Weekend Recap: PSU Homecoming Edition

Back after the weekend in State College, PA. Very enjoyable 3 days in the Happy Valley and it was nice to hang out or even just run into so many people. In news relating to the Ross Press Release, I am extremely pleased to hear all of the positive feedback that the readers gave me. I had several people say, "Hey I've been reading your blog and it's great...love the writing!" Don't mean to toot my own horn, but just wanted to pass on my thank you for all of the kind words. Like I always say, I just keep this thing going because I have a whole lot of nonsense to ramble off, and what better place to put it than on the internet.

Now, weekend recap. Headed up to the Penn State on Thursday night and have to say that with the construction work on I-80 being complete in the eastern half of Pennsylvania, it makes the ride a hell of a lot smoother. Got there in about 4 hours flat. Had to prepare ourselves for a long day at Cafe 210 on Friday.

So sure enough, we were in the idiots in line at Cafe 210 on Friday morning at approximately 9:45am. We stood in line until 11am when they let us in and we were able to secure prime seating for the Parade. It's a good thing we were prepared with several layers of clothing and several hot drinks in us. Regardless, when you are sitting outside all day, it does take a toll on you after many hours. I was frozen and tired by the end of Friday. Either way, still made my promised appearance at Guard the Lion Shrine, and I must that it was a very well-run event. (I would expect no less!) Special RPR shout-outs to 4 generations of The Buddy Fam: Lindsay, Bryant, and MK.

Saturday: Game Day. After a short walk around the downtown, we made the familiar trek up to Beaver Stadium. Wasn't sure what to expect, as this was my first time sitting in the alumni section. We all know that the student section has a certain atmosphere about it. Not to discount the alumni, but it has to be agreed upon that the students have more energy and tend to be a little (or a lot) louder. That being said, our tickets were in the newer section (above the South Endzone) and we were in the absolute last row. Bad news: The wind blows like ridiculous up there. Good news: Excellent birds eye view of the game. Regardless of where the seats were, it was great being in the stadium. The folks in our section were rather mellow. They didn't seem to be too excited at any given point, and I noticed an older demographic. It was brought up by someone on Saturday night (can't remember who) that they should have certain alumni sections for recent alumni. Have specific sections for people who graduated less than 10 years ago. And then other sections for people who graduated between 10-15 years ago, and so on. I think it'd make things more interesting, and bring back the atmosphere that you were used to in the student section. At the very least, you wouldn't be disappointed with the older alumni who act the same way at the football game as they do when they sit in a religious service. Just my two cents...

Back to the game...Penn State played a rather conservative game plan, but it was good enough to beat Purdue, 33-15. PSU is now 5-1 in the Big Ten, 8-1 overall. Now ranked 10th in the AP Poll. Most importantly, brings up a huge matchup next week at home vs. Wisconsin. Since PSU and Wisconsin are both tied atop the Big Ten at 5-1 conference record, this game could essential decide the Big Ten champion. Definitely looking forward to the matchup next Saturday.

Saturday night, the mission was to go to the Skellar. The Skellar was always one of my favorite establishments at the Penn State, and I definitely liked the new and improved crowd control measures they put in place. Let's face it: in the past, it was nice that they would let everyone inside, but then it would be unbearably crowded to the point of not being fun. Instead, they had a bit of line outside, but once you got in, it wasn't wall to wall people. I enjoyed the band, and also enjoyed the $3.50 Guinness pints. Can't get that in New York City, that's for sure. After closing down the bar at 2am, we positioned ourselves on the corner of College Ave and Pugh Street and checked out all of the crazy Halloweeners. I have to give the current PSU student population credit for some excellent creativity in the costume department. I'm not sure that I can even begin to describe some of the get-ups that I witnessed...

It should also be noted that Jessica and I made it to brunch at East Halls with my sister and her roommate on Sunday morning, for nostalga purposes. Ah, brings back the memories.

Other shout-outs from the weekend:
-Ellen, for booking the hotel room one year in advance. Excellent work!
-The crazy cab drivers throughout the weekend. Especially the one guy who came to State College from Tulsa, OK, and may have been drunk/high on Saturday morning when he drove us downtown.
-That 35 year old guy who we seemed to run into everywhere throughout the weekend. Although someone saw proof of his age, we're still not sure that he's really 35.
-The student who pulled the "I'm Pre-Med and I'm going to be a Dermatologist some day" routine when hitting on Jessica in the Rathskellar.
-Jessica, for nonchalantly blowing off the "Future Dermatologist". (I watched the whole thing from about a foot away. It was rather humorous. If the kid had kept talking for another 10 seconds I would have jumped in with some smart ass remark.)

Overall, it was an excellent weekend. The Happy Valley truly is a great place and it's always wonderful to hang out with friends and see a handful of familiar faces.

(Side note to Jared: I was having trouble posting the Nittany Lion pumpkin carving pictures. I'll give it another shot tomorrow to see if I can get them on the site. For some reason, it doesn't want to take.)

Back tomorrow night...