This year’s annual Joe Paterno retirement speculation

November 22nd is the regular season finale for both Michigan State and Penn State. This year’s battle for the Land Grant Trophy has more on the line than usual. A victory for the Nittany Lions sends them to Pasadena for the Rose Bowl. A Michigan State win gives them at least a share of the Big Ten title, and potentially more if Ohio State loses to Michigan.

And of course, there’s the possibility that Joe Paterno could be coaching his last game in Happy Valley. Paterno, in his 43rd season at Penn State, has been rumored to be retiring for years. Up until his Lions lost to Iowa, many fans thought that a trip to the national championship game would provide a logical conclusion to his storied career. Now, the picture is murkier; and no one seems to know what Paterno’s plan is.

Neither does Paterno, who hasn’t even considered the idea of retiring.

Paterno, who turns 82 Dec. 21, shrugged off a question about whether the game against the Spartans may be the last of his legendary career.

“No, haven’t even thought about it,” he said.

Either way, Joe will be coaching from the press box next weekend. And if he does come back in 2009, he’ll probably need hip-replacement surgery if he wants to get back on the sideline.

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 15th, 2008 at 10:00 pm and is filed under Football. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.