Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, January 10, 1995 TAG: 9501100056
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KATHLEEN WILSON
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
``Larry never gets out of the car when I check out the motels,'' said Lynn. ``Never.''
But this time he did.
And it wasn't low rates or clean rooms that nailed the Huntsmans' decision to stay at the Quality Inn that night.
``Larry ran to me at the front desk all excited and said, `There's an entire room filled with people wearing Penn State stuff!''' said Lynn.
The Rose Bowl had just started on the big-screen TV in the bar, and the Huntsmans are Penn State grads.
Why write about the Rose Bowl when the Wahoos played in the Independence Bowl, you ask? Why write about the Rose Bowl when the Hokies played in the Gator Bowl?
Because no one invited me to watch the Independence or Gator bowls.
But the Southwest Virginia chapter of the Penn State Alumni Association did sent me an invitation. At home.
I'm a Penn State alumna.
I almost didn't go to the Quality Inn that night. And shame on me for that.
But what kind of party could Josie Eyer be throwing, I thought. Every sportscaster in the country was naming the also unbeaten, but No. 1-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers as national champions before the Rose Bowl even started.
It's a position Penn State's been in before; this would be the seventh season we'd remain unbeaten. Yet only twice before we'd been voted national champions.
But the room was filled with 65 rowdy, hoarse, blue-and-white clad Penn State fans when I appeared early in the fourth quarter.
``Down in front!'' they hollered when I tried to talk to a few folks during the game.
You should have seen Alan Bayer, professor of sociology and director of the Center for Survey Research at Virginia Tech, when he scooped up the cardboard cutout of PSU coach Joe Paterno and started to waltz with it.
``Polish wedding!'' cried out John Pietrow of Roanoke, by way of Erie, Pa. ``Polish wedding!''
Guess I need to explain.
At a Polish wedding, you've got to pay to dance with the bride. It's tradition. And a money-making one at that.
Amy and Paul Miller said they were having a good time. ``But it's killing us to sit here and watch the game,'' admitted Amy. They went to Pitt - the University of Pittsburgh. (It's like being a Hokie forced to watch the Wahoos.)
What's more, the Millers' daughter, Betsy, enrolled in Penn State last fall.
Betsy's official answer to the ``Why Penn State?'' question was ``It has a great education program.'' But we all know her real reason.
Most of us went there for the football and the fun. And for Joe, depending on how old we are.
Paterno is one of the things we're most proud of in Pennsylvania, even if the man is from Brooklyn.
He wrote the book on clean college ball.
He recites Browning in the locker room before the big games. (``A man's reach should exceed his grasp or what's a heaven for?'') His players not only play great football, but they graduate, too.
Despite the $41/2 million PSU earned with its Rose Bowl win, Paterno's fund-raising efforts are aimed at - get this - improving the university's library.
So during a week when the media - ``60 Minutes'' and GQ magazine to name but two outlets - were marveling that superstar actor Paul Newman turns 70 this year, you'll understand why Penn State grads could care less.
(They asked me to ask you: Look at their pictures and tell us who looks better for his age? Newman? Or Paterno?)
We watched reverently as Joe accepted the Rose Bowl trophy, which made him the first college football coach in history to win every major bowl game, beating out Alabama's late coach Bear Bryant for that honor.
We agreed with Joe that if we had to lose out on another national championship to anyone, losing it to Nebraska coach Tom Osborne - who'd never won one before - was OK with us.
Still, an announcer asked Joe, ``Is Penn State No. 1?''
``Well,'' hesitated the man known for his diplomacy. ``I think I'll have say yes to that.''
Which explains why we have no reason to apologize for leaving the Quality Inn in Salem chanting ``We're No. 1!'' - even though we knew the polls the next day would tell us otherwise.
One lone Penn State fan stood in front of that big screen TV, shaking his head in awe of Joe.
``Doesn't he just make you so ... proud?'' he commented to no one in particular.
by CNB