Joe Paterno's shoes

It's been a unique joy getting to watch Joe Paterno at the media junkets that lead up to the Rose Bowl game. He doesn't follow a script, doesn't need a script and sure as heck doesn't want a script.

Twice (once at Disneyland, again today during Media Day) Joe Pa veered off of the tightly choreographed plans of PR people and did his own thing in front of the cameras. Nobody can stop the guy, nor should they.

The man is a legend. What else do you call somebody who gets inducted into the Hall of Fame before he retires?

Paterno is developing a fun relationship with Pete Carroll -- figureheads of programs that are so similar, yet so different. It's not like they have time to hang out, but their mutual admiration is palpable.

That's why this photo sent chills up my spine.

Pete Carroll didn't bring USC back to greatness just on the scoreboard. The national media goes ga-ga for his record, but it's the little things that count. His first year on the job involved extensive research into old USC traditions. A lot was made out of restoring the home-and-home jerseys with UCLA, but many smaller ones go unnoticed -- like players wearing black shoes with white shoe laces. If you can ever see Carroll during a game, that's what he has on, too.

And Joe Paterno? See for yourself:

Another coaching legend, John Wooden, used to sit down all his players on their first day in his program at UCLA to teach them the proper way of putting on socks and shoes. Eighteen-year-olds didn't always take him seriously, but they also never got blisters.

Again, it's all about the little things. Like this oddly beautiful photo. (Click on it to enlarge ... makes a nice computer desktop.)

-- Adam Rose
Photo taken during Saturday's Penn State Practice at the Home Depot Center. Credit: Danny Moloshok/Associated Press

Comments

[gerrrg]

Paterno and his teams match their uniforms: emphasis on team, not the individual, and keeping it simple but clean.