Jay Paterno
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Another Season Passes
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For most of my life, one of the two or three worst days of the year was January 2. As a kid it wasn’t an aversion to going back to school after the holiday break (well, that was a part of it). It was the passage of another college football season. College football was a…
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Writing the Leads of Our Life Stories
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For some reason on Sunday, I clicked onto a seemingly obscure article in the New York Times about a writer’s retreat in Tuscany. Maybe it’s because I’m in what can be the dreaded editing, refining and finishing phase of another book project. The article was about the Baronessa Beatrice Monti della Corte. On her estate,…
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Lessons to Be Learned for Universities as College Football Prepares for More Financial Change
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In these first days of December, deer in my backyard and the neighbor’s yard are feasting on discarded pumpkins after the days October and November, the key months for college football drama. And now, like the deer outside, we’re left to feast on what was. Tectonic plate shifts will rattle college football’s foundations next year.…
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The Lonely Moment of the Home Football Season’s End
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Shortly after the final whistle sounds for the final game in late November, the exodus begins. Fans walk out of the gates, senior football players gather on the field for a few last pictures in their home stadium and the staff and workers under the stadium begin to close up for the year. In the…
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Looking Back at College Football’s Past Helps to Understand Its Future
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“If you know your history, then you would know where you’re coming from.” –Bob Marley, “Buffalo Soldier” As big-time college football enters its biggest month at a time of massive change, it seems a good time to look at some history to understand where we’re coming from and where we’re headed. And sticking with the…
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Sign Stealing Is a Long-Time Practice Across College Football
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As a graduate assistant coach at the University of Virginia in 1992, I was watching a Florida State game a few weeks before we would be playing them. As FSU’s no-huddle offense was going up and down the field, I noticed their quarterback, Charlie Ward, using hand signals to relay play calls to his teammates.…
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A Sermon for the Faithful This Homecoming Weekend
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Author’s note: Much of this was written before Penn State Homecoming in 2016, a Big Ten Championship season for the Nittany Lion football team (foreshadowing for 2023 perhaps?). But much has changed in college football, so this is an updated “Sermon for the Faithful This Homecoming Weekend” “No great thing is ever accomplished without a…
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Deion Sanders Understands This Era of College Football Better Than Most
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The sound of gloating this past Saturday was the only thing drowning out the thuds of those jumping off the Colorado/Coach Prime bandwagon as the Oregon Ducks ran roughshod over the Buffaloes on Saturday afternoon. Truth is, Oregon is a better football team than Colorado right now. Rather than appreciate the Ducks team, many found…
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Thank You for Your Patience
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Tuesday, as the dogs sniffed the dewy grass, the foggy morning sun among the mist gave the arching trees an aural glow. Some leaves have already started to fall, but they’re just a fraction of the radiant magnificence to come in October. Tomatoes are ripening each day as the late summer sunlight turns them from…
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A New Academic Year and New Challenges
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A little over a year ago, new Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi’s arrival brought a lot of excitement. As with every new leader there begins, upon the ascension to a new office, what is affectionately known as a honeymoon period. As the year has passed, it has become clear that the honeymoon era has transitioned…