Bring a Towel, Scare a Badger

While the autumnal equinox and the start of fall happened back in late September, the weather around here was certainly not indicating that. It was all warm (mid-80s) and a bit muggy too, just very summer-like with persistent ridging over the eastern US. Quite frankly, I was getting tired of all this “nice” weather, especially over a week into October. I mean, it’s not fun to go to football games when it’s 85 and muggy, but maybe that’s just me. Anyway, summer ended with a bit of a bang back on Tuesday afternoon, with a nice little frontal squall line rolling through central Pennsylvania. We even spied some pea-sized and nearly dime-sized hail at Walker Building. It got dark really suddenly, so Walter & I went outside to enjoy the last few minutes of summer before the rain started in and autumn arrived. A second cold front came through on Wednesday, so the daytime temps went from 85 and sunny on Tuesday to 48 and drizzle on Thursday. Now that’s more like the autumn weather in Happy Valley that I know! This typical “StratoCu U” weather feels great for a change too, though I might get tired of not seeing the sun for the next six months, haha. 😉
We had our second intramural flag football game of the season on Thursday night in the persistent drizzle, but it was the first one I played in (last Thursday night I had tickets to the Guster concert, so went to that instead; our team lost that one something like 38-8). We stopped Panda Motion on their first drive, forcing a punt, and then we drove right down the field (my only catch of the game came on this drive, I caught a quick hitch and spun back to the outside, shedding a defender, but stumbling for another ten yards down to the 10-yard line; if I wouldn’t have lost my balance while spinning away from the defender I might’ve been able to find my way to the end zone, possibly), but one of Moyer’s passes was tipped and picked off at the 1-yard line. They marched down and scored, then we came right back to take an 8-6 lead, but Panda Motion got another score right before halftime to take a 12-8 lead. Our offense got a bit out of sync in the second half though, and we wound up falling 18-8. It was definitely a winnable game, though. We’ll try to put Mid-Life Crisis in the win column next Thursday night.
For various reasons I haven’t been to the 20-somethings Life Group at E-Free since early fall 2005, when I went once shortly after I started attending the church. But I decided to go back tonight (now they usually meet every other Friday evening), and I think I’m gonna try to keep going to that at least somewhat frequently. It’s a good group of people, and I think I can really grow a lot there potentially. There’s nothin’ like keeping my calendar full with several different friend groups, hopefully I can juggle everything! 🙂
It’s Homecoming weekend here in Happy Valley, and the town’s definitely a bit fuller than usual. In addition to all the Wisconsin fans who’ve made the trip out here, there are of course even more Penn State alumni than usual. I didn’t go to the homecoming parade downtown this evening, but there were definitely students camped out on the curb along College Ave early this morning, as is usually the case. Silly frat and sorority freshmen!
But anyway, tomorrow (Saturday) afternoon it’s a HUGE football game in Beaver Stadium for both teams, as Penn State welcomes the #19 Wisconsin Badgers. A Nittany Lions win would give them a mark of credibility with a win over a good (if flawed), ranked team finally. A Badgers win would be a real statement in one of the toughest places to play in college football, and would keep them in the Big Ten title race. Even though both teams will be missing some players due to injury and/or suspension — Penn State’s former starting RB Austin Scott was formally charged with rape, assault and two other felonies today, but he’d been suspended indefinitely by coach Joe Paterno previously, since the day before the Iowa game last week when the rumors started swirling about the fumbling idiot Scott — I think Penn State’s offense, which seemed to find its stride a bit last week against Iowa, will turn in a very good game, especially on the ground, against a surprisingly poor Wisconsin defense. My prediction is Penn State 34 – 20 Wisconsin.
The game’s a 3:30 ET start on ABC/ESPN, and while two years ago the theme was “White Out Wisconsin!”, there won’t be a white out this time. Instead, the theme is “Bring a Towel, Scare a Badger!” So expect to see a sea of white towels waving in the 110,000-strong throng at Beaver Stadium, it should still be pretty cool! Well, I should probably get to bed, we’ll be heading out to set up our tailgate in a little over 8 hours!
WE ARE… PENN STATE!
BEAT WISCONSIN!