2B - January 23, 2012
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Examing the lasting legacy o Joe Paterno
Inever met Joe Paterno.
Six months ago, I was in
a media scrum surrounding
the longtime Penn State head
coach at the Big Ten Media Days
in Chicago. I
saw Paterno,
but I never
met the man.
Through
the lens of the
Canon T2i
camera in my
hands, I saw -
a shrinking STEPHEN J.
85-year-old NESBITT
man with --
Coke-bottle
glasses perched on his nose.Old
enough to be the father of every
other Big Ten coach, he didn't
really fit in.
But he was JoePa. He was a
legend.
Primed to begin his 46th sea-
son at the helm in State College,
Paterno was asked how long he'd
keep coaching. He laughed.
"I'd like to coach as long as
I feel like I can do a good job,"
Paterno said. "If there comes a
time where maybe I don't feel like
getting on the field andI can't run
around, can't demonstrate..."
Paterno trailed off. His health
had been deteriorating in the past
year, but things were turning back
around. There were hills around
his home on 830 McKee Street
that gave him a good workout,
and he walked to and from the
stadium whenever he could. He
hoped to coach four or five more
seasons, but coaching into his 90s
was always going to be a stretch -
College football is forever
changed. There won't be another
coach like him. Never again will
a city, university and football
program be synonymous with a
single name: Joe Paterno.
"College football has lost one
of its greatest, a coachingticon,"
Michigan coach Brady Hoke said
in a statement released Sunday.
Now you and I both have to
decide how to remember him.
His legacy might be tarnished
in your eyes, but it shouldn't be.
It isn't tarnished for thousands of
his former players who knew him
most intimately. They didn't turn
on their coach in the last 11 weeks,
though some were ashamed with
Penn State.
"His players' love for him, it
shows how he touched their lives
and it tells who he was asa man,"
Hoke said. "He will be missed.
His mark on Penn State and col-
lege football will neverbe forgot-
ten."
If nothing else, don't judge
Paterno by the mistakes of anoth-
er man. I never met Joe Paterno,
and in all likelihood, neither did
you.
Former Michigan coach Lloyd
Carr met him. He remembers
Paterno's "competitive spirit,
incredible generosity, his honesty,
his integrity and his humanity."
I'd like to remember JoePa that
way too.
Because for so many of us, Joe
Paterno was iconic. He was a leg-
end. He was Penn State.
- Nesbitt can be reached
at stnesbit@umich.edu..
0
Former Penn State coach Joe Paterno passed away on Sunday in State College at the age of 85. He coached the Nittany Lions football program for 46 years.
"That number maybe optimistic,"
he cautioned.
Paterno often referenced a
quote from a friend of his, jour-
neyman coach Marv Levy.
"I'm old enough to know my
limitations," Levy would say, "and
I'm young enough to know how to
handle 'em."
JoePa knew how to handle 'em.
For 45 years, he ran the cleanest
program in college football - his
hard-nosed, businesslike players
were proof. LaVarr Arrington.
Matt Millen. Mike Munchak.
But some of Paterno's final
comments in Chicago were fore-
boding.
"It may be up to somebody else
to make a decision as to whether
I'm effective or not for what the
program needs," Paterno said.
It was just a wizened old coach
staying humble.
Wasn't it?
What happened in the next
175 days is nearly inexplicable. It
was a nightmare, a cruel twist in
the legacy of the legendary Joe
Paterno.
Despite the lack of a true
quarterback and with dipping
expectations in 2011, the Nittany
Lions charged out to an 8-1 start,
good for first place in the Big Ten.
Then, with one tell-all report,
Paterno's program was embroiled
in perhaps the most revolting
scandal in modern-day sports.
A former assistant coach, Jerry
Sandusky, was being pressed with
a battery of charges - some of
the most heinous acts imaginable.
Victim after victim came forward.
Penn State President Graham
Spanier and Athletic Director
Tim Curley were fired.
Then, the attention turned to
Paterno. He knew. How much?
We'll never know, buthe knew
something and he did something.
But he didn't do enough.
On the evening of Nov. 9, with
Happy Valley in protest, the Penn
State Board of Directors made
their decision. They placed a short
phone call and told Paterno his
tenure as head coach had come to
an end.
Eleven weeks later, lung cancer
caught up to Paterno. He died at
9:30 on Sunday morning. He died
of cancer. He died of old age. He
died of a broken heart.
Sugiyama shines vs. Gophers
By GLENN MILLER JR. career, Sugiyama's impressive a leader of the senior-less squad.
Daily Sports Writer night also included a first-place "We are small, and we don't
------ finish on vault with a score of have alot of depth, so it's an injury
Saturday night's meet at Min- 9.850. Her total score for the all- we couldn't afford to have hap-
nesota proved that the Michigan around was 39.050. pen," Plocki said.
women's gymnastics season will "I thought I did pretty well, Michigan held a narrow lead
be domi- I had to hold it together and be heading into the final rotation and
nated by two MICH . 193.15 strong mentally," Sugiyama said. needed a solid performance on
words: youth MINN. 193.00 ] The Wolverines struggled early beam to seal the victory.
and health. in the night, recording two falls Zurales, the squad's final com-
After starting the competi- on uneven bars, which gave Min- petitor, took home top honors on
tion tied for first place on uneven nesota a slight lead. Sugiyama and the beam for the second week in
bars, freshman Sachi Sugiyama sophomore Joanna Sampson led a row and ultimately secured the
and junior Natalie Beilstein ended the squad on vault, followed by Wolverines' first road win.
