Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/115002
Dancing in the dark In troubled times, Penn State summons its fighting spirit HAIL TO THE LION Last month, the Dance Marathon raised a record $12.37 million for pediatric cancer research. T hey loved Jay Paterno at the Dance Marathon. The former Penn State quarterbacks coach showed up at the Bryce Jordan Center on Saturday morning to a hearty round of applause that just kept going. After a few introductory remarks, he gave THON���s overall chairman, Will Martin, a tie from his father���s closet to show his appreciation for all the work Martin had done. The kids cheered that, too. They were less than 24 hours into their ordeal and hadn���t yet been transformed from excitable young college students into sleep-deprived zombies. But even if Paterno had presented Martin with a pair of whale pants ��� everybody remembers the whale pants, right? ��� the moment would have been overshadowed by the speech that followed. After accepting the tie, Martin stepped away, leaving Paterno alone. He prowled the stage as if it were a halftime locker room and he were back at his old job, trying to coax every last bit of physical and mental effort from his players. He warned that things were about to get tough but that they would persevere. He told them that they were climbing Everest and the summit was within reach. He quoted Ralph Waldo Emerson and Rudyard Kipling. It seemed at first that he was addressing the dancers, but as Paterno continued, it was clear he was talking to Penn Staters everywhere, inside and outside the arena. ���This weekend is the greatest event that happens on any college campus anywhere in the world,��� he said. ���Without a doubt. All of you as Penn State students, Penn State alums, you know what we���ve had to deal with from people at other schools. But I can tell you, don���t you ever back down from the name ���Penn State.��� ��� As the crowd roared, Paterno continued. ���Do you see what���s in this building?��� he asked. ���Penn State is the students, it���s the pride, it���s what you do for others that makes us unique, that separates us from every other school in America.��� The kids went bonkers for that line, cheering even louder than before. Jay Paterno may have been a lightning rod as a member of the coaching staff, but as a spokesman for a family and a university that have come under heavy criticism, he has found his voice. The guy knows how to work a room. And yet there was a bit of hyperbole in his remarks reminiscent of all that ���Grand Experiment��� talk that used to irk those who didn���t appreciate the implication that the Lions were the only team in the country that actually went to class. There���s always a lot of Penn State exceptionalism on display at THON, so it bears mentioning: Other schools do good works. Other schools have student-run philanthropies. Penn State���s just happens to be bigger than the rest. There was also a defensive edge to Paterno���s words. He cited ���people at other schools,��� but he could just as easily have been talking about people in other states or other