It is hot.
That is my most immediate thought about this summer this far.
It hit north of 100 here in Frederick and Tuesday promises another triple digit day.
As for my other thoughts, the ones about Penn State football and Penn State sports, well I’d like to share those as well.
Here they are in no particular order:
- We got the White Out announcement that many of you, myself and podcast cohost included, have been waiting for. In general, I think it’s the right call – or at least not the wrong one. Penn State could have put the burden on UCLA but Washington is an admirable opponent and a new one. There are new teams in the Big Ten so why not give them a taste of the experience as well?
- We have to find a different name for the Helmet Stripe game. Or maybe just get rid of it. At one point last season, a friend texted me he was sick and tired of being told what to wear to Penn State games. I’m not sure if I’m that annoyed yet. But I genuinely believe if you told people to wear whatever they wanted to an important game like the Ohio State one this year, they’d wear white. That organic nature is something that could be a flex of fandom as well. I will give credit for trying something new but I’m not sure that the helmet stripe is it.
- I, like many of you, have downloaded the new EA Sports College Football video game and have put in a few games already. I’ve been eagerly awaiting this and yes, it does live up to the hype. They clearly put thought into the overall college experience that we all love. But they also did a nice job of improving on the core game experience, particularly with passing. I’m on Xbox. You can add me here.
- My one gripe: Tyler Warren not being a Top 100 player. He’s going to cause a lot of problems for other teams this season. This is just a hunch based on nothing but that hunch yet Penn State’s recent success at tight end is going to continue with him. I don’t think that’s something James Franklin gets enough credit for.
- Now that we’ve hit July and then some, I’ve allowed myself to get excited about football season just enough to want time to speed up. Then again, I think the heat has something to do with it.
- Mike Poorman of StateCollege.com posted some new videos of the various renovations and improvements happening with Penn State’s various athletic facilities of late. I’m “super” interested in this “Super Ribbon Board” that looks like it will grace the top of the south endzone deck. It’s probably just another place for more ads but it’d be nice if there were stats on there consistently.
- Earlier this month, Penn State also rolled out some of its renderings for Jeffrey Field and the bubble that will go next to it. It’s about time Jeffrey Field gets its face lift.
- Did you notice the pink and black stuff in the Greenberg Complex renderings? I did. This is me manifesting Penn State’s pink and black football uniforms into existence.
- I was in San Diego last week for work and saw several Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington logos around. It’s weird to think of San Diego as a de facto Big Ten country now.
- Penn State’s beat is changing quite a bit this offseason between Dave Jones retiring, Ben Jones moving and Cory Giger’s future up in the air a bit. All three of those were must-reads on Sundays for me.
- Speaking of the media, we’ll send out our Penn State media survey later this week, asking you a few questions. We did this last year and had a lot of fun.
- Other than that, we’ve got more content coming this month with media days coming and then previews and more. Be sure to hang out. Steve and I really enjoy doing this and we hope you enjoy hanging out with us when we do this.
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