PSU Football: Ted Roof leaves for Georgia Tech

Posted on January 10, 2013 by Aaron Yorke

Yesterday, Penn State announced that secondary coach John Butler was being promoted to defensive coordinator. The move was necessary because current defensive coordinator Ted Roof had left the program to take the same job at his alma mater Georgia Tech!

Noooooooooooo!

Penn State recruits were shocked to hear that Roof was leaving, but it doesn’t sounds like any commitments are set to be broken… yet. Josh Moyer has some prospect quotes behind a subscription wall at ESPN.com. The guys he talked to sound surprised, but it sounds like they have good relationship with other Penn State coaches as well.

The fact that a Georgia kid is sticking with PSU is a great sign that the impact of Roof’s departure on recruiting will be minimal. However, with Butler having never been a defensive coordinator before, the effect on the actual field is yet to be seen. Here’s Bill O’Brien’s thoughts on Butler, from the Penn State release.

John did an outstanding job with the secondary this past season and brings tremendous experience, energy and a passion for tenacious defense to the field and in the meeting room. John quickly developed a great relationship with all our players on defense and special teams and his ability to teach and relate to the players on and off the field will greatly assist in making this an easy transition.

Butler didn’t have a whole lot to work with this season considering the lack of depth in the defensive backfield, but he made the secondary work well enough. Plus, Butler has a lot of experience beyond the defensive backfield. In 2011, he was the special teams coordinator for South Carolina, and from 2007-2010, he coached linebackers and special teams for Minnesota. The variety in Butler’s experience probably helped him get the promotion over longtime PSU coaches Larry Johnson, who has been coaching the defensive line for 13 years, and Ron Vanderlinden, who just finished his 12th season as linebackers coach.

There were also reports yesterday that Penn State was going to move Virginia off of its 2013 schedule and replace it with FCS program Rhode Island. However, the URI athletic director has since announced that while talks between the two schools existed, no agreement was reached. As of now, Penn State will still be playing Virginia at home on September 14.

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Pokémon X and Y: New Legendary Pokémon named

Posted on January 9, 2013 by Aaron Yorke

Hey, guys. Remember those legendary Pokémon we saw yesterday that we didn’t have names for? Well, earlier today we got names for them! Nintendo is great.

Pokemon XY Legendary 2

This guy is named Xerneas (remember, the Pokémon X logo resembles him!). Apparently, that is pronounced “ZURR-nee-us.” Thanks to the official Pokémon Facebook site for that.

Pokemon XY Legendary 1

This dude is named Yveltal, which is even harder to pronounce than “Xerneas.” You say this one like “ee-VELL-tall.” It feels like they tried a bit too hard to get its name to start with a “Y.” I would have thrown another vowel in there, but I suppose we’ll get used to it.

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I am stoked for Pokémon X and Pokémon Y

Posted on January 8, 2013 by Aaron Yorke

Earlier today I posted on That VideoGame Blog that two new Pokémon games are going to be released later this year on Nintendo 3DS. Needless to say, I am very excited.

In the trailer above, you can see that the graphics have been revamped since the production of the Nintendo DS Pokémon games. I know what the 3DS is capable of visually thanks to my time playing Super Mario 3D Land (which has much smoother graphics than any N64 title), but to look at a handheld Pokémon game that looks better than any of the franchise’s console iterations is pretty amazing.

Here’s a breakdown of the five new Pokémon that were shown in the trailer.

Pokemon Chespin

Per tradition, there are three starting options in Pokémon X and Y. One is a grass-type, one is a fire-type, and one is a water-type (Note: I haven’t seen this confirmed officially yet, but it’s a pretty safe assumption based on previous generations). Chespin is the grass-type, and it looks pretty cool even though I’m not quite sure what sort of critter it is supposed to represent. In the trailer, you can see what looks like a Solarbeam attack on a hapless Magikarp as well as a cutting strike that may be X-Scissor or maybe some new move that we haven’t seen before.

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Indiana 74, Penn State 51: Basketball Recap

Posted on January 8, 2013 by Aaron Yorke

Yeah, the Indiana versus Penn State basketball game from last night was nothing to write home about, but I’m going to write about it anyway because I’m not the busiest person in the world.

