-->
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Sports Info: Suotamo To Graduate Early; Forgo Final Year With Nittany Lion Basketball Program
Senior forward to graduate in December and begin Finnish military serviceUNIVERSITY PARK, PA., Sept. 25 , 2008 – Penn State basketball senior forward Joonas Suotamo (Espoo, Finland) will forgo his final season of eligibility in order to graduate early and plans to begin compulsory service in the Finnish military, Penn State coach Ed DeChellis announced Thursday.
“Joonas has been a terrific kid and a wonderful member of our program and we support his decision,” DeChellis said. “With compulsory military service still ahead of him and his ability to earn his degree in 3 ˝ years, he felt it was in his best interest to leave basketball behind and move forward toward his future. We wish him the very best and thank him for his contributions to the program.”
A 6-10, 245-pound forward, Suotamo played in 34 games for the Nittany Lions during his career, playing in a high of 18 as a sophomore and five last season. He scored 22 career points and grabbed 28 rebounds.
“I think this is the best thing for me to do right now looking ahead to my future,” Suotamo said. “It certainly is not an emotional choice at all, but a calculation on how best to pursue my future interests. I’ll never forget how great of a place Penn State is and I had a great experience playing for Coach DeChellis. I’m looking forward to be able to come back someday and make a presentation to young, up and coming Penn State film students.”
A strong student, Suotamo has twice been named to the Academic All-Big Ten team. The Film and Video major has an eye on a career in Hollywood. Finnish citizens are required to serve between six months to a year in the country’s military between the ages of 18 and 29. Suotamo is scheduled to earn his degree in December.
Monday, September 08, 2008
It's not just psychological: When your favorite team wins a game, you may actually profit."SPORTS, WE KNOW, are big business. The Red Sox are worth more than $800 million, the Patriots at least a billion. China spent more than $40 billion to host the just-completed Olympics, an event dedicated, at least in theory, to showcasing the spirit of amateur athletic achievement.
"Even for the individual fan, the price can be high, whether it's measured in money, time, or lost sleep. A good seat at Gillette Stadium can run you $169; an NBA season is hundreds of hours of basketball. And then there are the hours spent Monday-morning quarterbacking, the sums lost in office betting pools, the money spent on replica jerseys and commemorative beach towels, the time spent crafting taunting e-mails and the time spent responding to them.
"With costs like these, it's inevitable that people will, from time to time, ask what sort of return they get on their investment. Sure, there are the occasional moments of euphoria, the feeling of boozy comradeship we feel toward strangers at sports bars, but is there, perhaps, anything more concrete? ...
"But a few scholars have started to suggest that there may indeed be another kind of benefit from big-time sports. There's a catch, though: the team has to be good. In a forthcoming paper, economist Michael Davis and the psychologist Christian End say that having a winning NFL football team increases the incomes of the people who live and work in its hometown by as much as $120 a year. And while the study doesn't identify exactly what causes the boost, the authors point to psychological literature suggesting that winning fans are at once harder workers and bigger spenders. In short, buoyed by the team's success, we work longer hours, take bigger risks, and shop more avidly, all of which helps the local economy.
" 'This collective mass of people in a good mood, that is something that could really bolster the economy,' says End, an assistant professor of psychology at Xavier University. ..."
Full
Story
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Sports Info: Nittany Lion Basketball Team Closes Canadian Tour With Impressive 83-45 Victory Over York
Cornley leads the way for third game with 16 points on 7-of-9 shootingToronto, Canada, Sept. 2, 2008 – The Penn State men’s basketball team made it a perfect 4-0 on its Canadian exhibition tour Monday outside Toronto as the Nittany Lions jumped on York College early, held a 25-point lead at the half, and cruised home to a 38-point victory, 83-45.
Jamelle Cornley (Columbus, Ohio) led Penn State in scoring for the third time on the tour posting 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting. Andrew Jones (Philadelphia, Pa.) posted a double-double with 11 points and 12 boards. David Jackson (Farrell, Pa.) and Stanley Pringle (Virginia Beach, Va.) both had nine, Pringle adding four steals, and freshman Cammeron Woodyard (Westminster, Md.) added seven.
