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Speculation distracting Franklin

The main storyline of the 2021 Penn State football season, unfortunately, has devolved into one thing — whether this is James Franklin’s final year in Happy Valley. Franklin said the ongoing speculation linking him to other jobs (USC, LSU) has not been discussed with the staff or the players, but he’s nobody’s fool: In fact, Franklin is probably the savviest coach in the country when it comes to social media, who’s on it, what’s being tweeted, etc. Clearly, the entire program is distracted, the players for how they’ve performed dating back to Sean Clifford’s injury at ...

Small window for turkey hunts

This week will be a busy one for hunters. Fall turkey season opens Saturday and runs one week until Nov. 6. That is a much shorter season than we are used to. Perhaps that is because of the reported decline in the turkey population in the last couple years. Many other management areas have longer open seasons this year than we have in 4D, so check it out in your hunting digest. Hunting turkey can be a different and harder pursuit the second week. The flocks of hens and young that most hunters ran into in the early part of the season have become educated by all the scattering and ...

Baseball’s playoff format should stay put

Since Major League Baseball set its playoff system with the Wild Card Game involving non-divisional winners, there has been much clamoring about the unfairness of the setup. And truth be told, things haven’t always shaken out spic and span. The Pittsburgh Pirates won 98 games in 2015, but finished in second place in the National League Central Division to the St. Louis Cardinals, who won 100 games. Because they were unfortunate enough to be in an ultra competitive division that year, the Pirates were locked into the winner-take-all Wild Card Game with the Chicago Cubs, who ...

Penn State doesn’t get paid for 9 overtimes

By Neil Rudel nrudel@altoonamirror.com UNIVERSITY PARK — We’ve now witnessed the low point of James Franklin’s eight-year Penn State tenure. As a 24-point favorite, fresh from a bye week, the Nittany Lions lost to Illinois, 20-18, in a torturous nine-overtime game — NCAA record ...

Backup QBs get chance to show up for PSU

By Neil Rudel nrudel@altoonamirror.com Backup QBs get chance to show up All eyes are on the Penn State quarterback(s). Sean Clifford has made a surprisingly quick return to practice, but his availability for today’s game with Illinois (noon, ABC) remains questionable. The Nittany Lions (5-1, 2-1 in the Big Ten) should not need Clifford to beat the struggling Illinois (2-5, 1-3), but they almost certainly will need him to stand any chance next week at Ohio State. In that regard, Clifford’s injury, suffered Oct. 9 at Iowa and rumored/feared to mean a more extensive absence, ...

No, Penn State just needs to find its way around OSU

Should the Big Ten change its divisional structure, and if so, how? By Neil Rudel nrudel@altoonamirror.com I heard James Franklin on the topic encouraging discussion, and it’s totally understandable. As we sit here this morning, the best four teams in the Big Ten — Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan and Michigan State — are not only parked in the Top 10 but in the Big Ten East, too. Of course, if you’re the coach trying to negotiate that gauntlet, you’d peek over at the Big Ten West, see Wisconsin, Nebraska, Minnesota and Iowa (and Iowa … ...