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ESPN on Tuesday suspended Keith Olbermann for the remainder of the week after he made insulting comments about Penn State students on Twitter.According to multiple reports, a Penn State alum tweeted to Olbermann the phrase "We Are!" and a link to an article about students raising more than $13 million to fight pediatric cancer. Olbermann replied "...Pitiful."Penn State students and alum rallied on Twitter and pressed Olbermann, who refused to back down, saying he was referring to Penn State students in general and not the fundraising.On Tuesday, ESPN said in a statement that "it was completely inappropriate and does...

"“We are aware of the exchange Keith Olbermann had on Twitter last night regarding Penn State. It was completely inappropriate and does not reflect the views of ESPN. We have discussed it with Keith, who recognizes he was wrong. ESPN and Keith have agreed that he will not host his show for the remainder of this week and will return on Monday.”" "I apologize for the PSU tweets. I was stupid and childish and way less mature than the students there who did such a great fundraising job."

UNIVERSITY PARK — Penn State’s THON made a statement. Again. The 2015 Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon, affectionately known as THON, was held this past weekend at the Bryce Jordan Center on the campus of Penn State University. After 46 hours of dancing, it was revealed that the organization raised $13,026,653.23 during the past year. THON is a year-long fundraising campaign for the fight against pediatric cancer. Money raised is donated to the Four Diamonds Fund at Penn State Children’s Hospital in Hershey. This marks the first time since 2004 that THON raised less money than the previous year. Last...

The link posted is to the 2015 Promo videoWhat is THON? THON is the largest student-run philanthropy in the world culminating in a 46 hour no sitting, no sleeping dance marathon involving over 700 dancers (PSU students) When is THON? Dancers stand at 6PM tonight and sit at 4PM SundayWho benefits from THON? THON's sole beneficiary is the Four Diamonds Fund which supports pediatric cancer victims, families, and research at Penn State Hershey Childrens HospitalHow much money does THON raise? Last year THON raised nearly $14 million of which 96% was donated to the Four Diamonds Fund. Since it's inception...

Some day college football players will learn not everything needs to be shared to the public. Ohio State quarterback Cardale Jones found that out, as you may have heard by now, but things turned out OK for him. Maybe Penn State sophomore safety Bryant Harper will learn a lesson after being publicly scorned by his head coach on Twitter. On Monday, Harper took to Twitter to boast about a B he received on a recent anatomy exam. "B on my first anatomy exam and I didn't study I'll take it" Penn State head coach James Franklin, known to be fluent...

The NCAA received another serious blow to its credibility today. In court documents filed Thursday in the Paterno lawsuit, Oregon State President and then-NCAA Executive Committee Chairman Ed Ray admitted to not actually reading the Freeh Report — the entire basis for the NCAA sanctions — prior to sanctioning Penn State in 2012. In his testimony in the Paterno Family’s ongoing case, Ray said he was unaware that he needed to prep for anything related to the Freeh Report before the organization’s executive board met to discuss possible sanctions on the University. Instead, Ray spent time in Hawaii where he...

Have you ever encountered a math problem that confused you, or came across an equation or algebraic topic that you didn’t quite understand? Sure, everyone has. Everyone except John Urschel ’12, ’13g, the former Academic All-American offensive lineman and current math genius who, during his career as a Nittany Lion, was honored with the James E. Sullivan Award and the William V. Campbell Award, two prestigious honors. The Sullivan Award goes to the nation’s top amateur athlete—not just in football, but in all sports—while the Campbell Award recognizes a college football player who combines academic and athletic success with outstanding...

The NCAA turned over 150 documents for Commonwealth Court Judge Anne Covey to review this week, as ordered before Christmas. But the order was for 163 documents to be reviewed. “Upon further review in preparing the materials for the court, and in the spirit of cooperation and trying to make the maximum information available for discovery, the NCAA determined that 13 documents were not protected by the attorney-client privilege or work product doctrine,” NCAA attorney Everett Johnson wrote in a cover letter to Covey on Monday. “The NCAA promptly produced these documents to plaintiffs without any privileged content withheld.” The...

NEW YORK – Penn State waited two years to play in a bowl game, working through unprecedented NCAA sanctions stemming from the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse scandal, and the team’s finale didn’t lack dramatics. The Nittany Lions went back and forth with Boston College this evening at Yankee Stadium in the Pinstripe Bowl, trading big hits and explosive runs until the game required extra possessions. Penn State’s senior class, one that experienced five different head coaches during their collegiate careers, NCAA sanctions and a bowl ban that was lifted early in September, capped their careers with the class’ first...

Happy 48-14 Day PSU fans!

