State College 4th-best college sports town

by Horse N Buggy on Feb 13, 2009 9:11 PM EST Comment 40 comments

Forbes magazine has ranked the top 10 college sports towns, and State College came in at #4.

On a related note, Forbes also ranked the 20 most valuable college football programs, and Penn State landed at #13 on that list, with a team value of $69 million.

Also noteworthy - Penn State was ranked behind Big Televen rivals tO$U (#10) and scUM (#4). Surprisingly, we also ranked lower than some stupid cocks... South Carolina Gamecocks. How does that even happen?

Who topped the list? Here's a hint...the coach is the only man in the world to have eaten every item on this website...in one sitting.

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Well an NBC TV contract tends to bump up your worth a bit

Even if your head coach generates his own tidal forces, your QB is some sort of human-emu hybrid, and your team lost to Syracuse (that feels sooooo good)

by dawsonPSU10 on Feb 13, 2009 10:14 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Forbes should have ranked State College #1 best college town

The only downside is having to put up with a few drunk college students after the basketball team wins the Final Four.

That’s never happened in State College, and unfortunately, probably never will! So SC has no downside!

by PaJoe on Feb 13, 2009 10:17 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

State College

Of course, the only difference there for State College being changing “a few drunk college students after the basketball team wins” to “several thousand drunk college students rioting in the streets and tearing down light poles”

by dawsonPSU10 on Feb 13, 2009 11:34 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Even rioting after a big AWAY game win

Notre Dame 1990

"The sea was angry that day, my friends." G. Costanza

by NJ lion on Feb 14, 2009 7:31 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

My roommate paul was one of the "lucky ones"

to be corralled in Beaver stadium taking down the goal posts. He and his PSU education were given a quick divorce.

pinkertonpark.com - you owe yerself a laugh.

by rahpsu92 on Feb 16, 2009 12:03 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I never heard any of the negative parts of that night

(i.e. kicked out of school).
I just remember seeing the goal posts make their way down the campus to Old Main, where crowds of students held them up and everyone sang “Fight on State”. Then we followed them to JoePa’s house, all the while people cutting pieces off of them as a souvenir.

"The sea was angry that day, my friends." G. Costanza

by NJ lion on Feb 16, 2009 12:38 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Ya know - you're right...

it was the following season’s victory in the kickoff classic that resulted in his expulsion.

pinkertonpark.com - you owe yerself a laugh.

by rahpsu92 on Feb 17, 2009 3:09 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

1954 Final Four baby!

by Cairo on Feb 16, 2009 9:28 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

WTF?!

Charlottesville, VA is in the top 10? It might be a pretty area, but as far as college athletics go it’s a Martian wasteland. Their football fans make our basketball fans look like our football fans (roll that one around in your head).

Luring recruits with my new "Posting HD" scheme since '08.

by 06Lion on Feb 14, 2009 10:15 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Agreed

I was there for our away game a few years back and it was a terrible atmosphere. Honestly, there’s no other word for it. Most of the UVA fans didn’t seem to give a sh!t… either during the game or after they won. They blared horrible music over the PA… so loud you couldn’t think straight. Hell, just for some perspective, it was even louder than the rap and Bon Jovi that spews from the speakers at Beaver Stadium (if you can believe that). And their marching band, if they had one, didn’t even play at the game!!! What kind of college football game is that??

This aside, Charlottesville is really a great town and UVA is a terrific school with an absolutely beautiful campus and a ton of tradition… there’s no denying that. Just a lousy game day atmosphere is all.

by BSM PSU 93 on Feb 16, 2009 12:45 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I don't think UVA has a marching band,

if memory serves it’s some cobbled together pep band.

pinkertonpark.com - you owe yerself a laugh.

by rahpsu92 on Feb 17, 2009 3:10 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

And a correction from the "valuable" article

The Nittany Lions sell out their stadium, which is the ~~second~~ largest in the country, every game

by The JuggerNitt on Feb 14, 2009 12:06 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Might as well enjoy that for one more year I suppose...

