So, per reports out today, Mauti's been getting a lot of supporting emails, which he's then been printing out and putting up in the locker room. How could I not join in with that?

If you follow me on twitter, you probably know that I emailed him, too. Here's what I said. I encourage you all to show your support to the athletes (and BOB) directly--we may be overloading them with messages, but they'll be messages of support.

Ok, maybe not everyone should do this...but regardless, here's the text of my email:

Dear Mike,

May I call you Mike? I hope it's not too familiar, especially since we are essentially part of the same greater family (the Penn State family, of course).

I, like you, am a Penn State University legacy (though not with football), with both of my parents having attended PSU. I, like you, grew up watching Penn State football, but I, unlike you, never had the privelage to don the black shoes, white helmet, and plain jerseys of the Nittany Lion football team. Being a girl may have had something to do with that.

I'm sending this email because I wanted to express my gratitude. I wanted to thank you for representing our University so well. Thank you for exemplifying Success With Honor. Thank you for showing everyone that the NCAA is wrong--football isn't first at Penn State; character is. And the character that you and your teammates have shown in the face of the unexpected adversity of the past eight months brings tears to my eyes and swells my chest with pride.

I'm proud of the way you guys have handled this all with dignity and class. I'm proud to have you and your teammates as the face of our University. And I'm proud that I'm able to be there in person to scream my head off in rooting for you all at all seven home games this season, as well as the games in Charlottesville and Iowa City.

You and your teammates, all of you members of my PSU family, have my complete support, all the support of my "regular" family, and all of the support of Nittany Nation. Never forget that. We all stand with you, and love you guys.

We are...Penn State. Forever.

Cari Greene

PSU Comm '03