SS Beaver and other random game day observations
Just got back from the game (stayed over night in PA), and had a few random observations to share about the experience:
1-from the direction we came in, the stadium looked huge and dominated the landscape.
2-as it got dark out before the game ... the stadium structure, style, and lighting, looked very similar to a cruise ship docked at port.
3-tailgating was abundant and there were many more visibly drunk people than I expected.
4-apparently there is a uniform for all the girls ... you need to be skinny, have long brown/black hair to your mid-back, wear tight black or gray leggings (or jeans), and Uggs boots. It was quite odd really ... there seemed like there were 1,000s of girls that looked identical in this way. Maybe this is the way college girls dress when it is colder out, but I did not notice the same trend at any other game this year.
5-the lighted concession stands outside the stadium were the same as at a carnival or fair ... which added to that type of atmosphere.
6-inside the stadium, the concourses where riddled with girders that created a maze of obstacles that you can to duck under and weave in and out of. We saw two people hit their heads ... it was not attractive and was annoying.
7-the bathrooms were bad ... the worst I have been to in a while ... and the lines were silly long.
8-at our seats, the stadium looked pretty big ... but not collegiate. The student section was impressive with their white wear and pom poms.
9-the crowd did get into it at times, but seemed a bit subdued.
10-took a good hour to get out of the parking lot after game was over.
All in all, the Michigan stadium and experience is sooo much nicer, classier, and I am not at all jealous of PSU ... except maybe for their student section involvement.
October 31st, 2010 at 2:53 PM ^
@ the "uniform" of th PSU girls...
thats pretty standard on almost every campus in the Northeast.. leggings uggs a hoody with a cut neck and some hairstlye (sometimes the side ponytail comes out)
Its really unattractive, especially on the... more rotund... undergrads
October 31st, 2010 at 3:20 PM ^
I have no complaints with the cited, pictured example of said uniform.
October 31st, 2010 at 5:32 PM ^
October 31st, 2010 at 3:34 PM ^
Yeah, that is one of the joys of a going to a game in SEC country, the exposed tan skin and the sun dresses are MUCH easier on the eyes than the pale-out they have at stadiums across the NE on any given Saturday. BTW, the garbage bags in the background create a very rich scene.
October 31st, 2010 at 6:24 PM ^
USC girls. 'nuff said.
October 31st, 2010 at 3:00 PM ^
in 99' or so. I waited in line to take a piss for almost the entire third quarter. I almost pissed on the kid in front of me in line. I felt very classy for restraining myself.
October 31st, 2010 at 3:01 PM ^
I find posts like these to be really interesting... if only we could make the pictures a little smaller.
Thanks for the information! And I lol'd at the girls dress code because it's such a northeast thing with girls right now. Every girl dresses like that.
October 31st, 2010 at 3:09 PM ^
That you were going to post pics from a porn industry cruise ship
October 31st, 2010 at 3:11 PM ^
Really nice looking concourses there
October 31st, 2010 at 3:28 PM ^
Tell me you know that girl and are not snapping pictures of random co-eds.
Creepy.
October 31st, 2010 at 3:32 PM ^
October 31st, 2010 at 3:34 PM ^
Were they well behaved?
October 31st, 2010 at 3:42 PM ^
I tickled one's chin and gave it a pinch, and the bastard tried to bite!
October 31st, 2010 at 3:34 PM ^
I don't think our student section is particularly bad....however, the rest of the crowd at PSU blows the rest of the crowd at Michigan away by a shit ton.
October 31st, 2010 at 3:37 PM ^
I've attended UM games at most of the Big Ten plus ND campuses over the past. . .ugh. . .20 years--including several games at both ND and OSU--and I have to give PSU fans credit for allowing the best experience for a visiting fan. Granted, there were a handful of jackasses who hypothesized on our sexuality as my group walked past the student entrance (that was sooo Cedar Village of you), but if the OSU Relative Asshole Rating (RAR) is a 10/10, Penn State is in the 1-2 range.
