Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/797655
A Penn State football book by Lou Prato with a forward by Adam Taliaferro The Remarkable Journey of the 2012 Nittany Lions Price: $14.95 plus shipping Published by Triumph Books (soft cover) Autographed copies available via louprato@comcast.net or through Lou Prato & Associates at 814-954-5171 Autographed copies of Lou's book We Are Penn State: The Remarkable Journey of the 2012 Nittany Lions are still available via louprato@comcast.net or through Lou Prato & Associates at 814-954-5171. Price: $19.95 plus tax where applicable and shipping members. In the late 1990s when the team was slipping into mediocrity with attendance at Rec Hall falling to about 1,500 on a regular basis, memberships were in the 200-300 range, according to the booster club's membership chair- man, Harvey Manbeck. In Sanderson's first year, the figures increased dramati- cally to 439 memberships and 807 total members. Winning does that. There is a caveat here for anyone com- paring the attendance figures of the other indoor sports with wrestling and particularly with men's basketball. Wrestling has fewer home events than the other sports. It also has the advan- tage of holding most of those matches in daytime hours on the weekend when younger fans, like those of grade and high school age, can easily attend. There's also the varying price structure for season and single-game/match tick- ets, which can depend on a multitude of factors ranging from location to the quality of the opponent. For example, 300 students are admitted free to the wrestling meets, while student single tickets for men's basketball are $5 but prorated down for season tickets. Despite its healthy membership num- bers and frequent sellouts, wrestling is still not considered a profit center for Penn State Intercollegiate Athletics. Men's hockey, with similar sellouts and a dedicated fan base of its own, report- edly made a profit in its first three years in the Pegula Ice Arena according to Penn State's records submitted to the NCAA. But an athletic department source said the official figures do not fully account for how each sport's rev- enue and expenses are integrated into the entire department's expenses. Moving more dual meets to the spa- cious Bryce Jordan Center, as a segment of fans want, would not necessarily help the bottom line. Iowa and Ohio State have proven they can draw big crowds, but it's doubtful the weaker Big Ten teams would even get close to capacity. Furthermore, expenses would be higher at the BJC, which is operated independ- ently of the athletic department. The environment for wrestling is dif- ferent at each facility, too, just as it has been for men's basketball since the team abandoned Rec Hall. You still find the moments of near silence interspersed with periods of near bedlam. But the in- timacy that wrestling crowds now enjoy is foreign at the BJC. Neither the men's basketball team nor its dedicated fans are pleased about that. And unlike bas- ketball, which has a court spread across the floor, wrestling is confined to a rela- tively small mat in the middle of the arena. BJC spectators in the deep ends and most of the upper deck are some- times better off watching the matches on the scoreboard's big screen at mid- court rather than straining to see a wrestler trying to use a reverse cradle to flip his opponent into a match-ending pin. In fact, at Rec Hall, even the fans standing around the running track above the grandstands are closer to the action than many of the seating areas in the lower BJC bowl. That's where the media are, too, and the distance and angle from their spot on the track to the floor is about the same as at the BJC. Moreover, there are also two large television screens on the scoreboards at the ends of Rec Hall that all spectators can easily view without needing binoculars. Another benefit for fans that makes Rec Hall ideal for wrestling is the park- ing. It's free, whether in the nearby Nit- tany Deck or a couple of the permit-only lots nearby. BJC parking? Five dollars. However, there are some drawbacks at Rec Hall. Except for the small premium section on the floor, fans have to sit on bleacher seats that are not as comfort- able as the chairbacks in the BJC. There are only four small concession stands – two at the seating entry level opposite the main entrance and one in each hall- way – that are opened sporadically. You can purchase a hot dog, Pepsi and pop- corn, but not much else. With only two restrooms apiece for men and women, the lines can be long before the match and during intermission. Of course, those are minor shortcom- ings when you're watching the crème de la crème of college wrestling. ■