Wisconsin

The new coach knew that it would be difficult to get the seat filled for an especially cold senior day and put personal request for fans to support this year’s historic class. (See the end of first question) There were also rumors of a big surprise during the game.

Due to the shortened weekend, we decided to take Monday off and take a slower return home. The original plan included a trip to the Johnson flood museum on Monday.

Friday

Once in State College, we stopped briefly at Walmart pick up some groceries for the weekend. Afterwards we headed to the RV lot. The younger lot attendants told us that we can park wherever we want it because lot was very empty and haphazardly parked. A stiff cold wind was blowing, so we set up next to other RVs to block the wind and the lights from a nearby light station.

When it was time to head out for the evening, we were caught by a small snag. The buses weren’t running because the students were home so we caught a cab downtown. For dinner, we got some sandwiches at RU hungry and then headed to the saloon for a Velveeta and monkey boy. The boys and I stayed until the third set. We got some Canyon pizza and called a cab back home.

Saturday

The original setup included only two canopies, but quickly thereafter, if we had so many people we had to expand and add the third canopy. We also added a clear tarp so that sunlight could enter. The tailgate group grew to about 24 people and we enjoyed plenty of Italian treats. It was very quickly time to go into the game at 3:30. Before the game, there were a couple of surprises for this very emotional senior day. All of the player’s helmets were adjourned with “42” on the left side for defense team captain, Michael Mauti. He was injured during last week’s game and unable to participate in this final contest as a senior.

They put cards on the east and south stands to spell on “Thank you seniors” and “One Team.” There weren’t quite enough students, so it looked more like “on tea”

Also unveiled was the 2012 on the east stands to pay tribute to the historic 2012 class sticking with PSU, even after the NCAA invited everyone to flee over the summer.

Emotions were perhaps a bit too high. Wisconsin jumped to an early lead and became the only opponent to get a touchdown against the lions during the first quarter. The Lions were able to find the endzone before halftime making it 7-14. After halftime, the Lions dominated the field with 3 long touchdown drives. Wisconsin lone score drive of the second half came with only 18 seconds left to force overtime.

The lions got the ball first and had to settle for a Sam Ficken field goal to make it 24-21. Wisconsin wasn’t able to get a touchdown on their procession and their kicker’s attempt sailed wide to the left to cement a win for Penn State’s first overtime game in 6 seasons.

Penn State	Wisconsin
24 (OT)	21

It was fitting that the team was redeemed by the kicker, whose 5 missed field goals cost us a victory in week 2. The lions finished 8-4 on the season, but would not go on to compete for the big ten championship or a bowl game this year. During the game, I lashed the canopies to the fence. They were still in place upon our return. The walls were replaced, heat turned back on. There was drifting snow through most of the evening but not accumulation and there was no rain. We enjoyed more food like sausage scaloppini and Mexican shepherd’s pie. We finally packed in around 10 p.m. Everyone was sad that the season is finally over, but very glad for the way it turned out for the players.

Sunday

Chad and the guys went downtown for some flair shopping while Jeremy and I went hiking on 1000 steps. Later, we got dinner at Old New York near the mall. In the evening, we watched Super troopers in the RV using Chad’s micro-projector.

Monday

Lessons learned:

For the Glory,
-Rob, Tailgating Coordinator

Indiana Star Wars

Friday

I walked over to the hub to go put money in my bank account and see what was going on over there. My button collection is nearly complete for the season with only 1 button remaining for the year. I met up with Jeremy. We walked downtown and got dinner at the corner room. We headed out with everyone at Rotelli’s for a bar crawl. Twice, we left Rotelli’s and hiked all over town only to end up at Rotelli’s again. The third time, Jeremy’s and I decided that no matter what, we were going to Adam’s Apple. It turned out to be a good choice, because I met and had a conversation with Jay Paterno. By the end of the evening, I had covered about 8 miles.

