Penn State – Notre Dame Photographed by Pat Little
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Lion fans down goalposts in victory fever
The clock ticked down five, four . . . another time out. Fans and police waited with anticipation for the moment when Saturday’s football game would finally end and the inevitable would begin.
Each goalpost was surrounded by about 20 to 25 University Police Services personnel who wondered if fans leaving the stadium would amass into the chaos that reigned on the field in past years.
As the officers were mentally preparing for what they hoped would not happen, most of the 85,000 plus fans were not leaving Beaver Stadium but remained standing in their seats.
A quieted hush surrounded the stadium, as some fans with the intent of taking down the goalposts waited for someone to make the first move. The victory bell had already been rung and the scoreboard was giving fans “Drive Safely” reminders, when a few bold fans eluded police and ran onto the field. Other fans poured from the southeast section of student seating onto the field.
Some fans in that section grew determined to take down one of cheerleaders’ loud speakers near them if not allowed to tear down the goalposts. As the loudspeaker atop a slender pole began to be swung back and forth, more and more fans tried to rush onto the field.
Before the police knew what to do, most of the stadium’s southeast section spilled onto the field.
Despite efforts by police to apprehend trespassers and the stadium announcer’s pleas to show their Penn State pride by orderly exiting through the south entrance, several hundred fans remained on the field.
Seeing the goalpost on the stadium’s south end surrounded by police officers, the fans ran toward the north goalpost which fell into the students hands in a matter of seconds. Carrying the goalpost up the field, they tried to take on the police again for the south goalpost. Just at the moment when it looked like fans had rushed upon the goalposts and had them bent to the point of taking them down the police fought them off.
The goalpost still crookedly stands at the south end — though in a state of disrepair.
Those successful at the opposite end zone took the goalpost down College Avenue and then up to the Old Main lawn where it was dissected into tiny, souvenir-sized pieces.
source: The Daily Collegian,
| Framing Options | Unframed, Black, Mahogany, Walnut |
|---|---|
| Size Options | 8×12, 11×16.5, 16×24 |
