The past two years I've been to the Penn State Bowl games. Obviously this Alamo Bowl was not as big as the Orange or Outback. What that meant for us on the sidelines was much more room. During the game, it was me, two other cameras from Harrisburg TV stations, one from Johnstown and one from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on the Penn State sideline. That was it. It made for a much more relaxed experience. No need sprinting 70 yards to get to that "favorite spot" first because we all new there was plenty of room. It was my first time to Texas, and it was a great time. I would say the crowd was 75% Texas A&M fans. And while we were there to cover Penn State, I was very impressed with the A&M crowd. Even when their team was busy giving up 17 unanswered points, they nevered wavered in their support. It was a sea of 50,000 maroon-wearing fans swaying back and forth as one to the A&M fight song. Quite a sight to see in the Alamo Dome. At one point during the game, Penn State was issued a "sideline warning" when one of the officials tripped over someone on the PSU sideline. Joe Paterno was screaming at one of the other officials, really giving it to him. They put it up on the big screen at the dome and almost every A&M fan in the one endzone yelled as one- "sit down old-timer." Maybe not the most intelligent thing in light of the "Pep Rally fiasco," but impressive nonetheless. Of course that was a record crowd for an event at the Alamo as well as an Alamo Bowl game record. And up until that point, the largest crowd to view a 2007-2008 Bowl game. Very impressive. And naturally that wouldn't have happened if a large contingent of loyal Penn State fans hadn't made the trip. Although I was impressed with A&M's faithful, the Penn Staters didn't disappoint either. They never do. Kudos to them and congrats to them on the win. It was funny because there were even two or three Michigan fans sitting in the front row on the Penn State sideline with a "M" flag draped over the railing. Apparently they bought Alamo Bowl tickets early when it appeared that's where Michigan was headed. But instead of selling them, they came to support the Nittany Lions, even taking part in the "We Are Penn State" chant. It was entertaining. So anyways, PSU goes on to the win. The post-game was quite a sight to see, hear and smell. They dropped balloons from the ceiling of the dome just after the trophy presentations and at the same time set off fireworks. So it was nothing but mid-air explosions and the smell of burning rubber. Not sure how smart that was. But it was unique. It scared the heck out of Dan Connor while being interviewed by some our local tv crews. So in a nutshell, that was my experience at the 2007 Alamo Bowl. A great time. But I'm glad to be home and catching up on my sleep!
