FOOTBALL

In college football, the Penn State scandal continues.  The newest development is that wide-receivers coach Mike McQueary will not attend Saturday’s game against Nebraska.  Why?  McQueary was the 28-year old graduate assistant coach in 2002 who accidentally walked in on defensive coordinator Joe Sandusky sexually abusing a young boy.  McQueary didn’t do anything about it at the time, letting the abuse continue, but told head coach Joe Paterno the next day… at his house.  That was 9 years ago and nothing really happened.  Now McQueary is their wide-receivers coach and has reportedly been receiving death threats for his inaction on that pivotal day.  It’s uncertain whether McQueary will remain with the team.

And, in similar news, Nebraska, a team with a rabid fan base, has asked its fans traveling to Penn State to blend in with the rest of the crowd.  It’s an emotional environment at Penn State right now, where their iconic coach was recently fired.  This will be the first time in 46 years that Paterno won’t be on the sidelines.  Nebraska’s president is concerned that the passionate Penn State fan base might take it out on Cornhuskers fans if they show-off all their red garb.  Intelligently, Penn State will be adding security for this game, hoping nothing gets too out of control.  There was speculation that Penn State might forfeit the game, but most agreed that they have to play to show that the university is a bigger deal than just one man — Joe Paterno.

And in the NFL, it was the first Thursday Night Football game of the season between the Oakland Raiders and the San Diego Chargers.  Whenever the Chargers play, there’s always the question of which Chargers team will actually show up?  The jelled unit that can put up points like fire, or the team that looks like a confused group of chickens.  The Chargers got off to a rocky start when they lost their star left tackle, Marcus McNeil, to an injury.  He would be ruled out for the game, which instantly made it much easier for the tenacious Raiders to get to Phillip Rivers.  Then, Carson Palmer got into the action, hitting rookie Denarius Moore for a touchdown. But the real hero was back-up Raiders running-back Michael Bush.  He rushed for 157 yards, a touchdown, AND nabbed an additional 85 receiving yards.  The Raiders snatched a road game win, and with it… locked up first place in the AFC West.  Are the Raiders actually playoff bound?  Oakland 24, San Diego 17.