College Football National Championship

I don't agree with the system but this is the game of the year in College Football. I still haven't got over the 1975 Sugar Bowl. 4 times up the middle.

Go Irish beat the Tide.

WNEP- Proud to annoy 17 counties

WNEP just interrupted the Penn State v Virginia game to tell us it is going to rain and scare the  hell out of people over a slight chance of a tornado. This is the thing I hate about the local news. Be afraid, be very afraid. They don't cover what is going on in politics because the big news in such a large area is car crashes, fires and violent crimes with a cutesy story thrown in at the end.

If it bleeds it ledes.

The only time I watch the local news is election season just for the ads from the candidates.


Update:

From the inbox

Hi, Gort.

 

I saw your question to me on FB and did a little research before I responded.

 

“What is going on” is this:

 

I could not find any specific FCC rule or regulation that REQUIRES a broadcast television station to break into programming when there is severe weather. However, stations are mandated to serve the public interest in order to keep their licenses.

 

Broadcast television stations can basically break into regular programming at any time, for any reason. At WNEP, we have done so for breaking news events – such as significant developments in the Luzerne County Corruption case or Jerry Sandusky’s guilty verdict, or last year’s flooding. As far as I know, WNEP does not have a specific policy regarding when we will break in for news. It’s a case-by-case basis in terms of whether we will break in and how long we will stay on the air.

 

For severe weather, however, WNEP does have a specific policy and that is to break into programming when the National Weather Service issues a Tornado Warning (http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/#warning1 ) for any part of our viewing area, which, as you pointed out, is rather large. A tornado warning indicates either that a tornado has been spotted or that Doppler Radar has detected rotation in a storm system. In other words, if there’s a tornado warning in effect, then the threat of an actual tornado is very real. WNEP’s policy dictates that we stay on the air continuously until the tornado warning is either lifted or expires. Because we cover such a large area, we’re often dealing with situations where a tornado warning in one county may expire while warning in other counties are still in effect. If the first tornado warning is in central PA (e.g. Williamsport), we could be on the air for an extended time if the tornado warnings follow the system as it moves east. There have been occasions where one warning has expired and we’ve returned to programming only to cut in again a short time later because another tornado warning has been issued.

 

So, the answer to your question “what is going on” is that WNEP will always interrupt programming for a tornado warning because, when lives are in danger, we feel it serves the public’s interest to do so. This has been WNEP’s policy for several years and is, I believe, pretty standard stuff for broadcast stations that have news departments. Stations that don’t, rely on crawls.

 

Just as an FYI – and to your point about us “not covering politics,” we received A LOT more emails and phone calls when we broke into the Penn State game than we did a few nights ago when we broke into Michelle Obama’s speech at the convention.

College football Saturday

Penn State lost the season opener to a MAC team. They looked good in the first half but collapsed in the 2nd. It's going to be a long season and for the next 4 years and beyond.

Joe Pa RIP

Quick Hits

I've been on a bit of a vacation since the the New Year so I've been slacking off on the blog but my fellow local scribes have been doing their usual great work.

So what's going on.

Penn State hired a new head football coach. New England Patriots Offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien is the pick and some are upset that he doesn't have ties to the University. I think the whole idea is to bring in someone from the outside to clean house. CRV lists his positives and he is a Brown graduate like the last guy.

The new Luzerne County Government is having it's growing pains with Urban the Elder and Urban the Younger refusing to play nice with others. Surprise. The county council has to hire a permanent manager with the whole secrecy argument of the candidates identifies getting blown up by Jennifer in the TL. Do you really think that with this many people involved in the process they could keep a secret? I like the pick of Tom Pribula as the interim manager. I think he is the only person who ever resigned a Luzerne County job on principle when he wouldn't sign off on the last budget with fictitious revenues from land sales that never happened. Like PSU there seems to be a need to bring in an outsider not connected to the politics/power structure but if that doesn't work out Tom may be a good fallback. CFD has a report card and PB gives us a reporter's view.

The new Turkey Hill in Plains is almost complete. Mrs. G says " I wish it was still the ACME."

Sports Weekend

A great scene before the kickoff of the Penn State-Nebraska game. Both teams took a knee at midfield and said a prayer for the victims of Jerry Sandusky. The reporting on the teevee is that it was the idea of the Nebraska players.

