I Love Joe Paterno

"Joe Paterno needs to get his old ass off the sidelines"

I tweeted that and got booed by a fellow Bama fan and called a hater. Friend, you couldn't be more wrong. I wasn't saying that JoPa needs to hang it up and quit. In fact, I feel the opposite. The man is 84 years old. He has coached at Penn State for 46 years, and if he can be around to coach 20 more, then he's earned the right.

What my tweet was in reference to, of course, was the Sunday practice in which wide receiver Devon Smith ran into Paterno on the sidelines, causing injuries to Joe's shoulder, hip, and pelvis.

This is only the fourth or fifth time in the last 5 years that Paterno has been injured on the sidelines when players have run into him.

The man should really be in the press box. He is too old and too important to be running around risking injury like that

But you know what? He wouldn't be Joe Freaking Paterno if it were any other way. Who doesn't believe that this man will be 90 years old, still running down the sidelines, patting players on the back and yelling his raspy old Joe Pesci voice at unfortunate linebackers who miss tackles at "Linebacker U"

Who doesn't love the fact that Paterno walks 6 miles every day?

How can you not love a tough old bastard who could suffer such injuries as he did on Sunday, and yet he refused to get medical attention...until practice was over!!

And as soon as he was released from the hospital, all he wanted to talk about was how he felt about his team, and focusing on the upcoming season

Alot of you may not realize, but this is the stuff that legends are made of. This reeks of all kinds of "They don't make 'em like that anymore". Because you know what? They don't.

As to the question of when and if Joe Paterno will ever retire? He was interviewed in the late 80's and said then that he had at least another 5 years in him. But since then, he has referenced Paul Bear Bryant, and the fact that Bryant retired from football and died a month or so later. He is afraid that the same will happen to him.

Bryant said once that if he ever retired from football, he would die shortly thereafter. He was correct, but I think JoePa will do him one better.

Joe Paterno will die on the sidelines, before he ever retires. And we will all have lost one of the greatest men in the history of College Football when that day comes