A Free Spirit's Bucket List: #351 Attend A College Football Game

WE ARE................... Penn State.
I am totally riding the high of this incredible football season the Nittany Lions are having. I can't remember the last time they were ranked so high in the AP. How exciting! The football gods are shining down on Beaver Stadium once again. Good for them! And speaking of football, because really, when am I not.....

Beaver Stadium, State College, Pennsylvania

My first major football game was not an NFL game. It was a Penn State Game. It was part of an amazing Football Weekend adventure Becky and I had back in September of 2014. We saw Penn State on Saturday and the Steelers on Sunday. Talk about a football high! I am an absolute football junkie and I was about to get a double dose of pure, 100% grade A football for the first time in my life. What a fix! Some people choose to be crack whores. I choose be a football whore. Bad analogy but IDGAF!

Now let's talk about Heaven.

First off, Beaver Stadium is massive compared to Heinz Field. The Steelers' stadium can hold 65,050 people. Beaver Stadium holds 107,282 people. Becky and I were attending the Nittany Lions home opener against the Akron Zips. It was jam packed. It also cost almost as much to park as it did to attend the game. I remember saying to Becky' "Did that sign say 40 fucking dollars?" Oh yes....it sure did. It's cheaper to park in downtown Philadelphia for the entire day than it is for a few hours in State College, Pennsylvania. It really pisses me off how much people get ripped off at events.

Wasn't going to let this spoil my mood though. I handed the attendant two twenty dollar bills and off we went to find a spot. We started our Penn State adventure tailgating with another lovely lady, Courtney, whom is an absolute riot. We ate nachos and hotdogs and laughed our asses off. She and her friends were great hosts! It was a beautiful day too. The sky was sunny and blue, the temperature around 70 degrees.

Around 11:30, Becky said we should make our way to the stadium. It's time! Woooooo! I remember walking, well running really, from the tailgating lot to the stadium to catch a glimpse of the Blue Band as they made their way into the stadium. The band sounded perfect. It reminded me of high school. I was a member of the HHS bandfront my sophomore year. The band and us flag twirlers would march from the high school to Harman Geist Stadium for all the home football games. It was so much fun.

Such awesome memories flooded my mind while I snapped pictures of the Blue Band marching into Beaver Stadium. I kept turning and looking at Becky in complete awe. The stadium was huge, vibrant and alive! The big blue Nittany Lion on top of the stadium winked at me I swear to god. Tears of happiness and excitement were welling up in my eyes. I could not wait to get in the stadium. But first, I had to throw my purse away. No purses were allowed in the stadium. I did not know that. Turns out it was also protocol for Heinz Field.

The security guard supplied Becks and I with ziploc bags and we dumped the contents of our purses in them. We debated walking back to the car to drop off the purses for like a second, then we were like....fuck it. Ain't nobody got time for that. I got a game to see, a band to listen too and some vocal chords to strain. I tossed our purses in the nearest garbage can and the gates of Heaven opened, beckoning us.

My eyes were huge as we walked out onto the deck and into the blue. I was stupified to say the least! You think it looks big on TV.....it is nothing compared to actually being inside the stadium. I needed a moment to compose myself and take it all in. We explored the stadium a little bit then found our seats. We were right in the end zone near the top of the lower level. Oh hell yeah! I thanked Becky for making one of my dreams come true.

As we sat down, the Jumbotron started introducing the Nittany Lions football team. The crowd started going wild. One of the starting wide receivers is from Wilkes Barre, Geno Lewis. ( He is now playing on the Sooners.) Becky chuckles when she sees he is going by Geno. She knows him as Eugene. Finally PSU quarterback Christian Hackenberg flashed on the screen. The crowd erupted in a 107,000 Nation Army of cheers. Whoaaaaa! Whoaaaaaa! Whoaaaaaa! The Blue Band was making their way onto the field. They are true rockstars in my eyes! All marching band members are.

