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Cory Giger

That’s no way to determine the winner of a football game

That overtime nonsense was ludicrous. Just a farce, really, and I honestly cannot believe that is what college football decided to turn to in order to end lengthy games. I’m fine with the rules for the first two overtime periods — just continuing to play football from the opposing 25-yard line. That works. That makes sense. Having both teams compete in a two-point conversion contest starting with the third overtime is just dumb. It’s way too gimmicky and is no way to decide a hard-fought game between two teams. The best comparison we can make would be to decide a basketball ...

Big Ten should not have three powers in one division

Should the Big Ten change its divisional structure, and if so, how? By Cory Giger cgsports12@aol.com Without a doubt, I believe the Big Ten should and probably eventually will realign its divisions to something that makes more sense and gives the league its best chance to maximize the number of teams it can get into the College Football Playoff. The way things currently are set up can really only hurt the Big Ten instead of helping it. Let’s say Penn State and Ohio State are both outstanding in a given year. They’ll play each other in the regular ...

Help finally arrives for MiLB players

One of the most important bit of news in minor league baseball history came out Sunday afternoon, with a wonderful announcement that was long, long overdue. Starting next season, Major League Baseball will provide housing for minor leaguers in every city. The players no longer will have to pay for their housing throughout the season, and the hope/goal is that available housing will be located already, so that players don’t have to do that, either. This is massive for the industry. Because since forever, minor league players have had to find their own housing while constantly ...

Bowen latest broadcaster turned GM

By Cory Giger For the Mirror Rob Egan pulled it off. So did Jason Dambach. It’s something that’s rare in professional sports, but not when it comes to the Altoona Curve. Now, Nate Bowen will get his opportunity to do the same thing. Bowen came to Altoona eight years ago to be a radio broadcaster. Now he’s the Curve’s general manager, taking over last week after Derek Martin stepped down to pursue other interests. “Proud of Nate,” said Egan, who hired Bowen back in 2013. “He’s worked hard, continued to learn and truly understands the Curve and what it means to the ...

Penn State’s best defense will need to be solid offense

What unit needs to carry the day at Iowa? By Cory Giger For the Mirror I usually have five keys for Penn State to win a game. Today I’m going with five words. Don’t. Turn. The. Ball. Over. That is indeed the story line of this week’s showdown at Iowa, as James Franklin said Tuesday. So much of Iowa’s success in rising to a No. 3 ranking has been predicated on turnovers. The Hawkeyes have forced 16 of them (12 interceptions), giving their offense a bunch of short fields and easy scoring opportunities. How good is Iowa if the other team doesn’t turn the ball ...

Coaches should be able to criticize bad calls

What is your main takeaway from last weekend’s officiating? By Cory Giger cgiger@altoonamirror.com I have watched the video about 20 times, and laughed every time. It’s a halftime interview where ABC’s Holly Rowe asked James Franklin what explanation he got from the officials for ridiculously taking a down away from Penn State during a first-half series against Auburn. Franklin just stares at her. For a full second. Saying nothing. Then shrugged his shoulders. “That’s the explanation we needed,” replied Rowe, a savvy pro reading the moment ...