Posts tagged ‘New York Times’
Wrestling, Baseball & Conference Expansion? Oh, My.
Penn State student-athletes aren’t in season right now, but there’s plenty to keep Nittany Lion sports in the news. A quick primer:
-Ben Heath, who went from role player to All-American candidate over the course of a terrific junior season (and who you can read more about when our July/August issue hits mailboxes in a few weeks), is hoping to hear his name called in the 2010 Major League Baseball draft. The MLB draft is notoriously hard to call, but given his skill set— a solid defensive catcher who hits for power and average—he has a shot at being Penn State’s highest-drafted non-pitcher in more than 30 years. The draft starts tonight at 7 p.m., continues Tuesday, and wraps up Wednesday.
-Sunday’s Centre Daily Times had an interesting story about how Nittany Lion wrestling coach Cael Sanderson and the program’s boosters are hoping to make University Park a training destination for the best American wrestlers. Given the sport’s popularity in central Pennsylvania, Sanderson’s icon status, and the quality of the facilities at the Lorenzo Wrestling Complex, that goal seems well on its way to becoming reality.
-Last but hardly least, Big Ten expansion talk has gotten a lot more complicated. The league had proposed a slow, deliberate approach to the question of adding a new member (or members), but reports over the past few days mean the Big Ten might have to act fast. As the New York Times reports today, the Pac-10 is considering annexing half of the Big 12 (including potential Big Ten target Texas), a move that would force the hand of Big Ten targets Missouri and Nebraska, not to mention coveted longshot Notre Dame. It all means that Joe Paterno might soon see his hopes for a bigger Big Ten come to fruition, and that the college sports landscape might be on the verge of dramatic change.
Or, as the Times story points out, nothing at all might change. Either way, we should know sooner than later.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
Remembering (and Discovering) Architect Der Scutt
A New York Times obituary yesterday informed us of the passing of Der Scutt ’54. Every once in a while — and too often it’s after they die — we hear about a prominent alumnus who we didn’t actually know was an alumnus. Scutt fits that bill: Records tell us he attended Wyomissing Polytechnic Institute (predecessor of Penn State Berks) and got a master’s at Yale before embarking on a career in architecture. And what a career it was.
Scutt is best known for his modernist designs of some prominent New York City skyscrapers, including the Grand Hyatt Hotel and Trump Tower (pictured), which, like its namesake, was undeniable if not exactly subtle. He led a pretty interesting life beyond his work; you can read the obit here. The Reading native was 75 and living in Manhattan when he died.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
Some Resolution for “Climategate”
Michael Mann, the prominent climate researcher and director of Penn State’s Earth System Science Center, has been largely cleared by the University of wrongdoing in the so-called “Climategate” scandal.
In a report released this morning, a panel of University administrators found no evidence of professional misconduct in three of the four allegations—accusations that he hid or falsified climate data; deleted emails or information tied to British climate scientist Phil Jones; or misused privileged information—brought against Mann. On the fourth allegation—essentially, the question of whether Mann fudged his research findings—the panel decided it lacked the expertise to make a definitive call. The investigation will be passed on to a new panel, made up of five high-level faculty in engineering and the sciences, who will review the evidence and announce their findings in the next four months.
You can read extended takes on the story from the The New York Times here, and from The Chronicle of Higher Education here.
And you can read Mann’s statement on the findings here.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
Nittany Lions in Connecticut
A quick Penn State football read to start your February: Sunday’s New York Times included a feature on how Stamford, Connecticut this year produced two of the top high school football prospects in the country. Given the state’s relatively small population and the city’s reputation as a tony NYC commuter hub, that goes against all the odds. But why do we care? Because both of those wonderfully named players—running back Silas Redd (far right) and linebacker Khairi Fortt—chose Penn State.
It’s a great story, not least because it offers Redd’s reaction on his first meeting with Joe Paterno: “I was like, ‘Wow, he knows about Connecticut?’”
He knows a lot of stuff, Silas. You’ll see.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
As the College Coaching Carousel Spins Faster Than Ever, a Nod to Sticking Around
I’ve been smirking a bit this week watching the movement among some of the nation’s prominent college football coaches. First Pete Carroll left USC after a wildly successful decade —quite possibly, as Carroll has said, because he found the perfect opportunity to return to the NFL, but also possibly because the Trojans struggled this season, and because the program faces the possibility of serious NCAA sanctions in the near future. Carroll’s replacement at Southern Cal is Lane Kiffin, fresh off a single mediocre season at Tennessee where the program drew NCAA scrutiny for everything from Kiffin’s verbal jousting with rivals to allegations of recruiting violations.