Probably because they had no one to guard Cody Zeller with, the Nittany Lions played zone defense for almost the entire game. While this did keep Zeller slightly below his season average with 15 points, it also allowed a sharp-shooting Indiana team to hit on 8 of 16 three-pointers. Meanwhile, Christian Watford drove to the basket early and often, ending up with game-highs in points (16) and rebounds (8).

It wasn’t too surprising that the Hoosiers were able to roll up the score on Penn State. Indiana is among the most efficient teams in the nation, and it was able to put 44 points on the board before the first half ended. A bizarre run of turnovers from both sides caused scoring to slow in a dreadful second half.

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The movie version of Les Misérables is a glass case of emotion

Posted on December 26, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

I didn’t walk into Les Misérables with a whole bunch of high expectations. I knew about the Oscar buzz, but I didn’t think I had the patience to sit through a two-and-a-half-hour emotional gauntlet. I still don’t have that patience — the film felt like it was about an hour longer than it actually was — but I did enjoy myself. The reason for that is because Les Misérables is a musical masterpiece that will have me humming “Can you hear the people sing?” for the next month or so.

The story of Les Misérables revolves around Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman), an ex-con who is having trouble re-acclimating himself into society. All poor Valjean did was steal a loaf of bread so that his nephew didn’t have to stave to death, but because he ran from the law, he got locked up for a long time and has been doing a lot of slave labor. At the opening of the film, Valjean finishes his jail sentence and is set free, but the “bad guy” of the film, Inspector Javier (Russell Crowe), sets him up with papers that basically make it impossible for him to find honest work. Valjean is free, except he’s really not.

So Valjean goes out into the world and finally find a church to crash at when he’s at the point of starvation. The church gives him food and a bed, but Valjean gets greedy and sets out in the middle of the night with a bunch of stolen silver. He gets caught, but the man at the church is a total bro and lies for Valjean, saying that the silver was a gift. Now with a second chance, Valjean swears to become an honest man, and he rips up his papers, saying goodbye to his former self.

Eight years later, Valjean has become a mayor and factory owner in a suburb of Paris. He’s going under an assumed name, but it appears Valjean has completely escaped his former self. One day, a worker in his factory, Fantine (Anne Hathaway) is fired by the foreman and becomes terminally ill. Feeling responsible, Valjean promises to adopt Fantine’s child, Cosette (Isabelle Allen, Amanda Seyfried). That would be all well and good, but at the same time, Javier shows up on assignment to protect Valjean’s town. Eventually, the inspector comes to recognize the former prisoner, and the chase is on.

At its heart, Les Misérables is an epic battle between two opposing forces. Valjean is avoiding the law as a means to an end. He has to leave his old self behind in order to be a good man and provide for Cosette. Javier represents Valjean’s past always coming back to haunt him. According to Javier, “once a thief, always a thief.” Valjean must be brought to justice, no matter the cost to Cosette or anyone else.

Thanks to the strength of their characters, whenever Valjean and Javier are on screen at the same time, the tension and excitement is nearly tangible. Unfortunately, the film introduces a love triangle about halfway through that is a lot harder to care about. You see, Éponine (Samantha Barks) loves Marius (Eddie Redmayne), but Marius only has eyes for Cosette, despite not really knowing anything about her. Meanwhile, Marius has clearly known Éponine for longer, and she’s pretty hot. But no, Marius has got to go for the girl whose father is a fugitive and also highly overprotective. Good luck with that.

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The Hobbit is not as great as The Lord of the Rings, but still a lot of fun

Posted on December 25, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

I was pretty surprised when I heard that Peter Jackson was going to turn The Hobbit into a motion picture trilogy. Yes, I claim to never be surprised when a company makes a decision that will make it more money, but I don’t think anyone has tried to make a trilogy out of a single 300-page novel before. Hey, at least we were less likely to end up complaining about our favorites scenes getting cut.

The bad news is that The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey feels unnecessarily stretched out at times, especially at the beginning of the film. Before we even meet our hero Bilbo Baggins, we’re given an extensive look into the past of Middle Earth, when the Dwarves had their kingdom taken from them by the evil dragon Smaug. Smaug now resides in the ruins of that kingdom, known as The Lonely Mountain, guarding a pile of treasure. This introduction does a good job of building up the hype for the eventual confrontation between our hero and the dragon. The problem is that the audience has to wait until at least next year for that confrontation to actually take place.

