The best quote of all time in my opinion can be tied to recruiting. Former Oklahoma Sooner coach Barry Switzer once said. “It’s not about the X’s and the O’s, it’s about the Jimmy’s and the Joe’s. Essentially meaning, I don’t have to be as good of a coach if I have superior talent.

Signing day is over. Now it is time for the chat rooms from all the schools from Oregon to Miami to gripe about the guys that got away (and for Bret Bielema to complain that Urban Meyer is poaching players) , and laud the praises for the recruits that were landed.

Too much time and attention is given by the media, the fans, and the message boards about recruiting classes. Grades are arbitrary. They are handed out based on film, a few people’s opinions, and some tangible measurements such as height, weight, “reported” speed and the like.

5 Star Treatment

Recruits are given a “star” rating by recruiting services. The two most respected are Rivals and Scouts. Both of these services came into prominence for rating football recruits around 2002. Prior to that there were a myriad of services, including a “straw poll” vote from the coaches so to speak. So before 2002 it is tougher to put an exact rating While these for some part are a shot in the dark, it is still likely the best thing out there in helping to determine the viability and talent of the athletes that are being brought into a program.

But it is far from an exact science. Let’s look at the facts from 2011 as an example:

• 47 College Football players at the Division 1 Level were named to one or more of the various “All-American” teams.
• Of those 47 players – 7 were 5 star rated by the recruiting services.
• 18 of the 47 were players that were rated 3 star or lower on the 5 star system

So this would appear on the surface that chasing the “4-star” player lands yours best odds (it is almost half of the total All Americans this year) but what this is really saying is that recruiting is still a crap shoot.

Which Came First?

Often times the more big name schools that get interested in a player, the higher the perceived rating will go as now suddenly there is the logic that “This guy must be good if Alabama, USC, Ohio State, LSU, and Oregon are after him” where if the same player is being chased by schools perceived as not as strong in the football arena they are not likely to get as many stars. You won’t see a 5 star guy being chased by just schools like Toledo, Iowa State and Idaho.

So it begs the question. Does the rating given to an athlete dictate which schools are chasing a player – - or does the schools that are interested in a particular player dictate their “star” rating?

Kind of like asking which came first the chicken or the egg?

What Do The Experts Know?

I recently read an older article on SI.COM ranking the top 15 recruiting classes of all time. As you scroll through the list a number of them won’t surprise you on the surface. The reason they are on this list of the top 15 recruiting classes of all time is that the teams were exceptionally talented and ending up having tremendous success.

While it is now a 2 year old article it points out some interesting teams that had success.

More interesting is that the 1992 class for Nebraska – which is mentioned as basically the top “modern era” football recruiting class of all time was not viewed very highly at all during the time it originally took place. In 1992 the various recruiting services at the time had the Nebraska class as high as 5th best in college that year to a low of 18th best recruiting class. You would think to finish 2nd on an ALL TIME list you would have been a slam dunk #1 ranked recruiting class in 1992.

The recruiting classes in the two year both before and after 1992 were ranked even lower. Nebraska won National Championships in 1994, 1995,and 1997.

Many players that are recruited never pan out. Some get hurt, some don’t adjust to college life well, some are as good as they are ever going to be the day they step on campus, some get in trouble, some can’t make grades.

Just as many are unheralded people that mature and develop well once they enter college, get good coaching and get stronger and faster and more confident.

Recruiting is definitely an inexact science. In the winter months it is yet another thing that keeps us focusing on football….at least until Spring practices begin.

Until next time, stay classy Cibolo, Texas

He lay prone on the ridge above the canyon. He watched as the object of his attention came into view. Muriel was as beautiful as the day he had first seen her. That first day, too, he had watched her from afar. She had laughed melodiously as she chatted with friends. And then the inevitable had happened – the boyfriend had shown up.

The boy’s name was Chet, he had later found out. Chet and Muriel were high school sweethearts, and had remained close through college. They moved away from home, taking new jobs out of state. And this was how Philip had come to see them in the apartment building. After he caught his first glimpse of Muriel, he was in love. He would have to convince Muriel that he, Philip, was her true love – or else.

And, so, on this warm day in June, Philip found himself lying in dew kissed grass, waiting for Muriel to enter the clearing and give him a clear shot.

Philip had needed to go to a friend to get what he had needed for this outing. “This should definitely have the range you need,” his friend had assured him. “You could probably get a squirrel from a mile away with this.”

