NEWS
April 30, 2012 | BY MORGAN ZALOT, Daily News Staff Writer
IN THE WAKE of a homicide, "a lot goes on," said Officer Kathryn M. Battle, Homicide Unit Victims Assistance liaison, who is tasked with showing victims' families "the human side" of the Police Department. "Our objective is to show them . . . that we do care about them as a family, that their loved one is a person to us, not just a number," Battle said. Through the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, homicide victims' next of kin are entitled to up to $6,500 for funeral expenses to offset any costs not covered by insurance.
SPORTS
April 18, 2012 | By Frank Seravalli, Daily News Staff Writer
Pascal Dupuis had no Mark Messier in him. Dupuis, the Penguins' scrappy forward, stopped short of guaranteeing a victory for Pittsburgh in Wednesday night's Game 4. His words were short and sweet, as the Penguins stare down being swept for the first time in 33 years. "It won't end like this," Dupuis said. That's a more tepid guarantee than the one Mark Messier delivered on behalf of the New York Rangers in a 1994 Game 6 matchup with the New Jersey Devils. He made good on the promise and the Rangers went on to win the Stanley Cup. For the Flyers, the benefits of ousting the pompous Penguins with a handshake on home ice are endless - including handing their hated rival the dubious distinction of being just the second team in the 94-year history of the sport to be swept in the first round following a 50-plus win season.
SPORTS
April 15, 2012 | By Jonathan Tamari, Inquirer Staff Writer
The front of Mike Patterson's T-shirt turned a darker, damper shade of gray as he pushed further into his workout. Standing on a soft mat, his feet sinking in as if in sand, the 300-pound Eagles defensive tackle sprinted in place, arms pumping and knees high, for a 15-second burst, then rested for 45 seconds, and sprinted again. His unruly hair - some teammates compare it to a grizzly bear's - mostly conceals the scar that begins at his right ear and runs up the side of his head, cutting a path that ends roughly a third of the way across the front of his skull.
SPORTS
March 23, 2012 | BY MATT GELB, Inquirer Staff Writer
CLEARWATER, Fla. - Two weeks ago, Sam Perlozzo was raving about his next big idea. He'd call it "Sam's Stool" and market it to baseball teams at every level. The blue step stool he used to keep Chase Utley active in the field last spring was so helpful that the first thing Perlozzo, the Phillies' first-base coach, did upon arriving in Florida was to make sure no one had stolen it. Now, "Sam's Stool" will require modifications. Ideally, it could fold. Maybe it'll have wheels, or perhaps a bucket seat to make its user more comfortable.
NEWS
February 5, 2012 | By Orlando R. Barone
Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, who was archbishop of Philadelphia from 1988 until 2003, was a prayerful man. While he visited all his parishes on a regular basis, a practice for which he was praised and loved by everyday Catholics, he seemed to prefer the solitude of meditative communion with God. If his faith is true, he has now met the object of his contemplation face to face, the robes and the miter left behind. He is as one of us, a sinner before the seat of an all-just, all-merciful God. I have always trusted God to do the right thing in these circumstances, and I have likewise always been relieved that he insisted on reserving this judgment entirely to himself.
NEWS
January 29, 2012 | By Susan Snyder and Jeff Gammage, Inquirer Staff Writers
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Thousands of grieving Penn State supporters crowded the Bryce Jordan Center on Thursday to say an emotional last goodbye to beloved football coach Joe Paterno - but Karen Peetz and Keith Masser, the chair and vice chair of the university board of trustees, weren't among them. Instead, they watched a broadcast of the service from a seat across campus, in an office in the Old Main administration building. That's what it's come to: The Pennsylvania State University board of trustees is so reviled by some alumni that its members could not attend the mass public tribute to their most popular employee, lest their mere presence possibly cause an ugly disturbance.
NEWS
January 26, 2012 | By Bill Lyon, For The Inquirer
FAMILY. That will be his enduring legacy. Family. Family is all. Don't you hear them: We Are . . . We Are . . . Family is the cry that echoes through the rolling hills of the Valley of Happy, that spills out from the Fortress Nittany, out into the real world, there tethered to the blue-and-white umbilical cord of thousands upon thousands upon tens of thousands of alumni. Don't you hear them: We Are . . . We Are . . . Once a Penn Stater, always and forever a Penn Stater.
NEWS
January 23, 2012 | By Frank Fitzpatrick and Susan Snyder, Inquirer Staff Writers
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - In the snow-covered valley he made happy, a mournful calm followed Joe Paterno's passing Sunday. The legendary coach's death muted the typical energy of college life on the 854-acre campus. At his Beaver Stadium statue, bagpipes wailed and young voices sang the alma mater. A women's basketball game at Rec Hall was preceded by a tearful moment of silence and a spontaneous standing ovation. Thousands gathered at an Old Main candlelight vigil. But those respectful on-campus observances obscured an unresolved conflict, one that, given the bitterness at its heart, has the potential to haunt Pennsylvania State University long into its now Paterno-less future.
SPORTS
January 9, 2012
THIS IS A sports column, published in the sports section of the newspaper and the website, and it is still embarrassing to say this: That Penn State as a university, as a public educational institution, will not get past the damage of the Jerry Sandusky scandal until it has a winning football team under the successor to Joe Paterno. It sounds so superficial to hear it, and so crass to type the words, but the more you think about it, the conclusion seems unavoidable. Because while winning alone will not solve the school's current problem, and no one should pretend otherwise, Penn State could do everything right from here on and no one would acknowledge it if the football team went over a cliff under new coach Bill O'Brien.
SPORTS
January 8, 2012 | By Phil Anastasia, Inquirer Columnist
A few days after the fourth funeral, Mike Gately heard about a contest. His neighbor told him that Under Armour, the Baltimore-based athletic apparel company, was starting a promotion to engage high school sports programs around the country. It was called "Finding Undeniable," a challenge to students and coaches and administrators to display school spirit through group cheers, band performances, mascot routines, and other shows of student-body enthusiasm. It was so now for today's teenagers - all tied into Facebook and other social media, all related to generating online votes, uploading videos, and eliciting "shout-outs" from celebrities on Twitter.