BleacherCoaches.com

Caught a little of this last night on the Channel 6 sports, and then read this article in today's Pittsburgh Tribune Review. It was entitled "Paterno Doesn't Discuss Stanley, Thomas":
...Penn State coach Joe Paterno said Tuesday he is not allowed to discuss the status of DE Sean Stanley and nickelback Derrick Thomas, both of whom did not travel to Iowa on Saturday. Paterno said Saturday that the two did not travel for academic reasons, but on Tuesday he would not go further. "I am not allowed to talk about them. We were told that we're breaking the law if we talk about them. Any kid that is in any way not allowed to play for one reason or other, we have a long letter from the University Administration not to discuss it". Paterno was then asked if DT Brandon Ware, who also did not travel to Iowa, was in the same situation. "Ware is in the same boat except for the fact that I can tell you Ware has had academic problems".
...What gives? Never heard of such a thing, a coach not being able to discuss with the media why a player is not allowed to play for the team.

Privacy laws. They're really strict when it comes to academics. You're best not to touch the subject unless you're asking for a lawsuit. You can say they're not available due to academics, but that's about as far as you can go.

Nobody is asking Paterno for a full grade report. Maybe it was something like caught cheating or copying someone's homework? Might be an ethical/moral issue concerning academics, not just bad grades. From Tuesday's Harrisburg Patriot News:
...The HPN has learned neither player is practicing with the team this week. And a source close to the program told the HPN that defensive coaches are preparing as if Thomas won't return this season.

The more I think of this, the more scandalous this sounds. Tell me, how can there be academic issues with college football players, when school has only been in session 5 or 6 weeks at the most????? Most classes have had only one test so far as of Oct 1st. Maybe one paper that was due. How can a player be not allowed to play after only ONE bad test grade, or one poor paper??? Mid-terms really haven't been taken yet. What's there to judge so far?? I think we're looking at a scandal here. Just my opinion.

Well if anyone gets to the bottom of it, I'm sure it will be the two people who follow Penn State football like no other. The great el moldo and his buddy titan. It's rumored that Titan picked up Moldy last night in his yellow Volkswagon Beetle and headed towards state college to get the scoop.

On a more serious note, I'm guessing this has something to do with the law and these kids are probably in some sort of investigation

Imagine that.

And why all of the sudden is it taboo to mention that a kid has been ruled academically ineligible for a season or a game? We've seen this for years. Last year a Pitt basketball player (Gilbert) wasn't allowed to play until January because of his grades. There was no hush-hush about the reason for him sitting out? Something is amiss in Happy Valley.

There's a lot of things amiss in Happy Valley.

It is looking like Joe is coming back next year. That being said, why are they trying so hard to push the university on these recruits and not the football staff? I dont understand it. But then again, maybe I do completely, because everything might really be as scatterbrain as it looks.

There is definitely something odd about this Thomas - Stanley deal, thats for sure.