Nebraska is one of the class acts of college football as PSU has always been. When I was stationed in Omaha, Nebraska in 1979 a pal of mine scored 2 tickets to see the Lions play the Conrnhuskers in Lincoln. Dressed in my Penn State gear we headed into Memorial stadium not knowing what to expect as I had been treated rudely at other sporting events for wearing the "wrong" colors. A man and a woman decked out in Go Big Red attire yelled at us "hey Penn State fans" and I thought "here we go." I shied away not wanting to get into it but they came up to us, offered a handshake and said welcome to Lincoln. After chatting for bit about where we from we told them we were stationed at Offutt AFB then things got really good. They called over a couple of students who took us to our seats and the people sitting around us were great. We didn't pay for a soda or a hot dog that day. The price we paid was some good natured ribbing as Nebraska won big 42-17.

Well the Lions came up short yesterday as the defense played great again but the offense came up short missing a 1st quarter FG that came back to haunt them. Final Nebraska 17 PSU 14. All is not lost because if the Lions can win the final 2 games they will be in the Big 10 Championship game. Next week's game is against a Ohio State team that lost to Purdue but they finish against the Wisconsin scoring machine.

In Baseball news the Phillies signed Jim Thome to a 1 year deal giving them a home run threat off the bench. He hasn't played the field in a few years but gives them an option at 1B waiting for Ryan Howard to recover from surgery. I like it. They also signed Jonathon Papelbon to a 4 year $50 million deal to be the closer after not being able to agree to terms with Ryan Madson that has some fans howling. I always thought that Madson would be the closer of the future as he proved his worth this year. The Phillies don't have a good history dealing with his agent Scott Boras remember the JD Drew thing.

The Eagles blow another 4th quater lead and the Stillers win.

Joe Pa out

BREAKING: Joe Paterno out at Penn State

Many people have called for Joe Paterno to step down over the last few years but nobody thought it would end like this. If anything the people I know predicted that the only way you would get him off the football field would be on a stretcher. I'm not going to join the lynch mob calling for his head as I'm not sure exactly what Mike McQueary told him. The Board of Trustees caved into the media frenzy without doing a proper investigation.

Bloggers have drawn parallels to the Catholic Church scandal.

Bless Them Father For They Have Sinned.

The Least Of Our Brethren

I can't put my finger on it but I remember hearing stories about Jerry Sandusky's bad behavior a few years ago.

Colege Football Saturday

Penn State beat Cupcake U 41-7 today as expected. The defense was solid giving up a late touchdown when the 3rd and 4th team players were on the field. The running game clicked with Silas Redd getting his 2nd 100 yard game and 2 touchdowns and the fullbacks pounded it inside when they needed to. They didn't have to throw often but I thought Matt McGloin looked a lot better than Rob Bolden when they did. Paterno doesn't like to play 2 QB's and I think McGloin will be the starter the rest of the year. The kicking game was a problem with Evan Lewis missing 2 field goals an a extra point and had some week kickoffs. Freshman Sam Ficken kicked the last PAT and may get a chance going forward.

Auburn came storming back to beat Utah State 42-38. I remember when Utah State came into Happy Valley in the the 70's and knocked off the Lions. Next weeks opponent Alabama took care of business beating the Akron Zips (love the nickname) 48-7. PSU will be a big underdog against Alabama next week and I'm not optimistic but that's why you play the games, anything can happen.

In baseball news the Phillies are 42 games over .500 for the first time in history with the best record in MLB. The pitching has been great all year as expected and now the bats are heating up. Having the best record doesn't always translate to success in the post season (Seatle Mariners) but it doesn't hurt.

Kanjo fumbles

Congressman Paul Kanjorski didn't sign a letter a letter endorsing Penn State Coach Joe Paterno for the Presidential Medal of Freedom and all hell has broken loose.

A few years ago Steve Spurier referred to our beloved football coach as "Saint Joe" in a derogatory way and he had to apologize.

Dissing Joe Pa will not win you any votes.


Lou Barletta

Paul Kanjorski

Sports weekend

The Yanks and Angels are rained out so we will have to wait another day to find who will have honor of losing to the Phillies in World Series.


