What a way to make a living

SPORTING GOODS

Chill points out this article wherein we find that Penn State head football coach

Joe Paterno apparently likes the view from the press box better than the sideline. So much so, that the coaching legend said Tuesday that he's considering coaching away from the field again this season.

"I'm not so sure that's not the better way to do it, and I've debated that," the 80-year-old coach told reporters, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

A broken right leg and torn knee ligaments suffered when he was run over by a player during a game at Wisconsin near the end of last season caused Paterno to miss a game and coach the Outback Bowl from a coach's box.

Paterno said his knee is fine now. He said he hopes to be on the sideline for the Nittany Lions' Sept. 1 opener at home against Florida International, but the press box is a viable alternative.

"You can see so much more, you can do things," he told reporters, according to the Post-Gazette. "I tried not to interfere with the guys upstairs because they know what they're doing. But, every once in awhile, I'd drop a little note to them and say, 'Hope to get this,' or 'That corner's playing awfully tight.'

"You're really a cheerleader most of the time down on the sideline ... I enjoyed being upstairs, I really did. I sat down, had a nice time, had a cup of coffee. I felt like a newspaper guy. I was even able to watch television."

I can't add anything to this other than to say that I'll give the Old Man of the Nittany Mountains credit: He's certainly captured himself pretty well. Just a cheerleader on the sidelines? Minimal input during the course of a game? Golly, ya think?

And now that he can sit back and drink coffee and watch television while the game is in progress, he's really shown how little difference there is between himself and the average schmo watching the action in his living room.

Not a bad deal for a clueless octogenarian whose salary is so high that his employer is embarrassed to disclose it.

I'm not sure the good taxpayers of Pennsylvania are getting their money's worth.