Here's the part where I get to tell you what I think about strength training for football. You're probably looking for insight and closure.

It's not here.

See, when we started this article, we had one goal: to find the truth. We wanted to be objective, cover all the various facets of the issue completely and to be as informative as possible.

Then, somewhere along the way, we realized our cause was hopeless.

The more we dug, the deeper this thing got.

There have been better reporters who have tried to do this story before us and for whatever reason, couldn't carry it through. Trying to understand the inner working of any part of the Penn State football program is daunting and ultimately frustrating.

But we thought we'd give it a shot anyway, just to try to turn all the speculation into some well-thought out and researched ideas.

We've talked at length about the rumors: NFL hopefuls performing poorly at combines, former players who bash the training, current players training at downtown gyms and the list goes on. We in no way wanted to substantiate these claims. Nor did we ever really investigate them thoroughly. That was never the point of the story.

Instead, we wanted to get to the very heart of the matter -- what happens in the weight room.

Our original inquiries were met with more resistance than a bench press bar with Gus Felder sitting on top of it (Oh, and Gus? That shot we took at you and the offensive line earlier in the week? Yeah, just wanted to say that you guys really came together down the stretch.)

It took a while to get John Thomas to acknowledge our existence. Only by buzzing around for over a week and annoying him did he finally stop to swat us. Then, he had some question to ask before agreeing to talk.

Turns out J.T. was nothing that people made him out to be. When we finally got him to sit down he was patient and understanding. He took us through the system carefully and explained his reasons for using HIT. Along with assistant Jeremy Scott, he provided us with piles of literature explaining and backing his points. He offered us access to the weight room so we could watch players run through the routine. He went so far as putting us through our very own high intensity workout.

What I will always respect most about J.T., though, is that he never said a derogatory word about anybody.

In fact, a good number of the sources we turned to were incredibly knowledgeable and methodical in their explanations. However, as we progressed along it became almost impossible to separate fact from opinion.

First, strength training is a science first and foremost, full of an immense amount of jargon.

Second, everybody claimed to have research backing their claims.

It's like J.T. says: "If you believe strongly enough in something, you're going to find a way to support it."

There are things we could have done to further our research. A trip to Nebraska would have really helped. Perhaps a doctorate in kinesiology would have cleared things up a bit. But none of these were possibilities.

We never bothered to really try to talk to football players. What player in his right mind would openly criticize the system? Sure, we had guys say in casual conversation to us that the system was "useless" and that they train using their own methods when they are home.

J.T. told us that he has never caught a player training in a gym downtown. Well, we did. While sitting at the desk of a State College health club trying to figure out the truth about what the players really think, one strolled in and instantly our doubts were removed.

So what? Some of the players don't like the system and might try something else. There are players on the team who don't like the play calling, or don't like getting moved to different positions. But they knew what they were getting into when they committed to Penn State. Identical to the rest of the Nittany Lion program, strength training is regimented and team oriented.

Another avenue we could have explored more closely is the academic end of the argument. Penn State has a world-renown Olympic-style trainer on staff in the kinesiology department named Vladimir Zatsiorsky. Critics of Penn State's system were quick to point out the discrepancy between what is taught in classes and what is used on athletes.

But Zatsiorsky was diplomatic about it. Though he believes in the virtues of Olympic-style training, he admits to all his students that he has never trained for football.

This is not a dead issue, either. We've had numerous people come forward since the beginning of this week with their own opinions on the subject. I'll continue to follow the debate, hoping that the stagnation and ignorance that feed it will eventually subside and allow more open communication.

There is one thing the two systems agree on whole-heartedly:

"All we want is our kids to come in and give their best," says Boyd Eply, Nebraska's strength coach.

"I just expect our kids to do their best and give me all they've got," says Thomas.

You can't really ask more of a guy than that.