There’s a feeling in the air. Can you feel it? Ah, yes. It’s Super Bowl week.
If you read last week’s column, you know that I am a lifelong Pittsburgh Steelers fan and am extremely amped up for Super Bowl XLIII with the Arizona Cardinals. Normally, I’d fire off a prediction, but I am superstitious and don’t want to hex my beloved Steelers.
Let’s just say that I will be waiting anxiously for 6:28 p.m. Sunday, so we can finally put the wraps on two weeks of hype and kick off the Super Bowl.
But let’s take a break from the black and gold for a second and get back to the blue and white, which is what this column is supposed to be about.
In today’s edition of Morelli OnLion, we’ll have some random PSU thoughts, a story about Daryll Clark and Part III of Hoops Improvement.
Let’s start with some random thoughts:
Random Thoughts
Nobody asked me, but ….
* I keep hearing how Derrick Williams increased his draft stock with a solid performance at the Senior Bowl on Saturday. Why did Williams have to increase his stock? Because he never lived up to the hype at Penn State, that’s why. Williams came to Penn State as the nation’s No. 1 recruit, according to rivals.com. Did he ever live up to that?
No. In fact, he didn’t even come close to living up to it. He’s a
third- or fourth-round pick. Tops.
* Speaking of overrated, Anthony Scirrotto falls into that category.
I’m guessing that once NFL teams see film of the Rose Bowl, they’ll shy away. Sure, he can cover the Coastal Carolina-type receivers of the world, but he shouldn’t have been on the same field with the USC receivers.
* Of course, he should have been booted from the team when he caused a melee for the ages that gave Penn State a black eye it still hasn’t been able to shed nationally.
* Aaron Maybin will be a good pro, but he’s not worthy of a first-round pick.
* That being said, Maybin will be the first Nittany Lion selected in the draft.
* Maurice Evans should have stuck around for another season in Happy Valley. Ultimately, he will regret leaving early.
* Penn State fans holding out hope that the Nittany Lions land blue-chip recruit Jelani Jenkins can forget it. Jenkins is already packing his bags for Gainesville.
* It was good to see the Penn State men’s basketball team pull out a
63-59 win over Iowa on Saturday at the Bryce Jordan Center. There were over 12,000 fans in the house and if the Nittany Lions continue to win, fans will continue to come,
* Women’s volleyball coach Russ Rose is the best coach on the University Park campus.
* While the Nittany Lions will have a hard time replacing Williams, Deon Butler and Jordan Norwood, one of the biggest losses comes along the offensive line with the departure of center A.Q. Shipley.
* I recently had a one-on-one interview with linebacker Sean Lee. If there’s a better kid on this Nittany Lion football team, I haven’t talked with him. Lee is everything that is right with collegiate sports. And with the Penn State football program.
* The BCS is a joke. Imagine if there were a playoff in college football! The NFL gets it right. The Cardinals and Steelers are about as unlikely Super Bowl opponents as there could be. If the BCS ran the NFL, we’d be seeing the New York Giants and the Tennessee Titans. And what fun would that be?
A Family Affair
At halftime of the Penn State-Iowa men’s basketball game on Jan. 24, select members of the Nittany Lion football team were honored for capturing a third Big Ten title.
When he was introduced, quarterback Daryll Clark received the loudest ovation from the 12,210 in attendance. It was a sign from the crowd that they’ve finally embraced Clark as this team’s quarterback.
And that’s exactly the way things should be.
This young man has done everything coach Joe Paterno has asked of him.
He sat patiently behind Anthony Morelli and waited his turn. He never moaned, never bellyached about being No. 2. When his chance finally did come, he had to compete with Pat Devlin, a Pennsylvania product who had many fans backing him.
But Clark won the starting job in camp and embraced the role. He became the leader this team desperately needed and led the Nittany Lions to an amazing 11-2 campaign and a Rose Bowl berth.
There were just two losses during the 2008 season. Clark took the
38-24 loss to USC hard; he took the 24-23 loss at Iowa harder. Make no mistake about it — Clark is a competitor. He’s living proof that good guys do finish first.
He’s a class act through and through. That can be traced directly back to his parents, Daryll Sr., and Sheryl.
Following the Nittany Lions’ regular season finale in which they clinched a berth to the Rose Bowl, Clark’s family and friends stood outside the media room, waiting for Daryll to emerge.
Although it was a frigid afternoon, there was no way his family was missing this celebration.
The elder Clark talked about what Daryll’s dream season.
