Penn State pays tribute to Paterno
NCAA Football Betting Lines
01/26/2012 - University Park, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - If there was a common thread for Thursday's public memorial service for Joe Paterno, it's that he was much more than a football coach.
He might have recorded 409 victories during a 46-year tenure as the Nittany Lions' head coach, but he was also a major proponent of academics and achieving success with honor, not merely winning.
Everybody who spoke -- former players from across the decades, the dean of Penn State's College of the Liberal Arts, students, Paterno's son Jay -- stressed the effect Paterno had on their lives off the football field, right up until he died Sunday from lung cancer at the age of 85.
The praise of Paterno's integrity ran counter to the criticism he faced in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child-sex abuse case -- that he didn't do enough to stop the alleged abuse. The school's trustees fired Paterno in November over the phone.
But most of the praise indirectly served as a reminder that Paterno was a man of generosity and integrity. Nike chairman Phil Knight, on the other hand, directly addressed and challenged criticism of Paterno, a man he said was his hero.
"In the year in question it turns out he gave full disclosure to his superiors, information that went up the chain to the head of the campus police and the president of the school," Knight said. "The matter was in the hands of a world-class university and by a president with an outstanding national reputation.
"Whatever the details of the investigation are, this much is clear to me: there is a villain in this tragedy, and it lies in that investigation, not in Joe Paterno's response to it."
Knight then received a standing ovation from the crowd at Penn State's Bryce Jordan Center. Jay Paterno later said his father left the world with a "clear conscience."
Paterno's firing was extremely controversial and polarizing, prompting some to staunchly defend the former head coach and blame the trustees for succumbing to pressure, while others saw the firing as justified. Still others saw Paterno as a good man who made a grave mistake.
Knight was referring to how Paterno, after being told in 2002 by an assistant that he saw Sandusky sexually abusing a young boy in the university showers, brought the matter to his Penn State bosses.
Paterno, in the Washington Post interview published January 14, said he didn't know how to handle hearing the report and wasn't sure he would have been able to comprehend the graphic details, if the assistant -- Mike McQueary -- had described them. Paterno said he was unsure of how to handle the information he had, and backed away after turning over the information.
Sandusky, an assistant coach at Penn State from 1969-99, faces more than 50 counts of charges that he sexually abused young boys, as recently as 2009.
The scandal changed how some judged his career and, coming so close to his death, affected Paterno's decades-old legacy as one of Pennsylvania's most admired public figures.
But Thursday's memorial was not only a chance for family and friends to remember Paterno, but to burnish his legacy.
Former players Kenny Jackson, Todd Blackledge, Charlie Pittman, Jimmy Cefalo, Chris Marrone and Michael Robinson were among the speakers, each representing a decade of Paterno's coaching career. Current linebacker Mike Mauti also spoke.
Each described the affect Paterno had on their lives. Pittman told a story about how Paterno once pushed him so hard he was in tears, and wanted to return home. But Pittman's father talked him out of it, and Pittman played for Penn State's undefeated teams in 1968 and '69.
"Joe wasn't trying to build perfection," said Pittman, whose son later went on to play for the Nittany Lions. "He was bit-by-bit building a habit of excellence. He was building a proud program for the school, the state, and the hundreds of men he looked over for a half century."
Paterno's program came to be known as the 'Grand Experiment,' which included the pursuit of athletic and academic success.
Cefalo, a Penn State receiver in the 1970s, told a story of how he finished his degree during his junior year, and was going to enjoy his senior year after finishing the football season.
He recalled Paterno saying, "Look at this class schedule! This is beneath you."
Each tribute described how Paterno changed people's lives for the better, and most featured a specific moment when the speakers realized Paterno's influence.
It was Blackledge being encouraged to stick with the team despite having a bad roommate, with whom he later won a national title. It was Cefalo walking into his parents' house to tell them he had decided to attend another school, only to see Paterno sitting there, eating pasta and drinking wine. It was Robinson not knowing much about Paterno before sitting down with the coach, and realizing Paterno wasn't lying to him, wasn't promising anything more than a chance to play and a quality education.
It was Susan Welch, dean of Penn State's College of Liberal Arts, recalling a breakfast when Paterno stressed the importance of the school's classics department. It was Lauren Perrotti, a Paterno fellow at Penn State, remembering how the former head coach thanked her after she thanked him for funding she received through the fellows program.
Jay Paterno gave the final speech of the service, an emotional tribute that went from describing Joe's love for his wife, Sue, to Joe's drive to make an impact on people's lives.
"Fame and power never touched his soul," Jay said, "In the end, he takes his integrity with him forever."
On Sunday, Jay Paterno kissed his father and whispered into his ear that he had won, he had done enough and could go home now.
And on Thursday afternoon, as a lone trumpeter closed the service by slowly playing 'Hail to the Lions' before tens of thousands of people in honor of Joe Paterno, it was clear where home was.
