Crazy Weather

Crazy! That describes the 2009 Penn State football season so far, not the actual games, but the weather! The die-hard Nittany Lion Fans have been subject to everything from blue skies and warm temperatures (Akron), to wet and cold conditions (Iowa), to this week’s frigid weather (Minnesota), which reigns as ‘king of the craziness’! Rain, ice and snow, broken tree limbs everywhere, and power outages were the main event of the weekend at least until game time. Other notables were no tailgating, no parking in the grass and no throwing snowballs in the stadium.

Who would have imagined snow on October 17th. Not since 1901 has there been snow in State College this early. Aren’t we supposed to be having Indian Summer, that period of time after the leaves have changed, but before the first snowfall? I’m not sure if this mixed- up weather is associated with ‘global warming’ or if Mother Nature was just playing with us to see if we are… die-hard Penn State fans.

Well according to the PR machine at Penn State there were over 107,000 people at the game. From my observations, there were many less than that in attendance. Ticket sales may have topped over 107,000, but the stadium was not at capacity. I can’t say I blame people for not coming to the game. If it were not for our ‘favorite player’, we might have decided to enjoy the game from the view of the recliner in our motor home.

We did go to the game and enjoyed seeing our ‘favorite’ make a fine, one-handed catch, and run for a nice gain after the reception. He also had a good game blocking and caught two other balls, although one was called back due to a penalty. This game was a good confidence builder for him and the team, especially as they prepare to take over hostile territory in Ann Arbor.

The Wolverines of Michigan own Penn State at the Big House. We have lost there since 1996. During those years Lloyd Carr (who must have mentored Kirk Ferentz on how to consistently beat our Lions) was the coach. The upside is that Rich Rodriguez is now the coach and Carr doesn’t feel the same love for him, so as a second year coach, Rodriguez is on his own to figure out if he can beat us.

Our own Evan Royster has confidence in his team. He told the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette on Tuesday, “I think we feel like we’re the better team and we can go out there and still beat them.” Those words must have sounded like a challenge to Brandon Graham when told by AnnArbor.com of the comment. His response was, “Prove it.”

So ‘prove it’ we must. We know we can handle the weather forecast of: 30% chance of showers with highs in the 40’s. We know, their Big House is not Our White House, and their Maize-out is not a Whiteout. And for certain we know, our team is as good as they believe they are. So ‘prove it… we will’.




Beaver Stadium on snowy October 17, 2009.



Coach Paterno is the first one off the bus for the game.

Pregame in the Bryce Jordan Center.

The Lionettes entertained us.

The men's basketball team scrimmaged and had a dunk contest.

Ruger and the Snowman.

Karah bundled up in her colorful attire.

Our 'favorite' before the game.



Post game celebration.

Pap and Jody relaxing after the game at Damons



The rest of the 82 crew at Damons

We are...half-finished!

We are now officially half- finished with the 2009 PSU Football season. What do you think so far? Are we as good or as bad as you thought prior to the season? I have mixed feelings, but I’m thinking positive. Possessing a 5-1 record could mean we are good, but as we all know, four of those teams weren’t in the same league as Penn State. Illinois, the only Big Ten team we have beaten so far, doesn’t help us gauge who we are because they are not that good. Sure we lost to Iowa, but right now it’s hard to put that into perspective because we haven’t played ‘like teams’. So how do we know what to expect for the second half of the season?

Wouldn’t it be great if we had an instrument like a barometer to predict the future of this season? Meteorologists use barometers to measure air pressure tendencies over a period of time to predict weather. If the air pressure drops for a few days, the weather usually gets worse or remains poor. If the pressure rises, the weather is likely to improve or remain good.

Right now if we had a ‘football barometer’ I sense the arrow would point up, indicating ‘high pressure’ with conditions likely to improve. I think that for two reasons. First, there is a lot of pressure on the team to find reliable players to replace those that graduated. It seems like after six weeks we have made progress in some questionable areas, but there is still plenty of room for more improvement. Second, there’s a heavy weight on the Lions to win the next six games for a chance to be crowned ‘Big Ten Champion’ or at least secure a ‘good’ post- season bowl game. Unfortunately, we don’t have that football barometer to predict the forecast for the next six weeks so what happens is anyone’s guess. As for The pride, we believe the outlook for the Nittany Lions is good.

