Clumpy, well-smeared bird droppings are just about everywhere at the northeast corner of East College Avenue and South Allen Street.

They started to fall like a daily shower sometime early last month. For reasons unknown, hundreds of crows began roosting in the trees there at night.

So far, they haven’t stopped. But they have left their mark — slippery and wet under foot, streaked across public benches and street lamps, a foul topping for new-fallen snow.

So what is deal ol State going to do about these foul mannered rivals invading Happy Valley?

OPP crews for the past few weeks have used power washers to scrub the
sidewalks clean. They also deployed biological cleaning agents to “remove debris and reduce odor,” Ruskin said. Penn State’s pest-fighting contractor, Terminix, is expected to deploy a thermal fogger over several days. The device sounds like a leaf blower and pumps out a nontoxic fogging agent, Ruskin said. He said it won’t hurt the crows but that “we hope to annoy them enough that they go away.”

1. As a general question, evaluate your recruiting class. Is it more or less what you expected, were you pleasantly surprised or horribly, horribly disappointed? Were your team's needs adequately addressed or will you be starting a two star running back at center next year?

First off, Penn State hasn't had a recruiting class with less than 15 commits since 2001 when they had 11. This year we hauled in 14 with a potential jewel of a 15th in Pryor so I am satisfied but not excited with this year's recruiting class.
I would have definitely preferred a few more wide receivers seeing as we lose Williams and Butler to graduation and/or NFL next year, but with the limited amount of scholarships we could have offered this year, we got what essentially were the basics. Great linebackers and a decent running back in Brandon Beachum will carry Penn State a long way in the following years.

2. Who were the big catches in your recruiting class? Name two players matriculating to your school whose existence everyone else in the Big Ten will curse for the next four years.

Michael Mauti will make his mark in the linebacking lore of Penn State. And it would be a lie to say Big Ten coaches haven't had nightmares of Penn State linebackers since their inception into the conference. Mauti will simply be another name they will curse the night before playing Penn State. It was simply shocking to see that Penn State actually recruited Mauti from Louisiana considering our track record with Southern recruits NOT from Florida. But Mauti actually turned some heads when he played in the US Army All-American game.

A second would be Jack Crawford. Penn State has always been adequate in developing defensive ends and with 4.5 speed, Jack Crawford should be a beast coming around the corner flushing quarterbacks out of the pocket. With offers from Ohio State, Minnesota, Michigan, Rutgers and Boston College, Crawford was a good steal out of New Jersey.

3. You can't win them all. Maybe some slick talking carpetbagger schmoozed his way into your living room, sold you a set of ginzu knives made out of tin foil, and walked off with your wife and your star recruit. Perhaps an in-state lock who grew up with [Insert University Here] posters on his wall and your coach's face tattooed on his arm decided to go elsewhere for reasons no one seems to understand? Did your recruiting class lose someone big on signing day, who was it, and was your school able to yoink someone else to cover his loss?

This one's easy. The loss of Michael Shaw to Michigan hurt. More so than most Lion fans will admit. But with junior Evan Royster, sophomore Stephfon Green (an all star recruit last year), and junior Brent Carter waiting for their turn, Penn State should be set at the position for next year, but the loss of a big name, highly ranked recruit always hurts.

But surprisingly the biggest recruit we lost out on simply because we didn't go all out on this kid was Darrel Scott. This might seem contradictory seeing as I just mentioned that we are not desperate for a running back recruit, but a 4.4, 200 pound running back who scored 45 touchdowns his junior year is always good for any program. He was actually considering Penn State in addition to his final two choices of Colorado and Texas, but as usual Penn State rarely puts forth any effort in recruiting out of the Northeastern zone and we fell out of his radar rather quickly.

4. There's been a spirited debate about this whole "Coaches' Code" among the members of the Big Ten coaching fraternity. Do you believe this exists or is it a line being floated by the guys who couldn't keep their recruiting classes together? Bonus points for declaring your coach a poacher or a poachee in creative fashion!

I made it clear how I felt about Rich Rod in a recent post for stealing 2 recruits from fellow conference members and was simply dismissed as sour grapes by fellow bloggers. But lets face it, stealing recruits from conference members is in fact much worse than taking them away from other schools out-of-conference. Why? Because these are the same people you have to meet, greet and hang out with annually and more often than once. Its like the idea of not taking a shit where you sleep. But Brian at Mgoblog pointed out instances where coaches have 'stolen' recruits and I'd like to note that all of Penn States' steals have been from out-of-conference rivals so at least Joe Paterno can look at his fellow conference coaches in the face at the Big Ten banquet without his peers feeling the need to punch his face in. What Michigan fans point out is true, anything goes when it comes to recruiting, but there is indeed an honor code which has in turn been translated into 'coaches code' between Big Ten coaches. This is the same honor code that coaches honor when they punt the ball being up by at least 2 possessions and begin running the ball when they're up by a bit in the fourth. Its not a written contract, its just a show of respect. Rich Rod obviously did not get the memo when he fled West Virginia in the dead of the night, a classic move by a classy guy.

5. Finally, who's the slickest, smoovest, most Billy Dee Williamsesque recruiter in the Big Ten? Who's the worst, most incompetent, "trip over the flat tire on his Yugo" recruiter in the Big Ten?

• $595.20 in round-trip airfare from San Diego to Oakland in November 2005 for Bush's stepfather, LaMar Griffin, his mother, Denise Griffin and younger brother to attend the USC-California game at Berkeley. The fees were charged to the credit card of Jamie Fritz, an employee of Ornstein. The document detailing the charges was provided by Lee Pfeifer, an estranged business associate of Ornstein's.
• $250.65 for limousine transportation from the Oakland airport to the Ritz-Carlton in San Francisco that November weekend for the Bush family, charged to Fritz, according to a document. Ornstein acknowledged both he and Bush's family stayed at the luxury hotel.
• Suits for Bush's stepfather and brother to wear during the Dec. 10, 2005 Heisman ceremony in New York, a makeover for his mother for the event and limousine transportation;
• Weekly payments of at least $1,500 to the Bush family.
• $623.63 for a hotel stay by Bush at the Venetian Resort & Casino in Las Vegas from March 11-13, 2005, charged to Michaels, according to a document signed by Bush.
• $1,574.86 for a stay by Bush at the Manchester Hyatt in San Diego from March 4-6, 2005, paid for by Michaels, according to a hotel document, a hotel employee and a source.
• Approximately $13,000 to Bush from New Era to purchase and modify a car, three sources said.
• As reported by Yahoo! Sports in April, $54,000 in rent-free living for a year at Michaels' $757,500 home in Spring Valley, Calif., according to Michaels and San Diego attorney Brian Watkins.
• Also from previous Yahoo! reports, $28,000 from Michaels to help Bush's family settle pre-existing debt, according to Michaels and Watkins.
• Thousands of dollars in spending money to both Bush and his family from the prospective agents, according to multiple sources.

according to a Los Angeles Times story that documented the rampant presence of agents at USC during the 2005 season.

In January, according to the Times, USC offensive line coach Pat Ruel surveyed the lobby outside the football offices and saw more than a dozen unfamiliar faces.

Furthermore, sources told Yahoo! Sports that representatives of a fledging marketing firm from which Bush and his family allegedly received improper benefits were allowed in the USC locker room during the 2005 season.

Sources also said USC running backs coach Todd McNair knew of Bush's involvement with the marketing firm before last season's national championship game against Texas.

"There has been an unspoken rule that if a guy commits and you've been recruiting him hard, you always call them up and say, 'Are you sure about this?' If he says, 'Yes,' you back off," Tiller told the Indianapolis Star - Joe Tiller