Penn State vs. Ohio State: Discovery vs. Complacency

My husband Terry grew up in Ohio and spent every Saturday as a child listening to radio broadcasts on Ohio State football and cheering them on to wins.  He knows the words to all the Ohio State fight songs by heart, and even today he has to restrain himself from singing them when Penn State plays Ohio State.

We have been to every game Penn State has played against Ohio State since we joined the Big Ten in 1993.  At those games we, of course, cheer for Penn State.  But we also love to watch TBDBITL - the Best Damn Band In The Land.

Penn State Football: A Novel Experience at Ladies' X's and O's Camp

At my locker, a football jersey and t-shirt are waiting

For the second year in a row, I had the privilege of participating in the Ladies' X's and O's Football Camp at Beaver Stadium, organized by Patrick Steenberge of Global Football, Inc. in cooperation with Penn State Athletics.  Taught by Penn State Assistant Coach Mike McQueary with the help of Graduate Assistant Coaches Terrell Golden, Bill Kavanaugh, and Elijah Robinson, this day promised to be even more exciting than last year's inaugural camp.

Penn State Football: Support Lift for Life on July 8!

At a time when the media are often focused on football players who do something wrong, it’s nice to focus on football players who are doing something right. 

Such is the case with Eric Shrive, who was enrolled in one of my marketing classes this spring.  He approached me to ask for help with publicizing Lift for Life®.

Lift for Life is an annual strength and conditioning competition for Penn State football players that has become a very successful fundraiser for the Kidney Cancer Foundation through Uplifting Athletes. Last year alone, Lift for Life raised $100,000.  Since 2003, Penn State football players have raised nearly $500,000.

Penn State Bloggers Encourage Donations for Alabama Tornado Relief

Kudos to Ben Jones, a senior student at Penn State and founder of the Victory Bell Rings blog, for trying to organize Penn State football related blogs to encourage donations for our friends in Tuscaloosa Alabama and surrounding communities in the South.  Other blogs such as Nittany Whiteout and LinebackerU.com  are also joining the effort and asking people to donate.

Great idea, fellow bloggers!  And let me join in also by encouraging my readers to make a personal donation to help the people in Alabama and other southern states.

Coming Up for Air (Maybe...) for Penn State's Blue-White Game

Oh my.  I feel like I have really abandoned my faithful readers this winter...a season which only now (maybe) is starting to turn to spring at University Park.  Although I'm not sure.  The weather is particularly nasty for this version of the annual football scrimmage known as the Blue-White game.

I do apologize...it's just that, well, when you're teaching eighteen credits in ONE semester, it's hard to do anything else but prep for classes and grade papers. It's been a tough semester.  And the weather hasn't helped one bit!

Joe Paterno's 400th Win Necktie Being Auctioned by WPSU

Are you a Penn State fan that loves Penn State memorabilia?  Do you collect one of a kind Penn State items that are especially meaningful to you?

Or maybe you love Public Broadcasting at Penn State and want to support them in a unique way.

Or maybe you just think that having a special memento of Joe Paterno's 400th win - the necktie he wore that day - is worth something to you.

In any case, check out the items that are up for auction online as part of Penn State Public Broadcasting's 19th Annual  Connoisseur's Dinner and Auction at the Nittany Lion Inn in University Park, PA:
 
http://wpsu.org/events/conndinner2011_auction

This is the same site that auctioned off JoePa's iconic eyeglasses last year.

Have fun with this.  Certainly it's a great cause that provides a lot of good programming.

Penn State Football: As First STEP Choices Are Made, the Software Seems to Work

It's probably not possible to speak for anybody but myself when faced with a forced relocation of seats at Beaver Stadium due to the STEP process announced last fall that moves both the student section and visitor section and causes current season ticket holders in those seats to be relocated to new seats.

What I can say is that a lot of our concerns about relocation due to STEP were relieved once we were able to access the rather sophisticated "Virtual Venue" on January 5th and view what seats were available for us in each section.  While there were some sections blocked, that didn't matter to us.  We were  interested in tickets in only one section, and that section was available to us and had plenty of alternatives.

Penn State Vs Florida: Trying to Gain Perspective on a Disappointing Loss

Greetings from Centre County PA where the mood right now among the Penn State faithful is one of outright pessimism and dismay after Saturday's grim Penn State loss to the Florida Gators.

It wasn't the fact that Penn State lost the game.  It was HOW the team lost this game that is hard to shake off.   It was just a very ugly ending. 

To paraphrase a Penn State colleague with whom we commiserated over a drink at the hotel bar in Tampa on Saturday night, "We came, we stank, we left."  He used a more modern "s" word but I can't bring myself to use that word in writing.