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A holiday ode to winter sports

This year’s poem celebrates the Winter Sports Season ‘Twas some time before Christmas and all through the region, The athletes were stirring… here comes a new season. With singlets and uniforms doled out with care, The hope of a championship floats through the air. The coaching staff, nestled all snug in their office, You better believe, they for sure are the bosses. Drawing up line-ups and game-plans and more, Ensuring their team can find all ways to score. The days growing shorter, the nights seem so long, We’ll head to the gym where the heat will be on. While the ...

Giger: Fans should climb on PSU hoops bandwagon

UNIVERSITY PARK — Penn State absolutely has a great chance to make the NCAA Tournament this season. Yes, it’s true. Really. No, reeeaaallly. I know, I know, PSU hoops history has beaten down so many college basketball fans around here that you just simply will not let yourself believe in the Nittany Lions. If fans let themselves have high hopes at all — and that wasn’t even possible with last year’s 0-10 start in the Big Ten — those hopes have been dashed time and time again by one bad loss after another. This year has a chance to be different. Penn State proved why in ...

Giger: PSU benefits from Rahne’s departure

Old Dominion did Penn State a big favor, and gave Nittany Lion fans an early Christmas present. That may sound harsh, but let’s be clear about one thing: Losing offensive coordinator Ricky Rahne is addition by subtraction for Penn State’s offense. Rahne is a good guy. A family man. A good representative of Penn State. I wish him nothing but the best as he takes over as Old Dominion’s head coach, and this is a wonderful opportunity for his career. But the hard truth is that Rahne was in over his head as the Lions’ offensive coordinator. He was average at best while holding ...

Giger: Facts simply don’t back up Penn State’s Rose Bowl snub

It takes just two words to explain Penn State getting snubbed for the Rose Bowl. 1. Bogus 2. Illinois This really isn’t complicated, and anyone who tells you otherwise is fooling themselves. That goes for the College Football Playoff selection committee, which botched this thing. It’s simple math, really. I know, I know, most Americans hate math, but this is REALLY easy math. Here we go: n Which number is higher: 3 or 2? Wisconsin (10-3) has three losses. Penn State (10-2) has two. n Which number is higher: 11 or 13 (or 31)? Penn State lost at Ohio State, one of the toughest ...

Saturday hunts change Thanksgiving

Pennsylvania’s firearm deer season is underway, though with a significant change from recent decades. Hunters took to the woods the Saturday after Thanksgiving rather than Monday, for the first time since 1963. The change was implemented to increase the number of hunters enjoying the season, according to Pennsylvania Game Commission officials after the decision was made this past spring. Saturday offers fewer work and school conflicts, so logically, an extra Saturday means more hunters, and more successful hunts. It also means re-arranging the holiday weekend. For many, ...

Raise a drumstick to Nittany Lions’ history

I’m thankful for Penn State’s history. Yes, the Nittany Lions have a present to feel very good about and a bright future, too, as the program has a chance to be in the College Football Playoff next year. But on this Thanksgiving Day, it’s cool that we as Penn State followers — be it as fans or media — have a past to be celebrated. Consider that since 1950 — 70 seasons — the football program has been led by just four coaches — Rip Engle, Joe Paterno, Bill O’Brien and James Franklin. None have had to be fired because the job was too big for them. We know the ...