It's going to be a beautiful day. Sunny forecast for Penn State season opener.

Per Accuweather, the forecast for Saturday is...

High: 79 °F RealFeel®: 79 °F
Mostly sunny and beautiful

Penn State Officially bans Glass Containers in Grass Parking Lots; Farewell my vitreous friend.

bottle, container and jar of Glass,
n'er again shall we meet on the grass.

so clean, tasteful and new,
your downfall was sealed by the Princeton Review.

Just a little more inspiration; Penn State Football Tailgating

Penn State Tailgating - Where more is, well, it just is.

Many Happy Returns; In Play Magazine Interviews Derrick Williams.

Our dear DWill met up with In Play! magazine to answer a few questions about his role with the Detroit Lions.

IP: You left Penn State with your name at the top of a lot of different returner categories, in your mind what makes a good kick returner?

DW: I think what makes a good returner is the people up front because if there’s not the blocking there then you’re going to have to fair catch. So many things can go wrong, I’ve always heard on punt returns there’s so many things that can go wrong and there’s just a slim chance that there’s going to be a big play. You just have to count on the other ten people on the field.

be sure to check out the entire interview.

Are You Ready for Some Football and Some Tailgating?

I'm choosing to ignore, for a moment, the news coming out of State College regarding new "grass lot policies" and to, instead, post a few pix -

And it's Good!; Deon Butler Seahawks preseason review

This AM I clicked over to 12th Man Rising to check up on our Deon. Yes, I could go to ESPN or wherever, but I prefer to take the easy way out. I do check the NFL network regularly to see if they are airing any of the PSU branch campus games are on - but I missed the Seahawks last outing.

The Seahawks won the game - which is encouraging -

Anyhoo, they have a review of the Seahawks' preseason game against the Denver Broncos. The title of the post is "the good, the bad, and the ugly." I was just hoping that our boy was not in the odious category. I offered up a quick, quiet prayer to the football gods as I scrolled down the list of "The Good" - and there he was "Deon Butler" - wow!

Deon Butler: After a complete no-show the previous week, Butler returned to make several plays against the Denver Broncos. He reeled in a perfect 34-yard pass from Hasselbeck in the first quarter from [sic] a touchdown, and later made a great diving catch on third and long to extend a drive. Butler finished the night with 47 receiving yards.

You go D! And, Mr. Hasselbeck, a quick tip, Throw the Ball to Butler!

A First Tier Party School; Penn State Ranked in top 50 by US News and World Report

US News and World Report has released its rankings for universities. Penn State comes in at #47.

It's a respectable ranking and is "first tier" as USNWR puts it.

Harvard is the top ranked U - very top drawer.

I recommend that you compare the tuitions among the various institutions; if you're a parent, it might make you cry - or want to move to virginia.

You Can Color My World; Annual What Not to Wear Guide

Each season creates a variety of opportunities and challenges for fans who wish to color coordinate their football watching garb, tailgating supplies and accessories (to both or either).

Of course we do our best to utilize as much blue and white as possible (every day of our lives...) on football saturdays - but there's always a cooler, a chair, a pair of sunglasses, a cherry tomato, that isn't going to exactly conform to the code.

So it's always best to know which colors are to be 100% avoided (at least in our hearts and minds) on any given Saturday.

Generally, there are trends - this year is what I would usually call a "no red" year, as a majority of our in conference home games are played against teams that don some variety of the color.

However, this season is also trending to a "wear all your favorite gold jewelry this summer, because you're not going to see it all fall" situation as we play a lot of yellow/gold/orangey teams.

Here's a brief overview:


akron zips (kangaroos) - blue and old gold. You always need to be wary when the Lions play another "blue" team - a simple wristwatch, or the grommets on your bluejeans could result in a fan fashion "don't";

syracuse orange(men) - blue and orange. (see above);

temple owls - cherry and white. you must fight fight fight the urge to dress like a candy cane;

iowa hawkeyes - gold and black. It's the white out - so there's not much of an issue here;

eastern illinois panthers - blue and gray. Just keep what you're doing - you'll be fine;

minnesota golden gophers - maroon and gold. Beginning, finally, the in-conference "no red" bit I mentioned;

ohio state buckeyes - scarlet and gray;

indiana hoosiers - cream and crimson.

So there you have it - the (opening number of an Andrew Lloyd Webber Musical) colors that we should avoid this season when we are making our tailgating and game watching plans. It's nothing we can't achieve with just a little determination and OCD and be ever thankful that we don't play tennessee during the cold weather games...

Penn State vs syracuse; Bomberfest 2009

The September 12th match up against the orange of syracuse will be our first Diesel-2theLion tailgate of the 2009 season. We'll be cheering on our Nittany Lions as we celebrate the 180th anniversary of America's greatest Brewery, Yuengling.

The evites have been sent - please email us if you'd like to be added to the distribution list - OR - you can click here to RSVP for the event.

