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NCAA must address opting out of bowls As a Penn Stater, class of 1963, I was disappointed with six starting football players who dropped out of the recent Outback Bowl. Five were defensive starters, which crippled the Penn State defense. Coach James Franklin said it was the worst bowl opt-out situation he has experienced. Happily, the Big Ten record in the bowls was 6-4. Players dropping out of bowl games for fear of being injured prior to the NFL draft is disconcerting. Injuries can occur anytime during their careers. Most of the players were on four-year scholarships ...

Lamertina feels pride, challenge of being college football official

By Charles Lamertina For the Mirror (Editor’s note: Charles Lamertina, an Altoona native, has officiated major college football since 2015. This past season, he worked the Army-Navy game and reflected on the experience for the Mirror.) To say that the avocation of football officiating has taken me to places that I would not otherwise get to in life, or to meet people with whom I would not otherwise meet, would be to grossly understate. Geographically, it has taken me from Hawaii to the Bahamas; while Eric Dickerson, President George H.W. Bush and Secretary of Defense Lloyd ...

Big Ben will leave a large void

The atmosphere at the Steelers-Cleveland game was at the AFC championship game level. I was at Kobe Bryant’s last game in Los Angeles, and there were a lot of similarities as the both games seemed to a celebration of careers. As with Bryant, there is something very special about a connection between a city and fan base when a player stays with one team for nearly two decades. Heinz Field was packed an hour before the game just to see Ben Roethlisberger warm up. Helmetless, with just a knit cap on his head, knowing this was the last time he would ever warm up before a game ...

Sunday Sports Mailbag

Penn State football plight: It’s stuck with Franklin This entire Penn State coaching staff lacks accountability, starting with our overpaid head coach. Excuses galore but no results. Where do we (re)start? Coaches: I know we are now stuck with James Franklin until he demands another raise, but is it too much to ask for him to actually coach? The top coaches (Saban, Smart, Swinney, Fisher, Day and even Schiano) are much more engaged in the game than Franklin. His M.O. seems to be good recruiter, below average coach. His trick plays don’t fool anyone. I will ...

New year brings renewed hope

By Jim. Caltagirone For the Mirror Speculating on what the new year will bring is one of the joys of the holiday season. Even if it’s only wishful thinking, entertaining hopes for that elusive lottery jackpot or new job certainly come at no cost. It’s better to dream big than not at all. That’s certainly true in sports. A championship is the ultimate reward for a loyal fan base. It has a way of erasing all the frustrations created by near misses and seasons best forgotten. Of the four major American team champions in 2021, only the Atlanta Braves were a major surprise. ...

Madden found a way to make the game feel fresh

By Jim Litke The Associated Press So it barely mattered whether you first ran across John Madden as the growling, grizzly bear-sized coach of the Oakland Raiders, the big, booming soundtrack of the NFL, or the guy with the “what-me-worry?” smile peeking out from the slot on a video-game console. All three generations of football fans faithfully followed in his wake because every run-in with Madden after that was bound to yield something new. An insect landing on the camera lens in the middle of a game? Instead of ignoring that detail, Madden turned it into 10 seconds of ...