I want to start this off by stating the important: I don’t go to Penn State University. I don’t praise Joe Pa as a God-like figure. You won’t see me shouting “WE ARE!” looking for someone to answer me. I’m a Temple student and proud of that fact. But growing up in the Philadelphia area, the Nittany Lions sort of…become your team to root for. Growing up it was a common dream to go to Penn State for college. There’s something epic and special about the little city in the middle of nowhere. There’s something special about the university no matter how much you try and deny it. Penn State has an aura that surrounds it, from the ice cream to the party scene (and maybe a class or two). But there is no question what makes Penn State what it is: football.

Every Saturday thousands upon thousands of cars, RV’s, and students converge on Beaver Stadium like that day is the Super Bowl itself. Does it matter if they’re playing Wisconsin instead of Michigan State? No. Do people pay insane amounts of money for a ticket to see their Nittany Lions take on the Buckeyes or Wolverines? You bet they do. Penn State football isn’t a social activity it’s more like a way of life. But take a step back and ask yourself…what fuels the media coverage every year? What makes Beaver Stadium so special? It’s the students, no question about it. Philadelphia professional teams have crazy fans. Well, you might as well throw the Penn State student section in the same group. Tailgating at 5 in the morning. Paternoville. Perfecting the White Out.

I was lucky enough to see a game in person with my dad and brother in fall of 2006. My brother, a Penn State senior at the time, somehow bought a few extra tickets and let me tell you this: the student section reputation lived up to its hype. The Zombie Nation. Singing Hey Baby. The constant cheers, “We want the lion!” or other chants laced with expletives towards the opposition. It’s a sight you have to see and take in for yourself. But if you don’t believe me that the students fuel this football powerhouse, just watch these real fast:

Zombie Nation

Hey Baby

The famous White Out

It’s tradition and it’s pretty awe inspiring. If the players aren’t jacked up by these 22,000 kids, I have no idea what does it for them. And it’s not just me that realizes the pure insanity of the students at PSU. Kirk Herbstreit, ESPN analyst and former Buckeye, said this:

A former Ohio Stater, calling these kids the best student section in the country. Oh and then there was this written up by Herbstreit, labeling PSU’s student body number 1 in the country (judged by originality, organization, and noise).

So you get the idea: students converging on Beaver Stadium on a Saturday turns into something special. But this article isn’t all out praise for these kids, no sir. This is about a horrifying and ridiculous decision made by Penn State athletic officials. Beaver Stadium seats 107,282 people. With the Big House in Michigan under construction, that makes it the 3rd largest stadium IN THE WORLD. I kept mentioning that 22,000 students make this stadium just downright scary to play in. That’s because only 22,000 (roughly) seats are given to students. Just 22,000 out of more than 107,000: that’s just over 20 percent of the attendance. It’s also pathetic.

Students have cried out for more tickets every year to no avail. Just this past week tickets for the 2008 season went on sale, and look at the things that are happening. The entire junior class lot of tickets, gone…in a minute and a half.

So where am I going with this, what’s the solution. Easy: expand the student section by 20,000 more. That’s a big increase, but it would only put the number at 42,000 students roughly, leaving 65,000 for everyone else. That seems fair to me. The people taking up the rest of those seats are fans and alumni. I respect the fact that every weekend they trek to State College to see their alma mater play. I saw the lines of RV’s tailgating when I was up there, it was extraordinary. But these alumni need to understand something: this is the students time. The alumni had their fun, let the kids now be at these games and form memories that will last for a lifetime. So many students get left out of these games and its highway robbery. 22,000 students make 99 percent of the noise, and you cant see that theres thousands more begging for a chance to root on their team? I understand that alumni at Penn State have a lot of power and this is their tradition. But you’re screwing over the students in a big way and it doesnt seem fair.

All in all…nothing will change. The Nittany Lions will run out of the tunnel on Saturdays to a welcoming and boisterous crowd of over 107,000 ready to root them on. Alumni will come. Students will come. The Penn State football tradition will live on for years and years to come. But you can’t help but wonder…why hasn’t ‘the best student section in the country’ been properly represented? It’s a question that might never get answered. And all you can do as a Penn Stater is hope you got lucky and got those tickets. Because Saturdays in Happy Valley are something special, and something very…very loud.