Saturday

I arrived at tailgate spot slightly after 8 AM. The group of neighbors had already setup in the area next to Mad and Suz’s car, so we set up across the way we set up 3 canopies and fireplace in our spot for Star Wars themed tailgate. I changed into my Darth Vader costume and definitely got a lot of weird looks especially when I was able to stop a truck using the force as I crossed the road. Madeline also wore a pair of Princess Leia hair buns/ ear muffs. We started out the morning by eating grilled stickies, and C3PO (Chili, Peppers and Onions) Chili. We also enjoyed hot cider with various other libations inside.

The noon kick-off came upon us very quickly and we headed to the stadium to watch the game. Penn State did very well against Indiana although several periods, our offense appeared to stall until they finally got in gear. Final score 45-22. Our unblemished winning streak against Indiana remains intact. Unforunatley, Michael Mauti was hurt and it didn't look like he would play next week. After the game, we came back out to enjoy more great themed foods/drinks such as:

• Han Solo cups
• Ham solo sandwiches
• Sausage TIE fighters
• Cookie cutter Star Wars sandwiches
• White chocolate light sabers
• Java the hut
• Wookie cookies
• Mos Eisley brownies
• Obi Won kielbasa
• C3PO Chili

After packing up, I headed back to Jeremy's place that cleaned up and walked over to the Autoport for drinks. From there we headed downtown to the brewery. We met up with some friends and saw the band LoJack which is very good. From there we went to the Skellar and that's where we called it a night.

Sunday

For the Glory,
-Rob, Tailgating coordinator

All we do is wine

Friday

On the way back, we stopped downtown to get some buttons from Citizen's Bank. We had some drinks in the RV lot and then we met Mandy and headed downtown at the corner room for dinner. We got a window seat after about 20 minutes which is a lot faster than we thought. There were a handful of costumes on the street. Back in the RV lot, we walked around to see what was going on. We met our old neighbors from the Navy game and hung out with them. They remembered my Walleye bites. We went to bed early.

Saturday

The wine tailgate got started with breakfast mimosas in many different styles. My personal favorite was made with grape juice or "grape on grape." The rest of the wine collection with reds and white was assembled on the table and in the cooler.

Surprisingly, the reds actually went faster than the whites. Everyone brought their favorites from home. I also brought some wines from my Virginia excursion earlier in the season. It was fun to try different things and people really liked talking about favorites that they brought. Along with the wine, we had plenty of cheeses, steak and shrimp. Jen brought custom-made cake balls, made in both blue/white and red/grey.

Penn State	Ohio State
23	35

We started heading into the game around 4:30 PM. The first half looked more like an old big ten struggle, typical of past PSU/OSU teams. This game was also our white out for the year. The 2nd half went downhill for our team. Final score 35-23 Post game, there was even more food and only slightly less merriment. Fireplace made it a warmer after the game. We packed up around 11 PM and I took Mandy back to her car.

Sunday

For the Glory,
-Rob, Tailgating Coordinator

Homecoming 12

Thursday

After setting up we headed down to the Dark Horse for Yuengs and wings. The band was terrible. Jeremy came down to meet us. After the Dark Horse, we wanted to go to bar blue but the line was outrageous. We ended up at the saloon for My Hero Zero and a marching band came in towards the end of the evening.

Tailgate Friday

Our favorite spot on Shortlidge was under construction and blocked off with Jersey barriers. It was 6 PM when the parade started and we all received plenty of candy and free stuff during the course of the parade, which lasted about an hour and 45 minutes. Even the dogs got free stuff. Harley, Eddie and Chalupa were there. After the parade, Chad and Andrew went back to Saloon. The rest of the stayed back in the RVs and played card games. Rob stayed up waiting for Andy and finally went to bed around 2:45 a.m. Chad and Andrew still weren't back yet.

Tailgate Saturday

The noon game force us into the stands much earlier than normal. Rich and Rob spent a good deal time looking for a cable splitter to go to hook up to TV for those not going into the game. They finally found one and hooked up the TV. The game itself is super exciting with the Nittany Lions able to squeak out a victory by turning up the heat in the fourth quarter. The Lions advanced by beating the ranked (No. 22) Northwestern team and continued the Lions 4-game winning streak.