There’s an old proverb that says, “The proof of the pudding is in the eating”. Translated that means, the quality of something is uncertain until it has been tested directly. The test begins this Saturday. The pressure is high. The forecast is good!

Go Lions beat the Golden Gophers

Eastern Illinois Pictures

Pregame shotThe Penn State Glee Club

Part of the '82 Crew'

Beautiful sky over Beaver Stadium

Students passing The Lion through the stands

Our favorite player leaving the field after the win




The 'fav's' 23rd birthday party

Sunset over Beaver Stadium

Traveling the Big Ten

The lion and I visited several Big Ten campuses over the past couple of years. We have traveled to Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio State, Iowa, and Illinois (twice). Our visits always included a campus tour to get a feel for the atmosphere of the school, find the stadium, and locate parking for the game. As we wandered around campus dressed from head to toe in blue and white (like we were advertisements for the Penn State Bookstore), we were always amazed that students talked to us. In fact, most went out of their way to be helpful in directing us to some interesting sights on their campus.

Last year at Purdue, we were directed to the Neil Armstrong Hall of Engineering to see the moon rock that was brought back from the Apollo 17 Mission. It weighed 2 grams and was part of 842 lbs of moon rocks and soil collected during 6 lunar missions. I can appreciate where this came from, but I have to say, it looked like an ordinary rock.

At Ohio State, students sent us to the Wexner Center for the Arts to see the only U.S. venue for the Andy Warhol exhibit titled, ‘Andy Warhol: Other Voices, Other Rooms’. There were over 700 films, videos, paintings, drawings, wallpaper and installations presented. It was great how he took ordinary objects like Brillo boxes and turned them into art. Hmm, maybe I'll keep those boxes stacked in my dining room and call them 'art'.

On Wisconsin’s campus we followed the crowds to the Memorial Union and terrace situated on Lake Mendota. It was one of the most beautiful university student centers we had seen. People were everywhere on the terrace watching the sailboats on the lake, and drinking cold ‘Rathskeller Ale’ from the German pub appropriately named, the Rathskeller. We learned this was the first union, at a public university, to serve beer. The atmosphere on this campus screams serious ‘party school’. (Sailboats at the edge of the terrace.)

This year our visit to Illinois was a repeat, but we still enjoyed walking around campus. I again found the Morrow Plots to be noteworthy. According to a campus tour web site, they are the oldest continually used experimental agricultural fields in the U.S., and also the first soil experimental plots by a U.S. college. They are not only fascinating for their purpose, but also because they seem totally out of place in the middle of all the concrete and tall red brick buildings. By the way these plots would be perfectly at home outside of Champaign since there is absolutely nothing but flat fields for miles.

This was a quad near the Morrow Plots. The Illini band was setting up practice.

The University of Illinois was home to many different shaped buildings.

The Bell Tower

An interesting roof on the Foellinger Auditorium.

This is not even a small fraction of the rich culture each university offers, but it is a sample of some of the experiences we enjoyed. So whether our team won or lost (mostly won), every campus, museum, exhibit, student union, and of course every stadium we visited enriched our football experience.

Coming later: A look at the local cuisine and life around Big Ten towns.

The Silver Lining

What is there to say after the loss to Iowa for a second straight year? I, like every other Penn State fan, have been pondering this for the past two days and the only thing I can come up with is the proverb “every cloud has a silver lining”.

I’m a fan of such inspirational ideas. The ‘silver lining’ comes from the idea that thunderclouds that are very dark and threatening often have a silver gleam of sunlight along the edge.

