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Michael Herklots, executive director of retail and brand development for Nat Sherman, talked with NewsOne.com about how to tailgate in style and choose the right cigar. Nat Sherman, Inc. has been a New York tobacco institution since 1930, working with manufacturers throughout the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, and Honduras.

Everyone in the Giants organization smokes Nat Sherman cigars. Announcer Bob Papa, the official Giants announcer, can be heard every time the Giants score, saying, “Give that man a Nat Sherman cigar!”

“You don’t have to look like an idiot to tailgate,” Herklots says. “You can be a little fashion forward hanging out by the grill. Cigars add to your style either for pre-game or post-game celebration, or you can smoke for mourning a loss.”

You shouldn’t be lighting up a big Churchill or a big Double Corona in the winter. In the cold, you’re less able to pick up some of the nuances of milder cigars, so you need something with a little fuller flavor, says Herklots. Tailgating in colder weather takes a particular style, so from a cigar perspective, smaller formats are key.

Here are a few cigars Herklots recommends:

1)  The Nat Sherman Host Hobart

A robusto format (a shorter, fatter shaped cigar). It’s Honduran, medium-bodied, and there’s a sweetness on the cap right when it touches your lips. It’s an easy-to-taste cigar, so you’re not fighting for nuances when you’re in the cold. It’s really smooth and creamy.

Cost: $5. CBuy at NatSherman.com or at local retail tobacco stores.

2) A Metropolitan Maduro Union

A robust format—made in the Dominican Republic. Because of the maduro wrapper it adds a little bit more body and fuller flavor, but it also has a sweetness, but in this case the sweetness is natural because of the fermentation process this wrapper goes through.

Cost: $5

3)  The Nat’s Point Five

It’s like a half a cigar. It’s a little petite Corona and they come packed in five packs. They come in a natural wrapper and a maduro wrapper. But the maduro wrapper is going to be fuller, so it will stand up better to the cold. They’re great if you feel like a little quick something. They come in five packs so you can share with your friends at the tailgate.

Cost: $14 per pack

Lighting the cigars when tailgating is a challenge. We don’t recommend putting your face in the grill to light the cigar.

Here are some stylish lighters:

1) S.T. Dupont—have a lighter called the Maxi Jet—it’s a single flamed torch lighter, single action to ignite. If you want to balance functionality and style Maxi Jet is the best.

Cost: $200 each

2) Xikar, Colibri, and Lotus companies make less expensive torch lighters-$25-$100.

Make sure you bring an extra can of butane gas for your lighter and a travel humidor, so they hold up in cold weather.

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“I think the most important thing for people, regardless of what they will be cooking, is to be prepared and do their meats ahead of time. Get your shopping done on Thursday or Friday. Saturday do your cooking and prepping, so Sunday you’re just heating it up. That’s one of the key things: not stressing yourself out on game day.”

Using Bourbon in the kitchen is a huge trend in the kitchen right now, so here are two of her Bourbon-infused recipes:

Shrimp Cocktail with Maker’s Mark Cocktail Sauce:

1 recipe Maker’s Mark® cocktail sauce (recipe below)
24 pc. shrimp in shell, u-10
12 cups water
1-1/2 cups dry white wine, such as Riesling
2 lemons juiced
2 bay leaves
10 pieces whole black peppercorn
1 medium onion, peeled, halved and sliced thin 1/4″
1 stalk celery, sliced thin crosswise 1/8″
1 whole leek, washed and sliced thin, white and green
3 medium carrots, peeled, sliced into 1/8″ thick rounds
1/4 cup kosher salt
Lemon wedges, for garnish

1. Leaving the shell and tail intact, slice down the back of the shrimp, deveining the shrimp.
2. Bring the water, white wine, lemon juice, bay leaves, peppercorns, onion, celery, leek, carrots and kosher salt to a boil in a large pot. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes until the vegetables are soft and the brine is flavorful. Strain through a fine mesh sieve into a new pot, discarding the solids.
3. Bring the stock back up to a simmer. Add the shrimp in shell and stir to submerge the shrimp. Remove the pot from the heat and allow the shrimp to poach for 10 minutes or until fully cooked.
4. Drain the shrimp and place the shrimp into a large bowl filled with ice. Stir the shrimp with the ice cubes and place the bowl in the freezer until the shrimp have cooled down, about 2-3 minutes.
5. Peel the shell from the shrimp, leaving the tail intact. Discard the shells. Serve the shrimp ice cold alongside the Maker’s Mark® cocktail sauce, with fresh lemon wedges.