What does all this have to do with Penn State? Thankfully nothing, as a few people in the media have pointed out this week. Wednesday’s New York Times featured a great column by George Vecsey comparing the Carroll and Kiffin drama with the steadiness of Joe Paterno’s tenure in Happy Valley. And today on StateCollege.com, Jay Paterno contrasts his father’s stability with the constant turnover in the college coaching ranks. Good reads both.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
Another Profile of Russ Rose
Congrats to the Penn State women’s volleyball team, who beat Florida last night and California tonight to advance to the NCAA semifinals. Looks like their hopes for an unprecedented third straight national title are very much alive. The win tonight was Penn State’s 100th straight—and the 999th career victory for head coach Russ Rose.
Speaking of Rose, the Philadelphia Inquirer profiled him yesterday, taking a look at his no-nonsense style:
Rose, with his salt-and-pepper hair and admitted “smart-ass” attitude, seems to have all the right stuff. He’s brutally honest—and will tell you that himself—and tries not to recruit women who are overly sensitive.
“I look at it as, they’re not my girlfriends so I don’t care if they’re mad at me for pointing out things they need to do to be a better player or a better teammate or a better daughter and sometimes a better girlfriend,” Rose said. “I don’t have a problem saying what needs to be said.”
Rose was also the subject of a profile on the front page of the New York Times sports section last Tuesday. Some great visibility this week for a very deserving team.
Tina Hay, editor
P.S. One of our most popular blog entries to date is “Fun with the Women’s Volleyball Team,” from our photo shoot last January that led to our March-April cover story on women’s volleyball. Check it out if you haven’t already.
Walter Bahr and Soccer’s ‘No-Hopers’ Featured in the N.Y. Times
It’s been a good week for Penn Staters in the New York Times. Two days after a profile of women’s volleyball coach Russ Rose dominated the Times’ front Sports page, today’s section includes a terrific feature on the 1950 U.S. World Cup soccer team responsible for the biggest upset in the game’s history. One of the key players on that squad was Walter Bahr, who went on to coach the Penn State men’s soccer team for years (and whose sons, Chris ’75 and Matt ’79, played soccer for Bahr and football for Joe Paterno and went on to kick in the NFL). Down in Brazil nearly 60 years ago, Walter assisted on the only goal in the Americans’ monumental upset of the heavily favored English.
So why is Walter, now retired and living in Boalsburg, back in the news? Because last week, the current U.S. national team was drawn with England in the opening game of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The Americans figure to be slight underdogs against the Brits next summer, but a U.S. victory wouldn’t be shocking. Either way, expect Bahr’s name to come up in the media more and more as June 12 approaches. As he told the Times, “The older I get, the more famous I become.”
Ryan Jones, senior editor
Cael Sanderson Profiled in the New York Times
Some great visibility for the Penn State wrestling program: Sunday’s New York Times has a substantial article on the program and its hoped-for revitalization under new head coach Cael Sanderson.
Penn State hired Sanderson, who is the best collegiate wrestler ever (as evidenced by his perfect 159-0 record and four NCAA titles), to be its new coach last spring. Given that the Lions haven’t won a national championship in wrestling in more than half a century, Sanderson’s move to Happy Valley “at first glance … looked like the equivalent of Sanderson leaving Broadway for regional theater,” the Times article says.
But Pennsylvania is wrestling country, and Penn State has great wrestling facilities and fans. As Sanderson told the Times: “It’s like if I was a football coach with a chance to go to Texas where all the great players are, where they have the best facilities and where the fans support you to this incredible level.”
Under Sanderson (whom we profiled in our Sept-Oct issue), the Lions are off to a good start this year and are ranked No. 15 in the latest coaches’ poll. But Sanderson has much bigger ambitions for the program than just a top-20 ranking. “Coach has made his goal for us real clear,” wrestler Quentin Wright is quoted in the Times article as saying. “We want to win a team championship, and we want to win a lot of them.”
Tina Hay, editor
Flynt Leverett on Iran
Today’s New York Times features an op-ed written by Flynt Leverett, professor in Penn State’s School of International Affairs, and his wife Hillary Mann Leverett. The topic is the United States’ ongoing attempts to engage the Iranian government, specifically in regard to Iran’s continued nuclear work, and it’s one Leverett knows well: Before joining the faculty at Penn State, he served at the CIA and the National Security Council.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
Ty Burrell & Keegan-Michael Key Go Prime Time
Probably the best-reviewed show of the new fall TV season is Modern Family, an irreverent new sitcom shot in “mockumentary” style, which premieres tonight on ABC. (Some critics are saying it reminds them of Arrested Development, which should be all you need to know). One of Modern Family’s stars is Ty Burrell ’97 (pictured) and he’s apparently one of the reasons the show is so promising: The L.A. Times calls him “hilarious,” and The New York Times says he’s “fantastic.”
Ty’s not the only Penn Stater making a debut of sorts tonight: Keegan-Michael Key ’96, formerly of MADtv, is a new cast member on the second season of the CBS sitcom Gary Unmarried.
Ryan Jones, senior editor
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