Paterno: just chill out

I'm starting to wonder if Joe Paterno himself was snuck out the window of 4103 Nittany Apartments the night of the Blue White Game. At the "Evening with Joe Paterno" event in Arlington this Tuesday, Paterno was quoted as saying this about the recent drug bust at some of his players' apartment. (Note: None of the players were present at the apartment, and we now know they are in no legal trouble)

"That's been blown way out of proportion," Paterno said at a function with more than 400 Penn State alumni and boosters in the Washington, D.C., area. "It's a party, and my guys horsing around with marijuana? You know, we test them all the time. And the four kids who were renting the apartment were not in the apartment when the police got in there."

Is Paterno completely justified in saying that? Certainly. But is it downright shocking that he's been so level headed about the whole incident so far? A bit.

We're used to the "You damn kids!" version of Paterno of old. However, more recently, he's been holding less of a hair trigger. I'm not trying to fish for something that isn't there. But I just think it's important to note that Paterno still has complete control over what goes on with his team, and his handling of the last two incidents (this, and Navorro Bowman*) in this way, shows an element of pragmatism that seems to be lost in modern college football.

*It's also important to note that Paterno said he planned a meeting today with Bowman. Hopefully we hear some decent news out of that. I personally don't think Paterno would have a "meeting" with Bowman if he was just going to kick him off the team. Looks like a good 'ole suspension is in order. Could have been worse.

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Weed raid update

Looks like things aren't as hot as we thought they were. According to sources, Daryll Clark is not currently living in the apartment; he did last semester. Also, another individual, supposedly not on the team, has come forward to claim ownership of the weed. I'm not going to jump to conclusions as quickly as I did when this story broke. However, I'm very hopeful, if not optimistic that this was all just blown out of proportion from the get-go (by blogs like this one), and things will simmer down quickly.

But that doesn't help the matter that Penn State football players were within 100 feet of mary-jane. We've been calling for leadership on this team for four years. Where is it now? Clark, Lee, and the other seniors need to get mad and start cracking skulls. If not, at least Lee can lay a few good hits on these guys in practice.

I'll try to keep on this, as I don't want to give any more false impressions.

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Ok, now I'm getting pissed off

These guys just refuse to learn. Penn State football players seem to be more fond of weed than their playing time, or even scholarship status.

"Penn State University police searched the apartment where four football players reside on campus the night of the spring Blue/White game April 25, court papers say.

According to an application for a search warrant, police wrote that around 11:10 April 25, university police responded to apartment 4103 in the Nittany Apartments complex on campus to assist residence life with dispersing a loud party.

As soon as they entered the apartment, police say they could see marijuana "in plain view" in the kitchen and smell it throughout the apartment."

Worst part about it? It's Daryll Clark's apartment.

This is really starting to piss me off.

(UPDATE: From NWO, "according to the Scout.com Premium Boards someone has come forward and claimed possession of the marijuana. If Scout.com is correct, that person is not a Penn State player, and Daryll Clark was not involved. We can only pray that they are correct.")

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Not worth the paper you roll with

Great. So now that Navorro Bowman decided to go smoke up, drive over the speed limit, and completely ignore mandatory community service hours, we can count him out for at least the first couple of games. Will he play this season? Of course he will. Does he risk being kicked out? I strongly doubt it.

However, this still sucks royal ass right now. The team was doing so well, but has to deal with this crap. I'm still not very worried about Bowman's status with the team. What I am worried about, is if he has another great season, then figures he can smoke up much easier in the NFL. That's right, folks, Bowman's a JUNIOR. Meaning: He can declare after this season.

So as of this post, it's good bye Bowman! Good luck in the 2010 NFL Draft.

*Have something to say about this post? Let your voice be heard, in the ZN Message Forum!

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Evans and Koroma return

Both Rivals.com and Scout.com are reporting today that Penn State's All-American Defensive End Maurice Evans, and one-time starter at defensive tackle Abe Koroma returned to practice Monday. This is fantastic news for Penn State's beleaguered defensive line. From Scout.com:

"Yeah, both Mo and Abe were back today," one observer said. "Who knows how much action they'll see this week [against Illinois]? Depends on the shape they are in and how the coaches — or at least one coach — feels about it."