Maker’s Mark Cocktail Sauce
Makes 1-1/2 cups

2 tablespoons Maker’s Mark® Bourbon, flamed off
1 cup Heinz® Ketchup
1 tablespoon TABASCO® Sauce
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup freshly grated horseradish
1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar

1. Combine all ingredients together in a small bowl. Keep chilled until needed.

These ribs take on their bourbon brine and an exotic barbecue sauce scented with coriander. Finger lickin’ good, for real.

Prep Time: 24 hours/day beforehand
Cook Time: 5 hours
Level: Easy.

Serves 4–6

Recipe:

2 cups Makers Mark® Bourbon
1 bunch cilantro – cleaned and roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1/4 cup fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 tablespoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 rack of peeled pork spare ribs
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 white onion, peeled and diced 1/2″
1 cup pineapple juice
1 cup tomato juice
1 cup ketchup
1 cup water
Fresh cilantro leaves, for garnish
Fresh red radish, for garnish

1. In a large bowl, mix the Maker’s Mark®, cilantro, garlic, ginger, garlic, cumin, cayenne, curry, mustard seeds, Dijon and brown sugar and salt until well-combined. Pour into a shallow baking dish. Submerge the full rack of ribs in the marinade and refrigerate over night.
2. Preheat the oven to 400°F. After 24 hours, remove the ribs, brushing off any excess marinade and spices (reserve the marinade for the barbecue sauce), and place on baking sheet and roast in the oven for 45 minutes. Remove the rack from the oven, wrap the ribs tightly in foil and cool in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours.
3. Heat the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the diced onion and cook for 10 minutes, stirring often. Add the marinade liquid and all of its components, the pineapple and tomato juice, ketchup, and water. Cook this mixture for 45 minutes on a medium simmer, stirring occasionally.
4. When the ribs have cooled down, slice them in between each bone to separate them from the rack and place in a large mixing bowl. Strain the barbecue sauce through a fine mesh sieve and pour over the ribs, tossing to thoroughly coat them.
5. Place the individual ribs in a single layer in an ample-sized baking dish, pouring the excess barbecue sauce over the ribs, and return to the oven. Lower the heat on the oven to 350°F and bake for an additional hour, turning the ribs occasionally to ensure sauce coverage.
6. The ribs will be tender and the sauce should glaze the ribs during the baking process. Serve hot with picked cilantro leaves, thinly sliced radishes and Maker’s Mark® Bourbon “chilled neat.”

Bourbon is a great mixer. It’s always good to have a hot drink if it’s going to be cold out. Hot toddies or cider are good to go with the food.

All in all, keep it simple, says Wong, because at the end of the day, “the Super Bowl is about great food, but really it’s about the Giants kicking Tom Brady’s *ss!”

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If you need a refresher on how great a pioneer Robinson was, The Huffington Post gives a rundown of his achievements in sports and the business world:

In becoming the first African American to play Major League Baseball, he challenged racist assumptions about black inferiority and the logic for segregating the nation’s pasttime.

After he walked away from the diamond — he won the National League MVP in 1949, and is considered one of the greatest second basemen ever — Robinson continued to be a pioneer. He was the first black commentator for a national sports broadcast, and the first black vice president of a major American firm.

For more on the story, go to The Huffington Post.

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The dunk is so ridiculously insane that words cannot describe it. Check out the video below and see it for yourself!

Blake Griffin’s Monster Dunk

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You Feel More Pleasure
A University of Vienna study found that bigger breasts are sometimes less sensitive than smaller ones. “Larger breasts have more fatty tissue than glandular tissue, which is the most sensitive part,” says sexologist Rachael Ross, MD, PhD. “With smaller breasts, the glands are easier to stimulate during foreplay because they’re not underneath a fatty layer.”

They Keep You Healthy
Having a smaller set does your body good in other ways too. “In self-exams, it’s easier to detect a lump in the back of smaller breasts, since there are fewer layers to feel through,” says oncologist Marisa Weiss, president and founder of breastcancer.org. And small breasts can also save your neck. Larger boobs are heavier, and that puts pressure on the body. “It alters a woman’s posture so her neck is strained and she’s more likely to have headaches,” says Dr. Weiss.

