1.
Poaceae
–
Poaceae or Gramineae is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants known as grasses. Poaceae includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and cultivated lawns, Grasses have stems that are hollow except at the nodes and narrow alternate leaves borne in two ranks. The lower part of each leaf encloses the stem, forming a leaf-sheath, with ca 780 genera and around 12,000 species, Poaceae are the fifth-largest plant family, following the Asteraceae, Orchidaceae, Fabaceae and Rubiaceae. Grasslands such as savannah and prairie grasses are dominant are estimated to constitute 40. 5% of the land area of the Earth, excluding Greenland. Grasses are also an important part of the vegetation in many habitats, including wetlands, forests. Though commonly called grasses, seagrasses, rushes, and sedges fall outside this family, the rushes and sedges are related to the Poaceae, being members of the order Poales, but the seagrasses are members of order Alismatales. The name Poaceae was given by John Hendley Barnhart in 1895, based on the tribe Poeae described in 1814 by Robert Brown, the term is derived from the Ancient Greek πόα. Grasses include some of the most versatile plant life-forms, a cladogram shows subfamilies and approximate species numbers in brackets, Before 2005, fossil findings indicated that grasses evolved around 55 million years ago. Recent findings of grass-like phytoliths in Cretaceous dinosaur coprolites have pushed this back to 66 million years ago. In 2011, revised dating of the origins of the rice tribe Oryzeae suggested a date as early as 107 to 129 Mya, a multituberculate mammal with grass-eating adaptations seems to suggest that grasses were already around at 120 mya. This separation occurred within the short time span of about 4 million years. Grass leaves are always alternate and distichous, and have parallel veins. Each leaf is differentiated into a lower sheath hugging the stem, the leaf blades of many grasses are hardened with silica phytoliths, which discourage grazing animals, some, such as sword grass, are sharp enough to cut human skin. A membranous appendage or fringe of hairs called the ligule lies at the junction between sheath and blade, preventing water or insects from penetrating into the sheath, flowers of Poaceae are characteristically arranged in spikelets, each having one or more florets. The spikelets are further grouped into panicles or spikes, the part of the spikelet that bears the florets is called the rachilla. A spikelet consists of two bracts at the base, called glumes, followed by one or more florets, a floret consists of the flower surrounded by two bracts, one external—the lemma—and one internal—the palea. The flowers are usually hermaphroditic—maize being an important exception—and anemophilous or wind-pollinated, the perianth is reduced to two scales, called lodicules, that expand and contract to spread the lemma and palea, these are generally interpreted to be modified sepals. This complex structure can be seen in the image on the right, the fruit of grasses is a caryopsis, in which the seed coat is fused to the fruit wall
2.
Providence, Rhode Island
–
Providence is the capital of and most populous city in the U. S. state of Rhode Island, founded in 1636, and one of the oldest cities in the United States. It is located in Providence County and is the third most populous city in New England, after Boston, Providence has a city population of 179,154, it is also part of the Providence metropolitan area which extends into southern Massachusetts. The Providence metropolitan area has an population of 1,604,291. This can be considered, in turn, to be part of the Greater Boston commuting area, Providence was founded by Roger Williams, a religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He named the area in honor of Gods merciful Providence, which he believed was responsible for revealing such a haven for him, the city is situated at the mouth of the Providence River at the head of Narragansett Bay. Providence was one of the first cities in the country to industrialize and became noted for its tool, jewelry. The city was nicknamed the Beehive of Industry, it began rebranding itself as the Creative Capital in 2009 to emphasize its educational resources. The area that is now Providence was first settled in June 1636 by Roger Williams and was one of the original Thirteen Colonies of the United States, Williams and his company felt compelled to withdraw from Massachusetts Bay Colony. Providence quickly became a refuge for persecuted religious dissenters, as Williams himself had been exiled from Massachusetts, Providence residents were among the first Patriots to spill blood in the leadup to the American Revolution during the Gaspée Affair of 1772. Rhode Island was the first of the thirteen colonies to renounce its allegiance to the British Crown on May 4,1776. It was also the last of the thirteen colonies to ratify the United States Constitution on May 29,1790, following the war, Providence was the countrys ninth-largest city with 7,614 people. The economy shifted from maritime endeavors to manufacturing, in particular machinery, tools, silverware, jewelry, by the start of the 20th century, Providence boasted some of the largest manufacturing plants in the country, including Brown & Sharpe, Nicholson File, and Gorham Silverware. Providence residents ratified a city charter in 1831 as the population passed 17,000. From its incorporation as a city in 1832 until 1878, the seat of city government was located in the Market House, located in Market Square, the city offices quickly outgrew this building, and the City Council resolved to create a permanent municipal building in 1845. The city offices moved into the City Hall in 1878, during the Civil War, local politics split over slavery as many had ties to Southern cotton. Despite ambivalence concerning the war, the number of military volunteers routinely exceeded quota, by the early 1900s, Providence was one of the wealthiest cities in the United States. Immigrant labor powered one of the nations largest industrial manufacturing centers, Providence was a major manufacturer of industrial products from steam engines to precision tools to silverware, screws, and textiles. From 1975 until 1982, $606 million of local and national Community Development funds were invested throughout the city.4 million ft² Providence Place Mall, despite new investment, poverty remains an entrenched problem as it does in most post-industrial New England cities
3.
