Linebacker-U.com

Let’s try this again, shall we? We Are! 2013 – A Penn State Preview eMagazine

LBUadmin — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 18:14:30 +0000

The print idea couldn’t raise enough funding, but don’t despair. We Are! launching a new version of this project, one that pulls the preview magazine industry into the digital age:

This is our second attempt after we initially failed to raise enough in a short time to get a print version done this year. But we spoke to the writers, and the designers, and the publisher, and rather than simply scrap the project, we all agreed we’d rather try again as an e-magazine so we can still get you all of the great content and establish ourselves for a print version next year. So long as we can raise enough to break even with the authors, the plan is to provide this as an e-book.

Please pledge now!

We Are! 2013 – Pick up the beat already!

Mike — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 13:56:45 +0000

If you’ve been to Penn State for a football game, arriving early enough to enjoy the Blue Band’s pregame performance, you probably recall a line spoken by PA announcer Dean DeVore during The Floating Lions drill: “Pick up the beat! And clap along, to Fight On! State!”

Well, our pledge drive to fund We Are! 2013 – A Penn State preview is lagging behind the pace we need it to be in order to launch the print magazine. The current count is a mere 151 backers, totaling just $7,710. Our goal is $35,000 by 2 p.m. on April 22. That’s not a lot of time.

Good thing we’re not asking for a lot of money. A small pledge–which is only charged to you if we reach our goal by the 4/22 deadline–of $15 goes a long way. That pledge level will win you a free copy of the We Are! 2013 magazine. Higher pledge levels–$20 and up–will receive even better rewards, including free T-shirts, honors printed right in the magazine, and for the right pledge, a VIP tailgate with a few Penn State notables before the PSU-Michigan game this fall.

So take a moment, picture yourself in the stands on a warm, early-autumn afternoon, as the crowd ramps up and the Blue Band blares the fight songs we love so dear… “Pick up the beat!” and pledge to help make We Are! 2013 a reality!

We Are! 2013 – Penn State preview: The Cover Wars Begin

Mike — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 17:40:59 +0000

After much debate around these parts, negotiations have broken down. War has become the only answer to this massive question: which Penn State player or players will grace the cover of We Are! 2013 – A Penn State preview.

Today’s targets focused on two megaliths of the trenches: DE Deion Barnes, defended by Jared, vs OG Miles Dieffenbach, defended by Ben.

PLEDGE TODAY!

Michigan 519, Penn State 105: We Are! 2013 – A Penn State preview, D+2

Mike — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 18:54:23 +0000

Penn State isn’t the first team to get the independent publishing treatment. In fact, MGoBlog did it successfully last year (as you’ll read in our Kickstarter description), and again this year. Well, MGoBlog’s Kickstarter page is now up and running. One day in? They’re KILLING US! Remember 1997? Yeah, it’s like that bad right now.

So it’s now up to you, Penn State fans. It will be tough to beat Michigan this time. But will you allow us to go down in flames? You better not.

Let’s get the pledges rolling. We Are! 2013 is already up over 100 pledges, including three who will be rewarded with a VIP tailgate at this years… MICHIGAN GAME. There could–COULD–be a certain former player or two in attendance. So, yeah.

Remember, you are not charged one cent unless we get this thing funded. So please give what you can. You could always increase the pledge later. And, possibly most importantly, tell your fellow Penn Staters about the project.

PLEDGE TODAY!

We Are! 2013 – A Penn State preview pledge drive, D+1

LBUadmin — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 14:30:37 +0000

Over the first 24 hours, more than 60 fellow Penn Staters made their pledges to help fund We Are! 2013 – A Penn State preview. The project is an annual preview magazine, produced BY Penn Staters, FOR Penn Staters. It’s a risk-free investment for you, because if we don’t reach our fundraising goal, you will NOT be charged one cent. But that’s not a reason to sit back. It’s time to step up and get us across the goal line today. More information is available by clicking the box below that will take you to our Kickstarter page.

PLEDGE TODAY!

Introducing We Are! 2013, a Penn State preview magazine

Mike — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 14:51:06 +0000

Allen Robinson is the cover boy for We Are! 2013

We Are… putting together an independently-published Penn State preview magazine. We Are! 2013 will featured yours truly, along with some BSD bloggers and a few rather big names in the Penn State football circles. For more information, follow this link to our page on Kickstarter. This project won’t succeed without YOUR HELP. So pledge your support today, and get all your fellow Penn State Nittany Lions on board to make this happen.

PLEDGE TODAY!

Fran Ganter retiring from Penn State football

Mike — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 15:26:20 +0000

One of the giants of Penn State football, former offensive coordinator and assistant head coach Fran Ganter, will retire:

“I am very proud and thankful to have been a member of the Penn State Football family for the past 46 years,” Ganter stated. [snip]

Ganter coached a number of Penn State greats, including running backs Curt Warner, D.J. Dozier, Blair Thomas, Ki-Jana Carter, Curtis Enis and Larry Johnson, all of whom were first-team All-Americans and first-round NFL Draft picks, as well as All-America kickers Chris and Matt Bahr.

I always liked Fran. He was a good person, and a good football coach who took a lot of heat he didn’t deserve.

Alvarez: No more FCS teams on Big Ten schedules

Mike — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 16:11:33 +0000

This is nice:

“The nonconference schedule in our league is ridiculous,” Alvarez said on WIBA-AM. “It’s not very appealing…

“So we’ve made an agreement that our future games will all be Division I schools. It will not be FCS schools.”

Yes. It’s about time college football stopped this charade. There are no similarities between the FCS and FBS, as there once were in the days of “major college” football. It’s like NFL teams scheduling college teams. Do FCS teams occasionally beat FBS teams? Sure. But I’d bet Alabama could beat a few teams in the lower quarter of the NFL if given enough shots.

Hey Desmond, egging on the trolls won’t elevate the discourse

Mike — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 18:06:15 +0000

When crazy people start attacking you on the internet, what do you do? Ignore them, as they deserve? Or troll them right back, along with the rational people out there who might have actually defended you until you ventured into dick territory? For Desmond Howard, who was shocked–SHOCKED!–the Penn State crazies acted, well, crazy, this was apparently the only rational response to his detractors:

Howard since deleted the tweets.

Linkbacker U. is warming up to #CaringIsCreepy

Mike — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 13:37:29 +0000

We have a plethora of recruiting round-ups today, starting off with my former stomping ground…

BSD’s Cari rounds up the Big Ten recruiting haul… Bill covered Bill (O’Brien)’s signing day press conference, a far cry from what we’re used to at Penn State… Adam injects some sanity in the post-LOI insanity, and likes the class overall… Devon braved interacting with Mark Brennan of FOS, who still has time to threaten BSD with legal action for covering the same team they do… And Dan checks up on the decommits, who are probably going to ride the bench much longer than they would at Penn State, but hey, bowl games and stuff.
VBR’s Matt does another signing day wrap up.
The Patriot News pumped out the signing day coverage, starting off with a look at the latest three-headed quarterback race for Penn State… Assistant coach Charles London said Penn State won’t lower its character standards.
Fight On State approves of O’Brien’s first recruiting class.
Rivals names Penn State in its “winners” column for this year’s haul… BWI lauds O’Brien for sticking with Penn State.
247 has more of the same. All the good stuff is behind its paywall, just like the other “premium” sites.
The Star-Ledger profiled two of New Jersey’s biggest prospects, both signing with Penn State.
How interesting, ESPN didn’t mention Christian Hackenberg once on its Recruiting front page. I’ll go out on a limb and say this: If the nation’s No. 1 pocket passer committed to any other school in any other year, it would have gotten much more play by the WWL.