WEEKEND UPDATE

Lions tame Tigers: Collin Wagner hit a 21-yard field goal with 57 seconds remaining, and Penn State completed a late-game comeback with a 19-17 win over LSU in the Capital One Bowl in Orlando, Florida. Wagner hit four field goals and a PAT on the day, accounting for 13 of the Nittany Lions' 19 points.

It was the 24th bowl win for Joe Paterno, extending his own record, and the first bowl loss for Les Miles while at LSU.

The Citrus Bowl field conjured up memories of that Steeler-Dolphin 3-0 Monday night slop-fest in 2007, and LSU took every opportunity to use that as an excuse for the loss. "That was by far the worst field conditions I've ever seen in my life. For them to say this is the best bowl outside the BCS, I would expect to play on the best field outside the BCS," said LSU WR Brandon LaFell.

I guess they like their grapes served sour in the south. [ESPN]

Olympic Orpik: Brooks Orpik became the fifth member of the Penguins roster to be named to an Olympic squad, scoring a spot on the US team on Friday. Former Penguin and Upper St. Clair native Ryan Malone will also suit up for the United States in the Olympics.

Bill Guerin did not make the team, but then again, neither did Mike Modano or Keith Tkachuk. So I guess that report earlier in the week about the team taking one of those three veterans was completely off base. [PG]

King Pryor wins big: Watching Ohio State drop a bowl game has become a bit of a New Year tradition, but they bucked that trend on Friday behind Jeannette's Terrelle Pryor, who threw for a career-high 266 yards and 2 TDs while adding 72 yards rushing in a 26-17 Rose Bowl win over Oregon. The Buckeyes outgained the Ducks 419-260 on the afternoon. Jim Tressel has already apologized for the overabundance of pass attempts. [ESPN]

Snoop and Ben do a good deed: Ben Roethlisberger put up $17,000 in airfare, hotels and other transportation costs to send the Thomas Jefferson Youth Football League's Little Jaguars to the Big Dog Bowl, a championship tournament in Los Angeles organized by Snoop Dogg.

The Little Jags are 11-0, and their undefeated record got them an invite from the canine-loving rapper for the 26-team field on January 9. [Trib]

Tank fires back: Bengals DT and all-around ne'er-do-well Tank Johnson didn't like LaMarr Woodley's comment that the Bengals and Patriots would "lay down" in their games this weekend in the hopes of keeping the Steelers out of the playoffs. Said The Tank:

"I can tell you this, we didn't lay down against the Steelers, so I think LaMarr Woodley should worry about what concerns LaMarr Woodley and the Steelers and not worry about this great franchise in the Bengals."

I could care less about Johnson saying the Bengals are a great franchise, because you have to consider the source. But does anyone see the irony in Woodley, whose team lost to the Browns, Raiders, and Chiefs saying that another team might lay down? [PFT]

'Eers bow to Bowden: West Virginia dropped the ball on behalf of the Big East, losing 33-21 to Florida State in the Gator Bowl. It was the final game for Florida State coach Bobby Bowden and his Oakley sunglasses, as he wrapped up a lifetime bowl record of 22-10-1.

"It's got to be memorable," Bowden said. "It's my last dadgum ballgame after 57 years of coaching." And yes, he really said dadgum. [ESPN]

To franchise or not to franchise?: The Steelers have a host of unrestricted free agent decisions coming up soon, and talk of using the franchise tag has popped up more than a few times. NT Casey Hampton says he does not want one, and S Ryan Clark says he's not good enough for one. I'm going to guess we haven't heard the last of this topic. [Trib]

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PENN STATE READYING PRYOR T-SHIRTS

There's a rather large Big 10 game coming up on Saturday between Penn State and Ohio State, and to commemorate the occasion, these Terrelle Pryor-themed t-shirts are circulating around Happy Valley.

The shirt's theme was a result of the game last season in Columbus, when King Pryor fumbled late in a 13-6 Penn State win. A nickname was born, and with nicknames come t-shirts.

The Penn State tide has definitely turned against Pryor. Just a short while ago, their coaches were hand writing page after page of recruiting letters to Pryor, and now he's the subject of t-shirts where he's comforted by a scarved Nittany Lion. You've gotta love college football.