Ivy League
–
The Ivy League is a collegiate athletic conference comprising sports teams from eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The conference name is commonly used to refer to those eight schools as a group beyond the sports context. The eight institutions are Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, the term Ivy League has connotations of academic excellence, selectivity in admissions, and social elitism. While the term was in use as early as 1933, it became official after the formation of the NCAA Division I athletic conference in 1954. Seven of the eight schools were founded during the United States colonial period, Ivy League institutions account for seven of the nine Colonial Colleges chartered before the American Revolution, the other two are Rutgers University and College of William & Mary. Ivy League schools are generally viewed as some of the most prestigious, all eight universities place in the top fifteen of the U. S. News & World Report 2017 nation university rankings, including the top four schools and five of the top eight. Undergraduate enrollments range from about 4,000 to 14,000, making them larger than those of a private liberal arts college. Total enrollments, including students, range from approximately 6,400 at Dartmouth to over 20,000 at Columbia, Cornell, Harvard. Ivy League financial endowments range from Browns $3 billion to Harvards $36.4 billion, as of 2014, Harvard University has an endowment of $36.4 billion. Additionally, each university receives millions of dollars in grants and other subsidies from federal. Harvard University uses the date that the legislature of the Massachusetts Bay Colony formally allocated funds for the creation of a college, Harvard was chartered in 1650, although classes had been conducted for approximately a decade by then. The University of Pennsylvania initially considered its founding date to be 1750, later in Penns early history, the university changed its officially recognized founding date to 1749, which was used for all of the nineteenth century, including a centennial celebration in 1849. In 1899, Penns board of trustees adopted a third founding date of 1740. Penn was chartered in 1755, the same year classes began. Religious affiliation refers to financial sponsorship, formal association with, and promotion by, all of the schools in the Ivy League are private and not currently associated with any religion. Students have long revered the ivied walls of older colleges, planting the ivy was a customary class day ceremony at many colleges in the 1800s. In 1893 an alumnus told The Harvard Crimson, In 1850, the custom of planting the ivy, while the ivy oration was delivered, arose about this time. At Penn, graduating seniors started the custom of planting ivy at a university building each spring in 1873, Ivy planting ceremonies are reported for Yale, Simmons, Bryn Mawr and many others
4.
