It’s not much, but it is progress.
We’ve never been shy about pouncing on the Penn State football program for its less-than-ambitious scheduling of non-conference foes. Now that the program is taking on some meatier competition, albeit very slowly, we’re ready to offer up some praise.
Don’t get too excited, though. You’ll have to wait a bit before you get to see an Atlantic Coast Conference foe or former Southeastern Conference rival hit the Beaver Stadium turf.
To their credit, the Nits do welcome Oregon State to State College this fall while the resumption of the Syracuse rivalry is anything but a step up in scheduling with the rapid decline of the Orange football program.
This season, the Nittany Lions will still open with Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) foe Coastal Carolina and from the 2009 season through 2012, only one season opener has been set — the 2010 Beaver Stadium opener against FCS power Youngstown State. That leaves a lot of room for additional weaknesses in the Nittany Lion slate and, for the record, we fully anticipate the Penn State program will continue to open with weaker competition, including former D-I-AA opponents when the opportunity presents itself.
However, beginning with the 2010 slate, Penn State adds Alabama and that date will be an away game the week after hosting Youngstown State. In the two weeks after its trip to Alabama, Penn State will tune up for Big Ten play with home dates against Kent State and Temple.
Alabama returns to State College for the 2011 season and it will be Penn State’s second home game following an as yet to be determined season opener. There’s also another game that has yet to be announced on that slate as well.
Then, in 2012, Penn State travels to ACC country to take on Virginia in the second week of the season.
Kudos to the Nittany Lions for adding some substance to their schedule. We’d welcome additional meat, though. The loyal fans deserve some bang for their buck after the Florida Internationals, Buffalos, Akrons, Central Michigans and Temples that have appeared on the slate in recent years.
Grow up already
Speaking of jokes, did you hear what New York Yankees co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner said after one of his high-priced pitchers hurt himself running the bases in Houston earlier this week?
“My only message is simple,” said Steinbrenner, as if he is some sort of baseball deity setting a standard for future play. “The National League needs to join the 21st century. They need to grow up and join the 21st century... I’ve got my pitchers running the bases, and one of them gets hurt. He’s going to be out. I don’t like that and it’s about time they address it. That was a rule from the 1800s.”
Boo-hoo Hank.
There are plenty of rules that date back to the 1800s and we’re fine with that. Some owners and ownership groups are even fine with their stadiums that date back to the 1800s.
Before blasting the game so many love, why don’t you take a look inward from your Tampa homestead pal.
Maybe your conditioning program needs some help. Maybe the fact that your pitchers are complaining about turning while running should be more a cause for alarm than the fact that they have to swing a stick and move their bodies.
If Chien-Ming Wang hurt himself running the bases, maybe it’s because he wasn’t in tip-top shape. Maybe, just maybe, you weren’t getting the biggest bang for your buck.
If American League pitchers can’t run the bases or swing a bat, there’s plenty of other places they can earn a living.
Some of us would rather see the American League drop the designated hitter and revert to the baseball we grew up with.
Chicago’s hard-throwing righty, Carlos Zambrano, is a better hitter than half of Hank’s high-priced aging free-agent sluggers.
Our message to Hank: Grow up.

chris brady: 570-742-9671
sports@standard-journal.com