Despite finishing second in actual attendance numbers to the Maize n Blue… (when your team goes 3-9, you have to find SOMETHING positive to take away from the season right?)

Joking/taunting aside, did they ever make any announcements at the Penn State home games this year regarding temporarily taking over the “largest capacity” mantle? Just curious.

GO BLUE! http://www.maizenbrew.com/

by SCM on Feb 15, 2009 8:38 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Did they figure out how to get back up to over 108,000 seats?

Last I heard the renovation was only going to add 500 seats, going from 107,501 up to 108,001, but then they dropped down to 106,201 and adding 500 to that would only go up to 106,701. I recall there being some debate as to what they’d change in the renovation project to get back up to the largest stadium, since it would have required cutting back on the proposed luxury boxes, and we know how much $ those luxury boxes can bring in.

As far as “actual” attendance, I suppose if Penn State wanted to allow another 500 people in as “workers” or “press” they wouldn’t have a hard time finding takers. Or I suppose they could just shrink their seats down to the size of the seats at Michigan Stadium and completely blow away the record ;-) (of course, as they have every other time this issue has come up, I’m sure Michigan would add another couple of rows of seating, and shrink the seat sizes down ever more :-p )

by The JuggerNitt on Feb 15, 2009 10:44 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Largest stadium announcement

Actually, I don’t think they ever did announce that we were the largest stadium this year. Our student newspaper did have an article, but it was never flat out announced at one of the games, at least that I recall, but I was at all of them.

by dawsonPSU10 on Feb 15, 2009 3:28 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

My recollection

is that Penn State oficially did nothing out of respect for Michigan. I would very much like to see some verification that Michigan drew more fans than Penn State did last year (unless they had alumni buy the seats that they could not use to keep the record)

"I honestly think the "Spread HD" is going to work pretty well, and we’ll be just fine this year". - 8-27-2008

by jesse. on Feb 16, 2009 8:32 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

actual verification is impossible

since they don’t track gate entrance (I don’t really know why, since it wouldn’t be hard to log ticket scans and/or turnstile entrance, and it would be more accurate, though less impressive a number, than what they currently do).

According to this Sporing News, though, Michigan still had the highest “attendance”
http://today.sportingnews.com/sportingnewstoday/20081226/?pg=28

What they do for coming up with the number, though, is rather questionable, as it is essentially determined before the season even starts. They count the number of tickets sold, plus the number of stadium workers and press passes they gave out. Then they also count the band, and anyone else that stands around on the sideline (I forget if they actually count the players themselves, or not).

I don’t know if Michigan purposely did it so that they could retain the “most people per game” title, but they basically just had a lot of extra people on the field, putting them at 102.2% capacity, while PSU only overstuffed to 100.9% capacity.

I do find the whole thing rather amusing, as anyone who’s been to either stadium would still say that Penn State looks larger (because based on actual dimensions it is), and sounds louder (because bowls don’t trap sound very well).

by The JuggerNitt on Feb 16, 2009 9:07 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

NCAA stats on attendance.

For what it’s worth, the NCAA does keep track of attendance figures-nominally to see if the Sun Belt schools meet the basic requirements for attendance at an FBS game. Michigan did have the most fans per home game.

http://web1.ncaa.org/mfb/2008/Internet/attendance/fbs_attendance.html

by Cairo on Feb 16, 2009 9:31 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

A couple of times they announced we were the largest crowd watching a college game that day

by letsgopsu on Feb 15, 2009 5:34 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

they've done that in other years as well

basically and day we had a home game and Michigan didn’t

by The JuggerNitt on Feb 15, 2009 8:37 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I remember they announced it at Illinois and Michigan for sure last year. Cool story – my boss is an Illinois alum and came to the game last year. He brought his old college roommate who played for the Illini with Dick Butkas. He kept calling peole telling them he was at the biggest stadium with the best atmosphere in the country. It was cool to see a fan other than one of our own so excited, like a little kid!

by letsgopsu on Feb 17, 2009 11:17 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

that's usually all it takes

is for them to actually experience the atmosphere.

