As a resident of Southeastern PA, this game means more to me than any other game on the schedule!!! I am surrounded at work and at home by delusional PSU fans. To make things worse, my daughter enrolled at PSU this fall. I should be clear that I have no problem with the school from an academic perspective and I am comfortable that she will enjoy her 4 years in State College. Side note: my son just graduated from Pitt last spring, was way easier for me to accept from a sports perspective 
. I root for Pitt and happily wear their gear. But, I told my daughter that I would never-EVER wear a PSU clothing item on my body. I will further explain why below.
So we decided to visit my daughter this past weekend for the Iowa game. I purposely picked that weekend because Michigan was on a bye week.... I have been up to PSU for several Michigan games over the years and even been on campus way back in the late 80's when several of my friends were enrolled there. For the record; "judgment day" when we beat them 34-8 in 1997 was my favorite trip up there!!!
But, I have to admit that having a daughter go there and then going through parent orientation, move in day and now back up for a football game, you just can't shake the cult that exists up there. The constant WE ARE and absolute focus on the Football program is beyond nauseating. To be honest, I used to respect Joe Paterno and his "success with honor" approach to running a "clean" program. Even when they were spoon fed into the BIG (by getting bye weeks before Michigan and/or OSU for the first several years) it never bothered me. Mainly because I would have the opportunity to see Michigan every other year just 3 hours from home. So, I was very happy to have them join the conference and add the BIG network along the way that allowed me to have more access to the Michigan program on Television.
However, that all changed the day Sandusky finally got exposed (note: there were several rumors floating around for years in this area before it all went down that Sandusky may have a problem). The blind eye that JoePa took towards that whole travesty forever changed my opinion of him and the program/school overall. The fact that three other senior administrators all assisted in the cover up because FOOTBALL and JoePa were the most important things to the institution was never more clear. The fact that the Paterno family sued the school for firing him and shaming him when he did "what was required" disgusts me more than anything I have ever seen. The Paterno family say that Joe gave back millions and helped build a library and lived a humble life, etc, etc. All of that doesn't matter to me. He had the opportunity to do the right thing and cared way more about his football team and his legacy and that is beyond sickening. So, after all the sanctions, fines, statue removal, etc....The school still holds the football program out as all they really care about. This is why I won't wear PSU gear. Because it doesn't stand for just the school, it stands for mainly the football program, because this is how they act in State College. To finish this point, I have a friend that played for Sandusky and Paterno way back in the day. When he heard my daughter selected PSU he said, "make sure she enrolls in the honors college because they get the same priority as the Football team when selecting their classes"..... see FOOTBALL above everything!
Another case in point is if you drive around PA or especially anywhere around State College you will see several bumper stickers on cars or flags flying with "409". 409 represents the number of wins (when reinstated by the NCAA) that Joe Paterno won at PSU. It's just more validation that many view him as done the right thing and not for the fraud he was.
So, yes, I care about this game like Don Brown----it's personal!!! Let's win by several touchdowns and let me hear nothing but silence from these delusional PSU fans around me till we play again.
Go Blue!
. I root for Pitt and happily wear their gear. But, I told my daughter that I would never-EVER wear a PSU clothing item on my body. I will further explain why below. So we decided to visit my daughter this past weekend for the Iowa game. I purposely picked that weekend because Michigan was on a bye week.... I have been up to PSU for several Michigan games over the years and even been on campus way back in the late 80's when several of my friends were enrolled there. For the record; "judgment day" when we beat them 34-8 in 1997 was my favorite trip up there!!!
But, I have to admit that having a daughter go there and then going through parent orientation, move in day and now back up for a football game, you just can't shake the cult that exists up there. The constant WE ARE and absolute focus on the Football program is beyond nauseating. To be honest, I used to respect Joe Paterno and his "success with honor" approach to running a "clean" program. Even when they were spoon fed into the BIG (by getting bye weeks before Michigan and/or OSU for the first several years) it never bothered me. Mainly because I would have the opportunity to see Michigan every other year just 3 hours from home. So, I was very happy to have them join the conference and add the BIG network along the way that allowed me to have more access to the Michigan program on Television.
However, that all changed the day Sandusky finally got exposed (note: there were several rumors floating around for years in this area before it all went down that Sandusky may have a problem). The blind eye that JoePa took towards that whole travesty forever changed my opinion of him and the program/school overall. The fact that three other senior administrators all assisted in the cover up because FOOTBALL and JoePa were the most important things to the institution was never more clear. The fact that the Paterno family sued the school for firing him and shaming him when he did "what was required" disgusts me more than anything I have ever seen. The Paterno family say that Joe gave back millions and helped build a library and lived a humble life, etc, etc. All of that doesn't matter to me. He had the opportunity to do the right thing and cared way more about his football team and his legacy and that is beyond sickening. So, after all the sanctions, fines, statue removal, etc....The school still holds the football program out as all they really care about. This is why I won't wear PSU gear. Because it doesn't stand for just the school, it stands for mainly the football program, because this is how they act in State College. To finish this point, I have a friend that played for Sandusky and Paterno way back in the day. When he heard my daughter selected PSU he said, "make sure she enrolls in the honors college because they get the same priority as the Football team when selecting their classes"..... see FOOTBALL above everything!
Another case in point is if you drive around PA or especially anywhere around State College you will see several bumper stickers on cars or flags flying with "409". 409 represents the number of wins (when reinstated by the NCAA) that Joe Paterno won at PSU. It's just more validation that many view him as done the right thing and not for the fraud he was.
So, yes, I care about this game like Don Brown----it's personal!!! Let's win by several touchdowns and let me hear nothing but silence from these delusional PSU fans around me till we play again.
Go Blue!
