In what was somewhat painful to listen to, Joe Paterno conducted his weekly Nittany Lion Hotline show from the confines of the Paterno compound in suburban State College. Rather than join host Steve Jones in studio tonight.
Joe doesn’t exactly have the best phone connection in the world, there’s was an annoying hum on his end, and the veteran coach sounded very tired and worn out.
Here’s the meat of NLH tonight.
- Converted defensive tackle Mike Lucian is not going to play this week after suffering a sprained ankle against Syracuse.
- And Joe was asked from a Scranton area caller about the status of Mo Evans and Abe Koroma and he sidestepped it like he did with us on Tuesday saying he doesn’t know everything yet.
There are rumors about some failing health with Joe, Neil Rudel of the Altoona Mirror route a sound column about Paterno and his aching leg that he acknowledged hurt at Syracuse last weekend.
When I say its painful to listen to, not because it’s boring….it’s painful because you can tell Joe ain’t Joe right now. He is in rough shape, he is probably over-doing it, and the worst part is…he has nine games plus a bowl to go.
I’d be willing to wager Joe is coaching from the box on Saturday…some colleagues are thinking the same after hearing all that has happened this week.