the night in remarkably different junior Katie Zurales in third. The "I just knew I had to hit for my
ways. Sugiyama, who headlines Golden Gophers recorded three team, and for Michigan. We need-
the youthful Wolverine squad, falls on bars, putting the Wol- ed to end the meet with pride."
won the all-around title while verines ahead after two events, Zurales said.
helping No. 11 Michigan defeat No. 97.325-96.525. Despite a victory on the mats,
24 Minnesota, 193.150-193.000. Michigan's low point of the the Wolverines have arguably lost
In a meet that was decided by the night was on floor, where the something bigger - their health.
final rotation, Sugiyama's perfor- Wolverines recorded three slip- "I would gladly give Minnesota
mance was key in giving Michigan ups during their routine. More the win if we were able to get Nat-
(2-0) its second win of the season. importantly, one of those mistakes alie Beilstein back from injury,"
"(Sugiyama) showed a lotcof grit resulted in junior Natalie Beilstein Plocki said.
and determination," said Michi- being unable to finish the night Though details of Beilstein's
gan coach Bev Plocki. "We've after she suffered an ankle injury. injury have not been reported yet,
identified her as our freshman-to- Beilstein, who recorded two the team will have to prepare for
watch this year, and it looks like career highs last week on bars her potential absence.
we selected the right person." (9.800) and floor (9.925) against "We do think it's a fairly serious
Competing as an all-arounder Ohio State, is considered one of ankle injury, so we'll have to wait
for the first time in her collegiate the Wolverines top gymnasts and and see what the doctors say,"
Plocki said.
If the Wolverines were to miss
L U* ,CLBeilstein this season, they will
FR "need to fill her void on floor and
vault. The loss would also be a
significant blow to the already
scant experience of this season's
(EcX)COMMUNISTcosore oUsenior-less team.
"We can either feel sorry for
ourselves and give up or we can
come back and fight harder,"
Plocki said. "How we handle this
nTc P, E is going to determine what this
team is all about."
Michigan tops No. 1 Penn State
ByALEXA DETTELBACH
Daily Sports Writer
Once the chalk dust settled
down from the start of the
season, the Michigan's men's
gymnastics
team began PSU 338.45
to find its MICH. 340.3
rhythm.
The sixth-ranked Wolver-
ines (1-0 Big Ten, 4-2 over-
all) defeated No. 1 Penn State,
340.3-338.45, on Saturday night
at Cliff Keen Arena.
Coming off a disappointing
third-place finish at the Windy
City Invitational in Chicago
last week, Michigan found its
groove against the nation's top
squad.
"Last week, we didn't have a
good showing," said freshman
Stacey Ervin. "Today, we just
came out supporting ourselves."
With a personal-best on vault
(14.49) and his first career all-
around title (83.7), freshman
Adrian de los Angeles helped
lead the team past the Nit-
tany Lions (0-1, 1-1). In addi-
tion, sophomore Dylan James
claimed the pommel horse title
(14.2) and senior Syque Caesar
took first place on the parallel
bars (14.7).
But it was Ervin who set the
tone of the event with a career-
best (14.9) on floor. As he raised
his arms at the end of his rou-
tine, the crowd came to its feet.
"(My) floor routine has been a
little shaky in practice lately, but
I was pretty confident coming
into competition," Ervin said.
"The warm-up felt great, the
team was behind me and cheer-
ing me on the whole way. I was
S
0
MRLEds CAdsA se t a
Freshman Adrian do los Angeles won the all-around title against Penn Slate.
just so excited. I hit the ground
on the dismount and everything
I was feeling inside came out."
From there, the rest was his-
tory.
"Today, we started off on
floor really well. We had alot of
energy, we got off on the right
foot," de los Angeles said.
Despite a few falls, Michigan
was ready to make up for its dis-
appointing finish at Windy City.
"Last week was a little
rough," de los Angeles said. "But
that definitely gave us motiva-
tion to get back to the gym and
work our butts off."
The most troublesome event
for the Wolverines was the high
bar, where three gymnasts fell
in the middle of their routines.
"High bar was a little rough,"
Caesar said. "We could've done
better on high bar. Overall, we
had three falls, and we are try-
ing to limit it (down) to two or
one."
Added Ervin: "The high bar
is one of my biggest weaknesses.
That fall wasn't uncharacter-
istic of me, but I'm working on
that as well."
Despite Ervin's fall, he was
awarded the program's Newt
Loken Award for his effort at
the meet, leading Michigan to
defeat a top-ranked team for the
first time since Jan. 23, 2004
- which also happened to be a
Penn State squad. The Wolver-
ines won without 2011 NCAA
All-Around Champion sopho-
more Sam Mikulak, who is
training with the United States
National Team in Colorado.
"All week, we had been talk-
ing about coming out and hit-
ting our sets," Ervin said. "We
had to just come together and
just do everything we've been
practicing and do everything
we can do."
Campus Mind Works Groups
FREE drop-in education and support
groups for any U-M student with
Depression, Bipolar, or Anxiety
Connections between
Exercise and Mood
When: Tuesday, January 24
from 5:30-7:00 p.m.
Where: Psychological Clinic, 2nd Floor
530 Church St., East Hall
Visit www.campusmindworks.org
for more information.
P r e s e n t e d b y t h e U - M D e p r e s s i o n ® r m 1 P .
Center in collaboration with
m the College of Engineering and
Unversity of Michigan r-, .
Depression Center
Psychological mc.