I film a video of the players rushing the field with my new phone. Tears begin to well again when they all kneel in the end zone. I found that so endearing. Next to me, Becky is making friends as she always does. Just a few hours ago while we were waiting in line at the Clinton County I-80 rest stop to use the rest room with about 100 other Penn State fans, a lady was telling Becky her whole life story including the TMI parts. I can't remember all of it but it had something to do with toilet paper and her son. I just laughed.

Let the games begin!! The crowd was so loud. I freakin loved it! I love it loud. That may be why I am half deaf now but what a way to go. Between Jack White and Zombie Nation and a really cool stadium wave, Penn State was actually playing a decent football game. I know the Zips are not a Big Ten team but it was a good game. There was also alumni in the house. Former Nittany Lion and NY Giants QB Kerry Collins was there along with former Pittsburgh Steeler Jeff Hartings. There was going to be a ceremony honoring some alumni during half time.

There are some very famous alumni from the Nittany Lions football organization. Mike Munchak and Jeff Cappalletti, PSU's only Heismen Trophy winner, are two of them. Robbie Gould, Matt McGloin, and Jesse James are some of the more recent alumni to cross over to the NFL, along with rookie Hack on the NY Jets, to name a few. (The Jets should just let Hack play dammit.)

However, there are two legends beyond legend that came from Penn State. They are most certainly football gods enshrined forever in the NFL Hall of Fame, perched upon Mt. Olympus. (Actually the HOF is perched upon flat piece of land in Canton, Ohio but I think my Mt. Olympus version is way more exciting than Ohio. LMAO! I mean come on. Ohio? Yea Ohio has the Buckeyes and some really cool roller coasters, but take away Lebron James and Jobu and all you have is the Cleveland Browns and a Bengal team that can't win a play off game even with the Heat Miser as their QB. Just saying.)

Rant over. Back to the most famous Penn State Football Alumni of all time.......
There are two of them. Can you name them?
I can. :)

I'll give you some hints.
Steel Window Coverings.
Smashing Pumpkins 1979 Super Bowl Winners.
Lords of the 4 Rings
Get off the fence and the letter D + the word fence.
Flawless Encounter and Spiral, Virginia or Smoked .........

I'll let you ponder that for a a little while. Good luck trying to make sense of my ramblings. I'll post the answers after the blog.

As for the ending of my Heaven'ly experience, there were touchdowns. There were tight ends catches that made Becky very happy. She loves a good tight end catch. There were penalty flags. Of course there were penalty flags. Pennsylvania teams excel at getting yellow flags thrown on the field. No shocker there. The Zips came to play. They gave the Lions a good fight. But, in the end, Penn State won the game!!! Now.... I'm not going to say it was my awesome, powerful presence and sparkling aura that helped the Nittany Lions win the game but... I'm not going to deny that my being in the house may have had an affect on the outcome of the game.

Either way, the stadium was wild with positive energy. My first major football game experience ended in a win! And the next day my beloved Steelers would also win! It was definitely a very successful and fantastical football weekend for me. I would ride that high for a long time! And the Eagles won for Becky!! I know this because she stood in the stands at Heinz Field with black and white pom poms singing Fly Eagles Fly. That's why I love her so!

Becky and I hung around for awhile after the game. Once the fans left the stadium, we had an opportunity to get closer to the field. The band was still there, playing music on the field. We soaked it all in, took some awesome selfies and discussed the next leg of our journey. I must say it was in this moment that I truly began to comprehend the immense impact of what Penn State football has been through over the past few years. We all know what happened so I am not going to mention it. It's horrible. But from witnessing all the excited fans in stadium, all the students showing their Penn State pride and all the heart these young athletes played with today, I just knew this school would eventually recover. It's going to take a long time, but it will recover.

I never even thought twice about suggesting and supporting my own two kiddos going to Penn State. I myself was a former Nittany Lion. And while finishing my degree from Penn State was put on the back burner, my children will realize a dream that I, myself, may never. Both my kids will have degrees from Penn State University in 2017. Life does come full circle. It may not be the way you mapped it out, but it does come full circle. I have never been more proud.

WE ARE!!!!!!

Chrissy