It’s bye week. I never understood why it’s called the “bye” week.
It should be the “off” week or “my team won’t frustrate me this weekend” week.
Anyways, since there is no Penn State football game this weekend, there is no game preview this week.
But I’ve got thoughts and I’d like to share them.
Most of these thoughts are too short to be considered long enough for a post even though this is the internet and posts can be as short or as long as we want them to be. But they’ve been rattling around in my ole noggin lately. Most of these types of thoughts are what you can find in our newsletter, which you can sign up for here. The next one comes out next week but I felt like the blog needed a fresh post to celebrate the bye week or off week or whatever we’re calling it week.
Happy Valley United Seems To Have PSU’S NIL More United
I have to say, when the Micah Shrewsberry debacle went down, I went in on Penn State’s NIL two-party system. I particularly went in on Success With Honor at the time.
But it’s gone and things seemingly have gotten better.
To begin, Happy Valley United’s social pages are actually being updated. The collective is also doing a much better job of marketing itself inside the stadium as well. There are in-game commercials inside the stadium. Even the new logo is good looking and attention-getting.
The brand has also tapped into Penn State celebrities like LaVar Arrington and Adam Breneman to push itself even further.
This is what Penn State should have been doing from day one of the NIL era.
While we don’t know how much they’re bringing in, there at least feels to be some momentum in the sails this time around. In the Success With Honor and Lions Legacy days, the only momentum was from the anger that Michael Mauti had toward Jay Paterno. It’s a shame that Penn State didn’t partner with Blueprint Sports – who powers Happy Valley United – sooner because it may have prevented more headaches.
But the past is the past, and as long as Penn State is remaining competitive in that space as well as remaining galvanized at its highest levels, it’s a much needed win for Pat Kraft’s athletic department.
Jeffrey Field’s Upcoming Update Long Overdue
Penn State women’s soccer is back in the top five in the country once again. Penn State men’s soccer is rolling on a 6-1-3 start to the year and is bouncing in and out of the top 25.
There is a standard of success that Penn State’s soccer programs elicit – particularly Erica Dambach’s squad – and it’s a tradition that I’ve often felt goes unnoticed by the Penn State community at large.
I think that’s why Jeffrey Field has sat in the state that it has for so long. It came as a great relief that the athletic department pinpointed it as a top priority on the latest round of facility enhancements announced earlier this year.
Point blank, it’s embarrassing the condition that stadium is in – or ever was in – for how good and dominant Penn State’s teams have been on the pitch. Yes, the field itself is gorgeous and a proud display of the incredible turf grass management program that the school offers.
But no real locker rooms or even offices for coaches is pathetic and disrespectful.
It’s unclear when the renovations will be complete on the stadium – although an updated scoreboard did come this year – but they are coming. Penn State hired an architecture firm in Kansas City to design both the updated Jeffrey Field and a neighboring indoor practice bubble.
It’s a much needed and overdue face lift that will hopefully keep Penn State as a dominant northeastern power in the sport.
Bring Back The Italic End Zones
I’ve been on a bit of a Penn State history kick, working my way through a book called “The Nittany Lion,” which focuses on the history of the mascot, and another book called “Lair of the Lion,” which tells the history of Penn State’s football stadiums.
I’m a sucker for old pictures of Beaver Stadium as well as Old and New Beaver Field. A large architectural rendering of the initial plans for the stadium relocation back in 1960 hangs over our basement bar.
Those old photos have reminded me of some of the incredible end zone designs the home of the Nittany Lions have had over the years. There is one particular end zone design I’d like to see again since Penn State started changing them for its Generations of Greatness game.
It’s those gorgeous italic end zones of my youth. I believe Penn State last used them in the 2004 season but I want to see them one more time inside Beaver Stadium.
While yes, Penn State didn’t have its best football years with those end zones, there is a certain nostalgia they provide. They fill my brain with memories of using Penn State in NCAA Football video games. They had a certain pop to them that’d just be nice to see once again.
Overall, the Generations of Greatness game is very much welcomed by this Penn State fan. I’m even ready for a new set of uniforms as it provides a fun twist on tradition should they come. I’m still dreaming of the day Penn State wears pink and black.
For now, those italic end zones will work just fine though.
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