When we returned back to the tailgate, we had to dual deep fryers enjoyed a many maybe fried favorites. Kara and Andrew were the guest fry Masters for this tailgate. Chad brought wings sauce from Shorties place in Chester, WV. Plenty of favorites were grilled up including sausage and peppers and bratwurst. Rob made German trifle that was in the group picture. Alaina met up with some friends from IUP after the game. They enjoyed the abundance of food and beverages.

The weather quickly turned cold after dark. The Christmas lights were turned on as well as the fireplace to keep everyone warm. We stayed up for quite some time with a dance party late in the evening consisting of line dancing, Zumba and Kara's running Man. The tailgate kept going to around midnight when it was finally time to call it a night and go to sleep. Only two other tailgates were still up.

Tailgate Sunday

For The Glory,

Janelle Fetcho, Editor-in-Chief and Official Diesel Tailgate Zumba Instructor

Temple

Friday

The Temple game was the 2nd annual parent's weekend, during which I take my mom to a game. We departed Beaver Falls for Happy Valley after picking up Oram's Donuts.

When we arrived in Happy Valley, we weren't burdened with the RV yet, so we headed to the meat lab where we ran into the Kergan's (our old neighbors). We picked up Tenderloins, Soup bones, scrapple and brown eggs.

Next, we went to seven mountains winery for a tasting and purchases. With errands out of the way, we picked up the RV from Jeremy's driveway, where it had been since last week. Jeremy had gotten his Harley Sportster running again and I looked at it in the garage.

Official Stats

Guests:	20
Parents:	3

We headed to the RV lot and set up in the 2nd row, across from Brian Cohen and his new class A motorhome. We enjoyed a few beverages at the RV before catching the Family Clothesline shuttle to down town. Van trivia netted me $6 in coupons, which I used to get a t-shirt and headband for mom.

Lunch was at Baby's Diner and then we rode the blue loop to the creamery and ate ice cream cones as big as our heads. We walked back to RV lot since it wasn't raining this year. We had a late dinner and grilled the meat lab tenderloins while watching a movie outside. We also took a tour of the RV lot.

Saturday

1. Bacon
2. Quiches with bacon
3. Pepperoni
4. Kielbasa
5. Deitz and Watson buffalo chicken sausage
6. Julia Childs basted chicken (every 8 minutes)
7. London Broil with Red wine sauce
8. Grilled Shrimp

By game time at 3:30, the weather was a light on and off drizzle. Game play got off to a slow start and it was still evident to me that the referees didn't want to win. During one stretch, there were 3 erranous flags called on 3 back-to back plays. The lions eventually overpowered the owl. During one drive, the lions found themselves on a 4th and 5. Bill O'Brien decided to for it. "I don't feel good about this," I said to my neighbor. The play resulted in a touchdown. Double rainbows graced the south endzone to usher in the Lion's victory: 24-13. PSU is now 2 and 2 and maintains its 42 year winning streak against Temple.

Penn State	Temple
24	13

D

uring the game, 1982 National championship team was welcomed back and played a video. This was the only time all season that they showed JoePA on the jumbotron The Blue Band's ½ time show was the wizard of oz. During post game, the drumline was interrupted. Another band member said that anyone can play the drums, so the drumline let them. The drum major, feature twirlers, silks and others attempted to play parade order. Mom and I returned to the lot for more tailgating with French onion soup and au gratin potatoes. Mom and I were the last guests to leave. By then, it was windy and rainy.

Sunday

For the Glory,
-Rob, Tailgating Coordinator

planning for 2012 Temple

Location: 2678 Wear: Blue Arrival = Friday AM Theme: Julia Childs Special Event: TBA
Equipment list stuff to bring	Donate $ donations	RV page Places to stay	Tickets
Weather	Maps Where we are	Cards How to find us	PSU football for Outlook

Navy

Thursday September 13, 2012

After setting up trailers and unloading vehicles, we all rallied and got ready to head downtown to the Dark Horse for Yuengs and Wings. When we got to the Dark Horse, they had the front door open. It was extremely full for a Thursday night, so we decided to head upstairs and grab some cheesesteaks before heading to the Saloon for Monkeyboys. My Hero Zero was playing at the saloon. It was crowded and hot as usual. We all headed home around midnight, but not before getting some pig pictures.

