Written by: Shauna Bannan

Former Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno.

Joe Paterno, former Penn State University head football coach and admired figure among collegiate sports, whose reputation was shattered amid a child sexual-abuse scandal, died Sunday of complications from lung cancer.

The death was announced by his family in a statement Sunday morning.

“He died as he lived. He fought hard until the end, stayed positive, thought only of others and constantly reminded everyone of how blessed his life had been,” the family said. “His ambitions were far reaching, but he never believed he had to leave this Happy Valley to achieve them. He was a man devoted to his family, his university, his players and his community.”

He was readmitted to Mount Nittany Medical Center in State College on Jan. 13, nearly a month after being released from suffering a pelvis injury. His cancer treatments were “really taking a lot out of him,” a family friend said.

Paterno served as head coach for 46 years, winning a record 409 games with five undefeated and untied seasons and two national championships. He became the winngingest head coach in Division I football history on Oct. 29, 2011. The game was the last of 548 games Paterno coached.

Within days, Jerry Sandusky, Paterno’s defensive coordinator, was arrested on multiple charges of sexually assaulting eight boys over a 15-year time span, some at the time he served on the staff. The alleged incidents occurred outside the Second Mile, a charity to help at-risk youths, founded by Sandusky.

Trustees believed that Paterno should have taken further action to have Sandusky arrested after hearing information that the former defensive coordinator assaulted a young boy in the shower, witnessed by former assistant coach Mike McQueary. Paterno said he had informed Tim Curley, the athletic director, about the incident, but did not alert law enforcement authorities.

He announced his plans to retire at the conclusion of the season, but the school’s board of trustees fired Paterno on Nov. 9, 2011, enraging Penn State students, alumni, and fans throughout the nation. Assistant coach Mike McQueary and athletic director Tim Curley were fired as well.

“This is a tragedy,” Paterno said in a statement. “It is one of the great sorrows of my life. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more.”

Paterno is survived by his wife, Sue, and five children, all graduates from Penn State. His devotion and great efforts as a coach and symbol have left Penn State University, as well as the nation, in shambles.

Technorati Tags: football coach, joe pa, joe pa dies, joe paterno, joe paterno death, joe paterno dies, joepa, paterno, penn state, penn state university

Written By: Jessica Mangiameli

For the second time in a row, extraordinary swimmers from all over the country will come to compete in the Olympic Swim Trials which will be held in Omaha, Nebraska.  The trials will be held at the CenturyLink Center from June 25th-July 2nd.

The winners of these specific trials will earn the right to compete in the 2012 Summer Olympics games in London. Omaha earned the right to hold the swim trials for the second time in a row after they hosted the swim trials in 2008 and had record setting attendance. The 2008 record setting meet drew 160,003 attendees over the time span of eight days. When the swim trials were held in Long Beach in 2004, it drew a crowd of 50,000 less than in Omaha, Nebraska in 2008.  In 2008, sixty percent of the tickets were sold to out of town guests. The capacity of the CenturyLink Center is just over 14,000 for each meet, making it a very special opportunity to participate in.

Olympic Swim Trials in Omaha, Nebraska

The CenturyLink Center is transformed when a portable pool is brought in.  The stage for the Olympic trials contains a green waterfall which is the backdrop for the medal ceremonies. There is also fire that shoots up from the deck when a new world record is set. To accommodate the swimmers, an adjacent convention center has a warm up pool and most swimmers stay in hotels within walking distance of the arena.  It is basically set up like an Olympic village which makes it easier for the coaches and athletes to train.

Some of the major swimmers that will be on hand for the trials include Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte for the men’s division.  The women’s division will include competitors Missy Franklin, Rebecca Soni and Natalie Coughlin. Phelps, Lochte, Soni and Coughlin are all returning medalists from the 2008 Olympic games which were held in Beijing.  Missy Franklin is an up-coming 16-year-old super star expected to perform very well.

The first couple days of the 2012 Olympic Swim Trials will overlap with the ending of the College World Series Baseball Tournament.  This could cause a few problems for attendees of each event.  The city assures the public that they have everything under control and there should be very few problems.

The Swim trials can also be seen on television.  It is still to early to predict where the 2016 Olympic Swim Trials will be held but it is certain that Omaha will be considered.  Other competing cities will be on hand in Omaha to gather ideas on what their city can do to compete for the right to hold the trials.

Technorati Tags: 2012, CenturyLink Center, London, Michael Phelps, Missy Franklin, Natalie Coughlin, Nebraska, Olympic Swim Trials, Olympics, Omaha, Rebecca Soni, Ryan Lochte, Sports, Swim Trials, Swimming

By: Barbara J. Ross

The cover of Sport’s Illustrated is certainly a coveted photograph.  But – there exists an urban legend about “the curse.”  The curse is explained that if you are lucky enough to be photographed for that premier photo shoot, then you are doomed to failure in the current season.

