Early Evening Madness

Even if the Nittany Lions don't win a lot of games this year, at least the season got started off right.

After all, you can't go wrong with the entire squad cranking that on the BJC floor.

Even better was reserve Finnish center Joonas Suotamo impersonating Soviet super-boxer Ivan Drago. Besides shadow boxing the Nittany Lion, Joonas entertained the crowd by attempting a speech in a Russian accent. At least that's what I think he was doing. It was difficult to tell if Joonas (pronounced "Yo-nas") was speaking Finnish with a Russian accent, English with a Russian accent, or Russian with a Finnish accent. Still, high comedy.

The main events of the evening were a slam-dunk contest and a 3-point contest.

Newcomer guards Taylor Battle and Stanley Pringle upset freshman foward Jeff Brooks to reach the slam-dunk finals. With the title on the line, Battle sadly failed on his attempt, allowing Pringle to jam his way to the championship.

The 3-point contest was interesting because each Nittany Lion was paired with a random student teammate. Danny Morrissey headlined the winning pair. Unfortunately, none of my buddies were able to humiliate themselves in this competition.

It's too early to tell how this Penn State team will finish. The team has definitely added athleticism (the 3 best dunkers are all new to the team), but will that translate to more offense? It depends on the play of the guards. We know that Cornley and Clatxon can score, but is Walker ready to become a major part of the offense? If not, can Pringle and Battle contribute right away? These answers will come soon enough.

By the way, here's the All Big Ten preseason team:
Drew Neitzel: MSU guard
Jamar Butler: OSU guard
Geary Claxton: PSU foward
D.J. White: Indiana foward
Shaun Pruitt: Illinois center

I'm surprised by Pruitt being there. Last year it seemed he was by far the 2nd most talented player on the Illini, behind Warren Carter. Now he's the man? Maybe he can shoot free throws more consistently this year, but I still don't see it.

Tomorrow I'm road-tripping to Maryland in search of a career. Hopefully the Knicks can put up a good showing in their opener in Cleveland.

Meanwhile, the Rangers just won 2-0 over the Caps at the Garden. They have played in the exact opposite way as everyone thought. Instead of an offensive juggernaut, the Blueshirts feature a feeble offense that is balanced by a nearly impenetrable defense. Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist has been the MVP so far.