You Look Younger, Longer
Back in caveman days, men needed a way to tell a woman’s age. “They had to look at physical signs,” says Satoshi Kanazawa, PhD, an evolutionary psychologist. The giveaway: her mammary glands. “Larger breasts sag over time, so it was an indicator that a woman was older,” says Kanazawa. “It’s more difficult to assess a woman’s age if she has smaller breasts.” Since your breasts are less affected by gravity, they’ll stay sexy for way longer. SOURCE

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Owens, who insists that he has a few good years left to give to his beloved game, recovered from a knee injury that required surgery last year.  After pushing the limits with therapy sessions for his knee and maintaining a grueling workout schedule to keep his body taut, not one NFL team signed the 38-year-old former wide receiver.

T.O.’s reputation of being an obnoxious, egomaniacal turncoat during his San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Dallas playing days, caught up with him. The last time T.O. played for an NFL team, he was a Cincinnati Bengals back in 2010.

Now plagued with money problems from real estate and investments gone south, the former “human nitroglycerin,” who made at least $80 million in his 15-year career, is having a rough time making a dollar out of the 15 cents he has left.  Owens claims that his money troubles are not due to his overspending on bling or exotic vehicles, though; instead, his investments in a few homes and condos turned into dead weight with the real estate collapse.

And that wasn’t the end of it.

When Owens began to see rock bottom last summer, all four of his baby mommas came after him with a vengeance. Three of the women sued him, and he received a bench warrant for his arrest for failure to appear at a child support court hearing with the Mother of his oldest child. All of the women, whom Owens claims he never even dated — one was reportedly a one-night stand — were reportedly on his case pushing him to land “any job” so that their support could continue.

And his social experiences haven’t been much better either.

Owens fell out with reality show co-stars and closest friends Monique Jackson and Kita Williams, after his reality show finished shooting. Owens claims to have discovered that both women were in secret talks to get their own reality show without clueing him in on the wheeling and dealing:

They said they were planning to make me an executive producer, but if we were business partners, don’t you think I would have known about it, he told GQ.

Still, there is some light at the end of Owens’ dark tunnel.

T.O. has landed a gig as a player and part owner of the Allen Wranglers of the Indoor Football League, which is based in Allen, Texas.  While it isn’t the fame and fortune that he is used to, it’s still a paycheck, so things may in fact be looking up for Owens after all.

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Fielder and the Tigers agreed Tuesday to a nine-year, $214 million contract, a person familiar with the deal said. The AL Central champions boldly stepped up in the Fielder sweepstakes after the recent knee injury to star Victor Martinez. A week ago, the Tigers announced the productive designated hitter could miss the entire season after tearing his left ACL during offseason conditioning.

CBS first reported the agreement with Fielder.

The person told The Associated Press the deal was subject to a physical. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the contract was not yet complete.

Several teams had shown interest this winter in Fielder, the free agent first baseman who had spent his entire career with the Milwaukee Brewers. He visited Texas, and the Washington Nationals also got involved in the discussions.

The Tigers won their division by 15 games before losing in the AL championship series to Texas. With Fielder now in the fold, general manager Dave Dombrowski and owner Mike Ilitch have a team that figures to enter the 2012 season as a favorite to repeat in the division — with an eye on winning the franchise’s first World Series title since 1984.

“Everyone knew Mr. Ilitch and Mr. Dombrowski were going to make a move when Victor went down,” outfielder Brennan Boesch said in a phone interview with the AP. “But I don’t think anybody thought it would be this big.”

The move also keeps Fielder’s name in the Tigers’ family. His father, Cecil, became a big league star when he returned to the majors from Japan and hit 51 home runs with Detroit in 1990. Cecil played with the Tigers into the 1996 season, and young Prince made a name for himself by hitting prodigious home runs in batting practice at Tiger Stadium.

In an interview with MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM, Cecil Fielder said he was “shocked” by the news that Prince was heading to Detroit.

“He’s been there in Detroit most of his young life so I think he’ll be comfortable in that place,” Cecil Fielder said. “I know Mr. Ilitch is probably excited because he’s been wanting that kid since he was a little kid, so he finally got his wish.”