The movie really should have started when Bilbo meets his travelling companions: 12 ordinary Dwarves, the legendary Dwarf Thorin Oakenshield, and the wizard Gandalf, who is wonderfully played by the beloved Ian McKellen. It’s in this part that the motivations and conflicts between the characters really get fleshed out. Bilbo is recruited by Gandalf on behalf of Thorin and company because of the Hobbit’s ability to sneak around unseen. After all, it would be crazy to go at Smaug in a straight-up brawl.

The problem is that Bilbo is very reluctant about adventures of any kind. He also lacks the strength and the combat skills (and the facial hair) that Thorin values in the rest of his company. Why should Bilbo risk his life for the sake of a group of Dwarves that doesn’t seem to respect him that much? That’s a theme throughout the film.

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This recent Giants blowout loss was worse than the last one

Posted on December 25, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

The loss that the Giants suffered at the hands of Baltimore on Sunday wasn’t the same as the embarrassment that occurred the week before in Atlanta. In fact, the effort in the 33-14 loss to Baltimore may have been even worse than the one put forth when the Giants were shutout 34-0 by the Falcons.

At least in Atlanta the Giants mounted numerous drives into Atlanta territory. Sure, Manning was sloppy with the ball, but New York established a running game and had a chance to get back into the game numerous times. The Giants were only bested on a per play basis by half a yard (5.9 to 5.4).

The Baltimore debacle featured New York getting pounded for 6.6 yards per play on defense while only producing 4.1 on offense. It should be noted, though, that a lot of that 6.6 happened in big chunks on third down. In the second quarter, with the Ravens ahead 14-7, the Giants had a chance to get the ball back after two outstanding plays by Chris Canty. It was 3rd and 19, and the Ravens had been pushed out of field goal range to the New York 48-yard line.

A common theme of the day, New York’s disappearing pass rush, allowed Joe Flacco enough time to find Anquan Boldin 39 yards downfield in the midst of zone coverage. The Ravens would only get a field goal on that drive, but the next Giants possession was destroyed by a pair of questionable penalties, and the Ravens took advantage by driving for a touchdown before the half. The 27-yard catch-and-run by New Rochelle’s own Ray Rice put the Giants in a 24-7 hole at the half.

So, yeah, three things made the Baltimore loss more excruciating than the Atlanta loss.
1) The defense was just as poor against an offense that is decidedly worse than Atlanta’s.
2) The Giants didn’t turn the ball over or fail on fourth down, and yet they still struggled to score points.
3) The loss to Baltimore happened a week after Atlanta, when the playoffs were on the line and the team was supposed to have its act togehter.

I’m not going to get into Corey Webster here. I think he’s had a good enough year and Torrey Smith is a really good player. Plus, Webster was close on almost every play. Jayron Hosley didn’t catch as much flack last week when he let Atlanta receivers run right past him the week before.

The Giants have stunk for the past two weeks. They can’t play much worse, but there is still a legitimate chance for them to sneak into the playoffs. The hard part will be finding a way to defeat Philadelphia this Sunday, so hang in there. The worse that can happen is that an entertaining offseason gets started early.

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Mets trade Dickey, acquire hot catching prospect Travis d’Arnaud

Posted on December 18, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

With David Wright already being signed to a lengthy extension, the two big Mets dramas of the offseason have been brought to conclusion. On Monday morning it was announced that the Mets had agreed to a deal with the Toronto Blue Jays that would send R.A. Dickey and below average catcher Josh Thole up north in exchange for Jays top prospect Travis d’Arnaud (pronounced “Dar-No”), veteran backstop John Buck, and pitching prospect Noah Syndergaard.

Later in the day it was revealed that Mike Nickeas would also be going to the Jays while 18-year-old outfielder Wuilmer Becerra would become a member of the Mets.

Although I will miss having R.A. Dickey on the team like any other Mets fan, I’m pretty thrilled that general manager Sandy Alderson was able to swing a deal that has brought over an elite catching prospect as well as a potential mid-rotation starter. The Mets needed a catcher in the worst way, and d’Arnaud has a chance to be an above average starter at the position for years to come.