Penn State wins for the first time in a long time at the Big House 35-10. I'm surprised. I expected a closer game but I'm not complaining.

Alabama holds off Tennessee on a blocked FG winning 12-10. The Vatican Bowl is going down to last minute with Notre Dame beating Boston College 20-16.

Phargon Phillies Phinish in Phirst

The unsung hero of the team this year was Jason Werth. He came up just short of the century mark for RBI's (99) and runs scored (97). Jason got a hit when they needed one and finished with 36 HR's and 20 stolen bases. He also made the All-Star team for the first time in his career.

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I'm not too optimistic about the Phillies chances this post-season but anything can happen in baseball. The last 2 years they had to fight their way into the playoffs and were red hot in September but this year the Sept/Oct record is 19-16. Let's hope that this resting the starters strategy works. But if your closer gives you a heart attack every time he takes the mound the only thing you can do is put a towel on your head and hope for the best.

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In other sports news the Eagles were off this week and the Cowboys lost. Penn State took care of business clobbering Illinois 35-17 and will play cupcake U next week then they get into the meat of the Big Ten schedule with Minnesota coming to Beaver Stadium and a trip to the Big House after that to play Michigan.

Don't Panic

So Penn State lost to Iowa. They always lose to Iowa. I thought that the offense was suspect after the first 3 games and it was shut down by Iowa after the first quarter and made some mistakes in the fourth that cost them the game.

Remember that in college football it's better to lose a game in September than in November. Many one loss teams have played in the Rose Bowl and for the national championship. If Penn State can win out through the rest of the schedule they will climb back in the polls. I know it's a tall order with a trip to Ann Arbor and the Buckeye's at home but it is possible.

The Phillies continue the heart attack September and this guy keeps reminding us of the 1964 collapse. The previous 3 years they were hot red hot in September but this year they are playing .500 ball because of late inning bullpen meltdowns and will probably limp into the playoffs.

The Eagles are running that funky high school offense with direct snaps to the running backs and option plays. It worked well this week as they downed the mighty KC Chiefs 34-14. All eyes were on Michael Vick but he was mostly a decoy playing only 11 snaps. Kevin Kolb threw for 327 yards and two touchdowns, LeSean McCoy had 84 yards rushing and one TD, and DeSean Jackson and Brent Celek each had 100-plus yards receiving. The defense was solid limiting Matt Cassell to just 90 yards passing and held Larry Johnson in check.

Back to Michael Vick. He committed unspeakable crimes against animals but I believe in redemption. He paid the price by going to prison and remember that there are 2 players in the NFL that were involved in the murders of human beings that are allowed to play. Mrs. G and Quincy are not so forgiving of Vick.

Sports weekend

Penn State won it's first game over the Akron Zips 31-7. Most rabid Nittany Lion fans thought it should have been a lot worse.

The defense was solid as expected but the offense misfired all day after getting a lead. The thing that worries me was the inability to run the ball but we may find out that Akron's defensive is better than expected. As all college football fans know the biggest improvement happens between the 1st and 2nd week. Syracuse lost a close one to Minnesota but I expect the Lions to handle them.

Oklahoma lost a close one to BYU 14-13 and their Heisman Trophy QB went down. They will bounce back against Idaho State next week. Navy gave Ohio State a game but came up short. Maybe this is the year that Navy finally beats Notre Dame. We are looking forward to November 7 when the Lions take on the Buckeyes and I hope there are not any surprises before that. This weekend Ohio State plays USC at home. I don't understand why Big Ten and Pac 10 teams play each other in the regular season because if you win your conference you will get to meet in the Rose Bowl.

The other service acadamies won their openers. Army 27, E. Michigan 14 Air Force 72, Nicholls St. 0

Being an Air Force vet I always want to see the Falcons win the Commander in Chief's Trophy.

The Phillies continue to piss me off, like that's news. They get swept by the Astros. You got to score some runs guys. Cliff Lee got clobbered again and Brad Lidge blew his 10th save on Saturday. Even when he actually saves a game it is an adventure. How may teams can put up with a closer that has a 7.15 ERA and 0-7 record.

