General

Penn State Fans Can Put Away Their Torches

Aug 5, 2009, 6:20 PM UTC

Forty-five tailbacks were just named to the Doak Walker watch list. None â†µof them are Penn State’s Evan Royster, a Doak semifinalist last year and â†µthe Big Ten’s leading returning rusher with more than 1,200 yards. Cue the â†µbasically justified OUTRAGE â†µfrom Nittany partisans:â†µâ†µâ‡¥While these awards are really meaningless in the grand scope ofâ†µâ‡¥things, as far as Penn State is concerned, and Evan probably doesn’tâ†µâ‡¥even give a damn, it’s still disconcerting that the Big Ten’sâ†µâ‡¥returning rushing leader isn’t mentioned for a national award andâ†µâ‡¥three other Big Ten backs are.â†µâ†µâ†µWell ... okay, that’s not that outraged. Nittany White Out â†µand Black Shoe Diariesâ†µhaven’t even mentioned it yet. Erm ... ESPN’s â†µAdam Rittenberg? â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥No Evan Royster? Areâ†µâ‡¥you kidding me?â†µâ†µâ†µYEAH GET ‘EM RITTENBERRRRG.â†µ

â†µâ†µRittenberg points out that the Big Ten won the award last year (Iowa’s â†µShonn Greene picked it up) and had another finalist. Weirder: the other â†µthree Big Ten backs on the list -- Michigan’s Brandon Minor, Wisconsin’s â†µJohn Clay, and Ohio State’s Dan “Boom” Herron -- combined to average 619 â†µyards last year, precisely half of what Royster racked up. Does not â†µcompute.â†µ

â†µ

â†µAnd since these lists only exist to generate a burst of publicity for â†µthe award when half of Division I says "OMG starting tailback rules!" â†µthe fault can't be on the Walker committee, unless they're attempting â†µsome crazy guerilla marketing based on internet OUTRAGE. Which they're â†µnot: this is a stodgy college football award. Someone else must have â†µscrewed up.â†µ

â†µâ†µAnd lo, it is so: â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥Mr. [Jeff] Lockhart [Manager of Athletic Forum and Programs for theâ†µâ‡¥Guaranty Bank SMU Athletic Forum,â†µâ‡¥which awards the Doak Walker Award]â†µâ‡¥explained that schools nominate the candidates and Jeff Nelson, Pennâ†µâ‡¥State’s Assistant Athletic Director/Communications (Football), wasâ†µâ‡¥on vacation last week and hadn’t sent anything on Royster. The Forumâ†µâ‡¥had a hard deadline of August 4th for the first press release.â†µâ†µâ†µJeff Nelson has just been tossed a live hand grenade by one Jeff â†µLockhart. Enjoy, Mr. Nelson. Lockhart further explained that there’s a â†µ“nominees” list which is different from the “watch” list that Royster â†µwill be on, further proving that award watch lists are about as â†µmeaningful as ... well, the awards themselves.â†µ

â†µâ†µ(Also: the clarification above is original reporting from a blog. Oh â†µnoes! [apocalypse].)â†µ

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This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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