Philip hefted it as he waited for Muriel. As she closed the distance to the clearing, he picked her up in the scope. He trained the crosshairs on her as she moved between rock formations. The formations gave her ample cover, making a clean shot from this angle impossible.

His mind wandered as he waited for Muriel. In his mind’s eye, he could see himself waking up in the morning and gazing at her sleeping form next to him in a comfortable king size bed. He imagined exploring every curve of her body in the dim light of the rising sun.

Philip realized that he was daydreaming and returned his attention to the figure down in the canyon. Muriel had not only entered the clearing, but was nearly to the other side. If he was going to get off a good shot, he needed to take it now.

Philip focused on the figure of Muriel below. He waited for her to cease movement, and then took his shot.

He cursed as Muriel stooped to pick a wildflower, ducking below the spot where he had aimed. It was a momentary setback. When Muriel stood upright again, Philip took another shot. His aim was true, but Philip took three more shots in rapid succession, just in case the first shot had failed to do the job.

Philip stood upright and shook the dirt from his clothes. He removed the expensive lens from the camera and extracted the memory card. By the time Muriel had returned to the ridge, her husband had already uploaded the stunning morning photos to their web site.

Obama was recently spotted at a Riviera Beach, Florida McDonald’s. This happened on January 29th, 2012 just after 6:00 am. Barack Obama was seen walking into McDonalds with a chromed semiautomatic handgun displayed. He ordered the employees into an office and ordered them to open the safe. Obama left the restaurant after ordering everyone to stay in the office or he’d kill them. Obama left on foot with nearly $1,000. While this story is true, I left out one detail. The armed robber was actually wearing an Obama mask.

When I read this story I had to laugh just a little at the irony here. It made me wonder if the robber is just a dirt bag thief or was trying to send a message to the American people. I really just chalked him/her up as an idiot thief (because I can’t stand thieves and untrustworthy people). When Kosmo reminded me that I had an article coming up though, I thought about the flip side to that story. What if the thief really was trying to speak to us without words? What would his/her message be?

I believe the message would be one of fiscal nature since the person was stealing money. Obama is also trying to steal our money. Not for his personal financial gain (or is he?) but for the tax coffers of the US Government. Obama is said by some to be a socialist and that really seems true. Build a large government, give the government your money and let the government spend it how it determines best. Remember the Joe the Plumber “event” where the phrase “Spread the wealth around” was coined? That is socialism at its core and in my opinion is nothing short of theft.

I’ve written in the past about Obamacare and what that will do to our taxes. The CBO has told us that the estimates provided don’t make sense; they won’t cover costs and hat it will need to be bailed out by the US People. How does that happen? Taxes need to increase. There probably has been be a time when the government had an excess and they could find that money elsewhere, but that time is NOT now. Charlie Gibson is clearly a liberal reporter and even he understands the issues with this. Why Obama continues to push liberal agendas and tax increases is beyond me. I once had someone tell me that they thought it would be great if everyone would give 100% of their paycheck to the government and then they could let the government provide for them. I have never heard such non-sense and I still don’t understand that thinking today. I don’t understand why anyone would work harder than others, innovate, create, put in long hours and weekends, etc. if they were just going to give all their money to the government. If any of the readers understand this, please explain it to me.

Election News

Romney just won big in Florida taking their 50 votes. We still see Ron Paul and Rick Santorum still going through the motions and trying to win…something. I understand why Newt is still in it, because he may have a chance. Ron Paul and Santorum though…the time has come to hang it up. They stand no chance. I realize that there have only been four “primaries” (quotes due to some being caucuses) but the results and the polls are clear. I would however be interested in knowing if anyone has ever recovered from a similar situation. I suspect that Santorum and Ron Paul will hang on until Super Tuesday (March 6th this year) and then reconsider if their positions haven’t changed. Newt has already indicated that he’s in this for the long haul so we can expect that battle to drag out for quite a while.

True conservatism seems dead.

Squeaky…

And you better do the right thing.  I know where you live.  Once you come out of your hole, you aren’t going back in.

How can I be so certain?  One word.

Quikrete.

Lots of Quikrete in your hole as soon as you take two steps outside.  You might as well enjoy the sunshine, because you can’t go home again, you little rat.  Not unless bust out the concrete with a jackhammer.

I want my spring, Phil, and I want it now.  If you dare to sic more winter on me, we’ll be having groundhog-ka-bobs for dinner tonight.