With that said, Wisconsin I think lives up to the hype there, Ohio State (at least for me, for this past game) exceeded my expectations (though the no open containers laws were kinda ridiculous…people supposedly even got busted for open plastic cups…though I imagine they were probably acting like drunken jackasses).

Michigan Stadium (and I’ve been there 4 times now, some Penn State, some Michigan State), on the other hand, was probably the most underwhelming football experience I’ve had. That’s not to say it was bad, since it still would beat out probably 90% other college stadiums, but the place looks tiny on the outside, and not that big on the inside (the big shallow bowl will do that to ya), and it doesn’t get loud there. Sure, maybe the people are screaming as loud, or even louder, than at other stadiums, but it just doesn’t get trapped (again, the big shallow bowl will do that to ya). Part of it was probably expectations (the whole “Big House” moniker), since I thought it was going to be this massive, intimidating place, but oh well.

by The JuggerNitt on Feb 18, 2009 11:01 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

FWIW

The only reaction I’ve ever seen from a first timer at Beaver Stadium is “holy shit this place is huge”. I don’t know if that makes us better or worse, but it is what it is.

"I honestly think the "Spread HD" is going to work pretty well, and we’ll be just fine this year". - 8-27-2008

by jesse. on Feb 18, 2009 11:14 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I usually get the "holy shit this place is huge"

along with the, “this is a neverending sea of tailgaters in any direction”, and the, “wow, people show up early” etc etc etc

Admittedly, I haven’t been to every stadium in the Big 10, let along the country (and Alabama will by my first “southern” school to see a game at, so that should be an interesting comparison), but from what I’ve seen, Penn State is as good, or better, than anywhere else. And yes, there’s some bias there, but considering the guys at College Gameday (who pretty much HAVE been to every big time stadium) say PSU is the best, I’ll take their word for it ;-)

by The JuggerNitt on Feb 18, 2009 12:35 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I have not had the pleasure of visiting many other stadiums. I saw Penn State play West VA when I lived in the DC area, can’t even remember th year. (early 90’s? you guys amaze me with the way you retain the year of every game and stats) We had a great time, the fans were friendly and fun, except for one lady with who thought only WVU fans should be allowed in home games (???). I’ve been to Athens, GA, great atmosphere, great fans, great stadium and lots of fun (I am a closet Dawgs fan, esss eeee ceeeee speeeeeed!) The biggest difference I saw was they drink bourban, not Yuengling when they tailgate. Been to a FL/GA game in J’ville, it was fun, I was surprised there were no fights, but the FL fans were kind of obnoxious. Finally, went to the ND game in 2006. I kept looking for tailgates (the only ones I saw were PSU), and was really surprised by the lack of enthusiasm in the crowd, after everything I heard. Aside from Beaver Stadium, my favorite venue has been the old RFK stadium in DC, that place rocked, literally. You could see it go up and down when the fans jumped. Once got to watch a game on the sidelines, stood behind the Giants bench in Dec 1992 and made LT mad cheering for the Skins. Can’t WAIT to go to Alabamba!

by letsgopsu on Feb 18, 2009 10:05 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

WVU fans friendly??

Before the game, I remember being afraid to show my PSU colors or I was going to get thrown onto a pile of buring couches. After the games was a different story – PSU torched them and the mellowed a bit.

pinkertonpark.com - you owe yerself a laugh.

by rahpsu92 on Feb 20, 2009 3:43 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Look out

for an article about this in tomorrow’s Collegian.

by DevonEdwards on Feb 15, 2009 10:44 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

nice article

i didn’t realize you wrote for the collegian

Let's Go State

by rmcmillen50 on Feb 16, 2009 10:58 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

3 out of top 4...

Belong to the Big Ten.

Where are you now SEC and Big 12.
Assuming there is more to life than college sports, it would appear as though the Big 10, for all the punishment it gets, is where its at.