In his last two minor league seasons, d’Arnaud batted .311/.371/.542 at double-A New Hampshire in 2011 and .333/.380/.595 at triple-A Las Vegas in 2012. Yes, Las Vegas is a great environment for hitters, but d’Arnaud still profiles as a good defensive catcher who can hit for power, which is really all you can ask for in a catching prospect. Here’s what prospect expert John Sickels has to say about him:

He’s not perfect, but D’Arnaud is either the best catching prospect in baseball or the second-best behind Mike Zunino. Could use a bit more polish with his throwing and his plate discipline and immediate stardom is unlikely, but overall he’s the complete package. Don’t expect him to be Mike Piazza, but he should be a long-term solution.

So he’s not Superman, but remember, Mike Piazza wasn’t supposed to be Mike Piazza, either. If d’Arnaud is indeed a “long-term solution,” he’ll be worth the three years of Dickey the Mets sent away all by himself.

While d’Arnaud is the headline acquisition of the deal for the Mets, Sickels is also very bullish on Syndergaard, who he ranks between Zach Wheeler and Wilmer Flores on his list of top Mets prospects.

He’s ahead of where Wheeler was at age 20. Strong sinking fastball, good change-up, breaking stuff coming around, solid command, good body, good makeup, strong sabermetric profile. Just needs to stay healthy.

Last year in Single-A, Syndergaard struck out 122 batters and walked only 31 in 103.2 innings. However, that was only his first professional season with over 100 innings pitched, so you can see why there are durability concerns. If Syndergaard can hold up, Sickels makes it sound like he is a good bet to make an impact in future Mets rotations.

The other two pieces in the Dickey trade, Buck and Becerra, will likely impact the immediate present and the distant future, respectively. Buck was sent over to Toronto in the massive Jays/Marlins trade earlier this winter than saw the Jays acquire Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson, and Mark Buehrle. Buck is now 32 years old and last season he batted just .192/.297/.347, although that did include 12 home runs in 343 at-bats. That basically makes him sound like Rod Barajas, so hopefully he’ll go on an April home run binge and then disappear after he’s replaced by d’Arnaud in the middle of the 2013 season.

Becerra is a speedy outfielder who has played just 11 games of professional baseball. He would have more, but last season he was reportedly hit in the face with a fastball and suffered a broken jaw. According to Toby Hyde, Becerra was only listed as Tornto’s 30th best prospect last season, but he’s got lots of room to grow, so hopefully we’ll see him in Queens in five years or so when the Mets are making a World Series run.

By trading away Dickey for Buck and a trio of prospects, the Mets have more or less ensured that 2013 isn’t their year, but the future looks much brighter than it did a week ago.

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Eli Manning isn’t elite, and I don’t care

Posted on December 17, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

The Giants lost on Sunday to the Atlanta Falcons, 34-0. Horrible, horrible, horrible, blah, blah, blah. Thanks to a brutal collapse by the Chicago Bears, the Giants can still clinch a playoff birth with two wins in their final two games.

The loss was mostly due to two problems. The first was awful pass defense. Matt Ryan wasn’t put under enough pressure, and it showed. He completed 23 of 28 passes for 270 yards, three touchdowns, and zero interceptions. With the problems the Giants have in the secondary (Prince Amukamara was out with a hamstring injury, Kenny Phillips has missed more than half the season with knee problems), they need to have a solid pressure to have any sort of success defending the pass. They got that pressure against Green Bay and New Orleans. It wasn’t there against Atlanta.

The second problem was passing offense. The Giants actually beat the Falcons in the ground game by more than one yard per carry, but Eli and company’s aerial attack couldn’t do nearly enough to keep up with Atlanta. Manning threw a pair of dreadful first half interceptions that bascially spotted the Falcons 10 points. On top of that, the Atlanta secondary smothered Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz for more or less the entire game. Domenik Hixon catching five passes for 80 yards is great for Domenick Hixon, but it’s not a great sign for New York’s offense.

So, yeah that covers most of what went wrong. The Giants will be better in Baltimore this week. Plus, the only reason they got shut out (besides the Lawrence Tynes terrible field goal miss) was because Tom Coughlin put his offense on the field on fourth down instead of giving up with token field goal tries. Good for him; you always have to play to win the game.

Anyway, the thing I was trying to get to was that Eli Manning isn’t an elite quarterback. He’s not in the same class as Tom Brady or Petyon Manning, and it’s mostly because of this darn interceptions that have plagued him his whole career and will likely continue to show up in the future. Just look at the interception percentage from the last three seasons for Eli Manning and Brady.