An action packed week of sports as we are in the week leading up to the Super Bowl. The Giants and the Patriots are in Indianapolis where the main story still seems to be the future of Peyton Manning. Sadly this has overshadowed the Super Bowl in terms of media coverage. However, we are all in luck, today is Super Bowl Media day. Media day is the biggest train wreck of any media coverage in any sport at any venue. This might be pure marketing genius by the NFL as it is the closest thing to reality TV morphing with sports.

This year the NFL has handed out a little over 2000 press credentials as well as sold tickets to fans that want to come and watch the three ring circus.

In addition to what I would consider “legitimate” media from the networks, the sports channels, magazines etc., there will be folks there from late night talk shows, the entertainment industry, guys in dresses and people in costumes. You may even see a sasquatch or Batman.

I would say it is safe to surmise that the sportswriters and reporters resent the fact that this thing has turned more into an “event” than a true media setting.

Would love to see what the green jackets at Augusta would do if this happened at the Masters….

Super Bowl Wagering

No one expected the Giants to be here. Certainly not the Las Vegas sports books.

The Giants were as high as 250 to 1 on odds to win the Super Bowl this year after their four game slide. Even as they entered the playoffs they were still as high as 80 to 1 to win it all. There are a lot of casinos standing to lose a lot of money if the Giants win this game.

The other side of betting that is always interesting is the variety of proposition bets that take place for the Super Bowl. These are not wagers available on just any football game. You can bet on items such as who wins the coin toss, the first player to score, which team will score first, the number of catches, passing yards, penalties…..just about anything you can imagine.

There are also a bunch of wagers you would never imagine! The Color of Madonna’s hair at the halftime show, the length of the National Anthem sang by Kelly Clarkson, – even what color Gatorade the winning coach will be doused with. Vegas has way more action on these bets than they do on people just wagering on the game. The fun part is that ANYONE watching the game can place these bets and play along, there is really not much skill in most of these wagers and the luck factor is pretty high.

Ok, the Actual game itself

This game does not seem to be as hyped as in prior years. Maybe because the front running Packers were ousted early in the playoffs after going 15-1 during the regular season.
The New York Giants are arguably the hottest team right now, beating opponents who had a better regular season record in each of their three previous playoff games. The Patriots have quite possibly the worst statistical defense of a team to ever make the Super Bowl. They do however have 3 time winner in QB Tom Brady. The Giants have the hottest trio of young receivers in the league, a vaunted pass rush, and a solid running game, but a much worse record and are a big underdog.

The Patriots three losses this year came at the hands of teams with Top Tier Quarterbacks. They lost to the Steelers and Ben Roethlisberger, they lost earlier in the year to the Giants and Eli Manning, and they lost to the Bills and Ryan Fitzpatrick when he was on an early season heater (ok, ok…two of the Quarterbacks are elite) Not sure I like the Giants to win, but I do like them to keep it close.

Now pass the little smokies and chips and salsa. I am looking forward to a great game this weekend.

Until Next Time, Stay Classy Indianapolis!
 

The NFL Pro Bowl

My annual rant on the NFL Pro Bowl.  It is supposed to be a show case of the best players in the NFL.  Since the league has move the Pro Bowl to the week between the conference championships and the Super Bowl, we do not actually get that show case.  The selected players from the two Super Bowl teams opt out of the Pro Bowl for obvious reasons (practicing for the Super Bowl, avoiding possible injury, losing focus, etc).  Although I am not a New England Patriots or New York Giants fan, I would like to see all of the best players, not just the ones who have nothing else to do.  I will give credit to the league for moving the game back to Hawaii.  This is supposed to be a reward for greatness.  Having the game in the Super Bowl city in the week leading up to the Super Bowl is almost rubbing in the fact that these players are not playing in the really big game.

Productive Activities

As I have written before, I have taken up crochet again.  It has been a productive year already.  I have finished two single bed blankets, one for each of my college age children, and a shawl (see photo) that I will be donating to a local elderly care center (this is part of a church group activity where I am younger than all of the other members by at least 20 years).  I am currently working on another blanket, this one for my niece.  I have found that this hobby is cheaper than most of my other entertainment options such as going to movies and it results in something others can use.

Motion Pictures

Since I mentioned movies as entertainment, I have to comment that “The Iron Lady” is a great movie.  It is not the typical Hollywood production, so some people do not like it.  The story is compelling even if you did not live through the events as I have.  The acting is also very good.  I plan on going to see both “Red Tails” and “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy”.

Writing

You would think that with my refocus on more productive use of my time, that I would be more productive in my writing attempts.  Sadly that is not the case.  My writing has languished since before Christmas, except the short story that I published last week.  I certainly hope that the rest of you are progressing in your writing.
 