Friday Spetemper 14, 2012:

BACHELOR/BACHELORETTE PARTY DAY/NIGHT

Bachelor Party:

As they were walking back to cars, Rob was even able to grab some buttons for the group. They guys and Jessie got ready for the evening festivities. They caught the shuttle to the Endzone, which was already full. By the time they got it, there was about 20 people. After a few hours at the Endzone, they headed downtown to the Dark Horse where they got Pazzo's wings and drinks. After the Dark Horse, they decided to head over to College Pizza. They even ran into the guys from the endzone shuttle. Everyone was excited and started chanting, "strippers and pizza" in the restaurant. They grabbed the bus to head home. Chris wasn't feeling well, so they had to exit the bus a few stops early and walk. Later that evening, Chris apparently fell out of his bed and got stuck between his bed and the wall.

Bachelorette Party:

Tailgate Saturday September 15, 2012.

In keeping with the pirate theme, there were plenty of refreshments around the tailgate. There was a rum bucket, which is usually made with gin, but for this occasion it was made with Captain Morgan Lime Bite. We also had, flatbread pizzas, rat on a stick, Walleye bites, anchor shaped cookies, sausage and peppers, along with deep fried totinoes, mozz sticks, pierogies and freedom fries.

During game time, the majority of the tailgate headed into Beaver Stadium to watch. There was about 8 that hung around the tailgate to watch on direcTV. While we were relaxing and in and out of napping, Janelle caught a random chick try and steal one of our pies. Janelle yelled "Hey, don't steal our pie". The random chick jumped and put it down. She thought we were sleeping.

The game marked Bill O'Brian's first win and the first win for the lions since 1997, according to the NCAA. The Lions had an easy time on the field and scored a touchdown on their first drive. The kicker, Sam Ficken, gained his confidence back this week as he went 4 for 5 on field goals. The red zone offense was able to drive it in for touchdowns, so no field goals were needed. The score for the game was: Penn State 34 Navy 7

Penn State	Navy
34	7

After the game, we quickly took the group picture before dark. We also watched several other games such as, Florida at Tennessee and Notre Dame at Michigan State before watching The Hangover. After the movie, we all decided to call it a night.

Sunday September 16, 2012

For the Glory,
-Janelle, Editor-in-chief

planning for 2012 Navy

Location: Overnight RV lot Wear: White Arrival = Thursday Theme: Pirates Special Event: Chris's bachelor Party Friday
Equipment list stuff to bring	Donate $ donations	RV page Places to stay	Tickets
Weather	Maps Where we are	Cards How to find us	PSU football for Outlook

@ Virginia

Friday

After crossing the mason Dixon line, we crossed into Virginia at Point of rocks, MD. We stopped at 2 wineries on the way down: Dry Mill was an old horse farm and they were an old horse farm. Casanel was near a small lake. Both were near Culpeper.

Official Roadtrip Stats

Days:	10
Football games:	2
miles:	1228
traffic circles:	8
RV, truck or generator problems:	0

We arrived in Charlottesville at about 4:50, with just enough time to pick up the tickets from the ticket office before it closed. We drove back through campus to see where the alumni association tailgate was and scope out the RV lot in person. It was very small, but the sign confirmed that it was free and opened at 0800.

We headed back up US 29 to Wal-Mart and parked for the evening. The rest of our "neighbors" in the parking lot were all from Penn State. We set up the RV for tomorrow and set up the 0-gravity chairs outside and watched a movie. Finally got the air conditioning working and then cooled off inside. This Wal-Mart actually closed at 11:30 PM.

During the day, I kept seeing signs around town saying "Go Hoos" and I thought that we had mistakenly ended up in Indiana Hoosier territory. Even though the old Virginians have a cavalier, they insist on calling themselves the Wahoo's (or Hoo's for short) in reference to a by-gone insult.

Saturday

We now understood why the Lots close 2 hours after game time. In order to fit into the triangular lot, they parked RV's in lines that started at 5 deep and tapered down. If you were parked at the back of the lot couldn't get out until the RVs in the front left.

