Roadtrip Woes
From the Parking Lot:
Tailgating is a tricky thing. It’s a risk when you are a loyal fan. You can really enjoy yourself, but you can also ride that roller coaster when the team doesn’t do exactly as you had planned.Â
I haven’t written this column since before the Notre Dame game. In it, I said I thought that PSU would lose that game. And they did. But dammit, that didn’t make it any easier. The problem is the trip to South Bend was lots of fun. We had a great time seeing the town, enjoying the people, and tailgating with a bunch of the NittanyNation.Â
South Bend as a city didn’t really impress our group. It defintely didn’t have the college town feel that we are used to from State College. It didn’t compare to other places we’ve been like Lincoln, Madison, and Ann Arbor that have at thriving entertainment district.   In true PennStateTailgate.com fashion however we were able to locate a local watering hole to occupy us for 8 hours or so on Friday night. Corby’s, which apparently is known as the bar from the movie “Rudy,” provided an atmosphere of fun including both PSU and ND fans. And the beer was cheap.
The campus itself is definitely the reason to visit. It was beautiful and you could touch and feel the history around that place and it was pretty impressive to see the crowd on Friday afternoon. The bookstore, Touchdown Jesus, and the Golden Dome are really impressive in person, even if you have a particular dislike of the football team.
The tailgating was equally as fun. We hung with the RV crowd and saw everything from a member of the 1986 National Championship team doing shots with us, to an equally interesting man wearing searsucker pants, a mesh Virginia Beach shirt, and old school Oakleys. The field was considered by the locals as far from the stadium, but a walk not much longer than the one we have in HV got us to Notre Dame Stadium. The best thing about traveling with PSU is you always hear the home team fans say “we’ve never seen it like this.” A lot of domers uttered those words to the Lion Fans that dominated the parking lot, and I’ve heard it all over the country.
Then there was the game. Ouch!Â
From the Field:
What can be said about such a lopsided score. We got are butts kicked and deserved to lose the game to the better team. But it’s not all pessimism. A couple of plays here and there and that game would have been a lot closer. That can be said about a lot of games, I know, but a clipping call here, a caught interception, and a bad decision or two could have turned that game our way.Â
We were expected to lose and we did. Now it’s about what comes this week against an even BETTER team that happens to be ranked first in the country.
Until next time, S-T-A-T-E Go State!
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Rainy Saturdays and South Bend Surprises?
From the Parking Lot:
Everyone who attended the Penn State game on Saturday should pat themselves on the back. Sacrifice for your team is sometimes necessary and the NittanyNation proved that again this past weekend. Pundits talk of the sacrifice that student athletes make to compete in Division I athletics, and the same can be said of fans who tailgate in extreme conditions to follow their passion.
The weather on Saturday did not cooperate. It rained, and then rained some more, and then the day ended with light rain. Ernesto entered the U.S. with the one goal of ruining our day! But sitting there made me realize what is required of fans who want to support their team. The best part is when you realize you couldn’t possibly be anywhere else on opening Saturday.
All in all the tailgate was subdued and confined to four canopies. But it was still tailgating on the first Saturday in College Football, smack dab in the middle of the Happiest Valley in the world. I guess it was worth the sacrifice.Â
Remember you can always prepare for the sacrifice by visiting our tailgating checklist in the “Under the Canopy” section of www.pennstatetailgate.com. You can find it here!
We’ll be taking the tailgate on the road to South Bend this week so look for the PennStateTaigate.com banner in the White North Lot. We’ll also be attending the Steelers/Dolphins game on Thursday and introducing the college brand of tailgating to our brethren in the pros. Hopefully the weather will cooperate this week. Sacrifice is a tough thing to endure. But I guess I’ll survive.
From the Field:
To the untrained eye, this game was a hard one to judge. It started spectacularly with a long touchdown from the arm of Morelli, and ended a few hours later with what seemed like an offense that couldn’t find its groove. I of course notice all the things everyone else notices. An offensive line that couldn’t run block, even though we didn’t try to run that much. A secondary that showed promise in unsuspecting places, and a new 3-4 scheme that didn’t surprise one person in the stadium, but seemed to get the job done.Â
The biggest question is what will this team look like seven days later when we walk into the pageantry and tradition of Notre Dame Stadium. Penn State should be able to hang with the Irish if they can keep the football, put some pressure on Brady, and get the ball downfield against ND’s secondary. In a previous post I predicted that we don’t win this game on the road. I think I still think that. But I love surprises!
Until next time, S-T-A-T-E Go State!
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Typical Penn State Thinking
From the Parking Lot:
I can’t say I’m surprised. It’s been too quiet. Penn State hasn’t done anything in awhile to really upset its fans. But this one is a doozy. In case you haven’t heard, and if you follow PSU at all, that’s impossible, but the powers that be, have decided that tailgating has gotten out of control. So they’ve decided to ban tailgating while the actual game is going on. So when the game kicks off, and not a second before, drop your beer where you are standing. If you brought Grandpa to the game and he just wants to hang out near the stadium with his cooler of Gennessee Cream Ale he is shit out of luck! If your wife decides that she really isn’t interested in the game, but more in the social atmosphere of old friends she hasn’t seen in awhile, tell her it’s okay to talk, but if she sips a Miller Lite, it’s lights out. Johnny Law is coming to get you and there is nothing you can do about it.Â
If you brought Grandpa to the game and he just wants to hang out near the stadium with his cooler of Gennessee Cream Ale he is shit out of luck! If your wife decides that she really isn’t interested in the game, but more in the social atmosphere of old friends she hasn’t seen in awhile, tell her it’s okay to talk, but if she sips a Miller Lite, it’s lights out. Johnny Law is coming to get you and there is nothing you can do about it. I actually think the intent of this ridiculous, redundant, reactionary new policy is somewhat noble. When a group of 60 or 70 twenty-somethings show up with a Ford F-150 full of Natural Light, you can bet that there are going to be issues. Curbing underage drinking and reigning in fans who are ruining the best atmosphere in the nation are one thing. But throwing a blanket statement out, three days before the season seems a bit much.
Much is being said about how this will be enforced selectively, and I tend to agree. I don’t really think they are targeting Grandma and your wife. What I think would have been a better policy would have been to get on MySpace and tell all of those twenty-somethings to end this behavior or there will be consequences.Â
Penn State has an uncanny ability to make crazy decisions that just plain upset their fan base. Someday, when Joe is gone (and that day may never come), there are going to be people who are just too fed up with assinine rules and regulations, and will just stop attending games and tailgates. We’ll see what happens when the money talks.
See everyone Saturday. Don’t forget to check out pennstatetailgate.com for the menu, and all the other happenings. And don’t be shy, stop by for a visit. Click here for directions and a map.
And visit “In the Huddle” for last minute game predictions and scouting reports
Until next time, S-T-A-T-E Go State!
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