{mosimage} This article was spawned by something I read today which may be nothing but fiction. Anyhow, posted on a Penn State forum is the following:

"Yesterday two grad students(husband and wife) that I know were driving on campus and being followed closely by a white car. The white car passes them and then cuts them off pinning them against the curb. The driver gets out and starts screaming obcenities at the woman(who was driving), flipping both middle fingers and repeatedly saying "do you know who I am!" The irate screaming and cursing by the driver of the white car continues long enough for the campus police to arrive at which time the driver of the white car takes off. The woman is so shaken up the police ask her if she is OK to drive. The only thing they could think of that set the driver of the white car off was if they were driving to slow. They were both in some state of shock the rest of the day that Joe Paterno, a man they both admired, could act this way. If this is the way our 80 year old head coach acts....can we be shocked our team captains act the way they do?"

Couple all of this with Penn States performance on the field and in recruiting. You have to wonder about JoPa's immediate future.

Lloyd Carr-seems like the buzzards have been circling for awhile now. Truth is, Michigan can win the Big Ten and go to a BCS Bowl. To do that would mean beating OSU. All of that could buy Lloyd some more time, if he wants it, but no Michigan fan wll forget the start of this season. Regardless of how Michigan finnishes, you have to remember where they were ranked going into this season and the publicly stated goals Michigan had starting this year.

How about Phillip Fulmer at Tennessee? They got off to a 2&2 start, but like Michigan, they still have a shot in the SEC. My impression is there is a segment of the Tennessee faithful that have grown tired of Phil through the past 14 years. Certainly the performance against Georgia has all Volunteer fans happy this week, but again, we see discontent in Tennessee these days with Coach Fulmer.

How about Iowa? Coach Ferentz was at one time thought to be at the top of the coaching food chain. He is certainly getting paid like he is one of the premier coaches out there. Yet, when is the last time Iowa won a Big Ten game? The revival of the Illinois program will not make recruiting the Chicago area any easier. From an outsiders perspective, we don't see optimism surrounding this program.

UCLA just got beat by Notre Dame. If you are in Vegas, don't bet on a lenghtly tenure for this coach.

Speaking of Notre Dame, and as reported on DeathRattle yesterday, rumblings are out there concerning Coach Weis. Is he, or was ever the right choice for the job? Truth is his contract gives him serious job security. Also, consider the fact that he would sue them into tomorrow if they tried to get rid of him. In fairness, it appears to me that most Irish fans are willing to wait for this years recruiting class, and for the development of the Golden Boy. Yet, with the teams performance, player dissatisfaction, and with opinions such as were expressed by Kuechenberg, you have to wonder.

I guess while on this subject we should point out the NCAA is apparently still sniffing around the USC program. I suppose knowing the NCAA is involved we should just check back in about five years. For me, if Pete Carroll starts to entertain NFL positions that will indicate where the NCAA is going.

We have most likely only scratched the surface regarding this subject. Could have discussed the Pitt coaching situation in light of their performance along with others, but it is lunch time and DeathRattle doesn't pay me enough to miss lunch.

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JEH45 said:

As an update to the above story, JoPa gave his version of the traffic incident written about in the article above. Paterno confirmed he had a verbal run-in with a female driver last Friday after a near accident. Paterno said after the near accident he pulled his car over to the curb and got out. Paterno goes on to say the told the female driver "watch it", while shaking his finger. He goes on to say "be careful, I have your license number, and I will call the police on you." Paterno goes on to say the male passenger walked up and chastised Paterno saying "That's my wife you are talking to." Paterno says he told the man "That's your problem." According to a university police report a woman filed a report stating a male driver committed a traffic violation and then acted in a disorderly manner at 12:09PM.

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Lloyds Apple said:

Here's the full report by the Pittsburgh Gazette. JoePa is just pissed about losing some games. I love his "that's your problem" response. Paterno says he took part in traffic incident Thursday, October 11, 2007 By Ron Musselman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Penn State's continuing pattern of off-the-field incidents took an unusual turn yesterday, reaching to the top of the program. Penn State coach Joe Paterno confirmed for the first time that he had a verbal run-in with a female driver Friday after a near accident on campus. Message boards have been full of rumored accounts of the incident, but Paterno made no secret of it. He told more than 300 people at the Penn State Quarterback Club luncheon about his near miss. Information exchanged at the weekly luncheon is normally treated as off the record and not open to the media. But multiple sources who attended told the Post-Gazette about Paterno's exchange with the audience. According to the sources, Paterno said after his close call he pulled his car over to the curb and got out. He then approached the other vehicle and shook his finger at the driver. He warned her to, "Watch it." "Be careful," Paterno said. "I have your license number, and I will call the police on you." According to the sources, Paterno said a male passenger then walked up and chastised him, saying, "That's my wife you're talking to." Paterno said, "That's your problem." The woman then snapped back at Paterno, telling him, "I'm going to call the police on you." Paterno reportedly told the woman to go ahead. She did just that. According to a university police report, the unidentified woman filed her claim the same day as the incident. She stated that a male driver committed a traffic violation and acted in a disorderly manner at 12:09 p.m., along Bigler Road, near the Food Science Building. Numerous calls to the university police department for an update on the woman's complaint were not returned. At this stage, the incident is just a disagreement, and no charges have been filed. Paterno's off-the-field incident is just the latest in a long line of distractions for his football program. University police are investigating an on-campus fight this past weekend that may have involved some of Paterno's players and resulted in at least one injury. Tailback Austin Scott, according to Paterno, broke a team rule and did not dress for Saturday's game against Iowa. But sources say Scott is being investigated for an off-the-field incident. The investigation continues, but no charges have been filed. Also this past weekend, two freshmen -- tailback Joe Suhey and backup punter Ryan Breen -- were cited for underage drinking. In August, tight end Andrew Quarless and defensive back Willie Harriott were both cited for underage drinking, and Paterno benched them as punishment. Six months ago, six players initially were charged for their roles in an April 1 brawl at an off-campus apartment in State College. Charges against four players were dropped, but safety Anthony Scirrotto and defensive tackle Chris Baker are facing possible trials in December. Scirrotto is charged with a felony count of criminal trespass and a summary offense of harassment. Baker is facing felony charges of burglary and criminal trespass, misdemeanor assault and summary harassment. Penn State's players continue to clean up Beaver Stadium after each home game as part of Paterno's season-long team punishment as a result of that fight.

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