In what looks like another key turn in the battle for facts about the foundation of Penn State's Freeh Report, a Potter County judge has ordered former FBI Director Louis Freeh to start complying with former Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno's heirs' requests for its raw materials. The ruling by Judge John B. Leete comes in the Paterno estate's lawsuit against the NCAA and Penn State, which seeks to invalidate the sanctions stemming from the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal. Penn State's attorneys had objected to the subpoena of Freeh, arguing the work done by Freeh and...

Alabama won convincingly. FSU came back again. TCU barely survived lowly Kansas. Everyone is immersed with the College Football Playoff and who will be in the top four come Tuesday. It is all so new and exciting. The Playoff and the decisions of the Committee have been dominating our news so much that it’s possible that some of you may have missed the larger story that is lurking down the hotlinks of ESPN, Foxsports, and SI. The story is large enough that it has the potential to change college football in a far greater way than the Playoff will. The...

Court documents filed in Pennsylvania show that the NCAA and investigators from a firm hired by Penn State University to conduct a wholly independent investigation of the university's handling of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal worked closely in the investigation. The firm, led by former FBI chief Louis B. Freeh, published damning conclusions about Penn State's "lack of institutional control" that were used by the NCAA as the basis for its sweeping sanctions against Penn State in July 2012. The court documents filed Tuesday but released publicly Wednesday, obtained by "Outside the Lines," strongly suggest the NCAA provided...

Devon Still reunited with his daughter Leah so she can watch his NFL game in person for the first time on Thursday. The Cincinnati Bengals defensive tackle has been helping his daughter fight cancer since June. The four-year-old has had surgery and chemotherapy for stage 4 neuroblastoma. On Wednesday Leah felt well enough to leave the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and fly home so she could watch the Bengals play the Cleveland Browns. Still considers it the most special game he will ever play.

To recap: these emails reveal that the NCAA knew it had no jurisdictional claim over an inherently criminal matter but chose to act anyway, banking on Penn State’s compliance. Of course, the rest is history — Penn State President Rodney Erickson, with the backing of Board of Trustees leadership, did comply to the NCAA’s extortion, despite it being characterized here as a “bluff.” The actual reasons for that decision are still hidden behind a wall of public relations flack — I tend to think it had something to do with the corporate “apologize and move on” method of management that...

Commonwealth Court Judge Anne Covey issued a memorandum opinion Friday that slapped the hands of the NCAA for its filings in state and federal courts looking for just the right rulings. On Oct. 3, Covey issued a ruling denying the NCAA’s petition to dismiss the lawsuit brought by state Sen. Jake Corman, R-Benner Township, and Pennsylvania Treasurer Rob McCord, seeking to have the Endowment Act declared constitutional. The Endowment Act would require the $60 million fine levied by the NCAA against Penn State after the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal to remain in a dedicated fund in Pennsylvania for...

Oh, those crazy college kids. Four Penn State players were arrested Thursday night – mischief night – for an “egg throwing situation,” according to Onward State. The four players, tight end Brent Wilkerson, safety Anthony Smith, center Wendy Laurent and defensive end Garrett Sickels, were all charged with criminal mischief for throwing eggs at Beaver Hall, an on-campus residence hall. Discipline from head coach James Franklin could be on the way. “We are aware of the egg throwing situation that occurred Thursday evening and will determine the appropriate measures for the four squad members involved,” Franklin said in statement. The...

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Penn State safety Ryan Keiser remains hospitalized after having fractured a rib in practice last Thursday and undergoing operations for a related small bowel injury. According to a source, he is not in critical condition but is "also not great." A spokesman for the Penn State Hershey Medical Center declined to disclose his condition and referred questions to Nittany Lions coach James Franklin, who would only say Tuesday afternoon that the senior had no infection and was "improving." Keiser is out for the season. "Our trainers and doctors have been in constant contact and have been...

The Days Inn Penn State had an unexpected late check-in early Friday morning. A deer found its way into the downtown State College hotel by entering through the automatic doors by the lobby off South Pugh Street, police said. According to State College police, at about 3:45 a.m., the deer entered the building and became trapped in the bathroom hallway of the adjoining Mad Mex restaurant. Surveillance video showed the deer sprinting past the check-in counter as an employee watched. Pennsylvania Game Commission officers were called to handle the animal, police said. After attempting to tranquilize the deer but failing,...

In two separate Commonwealth Court rulings this week, Judge Anne Covey denied an NCAA and Penn State motion for a protective order and ordered the NCAA to make President Mark Emmert available to give a deposition. The NCAA and the university had asked for the order to protect confidentiality of “certain discovery materials” in the lawsuit brought by state Sen. Jake Corman, R-Benner Township, and state Treasurer Rob McCord that tries to ensure the $60 million in fine money levied against Penn State by the NCAA remains in Pennsylvania. Covey declined that in an order dated Wednesday. “Defendants have demonstrated...