With Cabrera and Fielder, Detroit will begin this season with two players under age 30 with at least 200 career homers. According to STATS LLC, that’s happened only once before. At the start of the 1961 season, the Milwaukee Braves featured 29-year-old Eddie Mathews (338 homers) and 27-year-old Hank Aaron (219).

Fielder hit .299 with 38 home runs and 120 RBIs last season. He is a three-time All-Star and was the MVP of last year’s event in Phoenix.

The beefy slugger has averaged 40 homers and 113 RBIs over the past five years. He’s also been among the most durable players in the majors, appearing in at least 157 games in each of the last six seasons.

Fielder hits left-handed, while Cabrera is a righty. Manager Jim Leyland will get to decide where to put them in the batting order.

“I don’t think there’s a better right-left combo in any lineup in baseball,” Boesch said. “I’m sure Skip’s wheels are already turning on how to set them up.”

And to think, the Tigers also have the American League’s reigning MVP and Cy Young Award winner — right-hander Justin Verlander.

Fielder’s deal is only the fourth $200 million contract in baseball history, following Alex Rodriguez’s $275 million, 10-year contract with the New York Yankees, A-Rod’s $252 million, 10-year deal with Texas and Albert Pujols’ $240 million, 10-year contract last month with the Los Angeles Angels.

Among current players, Fielder’s $23.78 million average salary is behind only A-Rod ($27.5 million), Ryan Howard ($25 million), and Cliff Lee and Pujols ($24 million each).

Dombrowski indicated last week he’d probably seek a short-term solution to Martinez’s injury, but he left himself some wriggle room, saying it depended who the replacement was.

Acquiring Fielder opens all sorts of possibilities. For now, Detroit has an opening at DH with Martinez out. But Martinez is in the second year of a $50 million, four-year contract.

One option could be to move Cabrera from first base to third. He played third base regularly for the Florida Marlins before the Tigers acquired him before the 2008 season.

Third baseman Brandon Inge has one year left on a two-year, $11.5 million deal with Detroit.

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With New England leading by 3 points with 11 seconds left, Billy Cundiff missed a 32-yard field goal attempt and the Patriots escaped with a 23-20 win over Baltimore in the AFC championship game on Sunday.

Two plays earlier, Joe Flacco’s pass to wide receiver Lee Evans in the end zone was stripped by backup cornerback Sterling Moore.

On his touchdown with 11:29 left in the fourth quarter, Brady took a huge hit from Ravens star linebacker Ray Lewis, then emphatically spiked the ball as he walked away. Earlier, Brady showed his fire by barking at Lewis following a hard tackle on a 4-yard run.

Next up as the Patriots chase their fourth Super Bowl trophy in Brady and coach Bill Belichick’s tenure in New England is the winner of Sunday’s NFC championship game between the Giants and 49ers. The Super Bowl is Feb. 5 in Indianapolis.

In their last trip to the big game, the Patriots had an 18-0 record when they were stunned by the Giants four years ago. They won the NFL championship for the 2001, 2003 and 2004 seasons. This time, they had to the Sup Bowl with a 10-game winning streak.

Brady’s fifth trip to the Super Bowl will equal John Elway’s achievement with Denver.

“We’re going to try to go out and kick some butt in a couple of weeks,” Brady said.

Moore’s big play made up for getting victimized for a touchdown that gave Baltimore the lead 17-16. After Cundiff’s kick hooked left, the Patriots stormed off their sideline in celebration as the chilled crowd roared. The Ravens looked on in disbelief.

A three-time NFL champion, Brady didn’t throw for a touchdown for the first time in 36 games, although he did pass for 239 yards.

“Well, I (stunk) pretty bad today, but our defense saved us,” Brady said. “I’m going to try to go out and do a better job in a couple of weeks, but I’m proud of this team, my teammates.”

Brady needed help not only from Cundiff’s botched kick in guiding the Patriots (15-3) to their fifth AFC title in 11 seasons, but from New England’s maligned defense.

“We stepped up,” Pro Bowl nose tackle Vince Wilfork said. “We all stepped up big time. Being in this situation is a great moment. You have to cherish this moment.”

