Beaver Stadium getting some new threads

According to an article I saw on FootballStadiumDigest.com, ANC Sports will be installing two very large LED screens in Beaver Stadium prior to Penn State's Aug. 30 kickoff with Coastal Carolina.

FSD.com: "The new signage will synchronize with various live sports feeds to distribute real-time information to the displays. The new system also can handle out-of-town scores, in-game team summaries, up-to-the-minute player statistics and many other stats. ANC won't have long to wait how people like the new setup. The first of seven Nittany Lion home football games will be played August 30."

ANC's president and CEO, Jerry Cifarelli, told FSD.com that the goal is to "provide one of the premier event experiences in collegiate sports." Great idea, but is that really what Penn State should be concentrating on right now? I'm sure we will all love having the live feeds from these screens, but is it at the cost of other things?

I'm not trying to get in the way of progress. Plenty of people were pissed off when the south end zone was closed off and the beautiful view of Mount Nittany was forever lost from inside the stadium, but we've all moved on. The Blue Band has moved its stadium spot about a dozen times, and no one really cares after first noticing. But to me, this new stadium display could take away something that we all look forward to each game. When Dean DeVore--Penn State football PA announcer--runs through the updated scores from other games, how much fun is it to hear everyone cheer or jeer for the winning/losing team? Yes, the new LED screens will offer the same score updates, but it won't have everyone's attention when the scores are announced. It just one of those little things that make the difference between college and pro sports. Most college football fans remain obsessively committed to the sport due to the tradition factor that the NFL grossly lacks, especially in the stadium atmosphere department.

We'll all probably forget about this by the end of that first game, but it's just one of the many little things Penn State has done recently which sort of raises an eyebrow. What if the administration put that money back into the school itself, instead of just pumping up tuition another couple percentage points each year? Sorry, I'm getting too preachy. I'll go now.