Penn State

A dream had carried the boys so far from home, some 5,000 miles across the ocean to a cramped and dingy apartment in Philadelphia: a hope that ice hockey could change their lives. Ivan Pravilov could fulfill that dream, they were told. He could take them from the daily grind of post-communist Ukraine to the gleaming ice of the NHL. He'd done it before. He'd done if for Andrei Zyuzin, who went on to play for six NHL teams. He'd done it for Konstantin Kalmikov, a third-round draft pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1996.

A PERSON CLOSE to Joe Paterno's family has told the Associated Press the former Penn State football coach is undergoing treatments and progressing after being diagnosed last month with lung cancer. The person requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation. Paterno's son, Scott, last month requested privacy for the family after revealing that doctors discovered his father's treatable form of lung cancer during a follow-up visit for a bronchial illness. School trustees fired Paterno on Nov. 9 in the aftermath of child sex abuse charges against retired defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky.

Ryan Howard felt a tiny pinch Sept. 18 when a team physician's needle penetrated the numbed surface of a left heel that had been throbbing red-hot for weeks. Within seconds, the syringe's milky mixture of cortisone and painkiller rushed warmly into the tiny, inflamed bursa sac at the base of the slugger's Achilles tendon. Howard and the Phillies were rolling the dice. They hoped the cortisone would ease the pain and, after a brief rest, return him to form for the fast-approaching postseason.

AVALON, N.J. - A thick wave of fog washed over the beach yesterday, spilling onto the dunes and scrubby pines, right to the deck of Joe Paterno's oceanfront home. You could almost imagine the fallen legend out on the deck alone, staring off into the mist. He will have more time for that, now that he has been deposed as Penn State's football coach. This town's motto is "Cooler by a Mile," and for 25 years Paterno and his family have traveled more than 250 miles to chill out inside a comparatively modest two-story house nestled between certifiable mansions on the dunes.

All Jamil Pollard knew about his signing-day ceremony was that he needed to bring a Penn State sweatshirt, and that his parents should be there. When the 6-foot-4, 275-pound defensive tackle walked into the small gym at West Deptford High on Feb. 1, his parents were there as planned, but their stern expressions indicated this might not be such a joyous occasion after all. They had already been told that Pollard's most recent grades had fallen short, putting his college future in doubt.

Joe Paterno had felt during the week that Penn State would be a better team in the long run for having had the opportunity to play Alabama. And now that the game is over with, the veteran coach could be correct. Then again, the Nittany Lions need significantly better play in key areas if they hope to compete with the class of the Big Ten starting in less than three weeks. Any chance the Lions had of staying with the top-ranked Crimson Tide was buried under four turnovers - three of which were claimed in the red zone - and the visitors were battered, 24-3, on Saturday night in steamy Tuscaloosa.

Back before it was in vogue to be throwing the ball all over the field in high school football, Tony Sacca was ahead of his time. During his senior year at Delran in 1987, Sacca completed 96 of 176 passes for 1,665 yards and 24 touchdowns. At the time, the touchdown mark was a single-season South Jersey record. (The current record is 40 by Holy Cross' Jason Amer in 1999.) Sacca also led Delran to an 11-0 record and the school's first South Jersey Group 2 title. Sacca became a four-year starter at Penn State, where he threw for 5,869 yards and 41 touchdowns, and he was drafted in the second round by the Phoenix (now Arizona)

FOXBORO, Mass. - It was hard to imagine that Bill O'Brien's transition from Patriots offensive coordinator to Penn State head coach could get any more delicate. But his task grew even more fraught with emotion Sunday when Joe Paterno died, leaving O'Brien to not only replace a legend but to do so while Penn State fans mourn their lionized coach. Paterno's death Sunday morning came as O'Brien prepared for the AFC championship game here, getting ready to help the Patriots reach the Super Bowl.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - It wasn't that long ago when Temple would go into a game against Penn State hoping to survive, and do a poor job of it. The Owls have lost by 47-0, 31-0, 45-3, and 31-6 to Joe Paterno's Nittany Lions since Al Golden took over as head coach in 2006. There were mistakes, penalties, turnovers, and some bad breaks - all part of the game, but all showing Temple how far it had to go. Now, in 2010, you wonder whether the Owls have turned the page. Thanks to a 3-0 start, their best since 1979, they appear to have flicked the switch from survival mode to competitive opponent, but they won't know for sure until Saturday evening how far they've come.

T he Pennsylvania State University child sex-abuse scandal has riveted the nation since criminal charges were announced Nov. 5. Requests for records that might reveal what school officials knew, and when, have placed the state's Office of Open Records in the cross fire - especially because Penn State, as a state-related and not state-run university, is exempt from the open-records law. On Monday, the office's executive director, Terry Mutchler, answered...