The Patriots shut down Ray Rice, the league’s total yardage leader, who was limited to 78 yards. Brandon Spikes made a fourth-quarter interception of Flacco, who played well before that and threw for two touchdowns. And when the Ravens (13-5) were threatening to score a late touchdown to win their first conference title in 11 years, New England clamped down.

“It’s two great football teams, two gladiators, I guess, just kind of going at each other at the end, and I’m proud of our guys,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “You know, we’ve got 53 guys, mighty men, as we like to call them – and they fought, and we came up a little bit short, as 53. You know, 53 win and 53 lose.”

With Rice a nonfactor, Baltimore had to rely on Flacco, and he delivered one of his best performances. Flacco has led the Ravens into the playoffs in all four of his pro seasons, but not to the Super Bowl. He was 22 for 36 for 306 yards and touchdowns of 6 yards to Dennis Pitta and 29 to rookie Torrey Smith.

The loss hardly could be blamed on Flacco.

Operating against a maligned secondary missing its top cornerback, Kyle Arrington, who left in the second quarter with an eye injury, Flacco gave Baltimore its first lead. His short pass on third down to explosive receiver Smith turned into a 29-yard scamper down the right sideline after Moore completely whiffed on the tackle.

Danny Woodhead’s fumble on the ensuing kickoff set up Baltimore at the Patriots 28, but a third-down sack forced Cundiff to kick a 39-yard field goal, making it 20-16.

New England didn’t flinch.

Brady took the Patriots 63 yards in 11 plays, and seemed to score on a 1-yard run. The call was overruled by replay, though, and on fourth-down, he dived just high enough over the line for the winning points.

“Those guys fought all year, and just like today, it wasn’t always perfect, but they fought to the final gun and we came out on top,” Belichick said.

Defense was particularly dominant early on – New England’s 31st-ranked defense. The Patriots held Baltimore to minus-4 yards on its first three first-down runs and forced the Ravens to go three-and-out each time. Meanwhile, the Patriots put together a methodical 13-play, 50-yard drive helped greatly by an illegal contact penalty on Lardarius Webb that negated a tipped interception by Bernard Pollard.

But Brady was sacked for the first time by Paul Kruger and Stephen Gostkowski kicked a 29-yard field goal.

Late in the first quarter, the Ravens changed tactics after Webb did pick off a pass intended for Julian Edelman at the Baltimore 30. Flacco rolled right on first down and threw deep down the sideline to a wide-open Smith. Had the pass not been short, Smith likely would have sprinted into the end zone. Instead, it was a 42-yard gain, not bad at all given Baltimore’s previous ineptitude with the ball.

Cundiff’s 20-yard field goal momentarily tied it.

Brady, perhaps peeved by his poor throw that Webb picked off, hit two passes for 29 yards on a 75-yard drive to make it 10-3. BenJarvus Green-Ellis rushed for 36 yards on that series, and also drew a personal foul against Webb, who ripped off the running back’s helmet on a short rush. Green-Ellis surged into the end zone from the 7, then pointed to the patch on his jersey honoring Myra Kraft, the late wife of Patriots owner Robert Kraft.

Going back to the pass, the Ravens tied it on a 6-yard throw to Pitta – yes, Baltimore has some dangerous tight ends, too – that concluded an 80-yard march. Flacco opened the drive with a 20-yard completion to Evans and then Anquan Boldin escaped Arrington’s attempted tackle to gain 37 more yards on a reception. Flacco was finding holes in New England’s coverage, particularly when he moved out of the pocket.

New England’s All-Pro tight end Rob Gronkowski made an error at the end of a 63-yard drive, failing to keep two feet in bounds on a catch. Gostkowski’s 35-yard field goal made it 13-10.

Gronkowski left for a while with a left leg problem, but soon returned.

“It’s a real credit to the players,” Belichick said. “I am real happy they will get to play in this game.”

—UPDATE–

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Lawrence Tynes booted the Giants into the Super Bowl again.

Tynes kicked a winning 31-yard field goal in sudden-death overtime and New York beat the San Francisco 49ers 20-17 in the NFC championship game Sunday night to reach its second Super Bowl in five seasons.

Eli Manning and the Giants (12-7) will face the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl on Feb. 5 in Indianapolis, just as they did when they won it in 2008.

