Captain Kangaroo

Just got home. That game was brutal. Worst I've seen in some time. Had a blast last night. Great tailgate. Great people. More tomorrow.

The pass defense numbers would be really scary...if their run defense weren't so bad. Obviously, if your opponents can run at will...they'll pass less...and you'll surrender deceivingly low passing yards.

I'm sure the fact that this writer is from Pittsburgh has something to do with the article's "slant," but there's a lot of truth here too. Blood in the water!!! Go Zips!!! Losing seasons take toll on PSU program Friday, September 03, 2004 By Chico Harlan, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Here is a 297-pound man, reasonable and articulate, Class of 1996. Penn State sent this man to the NFL; Penn State filled Jeff Hartings with memories and lessons and plenty of victories. And -- pffft -- somewhere, school pride fizzled out. What filled him, and so many other Penn Staters, deflated. "You know," Hartings, the Steelers' starting center, recently said, "they say they're back! Undefeated this season!" This, of course, is complete sarcasm. The rest is not. The rest is what remains now that a football program Hartings oh-so-fractionally helped build into a national powerhouse has turned, at times, into a national pushover. What remains are the ashes of school pride. "You can't lose three or four years like this without losing something," he said. "I think the first year it was kind of like, 'Wow, what happened to Penn State?' Now, you just start asking questions. Should Joe Paterno be coaching? What's wrong here? Because they definitely have fallen off. "You don't know how long [Paterno] is gonna be there. He keeps on signing [long-term] contracts, but sooner or later, he'll have to retire. So I think that definitely discourages players from going there, and other teams use that against them. Now Penn State can say they don't have coaching uncertainty, but most of the country doesn't agree with that. "And, as I see it, they don't have the athletes anymore. When I played, just about every position had somebody at least going to a camp in the NFL. Right now, I don't even know if they have legitimate Division I starters at every position. "It's real tough, because I took a lot of pride when I played there, in an era where you had a lot of winning seasons. Pretty much everybody who's an alum has been a winner. It's just really the last few years we've had all these losing seasons. It's definitely tough. I think it will be a long road back." Hartings graduated from high school in 1991. He lived in St. Henry, Ohio -- a tiny map dot in Buckeye country. But one visit to University Park and the Penn State experience -- that famous thing about academics and tradition and winning all the while -- had him hooked. That's how he remembers it, at least. "But, if I was doing it now, would I go back to Penn State?" Hartings says. He lets out a slight chuckle. "Well, not if winning is important to me." *** Whatever happened to the Penn State experience? We could delve into semantics here, and suggest that the "E" in experience ought to be capitalized, such was the infallible reverence Penn State players once showed to their program. But somewhere, the experience fizzled; pride deflated. Penn State, entering its opener tomorrow against Akron, is Once-Proud Penn State. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel -- Oct. 4, 2003: "You wonder if Paterno, consumed with his place in history as a once-proud program crumbles around him, is simply trying to protect his legacy." Public Opinion (Chambersburg, Pa.) -- Oct. 25, 2003: "[T]his once-proud program ... is clearly in full decline." Centre Daily Times -- Nov. 15, 2003: "It's a sad commentary on the decline of this once-proud program that it has become a source of one-liners." Lansing State Journal -- Nov. 17, 2003: "Once-proud Penn State comes to town Saturday ..." Once-proud Penn State is a designation for the present tense, hinting at the Lions' historic success, hammering at their recent failures. Paterno, now in his 39th year as head coach, has guided PSU to 31 bowl games. But PSU has missed bowls in three of the past four seasons. Penn State's record in that span is 22-26. The Lions joined the Big Ten in 1993; a year later, the team went 12-0 -- 8-0 in conference. That was Hartings' era. Since 1998, Penn State, Indiana and Minnesota are the only Big Ten schools without at least one six-win in-conference season. The Nittany Lions finished 3-9 last season. This is low-watermark stuff. This is today's era. The Penn State experience no longer yields the success that habitually bred players' faith. The self-perpetuating cycle of winning and believing, winning again and believing some more, somehow broke down. Some recently departed Penn State players -- those who have struggled through the past half-decade of football -- remember their time at University Park with bitterness, sometimes hostility. The Penn State experience shortchanged them, they believe. What sold them on coming to Penn State -- the inherited sense of success and virtuosity -- fizzled out upon their arrival. "I'm not a Penn State fan whatsoever. I didn't enjoy my time there," said Ricky Upton, who served as reserve tailback last year, his fifth season with the program. "I know a lot of people will say I'm just bitter about the program, but I know about 50 other guys who are like me -- and they actually played." "Some things about my time there bother me a lot," said another player, who requested not to be named. "I'll just say this -- if I ever have kids, they'll never play a sport at Penn State." They agree on this: Penn State, with its 77-year-old coach on the sideline, has ossified into a mediocre program. Recent players, therefore, must cope not only with the regret they have in their own college careers, but also with the disappointment they stirred in