OSFFL

Phillies acquire RHP Baez.

The Arizona Diamondbacks have agreed to terms with second baseman
Kelly Johnson on a one-year contract.

The Mets have reached an agreement with free-agent outfielder Jason
Bay, according to a major-league source.

After missing out on top arms this offseason, the New York Mets are
ready to try a questionable one.

Chan Ho Park has sued his former Dodger battery mate Chad Kreuter, accusing him of failing to fully pay off a $460,000 loan.

Free agent Troy Glaus and the Atlanta Braves have reached a tentative agreement on a contract, a baseball source told ESPN.com on Wednesday.

To those of you who aren’t Seinfeld fans, you probably have no idea what I’m talking about.  Here’s a refresher course.

But for those of you who know exactly what I’m talking about, you’re in for a treat.  Here at NittanyWhiteOut HQ, we’ve got our Festivus pole up, we’re preparing the Festivus dinner, and while we await the Festivus miracles and the feats of strength, we’ll take advantage of another Festivus tradition, the airing of greivances, and address some of the problems we have with some of Penn State’s decision-making in the past year.  Here it is everybody, how the following people have disappointed us in the past year:

• Hey, Tim Curley–do we really need to play 7.5 home games a year?  I’m pretty sure most other schools sponsor the same number of sports as Penn State does, and yet the vast majority of them aren’t afraid to play a marquee game every year.  So what the hell were you thinking when you asked Penn State fans to pay full price to watch games against such great opponents as Temple, Akron, and Eastern Illinois?  One of those games is fine, and two is acceptable, but when Syracuse is a stinker, and Temple ends up being your best non-conference opponent, somebody’s failed in the scheduling department.  Next year will be even better, with Alabama an away game, you’ll be treating fans to a lineup of Temple, Kent State, and Youngstown State, and a Big Ten slate devoid of any of the marquee teams in the conference means Northwestern might well be our best home game in 2010.  But that’s not all–implementing a new ticket policy for students which made it damn near impossible to even give your tickets away, much less sell them?  You deserve all the blame for the empty seats this year, not anyone else.  Now, we find out that you’re taking away our sideline seats and throwing all the students in the end zone? Do I need to remind you that the team is PENN STATE’s team and that we, as PENN STATE students, shouldn’t be tossed aside like an afterthought?  Shame on you, Mr. Curley, for selling out so brutally, and turning what actually once might have been “The Best Show in College Football” into a corporate farce of marketing.  Now, all fans will have to pay what amount to PSLs and you’re increasing prices across the board?  I can only hope that you, and Guido D’Elia get called out over and over again, especially when people look at the half empty student section for games like the aforementioned jokes and even against Minnesota in the snow.  You’ve ruined Paternoville, you’ve ruined tailgating, you’ve taken away all the beauty of college football-the marching bands, the tradition, in favor of cheesy pumped-in arena rock songs and corporate sponsorship.
• Hey, Joe Paterno–I’m not going to complain, as some “fans” have, that you should be forced out, that a 10-2 season is a disaster, that you’ve clearly lost touch with your players, because even if that was true, you’ve earned the right to go out on your own terms.  But after all these years, would it kill you to hire a special teams coach?  This year’s unit couldn’t have been worse, with Collin Wagner physically unable to kick a field goal of more than 40 or so yards and spotty on anything closer, with a punter who was solid but coverage that was a sieve, with a kick and punt return unit that put the ball on the floor more often than they broke a big one and a kick coverage unit that ranked among the worst in the country.  Take a look at Frank Beamer, and see what an advantage his teams have by dominating that area of the game. They’ve consistently created more scoring chances for themselves with big returns and key blocked kicks when they need them.  Now look at your team, and see that a blocked punt doomed us against Iowa and a long punt return against set the tone in the Ohio State game, and maybe, if our special teams were merely mediocre, we’d have won one of those games.  I know, not all schools have a special teams coordinator, but why wouldn’t you want to give your team the absolute best chance to compete?
• Hey, Darryl Clark–stop complaining.  Look, I like you, you were a good leader for this team, and whenever you’ve got a quarterback who’s a two-time All-Conference selection, you can’t argue about the production on the field.  That’s right Daryll, against the Michigan States and Illinoises and even the Michigans of the world you cleaned up.  But against Iowa, you were horrendous, twice, though your offensive line certainly wasn’t doing you any favors.  Against Ohio State this year, you couldn’t complete a pass of more than 5 yards.  And even though the Lions beat the Buckeyes last year in Columbus, you were on the bench while your backup scored the winning touchdown.  That’s why I take umbrage with a recent Twitter post you put up.  Sorry, Daryll, but I thought your legacy was on the line against Ohio State this year, and, well, we both know how that turned out.  You were a great quarterback for us, but no matter what happens on New Year’s Day, you’ll be remembered as the QB who couldn’t win the big one.  So don’t worry, Daryll, your legacy isn’t on the line, it’s already been determined.  Just not the way you’d like.  That’s not to say I’d take these years back, that’s not to say I’d prefer Pat Devlin, that’s not to say I don’t appreciate and respect all you’ve done for this team.  Your legacy will always be as a great leader, as someone who put the Anthony Morelli years firmly in the rearview mirror, and who excelled in the vast majority of his games.  This grievance is just to beg you not to be indignant when you had the chance to leave your mark. Sorry, Daryll, but you’re no Michael Robinson.