Harvard Crimson football
–
The Harvard Crimson football program represents Harvard University in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision. Harvards football program is one of the oldest in the world, Harvard is the eighth winningest team in NCAA Division I football history. The Harvard Crimson was one of the dominant forces in the days of intercollegiate football. In both 1919 and 1920, headed by All-American brothers Arnold Horween and Ralph Horween, Harvard was undefeated, the team won the 1920 Rose Bowl against the University of Oregon, 7–6. It was the bowl appearance in Harvard history. In the forty-year period from 1889 to 1928, Harvard had more than 80 first-team All-American selections, under head coach Percy Haughton, Harvard had three consecutive undefeated seasons from 1912 to 1914, including two perfect seasons in 1912 and 1913. Harvard claims the national championships, The NCAA decided to split Division I into two subdivisions in 1978, then called I-A for larger schools, and I-AA for the smaller ones. In 1982, the NCAA created a rule that stated an average attendance must be at least 15,000 to qualify for I-A membership. This forced the hand, as only some of the member schools met the attendance qualification. The Crimson are behind Penn and Dartmouths 18 Ivy League Football Championships, Harvard and Yale have been competing against each other in football since 1875. The annual rivalry game between the two schools, known as The Game, is played in November at the end of the football season, as of 2015, Yale led the series 65-59-8. The Game is the second oldest continuing rivalry and also the third most-played rivalry game in football history, after the Lehigh–Lafayette Rivalry. Sports Illustrated On Campus rated the Harvard–Yale rivalry the sixth-best in college athletics in 2003, ted Kennedy played football for Harvard and caught a touchdown pass in the 1955 Harvard/Yale game. In 2006, Yale ended a losing streak against Harvard. That Harvard winning streak was third longest in the history of the series, after Yales 1902–1907 six-game winning streak, Harvard has since beaten Yale in 2007,2008,2009,2010,2011,2012,2013,2014 and 2015. The Game is significant for historical reasons as the rules of The Game soon were adopted by other schools. Footballs rules, conventions, and equipment, as well as elements of such as the mascot and fight song, include many elements pioneered or nurtured at Harvard. Harvard Stadium is a football stadium in the Allston neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts
5.
American football
–
The offense must advance at least ten yards in four downs, or plays, or else they turn over the football to the opposing team, if they succeed, they are given a new set of four downs. Points are primarily scored by advancing the ball into the teams end zone for a touchdown or kicking the ball through the opponents goalposts for a field goal. The team with the most points at the end of a game wins, American football evolved in the United States, originating from the sports of association football and rugby football. The first game of American football was played on November 6,1869, during the latter half of the 1870s, colleges playing association football switched to the Rugby Union code, which allowed carrying the ball. American football as a whole is the most popular sport in the United States, Professional football and college football are the most popular forms of the game, with the other major levels being high school and youth football. As of 2012, nearly 1.1 million high school athletes and 70,000 college athletes play the sport in the United States annually, almost all of them men, in the United States, American football is referred to as football. The term football was established in the rulebook for the 1876 college football season. The terms gridiron or American football are favored in English-speaking countries where other codes of football are popular, such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, American football evolved from the sports of association football and rugby football. What is considered to be the first American football game was played on November 6,1869 between Rutgers and Princeton, two college teams, the game was played between two teams of 25 players each and used a round ball that could not be picked up or carried. It could, however, be kicked or batted with the feet, hands, head or sides, Rutgers won the game 6 goals to 4. Collegiate play continued for years in which matches were played using the rules of the host school. Representatives of Yale, Columbia, Princeton and Rutgers met on October 19,1873 to create a set of rules for all schools to adhere to. Teams were set at 20 players each, and fields of 400 by 250 feet were specified, Harvard abstained from the conference, as they favored a rugby-style game that allowed running with the ball. An 1875 Harvard-Yale game played under rugby-style rules was observed by two impressed Princeton athletes and these players introduced the sport to Princeton, a feat the Professional Football Researchers Association compared to selling refrigerators to Eskimos. Princeton, Harvard, Yale and Columbia then agreed to play using a form of rugby union rules with a modified scoring system. These schools formed the Intercollegiate Football Association, although Yale did not join until 1879, the introduction of the snap resulted in unexpected consequences. Prior to the snap, the strategy had been to punt if a scrum resulted in bad field position, however, a group of Princeton players realized that, as the snap was uncontested, they now could hold the ball indefinitely to prevent their opponent from scoring. In 1881, both teams in a game between Yale-Princeton used this strategy to maintain their undefeated records, each team held the ball, gaining no ground, for an entire half, resulting in a 0-0 tie
6.
