Breaking with Tradition
http://www.atomicsportsmedia.com/articles/204/1/Breaking-with-Tradition.html
Megan Tomlin
Megan Tomlin is a senior journalism major at Penn State University. She is also a member of the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State. Megan is a lifelong fan of the Nittany Lions and the New York Yankees.
By Megan Tomlin
Published on 03/5/2006
Tradition is important in Happy Valley. Penn Staters have a long and storied history. But Atomic Sports columnist Megan Tomlin says it took an old man changing his stripes for the Lions to build on past success.
Traditions are a huge part of sports today, whether it’s a team of grown men shaving their heads or simply everyone on a roster getting together to eat lunch on game day. It's always "cool" to have a tradition that everyone can bond around. But instead of celebrating tradition, one man seems to receive plenty of criticism for his habitual behavior.
Penn State head coach Joe Paterno isn’t just old, he’s also old-fashioned.
There are some traditions that Penn Staters love. No names on the jerseys? O.K. we support the idea of team unity above individual fame. JoePa leading the run from the tunnel every game? Makes sense. After all, he is a celebrity in Happy Valley… and the head coach. Eating at Toftrees before home games and having the starting quarterback sit next to him on the bus? A little odd, but a few personality quirks never hurt anyone. Not recruiting an athlete from a junior college? Well, that certainly reduces the amount of talent on the field. Not starting freshmen or letting them talk to the press? Now that’s just plain ridiculous!
This is one tradition that the Blue and White don't support, especially when the team struggles with talented freshman acting as water boys on the sideline.
It got so bad that when Zack Mills stepped onto the field, the student section would yell "pass incomplete" before he even had a chance to throw the football, while fans clamored for freshman Anthony Morelli. After much criticism and a few hits to his credibility, JoePa finally gave playing time to the freshman quarterback, only to play him enough to ruin his red-shirt status and have him sit out for the rest of the season. Paterno obviously knows more about football than anyone sitting in the stands, but wasn't this one of the country’s top quarterback recruits?
But as the losses and criticism mounted, JoePa had an awakening. Despite the “he’s too old to recruit” sentiment many fans and media were anxious to hang on Paterno, he managed to recruit the "Fantastic Four." And even better that that...HE LET THEM PLAY!
JoePa’s reward for shrugging off the shackles of decades of tradition? Wins. And plenty of them, including an Orange Bowl triumph over Florida State for the Lions’ first bowl win since 1999 in the Alamo Bowl.
Tradition is important in Happy Valley, but this time it was even more important to break them. So the Lions fans only have one final piece of advice for JoePa: Roll up your pant legs a little higher and keep wading through the kiddie pool. You never know when you might strike Orange.
Megan Tomlin is a columnist for Atomic Sports Media. She is a junior journalism major at Pennsylvania State University and works in the Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State. Megan can be reached at megan.tomlin@atomicsportsmedia.com.
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Tradition is important in Happy Valley. Penn Staters have a long and storied history. But Atomic Sports columnist Megan Tomlin says it took an old man changing his stripes for the Lions to build on past success.
 |
Traditions are a huge part of sports today, whether it’s a team of grown men shaving their heads or simply everyone on a roster getting together to eat lunch on game day. It's always "cool" to have a tradition that everyone can bond around. But instead of celebrating tradition, one man seems to receive plenty of criticism for his habitual behavior.
Penn State head coach Joe Paterno isn’t just old, he’s also old-fashioned.
There are some traditions that Penn Staters love. No names on the jerseys? O.K. we support the idea of team unity above individual fame. JoePa leading the run from the tunnel every game? Makes sense. After all, he is a celebrity in Happy Valley… and the head coach. Eating at Toftrees before home games and having the starting quarterback sit next to him on the bus? A little odd, but a few personality quirks never hurt anyone. Not recruiting an athlete from a junior college? Well, that certainly reduces the amount of talent on the field. Not starting freshmen or letting them talk to the press? Now that’s just plain ridiculous!
This is one tradition that the Blue and White don't support, especially when the team struggles with talented freshman acting as water boys on the sideline.
It got so bad that when Zack Mills stepped onto the field, the student section would yell "pass incomplete" before he even had a chance to throw the football, while fans clamored for freshman Anthony Morelli. After much criticism and a few hits to his credibility, JoePa finally gave playing time to the freshman quarterback, only to play him enough to ruin his red-shirt status and have him sit out for the rest of the season. Paterno obviously knows more about football than anyone sitting in the stands, but wasn't this one of the country’s top quarterback recruits?
But as the losses and criticism mounted, JoePa had an awakening. Despite the “he’s too old to recruit” sentiment many fans and media were anxious to hang on Paterno, he managed to recruit the "Fantastic Four." And even better that that...HE LET THEM PLAY!
JoePa’s reward for shrugging off the shackles of decades of tradition? Wins. And plenty of them, including an Orange Bowl triumph over Florida State for the Lions’ first bowl win since 1999 in the Alamo Bowl.
Tradition is important in Happy Valley, but this time it was even more important to break them. So the Lions fans only have one final piece of advice for JoePa: Roll up your pant legs a little higher and keep wading through the kiddie pool. You never know when you might strike Orange.
Megan Tomlin is a columnist for Atomic Sports Media. She is a junior journalism major at Pennsylvania State University and works in the Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State. Megan can be reached at megan.tomlin@atomicsportsmedia.com.