Let’s examine the past evidence.  As far back as the legend apparently holds true.  OnAugust 16, 1954, baseball’s Eddie Mathews was a third baseman for the Braves.  He had played with the team for a nine-game winning streak and was the very first person that the magazine used for its cover.  What an honor!  The bad news followed.  Mathews broke his hand and missed the next seven games.

Within six months skier Jill Kinmont graced the cover and then was involved in a crash that nearly killed her.  She was paralyzed from the neck down into the rest of her body.

There are examples all throughout history. This has not stopped in modern times.  The famous New York Yankees were affected in April of 2010 when what was known as the “Core Four” were comprised of Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte and Jorge Posada. Together, they graced the Sports Illustrated cover.  Jeter suffered injuries within one week and eventually returned to play in what was considered his worst season of his career.

The Texas Rangers catcher, Yorvit Torrealba, was lucky or unlucky to have the cover opportunity on October 31, 2011 during their play in that year’s World Series.  His team, the Texas Rangers, went on to lose the coveted trophy to St. Louis.  This was despite the fact that during the World Series game six, St. Louis lost after they were only one strike away from winning!

One could argue that this jinx is not always true.  For example, Michael Jordan is considered by some to be the greatest athlete in history.  He was featured on Sports Illustrated Cover no less the 57 times.  Mark Spitz was featured on the cover twice – once on July 22, 1968 and again on September 4, 1972.  We all know that these covers  proceeded his win of a record number of gold medals (seven) for his swimming feats.

The consumer must then be the judge.  Is this accolade a curse or impetus?  Is the curse a reality or just the urban legend as claimed?  Well, time will tell with the premier football quarterback of New England Patriots, Tom Brady.

His appearance this week (January 18, 2011)  on the cover marks the twelfth time he has appeared as the cover icon.  This number ties the number of times that retired Joe Montana appeared.  Time will tell as Brady works to advance to the 2012 Super Bowl.  Is the jinx fact or fiction, reality or urban legend?

As a note, the Pittsburgh Steelers are mentioned on the cover that depicts Brady, and they lost their playoff game on the next Sunday after publication. Who knows what this curse means!

Technorati Tags: cover, cover subject, jinx, Sports Illustrated, Sports Illustrated Cover

Boston Bruins

Written by: Damian Roache

The Boston Bruins came into Dallas on Saturday as one of the hottest teams in the league, but inconsistent play and a hungry Dallas Stars team combined to end their seven-game winning streak. Dallas ended their own two-game losing streak and improved to 6-4-0 in their last ten games.

Former Bruin Michael Ryder put Dallas ahead for good with less than one minute left in the first period. His backhand shot beat Tim Thomas and gave the Stars a 3-1 lead going into the second period. Poor decisions with the puck by Boston allowed the Dallas forwards too much time in the offensive zone. Ryder had plenty of time and space to make a move on the net with no one covering him.

Dallas also got goals from Loui Eriksson, Trevor Daley and Tom Wandell.

Despite scoring the second goal of the game to tie the score at 1-1, Boston never seemed fully committed to playing their best game. A pair of goals late in the period energized the Stars and took away any momentum that the Bruins might have gained from Tyler Seguin’s goal.

The Stars pushed the Bruins throughout the full game, causing a number of bad turnovers and even getting one Bruin to lose his calm. Zdeno Chara was covering the front of the net when he received a crosscheck from Dallas’ Brendan Morrow. Chara took offense and pushed Morrow to the ice in retaliation, but unfortunately for the Bruins he would receive the only penalty from the incident.

Penalty killing is usually one of the Bruins’ assets, but on Saturday they allowed two power play goals against the Stars. The failure to kill off a slew of penalties in the opening period was one of the biggest reasons that Boston lost.

After the game, Bruins’ coach Claude Julien was blunt in his analysis of the game.

“It was us. We didn’t play a very good game from the get go,” Julien said. “From the first guy to the last guy tonight, I don’t think we had a very strong game.

Some Bruins fans might have seen this coming. The Bruins’ last game ended in a narrow 2-1 victory for the Bruins against the Phoenix Coyotes. Despite coming away from that game with two points and another win, Boston showed signs of cooling off from its recent run that has seen the team go 21-3-1 since November.

The year 2011 was an extraordinary time for the Bruins and their fans, capping a tremendous playoff run with the first Stanley Cup victory since the 1970s. Saturday’s loss to the Stars was an uncharacteristic loss for the Bruins and closed the book on a great year with a disappointing lack of effort.

One positive development for the Bruins was the return of forward Rich Peverley. Peverley played almost 17 minutes and showed no signs of rust in his game, despite not registering a point.

