Notes from Inside a Burst Bubble: On the Ground In State College, PA

[alcibiades_mystery]

A late December night and my wife and I are driving home from dinner. Our toddler son is strapped into his carseat. We’re discussing the cold, how it feels like it’s burrowing into our bones, how December in State College is different than December in Montgomery County, Maryland, where we’d lived the previous sixteen years. “Well, we knew we were moving to a place that’s colder, and here we are,” I say.

From the back seat, Ben shouts, “Penn State!”

“What was that?” I ask. We look at each other. Did we just hear what we thought we heard?

“Let me try that again,” I say. “We are.”

From the back seat: “Penn State!”

We have been living in State College for six months. Ben is two and a half years old. Neither of us taught him this.

This is how football – how Penn State — gets into your blood around here.

-----SNIP------

Read the rest. Very good: http://www.barrelhousemag.com/?p=1692

[Fumesucker]

1. Wow..

It's even worse than I thought.. And that's saying a rather big mouthful.

Powerful post.

[BeyondGeography]

2. Rot at the top

At least they're consistent.

Very effective writing.

[alcibiades_mystery]

3. Just an additional note to this post

When I say "We are..."

both my children, both under six years of age, reply "Penn State!"

[snagglepuss]

4. Interesting blog but I find it concerning that a 2 1/2 yr old child has so thoroughly

absorbed a sports mantra. I find it creepy.

[alcibiades_mystery]

7. It's not a sports mantra, would be the point

[snagglepuss]

9. So what would you call it if not a mantra? The point I'm making is that the

pervasiveness of that creepy slogan is creepy.

[alcibiades_mystery]

10. Creepy to you

Fine.

[snagglepuss]

12. How can this not be creepy? How can it not be creepy that individuals

at an extremely young age identity themselves with a corporate entity?

[badhair77]

5. Thanks for posting this.

He did a good job of describing what attracted many of us to PSU.

[rocktivity]

6. Well, why do you think the students rioted? Their diety turned out be

a demon in disguise.

Talk about a statue with feet of clay...

:headbang:
rocktivity

[Lady President]

8. Seems normal to me

Sadly, this seems totally normal to me. I grew up in the shadow of the 'Shoe, the Ohio State stadium. We learned the fight song in kindergarten, had scarlet and gray days in school/work, and you could judge the mood of the city on the win-loss record. The child in the story will likely grow up just fine, but it is a different environment.

[Critters2]

11. My folks both went to Illinois.I went to Illinois State, not a big 10 sport-y school.

Somehow, I know all the words of the Illinois Fight Song...but not ISU's. Never really thought about that until now. Interesting.

[RobinA]

14. This Is a Point

I've been trying to make for at least a week now, if not the past 30 years, since I live in PA. The cultishness that some people don't like is not just Penn State, it's any big school that's a brand. Notre Dame was a brand when State College was a cow town. Penn State was becoming a brand when I was in college (late '70's) at a non-Penn State state college in PA, but was nowhere near what it became as of, well...last week. It works for some people, it doesn't for others.

[fishwax]

13. good read, thanks

k/r