Brady
2010: 0.8%, 2011: 2.0%, 2012: 1.1%

Eli Manning
2010: 4.6%, 2011: 2.7%, 2012: 3.1%

The numbers aren’t really close. Manning has led the league in interceptions twice. In 2010, he threw 25 picks, and 2007 he tossed 20. Brady has never thrown as many as 15 interceptions in a season, and he has two 16-game seasons in which he’s thrown less than 10. If Brady throws less than four picks in his last two games, he’ll be able to add another less-than-10 interception season to his resume.

This season, Manning has mixed in some brilliant games with some duds. Against Pittsburgh, he completed just 42 percent of his passes. In Atlanta he threw for 161 yards, zero touchdowns, and two interceptions. Against Cincinnati, Manning was similarly awful. Even when he threw for 510 yards versus Tampa Bay, he also tossed a season-high three picks that jeopardized the game.

Eli Manning is not elite because he’s not consistent. He’s not elite, because year after year, he’s not as good as the best quarterback in the league. The good news is that Manning does not need to be “elite” for the Giants to win the Super Bowl. He just needs to make a couple of plays, protect the ball, and be assisted by a great defense. That puts him in the same class as Ben Roethlisberger. It’s not where many Giants fans want Manning to be, but as long as he’s good enough to win a title, that’s fine with me.

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Big Ten Basketball Tuesday Roundup

Posted on December 12, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

Michigan 67, Binghamton 39

Yes, the Wolverines are quite impressive. They’re 10-0 for the first time since the 1988-89 season (hey, they won the National Championship that season!) and are seventh in the nation in effective field goal percentage (eFG%). Against Binghamton on Tuesday night, Michigan unleashed its usual rain of three-pointers to bury its opponent. Trey Burke was 3-for-6 from beyond the arc and the amazing Canadian freshman Nik Stauskas was 4-for-8.

Burke led everyone with 19 points and had five assists to boot. Stauskas missed all three of his two-pointers and was the only other Wolverine in double figures. His supposedly hot shooting actual lowered his three-point percentage on the season to 59%. Meanwhile, another key freshman, Mitch McGary had almost as many offensive rebounds (four) as the entire Binghamton squad (five).

Tim Hardaway Jr. attempted the most threes out of anyone (nine) but he only made a pair. Since opening the season 8-for-11 from three-point range against Slippery Rock and Cleveland State, Hardaway has shot just 8-for-37 from that distance (22%). He really should take advantage of his athleticism and get to the basket more.

Minnesota 70, North Dakota State 57

The Gophers lost six of their last seven in the regular season last February, but a run to the NIT finals, combined with several returning players, further combined with the return of rebounding machine Trevor Mbakwe has turned Minnesota into a contender. The team’s nation-leading offensive rebounding prowess was on display once again on Tuesday night against North Dakota State. The Gophers only shot 38% from the field, but they grabbed 16 of their own misses and held the Bison to just six offensive rebounds.

Rodney Williams had four offensive rebounds, 19 points, and a spectacular dunk that you can view above. Mbakwe has had his minutes limited so far this season, but that hasn’t affected his impact on the game. In just 21 minutes on Tuesday night, he had six offensive rebounds, 12 defensive rebounds, as well as 14 points. By percentage, Mbakwe is the fifth-best offensive rebounder in the nation so far this season.

Illinois 64, Norfolk State 54

Norfolk State became famous last season when they upset Missouri in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. However, with the departure of star player Kyle O’Quinn to the NBA, the Spartans haven’t really been able to build on their one big win. This season, only one of their six wins came against a top-200 team (per KenPom), and they lost by 13 to Seton Hall (the only top-100 team besides Illinois on their schedule so far). The point is that Illinois should have one this game by a lot more than 10 points.

The Illini are undefeated this season because they’ve shot very well from long distance and limited turnovers. However, on Tuesday night they struggled from beyond the arc (26%) as well as from the free throw line (59%). John Groce’s squad was able to persevere, though, by only committing nine turnovers and by holding Norfolk State to 38% field goal shooting. Returning senior guard Brandon Paul led Illinois with 14 points and eight rebounds.

Both D.J. Richardson and Tracy Abrams suffered minor injuries during the game, but both were able to return.

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