By: Caitie Ryan
December 8, 2009
I admit it I was once that person who blamed one
player on a team’s lost. If the Packers lost it
didn’t matter if it was the defense’s fault. I
blamed it on Brett Favre. The horrible years that
Penn State suffered during the early 2000’s, I
blamed it on Zack Mills.
But then as my sports knowledge matured, I began to
see that it always wasn’t just one players fault.
Sure there are those famous games where the kicker
missed the field goal to lose the Super Bowl or a
hockey player missed the goal to win the shootout.
Yet, there are those games where one player gets all
the blame for a lost, when it’s not necessarily all
on them.
Imagine that pressure and having to deal with finals
week coming up. That’s what is happening to
Pittsburgh Panther’s holder, Andrew Janocko. The
Panthers were up by three touchdowns beating, the
Cincinnati Bearcats, last Saturday.
Then in the second half the defense gave up a few
points giving Cincinnati the advantage. Without
going through all the details, let’s fast forward to
a 1:36 left in the game. The Panthers are up to kick
an extra point, Pitt is up 44-38. The “perfect” snap
and Janocko “bobbles” the ball, and there’s no extra
point. ESPN calls it a costly mistake.
The Bearcats get the ball back and end up winning
45-44. Heartbreaking, yes, all close games are. But
the costly mistake here? In my opinion, shouldn’t
that be placed on the Pitt defense for letting them
even get to 38 points? How about letting score on
that last run? No… let’s blame the holder.
Andrew has held the ball perfectly all season, yet
he will not get credit for it. Then here is his one
mistake and all of America puts the game on his
shoulders. People, look at the whole game here. Dion
Lewis beat the Panther record with 47 carries for
194 yards. Pitt had an amazing run in the first half
and then faltered the second. That happens in
football.
All I am saying is lay off Andrew Janocko, give the
kid a break. He’s only one player.
Nov. 20, 2009
All my life I have always looked up to college
football players. When I was a little kid I would go
to Penn State football games with my family and
watch my Saturday game day heroes tear up the field.
After the game I would run up to players and ask for
autographs. My collection consists of Michael
Robinson, Larry Johnson, LaVar Arrington and Robbie
Gould to name a few. I would stare in awe as they
started small talk with their fans.
I hold these John Hancock’s with high esteem and
tend to brag about a couple of them. Even now I
watch games and still see them as the football
heroes I always have. Then one Saturday it hit me.
They are my age. In fact, I am older then some of
them. These guys are just like me.
Two moments of this revelation stick out to me the
most. The major being, one Saturday I found myself
watching a Pittsburgh Panthers game. I don’t
remember which game it was, but I do remember they
scanned the sideline with the camera and all of a
sudden I caught a glimpse of number 4. Now back in
the day that number meant Brett Favre, but for this
game the number 4 meant something different.
See number 4 on the Panthers is Andrew Janocko. A
name that might not mean a thing to some people, but
to me, it’s a name I am familiar with. He graduated
high school with me. In fact not only was he in my
class, but I knew him pretty well. He is my
grandparents’ next door neighbor and we had a few
classes together over the years. He was the
quarterback of the Clearfield Bisons and now he is
on national television with a ranked college team.
He is one of those guys, though he’s on “the wrong
Pennsylvania team,” that I considered a college
football “god.” It hit me that Saturday that these
guys are the same as us.
The other time that it hit me that these guys are
just college students was during a Primetime Sports
Guy talk break; Alex Bieler mentioned that everyone
talking on the segment was older than Terrell Pryor.
What?? I never thought of it like that. Pryor, a big
name in the Big Ten, is younger than me. He has ESPN
eating out of his hand, an entire team to run and
NFL teams waiting for his graduation. Yet, he is a
peer, sort of. I am older than his big shot, yet I
still think of him as someone bigger and more
powerful than me.
It was a strange thing to realize, but it hasn’t
changed my outlook on college football. I still
worship the boys in blue and white. I still think of
Daryl Clark as a football hero, even though he is
only a year older than me. I believe I will be as
old as Joe Paterno and still think these guys are my
heroes.
Nov. 1, 2009
Monday Night Football is usually the most epic game
of the week. The game that everyone watches, the
game that ESPN knows will draw the most viewers. On
Monday, October 5, 2009 Monday Night Football became
a little bit of a overhyped game, even for that
timeslot. We all know the sob story, Brett Favre,
once Green Bay’s Golden Boy, now plays for the
archrival Minnesota Vikings. As a diehard Packers
fan, this decision has been disgusting to watch over
and over again. But it lost its appeal, its old
news.
For me, this game wasn’t about the fact that Brett
can’t seem to decide on anything except his real
comfortable Wrangler jeans, it was more than me
wanting to beat my former hero; it was to prove that
once and for all that Aaron Rodgers is a good and
respectable quarterback.
The man threw his heart out; it was not his fault
that the O-line decided to stay in Green Bay,
instead of heading to Minnesota. Granted Clifton is
injured and that makes a difference, but it’s called
the offensive LINE not the offensive PERSON. Poor
Rodgers got sacked eight, EIGHT times, had to
scramble most of the time, and yes, he threw
interceptions. In short he almost looked like
another quarterback that Green Bay used to know and
love… hmmm. Yet he threw for 348 yards, a career
high, which is more yardage than what number four
threw that night.
It wasn’t all on the offensive, the secondary looked
horrible also, but this is not a complaining session
of what the Pack did wrong. This is about the fact
that they played a football game. It was sloppy and
for the veterans it had a bitter background, yet
Green Bay lost by a touchdown (30-23), in a game
that was almost expected to be a blowout. At one
point it almost just became another game, take out
the emotions. But isn’t that what it was just a
game? Isn’t Brett Favre just another quarterback for
the Pack to beat?
On November 1, when the Vikes travel to Lambeau
Field, I challenge everyone who watches that game to
look at it like that. As just a game between two NFC
North rivals. Take out the emotions; take out the
fact that this will be the first time Brett Favre
will be walking unto the Kentucky bluegrass that was
once his home. Just look at the game and watch it as
you would any other game.
I will be doing that, of course I want a Pack win,
but I hate losing at home, especially when it’s a
division rival, no matter who their star player is.
