Better For The Struggle

I remember the beginning of this season. 

It started so perfectly.  It was warm and sunny, the greens and blues looking so vibrant you thought you were walking through a heightened version of reality. 

We started the season with a boom.  A drubbing of Idaho where it seemed like every single move the team made was the right one. 

The team came out to a thunderous ovation and played like the game against this smaller program mattered to them.  That it was important to do all the little things right on a glorious afternoon and show just how good and talented this team was.

I happened to be on the sideline, using my letterman's pass when Justin Shorter caught his first pass of the young season for a first down.  The first thought that struck me was that the guy looked every bit of 6'5" and could run like a gazelle.  He seemed like an ideal future target for the new starting quarterback to work with.  One of the people working sound for the broadcast commented how unfair it looked to have someone that big run that fast. 

The sideline felt alive, like something about this team was just different.  The electricity of youth, and the fun and enjoyment of the game was palpable.  Players smiling, enjoying themselves, believing and trusting each other.  It looked like the future wasn't around the corner.  The future was right here and right now.

Over the coming months, I was able to watch every single home game in person, and most of every away game on a television.  (There was a beautiful wedding I attended that briefly broke up the streak until we could find a streaming service during cocktail hour.)

The night-time event against Buffalo where the team was down at half-time, and they came from behind and blew them out. 

The Pitt game, where it rained to start and came with a bit of a delay, ended with a satisfying win that closed the door on another chapter of an instate series. 

Then came the domination of Maryland and Purdue.

The hard fought win in an incredible and hostile environment against Iowa.

The insanity of the White-Out against a very strong Michigan team. 

The growth displayed against Michigan State in a cold and wet game that showed the toughness and resiliency of a young group that was continuing to play one game at a time.

Even after the disappointment following a tough loss in Minnesota and a hard earned a win against Indiana, I found myself happy and cheering the successes rather than wallowing in anger about the failures.

Through it all, this has been one of my favorite seasons to watch of Penn State football. 

I love the passion and tenacity of this team.  Game in and game out, I have seen a group of people that absolutely care about the product they put out on the field.  I see a group of people that play for each other and trust each other.  I see the team that I want to cheer for.

That is not to say this team is all love and no physicality.  This is a team that I've had a lot of pleasure watching become physically dominant.  Football is a game that is essentially controlled and choreographed violence, coming together in a competitive fashion.  To be good at the game, a certain level of physical prowess and mentality of finishing are extremely important.

The offensive line is finishing blocks.  The defense pushing would-be blockers into the backfield.  Running backs finishing by falling forward and with authority.  Receivers and tight ends high-pointing balls and making plays after the catch.  In this regard I feel Penn State has made large strides forward overall. 

I want to acknowledge that it hasn't been all roses. Obviously there have been difficulties along the way.  It is fair to have some criticisms.  There have been times that are obviously frustrating. 

We are better for those struggles.

This Saturday Penn State will get an opportunity to play what many believe to be either the best or second best team in the country.  Perhaps they are.  But in any event, we will get an opportunity to play against that team and see how our brand, our style, and our players will compare.

Embrace that moment and enjoy it!  After all, that's the whole purpose of the season from a player's perspective.  To challenge yourself week in and week out to perform your best against the best teams in the country.  It is a game, and if you didn't have fun, what was the point? 

I am writing this article to try and share my own excitement.  My own optimism.  I want other fans to watch this game from the vantage point not of trepidation or pessimism, but one of thankfulness that we get to watch some incredible young people doing incredible things.

Why We Cheer.

I watched with a heavy heart as Penn State's undefeated season ended un-miraculously in Minnesota. 

I watched in a living room with some friends, munching on your traditional pizza and wing affair with some chips/salsa and beverage accompaniments.  People were mad. 

By the end, if you read your news feeds through social media, it seemed apparent that the same fans that had been cheering so loudly just a few days earlier, were questioning the entire direction of the team.

The frustration came quickly.  Seemingly, within the first five minutes we were watching Penn State give up touchdowns, and more shocking, it seemed relatively easy.  As though Penn State didn't realize just how good their opponent was.  In fact, I think the team's reaction may have resembled the collective fan base. 

That fan base, which absolutely includes myself, had started to really come around to thinking that this team had a real chance at being something special, about being a potential National Championship team.  They had gotten through the three game stretch that was expected to trip them up.  Now coming off of a seemingly perfectly timed bye week they would go up against an undefeated Minnesota team, and at least from the fans perspective, show them who was boss and move on to the next week.