We set up on the sandy soil and then begin to cook breakfast of grilled stickies and fried eggs along with some wine with picked up in Northern Virginia.

We were joined by Jeremy, Heather, Dennis and Lisa before was time to go to the pep rally. 1 of the funnier quotes was when Jeremy was sitting next to the trailer and asked me if I got new tires because he could smell the new rubber. I just put 2 new tires on it before this trip.

We headed over to the stadium and took a lap to take it all in. The north end zone was a grassy rotunda that was open to the field.

We had nice seats in the 5th row on the 5 yard line on the aisle. Unfortunately, I kept having to asking people in the aisle to sit down so that I could see the game. My favorite group was the three pregnant girls who chose this stop to have a reunion, even thought their seats were nowhere nearby.

The kicker, Sam Ficken, had a bad day, missing 4 of 5 field goals.

Bad weather threatened to cut the game short. With only 3 minutes left on the clock, they announced that due to the bad weather, you could leave the stadium and re-enter with your ticket stub and then stalled the progression of the game. The lions were able to drive to our end of the rainy stadium for a last second field goal. Unfortunately, it was wide and the "W" eluded the lions again.

We filed out of the stadium in much cooler weather and more rain threatening. The urban campus caused us to be funneled into a ½ mile long column of people filing back towards the distant parking lots. It was little surreal to be stuck in such a large herd of people all going the same way.

Once back at the RV lot, the wind and rain really picked up. Someone was nice enough to lower my awning and flagpole while we were gone.

Penn State	Virginia
16	17

RV's were already starting to jockey out of the lot and head home. The rain eventually settled down and we were able to move back outside and grill some burgers. We were the second to last RV to depart at dusk. No one asked us to leave, but it was cold and the party was over.

We headed north on 529 and attempted to cut out some distance to home by cutting closer to the Shenandoah mountains. Unfortunately, we encountered a closed road that sent us on a 19 miles detour that headed due south. I've never been happier to see a traffic light, as this meant we were back in civilization. The detour put us back in Culpeper, where we stopped for the night.

Sunday

We also stopped at Naked Mountain, mainly due to the name. It was stuck in a valley behind single lane driveway with a blind curve around a cliff. I had to turn the RV around in their lawn. In spite of the driveway, this was my favorite of the trip.

Our last stop was the Camping World in Winchester, VA. Thus far, we'd had a bad track record for stopping at Camping world stores during open hours. We didn't find anything to buy, but it was still worth the stop. We waited behind a guy forever at the dump station, who decided to level his RV before dumping.

The rest of the trip was uneventful. We got to see the completed laurel highland hiking Trail Bridge. I dropped Alaina off before heading home to start getting the camper ready for next week for Navy. It was quite a vacation!

For the Glory,
-Rob, tailgating coordinator

planning for 2012 @ Virginia

This is a small away game tailgate. Email Rob @ if you are going.

Ohio U

Friday

We quickly leveled the RV and headed over to the stadium for Football Eve, where we met Mandy and sat in the south end zone. Coach O'Brien and the players sat on four bleachers in front of a packed south end zone. This was the unveiling of the "one team" moniker for the year. I also got some good pictures of the moon rise over Mount Nittany.

Back at the RV, I put together my trifle for tomorrow's tailgate. We took the dog for a walk and called it an early night.

Saturday

this extra was already dubbed "Mexico" because it had been annexed. More and more guests arrived before the game. There were a total of 24 people at the tailgate and plenty of news vans around State College. We enjoyed a baked ham and Welsh cheddar.

This was my first game with the new chair backs in the stadium. I grew to dislike them more and more as the season progressed. The team played well in the first half but didn't play after halftime. There were a few minor changes to the songs in the stadium and a lot less piped-in music. Overall, the game had the same exciting atmosphere as usual.

Penn State	Opponent
14	24

I brought the dog back to the tailgate after the game. We were parked next to the guy from framing Paterno, who give us free t shirts. We enjoyed more cold ham after the game. I passed out some of my trifle.

We stayed late into the evening chatting and it finally cooled down headed back to the RV and got 1 of the nicest showers as I can remember.