The State University of New Jersey (birthplace of college football) got shellacked by Cincinnati 47-15. I guess I like Rutgers because they were so bad for so long and it's good to see a program turn it around. Hear that Temple! They have upgraded the stadium and filled the seats for the opener. I would go to see a game in Piscataway but I have made it a policy to never go to New Jersey on purpose. There is a reason why the Statue of Liberty has her back to the place.

The Phillies parade

Chase Utley will forever be remembered for his eloquence.


"World Champions! World Fucking Champions."



The fans erupted and cheered for several minutes.


I know how you feel pal. I'm still riding a Phillie's high.


This a pretty good sports year. The Phillies win the World Series and Penn State is still undefeated with a shot at the National Championship. Now if we can get a Eagles-Steelers matchup in the Super Bowl that would be sweet. And in my other favorite contact sport it looks like the Democrat's will win the White House.

Phils up 2-1

You never know with baseball. The worst hitter on the team this season has been the Phillies best hitter in the World Series. Carlos Ruiz hit a dribbler down the 3rd base line that scored the winning run in the bottom of the 9th. He also hit a home run. The "old man" Jamie Moyer went into the 7th still throwing his slop and the bullpen gave up a run. Just win baby. We have Blanton going for us tonight and the big bats came alive yesterday.

In other sports news the Pennsylvania State University football team defeated the Ohio State Buckeyes 13-6 for the first win in Columbus in 7 tries. Defense wins. Now we need Alabama or Texas to lose to get into the national championship game. The rest of regular season schedule looks like it favors the Lions with only Michigan State playing well now. We should blow through Iowa and Indiana then win the (bleh) Land Grant Trophy.

The Eagles have knocked off the Falcons 27-14 and now we need the Stillers to beat the Gints to make it a successful Pennsylvania sports weekend.

Another Dilemma

The 3rd game of the World Series between the Phillies and Rays is scheduled to start at the same time the Ohio State- Penn State game will kick off.

Top 10 Reasons Penn State will defeat Ohio State

GrassrootsPA scores a touchdown with this one.


RocktheCapital.org’s Top 10 Reasons Penn State will defeat Ohio State…



10) Penn State is a “blue state.”

9) Our coaches know how to tackle opposingplayers.

8.) Bethlehem is holier than Toledo.

7) We know how to complete both ends of a stadium.

6) Tom Corbett promised not to indict any of ourplayers until after the season.

5) Howard Dean has accused Columbus of being a“terrorist,” Columbus is in Ohio, therefore Ohio Stateis “unfit” to win. Bottom line: Another BCS gamefeaturing the Buckeyes constitutes cruel and unusualpunishment.

4) They have Beanie Wells we have oil wells.

3) Jim Tressel’s wardrobe was stolen from Mr. Rogers.

2) PHEAA bought Ohio State’s pom-poms.

1) Joe the Plumber is our coach.

The Blue Royster Cult

Penn State finally beat Michigan after 9 years of just coming up short. Evan Royster had 174 yards rushing with a big TD in the 2nd quater, I wonder why isn't he mentioned in the Heisman talk.

In the second quarter the PSU defense took over the game and the offense poured it on in the 2nd half scoring 32 points.


The star of this game was the Lion defense. PSU 46 Michigan 17.

YouTube weekend

Penn State beat Perdue 20-6 today. The day I married my bride they beat Purdue 22-20 and we celebrated in the limo by sipping champagne after the ceremony. We just passed our anniversary and this was our wedding song.





Simple Minds "Alive and kicking"

Are you ready for some football?

I'm not. Penn State will open with Coastal Carolina at Noon today and it should be a blowout. I love football but always have mixed emotions when the season starts because it means the end of summer. With all the political news I haven't paid much attention to this year's Nittany Lion team but will catch up with the help of the PennLive PSU blog.

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The good news is that Comcast and the Big Ten Network have made a deal so I don't have to wander out to find the game on TV. I'm still thinking about getting a dish but Mrs. G has threatened to strangle me with the all the new wires that would be involved.

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A few months ago Comcast told us that to view Turner Classic Movies and Toon Disney we would have to get a box because of a technical problem that forced them to move them to a digital format. When we were on vacation in Delaware both channels were on the basic cable without the need for a box. Somehow I think that that we have been lied to.