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MySportsbook.com Releases World Series Championship Lines
New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox early favorites to win 2008 World Series
The Major League Baseball season starts this weekend and MySportsbook.com, a leading online sportsbook for over 8 years, is the first to offer baseball sports betting lines on who will win the 2007 World Series.
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Going in to this weekend, MySportsbook.com's favorites to win the World Series are the New York Yankees at 7-2 and last year’s winners the Chicago White Sox at 9-2.
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Will Ohio State continue to run the table in College Football betting odds?
MySportsbook.com favors Buckeyes, Fighting Irish and Golden Bears in this weekend's big games.
NEW YORK, NY, Sept. 21 - My Sportsbook NCAA football fans: things are beginning to get really interesting on college football's national stage. Following last weekend's "Separation Saturday", which included five teams ranked in the top 15 dropping games, the BCS Championship picture is beginning to take shape - with Ohio State leading the charge. And, according to odds makers at MySportsbook.com, the number-one-ranked Buckeyes will continue their winning ways this weekend.
Revenge will be the name of the game in Columbus this Saturday, as Ohio State looks to even the score following last season's loss to Joe Paterno's Nittany Lions. Although Penn State are listed as 16.5 point underdogs, they are 11-10 all-time versus the Buckeyes. Paterno and the Lions, however, will have to shut down Heisman Trophy favorite Troy Smith who has thrown for 769 yards and seven touchdowns this season.
Speaking of revenge, Notre Dame will be out for some against Michigan State, following last year's 44 - 41 overtime loss to the Spartans in South Bend. The thirteenth-ranked Irish, listed as a 3-point favorite, will also be looking to avenge last Saturday's thrashing from the Michigan Wolverines. The Spartans, meanwhile, have won seven of the last nine match-ups against Notre Dame and are coming off an impressive 38-23 victory over Pittsburgh.
Out west, 22nd-ranked Arizona State will be battling for their first victory over 21st-ranked California since 2000. Although the Golden Bears are listed as 7.5-point favorites, the Sun Devils are 3-0, lead the nation in sacks with 18 and possess the Pac-10's leading passer in sophomore quarterback Rudy Carpenter.
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NCAA Football betting lines (home team in CAPS)
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Date Favorite Opponent Point Spread
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Sept 21 GEORGIA TECH Virginia 17
Sept 22 NEVADA Northwestern 6.5
Sept 23 MICHIGAN Wisconsin 14
Sept 23 Minnesota PURDUE 3
Sept 23 SYRACUSE Miami (Ohio) 6.5
Sept 23 MISSOURI Ohio 21.5
Sept 23 Louisville KANSAS STATE 14
Sept 23 TENNESSEE Marshall 22
Sept 23 CLEMSON North Carolina 16.5
Sept 23 FLORIDA Kentucky 24
Sept 23 Iowa ILLINOIS 20.5
Sept 23 FLORIDA STATE Rice 30.5
Sept 23 AUBURN Buffalo 41.5
Sept 23 BOWLING GREEN Kent 7
Sept 23 NAVY Tulsa 4.5
Sept 23 VIRGINIA TECH Cincinnati 27
Sept 23 BYU Utah State 29
Sept 23 OHIO STATE Penn State 16.5
Sept 23 TEXAS Iowa State 25
Sept 23 Washington State STANFORD 10
Sept 23 CALIFORNIA Arizona State 7.5
Sept 23 UCLA WASHINGTON 3
Sept 23 INDIANA Connecticut 1.5
Sept 23 Central Michigan EASTERN MICHIGAN 4
Sept 23 WYOMING Air Force 1
Sept 23 UTEP NEW MEXICO 9.5
Sept 23 West Virginia EAST CAROLINA 21
Sept 23 Boston College NORTH CAROLINA STATE 7
Sept 23 GEORGIA Colorado 27
Sept 23 ARKANSAS Alabama 1.5
Sept 23 BAYLOR Army 11
Sept 23 WESTERN MICHIGAN Temple 28
Sept 23 MISSISSIPPI Wake Forest 2.5
Sept 23 KANSAS South Florida 5.5
Sept 23 TEXAS A&M Louisiana Tech 23.5
Sept 23 UAB Mississippi State 9.5
Sept 23 LSU Tulane 36
Sept 23 Utah SAN DIEGO STATE 6.5
Sept 23 BOISE STATE Hawaii 15
Sept 23 Notre Dame MICHIGAN STATE 3
Sept 23 USC ARIZONA U 22
Sept 23 Oklahoma State HOUSTON 1
Sept 23 OREGON STATE Idaho 23
Sept 23 OKLAHOMA Middle Tennessee State 29
Sept 23 MARYLAND Florida International 18.5
Sept 23 AKRON North Texas 17.5
Sept 23 SOUTH CAROLINA Florida Atlantic 29.5
Sept 23 NEBRASKA Troy 23
Sept 23 SMU Arkansas State 6
For complete NCAA football odds and World Series odds please visit MySportsbook.com