Alex Pracher pitched a five-hitter as St. Joseph's won the first Atlantic Ten tournament game it ever played, shutting out Rhode Island, 3-0, on Wednesday at Houlihan Park in the Bronx. The former Cherokee star struck out five and walked four to place the Hawks in the winners' bracket. St. Joe, seeded sixth in the tourney, will meet second-seeded Dayton at 3 p.m. Thursday. The Flyers had a first-round bye. Rhode Island immediately entered an elimination game against Massachusetts Wednesday night.

Graham B. Spanier, former president of Pennsylvania State University, has sued the school to obtain old e-mails he says he needs to prepare for the investigation by former FBI Director Louis Freeh into the Jerry Sandusky sex-abuse scandal. Without the e-mails, Spanier will not agree to be interviewed by the Freeh investigation, according to documents filed with Spanier's complaint Friday afternoon in Common Pleas Court in Centre County. The university said it would not provide the e-mails to Spanier at the request of the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office, which is concerned about compromising its own investigation.

CHAMBERSBURG - Penn State has lost the PIAA basketball championships for the next four years. By a 29-2 vote Thursday, the PIAA board of directors voted to return the annual state championships to the Giant Center in Hershey. Penn State, which has hosted the games since 2006, was also applying to the NCAA to host opening-round women's basketball tournament games at the same time as the 2014 and 2015 PIAA championship weekend. That helped sway the PIAA board to award the bid to Hershey, which had hosted the games for years before the move to State College.

Curtis Drake, the former West Catholic High star who has had an unsettled career as a Penn State football player, reportedly is awaiting a decision on whether he will be allowed to participate in voluntary summer workouts because of academic issues. The Centre Daily Times quoted a source as saying that Drake, a redshirt junior who was moved from wide receiver to cornerback during the spring by new head coach Bill O'Brien, is anticipating word on his status. Quoting sources, the newspaper also said quarterback Rob Bolden, who is believed to be third in a three-man battle for the starting job behind Matt McGloin and Paul Jones, has not enrolled in summer school nor participated in recent workouts, leading to speculation he may transfer.

Penn and Penn State earned at-large bids to the NCAA Division I women's lacrosse tournament on Sunday, and West Chester was selected in Division II. Penn, 9-7 and runner-up in the Ivy League tournament, will face No. 6 seed Loyola on Sunday in Baltimore. Penn State (11-5) will travel to No. 8 Towson. Florida, Northwestern, Maryland, and Syracuse are the top four seeds in the 16-team tournament. West Chester (14-3) is seeded sixth D-II and will travel to No. 5 Limestone (17-1)

Adam Taliaferro inspired Penn State students and alumni everywhere in 2000 after he was paralyzed in a football game against Ohio State and made a storybook recovery despite dire predictions. It appears many of those same fans once again have put their faith in Taliaferro, now 30 and a Cherry Hill lawyer, to help their alma mater in the aftermath of the child sex-abuse scandal still rocking the campus. Taliaferro was the top vote-getter among candidates for three open alumni seats on the Pennsylvania State University board of trustees in the most highly contested race in the school's history.

Penn State's board of trustees this afternoon announced the winners of the most highly contested race for three alumni seats on the board in the school's history. Adam Taliaferro, a Cherry Hill lawyer and former football player who was injured and made a storybook recovery, was the top vote getter. Anthony P. Lubrano, a wealthy donor from Glenmoore who waged an expensive advertising campaign, came in second. The third seat goes to Ryan J. McCombie, a former Navy SEAL captain.

More than 37,500 Pennsylvania State University alumni — by far a record — voted in the election for three open alumni seats on the board of trustees, with the winners scheduled to be announced at a trustees meeting Friday afternoon. The race was so contentious and closely monitored that the board hired an independent auditing firm, KPMG, to handle the election and its results. Online voting closed Thursday morning, with about 20 percent of the more than 190,000 eligible alumni taking part.

Penn State defensive tackle Evan Haithes' playing career is over because of complications for blood clots, coach Bill O'Brien told reporters Tuesday in Washington. Haithes, a sophomore, will remain on scholarship as a graduate assistant. The clots developed in his legs during 6-hour drives home to Virginia early last year for his grandfather's funeral. The clots spread to his lungs and he was hospitalized in March 2011 with a life-threatening situation. He played only two games for the Nittany Lions last fall.

Penn State defensive tackle Evan Haithes' playing career is over because of complications from blood clots, coach Bill O'Brien told reporters Tuesday in Washington. Haithes, a sophomore, will remain on scholarship as a graduate assistant. The clots developed in his legs during six-hour drives home to Virginia early last year for his grandfather's funeral. The clots spread to his lungs, and he was hospitalized in March 2011 with a life-threatening situation. He was able to play only two games for the Nittany Lions last fall.