The NCAA text-message ban has not messed up recruiting in the Happy Valley, reporteth Pete Thamel of the New Amsterdam Times:


Joe Paterno (above) has seemingly not changed. He lives in the same cozy ranch-style house and, until recently, walked through campus to work. He turns in most nights around 10:30 while watching game film, pencil in hand. He does not have a cellphone, has never sent an e-mail message. He laughed when the N.C.A.A. banned text messaging between coaches and recruits this summer.

œI get a big kick out of all the fuss, Paterno said. œI thought it was tech messaging ” T-E-C-H.

Click on the link to find out which half-hour sitcoms Joe and Sue are currently enjoying (no, It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia is not among them).

Thamel’s story also suggests that if it turns out Notre Dame and Michigan are as beatable as they appeared last Saturday, Penn State could be a BCS contender – hardly news to Beano Cook, who already fingered PSU as LSU’s victim in the title game. Of course, Beano is the kiss of death for Nittany Lions fans.