 

When one thinks of religious artists, Andy Warhol is usually not the first name to come to mind. Best known for his Factory-created silkscreens of Hollywood stars like Marilyn Monroe and Liza Minnelli and iconic American commodities like Coca-Cola and Campbell’s Soup, Warhol’s work seems about as far from devotional as one could imagine. Many people, even art historians (myself included) are surprised when they discover that Andy Warhol was a devout, lifelong practicing Catholic.

pierogis and potatoes

The shy, awkward,  and sickly son of working class Czech immigrants Andrej and Julia Warhola, Andy Warhol (he self-consciously dropped the “a” at a young age) spent much of his childhood at home with his mother while Andrej struggled to find work during the Depression. Like many immigrant families, the Warholas tried to preserve many familiar things from their life in Czechoslovakia: potatoes, pierogis, and their Eastern Byzantine Rite Catholic beliefs.

In Pittsburgh, the Warhol boys (Paul, John, and Andy) attended Ruthenian Catholic mass at St. John Chrysostom Church, a congregation comprised largely of Eastern European immigrants like themselves. Julia Warhola, a folk artist who would go on to help her son with many of his artworks, would often draw religious pictures for her children, and the family house featured religious icons in every room.  Young Andy even made a seventeen-inch plaster of Paris religious shrine that he kept in his bedroom.

bright lights, big city

When Andy left his Carpatho-Rusyn neighborhood in Pittsburgh for New York City in 1949, one might assume that he would leave his Byzantine religious beliefs there as well.  After graduating from the School of Fine Arts at the Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University), Warhol was eager to enter the New York art scene, and his brother John stated that he was shy about revealing his religious beliefs in New York.

However, shyness or no shyness, Warhol attended mass in New York every week for the rest of his life. When his mother followed him to New York in 1951, they would attend services together until her death in 1972.

In his published diaries (dictated to Pat Hackett during the 1970s and ‘80s), Warhol’s devotion to Catholicism is constantly in evidence. Nearly every Sunday entry begins with, “Got up and went to church.”  In other entries, Warhol talks about getting a crucifix to hang in the Factory, going to church on Palm Sunday to gather the palms, and collecting holy water in a peanut jar to cleanse his apartment.   Warhol’s faith was combined with a deep sense of Catholic social obligation, and he often volunteered at soup kitchens.

finding God in Marilyn

Religion does make an appearance in Warhol’s artwork, both overtly and covertly. Especially in his later years, Warhol appropriates the great religious masterpieces of the Renaissance like Raphael’s Sistine Madonna (ca. 1513-14) and Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper (1495-98).

Andy Warhol, Raphael Madonna-$6.99, 1985. 

Andy Warhol, The Last Supper, 1986.

The works that Warhol appropriates – Raphael’s and Leonardo’s- are celebrities of the art world in the same way that Marilyn Monroe and Campbell’s soup were celebrities of their various spheres (Hollywood and the American supermarket shelf, respectively). Warhol utilized images that were immediately recognizable and had been so massively reproduced that their original devotional meanings had been all but lost. Works such as these (and there are a whole slew of The Last Supper-inspired works by Warhol, including some involving a black light) involving famous religious scenes, make the viewer question whether Warhol is tipping his hat to his religious beliefs, mocking now-meaningless icons with further commoditization, or (and this is my belief), a complex, very Warholian combination of the two.

Overtly religious subject matter isn’t the only way in which Warhol’s religion intertwines itself with his artwork. Consider his famous Marilyn Diptych from 1962

And compare its form to

Byzantine Madonna and Christ Diptych

The diptych is an ancient form of two flat sides connected in the center, best known for its religious uses.  In Byzantine Catholicism (the Ruthenian church attended by Warhol falls under the umbrella of the Eastern Catholic Church), religious icons like the Madonna and Christ are often depicted in diptych forms, which folded for travel and allowed people to carry devotional objects with ease. Many Warhol pieces involve different panels; the Marilyn Diptych is perhaps the most famous and best example of Warhol’s appropriation of a well-known religious form.

The world-famous artist, painter of celebrities, and society oddball still clung to the comforts instilled in him in working class Pittsburgh. Warhol’s religious beliefs, although kept fiercely private by the artist himself, were a major part of his life and his art.