A quick search of the idiom turns up several thoughts:
1. A negative situation that produces something that is very positive
2. A sign of hope in an unfortunate or gloomy situation
3. A bright prospect
4. Humanity’s ability to endure even the worst crisis, rebuild and start again

If there was any silver lining in this dismal loss to Iowa it was the first play of the game. It was not because we scored a touchdown on that play but because it demonstrated that ‘faith and common belief’ in something can bring about desired results.

The first play of the game went for 79 yards and a touchdown and it was a “team” effort. One that everyone believed in or it wouldn’t have happened. That first play was designed to be a winner. The team believed it. It happened. In the words of ‘the lion’ the team just needed to “finish what they started”.

The next series on offense went 68 yards on 10 plays that took 10 minutes off the clock but ended in a field goal rather than a touchdown. This wasn’t the turning point of the game but from this point on the leadership of the team shifted gears and decided to play “not to lose” instead of play “to win”. The confidence that the team had to score on the first play of the game was now nowhere to be found.

Where faith stood, believing in each other’s abilities, drive, determination and that the job could be accomplished, now loomed ‘fear’ that it couldn’t be done.

Fear is the absence of faith. Fear was on the face of the entire offense. Fear dictated the rest of the game. Why? Where was the faith that started the game?

Unless everyone on the team is the absolute greatest player ever, the attitude of ‘faith’ better be part of the game plan. For the Lions, the leadership lost faith in them and to take a quote from ‘Remember The Titans’ “attitude is a reflection of leadership”.

Yes, there are weaknesses on the team (check out all the other football blogs and newspapers to read about them) but the ‘faith factor’ can’t be underestimated. If this team believes it can win like that first play demonstrated, then it can. That’s the silver lining.


Go State Beat Illinois



Ruger is ready for his Gameday debut

Posing for pictures

Getting pictures taken with fans

Gameday stage

The crew starts to arrive for the tailgate prior to the rain

Custom made clear ponchos so we don't mess up the whiteout

Playing cards and staying dry before the game

Great lasagne, meatballs and sauage at the tailgate

All smiles before the game

Part of the ritual- waiting for the team bus

Slammin a shot

The 'fav' during pregame stretching

Great attendance for the whiteout in spite of the rain

Ioweya

Iowa's Kinnick Stadium- capacity 70,585

1939 Heisman trophy winner Nile Kinnick

This week in the media press conference Joe Paterno was asked if he felt there would be a “revenge” factor in this week’s game against Iowa. He said he didn’t like that word to describe a football game. He went on to say Iowa was a good football team last year and “we got licked”. Well after witnessing last year’s game in person I have to say if this year’s game is not revenge it must be “Ioweya” (one of the cubs coined this word).

Last year we traveled to Iowa in our motor home a few days before the game. In hindsight I realize I should have paid better attention to the trip out there because I might have seen the “omens” beginning to form. It all started with our toilet.

The flusher button wouldn’t work. So as the lion drove, I called the motor home tech people to try and figure out what was wrong. After trying different things that didn’t work I figured out where we would be stopping for the night and arranged for a tech person to meet us there. Oh by the way it would cost $250.00 just to have the “toilet fixer” come meet us and that didn’t include any labor or parts. That piece of info inspired the lion to trade places with me, I drove while he fiddled around and what do you know he fixed it! Maybe from this you might reason that we won the game. Obviously we didn’t and the rest of our trip was full of other ominous signs that said “danger ahead”.

The weather was a shock since we left Happy Valley on a pleasant fall day but arrived in Iowa to snow flurries and lots of wind. It was so cold we had to buy extra stuff to keep warm. The problem was our team wasn’t prepared for the cold weather.

Our visit to the campus and stadium the day before the game should have been a big flashing sign that said, “beware”. At just about every other Big Ten school we take pictures of the stadium and football field. So at Iowa’s Kinnick Stadium we took some pictures around the complex. We got into trouble when we went over to look at the field (which was in plain view). The security guard there informed us we “must leave”. There was such urgency about us leaving you might have thought we were trying to steal the stripes off the field. We left but none of us still recognized the signs.

