Penn State, stay strong

Joe Paterno passed Beaver Stadium, also known as "The House Joe Built," for the last time this afternoon in his funeral procession while thousands of men, women, children and students gathered to support the Paterno family during this difficult time. It has been an extremely somber, sullen and cloudy couple of days here in State College, however the sun finally came out today just in time for Joe Pa's funeral procession. A tweet by "PSUintheNFL" tweeted "A rainbow appeared over the Spiritual Center moments before the procession began from where I was standing. Unbelievable." 

If one was to visit Penn State this week they would not see the normal University that I have grown to know and love. Instead, they would experience numerous silent students with a lot of raw emotions concealed by attending classes and work. (That is what Joe Pa would have wanted isn't it?) "Get back to your studies" he said when students gathered outside of his house the day after he was let go. It has been one heck of year for Penn Staters everywhere, but all it has shown me is that there is no closer community than the Penn State community. Who would have thought that 40,000+ students and 100,000+ alumni could feel so close and share such a strong bond? After traveling to every away football game this year including the TicketCity Bowl game it has truly shown me the strong ties that Penn Staters nationwide share. 

Today the CATA busses, the bus system that serves State College students, faculty and local community members, read "Paterno Proud" in honor of Joe Paterno's funeral procession. For those that do not know they usually just say the route they are like "Blue Loop," "White Loop," etc. 

Yesterday, an estimated 30,000 students passed through Joe Pa's viewing. For those who know campus the line reached from Forum wrapping around to the business building. For those who don't know campus the line was about 3/4 of a mile long. The scene was simple with white roses and one black and white photo next to his casket reflecting the way that Joe Pa lived his life. A picture of students waiting in line for the viewing is shown below.

When Joe Pa took one last ride through campus and past Beaver Stadium the streets were silent. The hearse was followed by his family riding in the Blue Buses that the team rides to Beaver Stadium before every game. Sue Paterno sat in Joe's seat. 

The day after Joe Paterno's death there were multiple tweets suggesting that he died of a broken heart. As Joe Paterno's biographer has said "He did not. Joe Paterno died of lung cancer and the complications it caused. He did not die a bitter or broken man." I agree. Joe Paterno lived an amazing life filled with the love and support from his family, players, fans and university. He has made a huge impact on so many lives judged clearly by the thousands of people that lined the streets for his viewing yesterday, the thousands that lined the streets today and the thousands that will be in attendance at Joe's memorial service tomorrow in the Bryce Jordan Center. While Penn State football tickets cost $300 and sell out in five minutes, Joe Pa's memorial service was free and sold out in 40 seconds. Heaven just signed the best coach out there and his legacy on earth will live on and be remembered forever. We are because you were. Thanks Coach, RIP Joe Pa.