Can ... Hardly .... Type....

because my hands are so rusty doing it. Its hard to believe that it took me so long to actually write something again.  Part of it is that I have been awfully busy with this lady.

And also partly because I have been busy with this little guy

More on him later

Plus the other three kids who do tend to keep me busy from time to time.

But really the excuse is just one of inertia.  It seems that when I am doing something I do it every day without fail, but once I get knocked off the path, it becomes so hard to get back on.

But consider me back on. 

The Joe I Want to Remember

He was either lauded as a saint or derided as a charlatan.  The truth was that he was  human with virtues and failings like all of us.

He ran a football program where some of his players,  got drunk, got in scuffles and did a lot of stupid nonsense that most of did some variation of when we were in school.

But unlike most coaches today, he valued both academics and the integrity of his program more than wins and his wallet and he was as loyal to Penn State as any alumni.

At his best, he was exemplar of the truth that dedication and hard work beat out raw talent.  At his worst he was an anachronism who hung on long after he should have left the stage.

He was part of the most horrific scandal to ever hit Sports.  He fulfilled his legal responsibilities but not his moral ones.  But he was the only one involved to admit he should have done much more.  The final tragedy was that he did not stay around long enough to enable the world to put this tragedy in perspective with an otherwise exemplary life.

This Transcript of Joe's address to the board of trustees after winning the 1982-83 National Championship is the Joe I care to remember.

(thanks to BWI.com)