Columns
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A Geographic Epiphany
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I recently had a local geographic epiphany. Nine years ago we moved from the east side of State College Borough to Ferguson Township west of the borough. Granted, I’m unhappy this placed us into the municipality with the highest resident earned income tax in the State College Area School District at 2.35% (remind me not…
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Penn State Football’s Lopsided Loss: Who’s to Blame?
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It was a disappointing, demoralizing loss. The game had been over for just a few minutes, the taste of defeat still raw and bitter and not yet fully digested. The Penn State head football coach walked to the front of the visiting team’s media room in the bowels of the cavernous and hallowed Midwestern stadium,…
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Penn State Football: It’s (Finally) the Homestretch for the Franklin-Clifford Partnership
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When Penn State takes the field in The Big House on Saturday, it will be Day No. 2,651 of the partnership of head coach James Franklin and quarterback Sean Clifford. Clifford committed to Franklin and the Nittany Lions on July 13, 2015 – the day before his 17th birthday. (Drew Allar was 11-years-old at the…
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New Co-Host Leads to the Ultimate Interview Guest List
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Last year I helped co-create the weekly Penn State football show “Nittany Game Week,” so you can imagine my surprise when I found out last week that I am being replaced. Yes, it appears that the show I helped start with Todd Sadowski from FOX 43 in York and my old Penn State colleague Tom…
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Opinion: Doug’s Dug Himself a Nice, Deep Hole
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If you’re looking for good news this week – and who isn’t? – how about this recent headline in The New York Times: “Mastriano’s Sputtering Campaign: No TV Ads, Tiny Crowds, Little Money” And the subhead below that: “As he runs for governor of Pennsylvania, Doug Mastriano is being heavily outspent by his Democratic rival…
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Of Hurricanes and Sunshine
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If you read my column from two weeks ago,“Home, Sweet Home: Joe and Heidi’s Excellent Adventure Comes to an End (with Plenty of Help from Penn Staters),” you know that our last few months have been filled with plenty of adventure. Yet one week after we moved into our newly constructed home in Bluffton, South Carolina,…
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Penn State Football: On Balance, a New Offensive Identity
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Though you wouldn’t know it from Penn State’s mudder of a soggy game in Beaver Stadium last weekend, when passes were at a premium as the Nittany Lions ran the ball 58 times, the PSU offense is back in balance. Or, at least getting closer. It had been awhile. In 2021, Penn State’s offense gained…
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Nature’s Ways: The Cedar Waxwing — the Berry Eater
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The cedar waxwing, Bombycilla cedrorum, is one of the last Pennsylvania birds to begin nesting each year, but they nest slightly earlier than the goldfinch. As spring comes to a close, many pairs are building their first nests, and they often nest again in July or August. Waxwings get their name from the unique reddish-orange…
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An Open Letter to Penn State AD Patrick Kraft
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An open letter to Dr. Patrick Kraft, Penn State Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics. Dear Pat, Welcome to Happy Valley. You’ve been in your job for three months now, and in the workforce I’m familiar with that would mean you’ve passed your 90-day probationary period and are here to stay. Congratulations! The primary purpose of…
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Does Penn State Football’s Defense Deserve a Better Offense?
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23.36 points. That’s how many points Penn State’s offense has averaged in its 11 Big Ten Conference games under O-coordinator Mike Yurcich in 2021-22. The 17 points that Penn State — hampered by driving rain and a flood of five turnovers — hung on Northwestern on Saturday didn’t help things, either. Blame that very average scoring…