Brown University
–
Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nine Colonial Colleges established before the American Revolution. At its foundation, Brown was the first college in the United States to accept students regardless of their religious affiliation and its engineering program was established in 1847 and was the first in the Ivy League. It was one of the early doctoral-granting U. S. institutions in the late 19th century, adding master, Browns New Curriculum is sometimes referred to in education theory as the Brown Curriculum and was adopted by faculty vote in 1969 after a period of student lobbying. In 1971, Browns coordinate womens institution Pembroke College was fully merged into the university, Pembroke Campus now operates as a place for dorms and classrooms. Undergraduate admissions is very selective, with a rate of 8.3 percent for the class of 2021. The University comprises The College, the Graduate School, Alpert Medical School, the School of Engineering, the School of Public Health, and the School of Professional Studies. The Brown/RISD Dual Degree Program, offered in conjunction with the Rhode Island School of Design, is a course that awards degrees from both institutions. Browns main campus is located in the College Hill Historic District in the city of Providence, the Universitys neighborhood is a federally listed architectural district with a dense concentration of Colonial-era buildings. On the western edge of the campus, Benefit Street contains one of the finest cohesive collections of restored seventeenth-, Browns faculty and alumni include eight Nobel Prize laureates, five National Humanities Medalists, and ten National Medal of Science laureates. Other notable alumni include eight billionaire graduates, a U. S. Supreme Court Chief Justice, to erect a public Building or Buildings for the boarding of the youth & the Residence of the Professors. Stiles and Ellery were co-authors of the Charter of the College two years later, there is further documentary evidence that Stiles was making plans for a college in 1762. On January 20, Chauncey Whittelsey, pastor of the First Church of New Haven, answered a letter from Stiles, should you make any Progress in the Affair of a Colledge, I should be glad to hear of it, I heartily wish you Success therein. Isaac Backus was the historian of the New England Baptists and an inaugural Trustee of Brown, Mr. James Manning, who took his first degree in New-Jersey college in September,1762, was esteemed a suitable leader in this important work. Manning arrived at Newport in July 1763 and was introduced to Stiles, stiless first draft was read to the General Assembly in August 1763 and rejected by Baptist members who worried that the College Board of Fellows would under-represent the Baptists. A revised Charter written by Stiles and Ellery was adopted by the Assembly on March 3,1764, in September 1764, the inaugural meeting of the College Corporation was held at Newport. Governor Stephen Hopkins was chosen chancellor, former and future governor Samuel Ward was vice chancellor, John Tillinghast treasurer, the Charter stipulated that the Board of Trustees be composed of 22 Baptists, five Quakers, five Episcopalians, and four Congregationalists. Of the 12 Fellows, eight should be Baptists—including the College president—and the rest indifferently of any or all Denominations, the Charter was not the grant of King George III, as is sometimes supposed, but rather an Act of the colonial General Assembly. In two particulars, the Charter may be said to be a uniquely progressive document, the oft-repeated statement is inaccurate that Browns Charter alone prohibited a religious test for College membership, other college charters were also liberal in that particular
7.
Rhode Island
–
Rhode Island, officially the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. Rhode Island is the smallest in area, the eighth least populous, and its official name is also the longest of any state in the Union. Rhode Island is bordered by Connecticut to the west, Massachusetts to the north and east, the state also shares a short maritime border with New York. It boycotted the 1787 convention that drew up the United States Constitution, on May 29,1790, Rhode Island became the 13th and last state to ratify the Constitution. Rhode Islands official nickname is The Ocean State, a reference to the fact that the state has several large bays, Rhode Island covers 1,214 square miles, of which 1,045 square miles are land. Despite its name, most of Rhode Island is located on the mainland of the United States, the official name of the state is State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, which is derived from the merger of four settlements. Rhode Island is now commonly called Aquidneck Island, the largest of several islands in Narragansett Bay, Providence Plantation was the name of the colony founded by Roger Williams in the area now known as the city of Providence. This was adjoined by the settlement of Warwick, hence the plural Providence Plantations and it is unclear how Aquidneck Island came to be known as Rhode Island, although there are two popular theories. Explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano noted the presence of an island near the mouth of Narragansett Bay in 1524, subsequent European explorers were unable to precisely identify the island that Verrazzano had named, but the Pilgrims who later colonized the area assumed that it was Aquidneck. A second theory concerns the fact that Adriaen Block passed by Aquidneck during his expeditions in the 1610s, historians have theorized that this reddish appearance resulted from either red autumn foliage or red clay on portions of the shore. The earliest documented use of the name Rhode Island for Aquidneck was in 1637 by Roger Williams, the name was officially applied to the island in 1644 with these words, Aquethneck shall be henceforth called the Isle of Rodes or Rhode-Island. The name Isle of Rodes is used in a document as late as 1646. Dutch maps as early as 1659 call the island Red Island, Williams was a theologian forced out of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Seeking religious and political tolerance, he and others founded Providence Plantation as a proprietary colony. Providence referred to the concept of providence, and plantation was an English term for a colony. State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations is the longest official name of any state in the Union, advocates for excising plantation asserted that the word specifically referred to the British colonial practice of establishing settlements which disenfranchised native people. Advocates for retaining the name argued that plantation was simply an archaic English synonym for colony, the referendum election was held on November 2,2010, and the people voted overwhelmingly to retain the entire original name. It shares a maritime border with New York State between Block Island and Long Island
8.
