Joe Paterno has been the Coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions for longer than I’ve been alive. And, while I grew up in New Jersey, my family came from Pennsylvania and those ties still led me to root for Penn State even when they played my own Scarlet Knights back in the years before Penn State joined the Big Ten. Heck, but for a few flukes and a bit of luck, I would’ve gone to Penn State over Rutgers in a heartbeat.
Anyway, the New York Times has an interesting article about Paterno, who is now in his 42nd year as Head Coach:
Joe and Sue Paterno have not seen a movie in a theater since “Titanic” and watch so little television that they were delighted to stumble upon a show this spring that they had not seen before.
“We discovered ‘M*A*S*H,’ ” Sue Paterno said, laughing. “I had heard about it, but I didn’t know what it was about.”
Much like a TV show that lives forever in syndication, Joe Paterno keeps showing up on the sideline each fall as Penn State’s football coach. And he is showing again that he is just as timeless.
A national audience will tune in to Penn State’s game against Notre Dame at Beaver Stadium on Saturday and see Paterno’s classic tie, oversize glasses and black coaching shoes on the sideline for the 42nd consecutive season.
They will see an 80-year-old who in the last few years has overcome health problems, an attempted overthrow by his superiors and a dearth of talent that resulted in four losing seasons in five years. But thanks to days that begin at 3:30 a.m. and a resurgence in recruiting, Penn State’s place among college football’s elite has popped up like a familiar rerun.
After the chaos of the first week of the season, Penn State’s two toughest September opponents — Notre Dame and Michigan — look vulnerable after ugly losses. That means that Saturday’s game with the Fighting Irish could launch Penn State (1-0) into national title contention.
“I stay in it because of games like this,” Paterno said in a recent telephone interview. “It’s fun.”
Not withstanding the fact that I cheered like hell when the Buckeyes beat Penn State last September Paterno is the kind of guy you just have to respect. He’s spent more time coaching football than most other coaches have even been alive, and he’s done pretty darn good at it.
And if he manages to find a way to beat Michigan this year, that would be very nice.
My grandparents had season tickets (40-yard line; ’bout halfway up) for years, and obviously were diehard Penn State fans, but you’ll be pleased to know, Doug, that my grandfather said much the same thing about Woody Hayes, and told a great story about hearing him speak and meeting him once.