It truly is "great to be a Mountaineer.”
The long Labor Day weekend is one of my favorite weekends of the year. It’s the beginning of a new college football season. The anticipation of the start of the perfect season. Everyone starts out hopeful and excited to begin another fall season, believing that this is the year that their team will capture glory.
Appalachian State takes a different approach to the season - there is no warm up. We start with our biggest challenge - Penn State University. The ASU motto "anyone, anywhere, anytime" is not just words. It’s our mantra.
The biggest programs with the biggest stadiums are all targets: LSU, Georgia, Michigan, Tennessee, and this year Penn State. The Nittany Lions, ranked #9 in the college polls, are fierce competition. If the team isn't loaded enough, the 105,000 fans are certainly ready to pounce.
In Pennsylvania, acres of cow pastures turn into playground parking lots for the mass tailgaiters. RVs seem to sprawl for miles. Flags slap and smack in the wind over the party wagons - the dollars spent on these in a season is astronomical. Penn State fans don't look for a second home or a beach property; they vacation in a cow pasture. They cuddle up to their neighbor's motor home and create a temporary living room with carpet, sitting area, and outdoor kitchen. It’s their home away from home - a mobile country club organized with menu, itinerary, and entertainment.
I grew up in the university town of Chapel Hill, NC. As a kid I worked at the stadium, slinging cokes to the crowd. Football was an event, not a vacation destination. I left the beautiful Chapel Hill campus for Boone, NC, much to the disappointment of my family. Boone was the right choice for me though - a beautiful valley on a mountain top that embraces football like the first snow fall of the season. It’s a yearly ritual of hope, smiles, and tradition.
As Mountaineers, we are all exhibitionists, living for the spotlight and attention of all around us. We provide crazy antics and fun catch phrases that highlight our backwood brilliance. We are loud. We are fun. We are bold. We scream things like, "after this shot we are gonna march in that stadium and kick all y'alls asses.”
How can you not love the App State loyal? We feed the masses. We enjoy competition. We don't back down. We are fierce, but humble at the same time. We can walk into a stadium 3 times the size of our entire town population and say "we got this.”
The Penn State crowd is known for being fun, friendly, and fierce. They are passionate and knowledgeable. They have years of tradition and masses of graduates. It is big time program with big time tradition and support. The jumbo tron continues to boast the mantra "Unrivaled.”
Even the PSU fans are in awe of the App State charisma. We make friends everywhere we go. We were more friendly, more passionate and more fun than the home team. They are stunned.
For most of the game, it was the quietest I have ever heard 100,000 people be. App ran on PSU like a loose thread on a poorly knit sweater. Our quarterback dissected the defense like a pig at first frost. And then overtime happened- a complete turn of events. Our 56-yard field attempt for victory sends PSU to confidently kneel into overtime.
Then, all of our dreams, hope and excitement are crushed with a interception from a taller, faster, better-positioned defender. The confidence of a well-schooled and time-tested traditional program yields the results they expect...Victory.
If it’s possible for two teams to win, this is it. ASU got the airplay and the national attention we crave. PSU got the W and the chance to keep their season alive. We walk away with our heads held high, proud, and hopeful.
We answer so many questions. Do we have a QB? Do we have big time game? Are we good enough for the main stage? Will App have a shot at glory? The answer is a resounding "yes” to all.
The family friends I stayed with in nearby Bellefonte, PA were incredibly gracious and kind. They always had food and cold beer ready. We stayed late on Sunday to participate in a family picnic, and the food was fantastic. They had venison sausage, burgers, dogs, buffalo chicken dip, mac and cheese, ramen salad, fresh fruit, and potato salad. We spent the afternoon in the mild sunshine and intermittent breeze, playing a new tailgate game called “Kubb.” It’s a viking game that is rumored to have been played with the bones of their vanquished. How fitting.
The 9-hour drive home is a breeze. The game was riveting; it was one to remember. It is "great to be a Mountaineer.”
Pete Kindem
Class of '94
Appy Family.