Posts tagged ‘Michael Weinreb’
A Sandusky Scandal Reading List
I spent a little time Sunday afternoon trying to catch up on all of the media coverage of the child sexual abuse scandal that engulfed the University. I barely made a dent in the stack of articles I had printed, but so far, a few stand out as required reading.
1. “Jerry Sandusky, former Penn State football staffer, subject of grand jury investigation.” The Harrisburg paper gets credit for being the first to report—last March 31—that a grand jury was investigating Jerry Sandusky ’66, ’71g. The story was written by Sara Ganim ’08.
2. “Who Knew What About Jerry Sandusky?” Sara Ganim again, this time in a special report this past Friday chronicling the allegations that stretch over a 10-year period—and the missed opportunities to do something about them.
The rest of the articles on the list are not reported news stories so much as essays reflecting on various aspects of this sorrowful mess:
3. “Growing Up Penn State.” An essay at the new sports site Grantland.com by Michael Weinreb ’94, who grew up in State College. He writes poignantly of how his ideals have been shattered, citing, for example, the 1987 Fiesta Bowl win over Miami:
It is still my favorite football game of all time, a metaphoric triumph of the unadorned hero over the flamboyant villain. I wrote a long piece about it for ESPN, and a portion of a book, that now rings completely hollow. I have the original video recording of it in my living room, and I have thought several times over the past couple of days about taking a hammer to it.
4. “A Test of Bonds Old and New.” Malcolm Moran was a longtime (more…)
Our Rosey Grier Cover Story, Now Online
A terrific profile of a former football star who has befriended political luminaries and dabbled in music, acting, and needlepoint over the course of a remarkable public life—no, we’re not surprised that our cover story on Rosey Grier ’56 has generated so much attention. As such, we figured we’d make an exception and post that story (written by Michael Weinreb ’94) online in its entirety. Those who haven’t already read it (or just want to share it with a friend) can find a PDF here. Enjoy.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
Michael Weinreb’s New Beginnings
Michael Weinreb ’94 is one of our go-to feature writers, and his terrific piece on Rosey Grier ’56 in our July/August issue (out in a few weeks) is a great example of why. Among Mike’s other projects (including books) is a new gig with Grantland.com, the big-deal, ESPN-affiliated sports and culture website that debuted earlier this week. Mike’s first Grantland piece is up today, and it’s loaded with Penn State references; one of those is of Mike sneaking away from the reception at a friend’s wedding years ago to watch the Nittany Lions play Wisconsin on a portable TV hidden in a coat closet.
That was my wedding, actually. On Sunday, I’ll be in Long Island to watch Mike get married; the bride-to-be is a Northwestern grad, but we approve of her anyway.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
A Critique of the BCS, Tinged in Blue and White
My friend and occasional Penn Stater contributor Michael Weinreb ’94 pops up today on GQ.com in a conversation with Dan Wetzel, another terrific sportswriter and author. The topic? College football’s maligned Bowl Championship Series, which Wetzel writes about (though “tears apart” might be a better way of putting it) in his not-at-all-subtly titled new book, Death to the BCS. No matter your feelings on the BCS, if you like college football, the conversation is a quick and compelling read.
Penn Staters should particularly enjoy this exchange, which comes about halfway through the conversation:
DW: Joe Paterno has had four undefeated teams not win a title. So who’s been worked over more than Joe Paterno and Penn State?
MW: You portray Paterno as the conscience of this whole thing—which, being a Penn State guy, I appreciate. But is he really one of the only coaches who’s ahead on this topic?
DW: Way ahead of the game on it. Way ahead. And what are you gonna do, rip back at Joe Paterno? He’s a smart guy. He just instinctively knows this is ridiculous. And he’s been arguing against it forever, for decades.
The GQ writer who introduces the piece also gives Mike a nice plug, calling Bigger Than the Game “the fall’s other must-read sports book.”
Ryan Jones, senior editor
September/October Issue Headed Your Way
Yes, we know it’s football season. But it’s going to be an important year for the men’s basketball team, too, which is why our September/October issue—which should be arriving in your mailbox any day now, depending on where you live—has a couple of basketball players on the cover.
On the left is senior guard Talor Battle, who’s possibly the best player in Penn State history. On the right is his little brother, Taran Buie, a freshman guard who’s probably the most highly touted recruit in the program’s history. Inside, senior editor Ryan Jones ’95 tells the story of their family’s journey to State College and explains why the brothers mean so much to the basketball team, which followed up its 2009 NIT championship with a 20-loss season.
Among the other goodies you’ll find in this issue:
—Stories from alumni explaining how they became Penn Staters. (And next week on the blog, we magazine staffers who are alums will tell you our stories, too.)
—Additional coverage from Tina Hay ’83 about the Alumni Association’s trip to Europe.
