The High Court

Deep Thinkers Only...

The Daily Verdict

November 28, 2005

 

I welcome all of our readers back to the revamped High Court of Sports.  We do hope that you missed us during our hiatus (otherwise this isn’t being read right now), and we hope you will continue to join us on our journey through cyberspace.  The High Court is celebrating six months of existence this week (the actual anniversary is on Wednesday), and I felt that it was time for us to re-invent ourselves as we attempt to hold onto to our core audience while striving to extend our reader base.

 

You can look for several changes as we go forward from this point in our brief history.  My friends and I created The High Court as a forum for expressing our opinions on the sports world and to have a place to share with people some of our great passions in sports.  It was always our intent to provide a different perspective from that of the mainstream media, and I believe we have succeeded in that vein.  What we found out, however, is that attempting to create and maintain a full-blown website while balancing our professional and personal lives is nearly impossible?  So scratch that idea, sort of.  Fortunately, we have built up enough of a base to be able to present our work as a site.  Unfortunately, we will be seeing less of The Powdered Wig this winter as his job as a basketball coach takes priority on his schedule.  Upon taking his leave of absence, The Wig suggested to me that I start a daily (or semi-daily) blog to provide our audience regular op-ed work, which would also allow me the opportunity to voice my opinions on a variety of topics.  I was a bit reluctant, frankly, as I hate the term blog.  But, here we are, in the midst of my first blog.  And it’s not so bad…is it?

 

You will notice that we are also expanding our field of view.  The sports world will continue to be our primary focus, but we intend to branch out to provide our thoughts on key political and social issues.  We are fortunate to have one of the great young Republicans (Ok…so he isn’t that young anymore) in Darth Reagan on our staff.  If you love capitalism, conservatism, and tax policy…you are absolutely gonna love Darth.  If you are a bit left-leaning in your political and social views…you may absolutely hate him.  But he will never fail to give it to you just like he sees it.  Think of it as Rush Limbaugh, without the need for painkillers.  This expanded arena also fits me perfectly.  I am an old political science major and it has often been difficult for me to sit on the sidelines and not comment on some of the hot-button issues of the day.  We live in complicated and tumultuous times, and on many occasions I have been struck by the need to write about things in this world that are much more important in life than sports.

 

That said…we are athletes and coaches at our very core.  Sports have had a huge role in shaping who we are as people.  We will continue to provide our special perspective on the important issues in sports, and we also intend to continue shining a light on the wonderful performers whose athletic exploits live on in our memories.  And the one thing that will not change is what each of us brings to the table as individuals.  To illustrate each Justice’s particular style, we are providing enhanced personal pages where you can enjoy the work of your favorite member of The High Court.  With The Powdered Wig, you will get his carefully crafted production pieces, full of detailed statistics and other key information which brings stars of the past back to vivid life.  Darth Reagan will tell you how it is and how it should be, and you can be sure that his personal platform will always be lurking somewhere inside his work.  As for me, well, you can fully expect The Chief Justice will continue to be the same controversial and contrarian figure he has been from the start.  I will always see it as my job to provide you with perspective the mainstream media won’t.  And my main mission, whether you agree with my point of view or not, is to make you think.  As a matter of fact, that is how we hope our readers see us…as the thinking person’s site.  So you stay with us…We will keep getting better!

 

The Paterno Way

 

Joe Paterno isn’t the least bit interested in your praise.  Just like he wasn’t the least bit interested in your criticism.  If you were to tell Coach Paterno what a fabulous job he had done this year, taking a team that was 7-16 over the last two seasons and molding them into a 10-1 juggernaut that had become Big Ten champs and was only one play away from being undefeated, he would likely shrug his shoulders, tell you he was just doing his job, and give all the credit to his players and assistant coaches.  A saint, this Joe Paterno?  No, not yet.  But this Joe Pa…he’s probably getting close.

 

As I stand on the cusp of being 33 years old, I hope that I still have a sharp mind and decent health in 45 years.  I have no hopes (although I can dream) of being Joe Paterno’s equal at 78.  And that’s right…the man is 78 years young, ready to lead the only program he has ever coached into a BCS bowl.  Still leading his players on to the field in a trot (which is sometimes closer to a sprint), the eternally mature looking Paterno has discovered the advantage of having looked 55 when he was 35.  He still looks 55.  Still acts that way, too.  Thank goodness for that.  May he be able to go on coaching forever.  Because Joe Paterno is a national treasure, and we all as sports fans can only pray that there are more out there like him.

 

Someone with the character and integrity to do what is right without having to even stop and consider any other alternative.  A man so upright that “doing the right thing” seems to be encoded in his DNA.  Paterno’s players have been the epitome of what student-athletes should be since his first season in 1966.  The Nittany Lions were only 5-5 that season, so Paterno didn’t have to worry about the game having passed him by at that point; critics could have only said that he was green and in over his head.  All the man has done since then is roll off 348 more wins and two national championships.  But the worth in JoePa isn’t what he has accomplished on the field, but rather what his players have accomplished off the field in the midst of all of this amazing success.  Paterno has turned boys into men, and fine men at that. 

 

He has always demanded excellence from his players in the classroom, but Paterno has also led by example when showing his kids that the Penn State football program was merely one part of the Penn State campus and community.  In 1997, the Paterno family donated $3.5 million dollars to the university for faculty and scholarship endowments and two building projects.  Penn State president Graham Spanier said of Paterno, “I have a theory that Joe coaches not so much for what he can do for football as for what he can do for the University and the community.  And that makes me the luckiest president in the country.”  And you wonder why Penn State wasn’t in a hurry to kick JoePa to the curb for a few subpar seasons?

 

Joe Paterno didn’t need to go out a champion (and I am not assuming he is going anywhere anytime soon) to ensure his legacy as one of the all-time greats.  But I am very glad that his program has rebounded with a brilliant 2005 season, if for no other reason than to remind the short-sighted media critics that Paterno is one of the greatest college football coaches of all time.  And for my money, this verdict is in…Joe Paterno is the greatest coach in college football history, and more importantly, one of its greatest men.

 

Let me leave you with a comment from ESPN.com’s Jim Caple, penned when he was writing for the Minneapolis Star and Tribune in 1995 and one from former Penn State All-American Shane Conlan.

 

From Jim Caple…“ ...he earned his titles in 1982 and 1986, and also earned something more important along the way -- the respect of the sporting world. While the rest of college football decays around him, Paterno remains a class act. He wins and he does it the right way. His players do not taunt, strut or dance. They do not dress in Army fatigues. They do not go on shopping sprees at Foot Locker with a booster's credit card. They merely win. And they graduate.

 

And from Shane Conlan… "He's tough as hell, but he does things the way they're supposed to be done. He follows the rules. He believes you're there for an education. He teaches you more than football. He teaches you about life."

 

 

 

(Thanks to Penn State football for biographical information and quotes on Coach Paterno)

 

 

Contact The Chief Justice at chiefjustice@thehighcourtofsports.com.