Technorati Tags: Boston Bruins, Bruins, Dallas Stars, Hockey, NHL, Stars

Junior Linebacker Ryne Dougherty

It’s after two years of New Jersey high school football player Ryne Dougherty death that his friends and family can finally be at peace as the House approves the Concussion Treatment and Care Tools (ConTACT) Act. There will now be federal guidelines on managing concussions among student athletes.

Ryan died of brain hemorrhage during the game, after he was allowed to get back to the field without being properly diagnosed for the complete recovery of his previous concussion.

Concussion in Young Athletes: Heads Up !!

And sadly, Ryne isn’t the only one who lost his life for this reason. About 135,000 kids visit emergency rooms every year from traumatic brain injuries including concussions and most of them get hurt playing recreational sports, CDC reports says. Many get back to practice immediately without proper treatment, compounding the risk of permanent brain damage.

In respond to the act Youth Football Leagues are coming up with new videos, posters, coaching exams and other such lessons about preventing, and recognizing a concussion. The act will not only enforce a guideline on treating concussions, it will also determine how soon a young athlete can return to play after the injury.

After all, missing a game or two is far better than missing an entire season, or more.

Technorati Tags: concussions, ConTACT, sports injury, youth football

Crushed Hopes !!

The charm lasted only for a couple of weeks and World Cup hopes for the US got doomed much before the quarter finals. Just when soccer as a sport started gaining momentum in the US, thanks to the American sport media for putting up the hype around the Cup and building hopes, the wussy feeble team of US players couldn’t survive the ferociousness of Ghana and fell apart like a house of cards.

Not that anyone in the world ever hoped of the US to get the Cup to the Country, but at least running a little deeper into the tournament and reaching the quarter finals would have made the sport a little popular amongst the young generation and paved way for us in Brazil four years down the line. None of that could have achieved despite of names like Donovan and Dempsey in the team, and now it’s time to look back and see what and how things could have been any different.

Many people are blaming the USA coach Bob Bradley for the disaster and now he is likely to be replaced by Dominic Kinnear or Steve Nicol, but just putting the blame on him alone can’t bring the tactical efficiencies we badly need nor can it compensate for the stronger team with better goal keepers and defenders.

Once we change our attitude towards the game, everything will fall in place and we can eventually look forward to the World Cup

Technorati Tags: FIFA world cup 2010, Soccer, USA

The Celtics led by as many as 13 points against the Lakers on Thursday but lost Game 7

Purple and gold confetti rained down in the Staples Center late Thursday night after the Los Angeles Lakers clenched their 16^th NBA title, beating the Boston Celtics 83-79 in game 7. The Finals MVP Kobe Bryant then jumps up on the scorer’s table, shook his fists and extended five fingers… marking his fifth title with the Lakers.

There was no question from the beginning that these two teams weren’t going to let this be an easy Final for one other to win. The competition between the Lakers and Celtics was apparent from the first jump ball in game 1 to the final minutes in the 4^th quarter of game 7. The teams have met twelve times in the NBA finals, but this win only marks the third win for the Lakers. And although Bryant had been downplaying the NBA’s best rivalry for the past couple weeks, even he acknowledged that banner no. 16 will be a little bigger in his mind compared to the others that hang in the rafters. “I was just lying to you guys,” Bryant said after the Lakers first game 7 win over the Celtics, “this one is by far the sweetest, because it’s them.”

In the series he averaged an impressive 28.6 points, but left the fate of game 7 up to his teammates. Bryant shot only 6 of 24, eventually earning eight free throws and ending up with 23 points. The Celtics defense forced L.A. to miss 21 of its first 27 shots and held them to only 21 successful shots in the first three quarters, with Bryant and Gasol having a combined 6 for 26 in the first half. “This was the hardest one by far. I wanted it so bad and sometimes when you want it so bad, it slips away from you. My guys picked me up.” Despite his disappointing and uncharacteristic stats, he still earned his fifth title and second MVP with the Lakers.

Team stat comparison and game leaders between the Celtics and Lakers in Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals

Another big question is Phil Jackson and his return to the Los Angeles Lakers. His contract is up and it is not guaranteed he will be back next season, although all indications are that Jackson will be back to sign with the Lakers. With this win in the finals, Jackson has earned his 5^th NBA title with the Lakers, making it his 11^th overall. “I’ve got to take a deep breath. I’ve got to take some time to think about this,” Jackson said, who would be entering the next season at 65 years old. “This was great. I’ll wait to make that decision in a week.”

Whichever Jackson decides, the Lakers will be grateful for the years he did give. They’ve closed out their playoff opponents on the first try 10 times while winning three straight Western Conference titles over the last three years with Jackson. And although the Celtics led by as many as 13 points against the Lakers on Thursday, the game 7 trophy is now in Los Angeles.

