The Penn State Football Show

Before I get started on my analysis of the game, I must go on a tirade about something that made me absolutely livid on Saturday while I was at the game. I don't know how well this was covered on the television broadcast of the game, but students in the student section were throwing snow balls not only at each other, but on to the field throughout the entire first half of the game. Even after PA announcements asking them to stop, and pointing out that Penn State would receive a 15-yard penalty if they didn't stop, they ontinued to do so. They threw them at the cheerleaders, the dance team, at the Nittany Lion while he was doing his Thriller dance (which was awesome the first time but is really getting old now. Find another song.) It was so immature and disrespectful, I couldn't believe it. If you weren't there to see it, many of these snow balls made it onto the field of play and into the end zone and easily could have interfered with game play. I can not even put in to words how furious this made me.

Honestly, how stupid can these kids be? What good was going to come from throwing a snow ball onto the field? Were they hoping at least one of the star linebackers, Lee or Bowman, would trip over their snowball and re-aggravate their pre-existing injuries? Maybe they could get AJ Wallace to trip over one and give Minnesota an easy touchdown. And while we're at it, lets throw some snowballs at our beloved Nittany Lion. Don't they realize that the cheerleaders they were aiming for are thier fellow Penn State students? Real nice. What was the point of throwing snow balls on to the field? And you would think after just one announcement, they would stop. But they did not.

I grew up a Penn State fan, and have a lot of Penn State pride. I enjoy having friends come for a football game and marvel at the experience. I've been to college football games at other venues, and they don't compare. I take pride in the fact that Beaver Stadium is considered one of the toughest places to play, and I truly believe that the crowd does give the team an advantage. I've seen the noise from the crowd force the opposing team to call a timeout or even commit a false start. And the players certainly feed off of the emotion of the crowd. Penn State fans are so loyal and supportive, and that has only increased over the last few years with things like Paternoville. Kirk Herbstreit was right when he declared Penn State as the best student section in the country. I, like many Penn Staters, was very excited and proud to hear him say that. But he would without a doubt take that back if he saw what I saw on Saturday. Penn State was not the best student section in the country this weekend. I think you could very easily argue that they were the worst.

I can't imagine there were many other student sections that were actively threatening to penalize their own team. That's the exact opposite of what being a "fan" is. Can you imagine, if the team was penalized 15 yards because of THE FANS. Through no fault of their own, they could have gone from a 3rd and 1 to a 3rd and sixteen. Or given Minnesota an automatic first down instead of a fourth and long. Absolutely ridiculous.

I've seen a lot of Penn State students do stupid things, but this was definitely up there. I was embarassed and ashamed by the lack of respect the students showed for their team, their fellow students, and their university.

If you are a Penn State student reading this blog, the next time you see someone throw a snowball on to the field, punch them in the face.