John Heisman
–
John William Heisman was a player and coach of American football, basketball, and baseball, as well as a sportswriter and actor. His 1917 Georgia Tech Golden Tornado were recognized as the national champion and he served as the athletic director at Georgia Tech from 1904 to 1919 and at Rice from 1924 to 1927. While at Georgia Tech, he also was president of the Atlanta Crackers baseball team, fuzzy Woodruff dubbed Heisman the pioneer of Southern football. Heisman was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1954 and his entry there notes that Heisman stands only behind Amos Alonzo Stagg, Pop Warner, and Walter Camp as a master innovator of the brand of football of his day. One writer says Heisman, Stagg, and Warner constitute the Football Trinity, the Heisman Trophy, awarded annually to the seasons most outstanding college football player, is named after him. Heisman was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Bavarian German immigrants Sara and he grew up in northwestern Pennsylvania near Titusville, where he played varsity football for Titusville High School from 1884 to 1886, and was salutatorian of his graduating class. Although he was a student, he confessed he was football mad. Heismans father refused to him play at Titusville, calling football bestial. He went on to football as a lineman at Brown University and at the University of Pennsylvania. In constant dread that his immediate teammates—guards weighing 212 and 243—would fall on him and he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1892. In his book Principles of Football, Heisman described his strategy, The coach should be masterful and commanding. He has no time to say please or mister, at times he must be severe, arbitrary, and little short of a czar. Heisman always used a megaphone at practice, Heisman first coached at Oberlin College in 1892. Wrote The Oberlin Review in 1892, Mr. Heisman has entirely remade our football and he has taught us scientific football. Influenced by Yale and Pudge Heffelfinger, Heisman implemented seven-man interference and his best lineman at Oberlin was the half German, half Hawaiian John Henry Wise. Heisman also used a pass and a double pass. Heisman returned to Oberlin in 1894, in 1893 he moved to Buchtel College, where he helped make the first of many permanent alterations to the sport of football. It was then customary for the center to begin a play by rolling the ball backwards, under Heisman, the center began tossing the ball to Clark, a practice that evolved into the snap that today begins every play
9.
