â??Sweet Carolineâ?? muted post scandal

STATE COLLEGE — Penn State's home opener on Saturday will be missing a game-day staple: "Sweet Caroline."

The Altoona Mirror reports that school officials decided to eliminate the Neil Diamond sing-along hit from the Beaver Stadium playlist because of its lyrics: "Hands, touching hands, reaching out, touching me, touching you."

The song could be awkward in light of the Jerry Sandusky child-sex scandal.

However, Associate Athletic Director Greg Myford says that while the lyrics were discussed, "Sweet Caroline" had been on the bubble for several years because the song has no real connection to Penn State. He says "it simply became easier to rotate out in order to try something else."

Diamond has said he wrote the song in tribute to President John F. Kennedy's daughter, Caroline