Update from the Daily Collegian, for those of you interested in buying one of the $10 shirts:

"So far, the shirts have only been distributed internally through PSMA members. But because of their success so far, a public shirt sale will take place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday in 310 HUB-Robeson Center. The club has ordered 200 shirts to be sold in sizes small through extra large."

PSU’s “Terrelle Cryer” T-Shirts Seem A Bit Creepy [SPORTSbyBROOKS]

T-shirt's design ridicules Pryor [Daily Collegian]

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NEWS AND NOTES

--Let's get this straight: Perry Hill still wants to coach. Just not for the Pirates. [PBC Blog]

--Everyone has an opinion on Terrelle Pryor's problems, including former HS coach Ray Reitz and Cleveland Cav Lebron James. If things don't change, could a trade be in the works? [ESPN.com]

--Pitt has the chance to be a surprise in the Big East this season, because the preseason poll puts them ninth in the league. [PG]

--Mario Lemieux checks in at #16 and Ben Roethlisberger #35 on a list of the top 150 athlete-golfers. I'm sure there's a joke in here somewhere about rankings and Roethlisberger and me complaining about them. [Golf Digest]

--Jeff Reed is a hot story among blogs, and today's latest is Three Tips for Improving Reed's Quality of Life. [WQED/Pulling no Punches]

--Big news: two Giant Eagles in the area are going to be selling beer. Remember, drink responsibly, don't urinate near SUVs, and don't put up your dukes to the cops. [WPXI]

--Here's video of a devoted kid who spends his free time re-creating 2009 Pirate batting stances. [Pirates Property]

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PITT JOINS THE TOP 25

On the heels of Friday's win over Rutgers comes another bit of good news for the 6-1 Pitt Panthers: they're ranked in both major national polls for the first time this season, as well as the BCS rankings.

The Panthers are ranked #20 in the BCS, 20th in the AP, and 19th in the USA Today. The last time Pitt was ranked would be prior to the 2008 Sun Bowl, when they were 18th in the AP Poll. Their high point in the 2008 rankings was week eight, when they were 17th in both the AP and BCS.

The Panthers are one of three Big East schools ranked in the top 25 this week, joining Cincinnati (#5 AP, #6 USA Today, #6 BCS) and WVU (#22, #22, 22). Which means the conference is finally getting at least some measure of respectability from the rest of the country.

Of interest to many of you, 6-1 Penn State is ranked 13/11/11 following their 20-0 win over Minnesota on Saturday. Terrelle Pryor's Ohio State Buckeyes, despite a lethargic offense and a loss to previously 1-5 Purdue, are ranked 18/17/17 with a 5-2 record.

In the coming week, Pitt takes on South Florida, West Virginia hosts UConn, and Penn State travels to Michigan for a meeting of the minds with Rich Rodriguez. Which means a lot of us will be pretty much useless next Saturday due to the abundance of important football games on the tube.

NCAA College Football Polls [ESPN]

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NEWS AND NOTES

Emailer Scott theorized that Cubs pitcher Jeff Samardzija was the first person to compete at both Heinz Field (as a Notre Dame WR against Pitt in 2005) and last night against the Pirates. I'm pretty sure he's right, although he should leave the two-sport picture to Bo.

On to the news...

--About that game...the Pirates lost yet again, this time by a 14-9 count. Geovany Soto had seven runs batted in for Chicago, who has the league's best record at 82-50. The Pirates stand at 57-75, still nine games out of the overall basement, currently occupied by Washington. But look on the bright side: seven more losses to make history! [Trib]

--After a 2 1/2-hour meeting, there's no resolution yet in the Steelers ownership situation. When you're talking millions, there's no easy answer. [KDKA]

--Controversial columnist/ESPN personality Jay Mariotti resigned from the Chicago Sun-Times. By the way, did you know Mariotti attended Trinity High in Washington, PA? Did you care? [The Big Lead]

--ESPN seems to have forgotten Shady McCoy on their list of Heisman Hopefuls. Hey, mistakes happen. [ESPN.com]

--Sounds like pitcher Craig Hansen was a bit unpleasant in a post-game exchange with Dejan Kovacevic. [PBC Blog]