Talor Battle (Albany, N.Y.) had seven of the Lions 23 assists in the game as Penn State also racked up 16 steals and forced 20 turnovers while holding York to 27 percent shooting. Penn State shot 49 percent for the game and won the rebounding battle 41-29. With its starters playing the first and third quarters, the Nittany Lions outscored York 53-22.
Penn State concluded a productive and entertaining trip north with victories over Waterloo (83-52), Sheridan (83-65), Ryerson (102-68) and York.
Penn State dominated York in the lane and created havoc and easy looks with full court pressure. The Lions jumped out early 7-0 lead and held York to just 15 percent shooting in the first quarter and 20 percent for the half while grabbing eight steals and shooting 53 percent itself in the first 20 minutes of action. A pair of threes from Cornley and a dunk and several highlight finishes and passes from Battle fueled the Nittany Lions charge as coach Ed DeChellis spurred on his troops intense defense on from the sideline.
Penn State used a 12-0 run in the third quarter to take a 39-point lead and then went to its bench exclusively in the fourth quarter against a York team that played N.C. State to within four points (35-31) in the first half before falling to the Wolfpack 81-60 the day before.
The Nittany Lions will now return to their normal fall individual workouts and conditioning before opening practice again on Oct. 17, the NCAA’s first official practice date. Penn State will play one more exhibition at the Bryce Jordan Center, vs. Bloomsburg on Nov. 9, before officially opening the season on Fri., Nov. 14 vs. William and Mary.
Morrissey and Battle combine to shoot 9-of-14 from three
Toronto, Canada, Aug. 31, 2008 - The Penn State men's basketball team improved to a perfect 3-0 on its Canadian exhibition tour, rising to the challenge of its best competition yet to post a 34-point victory, 102-68, over Ryerson University Sunday night in Toronto.
Guards Talor Battle (Albany, N.Y.) and Danny Morrissey (Cleveland, Ohio) combined to shoot 9-of-14 from three and led five Nittany Lions in double-figures with 17 and 16 points, respectively. Jamelle Cornley (Columbus, Ohio) added 13, Andrew Jones (Philadelphia, Pa.) 12 and Stanley Pringle (Virginia Beach, Va.) 11, for the third straight game, to round out the scoring. The Rams were led by a strong 34-point outing by 6-8 Boris Bakovic.
Penn State shot a blistering 60 percent from the floor and hit 11-of-23 threes while making 13 steals and causing 24 turnovers with a blitzkrieg press that pushed the tempo of the game to a rapid pace.
Penn State coach Ed DeChellis gave a nod to his freshmen starting Cammeron Woodyard (Westminster, Md.), Chris Babb (Arlington, Texas) and Billy Oliver (Chatham, N.J) along with veterans Pringle and Jones.
Ryerson took advantage of the Nittany Lions relative inexperience to post a slight early lead through the first quarter, but Oliver hit a three to pull Penn State within one, 21-20, at the end of the quarter.
Penn State put its regular starting five on the floor to start the second quarter and the Nittany Lions quickly went to work with an intense press and sharp shooting from the perimeter. Morrissey hit four straight threes in the quarter, including a 20-second span in which he hit two and drew a charging call on defense, and Penn State quickly took a 44-32 lead. The Lions would outscore the Rams 37-17 in the quarter, including a tomahawk dunk from Cornley off a steal on the press, and took a 57-40 lead to the half after hitting 68 percent from the floor and 75 percent from three.
Penn State kept the pressure on to start the second half and quickly built the lead over 20. The Nittany Lions put together the play of the tour so far when they got a deflection on defense. David Jackson dove full-out to save it on the sideline and tossed it ahead to Pringle. Pringle pushed the ball up the floor and lofted a nice alley-oop to Cornley who finished with a one-handed dunk over a Ryerson defender.
Penn State built as much as a 28-point lead in the third quarter and built it over 30 for much of the fourth while playing its bench for much of the final quarter.
Penn State will finish off its Canadian exhibition tour Monday with a Labor Day match-up at York University at noon. The Nittany Lions will make a stop at Niagara Falls following before returning home to State College.
Full
Story
