From a Penn State Alum

[Muck]

WOW, so much the fraternal order of brotherhood. That's shameful.

It's my understanding that they partied at the house the night before and were invited for the pregame party on Sat morning so the Friday night party had to have gone smoothly.

I have no doubt Happy Valley will be safer for Nebraska fans this weekend than it is for Ohio State fans pretty much any year we head up there. The PSU students/faithful seem so intent on hating their own board of trustees they probably won't give you guys much thought.

However if Nebraska blows away the Nittany Lions on the field, it might be a different matter after the game.

 

[Eric the Red]

Finally, the idea that your team/fans are in some sort of imminent danger is preposterous. You will be welcomed and treated with respect as all of our guests are.

I would be more inclined to believe this if I didn't hear stories of poor treatment by your fans to our fans when we visited Happy Valley in 2002. If they're willing to be unreasonably hostile for a non-conference game with nothing on the line, it's not unreasonable to believe that it could be worse in light of this situation.

Last night would have been a great time for Penn State students to prove how responsible they can be. Unfortunately....

This is the situation I'm having a hard time getting past.

 

[WoodyHayes1951]

Stay safe Husker fans.

Thankfully it's not a night game.

hopefully your band won't make the trip. Ours haven't been back since the "incident" in 2005.

 

[panhandle husker]

I only wish that the team going into Penn St. was one of the teams of the 90's. They would of thrived on this enviroment. I'm afraid that this team will play scared and intimidated..............hope i'm wrong.

 

[skersfan]

Willis,

I do believe there was an apology from the Penn State adminstration for actions by your fans at the last game. I would be concerned if I was going to this game. This could be a another embarssment for the University I am afraid.

Hope I am wrong and all going have a great time. Good luck to you and hope the game is injury free for both teams..

 

[redbeerman]

While I won't speak for everyone in our community, let me clear a few things up for you people from my perspective:

1) All Penn Staters are saddened and shocked by the recent events. It's turned our community upside down.

2) Most Penn Staters believe that, although unfortunate, there was no other choice than to completely clean house ASAP, including Joe.

3) Paternoville, the tent community, more embodies the overall reaction of the student body, than the TMZ-esque coverage of a couple hundred drunken hooligans. The students at Paternoville raised almost $1000 for cancer research last night, and although saddened by recent events, have remained level headed.

4) The rest of the student body is planning a candlelight vigil for the victims after the pep rally Friday night. Child abuse ribbons will be worn on Saturday.

Finally, the idea that your team/fans are in some sort of imminent danger is preposterous. You will be welcomed and treated with respect as all of our guests are.

Couple hundred . . . couple thousand . . . whatever. 90% of the students on the commons last night gave the rest a bad name.

This stuff is indefensible. Protesting on behalf of Paterno (and I was a HUGE fan of Paterno prior to this) is a slap in the face to the victims.

As an alum you should be ashamed and demand better.

Yes a couple hundred. The overwhelming majority were just kids going outside to see what was going on.

I don't defend the actions of those few at all and am embarrassed by their actions. I also blame the BOT for announcing this at 10:15pm after the whole town was waiting to hear them all night.

At the end of the day, YOU NEBRASKA fans are the only ones who I ever hear that say that we are disrespectful in nature to guests. Ask everyone. I always welcome opposing fans to my tailgate and enjoy getting to know them. You are the only board in the last 5 years that I've silently trolled on that says we are disrespectful. Go ask the teams that we've played this year if they haven't been treated great. Every single one of them talks about how great it is. Perhaps your expectations of conflict leads to you being cold, defensive, and arrogant.

I didn't address this issue. I've never been to a game there and I don't put much weight behind random and anonymous stories from 2002.

The lady doth protest too much, methinks.

Also, "thousands." http://www.reuters.c...E7A90WC20111110

I was there in 2002 and it was as bad as all the stories you have heard. We were there early and had people from 8 years old to 80 years old screaming Fxxx You at us everywhere we went all afternoon long. I saw people screaming at frail old women because they were wearing red. Someone spit on my wife. I know that sounds impossible but I swear that is true. I saw several people openly smoking pot. It was the most drucken lawless place that I have ever been. We left in the 3rd quarter because we were concerned for our safety. Clearly the worst I have seen anywhere. Worse than Colorado 2001 which is the only other place I have ever said I will not go back to. I am not talking about the acts of a handful of people. I am talking about thousands of people. It was truly disgusting.

I guess the problem then was that the PSU fans felt cheated in some way for the split national championship in 94 and the husker fans had to be punished for that for some reason. Being a night game probably had something to do with it too.

Thing may have changed since then and the PSU fans have become reasonable and respectful. I believe that is possible and I was hopeful that the reports after the game this time would be positive. I still believe that is possible but what I saw on TV makes me think not much has changed since I happily got the hell out of happy valley the least happy place on earth.

 

[redbeerman]

This is the kind of thing that went on all day long in 2002. You just have to walk along and take it. You truely believe that if you try to do anything 50 people would be beating you to death.

 

[frijole]

My brother and father went in 2002. They saw Nebraska cheerleaders hit with glass beer bottles, urine filled balloons, taunting by thousands, but what set him off was when he saw fans pushing NU fans and trying to throw them down stairs. He had to be physically restrained by my brother and cousin from going after them - he was that upset. My dad was a laid back, retired college football coach so he had seen plenty of crazy students and fans over the year. He could not believe what was allowed to go on at that game and said he'd never go back.

 

[huskerXman]

While I won't speak for everyone in our community, let me clear a few things up for you people from my perspective:

1) All Penn Staters are saddened and shocked by the recent events. It's turned our community upside down.

2) Most Penn Staters believe that, although unfortunate, there was no other choice than to completely clean house ASAP, including Joe.

3) Paternoville, the tent community, more embodies the overall reaction of the student body, than the TMZ-esque coverage of a couple hundred drunken hooligans. The students at Paternoville raised almost $1000 for cancer research last night, and although saddened by recent events, have remained level headed.

4) The rest of the student body is planning a candlelight vigil for the victims after the pep rally Friday night. Child abuse ribbons will be worn on Saturday.

Finally, the idea that your team/fans are in some sort of imminent danger is preposterous. You will be welcomed and treated with respect as all of our guests are.

No, it is not preposterous. back in 2002 fans were treated badly just from the normal game stand point.. TO himself mentioned this. Add this issue and how PSU students feel = trouble brewing

 

[HuskerShark]

I understand that some fans do act in this undesireable manner... Most do NOT act this way though, and I hope your time here will be pleasant

Absolutely. I think it's pretty well understood that the VAST majority of fans of all teams are polite, fun and decent people. The whole of Penn State Fans are not being held accountable for the actions of a few, just like we'd hope you don't hold all Nebraska fans accountable for the actions of the inevitable asshat you'll come across. But those few who do crappy things are pretty hard to ignore.

Maybe with the exception of Colorado fans. Missouri fans aren't real easy to deal with either.