deserve a title shot anyway. Dicks.

We would expect this from an E!SPN blowhard like Forde, but generally we like Rome. But today, he doesn't escape our wrath.

Nice picture, clown.

Hey, we never said we were mature. We'll be back tomorrow, hopefully less angry.