Your 2012 Penn State Nittany Lions!

Throwing you a bender because I just thought you should know...

There are two groups associated with Penn State that should no longer suffer. One is the victims of the despicable acts that happened and the other is the current Nittany Lion football players. While time, counseling and legal proceedings may do something to combat the situations of those molested, there is a solution for the current players that we can implement now.

Matthew McGloin

The ultimate monster, Jerry Sandusky, is long gone....and gone forever. He didn't recruit any current players and he won't coach any current players. When Penn State takes the field this fall, we have to remember that Sandusky will not.

Sean Stanley

They will not be coached by Joe Paterno either. He is gone, passed on in disgrace and even his statue has been removed. He is a justifiable target for your venom and disgust, no matter what level of involvement you believe he had. He will not call one play, nor make one pre-game pep talk for the 2012 Penn State football team. Remember that.

Gerald Hodges

Former players such as Franco Harris and Michael Robinson who defend Paterno and plan to appeal to the NCAA regarding the victories being vacated are also missing the big picture. They appear heartless in the eyes of us looking at this from the victim's standpoint. But they will not play for the 2012 Penn State football team.

Glenn Carson

Penn State obviously still has a Board of Trustees in place that views this tragedy as a corporate inconvenience. They are also planning to appeal the NCAA sanctions that the university president negotiated and promised not to appeal. We must remember and acknowledge the Board does not play for the 2012 Penn State football team.

Michael Mauti

While it makes sense that Jay and Scott Paterno live under the Paterno family bubble, they need to lay low and refrain from their insensitive public responses to the national reaction. Fortunately, they do not coach or play for the 2012 Penn State football team.

This team will take the field with players who chose to remain at Penn State. They will compete without Paterno, without Sandusky, without Penn State executives and Board members. They should be able to play without the stigma of being thought of as villains or pedophiles. They will have new uniforms, new coaches, a new outlook and a new attitude.

The new uniforms were necessary. For decades, the face of the program was purely Joe Paterno. His glasses, his pants, his statue, his control. While emphasizing that the team is bigger than any player by not having names on the jerseys, adding the names this season will show the nation who the players are that decided to stay. The blue ribbons on each jersey will show that these players remember. Both the names and ribbons will also let the viewing public know that these guys aren't THOSE guys and that must be remembered.

The current players will work and practice hard, play to win, and gesture constantly through their appearance and comments that they are aware.  All the real villains have been identified and called out, removed from the program in one way or another. None of them are involved in any manner with this team. The program is crippled, but alive. But the current players deserve their moment. They deserve their opportunity to play hard and represent the faction of Penn State that will work to right this horrible wrong. They need to be recognized for their place and effort now. They play for the 2012 Penn State football team and we need to remember that.

All this because I know more about nothing...

Rio de Janeiro, 2016 Olympics!!!

Throwing you a bender because I just thought you should know...

So now we all look forward to the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and the inclusion of golf and rugby which were previous Olympic sports. There seems to be quite a revolving door that exists for events and the International Olympic Committee is constantly examining current sports and evaluating potential new ones.

Bringing back golf for 2016 is fitting since the Olympic ideal of a lean, hard, Adonis-like individual with 6 pack abs at the height of his athletic condition will be represented by...Phil Mickelson?

It would seem easier for the IOC to bypass any evaluation procedure and just have some former sports and events return. This way, records would already exist that new competitors could challenge.

The IOC could start by reinstating the rope climbing event which was a part of the gymnastics program through 1932. Competitors started in a seated position and climbed to the top of a 46 foot rope (later shortened to 25 feet) using only their hands and arms while keeping their legs outstretched in an "L" position. In 1896, the first Olympiad, only two participants reached the top with Nikolaus Andriakopoulos taking the gold!

Since Rio de Janeiro is partly bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, the Olympics could return to having swimming events take place outdoors - really outdoors. In the early Olympiads, swimming took place in the natural waters including the Bay of Zea in Greece. Sharks and sting rays were the impetus for fast finishes, not endorsements and notoriety.

Speaking of swimming, how did the IOC discontinue Solo Synchronized Swimming in 1992? One lonely person with a strange smile and a nose clip floating in a pool perfectly synced with...

Croquet could also return from it's 116 year hiatus. NBC and local Rio ticket sellers could hype and promote it to the point where interest will reach a frenzy and generate more than one fan. Although France won all the croquet events in 1900, an Englishman had traveled from Nice especially for the competition and was the only spectator. In addition, this sport would provide all of the back yard, family gathering croquet champs a chance at displaying the old skills and realizing the dream of standing on the podium and receiving a medal.

At this point, I would have to say that the movement to have live pigeon shooting return to the Games should be rejected. The birds were released in front of the competitor and the winner was the one who shot down the most pigeons from the sky. Upon missing two birds, a participant was eliminated. Between the blood and feathers all over the place, the dead and injured birds on the ground, and over 300 pigeons being killed, this event was short lived. Leon De Lunden of Belgium and his 21 birds killed will probably remain as the Olympic record holder.