--Looks like King Pryor is going to get some game action on Saturday against Youngstown State. [Trib]

--Here's the best and worst players this year and all-time from every NFL team. That's one ambitious blogger. [Bush League]

--Forbes ranks Pittsburgh as the 10th-worst city to be a sports fan. [Forbes.com]

--And in more depressing news, Pittsburgh residents have the fifth-lowest median household income among residents of larger cities around the country, at $32,363. [PG]

--Add Ravens QB Kyle Boller to the list of players who might miss the 2008 season. Thankfully, the Ravens have two other quarterbacks perfectly capable of taking a beating at the hands of the Steelers. [PFT]

--Here's the 9 Worst Recent Fashion Trends for Douchebags. [The Comedy Feed]

Got news? Email it to mondesishouse@gmail.com and win stuff! New contest starts tonight, and congrats to last week's winner STEVE M. who gets a Rings N'at t-shirt courtesy of www.burghshirts.com.

Today's Announcement: An Announcement Coming Tomorrow

Terrelle Pryor just announced that he's making an announcement tomorrow. What will that announcement be? Will it be to announce his next announcement? No, actually, it's "the" announcement: Pryor plans to let everyone in on the big surprise of what school he will grace with his presence.

Sources say that it's down to Ohio State and Michigan. PSU is allegedly "too country" for the royalty that is King Pryor, and he never made his official visit to Oregon. So it looks like he's headed for a few years of exciting Big TenLeven football.

Assuming that Pryor will actually name a school and not continue the running episode of Punk'd that he's been playing on the entire country, I'll be glad to finally have this story behind us. But oh, it's just begun.

Pryor to announce college choice tomorrow [PG]

Mondesi's House Debate: Allegiance to College Teams

Regular reader Rege from Harrisburg presents an interesting dilemma. Please read his brief story and weigh in: must you have a connection to the college team you root for?

In the words of Rege:

"Just funny story from work today I’d like to share with you. As you know I live in Harrisburg which is in the heart of Penn State country. I’ve been out here 2 ½ years and I deal with the narrow minded, elitist cult known as Penn State nation day in and day out. I have always dabbled in rooting for different college teams since childhood due to the fact I’ve always been an NFL fan first and for most my whole life. So jumping from college team to college team has never really fazed me, because I mainly just watch college football for the great pageantry and rivalries.

I was a ND fan as a youngster, due to the fact the Catholic elementary school I attended was ironically named Our Lady of Notre Dame, and Lou Holtz came and was a motivational speaker at the basketball camp I attend when I was 10. But, my following of the Irish never even came close to my love for the Steelers, so a sub par season by the Golden Domers never really left me too devastated. As the years rolled by I really could have given two s**** about anything college football. As ND lost its luster and the Bob Davie era took over, so then I want no part of that program.

I went on to attend Youngstown State University from 1998-2003 and I really enjoyed 1-AA football. Every team had cool mascots, great seats every game, due to modestly sized stadiums, and best of all playoff games.

Jim Tressel as we all know is the patron saint of Youngstown, and was the head coach for 15 seasons, 4 national championships, 6 appearances in the national title game, a handful of conference titles, and maybe one of the nicest people you would ever meet. Tressel was so assessable to the student body during my time at YSU it was unbelievable. The guy loves just loves everything college, and watching him coach at YSU brought me back as a fan of college football. Unfortunately he left us, and became the head coach at OSU, we all know the rest of the story. I then transferred my fan following to OSU to continue to follow the next coaching legend of Division 1 college football.

Now lets fast forward to 2007 in Harrisburg, PA. My entire office is Penn State fans. I am under abuse every day for being an OSU fan. You would think Jim Tressel stole some of these fans' dates to the prom, they HATE him with such passion. PSU fans are so closed minded they will not acknowledge any of Tressel’s prior coaching accomplishments simply because he spent 15 years in 1-AA, or at least that just my office.

