Posts tagged ‘Holuba Hall’
Football Fans “Rise and Rally”
“I feel like I’m at a bowl game.”
So said a woman making her way up Hastings Road on the way to Holuba Hall. It was a little before 6 a.m. Tuesday, and the woman was part of a steady stream of fans converging on the football practice facility, a crowd that eventually swelled into the thousands. It did feel a bit like the vibe before a postseason game—the sort that Penn State fans won’t be able to enjoy for another four years, at least.
This was “Rise and Rally,” an early-morning show of support for the Nittany Lion football team. Organized last week by Tim Sweeney ’89 and Keith Conlin ’95, former players who now host a local radio show, the rally brought together other former players (Sweeney is president of the football Letterman’s Club), students, and fans as a way to counteract the sense of a program under siege. With NCAA sanctions threatening the team’s ability to compete and every player on the roster free to transfer without limitation, there was a sense just a week ago that Penn State might see its program fall apart. Over the past week, coaches and players have largely reiterated their commitment; Tuesday was the first chance for fans to do so in person, and to let the players hear it. It’s clear they did.
The crowd, already a thousand deep by 6 a.m., milled about, sustained by free cookies, (more…)
Amid More Distractions, Lions Get Ready for a Bowl Game
Chima Okoli didn’t see the fight. He was graduating. For the second time.
This was Saturday, when a post-practice altercation between starting quarterback Matt McGloin and receiver Curtis Drake ended with McGloin suffering a concussion and apparent seizure after his head hit the concrete floor of the Nittany Lion locker room. Even under normal circumstances, this would’ve been big news for a high-profile, bowl-bound team. But under current circumstances? The sizable media scrum around McGloin during Monday’s pre-bowl media day told the story as well as anything.
The fight was the story Monday, a figurative black eye (McGloin’s faced appeared unscathed, for what that’s worth) on a program that doesn’t need any further blemishes. All involved, including McGloin and interim coach Tom Bradley ’78, ’86g, downplayed the incident Monday, with Bradley referring to “an activity in the locker room” that differed little from countless other instances of competitive young men losing their cool. That didn’t stop reporters (more…)
Joe Paterno is Doing Just Fine, Thanks
Nine days after he was run over at practice, Joe Paterno was back in front of the media Tuesday for Penn State’s delayed preseason media day. It was a little strange to see Joe speaking from the passenger side of a golf cart, which was parked in front of a couple of bleachers full of reporters inside Holuba Hall. But he looked and sounded great, answering more questions than he wanted about his health and a few about his team’s prospects in a season that starts in just 18 days.
Some highlights:
* Joe says he feels great, and that the reported hip fracture he suffered on Aug. 7 isn’t actually a fracture after all, (more…)
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