Of all the coverage of the Penn State meltdown I've watched in this last week of madness — and I've honestly tried to watch as little possible; the story is so profoundly depressing that it damages one's soul just to think about it — the thing that keeps sticking with me is an interview Rick Pizzo of the Big Ten Network did with Joe McIntyre, a student who covers football for the Penn State Daily Collegian. In the wake of all the shockingly ill-considered student protests, McIntyre was the stand-in for The Student Body, a representative to an outside adult world wondering what in the hell is wrong with you kids? McIntyre played the part perfectly, earnest explaining that students were upset that Joe Paterno was fired via telephone call, that the football team was trying to win a Big Ten championship and this was a distraction, that Paterno should be able to go out "on his own terms" and all sorts of other things that absolutely didn't matter a goddamned bit. This is a good kid who just wants to be at Penn State and write about football and party and have fun, and he has probably wanted to do all those things since he first learned what any of them were. All that has been blown up in four days. He wasn't ready to say goodbye to it, and no one else was either.
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The Sports Section
The Week the NBA Labor Talks Continued
By Joe DeLessioThis week, the Knicks should have played games against the Pistons, Thunder, and Hawks, but instead, hoops fans had no choice but to follow news of revenue splits, ultimatums, and marginally sweetened offers. (They could also follow along with our PlayStation 3 simulations of the Knicks season, though an injury to video-game Carmelo Anthony means that even fans of the virtual Knicks are depressed these days.) But what happened this week that didn't involve system issues?
The Jets Look to Punch the Pats Into Oblivion
By Will LeitchThe AFC is a strange place this year. The Colts are winless. The Chargers have lost four in a row. Only the Steelers and the Ravens remain among traditional AFC powers. And the Patriots look more wobbly than they have in nearly a decade. The Jets can put their boots on their throats this weekend, in the most satisfying way possible: By pushing them around.
The Giants Face Another Tough Game Sunday
By Joe DeLessioThe Giants have played half of their sixteen games, so now seems like a good time to consider how much the perception of this team has changed since the preseason. Multiple injuries — not to mention a couple of players lost via free-agency — meant plenty of bad vibes then, and their Week One loss to Washington didn't do much to boost anyone's confidence. But now, at the halfway point of the regular season, things are going as well as anyone could have hoped: At 6-2, they're two games ahead of the second-place team in the NFC East, and their brutal mid-season stretch began with a thrilling win over New England last week.
So What’s Going on With Marc Staal?
By Joe DeLessioTonight, the Hurricanes are in town to play the Rangers, which means Carolina captain Eric Staal will face the Blueshirts for the first time since delivering the hit that injured his brother Marc last February. Marc has yet to play for the Rangers this season, and hasn’t even practiced with the team since training camp, as he deals with the effects of a concussion he suffered from that hit from his brother. The Rangers, meanwhile, have remained mum on the status of their top defenseman, and so information about his health has been scarce.
The NBA Makes Its Final Offer Again
By Seth RosenthalHere's a rough refresher on what has happened in the last few days of the NBA lockout. At the beginning of the week, players' union officials met their constituents with a proposal from the owners in hand and David Stern's "take this by Wednesday evening or we burn the whole thing down" ultimatum hanging over their heads. Those union members present decided that the proposal's push for a 50-50 split of basketball-related income would only be acceptable (i.e. worth a union vote) with the loosening of other "system issues" that set limits on teams' ability to spend, as well as players' ability to earn and to move between teams. So, the union reps went back to the league looking for those revisions, and the two parties met for most of Wednesday and Thursday. Negotiations went right through Stern's supposed deadline until they broke late last night. Then, yet another turning point (or perhaps a tipping point) was established.
Amar’e and Carmelo Visit Sesame Street
By Joe DeLessioIt could be a while before you see Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire play basketball in a real NBA game. (Heck, it'll be two to four weeks until you can again see highlights of video-game Carmelo shot by Will using his iPhone. Things are really bleak these days for hoops fans.) But at least you can watch this clip of Carmelo and Amar'e from an episode of Sesame Street set to air tomorrow, and know that they can both totally still drain a mid-range jumper and show proper form on a layup, not to mention correctly define the word "compare." Also, even after watching the clip below, there's no doubt in our mind that Isiah Thomas would have offered Grover at least a three-year contract.
Virtual Knicks Win ... but Lose Carmelo
By Will LeitchAs we explained last week, we are dealing with the (never going to end) NBA lockout by simulating the Knicks season on NBA2K12 on our PlayStation 3 and posting the results here, as if they were actual games. So! Last night the Knicks were supposed to play in Atlanta in their fifth game of the season. And it's time for the old good news–bad news lede. First, the good: The Knicks pulled off a terrific 95-91 win, thanks to nineteen points and fifteen rebounds by Amar'e Stoudemire and an excellent fourth-quarter comeback, capped off by a Bill Walker three-pointer with twenty seconds left to give the Knicks a four-point lead. The win puts the fake Knicks at 3-2 on the season. Now, the double-plus ungood news: In the third quarter, virtual Carmelo Anthony went down with an injury; video game Carmelo looks so helpless when he's hurt. After the game, sideline reporter Doris Burke came back with the diagnosis: A sprained ankle that will keep him out two to four weeks. Which means now we have to watch our video game play itself with Derrick Brown in the lineup rather than Carmelo Anthony. The virtual Knicks just can't catch a break! We'll be back Monday with a report from Saturday's Carmelo-less home game against the Pacers.
Jorge Posada Thinks There’s No Chance He’ll Be Back With the Yankees
By Joe DeLessioPerhaps there was never much chance of Jorge Posada remaining with the Yankees beyond the four-year contract that expired at the end of the 2011 season. But if you had to pinpoint the moment that the countdown truly began on Posada's Yankees career, you'd probably focus on last offseason, when he was told by Brian Cashman that the team planned to use him strictly as a designated hitter. There were, of course, other indications that his time in pinstripes was drawing to a close: The attempt to drop him to ninth in the batting order (and the unpleasantness that followed), the decision in August to no longer use him as the everyday DH, and, in a sense, even the strong debut of Jesus Montero, who's primed to take on an increased role next season.
"I don't think there is even a percentage of a chance that I can come back."
Steve Lavin Returns to the St. John’s Bench
By Joe DeLessioSt. John's beat Lehigh last night to improve their record to 2-0, but the highlight of the evening came not during the Red Storm's second-half rally, but before the game even started: Steve Lavin, who on October 6 underwent surgery for prostate cancer, returned to the St. John's bench for the first time this season. Lavin — who had returned to practice earlier in the week — caught fans by surprise, and his entrance inspired chants of "We love Lavin!" from those among the crowd of 4,409 who arrived in time for tip-off.
Lavin said afterwards he'd been planning to return this coming Sunday.