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October 15, 2003

by Jared Bean

Going into last Saturday, I was hoping that the change of scenery would make a difference in my perspective on Penn State football. Unfortunately, it may have become more jaded.

From the Parking Lot:

This week, like most away games, there was no parking lot, no canopy blowing away, no traveling to do. In most cases this disappoints me, but this week it was a welcome change. By watching on television I could see the plays, the reactions of the coaches, and perhaps better judge a team that I have been very critical of. But all the television did was make it more real.

Tailgating at home for away games is a tradition in and of itself. When you cannot be at the stadium to support your team, it is still important to be around your friends, even if it’s not all of them. Obviously things are different. You have a bathroom right down the hall, you have a roof over your head in case of the weather (of course last Saturday was beautiful), and you can actually watch the game with a large group of friends, instead of wishing each other good luck as you fan out to your seats once in the stadium. It’s also a shorter ride home after a loss. So, when you can’t be at the stadium, the tailgate changes, but it certainly doesn’t disappear.

But some of the PennStateTailgate.com faithful did make the trip, and represented the tailgate in West Lafayette, IN. Read guest columnist Jeff Metzger’s (author of "In The Huddle") report from the road:

First off, let me thank General Bean for allowing me to occupy some space for this week. While the majority of the pennstatetailgate.com crew enjoyed a much needed rest, the Metzger’s ventured westward for the Nittany Lions’ tilt with Purdue. The weekend proved to be a very enjoyable roadtrip, despite PSU’s performance on the field. Now, my fellow veteran tailgaters at pennstatetailgate.com know that no Big Ten roadtrip would be complete without an early morning stop at the Meijer. I’ve got to commend the Purdue folks on this one – they’ve got one hell of a Meijer and it’s right off the interstate. Personally, I’d rate it as the best Meijer in the Big Ten.

After purchasing our tailgate supplies, we headed for the parking lot. We chose one of Purdue’s intramural fields, located about a half mile from the stadium. When we pulled into the lot, we had no idea the unbelievably good time that was in store for us. We were parked next to two SUV’s of Penn State fans. It turned out to be Jimmy Gleeba and his buddies on a guy’s getaway weekend. Who is Jimmy Gleeba, you might ask? Well, it turns out that he is Bill Gleeba’s brother. Bill and his family are frequent guests at the pennstatetailgate.com tailgates during Penn State home games. What a small world!

Our new Penn State friends made it an awesome tailgating experience for us. From allowing us to share their cooler space to aiding in our good time by coaxing us to do some Kamikaze shooters with them, these guys were a blast. We did what we do at every tailgate – eat, drink, and talk football with a great group of Penn State football fans.

As for the Purdue fans, I have nothing but good things to say. They were very cordial before the game and gracious winners after. Their tailgates weren’t as big or extravagant as some you might see in Happy Valley, but they were lively and full of spirit, which made the day that much more enjoyable. From the DJ with the kickin’ sound system who agreed to play a few songs for the entire lot from our Blue Band CD to Sarah’s dad, who may in fact be the coolest Purdue fan in the world, who let us use his Absolute when we ran out of vodka so that we could give our entire row Kamikaze shots, Purdue fans were all great.

The misses and I both have to give this gameday experience two thumbs up. While I’ve had good times in Ann Arbor, Columbus (I know, hard to believe), East Lansing, Bloomington, and Champaign, I would have to put West Lafayette at the top of my list. This is a must return trip in two years and an absolute necessity for the rest of the pennstatetailgate.com gang to experience!

From the Field:

Bottom line: Watching the field on television isn’t quite like being there. When you are at the games, you get a perspective that includes the sidelines, which allows a fan to see the whole game and the nuances involved. That’s where you see the confusion in substitution, the ranting of the head coach, and the conflict amongst the coaching staff. One thing I have been writing about this year has been this Penn State Football team and its lack of emotion and heart. This is something not easily measured. Last week, I thought the TV feed would provide me with a new perspective on this lack of heart and emotion. I thought maybe if you see the plays up close and over and over again on instant replay that it would show the reasons more clearly as to why this team is failing.

What it showed and emphasized, was the lack of execution, and heart that the pundits have been discussing since we started losing. Sure, I’ve watched games on tape throughout the year, but seeing it live on TV is different.

You can see how easy the passes are that Tony Johnson continues to miss. You can see the confusion in the huddle when personnel are being shuffled in and out. You can see the dumbfoundedness on the quarterback’s face when he’s waiting for a play to be called. You can see the defense in the middle of the second quarter with there hands on their hips pondering the familiar feeling of “what just happened to us.”

Perhaps many of us expected way too much from this team. That much is obvious. The one thing we never expected from a Penn State Football team (especially one coached by Joe Paterno) is the lack of emotion we have seen from the 2003 squad.

We lost a truckload of talent when the NFL drafted many of last year’s great players. But unlike other teams we didn’t reload. We didn’t fill holes. We took another step back, right after we needed to take one forward after last year’s leap forward. It was to be a return to respectability.

The only saving solace is that this is a young team, with the exception of a few on the offensive line. The team has nowhere to go but up, but we have to hope that this attitude of failure does not become a culture of losing. If that were to happen, it would be a long and winding road back up to return to the pinnacle where we belong.

Until next time…GO STATE!

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