No Sites for Sore Guys at Penn State

By Chris Dufresne

Oct. 27, 2005 12 AM PT

Click on joepamustgo.com and you’ll now find a search engine touting low-cost services for, among other things, vacation packages.

Joepamustgo, it appears, took the slow boat to China.

The folks at firejoepaterno.com are so conflicted they shamelessly cross-promote “How do you lose to Michigan?” with the promise of making the site a “shrine” to Joe Paterno should Penn State advance to a major bowl game this year.

Penn State is 7-1 and three wins from at least a share of the Big Ten title and earning the conference’s automatic bid to one of four prized bowl championship series games.

If the Nittany Lions defeat Purdue, Wisconsin and Michigan State, they will play in one of the following bowls: Fiesta, Sugar or Orange.

The schools that were supposed to win the Big Ten -- Iowa, Michigan, Ohio State, Purdue -- have a combined 13 losses overall.

Had Michigan not defeated Penn State on the last play in regulation, Penn State would be undefeated and in the mix for the Jan. 4 Rose Bowl, the national championship game.

The people who were climbing on soapboxes last season to say 77-year-old Joe Paterno was too old and needed to step down aren’t saying as much now that Paterno is almost 79.

Some of the Paterno-must-go websites have become cyberspace’s equivalent to Wild West towns that shriveled up after the gold was mined.

It appears the sheriff at “FireJoePa.com” left Dodge after Penn State started 5-0 with a win over Minnesota. He didn’t even stick around to update the Nittany Lions’ schedule after Penn State upset Ohio State.

It’s hard sometimes to blame those in the breathless brigade who shout for a paycheck, or type real hard on their computer keypads, for wanting Paterno gone because the demand for half-baked opinion has increased exponentially.

There are generally no rules of decorum in the wide world of Web, no respect for accomplishment, no quarter given to legends.

So, anyway, Paterno last week recorded win No. 350.

His Penn State team clobbered Illinois, 56-3, and that was only the first half.

Apologies from analysts and columnists don’t come as easily as the fire and brimstone.

ABC’s Craig James, who gave Paterno more rope than many when things were bleak, said he had no problem criticizing a Penn State program that had four losing seasons in the last five.

“I don’t think anyone owes him an apology, because they stunk,” James said of Paterno and Penn State.

And now they don’t.

“If you’re good and I blow your horn, when you stink I’ve got to blow it too,” James said.

James’ measured stance was that Paterno shouldn’t be fired but that he needed to step down before he hurt the program.

What people were missing through it all was that Paterno, in his 40th season at the Happy Valley helm, did not suddenly forget how to coach when he turned 75 -- he just hit a down cycle after 35 years of sustained excellence.

Three seasons ago, Penn State finished 9-4, losing two games in overtime, one by three points and another by four.

Even during the worst of it, the 3-9 low point in 2003 and last year’s 4-7, Paterno never lost control of his team the way, say, John Mackovic lost Arizona.

And rarely, if ever, did a Paterno team get played off its feet.

Penn State did not give up more than 21 points in any loss last year. The seven defeats were by 13 points or fewer.

It has all come together this year, just as Paterno thought it would. He has infused a veteran team led by quarterback Michael Robinson and lights-out (your lights) linebacker Paul Posluszny with his best freshman crop in years, led by Derrick Williams until he was lost for the year to injury.

Asked this week whether he ever thought he was washed up, Paterno related a story his father told him about a boxer never being finished unless he was knocked out.

Paterno was down but never knocked out.

“I don’t read the sports page, I don’t listen to those crazy talk shows,” he said. “I just don’t. I don’t have a computer. I don’t know what’s going on on the Internet. I just go out and coach.

“And people being critical of me, sure, you’re not winning games, they’re critical of you. I think that’s human nature. And everybody’s got to be an expert. Well, he didn’t do this, he should have done that, he’s over the hill, he’s that. I guess that’s what went on. But I didn’t pay attention to it, so it’s hard for me to tell you where they were coming from.”

