Having been a lifelong fan of both Penn State and the Pittsburgh Steelers, I was pleased when the Steelers signed Franco Harris.
I watched him play through a long and successful football career and admired him for the way he played the game - no showboating, no hot-dogging, just a blue-collar, hard working, hard running, team-oriented pro.
Harris has had a successful life after football and is well-known for his involvement with many charities. He has remained in the public eye because of all he has accomplished in his life, and I have had nothing but respect and admiration for the man.
But my respect for Harris has continued to grow because of his crusade against the gutless wonders who, while posing as the Penn State Board of Trustees, ended the coaching career and in effect the life of Joe Paterno.
History will read that JoePa was fired over the Sandusky mess, but in reality, Joe's fate was sealed in November of 2004 when, at a meeting in his home, JoePa refused an invitation by some of these gutless wonders to step down after a couple losing seasons.
So these individuals got together with the rest of their conspirators, and, like a den of pit vipers, decided to lie in wait for their first opportunity to ambush Joe, and the Sandusky scandal gave them everything they needed to go after him.
Even though Joe Paterno gave Penn State University his entire life, and everything in it, these individuals, acting as one cowardly entity, jumped on him with both feet and kicked him to the side of the road with no more feeling then brushing dirt from their shoes.
Regardless of what they claim, the Board of Trustees gave no thought to the sex abuse of children. They were just interested in getting rid of Paterno, and they accomplished what they had been waiting for for years. The scandal was the excuse, not the real reason for the treatment Joe suffered.
To this day, no one has satisfactorily explained why Joe was so held in contempt by this group masquerading as the Penn State Board of Trustees.
I'm sure every Nittany Lion fan will always support and join and back Franco Harris 100 percent in his battle to honor Joe Paterno.
Ed Leipold
Altoona
Return Pitt to Lions' schedule
Let's get to the point on this: Pitt is our chief rivalry and still is even though it is not on the schedule.
Now, in 2017 the Big Ten will meet the Pac-12 in football every year, and the Big Ten will go to a nine-game format, leaving only two non-conference opponents.
The first thing I would do is dump the series with Temple. There never has been a rivalry. When State added Temple years ago, it was a nice way to give Temple some needed cash for their athletic programs. They are no challenge to the Nittany Lions.
We play Pitt home and away in 2016-2017 so put the Panthers in Temple's time slot annually starting in 2018.
Other teams to fill the remaining two non-conference slots would come from an array of Notre Dame, Boston College, Alabama, Florida State, Texas and Virginia Tech just to mention a few.
Playing USC, Stanford would serve no purpose as they are in the Pac-12. I don't know what the plan is, but you could rotate 12 teams from the Pac-12 over a long period of time and encounter each of the 12 teams on a home-and-away situation.
In short, the young alums might not like Pitt on the schedule, but it is the older alums and others who are paying the freight to cover all of Penn State's future 31 sports programs.
These young folks need to enroll in PSU-Pitt 101 history. This is a rivalry that should have never ended.
Les Hart
Duncansville
Little League incident disturbing
I get much enjoyment attending my grandson's Little League baseball games. However, what I witnessed on the evening of May 12 at the Logan Township Little League was far from enjoyable.
With runners on second and third and one out, the runner from third charges to home on a batted ball. What follows was far from enjoyable.
The runner lowered himself and ran through the catcher, knocking the catcher to the ground. For those of us old enough to remember, it was very reminiscent of Pete Rose's leveling of a catcher in an all-star game. The catcher lay on the ground for most of 10 minutes before being taken to the emergency room for treatment of injuries.
League rules state for obvious reasons that all slides must be feet first. However, the runner was ruled safe, and no out was given as the rules state they should be.
I thought Little League was meant to teach kids the game - the rules of the game and fair play.
I didn't know it was about teaching to win at all costs - even if it means sending an opponent to the hospital.
Mike Langenbacher
Altoona