But that didn't happen.

To put it bluntly, from what I saw, we were simply outplayed.  Everyone and everything played at least some factor.  Whether it be from a defensive point of view, an offensive point of view, special teams, coaching and things that were under their control, I don't think anyone can be satisfied with what happened Saturday.  They shouldn't be.

However that just means it's another chance to get better.  It's time to practice with more focus, with more intention.  Keep doing the little things, and do them well.

Don't give up and wait until next year, because there is a whole lot more to this team than that. 

While Minnesota may have ended the possibility of an undefeated season, it does not mean the end of the season entirely.

Each year is its own entity; its own story and characters.  This year is no different, and as this year's tale of the football team continues, I'll be looking forward to the growth of the team.  There are still so many tests to come.  How will the team respond the very next week?  How will they respond the week after that? How will this particular group of young people, grow up right in front of our eyes? 

Right now as I write this, late on a Tuesday evening, for the players, they need to have already moved on.  But it's important I think for the fans to move on as well.


This is a new opportunity. It's another chance to join up with our family home here in Happy Valley.  To cheer the kids and the coaches who represent the best values of Penn State athletics. 

Excellence in the classroom. 

Being involved in the community. 

Being great at a sport and competing for championships.

That is what Penn State athletics is all about, and that hasn't changed.  It has, by all accounts, been overwhelmingly embraced by every staff member and every athlete.

That's the reason I cheer for them.

We don't cheer them because they're winning or losing. 

We cheer them because of how they play the game.  We cheer them because they play hard.

We cheer them because they play with class (and are disciplined when they don't).

We cheer because they're just as likely to help an opponent up as they are a teammate. 

We cheer because they care about the culture and the people they represent at Penn State.

We cheer because they remind us of the best of us.

9 Good Songs by Bands You (probably) Never Heard Of.

Just some songs I've been listening to on my Spotify's Discover Weekly.  These were the songs that stood out to me.  I hope you enjoy them in the same spirit as I did.  If not, sorry.  Just listen to more Lizzo (Who I also love). 


1.  Telepathy-Doom Flamingo

First time ever hearing the band, and I gotta say I dig their style, with this song.  It's a cruising Miami synth rock jam covered with beautiful vocals.  If you don't feel like your in an 80's action movie, then you're listening to it wrong. 

2. Surf Style-New Beat Fund

Some elements of ska, reggae, hip hop, combine to a chill after hours beach scene song.  A kinda of abrasive start is followed by smooth flowing, cannibus inducing odyssey.  You can hear the weed in the background.  Nothing crazy but not a bad song to play on vacation and your enjoying some vice.

3. Lonely-Joe Hertler and The Rainbow Seekers

Really enjoyed the groove on this.  It has a sort of "Dancing in the Street" sound to it that harkens to some disco and soul roots.  Some elements of funk and rock as well.  For some reason, I just picture some guy with long hair and bell bottoms singing this out.  The real thing isn't much different as I googled the group up.  Definitely a song that'll make you want to dance at a party.

4.  Do Me Like That-Penguin Prison

I've actually have heard of Penguin Prison before.  When I started listening on Spotify one of the first recommended songs was "Don't Fuck With My Money" which I thought was just too damn hooky to pass up.  Do Me Like That fills that same young alt pop vibe similar to Smallpools, Passion Pit and Walk The Moon.

5.  Hearts Out-Sun Parade

This track starts out so slow that I almost skipped it entirely, as I had a bad streak with a bunch of misses that I wanted to like that just didn't fit for me, including one with the song title of "Pennsylvania" that I wanted to put in this just because of the title.  What starts out as one of the simplistic melodic songs with an enchanting refrain, continues to roll along at an increasing break neck speed to a cataclysmic ending. 

6. Summertime-Becca VanDerbeck, Matt Heath, Noel Goff

Just a feel good tune to play for summer.  Really enjoyed the chorus that is so simplistic, but when heard, can't help but bring a bit of optimism to your day.

Drifting through the days without a care in our mind
Leaving all our worries and our troubles behind
Doing what we please without a reason or rhyme
Thank God for the memories and the summer time
7.  Fantasy-Eternity Forever, Ben RosettOk, this song almost didn't make it because the vocals really through me off at first listen, I just didn't think it worked with the stunning quality of the guitar work.  However on a second and third listen, it just kept standing out.  As the tempo pushes through the middle and end of the track it becomes more enjoyable.