Tynes also kicked the game-winning field goal in overtime at Green Bay in the 2008 NFC title game that put the Giants in the Super Bowl.

Devon Thomas put the Giants in position. He recovered his second fumble of the game after Jacquian Williams stripped the ball from fill-in return man Kyle Williams.

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—

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Joe Paterno, the longtime Penn State coach who won more games than anyone in major college football but was fired amid a child sex abuse scandal that scarred his reputation for winning with integrity, died Sunday. He was 85.

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His family released a statement Sunday morning to announce his death.

“He died as he lived,” the statement said. “He fought hard until the end, stayed positive, thought only of others and constantly reminded everyone of how blessed his life had been. His ambitions were far reaching, but he never believed he had to leave this Happy Valley to achieve them. He was a man devoted to his family, his university, his players and his community.”

Paterno built his program on the credo “Success with Honor,” and he found both. The man known as “JoePa” won 409 games and took the Nittany Lions to 37 bowl games and two national championships. More than 250 of the players he coached went on to the NFL.

“He will go down as the greatest football coach in the history of the game,” Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said after his former team, the Florida Gators, beat Penn State 37-24 in the 2011 Outback Bowl.

Paterno’s son Scott said on Nov. 18 that his father was being treated for lung cancer. The cancer was diagnosed during a follow-up visit for a bronchial illness. A few weeks after that revelation, Paterno also broke his pelvis after a fall but did not need surgery.

Paterno had been in the hospital since Jan. 13 for observation for what his family had called minor complications from his cancer treatments. Not long before that, he conducted his only interview since losing his job, with The Washington Post. Paterno was described as frail then, speaking mostly in a whisper and wearing a wig. The second half of the two-day interview was conducted at his bedside.

“As the last 61 years have shown, Joe made an incredible impact,” said the statement from the family. “That impact has been felt and appreciated by our family in the form of thousands of letters and well wishes along with countless acts of kindness from people whose lives he touched. It is evident also in the thousands of successful student athletes who have gone on to multiply that impact as they spread out across the country.”

The final days of Paterno’s Penn State career were easily the toughest in his 61 years with the university and 46 seasons as head football coach.

It was because Paterno was a such a sainted figure – more memorable than any of his players and one of the best-known coaches in all of sports – that his downfall was so startling. During one breathtaking week in early November, Paterno was engulfed by a scandal and forced from his job, because he failed to go to the police in 2002 when told a young boy was molested inside the football complex.

“I didn’t know which way to go … and rather than get in there and make a mistake,” he said in the Post interview.

Jerry Sandusky, the former defensive coordinator expected to succeed Paterno before retiring in 1999, was charged with sexually assaulting 10 boys over 15 years. Two university officials stepped down after they were charged with perjury following a grand jury investigation of Sandusky. But attention quickly focused on an alleged rape that took place in a shower in the football building, witnessed by Mike McQueary, a graduate assistant at the time.

McQueary testified that he had seen Sandusky attacking the child and that he had told Paterno, who waited a day before alerting school authorities. Police were never called and the state’s top cop later said Paterno failed to execute his moral responsibility by not contacting police.

“You know, (McQueary) didn’t want to get specific,” Paterno said in the Post interview. “And to be frank with you I don’t know that it would have done any good, because I never heard of, of, rape and a man. So I just did what I thought was best. I talked to people that I thought would be, if there was a problem, that would be following up on it.”

On the morning of Nov. 9, Paterno said he would retire following the 2011 season. He also said he was “absolutely devastated” by the abuse case.

“This is a tragedy,” the coach said. “It is one of the great sorrows of my life. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more.”

But the university trustees faced a crisis, and in an emergency meeting that night, they fired Paterno, effective immediately. Graham Spanier, one of the longest-serving university presidents in the nation, also was dismissed.

According to Lanny Davis, an attorney retained by the trustees as an adviser, board vice chairman John Surma regretted having to tell Paterno the decision over the phone.

The university handed the football team to one of Paterno’s assistants, Tom Bradley, who said Paterno “will go down in history as one of the greatest men, who maybe most of you know as a great football coach.”

Thick, smoky-lens glasses, rolled up khakis, jet-black sneakers, blue windbreaker – Paterno was easy to spot on the sidelines. His teams were just as easy to spot on the field; their white helmets and classic blue and white uniforms had the same old-school look as the coach.

