Southern Charm at its Best

Real nice, Texas:

Officials at Texas A&M have apologized for inappropriate and offensive comments about Penn State football coach Joe Paterno.

During an A&M pep rally Thursday at San Antonio's Riverwalk, one of the Aggies' yell leaders said Paterno is on his deathbed and somebody needs to find him a casket.

The comments drew boos from people from both schools attending the rally.

I didn't hear any of that, Paterno said at a Friday news conference. I think everybody's got to take things with a grain of salt. It's some young guy up there and he's trying to be funny. Maybe he's accurate, I don't know."

Paterno, who turned 81 years old last week, is in his 42nd season as the Nittany Lions coach.

The schools meet Saturday at San Antonio's 65,000-seat Alamo Bowl, which is sold out.
Copyright 2007 by United Press International