Yo, Penn State students…wake up!
I am calling out the student body at Dear Old State. In Facebook terms, I am poking you. Heck, I’m shoving you to get your attention. Yeah, that’s right, “I’m mad as hell and I am not going to take it anymore!”
I figure I have enough experience — 31 years in Happy Valley as a former student-athlete, Lion Ambassador, coach, staff member and local volunteer — to speak for the silent majority of alumni and PSU friends and fans out there.
What is going on with your attendance at our athletic events?
Most glaringly, what’s with the empty seats at football games?
There were as many snowmen observing the game in sections EAU and EBU as there were PSU students for a 3:30 p.m. game vs. Minnesota two weeks ago. I understand the weather issue, but where are the school spirit and the old college try and extra effort to support the team?
Before I go any further, I want it on the record that I think we have the best student body in the land. Hands down…most of the time. I have come across PSU grads all over the country and the pride and loyalty runs deep. “We Are…Penn State” is more than a cheer. It’s a living breathing force, a code, a commitment, a responsibility!
And we have a very smart student body, too. For the Minne-snowta, you are all smart enough to know a lot of alumni had to cancel their trips due to travel snafus. And you could figure out that some of our older fans wouldn’t be able to handle the weather. But what’s your excuse? Did air traffic control redirect you to another airport? Did you get delayed at a stop sign at Bigler and Pollock? What was that you say? It was warmer to stay and watch the game on TV in your cozy apartment?
As students, most of you will get four football seasons (and a lot will get five!) to support YOUR team! Supporting the team means being there through thick and thin, rain or shine, winning or losing.
Are we the “Greatest Show in College Football” with the “Best Student Section” only for 8 p.m. games in good weather?
OK, I will even grant you that it was mid-term time and I realize some of you may be terrified of catching the flu bug. But I would estimate 5,000 or more of you didn’t show up. It was quite the embarrassment to see a handful of students on the national TV highlights of the game building a snowman in a completely empty section of the stadium at the start of the fourth quarter — of a game that was still in doubt!
Come on gang, we all know you can do better than this. During my three years with the Nittany Lion Club, I heard complaints about how every student who wants a season ticket should get one. Well, I can’t agree with that. The data doesn’t support it. Last year against Michigan State, with the Big Ten Conference title on the line and a chance to send out one of the best senior classes we have ever had at PSU, the students stayed away in huge numbers.
Look out, I am on a roll. So here comes another pet peeve…
Get to the games earlier! You miss one of the most inspiring and awesome spectacles in all of college football — the Penn State Blue Band taking the field at Beaver Stadium. When the Blue Sapphire, feature twirler PJ Maierhofer — a Penn State treasure — gets rolling and Drum Major Matthew Sabo high-steps to the 50-yard line to do a flip (with a hat that is two feet high, no less) and lands doing a split, the Nittany Lion faithful let out a roar heard throughout the Valley.
Dr. Richard Bundy, the director of the Marching Blue Band, should be knighted. He and the directors who have preceded him are Penn State royalty, and deserve the students’ respect and support.
Two home games remain this season — Nov. 7 against Ohio State and Nov. 14 against Indiana. So get up earlier, get in line earlier, just get in the stadium and don’t miss this spectacle — because you will regret it! I hope the first time you see the Drum Major do his thing isn’t the first time you come back for homecoming in 10 years.
Finally, we are mostly a football school. I get it. But we have 28 other varsity sports here. Get out and support them as well. You can text message your friends and watch YouTube on your iPhones sitting in the stands during a break in the action.
We have the premier women’s volleyball program in the country with a coach who is funny enough to have his own late night TV show. Get out there and support them.
We have a women’s soccer team that has won the Big Ten title 11 consecutive seasons. If you have never seen a fencing match, it’s one of the coolest things I have ever witnessed. And the fact that they won the national championship for the 11th time at home last year was awesome.
So, students — and some alumni, as well — consider yourselves poked, challenged and called out. I hope you will respond with the same passion I have always come to accept from Penn Staters!
