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Joe
Pa in Final Appearance Here?
We
don’t often give orders but today is an exception. On Saturday go see
Joe Paterno coach his Penn State football team
in the Metrodome. This might be your last chance to see the legendary
Joe Pa coaching in Minneapolis.
Here’s the scoop: Paterno is 79 years old and with a birthday coming in
December he is almost 80. After Saturday’s game, Penn State doesn’t
return to Minneapolis to play the Gophers until 2010. How far away is
that? Well, the Gophers will probably be playing their second season in
the new on-campus stadium. Joe Pa will be closing in on his 84th
birthday.
How
much longer Paterno will coach is not known but there is speculation
2008 may be his last season. He can’t go on forever, right? It just
seems like forever that Paterno has been part of college football. The
Brooklyn native joined the Penn State coaching staff in 1950 as an
assistant. He became head coach in 1966. He has been coaching at
Penn State longer than five Big Ten Conference head coaches have been
alive.
Along
the way Paterno became one of the enduring and positive faces of college
football. Untouched by recruiting and academic scandals, Paterno is the
second winningest coach in Division I-A history (357 wins) and has
forged a reputation for graduating players. He and his wife Sue
have been donors to the Penn State library.
Paterno has been featured on TV’s “60 Minutes” and graced the covers of
Sports Illustrated including last fall during his comeback season.
Having finished with losing seasons four of the past five previous
years, the heat was on Paterno in 2005 and his team responded by winning
11 of 12 games including a bowl victory over Florida State and coach
Bobby Bowden, the only Division I-A coach with more victories than
Joe Pa. Paterno was named AP Coach of the Year.
Penn
State comes to Minneapolis Saturday with a 3-2 record. The Nittany
Lions sometimes look sluggish on offense, but the defense is impressive
and the two losses have been to national powers Notre Dame and Ohio
State. A loss to the Gophers could easily point to yet another
disappointing season at Penn State and bring the critics storming back
to Paterno’s door.
When
the losses pile up the reaction of many Penn State followers is to say
Paterno is too old to be effective. Still, a man listens to Paterno on
media conference calls for a few weeks and there is no sign Joe Pa’s
memory and speech isn’t sharp. Watch him run on and off the field on
Saturdays with the rest of his team and coaches, and you marvel at the
“wheels” on this man who was born before the Great Depression. A few
years ago, disturbed by an official’s call in a game, Paterno ran hard
to catch up to the official and talk with him.
In
the Ohio State game earlier this season Paterno did something he’s never
done before. He ran off the field before the second quarter ended. He
was ill with flu, headed for the locker room and then returned to coach
in the second half.
It’s
hard to keep Joe Pa away from the game, whether it’s advancing age or
the flu bug. Still, the man with the nasally New York accent, oversize
nose and large 1970s glasses can’t go on forever. So go see him at the
dome on Saturday. |
