Northwestern football coach Pat Fitzgerald out-funnies Penn State's Joe Paterno after losses last week

I think you can tell a lot about coaches by how they act after tough losses.

Northwestern is coming off a pair of fourth-quarter collapses, against Syracuse and Minnesota. Wildcats Coach Pat Fitzgerald is fighting the bad mood with humor.

"I was done watching our (Minnesota) game before I was done watching the Notre Dame-Purdue (night) game," Fitzgerald said. "I can come back and watch it again and then watch it again, but I'd rather take a ballpeen hammer to my temple, you know?”

"Nobody's very pleased around here. I've got secretaries yelling at me. It's awesome. It's tremendous. Couldn't be in a better mood right now."

Asked why secretaries are snapping at him, Fitzgerald replied “Because I'm barking at 'em. It's awesome. It's a great place to be right now.”

Then there was Penn State's Joe Paterno this week in the aftermath of his team's 21-10 loss to Iowa.

"We've got a football team that just got licked," Paterno said. "If you think I'm going around saying, 'Are you happy? Are you happy? Are you happy? What would you like to do? Would you like me to come over and brush your teeth for you tomorrow morning because you're going to be going home?' No, come on, knock it off, will you?"

Can someone get us a translator?