Wallace Wade
–
William Wallace Wade was an American football player and coach of football, basketball, and baseball. His tenure at Duke was interrupted by service during World War II. Wade won a total of ten Southern Conference football titles, four with Alabama and he coached in five Rose Bowls including the 1942 game, which was relocated from Pasadena, California to Durham, North Carolina after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Wade served as the basketball and baseball coach at Vanderbilt University for two seasons, tallying a mark of 24–16, while he was an assistant football coach there. He was also the baseball coach at Vanderbilt from 1922 to 1923 and at Alabama from 1924 to 1927. Wade played football at Brown University, after retiring from coaching, Wade served as the commissioner of the Southern Conference from 1951 to 1960. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1955, Dukes football stadium was renamed in his honor as Wallace Wade Stadium in 1967. Wade was born in Trenton, Tennessee and he first played football under Tuck Faucett at Peabody High School in Trenton. Wade also attended Chicagos Morgan Park Academy and he went on in 1913 to play football at Brown University. Wade played guard on the Brown football team, which went to the 1916 Rose Bowl, one of his teammates at Brown was Fritz Pollard, who went on to become the first African American coach in the National Football League. After spending time in the Army and rising to the rank of captain, W. S. Fitzgerald hired him as head coach at the Fitzgerald and Clarke Military School in Tullahoma. He went 15–2 in football, winning a state championship in 1920. Among his players were future consensus All-Americans Lynn Bomar and Hek Wakefield and he also posted successful basketball teams at Fitzgerald–Clarke. In 1921 Wade was hired as an assistant and line coach at Vanderbilt University under Dan McGugin, soon after, on March 14,1922, Fitzgerald & Clarke burned to the ground and was never rebuilt. Vanderbilt posted an undefeated 15–0–2 with Wade, and shared conference titles both years he was there, defending Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association champion Georgia was undefeated, having not allowed a score through its powerful line all year. Its line was composed of four All-Southerns, Joe Bennett, Bum Day, Owen Reynolds, Vanderbilt, too, was undefeated, and so the game was figured to decide the conference champion. It was described by the New York Times as an important clash, the Bulldogs were the favorite to win this meeting of the two schools, first since 1912, in part because the Bulldogs may have outplayed Harvard and defeated Auburn earlier in the season. Lynn Bomar starred at the linebacker position, Georgia would have trampled Vanderbilt to atoms but for Lynn Bomar, observed Nashville Tennessean sportswriter Blinkey Horn
10.
Joe Paterno
–
Joseph Vincent Paterno, sometimes referred to as JoePa, was an American college football player, and later athletic director and coach. He was the coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions from 1966 to 2011. With 409 victories, Paterno is the most victorious coach in NCAA FBS history and his career ended with his dismissal from the team in November,2011 as a result of the Penn State child sex abuse scandal. Paterno was born in Brooklyn, New York and attended Brown University, originally planning to be a lawyer, he instead signed on as an assistant football coach at Penn State in 1950, persuaded by his college coach Rip Engle who had taken over as Penn States head coach. In 1966, Paterno was named as Engles successor and he soon coached the team to two undefeated regular seasons in 1968 and 1969. The team won two national championships—in 1982 and 1986, Paterno coached five undefeated teams that won major bowl games, and in 2007 he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach. After the child sex abuse scandal involving his former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky broke in full in November 2011, however, on November 9, the Penn State Board of Trustees rejected this disclosure and fired him, effective immediately. An investigation conducted by former FBI director Louis Freeh concluded in July 2012 that Paterno concealed facts relating to Sanduskys sexual abuse of young boys, the investigation also uncovered information that Paterno may have persuaded university officials not to report Sandusky to authorities in 2001. A report composed by the law firm King & Spalding and commissioned by the Paterno family has disputed his involvement in the alleged coverup, Paterno died of complications from lung cancer on January 22,2012, only two months after being fired by the university. Paterno was born December 21,1926, in Brooklyn, New York and he was the son of Florence de LaSalle Cafiero, a homemaker, and Angelo Lafayette Paterno, a law clerk. His family was of Italian ancestry, in 1944, Paterno graduated from Brooklyn Preparatory School. Six weeks later he was drafted into the Army during World War II, Paterno spent a year in the Army before being discharged in time to start the 1946 school year at Brown University where his tuition was paid by Busy Arnold. In college Paterno was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity and he played quarterback and cornerback for the Brown Bears, and shares the career record for interceptions with Greg Parker at 14. Paterno graduated as an English literature major in 1950 and had been accepted into Boston University School of Law, although his father asked, For Gods sake, what did you go to college for. After hearing of his choice, Paterno joined Rip Engle as an assistant coach at Penn State in 1950, Engle had coached five seasons, 1944–1949. Paterno was promoted to coach, the top assistant, in June 1964. Paterno had one Heisman Trophy winner, John Cappelletti, who took the award in 1973, Paternos abbreviated 2011 season was his 62nd on the Penn State coaching staff, which gave him the record for most seasons for any football coach at a single university. The 2009 season was Paternos 44th as head coach of the Nittany Lions, Paterno was known for his gameday image—thick glasses, rolled-up dress slacks, white socks and Brooklyn-tinged speech
11.