There have been 766 major-college coaching changes since Paterno took over at Penn State in 1966.

Paterno offered this advice to the 23 new coaches this year.

“Know who you are,” he counseled, “and what you want to do. Stick with your plan and have enough guts to stay with it.”

In May 2004, Paterno signed a four-year contract extension through 2008.

Brace yourselves, because this could become the oldest story since Grandma Moses, who didn’t even start painting until she was 75.

And didn’t quit until she was 101.

Sneak Preview

It is not too early to wonder whether USC or Texas would win this year’s national title game at the Rose Bowl.

There is a sophisticated sense that, right now, Texas is the better team.

Out of deference to USC’s 29-game winning streak, some voters are reluctant to knock the Trojans off their perch, even if that’s how they feel.

Football analyst James admits to being torn.

“As an AP voter, I still put USC No. 1,” James said this week. “But I feel I’m doing it and not being fair to Texas. ... I do believe that Texas is the better team.”

James does not come easily to this belief, given that last season he thought another Big 12 South Division school was going to beat USC for the national title.

“I was absolutely wrong about the Orange Bowl,” James said about USC’s 55-19 victory over Oklahoma. “I think this is real different. I don’t think we can compare Texas to Oklahoma from last year.”

Is James wrong on this?

I’m not so sure after having seen Texas play three times in person this year and USC play twice.

Texas was impressive against Ohio State, Oklahoma and Texas Tech. I saw USC almost lose to Arizona State and Notre Dame.

James is right when he says attrition and injuries continue to weaken USC’s defense.

USC ranks No. 45 in total defense this week.

Only one team ranked in this week’s BCS top 10 has a worse defensive rating: UCLA at 89.

Texas or USC?

All we can do is ... wait and see.

Hurry-Up Offense

How come they didn’t think of this: There is an easy way to solve the annual bowl championship series standings snit-fits.

If, at the end of the season, there is no dispute in the human polls as to which teams are No. 1 and No. 2, those teams play for the national championship. End of story.

If USC is No. 1 in both polls and Texas is No. 2, that’s the game.

If Texas is No. 1 and USC is No. 2, that’s the game.

If Texas is No. 2 in one poll and No. 1 in the other, that’s the game.

You would use the BCS standings, basically the computer component, only if there were disagreement in the human polls.

Making this happen would involve adding one sentence in the BCS rule book.

In 2000, No. 1 Oklahoma would have played unanimous No. 2 Miami, not Florida State, a team Miami beat that year.

In 2001, No. 1 Miami would have played Oregon, which was No. 2 in both polls but ended up fourth in the BCS standings.

In 2003, unanimous No. 1 USC would have played No. 2 Louisiana State in the Sugar Bowl, instead of USC finishing No. 3 in the BCS and playing Michigan in the Rose.

No. 1 USC did play No. 2 Oklahoma last year and it was too bad for No. 3 Auburn, which was also undefeated. But Auburn was No. 3 in both polls. Unless there’s a playoff, that’s the best you can do.

* Are Southeastern Conference offenses that bad or the defenses that good?

Six SEC schools rank 16th or better in total defense. The highest-ranked SEC offense is Auburn at No. 31. Eight offenses from the conference rank No. 53 or worse.

People from the South will tell you they knock heads down there; people from the West will say the field-goal kicker can’t be your most valuable player.

* October is a busy month for most college teams, but not South Florida. When you add up the off weeks and hurricane postponements, the Bulls will have played one game between Oct. 1 and Nov. 5.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Big Ten race

Here’s what remains for the top teams in the Big Ten:

PENN STATE (7-1, 4-1)

* Purdue (Sat.)

* Wisconsin (Nov. 5)

* Off week

* at Mich. St. (Nov. 19)

WISCONSIN (7-1, 4-1)

* at Illinois (Sat.)

* at Penn St. (Nov. 5)

* Iowa (Nov. 12)