Nittanyville, aka Paternoville, in the Rain . . .

You know, I don't talk much about it on these pages, but the University where I work has a football program. There have been some big news stories in the past few years that you may have read, starring heroes and villains. Or, well, perhaps mostly villains lately. But there was a time when things were different; a time when we were on top, and so many of our football stories were about winning, and heroes.

My travels on many days take me past our famous Beaver Stadium, aka, the House That Joe Built. It sits right across the street from the Bryce Jordan Center (BJC), where I've seen quite a few marvelous performances. So it can be a very busy corner of campus, between the stadium and the BJC.

On this particular morning, it was raining - finally! hooray! - as I was driving by. I couldn't resist stopping to snag a few photos of the tent city in the rain. It has long been a tradition for students to camp out in tents before home games; and our first home football game is this coming weekend.

The tent city's official name these days is Nittanyville, but long before that, it was called Paternoville (and in my mind it will ALWAYS be that); and rumor has it that in days of yore, sometimes the ol' dude himself would stop by in the evenings to bring pizzas to the young folks . . .

The place on this morning, however, was awfully quiet. Possibly even somber. Maybe even MORE likely . . . deserted. It was pouring down rain and the breeze started to kick up and tried to rip my umbrella out of my hands. I have camped out in the pouring rain and I have the gear for it, but I don't prefer it. I imagine the students don't either.

Clearing skies are predicted for tomorrow, though, so by Saturday's game, the tent city will swell, and there will be laughter and shouting and possibly even parties and romances that began among these humble tents. Ah, youth. Enjoy these days . . .

The song to accompany this image is an annoying little tune that will stick in your head for days. And so I apologize in advance, but it is almost perfect for this image, so I feel I must include it. The tune is the Camp Granada song, by Allan Sherman. Here's the first verse . . .

Hello muddah, hello faddah 
Here I am at Camp Granada 
Camp is very entertaining 
And they say we'll have some fun if it stops raining.