Accepting My Place in the PSU Pride
For those of you who don’t know, I’m a native Texan; born and raised in Houston and a lifetime Texas Exes member (the alumni association of the University of Texas). As many of you can imagine, moving to another state can be drastic and at times depressing. I chose to expand my horizons and attend law school not only in another state, but another climate: Pennsylvania—Penn State to be exact. I must admit, the first semester—aside from the daunting and dooming aspect of law school—was exciting. I was able to see the leaves actually change and experience a true fall as well as that of living in a small town. Not to mention, Penn State is huge on football.
Now mind you, where I come from, football is a religion. The Friday night lights set the perfect stage for games in completely packed stadiums—and that’s just for high school games. University of Texas games were easily one of the best parts of my time in Austin as a student. My freshman year (2009-2010) was the year that we went undefeated in the regular season and captured the Big 12 title, ultimately accepting the invitation to compete for a national championship in the Rose Bowl. What a time to be a Longhorn. But the woes of the slump that the Texas football team is trying to fight its way out of currently, started in the Rose Bowl. I don’t like to dwell on the heartbreak that we Longhorns experienced in that game, but Alabama was just too strong and too fast and combined with Colt McCoy leaving the game within the first couple of minutes of the first quarter was devastating.
The next couple of seasons would turn out to be uncharacteristic of the Texas program. We would lose to the school from Oklahoma (yes, I’m speaking of the University of Oklahoma—we have bad blood what can I say?) three straight seasons. Not to mention there wasn’t a single Texas player taken in the first round of the NFL Draft since 2010 (Earl Thomas drafted by the Seattle Seahawks at #14) until 2013 (Kenny Vaccaro drafted by the New Orleans Saints at #15). All of that to say, I still proudly wear Burnt Orange and refer to myself as a Longhorn even through the tough years.
But, after watching Penn State play Ohio State on Saturday night, I realized that I have started to pay attention to Penn State games as I do Texas—thus, it’s time for me to accept my place in the pride of the Nittany Lions. Sure, my ties to Penn State may not be as strong as those that I have to Texas, but that’s okay, and it may take time for me to get used to including myself in the “we” of the infectious chant “We Are Penn State”, but I am a part of this University. I screamed at the television just as loud, last night, as I do while watching Texas, and I am so excited to see how great of a player Saquon Barkley develops into throughout his time here in Happy Valley.
So, to Nittany Lion Nation, I’m sorry it took me so long to accept your warm welcome into the pride; it wasn’t malicious—I promise. From this point forward, you have my full support. I know the style of play is different from that of DBU (no, LSU—Texas is the true DBU) but it wouldn’t hurt to see a defensive back interception; I do realize I sound somewhat spoiled. With that said, best of luck against Maryland this upcoming weekend, and when y’all return to Beaver Stadium, let’s keep that undefeated home field record alive!
We Are!
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