Sunday

For the Glory,
-Rob, Tailgating Coordinator

planning for 2012 Ohio U

Location: TBA Wear: White Arrival = Friday Theme: soccer/hooligans Special Event: Football Eve. 1900 hrs Friday at Beaver Stadium
Equipment list stuff to bring	Donate $ donations	RV page Places to stay	Tickets
Weather	Maps Where we are	Cards How to find us	PSU football for Outlook

Blue White Weekend

BWW 2012 was our first tailgate of the upcoming season. We have been planning this weekend for a few months and we were all excited when the time to make the trek back up to Happy Valley finally arrived.

Thursday April 19, 2012

Friday April 20, 2012: Happy Birthday Matt!!

Once the crew returned back to camp, we heated up some food in Kori and Matt's camper. Kevin showed up just in time to grab some food. Since it was Matt's birthday, we wanted to do something special. While flair shopping, we got a piñata for Matt. Nell, Chris and Alaina went to the Wal-Mart to purchase some candy to fill the piñata. Once it was stuffed, Kori surprised Matt with it. We took it out in the parking lot where he took it down in one whack. Candy flew EVERYWHERE and we all ran around like kids picking it up.

After gathering all the candy and enjoying a cookie cake that Kori brought for Matt, we all got ready and headed to Champs to watch the Flyers vs Penguins game. It was crowded when we got there but we eventually got a seat at the bar while we waited for our table. After grabbing some food and beverages, Alaina, Rob, Chad and Andrew decided to go downtown to the Saloon so Andrew could experience Monkey Boys. The rest of the crew hung out till the end of the hockey game and then headed back to our trailers. The Pens beat the Flyers that night.

Once back at our trailers, we decided to sit outside and watch The Hangover. That is one of our favorite movies to watch as a group. ("I look like a nerdy hillbilly"; "My lateral incisor is missing", etc) We didn't get to finish as we all started to nod off. We all headed to bed so we could be well rested for our big début on Saturday.

Official Stats

Guests:	50
RVs:	5
Coolers of Bill O'Brien themed mixed drinks:	3
Pinatas broken in Wal-mart parking lot:	1
Ford Tow Rigs:	4
Chevy Tow Rigs:	1
Award Winning Penn State Football Blogs in attendance:	2
Cops featured on "Most Shocking":	1
attendees frustrated with Penn State parking staff:	all
carrier landings:	0
Cupcakes baked:	1000

Tailgate Saturday April 21, 2012

The morning started off very warm and sunny. We set up tents and all the food. We even had a drink contest this year for the new coach. The three drinks were; The Billini, Cape Bob and the Bob Margartini. Each person was asked to sample the three different drinks and then vote for the best. The results were close, but the Billini was the winner. Some of the food choices were: Sheppard's Pie, which was a hit. There was also a Nacho Bar, Cabbage & Noodles, Asian Slaw, Burgers, Baked Potato Dip, Deviled Eggs, Ham and Cheese Melts and much much more. We were unable to deep fry this year due to the wind. The fryer couldn't keep its temp up high enough to fry.

Some guests went into the game and were able to get some great pictures. The scoring was different for this game only. After the game, we continued to hang out. The weather turned and it began to rain and get colder. We had to put the sides up to the big tent and even get out the fireplace to keep warm. The rain forced many other tailgates to pack up and leave or just stay in their RVs. We were able to still hang out. We had the radio going and the food kept coming. We ended up being the only tailgate left. Some of the girls began cleaning up because there was word that it would get windy overnight.

Blue	White
77	65
different scoring system

Sunday April 20 ,2012

For the Glory,
-Janelle, Editor-in-chief

planning for 2012 Blue/White weekend

Location: TBA Wear: Blue Arrival = Thursday/Friday Theme: Irish Wake so we can say goodbye to JVP while toasting BOB. Corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, guinness, etc - and, for joe, lasagna
Equipment list stuff to bring	Donate $ donations	RV page Places to stay	Tickets
Weather	Maps Where we are	Cards How to find us	PSU football for Outlook

Diesel Tailgate: Get Big! ^TM