We'll be in the RV lots (off of Orchard Road) from Thursday evening through Sunday morning. As we have a 12pm kickoff that (and every) day, the festivities on Saturday begin at 7am.

Check out the equipment list (http://dieseltailtage.no-ip.org/equipment.html - cut and paste) to sign up to bring something - or just to see how super organized some of our planners are.

Add that to the highlight reel; Derrick Williams Scores First NFL Touchdown.

Sure, it was a pre-season game, but Derrick Williams scored his first NFL (preseason) touchdown in the Detroit Lions (again, preseason) opener against the Atlanta Falcons. Williams scooped in a 25 yard pass from a lesser-known rookie on the team, Matthew Stafford, propelling the Lions toward their 27-26 win. Next up for the Lions? Jordan Norwood's new team.

In scores of other games, okay, only 2 -

Deon Butler made his first big-league catch with the Seahawks in their matchup against the San Diego Chargers. He had 2 receptions for a grand total of 7 yards - and one dropped pass where the SD defender knocked the snot out of him. He also returned 1 kick and 2 punts (17 yards - HEY! it's a start- Kick the ball to Butler!) Seattle did win the game, 20 to 14.

Finally, the Bills battled the Bears in their 2nd preseason game (and first win) - 2 comments: 1. Paul, get a haircut; 2. Aaron, buy a pen; they're on sale at Staples.

Yes, I am aware that the season is just a few weeks away; Penn State Tailgating

So, the summer is flying by (actually, it's been a pretty long summer - it's just been busy) and it's definitely time to make some concrete plans for the tailgating schedule!

We'll be hosting 2 "RV tailgate extravaganzas" this season - and the first is less than a month away! Syracuse - September 12th.

I'll have a lot more information about the tailgates next week - we have a big tailgating planners summit (okay, conference call) this weekend - so keep a look out for evites and other postings (let us know if you want to be added to the evite list).

How Tweet it is; Penn State Homecoming 2010

Mark your calendars (all of them) -

As seen on Twitter:

PSUgirl - RT: @GregPSUsports - For those who like to plan ahead -- 2010 Penn State Homecoming set for weekend of Oct 8-10 vs. Illinois.

Oh Lucky Us; Big Ten Tour visits PSU on August 13

Check out behind the scenes as the Big Ten Network visits Penn State's preseason practice and reviews the team and season.

The 90 minute show will air Thursday, August 13th at 10pm (EST).

The BTN will also be broadcasting an array of PSU "greatest games" during the day.

- the preview show last year was pretty good - no new information, but the profiles on the seniors were pretty cool. Personally, I like to record these types of shows so I can fast forward if need be. And hopefully, following his time in the press box last fall Coach Paterno has finally learned how to wear headphones... of course a quick review of the msu '08 game would suggest not.

To know him is to love him, apparently; Deon Butler and the Seahawks

Sure he hasn't played in a game for them yet, but the Seattle front office and their loyal bloggers seem to see some potential in our Deon.

In July Butler signed a 4 year deal (worth a potential $3.1+ million!) with the Seahawks - cementing (well, as cement like as any pro sport can be) his position with the team.

And then the guys over at 12th Man Rising posted a very positive review/preview of their rookie receiver:

Butler demonstrates excellent quickness and speed, and shows a good initial burst off the line. His long arms allow him to make some receptions that don’t immediately look catchable, even when challenged by larger defenders. His weakness is obviously his smaller physique, but Butler plays bigger while on the field.

Throw the ball to Butler!

New Coach Criteria:

Should be good lookin'

Way too often the foxy factor is ignored in college football.

- I'm just sayin.

They are the Champions; PSU W Volleyball leads the conference in televised matches.

It will be a little more convenient to see the 2 time National Champion Penn State Women's Volleyball team this fall. The Big Ten Network and ESPN (family) have, collectively, announced that they will broadcast 8 PSU matches, beginning with PSU at illinois on September 26th (8pm EST; BTN).

In the meantime, if you're in St. Louis on August 28th, you can catch the team's season opener against Miami (OH) at the Active Ankle Challenge. The Lions' home opener is on September 4th, vs Buffalo.

How Tweet it is; Lions to play the Seahawks - Wha?

in basketball -

as seen on Twitter:

PSUgirl will @taxgirl be watching? RT: @NationBuilder PSU bball to face UNC-Wilmington in 1st round of Charleston Classic http://tinyurl.com/kwkqud

...and yes, I know you could have just read it off of the feed (scroll down, right hand side)

Ooh, there's a list; Daryll Clark named to Davey O'Brien Watch List

In and among the Penn Staters being named to various preseason "lists", Daryll Clark has been named to the Davey O'Brien watch list. 33 quarterbacks have been named to the list.

Todd Blackledge and Kerry Collins are former winners of the O'Brien award.