older Penn Staters. "At this point, I don't think they're considered one of the upper-echelon football teams," said Todd Blackledge, who quarterbacked the '82 team to a national championship. "That's disappointing for me, but it's a reality. You look through all the preseason magazines, their name isn't mentioned anywhere near the Top 25. If you look at the list of first- and second- and third-team All Americans, nobody shows up anywhere." Blame inevitability. No program stays on top for 50 years, not even Notre Dame. This downturn was bound to happen, sure as empires fall and power corrupts. Blame parity. Did you expect Penn State to rule the Big Ten, a league with strongholds Michigan and Ohio State and a rotating circuit of contenders? This is a conference where power collides with power, and every team falls a little closer to middle-class. Blame tough luck. That's what players from the team last year were adept at doing. "It seemed like if it rained," said Damone Jones, a senior tackle last year, "it would have only rained on our sideline." Blame America. This is the what-have-you-done-for-me-lately culture, Exhibit A. Can four lousy years offset generations of great football? Only here, where forgetting is an American birthright. Blame Joe Paterno. This is like blaming everything, blaming the whole experience. Paterno and Penn State are so inextricably tied together, salvos fired at either one -- The Program or The Man -- strike at the same general base. Among recent players, opinions about Paterno are mixed. Some admire the coach and the program for sticking with the traditional values, especially academics, even as winning declines. Some respect him but believe his message fell on players who didn't want to hear it. "A lot of people didn't understand what he was about," former linebacker Deryck Toles said. Several seniors on the 2003 team expressed concern about the generation gap between the players and Paterno, whose typical parlance often references players and games from decades ago. "In meetings, he would tell us stories from, like, 1945, and we'd kind of sit there thinking, This makes no sense. Why does this matter?" said the former player who asked not be identified. The most direct complaint, though, aims at exactly what Paterno has become -- an icon and a symbol. These days, Paterno is equal parts philanthropist, university ambassador and football coach. Several former Lions said that Paterno, spread so thin, is unable to create relationships with his players. Upton said Paterno has neither the time nor the energy to connect with those playing under him, and the Penn State experience can no longer transfer from its creator to its sustainers. Paterno, through spokesman Jeff Nelson, declined to be interviewed for this story. "I think Joe still knows coaching, but he doesn't know how to relate to his players anymore," said Upton, the running back. "The only time you see the guy is if you have a problem the [assistant] coaches can't handle or if you're in trouble. He doesn't go to the team dinners. He doesn't go to the Fourth of July picnic. He doesn't spend time with you. "Guys from older teams that keep coming back to Penn State have a connection with him, but you just don't see that anymore. Whenever younger guys do come back, it's normally to see an assistant. "People on the team now are close to their personal coaches, but not Joe. I know he's a busy man, but his purpose at Penn State is to coach. He should be around his team more. You want to feel like the head coach is part of the team, not just somebody who's standing there on Saturdays." Paterno, by most accounts, is still a disciplinarian. But that reputation is undercut by recent teams' off-field behavior, which has been reexamined ad nauseum but never explained. Upton, for one, believes the problems -- 13 Nittany Lion players have been arrested, charged or convicted of a crime in the last year -- come from a simple fact: Many players, especially on the team last year, didn't care. At midseason, after almost a half-dozen players had already been punished for underage drinking, a group of seniors proposed a team no-drinking policy. One player, upon hearing the policy, asked this question: "Does that mean I can still drink in my room?" Others ignored the policy altogether, including one player, interviewed for this story, who couldn't understand why he shouldn't be able to drink and unwind after a Saturday game. "People weren't willing to make the sacrifice," Upton said. "Not drinking for [the rest of the season] seemed like the biggest sacrifice in the world. A lot of people were just out for themselves. They simply didn't care." *** What's changed for players, once they arrive in Happy Valley, is the experience. Once the lifeblood of the football program, it is now an ominous harbinger. Losing, above all else in football, breeds problems; years of losing create a landscape of problems. And this year, most college football magazines predict Penn State to finish sixth or seventh in the Big Ten. Some prognosticators think the Lions will fare worse. On campus, Penn State players still receive the carte blanche treatment. But little reminders of disappointment subvert the lighter moments. Last year, Gino Capone, the team's senior starting inside linebacker, received several e-mails from fans and alumni, criticizing Capone and the team. You're letting us down, the e-mails read. In all the hours Capone spent during high school scripting his Penn State career, he never imagined a message like this would be part of it. "The e-mails were one thing, but I was just so frustrated myself. I'd come back from away trips and just bury my head in my pillow, just asking, 'Why is this happening? Why can't we win?' "Ten years ago, we'd expect to have back-to-back 9- or 10-win seasons. So now ... yeah, there's got to be a sense we've lost something. I think you have to say that."

You should spend more time on your playbook and less on the internet, poz. How bad will it suck to lose to the Zips on your home field? It's gotta hurt...

Ellen's column on Frye was the first he's written (ghost-written or otherwise) where he didn't backhandedly or blatently rip on the Zips because of his biased personal feelings. Let's hope he's moved on...

Thanks, Dude! The time he flattened Dwight Smith during the Spring Game his Fr. year is still one of my all-time favorite "hits!"

Ed Collington, Penn Hills / Ali Bode, Upper St. Clair Thursday, September 02, 2004 By Mike White, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ED COLLINGTON SCHOOL: Penn Hills WHO IS HE: A 6-foot, 205-pound senior running back who started the season in a big way. LAST WEEK: Penn Hills' season opener against North Allegheny was stopped early in the third quarter because of lightning. But Collington still ran for 197 yards on 20 carries and scored three touchdowns in a 28-7 win. IMPACT PLAYER: Collington has been on Penn Hills' varsity since his sophomore year and has become a bigger part of the offense each season. As a sophomore, he rushed for 316 yards on 62 attempts while fellow sophomore Ken Lewis had 895 on 134 attempts. Last year, Collington led Penn Hills with 959 yards on 109 carries and Lewis had 884 on 158. Lewis has not practiced this season because of a hamstring injury, so Collington is the featured back. "There haven't been too many years when we haven't had a great running back here," Penn Hills coach Neil Gordon said. "I think [Collington] is a great high school running back. The thing he has that the others didn't have is size. He's a big kid. A number of other ones we've had in the past were 5-7 or 5-8." SHOULDERING THE LOAD: Collington missed some of preseason practice with a dislocated left shoulder. He missed two games last year with the same injury. Collington needs surgery on the shoulder. But, if he has surgery now, he will miss the rest of the season. He has decided to play and postpone the surgery. "I wear a brace on it," Collington said. "I know I'm taking a big risk. I'm just praying it doesn't come out." ON THE MOVE: Collington attended Steel Valley High School as a freshman, but transferred to Penn Hills as a sophomore, when he and his mother, Jessie, moved into the Penn Hills district. A MAN CALLED HORSE: Collington's teammates call him "Horse." "They say they have the speed and power of a horse," Collington said. Gordon said, "I'm hoping to ride this 'Horse' this year." THE FUTURE: Collington has a scholarship offer from Akron, but is hoping more colleges become interested. "I think he's a Division I college tailback," Gordon said. --By Mike White

Click for the Story

I thought DL Morgan was the Can't State beat writer?

Thanks for the Post article. Difference between the post and BJ, I actually learned something in the Post article. My favorite part of the article: He spends nights on a cot in his office, resigned to go at least a few weeks this summer without seeing his wife and two young children. "I've never seen a coach so dedicated," Akron star quarterback Charlie Frye says. I thought the SAME THING. The BJ writes articles...but I learn nothing from them. Gee...what a shocker that Terry Pluto writes about "faith and loyalty." Swap Charlie Frye's name out with any other player, coach or local community figure and you get the same thing every time. Pluto wrote a lengthy article on Frye...but is was of little substance. It is the same thing he writes day after day after day after day. Ditto just about everything else I've read from DL Morgan. You can find the same quotes he references in his articles on gozips.com...it's just that you find them on gozips a few days earlier. My favorite quote from the post column: "Still, that is Brookhart's style. He scripts fundamental truths, then reverses them. To become predictable, he believes, is to undermine your own chances for success." That was my biggest beef with the Owens regime was predictability...on both sides of the ball. I look forward to seeing some complexity in the Zips playcalling this season. Zips: 31-17

No coach's show before the Penn State game? What's up with that? Also...what's up with the size 28 font in the Zips/PSU write up on gozips.com? My eyes are still burning!!

I figured the "click me for parallel 2003 game" qualifier explained the spirit of the post well-enough? Zips 31 PSU 17

Wisconsin thought they'd romp too...

Looks like it is getting towards the end of the line for Konrad. This is his 3rd year of camp, and he’s getting cut pretty early. I wish him the best, but it doesn’t look good. Can you make a decent living in NFL Europe? Matt will be ok. Hope he latches on with someone else. If he gets a chance to develop in Europe for a season, I think he can make a roster next year…or this year if some NFL scout is paying attention!

I like our chances against these guys more and more each day!!! Sales, Brown to get playing time for PSUBy Rob Biertempfel TRIBUNE-REVIEW Saturday, August 28, 2004 Penn State's linebacker corps might soon have more of a western Pennsylvania flavor. Friday, coach Joe Paterno said two former WPIAL standouts -- true freshmen Dontey Brown (McKeesport) and Tyrell Sales (Butler) -- likely will play more than expected this season. BranDon Snow, who was in the mix for playing time at middle linebacker, broke his right foot during preseason camp and will be out six to eight weeks. While Snow recovers from surgery, Brown and Sales have a chance to show what they can do. Snow's injury made Tim Shaw, a former tailback, the de facto starter at middle 'backer. The two had been waging an even battle for the job until Snow broke his foot last week. Senior Derek Wake and sophomore Paul Posluszny (Hopewell) will start at the outside linebacker spots. Backing them up will be Dan Connor, a freshman who enrolled in January, and sophomore J.R. Zwierzynski. "We had a meeting this morning, and I was the only (upperclassman) in the room," said Wake, who this week was named one of the team's two co-captains. "Those other guys are young and they're making big plays. They haven't played much, but when we're out there in practice, you couldn't tell. I'm definitely looking forward to going out there on Saturday and playing with those guys." Penn State opens its season at 3:30 p.m. Sept. 4 at home against Akron. Cornerback Alan Zemaitis has been slowed during camp by a shoulder injury, but is expected to play against Akron. Safety Chris Harrell, who has been out since the spring with a neck injury, will not play this season. Paterno said Harrell will take a redshirt and should be ready to play in 2005.

Akron at Penn State (3:30 PM – TV: ESPN Regional) Highlights: Penn State is 0-3 against the spread versus the MAC and has not covered against this conference since 1999. PSU is 5-10 against the spread in their last 15 season openers. Akron averaged 36-points per game in 2003, including 311-yards per contest through the air behind returning All-American QB candidate Charlie Frye. Akron has lost their last six games against Big Ten competition by an average of 45-20 per game. Comment: Penn State has not been the same team since Toledo whacked them in the 2000 season. Akron has the best QB in the country and can certainly score points on just about any team. The problem is their defense, and even an anemic offense like Penn State should be able to score enough points to win by a respectable margin. Charlie Frye will definitely wow the home crowd though. Nick’s Pick: Penn State 37 – Akron 28 Line: Penn State by 16

That would all make sense...IF Penn Stae weren't coming off a 3-9 season where their only wins were against Temple, Can't State and Indiana. Penn State would be lucky to beat CW Post by 30 points this season, let alone the Zips. Zips 31-17...toothless Lions barely put up a fight. If/when the game gets out of hand, PLEASE, Zips fans...BE CLASSY. Remember how bad it felt when we used to get drubbed. You're representing the University of Akron. Show some respect!

A little more regarding the decision... If I were him, I'd stay at Pitt. If Palko sucks, or gets hurt...he's the man. If he comes to Akron, Jabbari will be a Soph. who's pretty tough to beat out. There's no guarantee he's the #1 guy here either. By Joe Bendel TRIBUNE-REVIEW Saturday, August 28, 2004 Luke Getsy is uncertain about his future at Pitt after losing the starting quarterback job to fellow redshirt sophomore Tyler Palko. Getsy said Friday that he loves everything about Pitt, but also pointed out that he has "options." He also realizes that he faces the possibility of playing out his career as a back-up. "I'm just going to think about it," said Getsy, a Steel Valley High grad who played in six games last season while Palko took a redshirt. "I'll weigh it out and see what goes on. As long as I'm here, I'm going to bust my (behind) for this team because you never know what will happen." If Getsy opts to transfer to another Division I-A school, he must do so by the 12th day of that institution's semester to gain admission. He would then be eligible to play in 2005. If he waits longer than the 12 days, he won't gain admission until the winter semester, forcing him to sit out the 2004 and 2005 seasons. Players who transfer from one NCAA Division I-A institution to another must sit out two full semesters, which is why it is so important to enroll before the 12-day mark of the fall term. Three years ago, tailback Brandon Miree played three games for Alabama before transferring to Pitt on the 12th day of the semester, thereby saving his eligibility for the following season. Akron, which is coached by former Pitt offensive coordinator J.D. Brookhart, could be an option for Getsy. The first day of classes at Akron is Monday. That would allow Getsy to play two games for Pitt -- South Florida and Ohio -- before making a decision. "I'm not sure about all that; I don't know the rules," Getsy said. "I don't know how quickly I have to act." Palko came to Pitt with all the accolades after a stellar career at West Allegheny, while Getsy came in under the radar. But when their competition heated up, Getsy proved worthy of consideration for the starting job. Harris said breaking the news to Getsy was the most difficult thing he's done. He also said he hopes Getsy "hangs in there with it," leading one to believe that even Harris is concerned about a potential transfer. "It's been difficult, no doubt," Getsy said. "I wanted to get my chance on the field and the time's not right. I'm not going to live in regret and think that I didn't bust my (behind) for this team because I did. But things happen for a reason, and I just gotta find that reason."

Harris opts for Palko Friday, August 27, 2004 By Ray Fittipaldo, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Two and a half years ago, Tyler Palko headlined Walt Harris' 2002 recruiting class. He was considered the top prospect in the class, a gifted quarterback and athlete who was labeled the future of the Panthers' program. It took some time, but yesterday Palko took his first step toward fulfilling the lofty expectations heaped upon him. In a close competition, Palko beat out Luke Getsy for the starting quarterback duties. "This has been a long process, watching both of these kids for three years," Harris said after practice yesterday. "I don't think I've been around two young men that care more about football than they do. "They know as much about what we're doing than anyone else we've had at their age. It was tight. It was real tight. It was a very difficult decision. Both are real good football players. "I have confidence in Luke if the situation goes that way. But right now, Tyler Palko is our starting quarterback." There had been little separation between Palko and Getsy since they arrived on campus together in 2002. Palko, a 6-foot-2, 220-pounder from West Allegheny, earned the backup job behind Rod Rutherford in 2002 while Getsy redshirted. Last season, they switched roles with Getsy earning the backup job while Palko took a redshirt. Even in the first two weeks of practice, Pitt players were unable to determine who played better. Receiver Greg Lee genuinely was surprised when reporters informed him that Palko had been named the starter. Lee said Palko and Getsy had been so close in play that he expected the competition to go into next week. "I thought they were neck-and-neck all through camp," Lee said. But it was time to have some stability at the position, Harris said. The Panthers open the season Sept. 6 at South Florida, and he wanted the offense to have some continuity for the next 10 days of practice. "We have a starting quarterback and we're going to stick with him," Harris said. "We're going to give practice time to him so he has a chance to improve his game. It was time for us to pick a guy and get ready. It's hard to do when you split it up." Harris declined to specify what set Palko apart from Getsy, but Palko is a better scrambler and runner. That likely will be important this season with the offensive line's ability to block for him in question. Palko also has been a winner as a three-time WPIAL Class AAA champion at West Allegheny. Getsy is no slouch on the run, but he is known as more of a pocket passer. "Now that we have a quarterback who can run the ball, [the defense] will have to make a decision if they're going to play the run or play the pass first," Lee said. Harris praised Palko's approach to the game. He likened Palko's study habits and leadership skills to Boomer Esiason, who Harris coached with the New York Jets. "He's a coach on the field," Harris said. "He's into it like nobody's been probably since Pete Gonzalez. He's probably a little more into it than Pete was, and Pete was pretty into it. "Tyler reminds me of the way Boomer Esiason used to practice. Boomer would know what everyone was doing. I think with the football team it gives great confidence to those guys that the guy touching the ball every down is working harder than anyone out there to get himself ready to play. "He's a really good practice player. You can see it in the two-minute drill. He takes great pride in everything. He has very high lofty goals for us. It's one step in the stage of becoming a good quarterback." Harris said telling Getsy the news was difficult. Harris also said he didn't know whether Getsy, from Steel Valley High School, would remain with the Panthers. He said Getsy was going to discuss the situation with his parents, then make a decision. Getsy practiced with the second-team offense yesterday. "The hardest thing I had to do as a coach was talk to Luke Getsy," Harris said. "As competitive as he is, the talented player he is and the person he is. That was no fun here today." There has been speculation that Getsy could transfer to Akron, where former Pitt offensive coordinator J.D. Brookhart is the head coach. Harris said he hoped Getsy remained at Pitt. Neither Getsy nor Palko answered questions from reporters yesterday. Don Getsy, Luke's father, said last night that no decision has been made. "I just found out a little while ago, too," Don Getsy said. "We're going to have to figure it out."

Leaving the MAC would be suicide. Football-wise, we couldn't schedule anyone (MAC schools would avoid us). There's no way we could get anyone to come to the Rubber Bowl. We'd lose our guaranteed bowl slots (if we finish #1 or #2). We lose the potential of a championship game. We incurr HUGE travel expenses (compared to the regional MAC). The only reasonable independents are ND, Navy and Army. Yes, Navy and Army are on Akron's level...but they can get decent schedules because they're nationally prominent and have a large following. I'm sure the Zips learned their lesson in the 80's...D1-A independent is suicide. Furthermore, our other sports would die. They get stuck back with the CSU's and Wright States of the world. That's worthless. Like Z-P said...don't be too down on the schools you mentioned. The MAC is cyclical. BG dominated in the early 90's. Then they sucked...now they're good again. BTW: Toledo is by no means in a "down year." EMU was the best program in the MAC about 10 years ago. Ball State was a Championship team in the 90's too. CMU has a couple wins over Michigan State about a decade ago...but they coming back to respectability. OU beat Minnesota and Maryland only about 5 years ago. Other than Buffalo and maybe Can't...the other schools will come around again. In addition, with Marshall leaving, our chance to get through the MAC East to a MAC championship game greatly improves. The MAC is the perfect fit for Akron. The conference's level of play is better than ever. The top 2 teams are guaranteed bowl bids. National TV games are becoming commonplace. Travel costs are minimal. The MAC championship hoops games are in our back yard. The list goes on... Leaving the MAC now would be like dumping your wife after she got a sweet boob-job. The MAC is looking better than ever...stick with it. Good topic.

Several Potential Zips

If we EVER do that with a Heisman candidate QB I'll kill myself...thank God Lee Owens is gone...

Make them yourself, like I did last year (glad to see someone caught onto the idea!). Adhesive-backed magnetic sheet + nice color pic...and you're done. This is where I got the sheet magnets: http://www1.ecxmall.com/stores/lyt/Page.bo...plate=milsguide An added benefit is you can make them as big as you'd like (the one that came with the tix is kind of small).

The only things I got out of the scrimmage are: It sucks that David Lee Anne Morgan and his boss have no clue how to cover the Zips. They should be there every day reporting on the team. I couldn't know less about this year's Zips team. The little info you get from GoZips.com is fine...but that's all I can say. It is hard to generate any banter on this board, because I have no idea what's going on with the Zips. Will we win at Penn State? Who the hell knows? I haven't seen the team compete since April, and won't see it until September. Weak local team coverage and closed practices flat-out suck.

DA ZIPMAN IZ DA BOMB! Hey ZIPMAN, what the hell is in the beer up in Put-in-Bay? Every newscast I see adds a few more hundred to the "mystery sickness" count. You're giving us brewers a bad name! Although I appreciate the offer, I have to pass on your invite to stop up on the 27th. I don't want to miss the game on Sept 4th due to