We're getting close

OK, now it's official, folks. College football season is now ridiculously close. By my count, the Penn State opener is just 34 days away.

Which means it's pretty much time to start preparing for another season of fandom -- time to plan (aka, "clear") your Saturday schedules. Time to stock up on fine wines, bourbons and beers for gameday enjoyment. Time to mentally prepare oneself for the inevitable failures of the season. But as stressful as this August Preparation Period is most years, it's even moreso this year.

That's because Your Editor is currently in the process of rehabbing his basement and turning into an underground haven for Suburban Dads Who Write For A Living And Enjoy College Football, Fine Beer And Music. In other words, the room, when completed, will be My Place On This Earth.

Problem: The room is nowhere near complete. Much work remains to be done if it's to be ready for the season in a month. And if it's not ready, the consequences are numerous: 1) I'll have nowhere to watch football without disturbance; 2) I'll have to spend my Autumn weekends working on the room, not watching football in it; 3) Money that otherwise would be spent on fun stuff like Dortmunger Gold beer or Maker's Mark bourbon to enjoy while watching football will instead be directed toward the ongoing rehab effort.

All in all, the picture is not pretty right now, folks. Wish me well.

In the meantime, here's today's news:

* Longtime Penn State football scribe Ron Bracken wonders in the Centre Daily Times if the retirement announcement of Barry Alvarez (rrr) will provide a "blueprint" for a certain coaching legend in Happy Valley.

* Our friends at Fight On State magazine report on Penn State's latest football commit, Abe Koroma.

* Badger Nation magazine offers its Penn State season preview, including this succint analysis of 2004 team. "It was a tale of two teams for Penn State last season," Badger Nation writes. "On the one hand, there was the Big Ten’s best defense. On the other, the league’s worst offense."

Big 33 wrap-up

We here at The Nittany News aren't huge fans of high school all-star games, folks. The logic of them eludes us: I mean, if you were a top-flight college recruit, would you risk injury to play a meaningless game in the sweltering heat of July?

Regardless of our opinions, however, some folks do seem to take the Big 33 All-Star Football Classic -- a clash of stars from Ohio and Pennsylvania -- quite seriously. And so today we felt obligated to provide a quick wrap-up of last night's action.

So here it is: Ohio won.

Now, on with today's Sunday reflection.

I was sitting on the back porch of TCFA headquarters last night, sharing a few Dortmunder Gold beers with family and friends, when discussion turned to the fast-approaching college football season.

The topic of discussion? Will Penn State once again be awful this season.

The consensus? Maybe.

More on that in days to come.

Today's news:

* The Centre Daily Times' Jeff Rice offers his thoughts on Penn State's recent announcement of a three-game series against fierce Temple. We here at The Nittany News think the series is ridiculous, considering the presence of That School In Pittsburgh.

* Incoming Penn State kicker Kevin Kelly tells the CDT that he's prepared to take over as the Nits' kicker this season. He says he's been told a good kicker can win or lose three games a year.

43 days ...

It is now 43 days until the Best Day of the Year, folks. Just 43 days until the Penn State opener.

43 days until tailgating. 43 days until the Blue Band takes the field. 43 days until ESPN's College Gameday. 43 days until the greatest three months of the year -- September, October, November.

43 days until great moments like this:



Now, on with the news:

* Worried about Penn State's kicking game this season? I am. Let's hope Kevin Kelly is worth the hype.

* That paragon of urban college football excellence, Temple, has signed long-term deals with Army, Navy and Penn State. Good for Temple. Now, Owls, please build your own damn stadium.

Michigan likes Poz

Despite the not-always-so-nice relations between Michigan fans and Penn State fans, I tend to believe both schools maintain a certain grudging respect for one another (a respect that, I suspect, is not shared between them and, say, Ohio State).

The most recent evidence comes from Go Blue Wolverine magazine, which recently ranked Penn State outside linebacker Paul "Shane Conlan" Posluszny as the top outside 'backer in the conference.

I've been saying since the dark days of 2003 that Poz would be a star. It appears I was right. And with Dan Connor playing alongside him, the 2005 Penn State linebacking unit has the potential to be, as some have already said, the best group since the 1999 unit that featured Brandon Short and LaVar (no last name necessary).

I'm back, for good

OK, folks, the season is drawing near. In fact, it's less than two months away.

And with that in mind, I promise to keep this site updated more regularly. Every day, even.

In part, this is because I have no choice -- with each passing day, more and more college football news is hitting the newspapers, a sure signal the season is just around the corner (thank God for that). Yesterday, while poking around the Web looking for the latest Nits news, I came across this quote, from Alan Zemaitis, about Penn State freshman phenom Derrick Williams. It's reading stuff like this that can't help but get me excited for the season.

Said Zemaitis: "When there are no eyes around, there's a tendency to relax and not go out and give it your all. But (Williams) goes out and works and every day he gets better, man. The way that he plays the game is so smooth, it's fluid. and he goes after the ball. I can't wait to see him this year."

Me either.

Meanwhile, I present ...

Today's news:

* Former Nittany Lion quarterback Zack Mills is is trying his hand at poker. Good luck to Zack.

* Surprise. Nittany Lions players insist that 2005 will be different than 2004, 2003, 2001 and 2000. Haven't we heard this one before? Let's hope this year they're right.

Baltimore

Tomorrow, Your Editor and Mrs. Editor will be heading to our former home, Baltimore.

This is no small trip, folks. South Baltimore was, for two solid years, the headquarters of TCFA. More than that, it was our home.

And so we return with heavy hearts. And yet they will not be too heavy ...

... because it is only two months and one day until the Penn State opener.

In the meantime, please enjoy some music from our sponsors, the Old 97s and the Drive By Truckers.