Penn State Football Homecoming: Thoughts and Feelings

With a blanket of recently fallen snow covering the Penn State Campus, students, players, and alumni geared up for the 2009 traditional Homecoming game. This year, the opponent was Minnesota. 

But is the Homecoming game as important as some may think?

I interviewed a number of Penn State seniors and asked how they felt about this being their last Homecoming game as a student...I found the answers to be surprising. 

"To be honest, I don't really care about the Homecoming game itself. I mean I hope we win and all like every other game, but it really doesn't matter to me that it's Homecoming", said senior, Adam Blaire.

"Every 'last thing' is sad, but Homecoming really isn't a big deal," said fellow senior, John K.

To me, Homecoming is a chance for alumni to come back to their Alma Mater to root for the colors that they love...the blue and white. 

After realizing that every home football game at Penn State served as a "Homecoming" for PSU alum, the actual Homecoming game felt a little less important. 

Don't get me wrong, I find it very sad that this is my last homecoming as a student... but I feel better knowing that I will be back for more games in the future, especially against the tough opponents. 

This weekend, I found the fact that tailgating was banned due to weather risks was more important than Homecoming. The University closed more than 20,000 parking spots in order to eliminate tailgating.

The snowfall in State College threw us all for a loop, but didn't stop the Lions from gaining the win over Minnesota, 20-0. The Nittany Lions currently hold a six out of seven winning record with only one unfortunate loss to Iowa.