Paterno believed success was not measured entirely on the field. From his idealistic early days, he had implemented what he called a “grand experiment” – to graduate more players while maintaining success on the field.

He was a frequent speaker on ethics in sports, a conscience for a world often infiltrated by scandal and shady characters.

His teams consistently ranked among the best in the Big Ten for graduating players. As of 2011, it had 49 academic All-Americans, the third-highest among schools in the Football Bowl Subdivision. All but two played under Paterno.

“He teaches us about really just growing up and being a man,” former linebacker Paul Posluszny, now with the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars, once said. “Besides the football, he’s preparing us to be good men in life.”

Paterno certainly had detractors, as well. One former Penn State professor called his high-minded words on academics a farce. He was criticized for making broad critiques about the wrongs in college football without providing specifics. A former administrator said his players often got special treatment compared to non-athletes. His coaching style often was considered too conservative. Some thought he held on to his job too long. There was a push to move him out in 2004 but it failed.

But the critics were in the minority, and his program was never cited for major NCAA violations. However, the child sexual abuse scandal prompted separate investigations by the U.S. Department of Education and the NCAA into the school’s handling.

Paterno played quarterback and cornerback for Brown University and set a defensive record with 14 career interceptions, a distinction he boasted about to his teams all the way into his 80s. He graduated in 1950 with plans to go to law school. He said his father hoped he would someday be president.

When he was 23, a former coach at Brown was moving to Penn State to become the head coach and persuaded Paterno to come with him as an assistant.

“I had no intention to coach when I got out of Brown,” Paterno said in 2007 at Beaver Stadium in an interview before being inducted into the Hall of Fame. “Come to this hick town? From Brooklyn?”

In 1963, he was offered a job by the late Al Davis – $18,000, triple his salary at Penn State, plus a car to become general manager and coach of the AFL’s Oakland Raiders. He said no. Rip Engle retired as Penn State head coach three years later, and Paterno took over.

At the time, the Lions were considered “Eastern football” – inferior – and Paterno courted newspaper coverage to raise the team’s profile. In 1967, PSU began a 30-0-1 streak.

But Penn State couldn’t get to the top of the polls. The Lions finished second in 1968 and 1969 despite perfect records. They went 12-0 in 1973 and finished fifth. Texas edged them in 1969 after President Richard Nixon, impressed with the Longhorns’ bowl performance, declared them No. 1.

“I’d like to know,” Paterno said later, “how could the president know so little about Watergate in 1973, and so much about college football in 1969?”

A national title finally came in 1982, in a 27-23 win over Georgia at the Sugar Bowl. Penn State won another in 1986 after the Lions picked off Vinny Testaverde five times and beat Miami 14-10 in the Fiesta Bowl.

They have made several title runs since then, including a 2005 run to the Orange Bowl and an 11-1 campaign in 2008 that earned them a berth in the Rose Bowl, where they lost 37-23 to Southern California.

In his later years, physical ailments wore the old coach down. Paterno was run over on the sideline during a game at Wisconsin in November 2006 and underwent knee surgery. He hurt his hip in 2008 demonstrating an onside kick.

An intestinal illness and a bad reaction to antibiotics prescribed for dental work slowed him for most of the 2010 season. Paterno began scaling back his speaking engagements that year, ending his summer caravan of speeches to alumni across the state.

Then a receiver bowled over Paterno at practice in August, sending him to the hospital with shoulder and pelvis injuries and consigning him to coach much of the season from the press box.

“The fact that we’ve won a lot of games is that the good Lord kept me healthy, not because I’m better than anybody else,” Paterno said two days before he won his 409th game and passed Eddie Robinson of Grambling State for the most in Division I. “It’s because I’ve been around a lot longer than anybody else.”

Paterno could be conservative on the field, especially in big games, relying on the tried-and-true formula of defense, the running game and field position.

“They’ve been playing great defense for 45 years,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said in November.

Paterno and his wife, Sue, raised five children in State College. Anybody could telephone him at his modest ranch home – the same one he appeared in front of on the night he was fired – by looking up “Paterno, Joseph V.” in the phone book.

He walked to home games and was greeted and wished good luck by fans on the street. Former players paraded through his living room for the chance to say hello. But for the most part, he stayed out of the spotlight.

