- Chris Giannini
The first story up on what the hell was that Wednesday is a
story that I can’t believe is even an issue.
At the level of college football and the NFL it is incredibly difficult
to score a touchdown. That’s why they
are worth so many points! For some reason it has become cool to drop the ball
immediately after you cross the goal line.
Not sure why, but I have spent most of my life trying to understand what
is cool and why it is cool. Like wearing
your hat crooked on your head or leaning the car seat back all the way and
still trying to drive. I will admit I
tried them both growing up. I didn’t
feel comfortable doing either of them but dammit I needed to be cool. Not sure
that helped though.
Due to guys trying to look cool dropping the ball so quickly
some are dropping it just before they cross the goal line. Now I know men have a problem with “dropping”
things prematurely when they get too excited but this is ridiculous.
At the end of the Cal vs. Texas game a player for Cal, Vic
Enwere, is running into the end zone for a score that will seal the victory and
put the game out of reach for Texas. Just before he crosses the goal line he
gets a case of the premature-drops.
After that there is confusion on if the Texas player “recovered the
fumble” or just picked up the ball and handed it to the ref. I’m not sure the difference in those two
things but that’s not the point here.
Vic, what the hell were you thinking? You’ve seen this story before! It
happens every year and trust me, this won’t be the last time we see it. From a
coaches perspective I have no clue what to do to a player for something so
dumb. Like every other time I’ve seen this happen I ask myself the same
question. What the hell was that?
This next part is something I have struggled with rather I
want to bring it up or not, but it is something I feel strongly about so here
it is. Penn St, what the hell was that
this past Saturday? The trial for this monster is still going on. There has been very little time to let
something like this heal and during the trial it has come out in testimony from
multiple people, one former player and assistant coach, that Joe Pa was told of
the situation with Sandusky. It is clear
he knew as early as the 1970’s and he did nothing. Now I’m not saying the man who turns a blind
eye is worse than the man committing the act, but Joe had a responsibility to
get this man off campus and he didn’t. I’m not telling Penn St. to wipe the
records clean of his name or take him off the library he built. But this story for the most part had died. It was Penn St’s decision to bring it back up
by trying to “honor” Joe this Saturday.
Why? What purpose did it serve
but to stir up awkward feelings and provide an uncomfortable situation for so
many. Let this story rest and move
on. I appreciate history as much as the
next guy, but the only thing that will free Penn St from this is if they move
on and move as far away from this as possible.
That means stop throwing celebrations for people who aren’t here
anymore. There was no good that came
from that ceremony to honor Joe on Saturday.
And if nothing good can come from it then there is no reason to do
it.
I was asked this weekend as the Penn St game was happening,
“if that happened at LSU how would you feel?” “What would you want them to do
to move on?” My response was “change
everything.” I clean break. No offense to any coaches on that staff or
the tradition or history of the school but I was want everything changed and a
new era to begin. All admin that could
have possibly known must be change. But
I wouldn’t stop there. I would change
the school colors. Change the fight
song. Start all new traditions in hopes
that with time my school will be remembered for something great again and not
something terrifying. Now this is just
my opinion but as a fan I would be perfectly satisfied with removing all the
traditions that remind me of the time when a monster roamed the campus and try
to move on.
I know things got real just then. It’s a subject I wanted to stay away from
talking about, and felt more comfortable writing instead.
Next week we will get back to the pleasures of making fun of
teams, players, and coaches that frustrated us.
Until then, try and avoid making people ask, “what the hell was that?”
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