Thoughts From The Valley: Wrapping Up From Landover

The Hangover

HOW I AM FEELING: Tired, happy and nostalgic. 'Twas a simply wonderful Saturday in Landover, Maryland—yep, this is possible—for Your Editor, for Young Jack, for many Friends Of TCFA and for approximately 70,000 or so Washington, D.C.-area Penn State and Indiana fans, all of whom gathered at The Worst Stadium Ever for a thoroughly entertaining 42-24 win for Saint Joe Paterno and the Nittany Lions. Yes, the traffic was awful, but the weather was great, the tailgating was festive and, at least from what I could tell, pretty much everyone had a grand old time. Oh, and by the way: It's Land-Grant Trophy Week (---->)!

WHAT I AM DRINKING: Victory Storm King. Yeah, I had it last week, too. But it takes a while to work your way through a case. Potent stuff, folks.

WHAT I AM LISTENING TO: The Avett Brothers, "Please Pardon Yourself." Over and over and over again. I defy you to try to listen to this song and not like it.

VILLA UPDATE: A bit annoyed at the lads, to be honest. One week after turning in a brilliant performance against mighty Manchester United, Villa went on the road and got blanked, 2-0, by freaking Blackburn. A little effort maybe, fellas? A big match coming up this weekend, though: At home, at beautiful Villa Park, against the Londoners they call Arsenal. Your Editor and Your Editor's Sister  (once a Gunners supporter, now on the fence) will be watching.

MY THOUGHTS ON THE WEEKEND

Landover wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be.

But FedEx Field? Well, let's just say Daniel Snyder's Money Pit lived up to expectations.

Since it is highly unlikely that I will ever have the oppotunity to write first-hand about a day in Landover again, I thought I would open this week's Hangover with a quick run-down (some highs, some lows) of Our Day Of Suburban Tailgating. Here goes:

Three Lows

1. It's hard to put into words exactly just how ugly FedEx Field is. Built only 13 years ago, the stadium looks stunningly aged, rusty and worn. It's draped in a ridiculous menagerie of colors (orange? purple? green?) that have no relation to the Washington Redskins. As Your Editor's Sister noted as we pulled into the parking lot: "Wow, it looks like a carnaval tent." And it did!

2. The parking attendants were clueless. There was literally no system by which cars were parked. You pulled in the lot, you showed your ticket, and then you parked. Whereever you wanted. Which would seem to be a good thing. Except for this: Since everyone parked pretty much all over the place, they also began tailgating pretty much all over the place, and so as new cars arrived, they had to weave their way around tents, baggo games, grilles, kegs and, of course, people/children. I didn't see any accidents. I wouldn't be surprised if there were some, though.

3. As I had heard, FedEx Field is located near ... nothing. I mean, nothing. There is a big church about a half-mile away (you can park there for $35), and that's it. And the traffic getting there? Ridiculous. How and why this particular spot was chosen for This Mammoth Ugly Stadium is one of life's great mysteries.

Three Hights

1. From what I could see, the Penn State and Indiana fans in attendance got along wonderfully well. It was a pleasant surprise. Given that this game was being played at an NFL (snore) stadium, I figuted it might also attract an NFL (snore) (i.e., violent) crowd. Happily, I was wrong. Just a good, festive atmosphere. A couple of yahoos, yes, but that can't be avoided. And yes, I am talking to you three Penn State fans who decided it would be cool to chant, "Hoosier Daddy?" at Indiana fans as they left the stadium. As if we should really be bragging about beating a team that is currently winless in the Big Ten. Some people are morons.

2. The weather. Novevember 20. Sixty degress and sunny. Win.

3. The game itself was damn entertaining. Plenty of passing yards (The Wizard of West Scranton had 315 on the day; more on this below). Some hard-nosed running (Silas Redd is gonna be good, folks). A couple huge special teams plays. A back-and-forth affair that was seriously in doubt until late in the third quarter (with the win, by the way, the Nits are almost guaranteed to play in a New Year's Day bowl game; both the Gator and Outback are in play). I mean, it was just a fun, fun football game. And the crowd was into it. I guess the beer helped.

In short, we here at TCFA would call the day an unqualified success.

No, I don't need to ever see another game at FedEx Field. But I'm glad I saw this one.

THREE YARDS AND A CLOUD OF DUST

THREE: Boise State beat Fresno State 51-0 on Friday night. Afterward, Fresno coach Pat Hill told reporters that, in all of years with the Bulldogs, his teams had "never been manhandled" the way they had been manhandled by the Broncos. Then, asked whether Boise deserved to play for the national title, he added this: "They've got all the pieces. I mean, they really do. I think the truth of the matter is people are scared to play them. They don't want to play them. It's like last year when they put Boise against TCU in the Fiesta Bowl. They don't want to play against those type of teams. I'll say it. I have no problem saying it. I'll take Boise against anybody in the country." Pat Hill, welcome to the TCFA Hall of Fame.

TWO: I've been saying all season that Michigan's defense is "historically bad." Well, turns out I'm right. Because as the Detroit Free Press pointed out on Sunday, the 2010 Michigan defense has now allowed 369 total points and 4,897 yards. Both are school "records." Wisconsin rushed for 357 (!) yards against the Wolverines on Saturday. What's the reason for This Truly Awful Defense? Said The Snake-Oil Salesman Wearing A Wizard's Hat: "Go find another Division I school that has five or six true freshman playing significant time on defense." Hmm.

ONE: In four-and-a-half games of work this season, Penn State quarterback Matt McGloin aka The Wizard of West Scranton has thrown for 1,118 yards, completeld nearly 60 percent of his passes, thrown 12 touchdowns against just three interceptions, and, most importantly, guided the Nits to four wins in five tries. And yet there remains a staggeringly large segment of the Penn State football fan base who believes that McGloin should not be the starter. They remain convinced that freshman Rob Bolden--a kid who (cliche on the way) will be very good one day--deserves his job back; they cite the old, "You shouldn't lose your job because of injury" defense. And part of me understands where these confused folks are coming from. But then I remember this: McGloin has thrown for 1,118 yards, completeld nearly 60 percent of his passes, thrown 12 touchdowns against just three interceptions, and, most importantly, guided the Nits to four wins in five tries. Debate over.

TOUCHDOWN: A quick programming note: As per TCFA tradition, Your Editor will be taking a (writing) week off in honor of Thanksgiving (there will be a podcast this week, however). I'll be back to work on Monday, with a post-Thanksgiving edition of Thoughts From The Valley. In the meantime, Happy Thanksgiving to you all. And thanks so much for reading.

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