Paterno did have a knack for joke. He referred to Twitter, the social media, as “Twittle-do, Twittle-dee.”

He also could be abrasive and stubborn, and had his share of run-ins with his bosses or administrators. And as his legend grew, so did the attention to his on-field decisions, and the questions about when he would retire.

Calls for his retirement reached a crescendo in 2004. The next year, Penn State went 11-1 and won the Big Ten. In the Orange Bowl, PSU beat Florida State, whose coach, Bobby Bowden, left the Seminoles after the 2009 season after 34 years and 389 wins.

Like many others, he was outlasted by “JoePa.”

The winningest major college football coach of all time, Paterno was diagnosed shortly after Penn State’s Board of Trustees ousted him Nov. 9 in the aftermath of the child sex abuse charges against former assistant Jerry Sandusky. Paterno’s been getting treatment since, and his health problems were worsened when he broke his pelvis — an injury that first cropped up when he was accidentally hit in preseason practice last year.

“Over the last few days Joe Paterno has experienced further health complications,” family spokesman Dan McGinn said in a brief statement Saturday to The Associated Press. “His doctors have now characterized his status as serious.

“His family will have no comment on the situation and asks that their privacy be respected during this difficult time,” he said.

The 85-year-old Paterno has been in the hospital since Jan. 13 for observation for what his family had called minor complications from his cancer treatments. Not long before that, he conducted his only interview since losing his job, with The Washington Post. Paterno was described as frail then and wearing a wig. The second half of the two-day interview was conducted by his bedside.

The final days of Paterno’s Penn State career were easily the toughest in his 61 years with the university and 46 seasons as head football coach.

Sandusky, a longtime defensive coordinator who was on Paterno’s staff in two national title seasons, was arrested Nov. 5 and ultimately charged with sexually abusing a total of 10 boys over 15 years. His arrest sparked outrage not just locally but across the nation and there were widespread calls for Paterno to quit.

Paterno announced late on Nov. 9 that he would retire at the end of the season but just hours later he received a call from board vice chairman John Surma, telling him he had been terminated as coach. By that point, a crowd of students and media were outside the Paterno home. When news spread that Paterno had been dumped, there was rioting in State College.

Police on Saturday night had barricaded off the block where Paterno lives, and a police car was stationed about 50 yards from his home. A light was on in the living room but there was no activity inside. No one was outside, other than reporters and photographers stationed there.

Trustees said this week they pushed Paterno out in part because he failed a moral responsibility to report an allegation made in 2002 against Sandusky to authorities outside the university. They also felt he had challenged their authority and that, as a practical matter, with all the media in town and attention to the Sandusky case, he could no longer run the team.

Paterno testified before the grand jury investigating Sandusky that he had relayed to his bosses an accusation that came from graduate assistant Mike McQueary, who said he saw Sandusky abusing a boy in the showers of the Penn State football building.

Paterno told the Post that he didn’t know how to handle the charge, but a day after McQueary visited him, Paterno spoke to the athletic director and the administrator with oversight over the campus police.

Wick Sollers, Paterno’s lawyer, called the board’s comments this week self-serving and unsupported by the facts. Paterno fully reported what he knew to the people responsible for campus investigations, Sollers said.

“He did what he thought was right with the information he had at the time,” Sollers said.

Sandusky says he is innocent and is out on bail, awaiting trial.

The back and forth between Paterno’s representative and the board reflects a trend in recent weeks, during which Penn State alumni — and especially former players, including Hall of Fame running back Franco Harris — have questioned the trustees’ actions and accused them of failing to give Paterno a chance to defend himself.

Three town halls, in Pittsburgh, suburban Philadelphia and New York City, seemed to do little to calm the situation and dozens of candidates have now expressed interest in running for the board, a volunteer position that typically attracts much less interest.

While everyone involved has said the focus should be on Sandusky’s accusers and their ordeals, the abuse scandal for Paterno put a sour ending on a sterling career. Paterno won 409 games and took the Nittany Lions to 37 bowl games and those two national championships. More than 250 of the players he coached went on to the NFL.

With his thick glasses, rolled up khakis and white socks, Paterno was synonymous with Penn State and was seen in many ways as the archetypal football coach.

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