Blue White Illustrated

MARCH 3 W ARMY.........................................................6-1 7 W at UCF........................................................5-2 9 11 L L L L WOMEN'S TENNIS 12-11, 4-8 at USF........................................................4-3 at Ohio State..............................................7-0 17 W at Cornell................................................... 5-2 23 25 13 15 20 22 L L L L L L at Indiana...................................................7-0 at Purdue................................................... 5-2 30 W IOWA..........................................................6-1 APRIL 1 6 8 NEBRASKA................................................. 4-3 at Minnesota..............................................5-2 at Wisconsin...............................................5-2 NORTHWESTERN........................................ 5-2 ILLINOIS.....................................................6-1 at Michigan................................................ 6-1 L MICHIGAN STATE.........................................5-2 26-29 Big Ten Tournament at Northwestern 26 First round L Northwestern..............................................4-2 MAY 17-22 NCAA Championships at Georgia.................... All Day JANUARY 5 6 L L at Hawai'i...................................................4-3 Baylor at Manoa, Hawaii..............................5-2 21 W UMBC.........................................................7-0 29 W PITTSBURGH...............................................6-1 FEBRUARY 7 W OHIO STATE................................................ 4-3 12 W at Virginia Commonwealth........................... 4-3 17 W PENNSYLVANIA............................................7-0 19 L TULANE......................................................5-2 24 W MARSHALL................................................. 5-2 26 W MIAMI OF OHIO...........................................4-3 MARCH 14 W TEMPLE......................................................4-3 17 W EASTERN MICHIGAN....................................7-0 23 25 W PURDUE.....................................................4-3 30 APRIL 1 6 L L L INDIANA..................................................... 6-1 at Iowa.......................................................4-3 at Nebraska................................................6-1 8 W WISCONSIN................................................4-3 14 15 20 L MINNESOTA................................................5-2 L L at Northwestern..........................................6-1 at Illinois....................................................5-2 L MICHIGAN.................................................. 5-2 22 W at Michigan State....................................... 4-3 26-29 Big Ten Tournament at Ohio State 26 First round L OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD MARCH 29-31 Jim Click Shootout at Tucson, Ariz. APRIL 6-7 at Stanford Invitational 7 at LSU Invitational www.AmericanAleHouse.net 821 Cricklewood Drive, Toftrees State College 14-15 Bison Outdoor Classic at Bucknell 21 at Bucknell Team Challenge War Eagle Invitational at Auburn 26-28 Penn Relays at Philadelphia, Pa. MAY 4 JIM THORPE OPEN..........................................3 p.m. 11-13 Big Ten Outdoor Championships at Wisconsin..All Day 24-26 NCAA East Preliminary at Jacksonville, Fla.......All Day JUNE 6-9 NCAA Outdoor Meet at Des Moines, Iowa........All Day 15-17 USATF Junior Championships at Indiana.......... All Day 22-29 U.S. Olympic Trials at Oregon..........................All Day MEN'S GOLF FEBRUARY 10-11 Big Ten Match Play Champ. at Bradenton, Fla. MARCH 10-11 Pinehurst Intercollegiate at Pinehurst, N.C............3rd 30-A1 Fireline Towson Invite at Grasonville, Md............T-3rd APRIL 7-8 RUTHERFORD INTERCOLLEGIATE..........................5th 14-15 Hawkeye-TaylorMade Invitational at Iowa...............3rd 27-29 Big Ten Championship at French Lick, Ind.............8th MAY 17-19 NCAA Regionals, site TBA...............................All Day 29-J3 NCAA Champ. at Pacific Palisades, Calif..........All Day 814.238.1406 • www.the-phyrst.com 111 E. Beaver Avenue • State College, PA WOMEN'S GOLF FEBRUARY 12-14 Lady Puerto Rico Classic at Rio Grande, P.R.......15th MARCH 9-11 Rio Verde Invitational at Rio Verde, Ariz................ 4th 19-20 Pinehurst Challenge at Pinehurst, N.C............... T-5th APRIL 21-22 Lady Buckeye at Ohio State...............................11th 27-29 Big Ten Championships at French Lick, Ind.........11th MAY 10-12 NCAA REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS.......................TBA 23-26 NCAA Championship Finals at Vanderbilt..............TBA Ohio State..................................................4-2 the temporary stage next to Jeffrey Field, but the crowd didn't scatter when the music stopped. Instead, it only got bigger and louder in antici- pation of the evening's next event: the presentation of the winner of WingFest. Ordinarily, you'd have to be one of G the people making the wings – or at least eating them – to care about the winner of WingFest. But when the time came to make the announcement, the crowd that had gathered for the first night of Penn State's Blue-White Weekend roared its approval. Maybe that's because the guy at the microphone was Bill O'Brien. Beginning with a "We are…" cheer, O'Brien got the crowd revved up, congratulated the WingFest winner and talked about what it meant to him to be standing on that stage on the eve of his first Blue-White Game. "I'm very proud to be the head football coach at Penn State," he said. "No. 1 because of this great university, this great student body. But most important, though, it's because of the football team that I'm associated with. I'm very proud of how hard these guys have worked in winter conditioning and spring practice. Hopefully, tomor- row we'll go out there and put on a good show for you. We hope to see everybody there. So congratulations again to Bonfatto's. The fireworks are at 9:15, kickoff at 2 o'clock. We'll see you tomorrow." A few moments later, O'Brien stepped off the stage and into a waiting golf cart. Autograph seekers pressed against the fender, and he signed programs for a few minutes before his driver maneuvered the cart up a gravel road and sped off toward the Lasch Building. 38 J U N E 1 , 2 0 1 2 L A S T WO R D MA T T H E R B | MA T T@B L U EWH I T E O N L I N E . C OM Words with friends o Go Gadjet, a five-piece band that appeared to be made up entirely of drummers, had just finished its cacophonous set on Welcome to Bill O'Brien's life. When he's not been coaching his football team, he's been promoting the program by appearing at ban- quets and commemorative cere- monies, leading pep rallies and throwing out first pitches. Joe Paterno had his suitcase full of liquor; O'Brien has his chicken wings. (Point, JoePa.) A few weeks ago, O'Brien attended the Blue Band's banquet, during which he reportedly proposed estab- lishing a new tradition by having the team sing the Alma Mater after home games. He talked to the Penn State Turf Club about the importance of turf in helping attract recruits to Penn State. He showed up at an Earth Day celebration the day before the Blue-White Game, calling for more community involvement and suggesting that the Nittany Lions' spring scrimmage can be a part of the effort to spare the planet from the ravages of consumerism run amok. "I would suggest," he said, "that this day should be called Blue- White-Green Day from here on out. I think that's important." O'Brien may have been a surprise choice when he was announced in January as Joe Paterno's successor, emerging as the favorite only after a succession of blockbuster rumors proved unfounded. But it would be hard to imagine Jon Gruden or Chris Petersen working any harder than O'Brien has worked to win over the masses and, in the process, help Penn State move on from perhaps the most turbulent period in its history. Bear in mind that this was no ordinary transition. Alumni were seething over Paterno's dismissal in November, several prominent for- mer players were unhappy that Penn State hadn't hired Tom Bradley, and even those who weren't preoccupied with the treat- ment of the previous coaching staff W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M

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