Punter (football)
–
This generally happens on a fourth down in American football and a third down in the Canadian version. Punters may also take part in fake punts in those same situations. A punter must be skilled in angling the football and/or kicking it as high as possible to maximize his teammates’ ability to eliminate a punt returners forward progress. A standard is that for a 42-yard fair-caught or out-of-bounds punt, the hang time should be at least a tenth of it in seconds. However, a hang-time of 5 seconds and over are still considered great punts, also, the punter will try to make the ball spin in an unusual manner making it harder to catch, which could result in a muff and potentially lead to the punters team gaining possession. The most common punting strategy involves receiving the snap from the line of scrimmage,15 yards into a deep shotgun formation. A less-seen strategy is the kick, in which the punter moves to the left or right, outside the offensive tackle. Punters play a role in winning the field position battle. Punters have increasingly begun to pull double duty as the holder on field goal attempts and also being used on kickoffs in windy conditions. One of the reasons why punters are starting to take over the holder position is that the backup quarterback is usually busy with the rest of the offense and has little time to devote to holding. Likewise the punter has certain training in throwing, due to the possibility of faking a field goal or attempting a two-point conversion. The long snapper for field goals is usually the punt snapper as well, punters are usually on their own during team practices, allowing them the time to work with the kicker, so the punter and placekicker tend to develop a close rapport. Along with kicking, punters can run or throw the ball as well and this strategy is also known as the fake punt. Another common term is called the trick play, teams will often use this key strategy when it is 4th down with maybe 8 or less yards to the first down marker. The punter has the ability to receive the football and run or pass the ball to another teammate, when scrambling the punter is live to tackle. This strategy is used in a close game. Thus, punters tend to receive the most attention when teams are bad, a coffin corner refers to the corner of the playing field just in front of the end zone, usually from the 5-yard line to the goal line. A perfect coffin corner kick is one that goes out of bounds just before either orange pylon located in the front of the end zone and this type of kick can also be attempted in Canadian football
12.
Halfback (American football)
–
A halfback is an offensive position in American football, whose duties involve lining up in the backfield and carrying the ball on most rushing plays, i. e. a running back. The halfback position is one of the more glamorous positions on the field, sometimes the halfback can catch the ball from the backfield on short passing plays as he is an eligible receiver. Occasionally, they line up as wide receivers. When not running or catching the ball, the responsibility of a halfback is to aid the offensive linemen in blocking. Before the emergence of the T-formation in the 1940s, all members of the backfield were legitimate threats to run or pass the ball. Most teams used four offensive backs on every play, a quarterback, the quarterback began each play a quarter of the way back, the halfbacks began each play side by side and halfway back, and the fullback began each play the farthest back. Historically, from the 1870s through the 1950s, the position was both an offensive and defensive position. There has also been a shift in most offense’s dependence on halfbacks, however, the average output of the halfback has not changed. Older systems require the halfback be proficient at throwing the ball downfield as well, many of the “scat backs” in the modern era produce more total yards and touchdowns than their ancestor “power backs” by breaking off big plays on outside runs and receptions. The spread offense and the hurry-up offense change the halfback’s role, the spread, the hurry-up, and the pro-style offenses dominate American football but the “smash-mouth” style of play is far from extinct. A power-running scheme is often utilized to counter an effective Spread attack, as it allows a team to control the clock and this strategy is utilized in NFL, college, and all other forms of American football. The need for “power backs is very prevalent, alongside the need for “scat backs”, in the past few decades the role of the halfback has gone through a great shift as most offensive game plans are now fueled by creativity and finesse instead of raw force. Stamina and durability is more important than ever in the hurry-up offense, on the other hand, speed is often valued over strength, and pass-catching ability is sometimes valued over blocking proficiency. Power was once the most desired trait in a halfback, but has been taken by the need for a diverse skill set. In the last few decades the running back’s individual share of output has declined as quarterbacks are generally treated as the cornerstone of the offense. The demands of an up-tempo offense also favor a multiple running back system, from the dawn of American football through the 1880s most offensive schemes focused on the running game. In a running based game plan the halfback was typically the cornerstone of the offense and this system focused on a physical run attack concentrated in the inside of the field, and therefore depended on a skilled “power back”. There were no forward passes, and pure speed took a backseat to tackle-breaking and bucking ability, there was a focus on physicality over finesse, as this type of playing style earned the moniker of “smash mouth” football