Which brings us around to the biggest addition to the track and field program, Tug-of-War. This was contested through 1920, was highly competitive, and even contained controversy that would fit perfectly in today's track and field landscape.

Countries sent several teams back then for the Tug-of-War events. Three different USA teams (Milwaukee Athletic Club, and two teams from St. Louis) captured the gold, silver, and bronze in 1904.

In 1908, Great Britain sent three teams comprised of bobbies - City of London Police, Liverpool Police, and Metropolitan Police. The London teams both had byes into the semi-finals, but the Liverpool team drew the USA team in order to qualify for the fourth semi-final spot. The United States team were behemoths, consisting of several hammer throwers and weightlifters. Incredibly though, the British squad used one quick mighty tug and pulled the Americans over the line. The Americans were so shocked, they immediately withdrew from the contest and any future matches.

The team from the USA then lodged a protest and claimed the Liverpool team had been unfairly prepared by wearing weighted, spiked shoes. The police group responded by saying they were only wearing standard issue police work boots. Although heavy and with a metal rim, they were deemed not to be unfairly weighted or containing any spikes. The Liverpool team was put through only to be stopped in the final, for the gold medal, by the London contingent. Afterwards, both London and Liverpool offered the Americans a tug in bare feet, but the offer was declined.

The Americans never recovered from the loss and that left Great Britain and Sweden as the tug-of-war powers up through the 1920 Olympics.

So let's save the IOC some time and push these sports back through for 2016. Welcoming back golf and rugby is fine, recalling these classics mentioned above would be even better. All the while giving the IOC more time to decide on corporate sponsorship and who should hand out medals.

All this because I know more about nothing...

Does the IOC Need A Fresh Breath of Air?

Throwing you a bender because I just thought you should know...

Maybe it is just me but it seems that the International Olympic Committee has gotten just a little too stuffy and full of themselves.

Being old enough to remember the Munich Games of 1972 and the tragedy that occurred with the murder of eleven athletes and coaches 40 years ago, it was completely appropriate in my mind to have a moment and acknowledge them at some point during the current Games. It could have been done during the Opening ceremonies, at some midway point through the Games during a singular and specific observance, or even during the Closing ceremony.

The IOC did not find it fitting to do so and offered a statement saying it was not in the spirit of the Opening ceremonies to have such a moment. Not in the spirit? Sixty seconds of silence for eleven murdered participants during a three hour extravaganza would dampen the Olympic spirit? I believe such a moment may raise the spirit even higher allowing all those involved to remember that this is a sportsmanship event that is intended to rise above politics and any disputes or wars between countries.

Now we have eight Olympic badminton players being disqualified for not trying hard enough and tanking matches. The eight players had already qualified for the elimination round when they stopped trying to win. The theory is that the players tried to lose in order to set up an easier match in the next round. So now the Badminton World Federation and IOC must get involved. How does this turn out? The players who tanked the matches are disqualified from the Games and disgraced. The players who thought they won honestly feel humiliated and mad. Fans who bought tickets are not being offered a refund because the IOC has stated there were other legitimate matches to watch. However, they are offering free tickets to the cycling!

My real question is how can the IOC be so shocked and display outrage at this happening? After all, when it set up a format in a competition that rewards players for losing, how could they have ever predicted that players would try to get rewarded for losing? Stunning!

Finally, we also witness Michael Phelps becoming the greatest medal winning Olympian of all time. In doing so, he passed Russian gymnast Larisa Latynina, considered to be the sport’s first female superstar. Latynina won 18 medals for the Soviet Union from 1956 to 1964, winning her final medal at age 29!

Possessing the spirit of a true Olympian, Latynina was willing and eager to pass her "most medal" title to Phelps in a personal way — by presenting Phelps his gold medal for the relay at the ceremony.

Olympic regulations forbade her act of generosity.

The IOC, of course, can  make exceptions and rulings on everything under the Olympic umbrella. So here we have history made in the Olympic Aquatics Centre and yet the International Olympic Committee missed out on the chance to make more history. For some reason (one statement from the IOC claimed they would have to make these exceptions for everyone) the IOC refused to create a special moment and allow the previous record holder to present Phelps with his historic medal.

This was not just another medal and another world record for some event.  This was the passing of a lifetime achievement that had stood for nearly five decades. In addition, this was a chance for two athletes from completely different disciplines to unite. A chance for athletes from two countries vastly different with a history of being rivals to meet and share a moment. It was a chance for the goodwill and sportsmanship  associated with the Olympics to be captured forever as one athlete be allowed to go forward on her own idea and reward another athlete for a monumental accomplishment.

Yet the IOC, who will probably not have any current members live long enough to see such an occurrence again, gave a basketball administrator the responsibility of giving a medal to the greatest-ever Olympian.

Can we look forward to Rio in 2016 with a new outlook from this committee...please?

All this because I know more about nothing...