Penn State Nixes "Sweet Caroline"

NOT SO SWEET: Penn State has dropped Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” from its football stadium playlist this season amidst the school’s well-publicized sex scandal in the post-Joe Paterno/Jerry Sandusky era. A university spokesman insists it wasn’t dropped because of the song’s “touching me, touching you” refrain, “Absolutely no changes were made based on lyrics. This song has come up on the list in recent years because it happens to be played in so many other professional and collegiate venues with no real origination here at Penn State.” Rumors the Nittany Lions were trying to change the word “touchdown” to “crossing the goal line” went unconfirmed at press time. Here’s a pic of the Penn State crowd when good times still felt so good. (8/28p)