—And of course there’s some football, too. We’ve got a piece on Bud Meredith, the University’s ticket manager for the past 44 years, and an essay by Michael Weinreb ’94 pondering the big-picture significance of the 1986 Orange Bowl team and 1987 national championship team.
Lori Shontz, senior editor
Penn State Football: Last of a Dying Breed? Michael Weinreb Thinks So
You won’t find one of Penn State’s trademark bland uniforms on the cover of the new book by Michael Weinreb ’94, and you won’t find Joe Paterno’s picture there, either. But Penn State football—particularly the 1986 Orange Bowl team and the 1987 Fiesta Bowl and national championship team—was part of the inspiration for Bigger Than the Game: Bo, Boz, the Punky QB, and How the ’80s Created the Modern Athlete.
We know this because Weinreb adapted part of his book into an essay for our September/October issue, which we finished this week and will be arriving in your mailboxes in a couple of weeks. He writes often for us—most recently, our November/December cover story on the Men of ’47—and we’re all eager to read more of the book than the essay, which contrasts Penn State football with those guys on the book cover, Bo Jackson, Jim McMahon, and most notably Brian Bosworth.
The book came out Thursday, so Weinreb has been making the media rounds—it’s highly possible you’ll catch him doing a radio interview on a station near you. And while you’re waiting for our magazine, you can check out this interview that Weinreb did with the blog Sports Crackle Pop, and this piece that he wrote for the Wall Street Journal.
Lori Shontz, senior editor
Penn State’s ‘Men of ’47,’ In Print and Online
If they haven’t already, Alumni Association members should be receiving their copies of our Nov./Dec. issue in the next few days, and I imagine most will notice the unusual (for us) cover design—that’s it on the right. The corresponding feature, written by Michael Weinreb ’94, tells the story of the post-World War II football teams that helped establish Penn State nationally as both a top program and unheralded force in the nation’s slow march to racial justice.
The response to the story—not just to our feature, but to the relatively unknown story of the men who made up these great teams, and who, legend has it, inspired the University’s iconic “We Are…” chant—has been overwhelming. After the surviving team members were guests of honor during the Association’s recent Homecoming festivities, we decided we wanted to share this story as widely as we could. You can now access a PDF version of our new cover story by clicking here.
We also hope to have a video feature up soon that provides even more historical context for the on- and off-field impact of those teams. Keep an eye out for that next week.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
Philadelphia or Pittsburgh? Discuss.
I love this blog entry by Michael Weinreb ’94 on growing up in State College (his dad is on the faculty in the Eberly College of Science) and having to decide whether he was a Pittsburgh fan or a Philadelphia fan. Mike offers an interesting assessment on the pluses and minuses of each sports city.
Best line:
In Pittsburgh, they name major landmarks after squirrels. In Pittsburgh, they name their beers after metallic ores. In Pittsburgh, they serve the french fries in the sandwich.
Mike, by the way, has written a great feature for us on Wally Triplett ’49 and his teammates on 1946 and 1947 Nittany Lion teams that helped break the color barrier in college football. You’ll see that in our November-December issue.
Tina Hay, editor
Michael Weinreb on Joe Paterno
Photo by Steve Manuel ’84, ’92g
Mike Weinreb ’94 is a freelance writer whose work has been in the New York Times and espn.com, among others. He also has written a few pieces for us and is working on one right now that will run in our November-December issue, a look at the Penn State football teams of 1946 and 1947 that helped break the color barrier in college football.
Mike also has a blog where he offers some interesting insights on a variety of subjects, and this week he had some thoughts on the wisdom you can find in a Joe Paterno news conference. You can find it here, and it’s worth a read.
Tina Hay, editor
And in Food News…
One of our freelance writers, Mike Weinreb ’94, mentions on his Twitter feed that the Washington Post has an interesting story today about D.C.-area convenience stores: specifically Sheetz vs. WaWa. Who knew that you could get a 3,000-word magnum opus out of convenience stores? But it’s an interesting read.
Sheetz is a Pennsylvania-based chain but has since spread out over the mid-Atlantic states. It was founded by Penn Stater Steve Sheetz ’69 (who, with his wife, Nancy, recently gave a record-breaking gift to Penn State Altoona).
Also today, a colleague over in the College of Engineering, Curtis Chan ’94, called my attention to yet another story in today’s Washington Post. This one is on Penn State entrepreneurs Casey Patton ’03 and David Mazza ’01, who are getting some nice attention for their new restaurant, called Taylor Deli. They renovated a rundown old building and turned it into something beautiful. You can see some of the other media attention Patton and Mazza garnered by checking out their blog.
Speaking of Twitter, you can follow me on Twitter and catch lots more Penn State-related nuggets that don’t always show up on our blog.
Tina Hay, editor
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