Time to can Beaver Stadium's canned tunes

After attending Penn State's season opener against Akron this weekend, the hopes I had gone in with were essentially crushed. No, not hopes for a victory or an injury-free game. Rather, I had gone to Happy Valley this weekend with one extra hope, that Penn State would seriously scale back the canned pop music played over the PA system.

Well, it didn't happen. We were still made to suffer through those heart-racing tunes like "Sweet Caroline," and about a thousand repetitions of "O Fortuna." Today, I'd like to revisit an article written earlier this spring, as part of my season preview. In it, I called for less cookie-cutter stadium music, and more authentic college football atmosphere... more Blue Band.

The following was originally posted Jan. 26:

Stop smothering the Blue Band

When I first walked into Beaver Stadium, on Aug. 31, 2002, it was awe-inspiring; for this wasn't just any first-time visit to the (at the time) second largest stadium in American football. That first step onto the grass was in front of more than 100,000 fans, who all erupted as the drum major landed his flip. It was tough to concentrate on what I was doing. I was in the Blue Band for four years, never missed a home game, was fortunate enough to watch the program emerge from the lowest of lows to the highest of highs, two bowl games, away games, and more than my share of crushing defeats and joyous victories. The majority of those games were won and lost in Beaver Stadium. It is what inspired me to pursue my career, and eventually, this blog.

I thought the fire was first restored when Guido D'Elia was hired in 2004 as Penn State's football communications and branding director. That was the year (my junior year) the first "White Out" appeared*, along with the first playing of Kernkraft 400, more commonly known just as Zombie Nation. While the football team wasn't all that explosive most of that season, you felt a spark igniting under the steel beams and metal bleachers in Beaver Stadium. The Penn State nation was ready to explode, but needed just one more nudge.

Then it happened, Penn State's uncharacteristically great recruiting class prior to 2005 brought the pressure to its limit, and the Nittany Lions began winning... and winning, and winning. You couldn't have timed it more perfectly. Penn State became "the Greatest Show in College Football," in no small part due to D'Elia.

But since 2005, with Penn State firmly re-entrentched in the college football elite, the expectations set four years ago have pushed D'Elia's department to the brink of completely selling out.

In a November 2005 interview, D'Elia told the New York Times that his intention was to,

"operate more like professional sports businesses and should be sold forcefully to recruits and to younger fans... [and] hire professionals that can manage the image, promote its brand, market its content and recruit its personnel... I am the designated trouble-stirrer of change... I'm the lightning rod. I'm Darth Vader. I'm the angel of death."

Did that interview get overlooked by a few too many around Penn State? I'm positively sure the Penn State athletic administration knew what they were getting into. Otherwise, you don't hire someone like D'Elia. The idea that Penn State would take a more "professional" approach to its football experience under D'Elia may have given a few folks headaches.

But everything was looking great, until 2007. Penn State used its home game against Notre Dame to roll out a few new tricks, particularly new, musical ways to involve the fans. Songs like "Sweet Caroline," and "Livin' on a Prayer" began ringing over the PA system, slowly pushing out the old standards like "Testify", "Boo Gonk", and the Penn State fight songs, previously played by the Blue Band.

While it's very good for any sporting event to get the fans involved, the goal shouldn't be to recreate Friday nights at The Saloon. In some cases, the identical songs once played by the Blue Band (O Fortuna), were replaced by recorded versions over the PA system.

The most visually noticeable change to Beaver Stadium–how could you miss them–was the installation of two LED boards on the north and south decks. They would have been tollerable, if not for the complete lie told by the university about their intended use:

"New LED ribbon boards that run the length of the end zones on the north and south deck facings. The ribbon boards will be the brightest message centers in the stadium and include game information and statistics, as well as interactive messaging for the crowd."

I was only able to get to the Indiana game this past season, so I only had one game to fully observe these boards in person. But prior to that, I was hearing horror stories about these LED boards, specifically that they display (almost exclusively) advertisements, with minimal "game information and statistics." And from the one game I went to, I'd have to agree with the fans. The lack of statistics and game-relevant information is pathetic. The installation of these boards was an insult, if not a waste of money.

Although the LED boards are in-your-face obvious, I still go back to the auditory changes made on game days. You all know I have a slight conflict of interests, as a Blue Band alum. But knowing all too well the love and admiration towards the Blue Band from the fans, I can say with near certainty, that the minimalization the band's role during games is seriously hurting Penn State's roots as one of the last remaining "old school" programs.

I understand completely that there is a need to stay current, or risk being left in the dust. D'Elia and Penn State have done a fantastic job, for the most part. But I really have to express my discontent towards some of the more recent "improvements" to the Beaver Stadium game day experience. And I have to ask, if Penn State is trying to keep one foot in tradition, with the other foot advancing into the future, how far can it go? LED boards? Fine. White Outs? Great! Zombie Nation? Fantastic! But replacing the one facet of college football that comes to symbolize the separation between it and the NFL, the bands, with artificial, cookie-cutter stadium music, is something I cannot let go.

It's not so easy to get rid of material improvements, and I'm not suggesting that. Like I said, the LED boards will turn out to be acceptable, and the lettering installed on the luxury boxes were a very nice improvement to the stadium. However, as scaling back on music piped through the PA system may seem like an insignificant move, it could be just the fix Beaver Stadium needs to maintain a healthy balance between the old days, and the days ahead.

*What many don't remember, is that the "White Out" wasn't the only one-color experiment that season. Anyone remember the "Code Blue" that failed so miserably? Yeah, unfortunately, so do I.

Unfortunately, nothing was changed that I had hoped. The canned music still blared loudly. "Sweet Caroline" still put the crowd to sleep more than anything else. And to top it off, I don't even remember "Hey Baby" being played between the third and fourth quarters this weekend! If my memory is correct, then it's actually gotten worse, rather than better. I can only hope for this situation to get better as the year goes on. Sadly, I'm not so sure it will.