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Michigan fiasco: Simply a sign of the times

By Paul Newberry The Associated Press Those absurd signs they hold up on the sidelines — displaying everything from emojis to superheroes to Bluto from “Animal House” — show just how far college football is behind the times. Which makes the signal-stealing scandal at Michigan seem downright quaint. And so unnecessary. College football, which rakes in billions and billions of dollars like an insatiable Pac-Man (also coming to a sideline sign near you, we presume), should simply follow the NFL’s longstanding method of sending in plays. If the quarterback and a ...

Watch for deer while driving

If you have done much driving around the rural areas of our region in recent weeks, you have likely noticed the increased presence of road-killed deer along the highways. Insurance industry statistics indicate that Pennsylvania is usually one of the top states for deer-vehicle collisions each year, so a dead deer on the roadside is a common sight any time of year. The top month for deer-vehicle collisions, however, is November for several reasons. Overall deer numbers are the highest of the year now as this spring’s fawn crop are approaching six months old and a significant part of ...

Blaney enhances Ohio family legacy

AVONDALE, Ariz. — The Blaney name has long been renowned in motorsports throughout the Midwest, where the Ohio-based family won in sprint cars, won on dirt tracks and racked up championships for three generations. It began with George Blaney, a lumber operator who also owned a race team. His son, Lou, won 600 sprint feature races, drove for his father’s three-car team, was inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame, and owned and operated Sharon Speedway in Hartford, just shy of the Pennsylvania state line. Lou had two sons, Dave and Dale. Both wanted to be racers, ...

Nittany Lions pass their pre-Michigan test

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Penn State standout offensive tackle Olu Fashanu didn’t think it was a coincidence that the Nittany Lions played their best offensive game of the season Saturday in destroying Maryland, 51-15. “November is the month of champions,” Fashanu said. “This game is a ...

Here’s Maryland’s chance to create a rivalry

By Neil Rudel nrudel@altoonamirror.com Penn State has billed itself as “unrivaled” since it has no true rival in the Big Ten and no protected rivals with future conference schedules. In announcing the 2024 schedule on Thursday, which includes the Terrapins as Penn State’s regular-season finale, the Big Ten Network suggested the teams could become rivals because they share important recruiting turf. Maryland, of course, would like nothing better than to claim the Lions as their top rival. Same with Rutgers as PSU is the biggest game on the Scarlet Knights’ schedule, ...

PSU point-counter: Best and worst part of this season (Giger)

Beating Wolverines would make things better A lot of people are really down on Penn State right now, and the team has shown the past two weeks that it’s clearly not as good as many people thought. But a win over Michigan next week would change everything. Having that tremendous opportunity ahead is the best thing I can say about the season right now. Because regardless of the loss to Ohio State, there is still a path to the College Football Playoff, if the Nittany Lions can find a way to upset the Wolverines. Will that happen? I doubt it. Not trying to be a Debbie Downer, but to ...