Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Blue White Roundtable

It was my turn to write the questions this week. I have no excuse for why they are so poorly written and why I posted my responses so late. The only thing I can say is: NCAA 08 is extremely good. If I were you, and I hadn't bought it yet, I'd gouge out my eyes in shame. Also peep BSD, RUTS, and the Nittany Line for their answers! On to the excellence!
Throw out a Big Ten team to watch (a surprise) and an overrated team. Any explanation would be appreciated.
I think Illinois will be a much improved team this year. Zook may not be much of a coach but he has improved the athletic talent at that school 100%. They won't be great, but they could surprise some folks. As for overrated, I'll have to say Ohio State. Now, this isn't a situation where I think Tosu will be bad. I just think after all the talent on last year's offense is now playing pro football they will have a down year for Ohio State. Then again, I said that last year about Tosu on defense and it seemed to work out pretty well for them.
How much attention do you pay to recruiting and do you think too much or not enough attention is paid to recruiting in general?
I pay pretty close attention. I wanna know how PSU is doing out on the trail. While bringing in 1000 5-star recruits doesn't guarantee a national championship it does let you know how your program is perceived in certain parts of the country. (when was the last time PSU landed a stud from California?) Being competitive in recruiting is just as important as being competitive on the field. However, too much attention is paid to recruiting. These are high school kids. Some will be great, most will do nothing.
There seems to be tension between older and younger Penn State fans, which camp do you fall into and what is your position on the other side?
I'm going to hedge and say: I fall right in the middle. I love the fact that the rest of the country perceives Happy Valley as a tough place to play. When I was younger, and going to Penn State, it wasn't regarded as nearly as tough a venue. However, I wish the younger fans could focus their intensity inside the stadium and make it hard for the opposing team to hear but remain gracious hosts during the tailgate.
Talk a little about your favorite tradition surrounding Penn State football.
For me, It is Beaver Stadium itself. The thing is big. Old. Skeletal. And awesome. I have felt it move during big plays. With the editions, it really seems to trap noise and help deafen opposing teams. It is a great stadium and hopefully will be Penn State's home for many more years.
If you had to win ONE GAME of NCAA 2008 which team would you choose and why?
I'd have to go with USC. They are pretty much stacked at every position.
Which non-PSU blog do you read everyday (extra points are awarded for going off the beaten path).
This clearly isn't a small time blog struggling for success, however, if you don't read EDSBS every day then you are dead inside.
If you had to choose between being a fan of The Ohio State University, The University of Michigan, and Notre Dame who would you choose and why?

I thought about this, it is the toughest question of the week, and i decided: Michigan. Because then I'd still have a fantastic reason to hate Ohio State!

GO STATE! GET FIRED UP FOR THE FALL!

4 comments:

PSUgirl said...

Nice job JD!

Beaver Stadium has (in my experience) always had the capability to get pretty darn loud - and it's always been considered a "tough" place to play - heck, just getting to State College is enough to drive teams crazy. My dad's section got pretty rowdy, and I have childhood memories of sections other than (the) student (section) passing up the Lion. The West stands, on the other hand, has, over time, been infiltrated by a much more boisterous population - Pop used to always make fun of their polite patter of applause - as the Blue Band played to the press box.

Nick said...

Man, BSD was right. Your second roundtable and hawt chicks are already throwing themselves at you.

JB said...

It's JB, but who's counting? Beaver Stadium can be and is loud. However, i've also heard those 100,000 people be very quiet.

PSUgirl said...

I know it's JB - but, apparently, my keyboard disagrees.