Hat tip to BSD

• Hey, Cael Sanderson–I get it, you’re quite possibly the greatest wrestler of all time, you’re an Olympic legend, and you’re a hell of a wrestling coach.  We were all thrilled when you came here, and early returns, both on the mat and in wrestling recruiting, have been sparkling.  You’re certainly earning the record contract that you signed, even though some (me) might argue that the money would be better spent on bringing in some marquee opponents for the football team.  But this isn’t about that.  This is about your dictator-like tendencies to suspend a wrestler for having a beer on his 21st birthday.  You made it a team rule that wrestlers couldn’t drink any alcohol during the wrestling season, and I really don’t like that rule.  These wrestlers are just kids, college students, and it’s not fair to hold your athletes to that high of a standard.  I’m not suggesting that these student-athletes should be going out and getting drunk every weekend, but how about a little trust in your kids to be responsible?  One beer on his 21st birthday isn’t taking this wrestler out of his game, it’s not making him out of shape, and that rule serves no purpose other than to assert your dominance, Mr. Sanderson, over a bunch of college students.  I know, you want your wrestlers to be at their peak physical condition, but why can’t we just let kids be kids, and athletes second?
• Hey, Floyd Mayweather–man up and fight Manny Pacquiao.
• Hey, Phillies fans–realize that you got completely fleeced in the Roy Halladay trade.
• Hey, anybody on the Penn State basketball team other than Talor Battle–please, help that man out. He can’t do it all on his own, okay?
• Hey, Ed DeChellis–you should have a play that doesn’t involve dicking around until there are 5 seconds left on the shot clock and then having Talor Battle throw up an off-balance three.
• Hey, readers–thanks for your support of NittanyWhiteOut over the past year, have a Merry Christmas, Joyous Kwanzaa, for those of you who celebrated a Chappy Chanukah last week, I hope your candles burned bright, and to all: May your 2010s be better than your 2009s!

Related Posts:

1. Happy birthday Joe Paterno!
2. Scoping out the Secondary Market
3. Is Greg Paulus coming to Happy Valley?

A woman has pleaded not guilty to new charges, including retaliating against a witness, related to an alleged extortion attempt of University of Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino.

To celebrate the upcoming new year, and new decade, we’ll be offering a retrospective here at NittanyWhiteOut. Over the next two weeks, we’ll reveal all the members of NittanyWhiteOut’s All-Decade team, comprising of the best Penn Staters from 2000-2009. Don’t agree with our picks? Let your voice be heard in the comments! We continue today with a look back at Penn State’s best defensive tackles of the past decade.

