Spring Fling - Updates from Spring Practice

RUTS has a pretty nice summary of the spring practice press conference and resulting commentaries - it sounds like our (hopefully soon to be) new favorite Stephon Green is having a good spring. Good to hear.

At Joe's presser - he dodged the "contract talk" and completely snubbed Fergie.

Blue White 2008 - This Just In

The Gridiron Concert Series has been canceled, according to the CDT. It appears that the organizers and the universities didn't bother/think/wait to get NCAA approval before signing up. Or, at least, they didn't wait for NCAA approval of student-athlete participation - which is what the NCAA has ruled to be impermissible.

So the Fergie Concert at Beaver Stadium has been indefinitely postponed, tickets will be refunded and text message voting will not be charged for. Can you say "Marketing Department Nightmare?"

I have to admit that it all seemed a little wobbly to me from the get go - kinda like the emperor's new clothesish -

But! The Carnival (opens 6pm on Friday) is still on - as is the Game (Saturday, April 19th at 2pm) - hope to see you there.

Blue White 2008 - Joe Paterno and Paul Posluszny - together again

Paterno and Posluszny will be the feature speakers at the Nittany Lion Club's Pre Blue White Game Luncheon on Saturday, April 19th (doors open at 9:30am; program begins at 10:30am) at the Bryce Jordan Center. Tickets for the luncheon are available to NLC member and the public for $25. You can purchase tickets by calling the BJC ticket office - the deadline for advance purchase is April 7th.

Or you can come to our tailgate where we'll talk about Coach Paterno and Paul Posluszny - no tickets necessary.

Penn State Football Spring Roster Released

Go to GoPSUsports.com to download the spring roster (PDF file).

Blue White 2008 - Just Like we Practiced

Spring Practice began yesterday (Monday) - and culminates, as usual, with the Blue White Game.

The Carnival opens around 6pm on Friday, April 18th.

The Grid Iron Bash Concert begins at 7pm (also Friday).

Parking lots open at 8 am on Saturday.

The football player meet n' greet begins at 12:30pm.

And the game starts at 2pm.

According to GoPSUsports.com, season tickets are still available - applications for current season ticket holders arrived (are arriving) this week.

Tuesday Tailgate Talk - Ain't no thing like a chicken wing

As part of the traditional Easter celebration, I made a batch of buffalo chicken wings this past weekend.

It's the world's simplest recipe - but it's really the best. You can adapt it to any amount of chicken and any amount of "heat". Also, with the basic recipe, you can add flavors to adjust to your personal taste.

The basics:

2 lbs chicken wing sections
salt & pepper

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup Frank's Hot Sauce (original)

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.

Rinse and dry the chicken wings. Many companies now sell fresh chicken wings pre-sectioned - which is a big time saver. Or you can use pre-frozen wings. Season with salt and pepper.

Place wings in a single layer in a baking dish. I regularly line the dish with foil.

Bake in pre-heated oven for 1 hour (or so. check the wings occasionally to monitor crispness and the amount of liquid in the pan. If you are cooking pre-frozen wings, you will want to "drain" off the liquid to promote optimal crisping).

Remove from oven and set aside.

Melt butter. Stir in hot sauce. This is where you can adjust the amount of butter and sauce to your taste. Also, you can add in some prepared bbq sauce or lime juice to shift the flavor.

Toss the wings in the sauce and serve with blue cheese dressing and celery sticks.

If you have extra sauce, it's great on (other forms of) chicken, pork, shrimp, spoons...

Be warned, this sauce does not reheat well - it will separate and get a bit greasy - but it's rare that there are left overs.

The Tailgater, A Monthly Tailgating Webzine

Check out The Tailgater website - They're featuring awesome pictures from tailgates across the land - which would, of course, include... US!

Currently, there's a picture from our PSU at Temple tailgate on the front page of the site.

AND, a little update from the tailgate. Or maybe a feature page - one or the other.

Now, wasn't that exciting?

Did you catch the Duke/Belmont game last night? That's what college sports is all about.

I feel bad for the Belmont kids - they really hustled - and their coach was brilliant! (I wonder if he's ever considered moving up north...)

You have to know that the Belmont fans (Vince Gill included) had a fantastic time last night, even in defeat - the way they applauded their coach when he emerged from the locker room was classic - it's no wonder that he got emotional - just thinking about it right now is bringing a tear to my eye.

Duke did a good job to win the game - but poor Belmont - they came so close.

Signs it's the off season: Basketball

It's March Madness time - I've filled out 3 brackets so far - some wacky/biased picks - we'll see how it goes.

The other night I was casually watching a "bracketology" show on TV - The experts - okay, Bobby Knight - were going on about the inequity of having a field of only 64 teams in the tournament - and that quality teams are left out due to the automatic bids for conference champions. Knight's "obvious" solution was to add another game (and thereby another 64 teams!) to weed out lower seeds and make sure that all the teams that "deserve" to be there, are.

While some teams that could slip into a lower (ranked) seed get bumped each year - that's just part of the game. I sincerely doubt that any of the burst bubble teams are ones that could have made a run for the title - and it's really the lesser known schools that add the charm to the tournament - to systematically "dispose" of these players would really change the feel of the tourny. The whole idea of adding another game is driven by the idea that the small conferences don't deserve to be in the field - and sure, most do not do well - but some do exceedingly well - and the national exposure - even if only for 2 hours against Duke, it is great for the teams.