8. Salt (Nlmg)- Ben Hon, Daniel Loumpouridis

A bit of a haunting song that slyly hints at lust and love.  There's a sense of danger with the tone, but it still keeps a soft enough side that it blends into something altogether unique.  I really enjoyed the imagery in the lyrics the come through brightly in a few sections. 

9.  You''ll Never Work In This Town Again- BirdgangsSomething that rocks a little harder.  This week was light on the rock scene, so I was happy to find something that went a little deeper and felt a bit bluesier.  Felt like something that could have been made by The Black Keys or Jack White.

Why I Support Bernie Sanders.

To me the problem starts with ourselves.

We need to believe in ourselves and in each other and the greed of the billionaire class needs to end with it.

When a system rewards people to the extent that is has enabled them to become wealthier than the average American to the extent that an extremely small group holds the majority of the wealth.   It is morally wrong.  One person has never EVER been worth that much more than their fellow citizens right to food, to health care and education.  It is absurd that we allow for such vast sums of wealth to be be amassed by the very few at the expense of the many and the poor. 

The world can be a harsh world, but in America, I was taught they we take care of one another, and the sins of our terrible past can only be healed by kindness to those that we don't even know.  If there is a strand of unity to what is happening right now in this country it is that the system is wrong and we need substantial reform now.  The will of the people is not being heard, and even worse, it is being distorted to the benefit of the billionaire class. 

This manifests itself in a number of ways, but lets just start with healthcare.  Right now in this Country, healthcare is more expensive than anywhere else in the world.  What do we have to show for it?  Pretty much nothing.  Our patients don't heal any faster, they aren't admitted or discharged at a better rate.  In essence right now, the biggest drain on America is how the private sector has exploited healthcare to the detriment of the population at large.

Right now the US does not require paid employee maternity leave.  This is in contrast to EVERY other country in the developed world.  While it may suggest a slight cost to a bottom line (or really, the exorbitantly wealthy) in the short term, it is to the benefit of the people and the state to have substantial paid maternity leave.

When a handful of people have so much money they treat 1 million dollars the same way the average American treats a single dollar, then we have a problem with income inequality so drastic that it literally creeps it's way into everything else.  Almost every single problem we have stems from this inequality.  I believe at this stage of our existence, health care is a human right.  It is shameful that we have exploited people's desire to be healthy and live for profit.

We need to address climate change in a real and meaningful way.  It is clearly NOT a hoax, a term usually reserved for UFOs and mythical monsters.  The rising sea levels and temperatures are already leading to migration and environmental issues on a huge scale.  I believe it would be foolish to not prepare and do more to help prevent or at the very least mitigate what looks like the crisis of the next 30 years.

We need to fund and change our education system and incentivize more people to become teachers and compensate them as the professionals they are. In the classroom we need to value creativity and the arts, data and statistical analysis based math curriculum's and have programs to keep kids involved after school.

We need to look at how the abuse of free social media platforms have transformed our political process and the difficulty in discerning what is true and real.  Right now it is easy to buy targeted ads and spread disinformation for the right price.  If a politician, a Super PAC, or a foreign government wanted to buy false advertising and target those that would be most susceptible, they can.  That is a deadly recipe for a democracy.

We need to expunge criminal drug records and fully legalize and regulate cannabis as soon as possible.  It is no more harmful than the effects from tobacco and alcohol, both of which I believe can be harmful to youths, but can also be responsibly enjoyed by adults who choose to take on the health consequences.  Further, it introduces a new industry into the marketplace providing jobs and opportunities to citizens.

I think we need to rethink how our democracy works in general reforming the very structure that results and terrible tribalism and partisanship.  I believe we exist in a duopoly that has stifled the real will of its citizens and that both the democratic and republican parties should be broken up.

I support reasonable gun control laws.  I support a woman's right to choose.  I support police reform.

I believe that radicalization of people of all ways of thinking is a deadly serious problem and that we need to do more to thwart efforts of white supremacists and nationalists who are causing the spread of hate and violence.

I'm not crazy.

I think change should be gradual, thought about and implemented prudently.

If you were to ask me what candidate best represents your world view and what you hope would be the best version of a future for America, it is still one Bernie Sanders.

I don't really care for the party politics, I think they divide us more than anything else.  I try to think about the real problems of the world and what is the best way to solve them.  Others can disagree, and perhaps I'm wrong about certain things.

To me, I believe Bernie cares more about the working class than any other candidate in memory, including Obama.  That he isn't working for corporations, special interests, or to enrich himself.  He honestly wants the best for all of humanity.


To me, that means he gets my vote.