Technorati Tags: 2010 NBA Finals, Boston Celtics, Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers, NBA

The Trojans are banned from all postseason play for two seasons, lost 30 scholarships that extended over the next 3 years and must vacate all wins from December 2004 through the entire 2005 season

The NCAA didn’t give USC any leeway when it came to the punishments given to the college Thursday. The Trojans are banned from all postseason play for two seasons, lost 30 scholarships that extended over the next 3 years and must vacate all wins from December 2004 through the entire 2005 season. I understand that punishment is given where punishment is deserved, but taking away scholarships from potential or current students doesn’t sit right with me. A lot of students strive to succeed, both academically and physically, to earn an athletic scholarship. Since they aren’t giving out these 10 scholarships per year over the next three years to the athletes, then they should put them aside in a new program and offer it in some other way.

So what did the Pac-10 team do? USC was cited for; lack of institutional control, impermissible inducements, extra benefits, exceeding coach staff limits and unethical conduct by a running backs coach Todd McNair. Not to mention the team was already cited for different violations in 2001 and with that they are considered a “repeat violator”. The severity of these penalties exceeds Alabama’s in ’02 and Washington’s in 1993 and is USC’s sixth case of major infractions since 1957. As you can see the NCAA does not take the school’s actions lightly and the seriousness about the case that has been building up against USC is far from mediocre.

The Trojans do have a chance to appeal the ruling, but that will only run the risk of delaying the penalties further into the future. Fortunately for USC juniors and seniors to-be on the Trojan’s football team, the NCAA announced they will be allowed to transfer to other FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) programs without having to sit out a season. Unfortunately, not all colleges are willing to let that rule apply. USC officials also announced that the Pac-10 would not waive the one year transfer ineligibility rule, leaving most to believe there won’t be any transfers within the conference.

First year head coach Lane Kiffin said he hadn’t heard from any schools with possible interest in a USC player, and when asked if he was worried he replied with “if someone wants to leave the best place in the country to play football, we won’t stop them.” The bowl ban is the most damaging to Kiffin, who will have to intensify his impressive recruiting skills to entice players with no hope of postseason play before 2012.

Technorati Tags: College Football, NCAA, USC, USC Sanctions, USC Trojans

The whole world is gearing up for the FIFA World Cup 20101 starting June 11. The whole world but America, that is.

In the light of this World Cup hoopla all over International press, the first question that comes to an uninitiated mind is why we Americans don’t consider soccer as a ‘real sport’. Is our hatred for the game directly associated with our love for American football or is Soccer really as boring as most Americans believe. Is Soccer anywhere close to what Mike Barnacle of the Boston Globe once described, “A mindless sport where hordes of incomprehensible athletes run aimlessly in a circle until everyone is dehydrated and, finally, some guy uses his skull to score a touchdown.” Or is it just a media imposed attitude to a game proclaimed by the believers of Muscular Christianity as ‘gentleman’s way of amateur sportsmanship’.

Football might be considered more manly, but soccer is no walk in the park either. It’s the ultimate game of skill, fitness, agility and over and above much more fun to play. There are followers of soccer all over the world not only because you get to have more surprises in the game, but it’s also easier to follow soccer rules than the complication of offence and defense in football that only the diehard fans comprehend.

Both in the end are great sports and deserve the same amount of respect. And if we want to accept soccer the same way as the world does, we first need to first change our perception towards the game.

Technorati Tags: FIFA world cup, football, Soccer

And how valorously Charlie Wedemeyer fought until the very end can be determined by the fact that he survived the incurable amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig) for 32 years when as per ALS Association, out of the 5,600 people in the US who are diagnosed with ALS each year, only about 20 percent live five years and less than 5 percent live 20 years. It was indeed a long battle for him and his family.

Charlie's final Victory !!

Charlie Wedemeyer has been known to us as much more than a former Los Gatos High football coach or a onetime football star. His passion for life and never say die attitude contagiously brought cheer and joy wherever he went and made him one of the most admired football icons in United States. In his own words, “Pain and suffering are inevitable we all experience it. But misery is an option,….we do get to make that choice.” He said this in 2005 and lived it all his life.

Despite of suffering from ALS since the year 1978, Charlie Wedemeyer continued to coach at Los Gatos High School in California from the confines of his equipped high chair and his wife’s help who became his voice after he could no longer be heard clearly. And under his guidance, they even won the sectional championship.

His life is chronicled in a couple of television films made on him and in the book he wrote, Charlie’s Victory. He was 64 years old.

Technorati Tags: ALS, Charlie Wedemeyer, football coach, Lou Gehrig disease