The day of the game I arrived to pick my ticket up at the will call window. As always I had my camera, and my binoculars in on of those recyclable grocery bags. The security guard at the gate told me my bag was too big and I couldn’t go through the gate. I took my camera and binoculars out, put them around my neck and folded the bag into a small square and put it in my pocket. I walked through the gate and then promptly got accosted by security. They acted like I was carrying “secret weapons” in my folded 4x4 square bag. I had to throw my grocery bag away or be kicked out. Needless to say by the time I took my seat I was feeling a bit “picked on”.

The rest of the story is history. The omens were pointing at what became the only loss for Penn State in regular season play. So yes in spite of what Joe thinks about revenge, I would like to have some. Yes, Iowa was a good football team that day, but tomorrow is a different day.
Iowa is visiting us at BEAVER STADIUM, with a WHITEOUT, and GAMEDAY, and 110,000 FANS screaming not only for a win but also for REVENGE.

Slammin Shots and Sayin Prayers

Fans and Media wait in anticipation for the game to begin



Part of the routine before the game...captains Darryl Clark and Sean Lee enter the field first

The teams files out of the tunnel into the stadium to start the game

Fast forward: The routine stuff was great as always but....

Boy, I’m glad the game is over. The "game” was Penn State versus Temple and I certainly wouldn’t give it the title of “fast and furious”. It was more like “slow and torturous”. I think it was around the third quarter when I realized I was watching the sidelines, bleachers, cheerleaders, Nittany Lion, everything but the game.

Even one of the cubs who was supposed to be photographing the game couldn't stay focused.

I wondered if the students in the "S" zone were still awake. I hoped the coaches in the press box were.

At least the cheerleaders were into the game

or maybe not.... where did they all go?

Of course they went to help the lion entertain us with his 31 push-ups

I’m sure part of my problem was my favorite player was used sparingly due to the flu. He did get in the game early on a drive at the one- yard line. When he went in, a fleeting thought went through my head that he was a decoy, but much to my surprise he caught a nice touchdown pass from Darryl Clark. After that he was in and out of the game. But that is not the entire reason I was yawning during the third quarter.

Three and soon to be four home games in a row is almost enough to make anyone want to retire from tailgating. At least if the scheduling gods were giving us four in a row, couldn’t the third one have been a more exciting opponent. Oh I forgot… the flu. I also forgot… we aren’t there yet as a team. We still need these games to work out all the kinks. (Obviously it’s a good thing I’m in charge of tailgating and not scheduling).

So even if I am exhausted and probably coming down with some germ I caught while taking care of a certain player, don’t feel sorry for me. In spite of the boring game and my lethargy there is a bright spot. It is our tailgate crew. They are the best! This is our fifth year and it has all come together. Everyone who tailgates with us knows the routine.

Even Ruger

For a noon- time game we have breakfast before the game and the real tailgate occurs after the win. “The Pride” waits after the game for our “favorite player” to come out of the locker room while our fellow tailgaters go straight to the motor home and set everything up. They have gotten so good, if we wait long enough, we don’t have to do anything. Good plan.

Speaking of routines we have several. On Friday mornings as part of our pre-game routine the lion and I visit the Penn State Meat Lab to buy meat for our tailgate. This week in honor of Temple we made Philly Cheese Steaks. The steak came from Penn State’s own cattle. It was excellent quality even if the idea of buying meat from a lab conjures up visions of creepy experiments and such. Remember Penn State was an agricultural school originally.

In addition to our Friday routine, we have a pre-game ritual we never miss on game day. Immediately before we go into the stadium we “slam a shot and say a prayer”. (Did I mention we are…. superstitious?) Even at away games the “shot and prayer” happens via cell phone for those who didn’t travel. Maybe this week we need to take two shots for the Iowa game and call our Pastor or maybe the Pope to join our prayer.

Hopefully we won’t need to do anything extra except pay attention to the game and remember to wear white cause it’s a whiteout! (See if you can find our “favorite player” and “the lion” in this YouTube video). Let me know in the comments.

Go State Beat Iowa