Black Shoe Diaries Penn State Podcast

With Kevin chained to his desk at HQ, it became necessary to scour the BSD writing staff for a podcasting partner. Let's face it, nobody wants to hear me speaking alone for a half-hour. It's just sad, man. Sad.

Thankfully, Devon stepped up to the plate and the News Gods gave us an early gift, as details filtered out regarding the negotiation and settlement of an August 2011 amendment to Joe Paterno's coaching contract. After kicking that around a bit, we moved on to what it's like to witness a Bill O'Brien Penn State practice, as well as Devon's experience as a student during The Thing And Everything After.

Oh, you say we're light on news and a podcast isn't warranted? So did Kevin. He was wrong.

We powered through the emotional and ethical quandaries posed by the aborted Danny O'Brien transfer, wondered who will be in charge of gameday operations at Penn State next year, and hatched the idea of a BSD Punt, Pass and Kick commenter competition (with the obviously required legal waivers). We also discuss the ongoing tenure of the BOBsled, his quarterback choices, and much more.

We tried something a little different yesterday, and asked you for questions to be addressed on the podcast. Needless to say, this was a beautiful mistake and we'll be doing it again. It was so great that we had to break up the podcast into two separate files. So here's the Q&A portion, which is about 30 minutes in length. We got to a rather significant portion of them.

The podcast returns with a deluxe two-part edition. The first half is a discussion of BOB and the BOBettes, as they emerge from the massive shadow of Joe Paterno and attempt to recruit in the Age Of That Thing. We also talk about the big news of yesterday -- the mind-blowing decision by the Board of Trustees to release the "Oh, in case you didn't remember, here's why we fired Paterno and Graham Spanier" statement on the day of Jerry Sandusky's pre-trial hearing.


The second half will be coming soon, and is a 30-minute session of mostly serious responses to your partially serious questions.

Two Adams don't make a right. Black Shoe Diaries' favorite Adam (Collyer) joins me on the latest BSD podcast, which includes a guest appearance by ESPN's Adam Rittenberg. I know many of you have strong feelings about ESPN and their coverage of Penn State over the past three months, but Rittenberg is a really good guy who knows what he is talking about and we certainly appreciate him taking time out of his busy schedule to join us.

Some minor technical difficulties popped up at spots, but the conversation was a good one that included Penn State's recent recruiting success, an outlook for 2012, and Adam Collyer stating that Nick Saban and Urban Meyer are equals.

Some other things to look out for:

2012 Big Ten predictions (Michigan State is a popular pick, and we can't really pick a Leaders Division favorite)
Big Ten Heisman candidates (Collyer names Silas Redd, but only as his dark horse candidate)
See if you can hear me cracking a new beer in the 23rd minute

With 2012 National Letter of Intent Day (a/k/a Signing Day) just two days away, we assembled a crack team of Big Ten recruiting analysts to take a look at the Class of 2012, early prospects in the Class of 2013, and any Signing Day theatrics that may be coming the Big Ten's way.

Joining me were Ace Anbender of mGoblog and Alex Gleitman of Eleven Warriors. Say what you will about their respective teams, it was a real pleasure to speak with these guys (though when the conversation finally got around to Urban Meyer stealing all of Penn State's doodz, I was admittedly a little miffed).

Joe Paterno will be buried today at a private funeral in State College, yet none of this seems real or final. From a personal standpoint, it began to set in when I watched this video (produced by Ben Jones) and saw a fuzzy clip of Paterno walking his children down a quiet State College street. The true hammer fell last night, after reading a tweet from a student who tried to pay her respects after the viewing had concluded, only to see Sue Paterno bending forward to kiss her husband's coffin.

Thankfully, I read that after Kevin and I recorded the podcast, because "almost cried at the 17:00 mark" would have turned into "bawled like a baby, please burn the audio file now". We talk about Joe's passing, how Twitter and the news media failed us, and how Penn State finds a way to reintegrate Joe Paterno back into the football program as we move forward.

Subscribe in the iTunes link, or just listen below.

Everything you wanted to know about Bill O'Brien, but were afraid to ask. Kevin and I talk about the new hire, its effect on recruiting, how it all translates to an on-field project, reasonable expectations, whether PSU intended to go cheap from the very start, and much, much more.

Nothing but non-stop sunshine, we say. The Sandusky and Curley/Schultz legal proceedings are in full swing, Penn State doesn't appear any closer to naming a new head coach, recruits are bailing, Joe Paterno is reportedly struggling with his cancer treatments, and quarterbacks are getting knocked out or cited for stealing Gatorade.

As a wise man once said, "Let's have a real good something something."

Kevin and I discuss the latest developments, and I exasperatingly use the phrases "I don't know" or "I don't care" a combined 183 times. Subscribe to the podcast through iTunes, or listen through the tried and true methods you love (right-click and save, or the OOH FANCY media player below).

The season comes to a horrific close, with Penn State's demoltion at the hands of Deebo Bielema, Montee Ball, and Russell Wilson. Listen as Kevin F**king Powers and I discuss the various forces conspiring against Penn State's present and future, including:

The fine art of Big Ten officiating
The uselessness of search committees
Urban Meyer's noble crusade to save college football from itself while also destroying Penn State
Truly dark, horrific possible destinations for PSU's coaching search
Russ Rose's amazing ability to multitask the coaching search and his team's NCAA tournament run
The weirdness of the "Senior Woman Administrator" job title
Dan Mullen, Charlie Strong, Tony Dungy and anyone else willing and brave enough to save us
The fine line between firing coaches and administrators
The burden of being Tom Bradley
And much, much more. It's an hour. Much of it spent crying on each others' shoulders.