Paterno Turns 70
Penn State football coach Joe Paterno turned 70 Saturday and, for the fifth consecutive year, he celebrated on the road without much fanfare.
The coach who has led the Nittany Lions to two national championships spent his birthday with a whistle in hand, holding two practices at Scottsdale Community College, near Phoenix.
Paterno is leading No. 7 Penn State (10-2) to a New Year’s Day date with No. 20 Texas (8-4) in the Fiesta Bowl, and blowing out candles is not tops on his priority list.
“What does it matter? It can be 70, 60, 50, they’re all the same and I try to take all of them low key,” Paterno said. “Anyway, this is not my party. It’s theirs. This is for them.”
Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer got a $35,000 raise and a one-year contract extension for Christmas.
Athletic director Doug Dickey said Fulmer’s contract was extended through the 2001 season. His pay will increase from $470,000 to $505,000 annually.
Mike Cavan has accepted the reins as football coach at Southern Methodist, saying, “This is what I’ve dreamed of.”
Cavan was hired as the Mustangs’ 14th coach Friday, succeeding Tom Rossley, who was fired Nov. 25 after a 15-48-3 record in six seasons at the Dallas school.
Arizona State junior tailback Terry Battle has announced he will return for his senior season.
Battle rushed for 1,043 yards and 18 touchdowns, despite starting only the last five games of the season. He also had scoring kickoff returns of 99 and 100 yards.
Chester McGlockton led several Oakland Raiders teammates in promoting a tickets-for-guns exchange intended to get some firearms off Oakland’s deadly streets. In four hours, police collected 152 weapons on a soggy Saturday afternoon.
In exchange for each gun, McGlockton and his teammates offered a handshake, a few words of thanks and two tickets to today’s season finale against Seattle.