Blue White Illustrated

7 at LSU Invitational 14-15 Bison Outdoor Classic at Bucknell...................All Day 21 at Bucknell Team Challenge............................All Day War Eagle Invitational at Auburn......................All Day 26-28 Penn Relays at Philadelphia, Pa......................All Day MAY 4 JIM THORPE OPEN..........................................3 p.m. 11-13 Big Ten Outdoor Championships at Wisconsin..All Day 24-26 NCAA East Preliminary at Jacksonville, Fla.......All Day JUNE 6-9 NCAA Outdoor Meet at Des Moines, Iowa........All Day 15-17 USATF Junior Championships at Indiana.......... All Day 22-29 U.S. Olympic Trials at Oregon..........................All Day W www.AmericanAleHouse.net 821 Cricklewood Drive, Toftrees State College Political football hen ESPN The Magazine took a long look last week at Tom Corbett's role in the fir- ing of Joe Paterno, the gov- ernor's spokesman fired back the next day with the sort of metaphor you don't often get from a political flack. Said Kevin Harley, Corbett's director of communications, "ESPN's report from the grassy knoll merely adds another chapter to the growing list of conspiracy theories surrounding the Sandusky case." Well, sure. And if you're one of those people who think that all the major events of modern history – including Paterno's termination last November – are being orches- trated by a sinister shadow govern- ment consisting of Freemasons, rogue CIA agents, the AFL-CIO, the Mafia, the Warren Commission and Fidel Castro, then this story is really going to make your tinfoil hat vibrate. None of those people were mentioned in Don Van Natta Jr.'s story, but hey, leaving no trace of its handiwork is just the sort of thing you'd expect from a sinister shadow government, now isn't it? The one person who is mentioned 814.238.1406 • www.the-phyrst.com 111 E. Beaver Avenue • State College, PA – repeatedly – is Corbett. You can understand why the governor is so eager to change the subject to something less contentious, like the JFK assassination. As a piece of reporting, this story is a tour de force, crammed with detail about the tension between the governor and Penn State and also between Paterno and the board of trustees. It's also one of the first chapters in what is certain to be a lengthy and exhaustive re-examination of the Sandusky scandal – a re-exam- ination that could include a couple of trials, the release of Louis Freeh's report and the publication in August of Joe Posnanski's biog- raphy of Paterno. With its conflicting accounts of W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M Corbett's involvement in the deci- sion by the board to terminate Paterno, ESPN's story added more murk to an already confusing situ- ation. Corbett has said he didn't have much to do with the vote, beyond urging his fellow trustees to bear in mind the alleged victims. The story, however, depicts him as being a much more vocal part of the deliberations and later crowing about Paterno's ouster at a dinner with friends at the American Ale House. It alleges that Corbett, the state's former attorney general, participated in a very literal rush to judgment, devoting few resources to the investigation initially, then attacking the university for not act- ing decisively. Van Natta gets into the friction between Corbett and Penn State, noting that Paterno refused to endorse him in his gubernatorial campaign and that he was upset with Graham Spanier for what he saw as the Penn State president's favoritism toward Corbett's Democratic campaign rival, Dan Onorato. You remember Onorato. He started a minor controversy during a campaign stop at the HUB when he joked that the university's state appropriation should be con- tingent on its willingness to resume the Pitt series. Ah, if only we could go back to that innocent, bygone era of... 18 months ago. These days, Penn State would probably agree to a home- and-home series with Immaculata if it meant getting its customary appropriation back. Corbett's first budget called for a $182 million reduction, and while the governor didn't get all of it, he's back at the chopping block this year. Van Natta mentions the historic funding cuts in detailing Corbett's contentious relationship with the university. But the governor has cut everyone's budget, not just Penn State's. Temple, Pitt and Lincoln, as well as the schools in the state university system, such as Shippensburg, Lock Haven and IUP, have all seen their appropria- tions decline. The propriety of those cuts is a debate for another time (and another magazine), but they are in keeping with Corbett's conservative philosophy. Coincidentally, ESPN's story came out on the same day that Penn State opened one of its spring football practices to the media. Reporters gathered outside of Holuba Hall, standing on the side- line as the Nittany Lions went through their drills. It was an odd juxtaposition. At one point, Silas Redd tripped over an obstacle while working on his lateral movement. "You just got beat by Zordich in a foot drill," running backs coach Charles London growled. "Oughta be ashamed of yourself." Meanwhile, only a few feet away, reporters were engrossed not so much in the surprising agility of fullback Michael Zordich but in the details of Van Natta's story. This, clearly, is how it's going to be for a while. Two steps forward, one step back. Inside the Lasch Building, a bunch of people who had absolute- ly nothing to do with the Sandusky scandal are infusing the football program with a new feeling of vital- ity, one that is resonating with returning players and recruits alike. Elsewhere, however – on campus and in Bellefonte and, yes, Harrisburg – there are still a lot of questions that deserve answers. That's going to take time. On the day of the open practice, the weather in State College was nothing short of glorious – clear and sunny and crisp. The long- range forecast is calling for more of the same later this month for the Blue-White Game, and we can only hope it's accurate. Clarity and sun- shine are always welcome. A P R I L 3 0 , 2 0 1 2 39 L A S T WO R D MA T T H E R B | MA T T@B L U EWH I T E O N L I N E . C OM

• Cover