Bernard Fernandez: Penn State's Paterno continues to bowl 'em over

ORLANDO, Fla. - Joe Paterno doesn't bother denying it anymore. He plans to cheat death as long as possible, and if it takes staying on the Penn State sideline until he's pushing 90 or even beyond, it's a bargain he'll gladly strike.

"I'm still having fun, and my health is good," Paterno, 83, said earlier this year when asked for the umpteenth time about his time frame for stepping away and enjoying a post-football life. "As long as I'm still enjoying it, why quit?"

Why indeed? In a profession that increasingly chews up and spits out coaches before they qualify for Social Security benefits, Paterno - whose current contract runs through the 2011 season - is the last vestige of a bygone era when legendary coaches stayed on the job for periods measured in decades, not merely years. Alabama's Bear Bryant, Ohio State's Woody Hayes and Oklahoma's Bud Wilkinson have long since crossed over into the great unknown. Bobby Bowden, 80, is being forced out at Florida State after he coaches the Seminoles against one of his former schools, West Virginia, in tomorrow's Gator Bowl.

With No. 11 Penn State (10-2) set to tangle with No. 13 Louisiana State (9-3) here in the Capital One Bowl tomorrow, Paterno's remarkable longevity - in comparison to the heart palpitating stress that is forcing Florida's Urban Meyer, who is only 45, to take an indefinite leave of absence - has stamped him as something more than the college game's last grand old man. He is more like a wrinkled, obstinant rock star unwilling to leave the stage, an Eric Clapton or Keith Richards of the X's-and-O's set. And once he's gone, friend and foe agree, his like will never be seen again.

Such is the legacy of a man who arrived in Happy Valley in 1950 as a 23-year-old assistant to Rip Engle. Paterno's idea was to coach for a couple of years until he saved up enough money to pay for law-school tuition. A reasonable plan, but one that was scrapped even before most American families owned their first television set. Paterno has remained on the job for 60 seasons, the past 44 as the leader of the program he has made over into his own tradition-encrusted image. Barring an unforeseen development - like the complete collapse of what figures to be a very young team in 2010 - JoePa, who has compiled a 393-129-3 record, should hit the 400-victory mark sometime next season.