From the open invites to share and friendly chatter in the tailgate lots to the fans surrounding our seats who explained several aspects of PSU football history, there were just a hell of a lot of nice people in happy valley. Granted, it's easy to be nice when you're winning, but it was a stark contrast to most travel experiences--OSU being the absolute worst, seemingly an entire town of cretins with a special fondness for public vulgarity and constant "you lookin' at me"-class attempts to instigate fights.
Thanks Penn State--rough day for the visiting team's fans, and your low RAR was appreciated. Except for you, Ms. mean, nasty dancer at the End Zone who decided it would be funny to wipe her ass with my M hat after I tipped you far more than you deserved.
.
October 31st, 2010 at 4:21 PM ^
ditto:
For the most part, PSU fans were very nice and very welcoming. The fans we sat with in NAU were a pleasure to be around.
The atmosphere at PSU is fairly professional: they pretty much do the opposite from us in terms of piped in music.
October 31st, 2010 at 4:55 PM ^
I ask; what is uglier? Memorial in Champaign-Urbana? I don't think so. Not Spartan Stadium (not even close). The Metrodome is Big Ten history, replaced by a neat, retro design for the Gophers. I simply can't think of any contender -- not Northwestern, not IU, not Purdue, nobody -- that has an uglier wreck of a Soviet industrial stadium, than The Pennsylvania State University.
There's nothing that rivals Beaver Stadium as the ugliest monstrosity in the Conference.
October 31st, 2010 at 5:04 PM ^
Beaver Stadium is pretty hideous. Northwestern has its charm, IU's is kind of ugly, Spartan Stadium is pretty bad, at least from the outside, but good lord, Beaver Stadium looks like a freaking Erector set. It's bad.
October 31st, 2010 at 5:23 PM ^
Chernobyl:
Happy Valley:
More Happy Valley:
More Chernobyl:
So let's give it up for Beaver Stadium. Much nicer looking than Chernobyl.
November 1st, 2010 at 1:20 PM ^
in Illinois is actually not bad. They just completed a renovation that included suites much like ours. I was not there on a game day, so I can't speak to the atmosphere.
October 31st, 2010 at 5:04 PM ^
What in the world is with the piped in "Sweet Caroline." I can't stand that song, and I have no idea why anyone would play it at a football game.
October 31st, 2010 at 5:29 PM ^
embarrassing that the song is played at games
October 31st, 2010 at 5:20 PM ^
I was convinced the stadium was some sort of transformer that would just stand up and walk away after the game. Older PSU fans were very nice, got food and drink at several tailgates. Students were rude of course. My biggest beef: where was our band?? Would've been great to have them there. Oh, and did you guys know that they are Penn State?
October 31st, 2010 at 5:43 PM ^
October 31st, 2010 at 6:20 PM ^
for our guests every home-football Saturday.
October 31st, 2010 at 6:32 PM ^
I think it's a traditional show of respect. I forget where I heard this, but in 1999 or 2000 when Rice played at UM, their band left some people puzzled by playing the state song of Michigan.
October 31st, 2010 at 10:07 PM ^
Rice has a "scatter band" a la Stanford and most of the Ivy League. They announced they were playing the state song of Michigan and proceeded to play "O Canada."
October 31st, 2010 at 7:25 PM ^
Same in Madison. The students always give the clap of disapproval when this happens.
October 31st, 2010 at 6:00 PM ^
the section and seat numbering at PSU. They use alpha designations ... up to 3 letters and then they split the section with even numbered seats on one side of the aisle and odd on the other ... really ??? Why ??? They did figure out that counting rows 1 then 2 then 3 and so on does work for the local fans .... wow. Maybe they should change to the dewey decimal system ....
Go Blue !
November 1st, 2010 at 9:11 AM ^
November 1st, 2010 at 12:51 PM ^
"SS Beaver" = "Strong Safety [Shavodrick] Beaver of Tulsa, re: Notre Dame."
And as a further mark of confession, and self-effacement, I'll say; I was thinkng, "Please don't tell me, Michigan Defense-Hating-God, that Shavodrick has somehow turned into a brilliant defensive back..."