Defensive tackle isn’t always the most glorious position to play. While defensive ends are tasked with getting after the quarterback, and linebackers have the duty to tackle the ball carrier, the defensive tackles make it all possible by clogging running lanes and eating up blockers. The best mark of a defensive tackle doing his job is the superior play of everyone around him, and our choices below went above and beyond just that. They pressured the quarterback, pushing back blockers and penetrating beyond the line of scrimmage. They swallowed up ball carriers, not even letting them get to the next level. Their superior play bolstered tremendous defensive performances, and as such, they make the NittanyWhiteOut All-Decade team.

Jimmy Kennedy (1999-2002) stood out in an era in which not too many Nittany Lions excelled. While stories of Kennedy’s girth are legendary–the commonly repeated story is that he came into Penn State weighing close to 400 pounds, his play on the field was perhaps just as epic. A four-year starter for Penn State, Kennedy made an immediate impact on a struggling program, being named an all-Big Ten honorable mention player in his sophomore season and an first-team all-conference player in his junior seasons, despite the abject failure of the rest of the team around him. With Penn State struggling, Kennedy weighed heavily a decision to enter the NFL a year early, but chose to return to Penn State for his senior year, a move that paid obvious dividends, as Kennedy experienced a metamorphosis, from a solid tackle to one of the best linemen in the country. As a senior, Kennedy racked up 87 tackles, 5.5 sacks, and even knocked down 3 passes at the line, en route to a spot on the All-America team. A finalist for all sorts of post-season awards, Kennedy found himself a first-round draft pick, 12th overall, and one of 4 Nittany Lions drafted in the first round of the 2003 NFL Draft, though he has failed to find the same success in the NFL that he did during his Penn State playing days.

Jared Odrick (2006-2009) came to Penn State with considerable fanfare, a consensus All-American, and lived up to that promise almost immediately. Though he saw the field very little as a freshman, by his sophomore season Odrick was making a big impact on the Lions defense, playing both defensive end and tackle. Going into his junior season, Odrick was firmly entrenched as a starter at defensive tackle, and following the dismissals of Chris Baker and Phil Taylor before the season, and exacerbated by the mid-season legal issues of Abe Koroma, Odrick was thrust into an every-down role. Jared wouldn’t be on this list if he didn’t rise to the occasion, and, after a 4.5-sack, 10-TFL season, Odrick was named to the all-Big Ten first team. Odrick was even better in his senior season, coming through with 6 sacks and countless pressures despite constant double-teaming. Though the Big Ten media listed Odrick as merely a second-team player, the coaches not only voted him as the best defensive lineman, but as their conference player of the year, perhaps the ultimate form of respect. Odrick was also named to the CBS All-America team and the AFCA All-America team, as voted on by the coaches of the NCAA.

Honorable Mentions: Jay Alford, Anthony Adams

Related Posts:

1. The Penn State All-Decade Team: Defensive Ends
2. The Penn State All-Decade Team: Offensive Tackles
3. The Penn State All-Decade Team: Safety

Iowa starting guard Anthony Tucker has been suspended after Iowa City Police said he was arrested for public intoxication.

In between countless telephone conversations and meetings about Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee, the Phillies had an important issue simmering on the back burner: the bullpen.

The Phillies announced Friday that they have exercised the 2011 club option on shortstop Jimmy Rollins, who will be paid $8.5 million. Rollins signed a five-year, $40 million extension in June 2005.

The Phillies came up big in MLB.com’s This Year in Baseball Awards. More than 12 million votes were cast on MLB.com, and many of them were Phillies fans, who named Ruben Amaro Jr. Best Executive, J.A. Happ Best Rookie, Jayson Werth Best Unsung Star and a father-and-daughter combo as the season’s Best Oddity.

Two years into a four-year evaluation period, the Mountain West Conference is halfway home to securing an automatic BCS bid.

MLB Buzz: Does the Dodgers’ need to remain cash-neutral mean they
won’t be able to make any significant moves?

Brett Favre has joined Drew Brees and Peyton Manning in
Championship weekend. Get the latest playoff matchups.

Former Pittsburgh All-America defensive end Hugh Green came close to winning the Heisman. Can Ndamukong Suh take home college football’s top individual prize?