From Rivals.com:

"Two separate sources confirmed with Blue White Illustrated on Monday evening that both Evans and Koroma returned to practice on Monday, and were running with the second team."

Second team, huh? Looks like these guys aren't so far into Joe Paterno's dog house as we thought. Usually, suspended players get thrown to the foreign team, and forced to work their way back. I'm guessing this is due to the fact that this was Evans' and Koroma's first offense for anything. Now the trick is for EVERYONE to stay out of trouble. Illinois is in for a world of hurt now.

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Evans and Koroma: Early Reactions

Well, the message boards are exploding since Maurice Evans and Abe Koroma were charged with misdemeanor pot possession today, and the bloggers are slowly--myself included--getting their posts out. Mike over at Black Shoe Diaries, and Adam Rittenberg at ESPN have some of their initial thoughts up, but like the rest of us, are reserving judgment until the real decision gets made--Joe Paterno's punishments. This has the potential to fizzle by the Illinois game, or explode like an atom bomb. Penn State's defensive line has been skating on thin ice, and now with the injuries mounting, the attrition is reaching critical mass. I happen to agree with what others are leaning to, that Paterno won't go so hard on Maurice Evans and Abe Koroma. But right now, it's a wait-and-see game.

Mike at BSD voices basically what every PSU fans is asking themselves right now.

"The big question now is, what will be the fallout? It's just a misdemeanor, so the legal fallout should be a few hundred dollars in fines and community service. Judicial affairs may step in, but for something this minor for first time offenders I would think a slap on the wrist is in order. Maybe attend a class on substance abuse and put them on probation for a year. But what we really care about is how Joe Paterno will react. Will he sit them a few more weeks or the rest of the semester to show he means business in the face of the ESPN headlines sure to be scrolling across the ticker in time for Sportscenter tonight? Or will he sit them this week and bring them back in time for Illinois and consider it time served?"

I would be very surprised if this is dealt with in the same manner as Phil Taylor and Chris Baker. Those guys got into a lot more trouble over the last 18 months. Oh yeah, and they hurt people! Let's hope Joe Paterno takes his time with this one, and makes a fair, prudent decision.

Adam Rittenberg is more credible than half the ESPN editorial staff combined, and gives a pretty straight forward assessment of the situation.

"After all the off-field problems at Penn State, this was an unbelievably dumb thing to do by both Evans and Koroma. They should remain suspended for a while longer. Dismissing them from the team seemingly goes too far, especially when similar transgressions merit one- or two-game suspensions at other schools.

But it's up to Paterno, who has taken his share of heat for the rash of disciplinary problems. He might want to come down hard, as he did with Baker and Taylor. My prediction: They'll be back on the field when Penn State visits Wisconsin on Oct. 11."

Earlier today, Rittenberg gave a somewhat scary--for PSU fans--rundown of the defensive line problems as a whole.

This is some scary stuff right now.

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Evans, Koroma and Quarless out this week

Yes, Joe's suspended Maurice Evans, Abe Koroma and Andrew Quarless this week. Lord only knows how much of this will effect the team the rest of the season. Of course, I heard about it on ESPN, so I'm sure Brad Nessler & Co. will talk more about this than the actual game. I'm sure Quarless will be gone for good after this one...

I still don't think Joe's lost the team. I just think these players are half-retarted.

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UPDATE :: Weed found in 5204

Yes, marijuana was found in the apartment--which will forever be known as just '5204'--where Evans, Koroma, Wallace live and, newly discovered, Andrew Quarless hung out last night. I'm not so sure this will be as bad as we all thought. I know it's weed, but there's a lot of questions going around right now, which the police don't have answers to, yet.

"Drug law charges will be filed soon, Moerschbacher said, adding police could not specifically say who might be charged in connection with the incident. He said police are still investigating to determine who had possession of the marijuana... Exactly what charges will be filed is hard to say at this point, Moerschbacher said... Evans, Wallace, Quarless and Koroma have not been charged with any crime, Moerschbacher said."

Who had the weed? Well, it seems like this kid did:

"When police arrived at the residence, an officer spoke with Aristides A. Nova (senior-engineering), who told police he does not reside in the residence and was only staying there temporarily, according to the warrant."

Wallace said he wasn't even there, and it seems a bit shady that when Nova shows up, so does the weed. Let's hope this isn't heading down the worst case scenario route, but that Penn State football can move on.

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