“It’s been awesome. For this kid to be a first-year starter and to come out here and go (11-2), I think he’s had a successful season,” he said. “All in all, this has been his year. Next year, he graduates.
What more could I ask for? He’s at peace right now.”
But this season’s success didn’t come easy. There were hurdles for him to overcome. There was doubt in the stands and in the press box as to whether Clark could lead this team. Heck, there was probably even a little doubt on the sidelines.
Clark, though, never wavered. He worked hard and earned the starting job. When he got the word from coach Paterno that he would start the season, Clark was ecstatic. After the meeting with Paterno, Clark immediately called his father.
“I was real excited when I got the go. He sat us all down, talking about it and when he said that, I lit up,” Clark recalled. “As soon as the meeting was over, I called my Dad and let him know that come Saturday, I’m taking the first reps.”
That Saturday, of course, the Nittany Lions demolished Coastal Carolina, 66-10. Devlin got significant playing time, but Clark outplayed him. He did it again the following week against Oregon State. Did it again in week three against Temple. By the time week five arrived and Illinois came to town for a primetime showdown, Clark was the starter. Devlin didn’t throw a pass against the Fighting Illini.
The job was Clarks to lose.
On the field and in the locker room, Clark was growing into the leader that Paterno knew he could be. His father knew that he had it in him, but he didn’t expect so much success so fast.
“Not that fast. We always hoped that this would happen, we always wished that things would fall in place for him. I didn’t know he’d have this much success as a starter,” Clark Sr. said. “I knew the kid had talent, but he was still a first-year starter. I knew they had a good team, I knew all the people who were around him. I just didn’t know it was going to come together like this. I thought Daryll would have his peaks and valleys, but he’s been doing his thing.”
As it turned out, doing his thing was pretty darn good.
Through it all, Clark remained grounded, remained humble. More than anything, his father was proudest of the way he behaved.
“That’s the biggest thing,” Daryll Sr. said. “You have to stay grounded. He has.”
Clark’s parents have been his support system. Growing up, they were always there for him. When he played at Ursuline High School, they were there. They were there when he went to Kiski Prep to get his grades in order. Clark said that he wouldn’t have enjoyed this season’s success without his parents being there through thick and thin.
“Those two are the best people I’ve ever known. They’re my biggest fans. Win or lose, I’m still going to be No. 1 in their eyes,” Daryll Jr. said. “Growing up, they’ve stressed that family has to stay tight, always, and that’s all I’ve known.”
Since Devlin transferred, the 2009 Nittany Lions will be Clark’s team.
Come fall, there will be no talk of a quarterback controversy. This is his team. His father insists that he’s ready for a curtain call.
But win or lose, Clark Sr. is one proud papa.
“I tell him all the time, there’s nothing you can do to make me more proud than I am right now,” he said. “He acts like he’s been doing this for awhile, which catches me off guard. But I’m extremely proud of him and what he’s doing.”
Daryll Clark credits his parents for being his support system.
(Photo courtesy of Blue White Illustrated).
Hoops Improvement: Part III
Stack the games — Two times this season, back on Dec. 6 and again on Dec. 21, the Penn State men’s and women’s basketball teams will play on the same day. Seems like a perfect time to stack the games, right?
Wrong.
On Dec. 6, the Lady Lions took on Dayton at noon. Later that day, at 6 p.m., the Nittany Lions played Temple. No two-for-one tickets, no doubleheader action for the fans.
That same scenario played out again on Dec. 21, when the Lady Lions faced Michigan State at noon and the Nittany Lions play Lafayette at 4 p.m.
While it might sound good on paper, the idea of a true doubleheader didn’t exactly light up Penn State women’s basketball coach Coquese Washington. In fact, she likes the schedule the way it is.
“I think it’s better that way. Women’s basketball and men’s basketball have two different crowds, two different fan bases,” Washington said of the scheduling. “There’s not much carryover, quite honestly, from a men’s game to a women’s game. I think spacing it out allows both programs to have their fans in their regular seats and have the normal gameday experience.”
Doubleheaders can work, though. Last season, Indiana University had a women’s game followed almost immediately by a men’s game. While the women didn’t enjoy a capacity crowd, there was definitely a trickle-down effect.
Chris Morelli is the award-winning editor of Blue White Illustrated, a weekly publication devoted to Penn State athletics. He is also a regular on “Sports Central,” which airs on ESPN Radio in Altoona and State College. E-mail him at morellionlion@gmail.com.