But the reason I decided to let my aggressions out and write the “Don” of sports blogs with the comments I’ve been dealing with lately in my office. A co-worker, who I will let remain nameless, has been busting my balls from roughly 6 months now, because I am a quote unquote, loop hole OSU fan. He said only the true fans of all big-time football schools actually attended the schools. He went on launch into rant about how I cannot transfer alliance to OSU from YSU because I am not an OSU grad, He states I am merely following the career of Tressel, and this is an unwritten rule of college football. Am I missing something here? Nameless PSU fan then went on to bash his own fan base by stating” I know there are PSU fans too, that didn’t go to main campus and true Penn State grads known they aren’t “true” PSU fans by the sense of the word, because the never attended school there. Raul, please tell you've never heard of this unwritten rule?

Is there a worse fan base in any sport in the county? Happy Valley is a college football insane asylum, and has no idea how truly rude they are to every opposing fan that sets foot in the Beaver s*** hole. Always going up I’ve never been a hater of PSU, just kind of didn’t like them, but know after almost 3 years of exposure to their fans everyday I can say with confidence they deserve a 4-8 season every year to chill out their arrogance."

-Rege, from Harrisburg, a very disgruntled OSU fan

PS: Go PITT, at least your fans have class

Jim Tressel Should Have Voted for Michigan

I'm thinking The Vested One wishes he was facing the Wolverines on Monday night, because his team didn't look ready to play the NCAA Sports-dominating Florida Gators. I'm sure you haven't forgotten the fact that Coach Tressel decided to abstain from the final USA Today coaches' poll, citing a "conflict of interest". Of course, that didn't stop him from voting, or at least pretending to vote, the rest of the season.

Ohio State was representing the vaunted Big 10 conference, which is always a topic of discussion on this site. Some enjoy praising their beloved Big 10 at the expense of the Big East, which is their absolute right. But after that game, as I see it, the Big East (5-0) did quite well in the postseason, while the Big 10 was largely embarrassed.

Ohio State and Michigan were totally manhandled in the National Championship and Rose Bowl, respectively. Minnesota blew a 31-point lead and lost to Texas Tech in a loss so bad that they fired their coach. Iowa frittered away a 14-0 lead in a loss to Texas. Purdue lost to Maryland, 24-7. Yes, the conference did manage two wins: Wisconsin's 17-14 victory over Arkansas and Penn State's 20-10 W over Tennessee. But is a 2-5 record enough fodder to talk trash about how bad another conference is?

In comparison, the Big East's Louisville topped Wake, 24-13, in the Orange Bowl; Rutgers dominated Kansas State, 37-10, in the Texas Bowl; and WVU beat Georgia Tech, 38-35, in the Gator Bowl (despite their fans soiling the GT band section). Heck, even South Florida and Cincinnati won their bowl games.

But I can hear the Big 10 fans typing their rebuttals already: "Yeah, well we played USC and Florida, while you were playing Wake Forest and Kansas State. We're still better."

The reason the Big East was playing such teams is because of the anti-Big East bias that existed for most of the season. I think that has finally started to fade away, mostly because of how silly it looks in retrospect. But come on, couldn't they do Rutgers better than an invite to the Texas Bowl against a 7-5 Kansas State team? The truth is, the Scarlet Knights should have been playing in the Sugar Bowl instead of Notre Dame. Ever wonder why the Irish have lost nine straight bowl games? It's because they're invited to games they should not be playing in. They're a ticket and TV draw, and that's fantastic, but they're outclassed in those games. Don't argue with me, argue with reality. It's not a coincidence. And it will continue.

The Big East did have an easier path to a 5-0 bowl record, and I don't think they would be 5-0 if they faced the likes of USC or OSU. But if they play in more games along the lines of where they should be, that 5-0 record will work itself back to reality.

But I digress. This is supposed to be about the National Championship. And with the win tonight, Florida becomes the first school to hold both the D-I titles in both basketball and football at the same time. So congrats to them, because that's pretty amazing.

The Gators re-load for 2007, with Tim Tebow back, this time as the full-time starter. So expect to see them ranked right up there with the USCs of the world when the initial rankings are released. Ohio State loses Troy Smith and will probably lose Ted Ginn and Antonio Pittman, but they have a friendly non-conference schedule in '07: Youngstown State, Akron, Kent State, and Washington. So they'll be in the hunt as well. I can only wonder where Coach Tressel will vote his team in the opening poll.