WOULD RATHER BE IN CLEARWATER
LOS ANGELES -- Joe Paterno held his day-after, season-wrap up with the Penn State beat reporters this morning and just as it started, the bull session -- as Joe likes to refer to it -- was interrupted by two tan-looking fellas. Barry Switzer and Jimmie Johnson happened to be at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel, as well, and the two former coaches stopped by to say hello to a former nemesis.
Switzer and Paterno, despite the perception that they don't get along, are good friends. "To hell with them bastards," Switzer said to the 82-year-old Paterno, hopefully not referring to the reporters in the room (wink-wink). "Keep doing what you're doing."
Paterno was happy to see the coaches, who were in town because they did a BCS pre-game show. FOX studios are nearby. Paterno faced both coaches in national championship games, beating one and losing to the other. Penn State lost to Switzer's Oklahoma team in the 1985 Orange Bowl, 25-10. And the Lions upset Johnson's Miami team, 14-10, in the 1987 Fiesta Bowl to win their last national title.
It was a surreal scene. More in tomorrow's paper.
Joe McIntyre is a senior at Penn State majoring in journalism. He covered the Penn State football beat in 2011 for the Daily Collegian. Follow him on Twitter here @JoeMcIntyre5.
