We don’t often give orders but today is an exception.  On Saturday go see Joe Paterno coach his Penn State football team in the Metrodome.  This might be your last chance to see the legendary Joe Pa coaching in Minneapolis. 

Here’s the scoop:  Paterno is 79 years old and with a birthday coming in December he is almost 80.  After Saturday’s game, Penn State doesn’t return to Minneapolis to play the Gophers until 2010.  How far away is that?  Well, the Gophers will probably be playing their second season in the new on-campus stadium.  Joe Pa will be closing in on his 84^th birthday. 

How much longer Paterno will coach is not known but there is speculation 2008 may be his last season.  He can’t go on forever, right?  It just seems like forever that Paterno has been part of college football.  The Brooklyn native joined the Penn State coaching staff in 1950 as an assistant.  He became head coach in 1966.  He has been coaching at Penn State longer than five Big Ten Conference head coaches have been alive. 

Along the way Paterno became one of the enduring and positive faces of college football.  Untouched by recruiting and academic scandals, Paterno is the second winningest coach in Division I-A history (357 wins) and has forged a reputation for graduating players.  He and his wife Sue have been donors to the Penn State library. 

Paterno has been featured on TV’s “60 Minutes” and graced the covers of Sports Illustrated including last fall during his comeback season.  Having finished with losing seasons four of the past five previous years, the heat was on Paterno in 2005 and his team responded by winning 11 of 12 games including a bowl victory over Florida State and coach Bobby Bowden, the only Division I-A coach with more victories than Joe Pa.  Paterno was named AP Coach of the Year. 

Penn State comes to Minneapolis Saturday with a 3-2 record.  The Nittany Lions sometimes look sluggish on offense, but the defense is impressive and the two losses have been to national powers Notre Dame and Ohio State.  A loss to the Gophers could easily point to yet another disappointing season at Penn State and bring the critics storming back to Paterno’s door. 

When the losses pile up the reaction of many Penn State followers is to say Paterno is too old to be effective.  Still, a man listens to Paterno on media conference calls for a few weeks and there is no sign Joe Pa’s memory and speech isn’t sharp.  Watch him run on and off the field on Saturdays with the rest of his team and coaches, and you marvel at the “wheels” on this man who was born before the Great Depression.  A few years ago, disturbed by an official’s call in a game, Paterno ran hard to catch up to the official and talk with him. 

In the Ohio State game earlier this season Paterno did something he’s never done before.  He ran off the field before the second quarter ended.  He was ill with flu, headed for the locker room and then returned to coach in the second half.  

It’s hard to keep Joe Pa away from the game, whether it’s advancing age or the flu bug.  Still, the man with the nasally New York accent, oversize nose and large 1970s glasses can’t go on forever.  So go see him at the dome on Saturday. 

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After two straight losses and with an offense that has produced one running touchdown and two touchdown passes from its starting quarterback in four games, the Vikings should consider the Detroit Lions welcome prey when they come to the Metrodome.  The Lions have given up 106 points in their last three games while starting the season 0-4. 

The Lions rank 26^th in the 32 team NFL in yards allowed per game and are yielding an average of 368.5 yards (86.5 rushing, 282 passing).  “They have been very good against the run,” Vikings coach Brad Childress said. “People are exploiting the pass from time to time.”   

Vikings quarterback Brad Johnson said the Lions’ defense plays with effort. Defensive tackle Shaun Rogers, 6-4, 345, is outstanding and has 13 solo tackles and one sack.  “Look what Shaun Rogers can do by himself,” Johnson said. “A lot of times you have to double and triple team the guy. …” 

The Vikings are tied for fourth in the NFL in fewest points allowed and rank fifth in overall defense.  Minnesota is 27^th in points scored and 22^nd in rushing offense.  The Vikings have won 58 games against Detroit, more wins against the Lions than any other team.

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Troy Hudson, who has been with the Timberwolves for four seasons, said the organization has had good point guards through the years but wonders why there has been so much turnover at the position.  He was the Wolves’ point guard in 2002-2003 when the team won 51 games and advanced to the playoffs. 

Hudson said comments every year that the Wolves are “lacking” at the point guard position “bothered” him for awhile but then he thought more about the criticism. “Okay, when I was healthy and I was really getting an opportunity we won 51 games with me at the point guard position,”  Hudson said. “The next year we won 56 games with Sam Cassell at the point guard position. … Then they brought in Marko (Jaric).  And then (years ago) we had Stephon Marbury here (and) Bobby Jackson here (and) Chauncey Billups here.

“So I just started thinking to myself is it really the point guard position?  What’s really being hidden here? I mean, if we’re going to say every year we need a new point guard. … You win 51 games one year, 56 games one year and those two point guards aren’t good enough.  I don’t know what else to say.

“Now I have come to the realization that maybe I am just not the guy they are looking for here.  Maybe it’s the way I play or my style of play but I don’t think it’s because I am not a great point guard or a good point guard.  Maybe they are looking for a point guard around here that doesn’t exist.” 

Hudson said he considers himself a “basketball player” and is prepared to play point guard or off-guard for the Wolves.  “Two or one (positions) is cool with me. … I always do the things that the coaches want me to do,” Hudson said. 

Newcomer Mike James, formerly with Toronto, seems likely to win the point guard position this fall.

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