Paterno loses his glasses
The Penn State football program is nearly as well known for Joe Paterno's trademark glasses as it is for producing quality linebackers.
Paterno has recently been spotted without the trademark spectacles, however.
It appears the 83-year-old coach no longer needs the Coke-bottle lenses.
"I had trouble reading for the last six months, so I went down to Philadelphia to the Penn Scheie Eye Institute. And the guy says to me, 'I think we can fix that up,' " Paterno told the Web site Fight on State. "So they went in and did it. I don't really need glasses any more."
Several pictures are circulating on the Internet of Paterno without glasses. It is a dramatic change of appearance.
He says he still feels strange without the glasses, so he got some with much thinner lenses.
Unfortunately, the construction of the huge glasses accounted for about half of Pennsylvania's industrial production each year, so it could be a further blow to a struggling economy.
• DANCING WITH THE STARS -- The NHL is taking a three-week hiatus to allow its players to compete in the Winter Olympics and in turn will expose the league's superstars to a global audience.
The premier game in the Olympic hockey tournament is a showdown between the United States and Canada on Feb. 21 that amounts to essentially an all-star game.
A huge prime-time network audience will see the NHL's biggest stars in action, possibly converting some new fans to the sport when the league resumes play, right?
No.
The game is scheduled to air on MSNBC that day instead of being included in a prime NBC spot. Prime-time programming on the main network that night will include freestyle skiing, speedskating and ice dancing.
Maybe Joe Thornton and Patrick Kane should get a choreographer and fancy outfits if they want to be exposed to a wider audience.
• NBA PROSPECTS FIZZLING -- A blog posted on nba.com says Las Vegas is rarely mentioned when owners gather to discuss league business anymore.
The prospects of Las Vegas getting an NBA team were a "hot topic" when the city hosted the league's All-Star Weekend three years ago, the writer says.
He points out that a recent study commissioned by the league concluded the market is "promising" and could sustain a team, but as long as there's no new arena, the point is moot.
Las Vegas doesn't need an arena. It needs the New Jersey Nets to relocate here. Their home attendance is so horrendous, they could play at a middle school gym and still draw 30 percent more fans.
• SCARY NUMBERS -- The Nets, who drew 1,016 people for their loss to the Bucks this week, are pulling in huge numbers compared with one college program.
The Florida International basketball team, with former NBA star and coach Isiah Thomas at the helm, had 1,075 people in attendance -- in nine home games this season, according to the Miami New Times.
The average of 120 fans per game is not what the Sun Belt Conference school sought when it brought in the high-profile coach to run the program.
COMPILED BY ADAM HILL LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