Boy, what a difference a month makes. Going into Iowa we were not quite certain how things were going to go. Would Ron “I know I am not going to get the nomination” Paul’s organization and ground game carry him to a victory? Would Mitt “I am the .006%!” Romney be able to surprise with a win in conservative Iowa? Would Newt “Searching for my fourth wife” Gingrich be able to matter again? Or would the late surge by Rick “I want to ban all forms of contraceptive” Santorum’s late surge help im succeed in Iowa. I would include talk about the others still in the race at the time, but Bachmann, Perry and Huntsman were not going to matter going in anyways and they are all out a month later, so who cares.

Anyways, At the end of a long night it was determined that good ole Mittens got the “victory” by a mere eight votes. If only the 50 or so people that voted for Herman Cain no longer in the race had chosen Santorum instead, Romney would have taken the loss. Oh well. The race then rolled into New Hampshire with a yawn and Romney took an easy victory in a pretty much give in for him audience wise. So after two contests Romney took was eyeying the knockout punch in South Carolina.

We headed into the south and suddenly just as it seemed Santorum was fading away in support despite being the new chosen one of the religious right he got a “boost” by Iowa declaring that it was he and not Romn-bot that had won there. Nevermind that the delegates are not really locked into voting that way right now anyways and that there were some missing votes, but hey they are Republicans when have they cared if an election result looked fishy? Romney was on the defense now. Once up 2-0 in the contests so far he was suddenly 1-1 and a big chance he would drop another in the Palmetto State. With Newt pushing all the right buttons of the conservative southerner he came out and handed Mittens a resounding defeat that he was not expecting. So after the first three contests we went from a non incumbent candidate winning the first two races for the first time in history, to a different candidate winning all three first contests for the first time in history.

Florida on the horizon

As the race heads into Florida it has come to a four man race, but by the debate Monday night it is clearly really only a two person race at this point. Santorum is going to be getting the votes he is right now, but will stick around I am sure just in case Newt does his usual and messes up somewhere along the line so he can take the nomination since it is clear that the electorate does not want Romney and now that the field is thinning numbers wise it can become crystal clear. Paul will be there as well and likely picks up some more delegates in those caucus states his movement and ground game can capitalize on, but just as it was going into Iowa it was clear as day he was not going to be nominated, heck he can’t even imagine what it would be like for him to be President. So you have Newt vs. Romney, The serial adulterer versus The unemployed guy who made $45 million over the last two years and paid around 14% in taxes.

I am looking forward to tonight’s debate in Florida.  While I enjoy debates on NBC that try to have the audience act respectful and professional, I really enjoying when it is on CNN and the moderators allow the candidates to interact with the Republican crowd – with the crowd egging them on and the candidates showing the American people the exact message they stand for. The list is getting long and I am sure it is just going to continue to grow. We will see how it goes going into Tuesday, but right now I put Newt as the favorite to take all of Florida’s reduced number of delegates in the first winner take all contest and send Romney’s candidacy into a tailspin.

The day after the last debate we had the State of the Union address. It was a good speech, had some specifics, while I am optomistic after the speech I’ll still wait and see if anything gets done by a Congress bent on not doing anything that could benifit his status. They did vote unanimously today on a border control issue proposed by departing Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, but I do not see anything like that happening on any issue going forth.

Speaking of Giffords departure, it was a quite touching moment, but all I could think was how she is leaving the house with admiration and good will, but the current front leader of the GOP race left there in disgrace. Dammit there I go agreeing with Mittens, oh well that won’t happen on many things, so I guess I am all good.

Bad Nut of the Month

I’ll leave you this month as the race for the person to lose to Obama in November marches on with a very current Bad Nut of the Month. On his trip to Arizona today President Obama was met by Gov. Jan Brewer who invited him to meet with her. He responded by saying that would be fine, but she could depict the meeting accurately this time around.

Brewer evidently took great offense to this as it can be seen that she started to argue and lecture the President, getting in his face and wagging her finger in front of it. While it is kind of trivial on its surface it does represent a greater issue of Brewer and the Republican base in general have no respect at all for this President as a person or the office he holds. And for that, Gov. Jan Brewer you are January 2012′s Bat Nut of the Month!

The reason for Romney’s rate

The reason why Romney pays a far lower rate than Gingrich isn’t due to some strange loophole that Romney pays his lawyers to exploit.  It’s simply due to the fact that capital gains are treated differently than ordinary income.  While tax rates on ordinary income (wages, interest, etc) range from 5% to 35%, capital gains are taxed at 15% (although taxpayers in the 5% and 10% brackets pay their ordinary rate on capital gains).

