The Lions' Pride

As you can see by my name I was not born in the US. I was born in Trinidad and now I am a naturalized citizen. When I was about 13 years old before I even know the rules of football, I started watching this particular game one day. I didn't know the rules but I am a sports fanatic and I could see something special in this particular game. Even though I didn't know who was who, the idea of rivalries or the biased opinion of home team, I saw something special in this team playing in dark blue and white against this team in green and gold. The team in blue and white wasnt a flashy team and they didnt run a variety plays. In fact they RAN a handful of plays, and literally they ran it down the other teams throat. Like I said, I didnt know who was who but I couldnt help but root for this blue collar, gritty team in dark blue and white. They showed such grit and determination, and hey 20 to 25 yard runs wasnt bad either. Then another thing amazed me. I saw this diminuitive, little guy pace back and forth along the side lines; his hand signals, facial expression and emotions all caught in a frenzy. I was amazed how this little, soft spoken, raspy voice (later when I heard him speak), little guy was able to demand the respect and lead these huge giants on the field. It was amazing to see all the determination and grit in this little guy be transferred to these huge giants on the field. The team in dark blue and white won that game as they did many other games after that. The name Penn State stucked with me for a long time after that and I couldnt help but cheer them on for many years to come until I found my beloved Trojans. If your team can catch the attention of a young, 13 year old, foreign born, naive to the game child, then guess what it can do to 16/17 year old high school football players.

I dont think that little, old, raspy voice guy would want you guys moping around, feeling sorry for your selves and bailing on your team at the first sign of adversity. So lift your heads up, stick your feet in the dirt and push forward because you are PENN STATE. Good luck and fight on.