An unexpectedly interesting Blue/White

If I said this was a unique Blue/White game, I'd be making the understatement of the year.

To start with, we lost the burgers we bought for the tailgate, so all we could eat were yellow-creme Oreos, chips and salsa, Guinness, and gin and tonics. Then we accidentally left the grill on (because it was only after we'd turned it on that we discovered the burgers were missing), so one of the grates subsequently melted. Then the game itself was so crowded (a record Blue/White crowd of 73,000) that people were standing on the mezzanine rails just to watch the game—thus blocking the views of people sitting one row up . . . specifically, us.

Yet somehow, we still managed to have a good time in spite of ourselves.

I met Will, my friend Tony from out Pittsburgh way, and my father up in Happy Valley for a beautiful day of spring football. The atmosphere reminded me a lot of the first few games each September, with the warm sun glowing on us and the delicious aroma of barbecues drifting heavy in the air. Tailgating spirits were very high all around, and I think some Ferris wheels were set up by the Bryce Jordan Center as part of the Blue/White weekend festivities.

We didn't get to see too much of the game (we arrived into Beaver Stadium late, and had to conquer the rail crowd, as noted above), though from what I did see, it appears our general lack of on-field cohesion remains—i.e., not completing passes, dropping passes, just general sloppiness that there's really no excuse for. With the Blue team playing the White team, naturally Penn State won (though it could be argued that the 2005 game was the one Blue/White game that Penn State actually lost, because the game was called in the third quarter from a lightning storm passing through), and for the first time in maybe five or six years, I got to go down onto the field after the game. It's really a wonderful feeling mingling with so many other fans down on the actual football field, and I managed to get a number of excellent pictures, which I hope to post on Flickr soon.

My father ducked out early, about halfway through the fourth quarter, and after the game, I went downtown with Will and Tony to frequent some of the downtown establishments. While we were there, I picked up two new T-shirts super-cheap: $8.99 each. At first I thought it was a mega-bargain, but then realized that it was likely poor-college-student pricing, which means I'll have to do a lot more clothes shopping in downtown State College. We topped off our downtown visit by picking up a few slices of Hi-Way Pizza and eating up by the Hub lawn before heading home.

All in all, a good Blue/White.

And before I forget, I must say that the spring "views" we were afforded were worth the trip alone. Well worth it!