This means that if I have a $1000 capital gain and Mitt Romney has a $1000 capital gain, we will both pay taxes of $150 on that income.

Mitt’s income is nearly all derived from investments.  He doesn’t have a wage-earning job.  While he does make a few bucks from book royalties, it pales in comparison to his investment earnings.  Throw in some deductible charitable contributions, and Romney is able to chisel the 15% rate down to 13.9% without much work.

Why are capital gains taxed at a lower rate?

The basic idea behind a lower rate for capital gains is that this will encourage people to invest in capital assets (ownership of companies) instead of keeping their money in a mattress or a passbook savings account.  There’s more risk in doing this, of course, so one way to balance the risk/reward is to allow profits to be taxed at a lower rate.

Is the capital gains rate too low?

In my opinion, yes.  It seems absurd that a $500 capital gain and a $5 million capital gain would be taxed at the same rate, when $500 or ordinary income and $5 million of ordinary income would be taxed at different rates.

Do I think that capital gains should be taxed at the same rate as ordinary income?  No.  I do believe that there’s is value in encouraging investors to put their money into equities.  It clearly is a riskier proposition, and I’m OK with a lower capital gains rate being a reward for taking that risk.

My suggestion would be to make the capital gains rate 2/3 of the rate for ordinary income.  Under this plan, the capital gains rate would be 7% for those in the 10% tax bracket and would top out at 23.45% for those in the 35% tax bracket.  Mitt Romney would still pay a lower effective rate that Newt Gingrich or Alex Rodriguez, but would pay far more than he does today.

What’s an effective rate?

As a last bit of explanation, let’s look at the difference between a marginal rate and effective rate.  You might be in the 25% tax bracket.  This doesn’t mean that you pay a 25% tax rate on all your earnings.  Tax rates on ordinary income are marginal.  If you are single and make $50,000 (this would be in the 25% bracket), you would pay 10% on the first $8500 of taxable income , 15% for the amount between $8500 and $34500, and 25% on the amount that exceeds $33950.  That would be a total tax of $8625 on $50,000 of taxable income – or 17.25%.

The second point is that there is a big difference between your gross earnings and taxable income.  You’ll reduce gross income by the exemptions for yourself, spouse, and children, and well as a variety of deductions (mortgage interest, property taxes, charitable contributions, etc), and credits (earned income credit, child tax credit, etc).

effective rate is often calculated against gross income (AGI), his effective rate drops to $12.5%. 

A married couple with two dependent children who have an AGI of $50,000 and take only the standard deduction and personal exemptions (no itemized deductions or credits) will pay $2690 in federal taxes … an effective rate of 5.4%.  This is achieved by excluding a total of $26400 via the $11,600 standard deduction for married filing jointly and $14,800 in personal exemptions (four exemptions @ $3700 each), dropping the couple’s taxable income down to $23,600.

As usual when any public sports figure passes, there has been the chance to get a comment from any and all former players, fellow coaches, other members of the sporting world. I think in many cases these comments are very sincere, very thought out, and very supportive toward the family. After all, Paterno held the longest tenure of any coach in any sport. He has touched many folks in his time at the helm of the Nittany Lions. Unfortunately, many of these comments from sports figures, announcers and others seem to be more out of necessity than heartfelt. In our media age of 24 hour sports programming networks, Twitter and the like, you are often criticized as much for what you don’t say – - in times when it is felt you SHOULD say something.

It will be an interesting period at Penn State. A new coach, the Sandusky trial proceedings, and now dealing with the death of the biggest icon of this proud University.

A lot of talk is happening right now about what is the proper way to honor Joe Paterno. What is “appropriate” given the recent developments and his perceived role or lack thereof in them? Many are bitter with how the media has handled everything in Happy Valley as of late. Many criticize the former coach. Many support him. Many are still searching for how they truly feel.

The flip side of a celebrity passing is that people try and cash in. It is likely that various books written now about Paterno and the “scandal” . Online mega-giant Ebay shows a that 3500+ items are listed when searching JOE PATERNO in the search field. It never surprises me the amount of vultures that want to cash in upon the death of someone famous. Unfortunately people are always looking to make a quick buck. It is the times that we live in.

I am sure the University and the people associated with Penn State will make appropriate decisions in the upcoming days, weeks and months after his death in terms of how to best remember Joe Paterno. I am sure that some of his legacy will forever be tarnished given the scope and nature of the allegations that have happened during his watch. I am sure he will not be forgotten.

Until next time…Stay Classy Brooklyn, New York