Don't do it, Mike

Last season was, uhh, rough.
Surprisingly, I didn't burn the SD card after this game.
Photo: Mike Pettigano

What. What? Why am I back here?

It's football season. That's why.

But you haven't heard from me in this form in, well, literally years. It's something like six years I've gone away from the blogs. That also just happens to be how long it takes for your kids to get old enough where you can have 10 minutes to yourself for stuff like this.

Don't get too excited. This isn't going to be a reboot--as trendy as that is nowadays, for some stupid reason--of the old LBU.

What you'll see from me is a few posts here and there, mainly my picks for the week and a few thoughts. Basically, this will be my Twitter timeline without so much misery.

That said... Penn State vs Idaho.

So, they're still playing football, huh? Funny, last time I was around these parts, Penn State was going to be relegated to the MAC or whatever.

But I'm excited. My history as a fan tells me to never get excited. That's when things hurt the most come the cold weather. Still, there's something about this team that I really like and want to buy into.

Trace, Saquon, and all those guys took the program back to where it should have been even before It happened. With them gone, it's easy to wonder how the Nittany Lions could possible get better than when they were in the starting lineup.

They can, however, and will get better as a team. Guys like Trace and Saquon were cheat codes for Penn State. It was fun to have them until the team got stronger at the bottom. Now it's time to play on Heisman mode without any cheats. And I think Penn State can do that starting in 2019.

There's not much to say about this week, except that I think Penn State will win by a solid margin considering the opponent. Let's say PSU 52, Idaho 3.

All the years I've predicted Penn State to start out the season with a sharp offense and smothering defense, I'm feeling pretty good about this one.

Of course that means it won't happen. It's just how things work here.

I'll be going to the game tomorrow. Maybe I'll take photos, or maybe I'll hang out with my son and my dad, who are going with me. I snagged them some good seats for $30 a pop, on the west side, too. No sun in their faces. As the season progresses I'll let you know how obsessed my elder son is with football, specifically (and thankfully) college football.

Have fun tomorrow. Enjoy the good weather we're supposed to get. And Let's Go State!

Welcome aboard, Jeff

Those of you out there who follow us on Twitter likely already knew this was coming, so we won't say it's "breaking news" or anything like that. But today we're proud to announce yet another fine addition to our Linebacker-U.com team.

Readers, meet Jeff Junstrom.

Welcome aboard, Eric

In case you're wondering, yes, that's Eric.

This week we're welcoming a new blogger to Linebacker-U.com, as Eric Gibson of Raise the Curtains has honored us by joining our little corner of the internet. Though he's new here, you have surely read Eric's stuff at one point or another. He's been blogging Penn State men's basketball (a brave soul, indeed) for three years, which included his previous blogs, Crispin and Cream, and Battle Does It Again.

Eric is currently a senior at Penn State, majoring in Kinesiology. He is a Harrisburg native and Central Dauphin grad, who also isn't afraid to admit Penn State basketball has had way too big of an impact on his life. And yes, his childhood idol was Joe Crispin. He still has his autographed Jan Jagla growth chart. And is probably best known as "that pale kid" who nearly killed Talor Battle after the big Illinois win a few years back.

So, readers, say hello to Eric; Eric, the readers.

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Time to stop mistaking 'swagger' and 'moxie' for 'being a dickbag' (updated)

Matt McGloin needs to grow up and get a sense of humor.

Or, better yet... how about simply shut up?

You can judge for yourselves by reading the string of Tweets from SBN's Jeff Junstrom (formerly of BSD). They are in ascending chronological order, so read them starting with the very bottom tweet. It starts out like any boring Wednesday night on Twitter. Evan Royster asks if anyone saw a movie he was watching. McGloin tweets back the ending of the movie, and in the process, issues a spoiler. So Junstrom tweeted in response: "Dick." What ensued is something I just can't wrap my head around...