Giger: Tough to have confidence in PSU right now

March 4, 2020

UNIVERSITY PARK — Be honest: No matter how much you’ve enjoyed this Penn State season, no matter how excited you’ve been for the great possibilities, there’s always been that nagging voice in the back of your mind saying, “They’re gonna blow it.” That is incredibly unfair to the players and coaches on this year’s team, who already have accomplished a great deal and will be going to the NCAA Tournament in two weeks. It’s also just the way it is. Call it the Penn State basketball condition, molded over many, many years of disappointing results that prevent people from ...

Hoops dream weavers: Krimmel, Chambers have worked magic turning around Red Flash, PSU programs

March 2, 2020

There’s a chance that both Penn State and Saint Francis will be playing in the NCAA Tournament in two weeks. I honestly cannot believe I just wrote those words. The Nittany Lions have been to a grand total of five NCAA Tournaments since 1965. Saint Francis has been to only one, in ...

Chip off the old block: Klausman pilots Lions with dad on journey

February 26, 2020

Jarrod Klausman has spent his life in sports, often alongside his dad, Jim. They were part of a championship team in Little League, including the prestigious Dean Patterson Little World Series, and later coached in the Hollidaysburg basketball program under Mick Pentoney and Brad Lear. ...

Nittany Lions jumping through high hoops

February 15, 2020

(This column was published Saturday and updated with the latest AP ranking today.) There’s never been a Penn State basketball season quite like the one that’s developing before our eyes. Yes, the Nittany Lions have had great players (Jesse Arnelle, Joe Crispin, Talor Battle), and yes, they’ve had great moments (beating North Carolina and UCLA in the NCAA Tournament to go with a pair of NIT titles). But the only team that comes close to this one is the 1995-96 entry. Rewinding the tape: The Lions moved into the freshly-minted Bryce Jordan Center in January of 1996. Bruce ...

Black coaches still a rarity in NCAA football

February 10, 2020

Colleges around the country wrapped up their football signing classes this week, proudly touting scores of African-American athletes as the next big stars. It’s a whole different situation on the sideline. Segregation still rules the coaching ranks. And not just the top guys. A review of all 130 Football Bowl Subdivision schools found shockingly low numbers, with blacks still largely shut out of head coaching positions and, to an even greater degree, the prime coordinator spots. While the NFL has come under fire for its lack of minority coaches, the situation appears more ...

Powerful messages for women

February 9, 2020

What a week it was. Sports headlines should have been dominated by preparations for the Super Bowl, but instead, the biggest show on earth was overshadowed by the tragic death of Kobe Bryant, his daughter and seven others in a California helicopter crash. In the days that followed, Bryant, his fellow parents, their daughters, coach and pilot were remember with tributes from Los Angeles to Philadelphia to Italy. But it was an old clip from an appearance on the Jimmy Kimmel show that provided a special, girl-power smile for many. Kobe was talking about people telling him he should ...