We finally figured out what sort of misfortune Iowa's Cardiac Kids couldn't survive. They couldn't survive losing Ricky Stanzi. As a result, No. 8 Iowa fell to unranked Northwestern on Saturday, 17-10.
The junior quarterback left just before halftime after Northwestern's Corey Wootton tackled him in the end zone. Stanzi sprained his right ankle and fumbled the ball. As Northwestern's Marshall Thomas recovered the fumble for a touchdown, Stanzi remained on the Kinnick Stadium turf. He would walk off the field on his own power, but Stanzi would not return to the game. Neither would Iowa's offense.
Every Thursday, Pickin' On the Big Ten stays late to run the TPS reports on the coming weekend's games.
In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his or her level of incompetence.
The above statement is better known as the Peter Principle, and if it doesn't make sense to you, join the club. I didn't get it the first 1,378 times I read it. Now I recognize it for what it is. It's an overly intellectual way of saying "People who do a good job keep getting promoted until they wind up in a job they can't do."
So what does this have to do with Illinois, you ask?
Every Thursday, Pickin' On the Big Ten previews the weekend's action, even when the truth is ugly.
It was a bad week for vowels.
The seven Big Ten schools whose names start with consonants played anywhere from OK to brilliantly this past weekend. The four that start with vowels -- Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Ohio State -- all dropped a pantload on the field.
Illinois gets a partial pass because Missouri has been on a nice run lately. Ohio State played a Navy team that usually goes bowling. Indiana struggled with a Division I-AA FCS school, but they're Indiana; you kind of expect these things from them after a while.
That leaves one school. Iowa. And if I was an Iowa fan ... wait. I am an Iowa fan. Make the jump and see what has me feeling punchy. I promise I'll get around to the games eventually.
The way Joe Paterno figures it -- and he has figured plenty as Penn State's 82-year-old coaching icon, not to mention the winningest coach in D-I history with 383 wins -- football is more like chess than checkers.
"In checkers, everybody does the same thing. In chess, different people can make different moves, have a different impact on the game," Paterno pointed out Thursday during Penn State's media day.
The college football season is fast approaching, with many fall camps set to open this week. Thus it's time to lay aside our interregional bickering and turn our thoughts to, you know, what might actually happen on the field.
The big question in the Big Ten this season is whether Penn State's conference championship was just a momentary burp in the conference's Buckeye-dominated food chain, or whether things might actually be shifting just a bit in the conference. Do the Buckeyes claim the title again? Will the Nittany Lions defend last year's crown and make a run at the national title? Will there be some giant, world-rocking surprise team that comes in and knocks them both out of the BCS?
James McDonald, a backup wide receiver on the Penn State football team, has been kicked off the team for reasons which are technically undisclosed, at least by the PSU athletic department.
However, McDonald was cited for DUI on July 9th after being pulled over for an expired registration. Couple that with a suspension for "undisclosed violations" back in 2007, and it isn't hard to see why McDonald is now an ex-Lion.
In an interview with the Reading Eagle newspaper, Paterno made it clear that he doesn't care if he winds up with the all-time wins record or not. "When they put me underneath, it won't make any difference whether I'm one win ahead or 10 wins behind. I've enjoyed my career. I've been lucky. I've never really thought about that kind of legacy."
Its a day late but definitely not a dollar short, as the NCAA will reportedly come down on Alabama to the tune of an unknown number of vacated football victories between 2005 and 2007, three additional years of probation and a cash penalty, according to the Birmingham News.
Alabama football players and athletes in several other sports were involved in a prohibited textbook and materials disbursement scheme. It's seemingly benign stuff compared to recent allegations against Memphis and USC, but this is Alabama we're talking about, which seems to have its Brooks Was Here moment every time it finds itself paroled.
Stating the Irish have "had their chance," Paterno wants the league to look east, as in Big East. He recommends adding Syracuse, Pitt, or Rutgers to the conference. Paterno wants to see the Big Ten pick up the New York market, which would argue against Pitt. Rutgers has to like its chances in the Big East more than in in the Big Ten. As for Syracuse, well, at this point, you couldn't blame them if they decided to join Temple in the MAC. So there's no school out there that makes sense as a twelfth Big Ten Team, right?
Until now, they've both played it so cool. Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno, eighty-something-ish college football coaches, and when it's over, one of them is going to have the all-time victory record. Paterno is 82 with at 383 wins. Bowden's numbers are a few months under 80 and 382.
But they're both just there for their love of coaching, their love of developing kids. Record? What record? Did I just say, "When it's over?'' That sounds uncomfortable, doesn't it?
Well, Bowden is on the verge of being eliminated from the competition, as the NCAA might take away 14 of his victories because Florida State used ineligible players who were involved in an academic scandal.
We finally figured out what sort of misfortune Iowa's Cardiac Kids couldn't survive. They couldn't survive losing Ricky Stanzi. As a result, No. 8 Iowa fell to unranked Northwestern on Saturday, 17-10.
Every Thursday, 
Every Thursday, 
Chess or checkers?
The college football season is fast approaching, with many fall camps set to open this week. Thus it's time to lay aside our interregional bickering and turn our thoughts to, you know, what might actually happen on the field.
While 
Its a day late but definitely not a dollar short, as the 
Even though by 
Until now, they've both played it so cool. 
