Evening Sun: Local fans cheer on Lions
By SETH GOLDSTEIN
Evening Sun Reporter
As the Nittany Lions duked it out against the Florida State Seminoles at the Orange Bowl, more than 30 local Penn State fans crowded into Bill Bateman's Bistro in Hanover.
As Penn State scored its first touchdown, Wes Davis from Hanover jumped up and screamed, "Yeah, baby!" He followed it up by chanting, "We are Penn State, We are Penn State."
Originally from Florida, Davis moved to the area in 1979, when he was 11 years old.
"Penn State was the first college football team I saw when I moved here and I fell in love," he said. "I never went to Penn State, but I've went to a lot games."
He, along with his "entourage" - his fiancee Carrie Weaver, her brother Kevin Dell, Dell's wife Vicky, his friend and co-worker Keith Smith and his friend Doug Noel - are diehards, Davis said.
Weaver said she was born and raised a Penn State fan.
"My father was a Penn State fan and he made sure I was," she said, adding confidently that Coach Joe Paterno would lead Penn State to victory. "Joe Pa will prevail. Everyone's been saying he has to retire, because of Penn States losses the last couple of years.
"To me Joe Pa is Penn State and Penn State is Joe Pa. You can't have one without the other."
Sitting in a booth across the bar from Wes and his "entourage," Corey Coouher of Hanover said as a student at Penn State he never missed a game.
Now he tries to make it to as many games as he can. He agrees with Weaver, Penn State wouldn't be the same without Joe Paterno.
"Joe Pa is the greatest coach of all times," Coouher said. "There's no way Penn State would get rid of him. He is Penn State."
Contact Seth Goldstein at sgoldstein@eveningsun.com.
Evening Sun Reporter
As the Nittany Lions duked it out against the Florida State Seminoles at the Orange Bowl, more than 30 local Penn State fans crowded into Bill Bateman's Bistro in Hanover.
As Penn State scored its first touchdown, Wes Davis from Hanover jumped up and screamed, "Yeah, baby!" He followed it up by chanting, "We are Penn State, We are Penn State."
Originally from Florida, Davis moved to the area in 1979, when he was 11 years old.
"Penn State was the first college football team I saw when I moved here and I fell in love," he said. "I never went to Penn State, but I've went to a lot games."
He, along with his "entourage" - his fiancee Carrie Weaver, her brother Kevin Dell, Dell's wife Vicky, his friend and co-worker Keith Smith and his friend Doug Noel - are diehards, Davis said.
Weaver said she was born and raised a Penn State fan.
"My father was a Penn State fan and he made sure I was," she said, adding confidently that Coach Joe Paterno would lead Penn State to victory. "Joe Pa will prevail. Everyone's been saying he has to retire, because of Penn States losses the last couple of years.
"To me Joe Pa is Penn State and Penn State is Joe Pa. You can't have one without the other."
Sitting in a booth across the bar from Wes and his "entourage," Corey Coouher of Hanover said as a student at Penn State he never missed a game.
Now he tries to make it to as many games as he can. He agrees with Weaver, Penn State wouldn't be the same without Joe Paterno.
"Joe Pa is the greatest coach of all times," Coouher said. "There's no way Penn State would get rid of him. He is Penn State."
Contact Seth Goldstein at sgoldstein@eveningsun.com.