FWIW — having attended both schools, I’d swap PSU ahead of UW. There’s more passion and depth of interest in a number of sports at Penn State. I’m proabably biased though.

by NittanyBadger on Feb 16, 2009 8:06 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Madison

Is Madison even really a “college town”, I mean it’s the captial of Wisconsin, and like the third largest city in the state. I’m sure it’s a great place to go to college (like Austin), but I don’t know that it fits the stereotypical mold of college town, like State College and Chapel Hill.

"I honestly think the "Spread HD" is going to work pretty well, and we’ll be just fine this year". - 8-27-2008

by jesse. on Feb 16, 2009 8:30 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

From what I've heard of Madison

and the 2 times I’ve visited there, it is pretty much the epitome of a college town. Sure, there are other things there that it has (namely the capitol), but the university part of the city is very much a college town

If you want to define a college town based on that being the only draw, then yeah, State College would be ahead of Madison, and I’ll take NittanyBadger’s word on it being better as well (plus my biased view).

by The JuggerNitt on Feb 16, 2009 9:12 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Seems about right

The only advantage I see for places like Ann Arbor and Palo Alto is that they have a major city that you could drive to for, say, a concert or dinner or whatever. That’s one of my only issues with living in State College. Granted, there are several major cities within an easy drive that you can make a weekend trip to. But, it’d be nice once in a while to make a 45-minute drive into a city for a night.

by speedomike on Feb 16, 2009 9:38 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

lol

I’m not sure if living within 45 minutes of Detroit is really a plus for Ann Arbor. Greektown and the sports complexes are ok, and there are a few other areas that have been renovated, but yeah…not the best city to be associated with

by The JuggerNitt on Feb 16, 2009 10:43 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

What's wrong with Detriot?

I mean, besides the obvious…

There is a tractor in the parking lot, West Virginia license EIEIO. Your lights are on.

by leeharvey418 on Feb 16, 2009 11:00 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Look at any "most dangerous city" rankings

Detroit is always up there in the top 5. Also, Flint, another perrenial top-5 city, is also only ~1 hour from Ann Arbor. The region is just poor, and depressed (not to say there aren’t good areas around, and Ann Arbor, despite being a whore, is actually a pretty nice, safe town). As speedomike points out (right below your post), a city is still a city. Pro sports (though can they be considered having a pro football team, since they didn’t win a single pro football game this year) is a nice draw, and as I said, the area around the stadiums is decent. Greektown as a whole is a nice area, and near the GM buildings on the waterfront looks nice.

With that being said, college towns usually get their fair share of concerts and arts/culture type stuff, as well as their own sports, all of which I actually kinda prefer to being in a city, since you can avoid all the lines/crowds/traffic of big cities, and still see a lot of good shows.

There’s also a drawback from being too near a big city, and that is the vacuum effect it has on the social life. If a city is only 30-60 minutes away, and has a lot of better clubs, concert venues, etc., then there’s not as much incentive for people to stick around the college town, or for the big concerts to make their way out to the college town, etc. Having a good city within the 1.5-2 hour range would be nice, though.

by The JuggerNitt on Feb 16, 2009 1:29 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

All good points

Especially the vaccuum effect. Hadn’t really thought about that before. State College essentially is the big city in the area (although technically Altoona is bigger), so all of the big happenings are in town.

Not to mention the traffic. Holy balls the traffic near a city sucks.

Clearly there are pros and cons to living anywhere. College towns generally offer what a city has, without the hassles of the city, but with a few less options (there are certain “food groups”, Greek being one, that State College doesn’t offer).

by speedomike on Feb 16, 2009 2:15 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

yeah, it is definitely a matter of preference

I actually prefer the college town, since it distills all the stuff I like about a major city, and filters out most of the crap I don’t like. Unfortunately sometimes some of the good gets filtered out, too.

As for the food groups, how many servings per day does the FDA reccommend for “Greek”? Does that get wedged in somewhere between the carbs and the vegetables? ;-)

by The JuggerNitt on Feb 16, 2009 4:31 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs