One sport slows down, and another heats up.
The Penn State football season is mercifully coming to an end. It was announced on Friday that the 8-4 Nittany Lions will face 7-5 Texas A&M in the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 29 in San Antonio, Texas.
In this edition of Morelli OnLion, we’re taking a break from the usual Penn State fare. I had the chance to attend last week’s Monday Night Football game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Miami Dolphins, so I’m going to talk a little about that experience.
We’ll also hit some hoops and have our weekly non-rev roundup.
Being a Fan Again
I’ll be the first to admit it — I’d forgotten what it was like to be a fan.
As a sports writer, I’ve been spoiled. Admission to the games is free, food is complimentary and we get to sit in the press boxes, which usually remain cool when it’s hot outside and warm up when the temperatures drop.
So after 16 years of being a sports writer, I’ve gotten soft. And I’ll admit it.
But there’s still a fan lurking inside me. Even though we aren’t allowed to cheer in the press box, there’s the occasional fist pump when something good happens.
For the most part, however, my fandom has been reserved for my favorite pro team, the Pittsburgh Steelers. When the Steelers won Super Bowl XL in February of 2006, the frustrations of 26 seasons spilled out of me in the form of a scream from my front porch. (It didn’t matter that I lived 2 1/2 hours from Pittsburgh and our neighborhood was silent that winter evening).
So when the Penn State women’s basketball schedule is released in early fall, the first thing I do is compare it side-by-side with the Steelers’ schedule.
Since the Lady Lions play most Sundays, conflicts are often the norm.
When the 2007 NFL schedule was released, there was a date that hopped off the page. Nov. 26 — Miami Dolphins at Pittsburgh Steelers.
Quickly, I scanned the Lady Lion schedule to see if there was a conflict. Normally, Penn State does not play on Monday evenings. But with the monster that is the Big Ten Network, all bets are off. There are games just about every night of the week this season.
My eyes darted back and forth between the schedules. The Lady Lions had a game on Nov. 25, but Nov. 26 was wide open. Success. The best part? Nov. 26 was my son’s 10th birthday. He would be off school because of Thanksgiving break. Now, all I needed was tickets.
For those of you who don’t know, Steeler nation covers a large area of the country. Sure, there are nearly 65,000 seats at Heinz Field, but tickets — especially for Monday night games — are almost impossible to get.
The quest for tickets began on the Internet, where prices were ridiculously high. The hunt ended when my aunt, who has season tickets, floated a pair my way as a birthday gift for my son.
So as the Monday night date approached, we readied for the trek from Happy Valley to Pittsburgh. We got my son a Troy Polamalu throwback jersey to get him outfitted for the game.
On the night of the big game, we got a ride to Heinz Field and walked a short distance to the stadium. In the monsoon that was blowing through Pittsburgh that night, we got drenched. Still, there were fans tailgating on the concrete lots surrounding the stadium. Chants of “Here We Go Steelers, Here We Go” could be heard in the distance. As we walked past Jerome Bettis’ Grille 36, an odd feeling came over me.
I was flooded with childhood memories of going to Three Rivers Stadium, though mostly for Pittsburgh Pirates baseball games. Steeler tickets were even harder to get in the glory days of the 1970s. I remembered the first Steeler game I went to, a 31-7 victory over the Atlanta Falcons back in 1979. My father and I, diehard Steeler fans, finally got to our first game in 2001, a 34-7 Monday night win over the Tennessee Titans.
For those of you who haven’t been, nothing in sport compares to a Monday night game. There’s something magical about it. It’s like a religious experience.
As we passed through the turnstiles, the ticket taker told us to “enjoy the game.” It won’t be hard, we thought. This is a Monday Night Football, after all.
We shook off the rain drops, walked through the Great Hall and checked out the Lombardi Trophies. We headed for the Primanti Brothers stand, grabbed a couple of cheesesteaks and began the trek to section 511, row LL. Last row in the stadium. On this night, that would prove to be a blessing.
The rains were constant and heavy. There was thunder and lightning, a rarity for Pittsburgh in November. (By the way, there is definitely something to this global warming thing).
As ushers cleared the seating area, the game was delayed. Rumors that it would be postponed until Tuesday began to circulate through the crowd. Then came the announcement that the game would begin at 8:55 p.m.
It was an odd start, to say the least. There would be no player introductions, no national anthem. The field looked terrible, and as the first quarter began chunks of the newly-placed sod began to come up. It’s the price paid for the University of Pittsburgh and the WPIAL using the same field.
It makes one understand why Penn State doesn’t allow the PIAA Championships to be played at Beaver Stadium.
During the course of the game, I began to remember what it was like to be a fan. Clapping, cheering, screaming. It took awhile to get back into the groove. I accidentally shouted “dee-fense” when the offense was on the field. But my son shot me a glare and I quickly corrected my mistake.
After years of sitting in press boxes and courtside with a mike in front of me, everything was coming back.
It was official — I was a fan again.
There have been Saturdays at Beaver Stadium when I’ve looked out and wondered how 100,000 plus of you can sit in the elements. I’ve wondered why you trek hundreds of miles to watch college football. Then I recall the days when I was a youngster, when I was a student.
It comes back to me. I get it.
As the Muddy Night Football game wore on, it was starting look like we might see the first 0-0 tie since 1943. But Steeler kicker Jeff Reed kicked a 24-yard field goal to send the waterlogged crowd home happy from Four Rivers Stadium.
After months of waiting, it was over. 3-0. It was unlike anything I’d ever seen before.
When I returned to Happy Valley, co-workers and friends alike asked me how I sat through such a terrible game.
It wasn’t terrible, I said. It was memorable. I was with my son on his birthday. We got to see a piece of history.
In the end, I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.
(Brianne O’Rourke scored a career-high 23 points to lead Penn State over Duke.
Photo courtesy of Blue White Illustrated)
Lady Lions Upset Duke
The Penn State women’s basketball team picked up the biggest win in a couple of seasons when it defeated No. 10 Duke, 86-84, on Sunday evening in the Bryce Jordan Center.
Lady Lion freshman Janessa Wolff canned a layup with less than a second remaining to give first-year head coach Coquese Washington the biggest win in her young coaching career.
“It’s definitely a big win,” said Washington, who received numerous high fives and handshakes as she left the court at the Jordan Center.
“I think it’s probably the biggest win any of these players have experienced since they’ve been here. Our team hasn’t experienced a lot of this type of success, beating a team like this. Certainly the program has over the decades, but for this group of players, this is a big confidence boost.”
Duke — losers of three straight — got .5 seconds put back on the clock after officials looked at the tape. But the Blue Devils’ final shot at the buzzer fell short.
Penn State (6-2) totally turned things around after a tough outing at Old Dominion last Thursday. In that game, the Lady Lions were outrebounded, outshot, outhustled and outplayed. But on Sunday evening, their fortunes took a turn for the better.
Several Lady Lions had big afternoons. Brianne O’Rourke scored a career-high 23 points and Mashea Williams added a career-high 22. Kam Gissendanner added 13 and Tyra Grant chipped in with 10.
But Penn State had cut their turnovers down from 30 at ODU to just 14.
And they outrebounded the Blue Devils, 32-27.
Duke — which lost its third consecutive game — also landed four players in double figures. Abby Waner, who has tortured the Lady Lions for two years, scored 23, including six three-pointers. Chante Black (21), Jasmine Thomas (17) and Karima Christmas (10) also hit double digits.
After falling behind 5-0 in the opening moments of the game, the Lady Lions bounced back with a vengeance and led by as many as 15 in the first half. Duke whittled the lead down to six, but Penn State maintained its composure and took a 41-30 lead into the intermission.
In the second half, Washington knew that the Blue Devils would make a run. Sure enough, they did. And they didn’t stop until the final buzzer.
“We knew they’d make a run. They’re a very strong team, and they’ve got a lot of offensive weapons. They had four or five people in double figures,” Washington said. “And they’re a very good rebounding team.
We knew that they would make a run. We knew that they would turn up the pressure.”
The Lady Lions are back in action on Thursday at Syracuse.
(Jen Long nearly led the Nittany Lions to a field hockey title.
Photo courtesy of Penn State Sports Information).
Non-rev roundup: Field Hockey
The Penn State field hockey team closed out its remarkable season by battling North Carolina for the national championship on Nov. 18 in College Park, Md. Although the Lions fell to undefeated North Carolina, 3-0, the team’s dazzling postseason run left the Lions reflecting on a memorable 2007.
“It was exciting,” said Morett of the team’s NCAA tournament run. “It was very exciting. I think it says a lot about the strength and heart and determination of this Penn State team.”
For the Lions, who finished the year with a mark of 16-8, the NCAA tournament was dramatic, filled with come-from-behind victories, upsets and close calls. Penn State opened its run on Maryland’s home turf against Virginia on Nov. 10 in what would be the first of four games for the Lions against ACC foes.
The Lions scored three straight second-half goals to overcome a 1-0 halftime deficit and move past the Cavaliers into a second round clash with host Maryland. In that contest, a Britney Long score in the 22nd minute was all Penn State needed to stun defending champion Maryland and move on to the Final Four.
Following the team’s upset of the Terps, Morett praised her defense, a unit that once again came up big in the team’s 2-0 national semifinal win over Wake Forest on Nov. 16.
“The defensive effort from the forwards on down was just very impressive,” said Morett. “We talk about it a lot, how important it is for us to play good defense and get pressure on the ball and create some turnovers and it starts with the forwards and their attitudes and it goes all the way down to the deep defense. (Defender) Jen Long does a great job of stepping up and coming through a lot and (goalkeeper) Jen Beaumont is right behind her.”
In addition to writing for gantnews.com, Chris Morelli is the editor of Blue White Illustrated, a sports publication devoted to Penn State sports. He is also a regular on “Front and Center,” which airs on ESPN Radio in State College and Altoona. E-mail him at morellionlion@gmail.com.