Penny Johnston of Waldoboro, Maine started her business of making doormats from recycled lobster trap float-rope at age 69.

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Look around the country and you'll see many programs that once were doormats in their conferences Northwestern, Texas Christian, the University of South Carolina getting bowl game berths.

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Since then it has evolved to include Swedish words for the living room, Norwegian terms for bedroom furniture and Danish words for things like toilet seats and doormats.

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How is it that some givers, like Hornik, land on top, while other givers wind up on the bottom, as pushovers and doormats, failing to advance their own interests?

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If we can flash back to that time: Those Jets were coming off an AFC Championship run in the inaugural campaign of head coach Rex Ryan, and the surprise contender, long New York doormats, had a raffish charm.

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