But, within all of this debate - the subject of the kids playing too much - or missing too much school - or the integrity of the venues - never comes into question (although, if it ever became a serious debate, I'm sure that the NIT would have some comments). Teams travel all over the US to play college basketball - during both the regular season and into the tournament - during the tournament they travel to "neutral" (okay, maybe not if you're a North Carolina school) sites to play in the different rounds.

Also, I never hear anyone say - oh the college basketball season is meaningless - because of the tournament - certainly you wouldn't suggest that the conference tournaments are insignificant - look at Georgia.

and, as a college football fan, I'm sure it's clear what I'm leading up to, it's inevitable that one's thoughts turn to thoughts of a Football Playoff. Why is it that every other sport gets to crown it's champion on the court/field/mat? Certainly there are subjective elements and unhappy non-parcipants - but at least it's the kids' play and coaches' determination that actually win the title.

Of course, I mean a "Bowl Championship Division" Football Playoff - because every other football division has a playoff.

College Basketball is an exciting sport - with great conferences, out of conference match-ups and tournaments. And the NCAA tournament just adds to the fun. I contend that, rather than discourage fans from watching regular season games, the tournament draws in viewers who would never really bother otherwise. It's a great showcase that exposes the nation to different schools and individual stories. Fans love the great plays, unique mascots, upsets and buzzer beaters - one game after another. Seriously, how would i have otherwise ever become a fan of the Western Kentucky Hill Toppers if I hadn't seen their little (big) red blob of a mascot running around the court?

It's a great time of year -

Terrelle Pryor commits to ohio state

- as I'm sure you've seen around the news - Terrelle Pryor announced that he will be attending the Ohio State University in the fall. Although TP kindled some hopes that he might attend PSU, as time wore on, and there was still no official visit to UP - and his comments about University Park and the surrounding areas, made it pretty clear that he would not be choosing the Lions.

So there you have it - the evil sweatervest has secured the top recruit in the country (which ever one) - and it's now time to focus on spring practice and, apparently, keeping the PSU kids out of trouble.

I'm not much for sour grapes (unless you use them to make vinegar), but I'll also have no trouble making "TP" jokes in the future.

Blue/White is less than a month away - and there's much to be done.

Pro Day goes Well for Connor and King

of course, it's all "hush hush" - but those who did speak about PSU's Pro Day seemed very optimistic.

According to the Collegian, Dan Connor said that his day/workout rated a "13" out of ten (that would be more, wouldn't it?) and Justin King said that he had "a very good day."

One pro scout said that Connor would probably be drafted in the middle of the first round and that King has a chance of going in the late first round, early second (yeah, you read that right).

Mike Tomlin (love him) was the only NFL coach in attendance - but he declined to speak with the press following the workout. Mike Tomlin should be our new coach - if we're judging by looks alone (which we might be).

Anthony Morelli and Austin Scott also worked out for the scouts - both, reportedly, were positive about their (respective) performances.

Should be interesting.


Photo source: Daily Collegian, by Ben Roth

Blue White 2008 - Tailgating Cards

A preview of the BW08 Tailgating card -

Front:


Map on back:

We are located west of the stadium near the pressbox and the carnival. Look for the checkered flag on our flagpole. Time: 0800 - ?

Blue White 2008 - Evite Info

Per the Tailgating Coordinator... (and Evite)


Location: Beaver Stadium
University Park, PA 16802 US
|
When: Saturday, April 19, 8:00AM



Spring is almost here! That means warmer weather, longer days and FOOTBALL!

The annual Blue vs White Scrimmage is 4-19-2008. The weekend's festivities will start on Thursday night.

On Saturday, you can find us on the pavement beneath the pressbox.

Please RSVP before 4-11-2008. Once you RVSP, please help out by signing up for food, beer, or both. See the http://dieseltailgate.no-ip.org/equipment.html size="4"> (copy and paste the link, or it won't work)

Feel free to bring guests, but please RVSP with their name if you are bringing guests.

To get your own Evite - email coach at 2thelion dot com

Let the Children's Laughter...

College Football Blogger Awards - Best Big Ten Blog

So, old Black Shoe Diaries carried away the College Football Blogger Awards trophy for Best Big Ten Blog, edging out newcomer, Black Heart Gold Pants (I have no idea if there was any edging or not; I just know that BHGP was the runner-up).

Great Job BSD.

But you'll have to work pretty diligently to upstage this acceptance speech - not saying it can't be done - but that guy's "a MAN!"(HT: Rocky Top Talk).

Blue White 2008 - Just checking in

Or not - hotel rooms, according to Expedia.com are pretty much booked up in State College for the weekend on April 18th - April 20th. There are, however, rooms available in nearby towns such as Milesburg, Lamar and Millroy.

If you contact the individual hotels (or their websites) you may be able to find a room. For example - per the Hilton Website - there's a room available at the Hampton Inn on College Ave - for $199 per night - but that info wasn't on the "travel search" sites.

As far as the tailgating goes, we've come up (well the Tailgating Coordinator came up) with a fun theme for the Blue White extravaganza - Southern home cooking.

So for our part (which, generally, is snacks and dessertts), I was thinking we'd make some (or all) of the following...

Mini tollhouse pies;
pecan pie bars;
pecan tassies (an individual pecan tart);
lemon bars;
peanut butter chocolate bars;
blueberry cobbler;
peach bread;
rice crispie treats;
turtle brownies;
mini cupcakes;
for starters - or for desserts -

mac n'cheese;
mini chicken fried steaks;
bacon wrapped crackers;
lil' smokies;
beer-cheese spread;
meat pies;
guacamole;
white bean dip;
cheddar cheese ball;
bay shrimp;
and more!