Monday linkage

Here's a quick rundown of what went down this weekend in Penn State football. I don't really like doing link dumps on Mondays, but then again, this is the absolute worst part of the off-season. The only news that would matter between now and when summer workouts start would be bad news, as is stuff involving marijuana, fighting or drinking. So really, it's a wonderful thing right now that there's nothing to talk about.

• TNL's Galen is putting up a valiant fight against the dregs of this off-season, breaking down the schedule. Up right now: Akron thru Iowa. Almost as interesting as the sked analysis, is Galen's same thoughts on the recent lack of news:

"Not much to talk about lately (which is a good thing because we're not talking about players running afoul of the law) so we might as well look way ahead to next season."

This doesn't really seem too great. The Penn State fan base's expectations have been lowered so much, that we're reduced to "Hey! No players were arrested this week. Yay!" A tad bit sad.

• BSD's Mike continues (I didn't even know it started) Hate Week with a very classy video of a Michigan State chick picking a fight with some rival fans. It's a slightly odd choice to put up something like that to insult the other side, mainly due to Penn State's horrendous treatment of a certain visiting marching band in 2005. But the video's still funny.

• NWO's Charlie warns Ohio State to watch out. We've all seen the billboard put up to mock Michigan. Well, Charlie puts (figuratively) one of his own up. Also, take a look at this Facebook group, which to me doesn't make much sense. Penn State doesn't talk shit before games, and neither should its fans.

• Any time a post includes video depicting the weekend of Oct. 8, 2005, it's worth mentioning. Thanks HHV.

• Cheers to 2TL for catching this one. She runs down most of the jersey numbers by this year's Penn State NFL Rookies.

• And from the Buckeye universe, Jason from 11W discusses Joe Paterno's latest push for the Big T1e1n to become the Big T1e2n.

From the conglomerate sports media...

• ESPN's Mark Schlabach was trotted out this week to drum up some hits, as he posts his revised top-25 (he just happens to "revise" it during a slow news cycle), and teams with the best bowl chances.

• CFN asks its writers if Charlie Weis needs a BCS bowl bid to keep his job. C'mon, you know Notre Dame is always an interesting read.

More below the fold...

Back soon

Today should be the last day I'm stuck doing only real-world big people stuff. I fully expect that tomorrow, or even later tonight (but don't hold me to it), I can get back to what really matters in life -- Penn State football. Lucky for me, there hasn't been too much going on around the 'sphere anyway. Even BSD is reduced to covering (although, this one's pretty good) the Bobby Bowden saga.

See you all very soon!

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2009 Offseason Rundown

It's going to be a long eight months until football returns to Beaver Stadium. But in the meantime...

• Each week, I'll post two regular updates, one on Monday and one on Thursday. These won't really be news items, but rather different analyses and observations about Penn State football leading up to the 2009 opener against Akron. Yesterday, I went over the projected starters for 2009, and this Monday I will release my initial top 25 for the upcoming season...

• Letter Of Intent day is always fun, and you can count on regular recruiting updates right through the big day. Although, without a Terrelle Pryor-type recruit, and with Kevin Newsome already enrolled, I doubt this year's signing day will be as exciting.

• As I did last season, I'll have as much Blue-White Game coverage as possible. I actually hope to expand it this year, particularly the post-game wrap up.

• And who can forget about the NFL Draft?!

• Then there's all the Big Ten Bloggers stuff to do, like pre-season picks, all-conference selections, and the like. That usually starts in June.

• One of my favorite things to write is the First Look series. It will launch sometime in early June, and give a brief preview (three things you need to know) of every team on PSU's schedule.

• In August, I'll have another annual installment of P.S. I know U., a series that runs down all the players, by position/unit.

... and the Blue&White Roundtables, preview magazines, the release of NCAA 2010, picking apart the main stream media's predictions, etc., etc., etc...

I'll ask it again. Who says the off-season is boring?

More below the fold...