[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by AXOmom

No, you're right, you did not say it was unique (and for the record I never said that you had stated there were no other schools in the country that could compare to PSU, so I'm not sure where that's coming from),

I was responding to everyone collectively.

but this comment:

"My point is that basically the entire state IS Penn State.... But what I'm saying is that a huge chunk of Pennsylvanians live and breathe Penn State, even if they never attend the school. It is THE school in PA. That's not to say that other schools in PA aren't great or worth going to.. And I'm not saying Penn State is the best.. it's just that Penn State is a way of life for A LOT of people."

does come across that way. It sounds like you find it unusual at the very least, and the point being made to you by myself and others is that it isn't even all that unusual. The fact that you said it to support something als463 said and she has made several statements that have an even stronger "Penn State is a special snowflake" implication to them added further to this impression. If we misunderstood you, then I apologize, but since there were several of us who misunderstood you, then I think you should consider that in the context of the thread, what you said came across in a way you didn't intend.

I'm not sure how what I said came across as, "LSU, Nebraska, Bama, etc. students and alumni don't have as much pride in their school as PSU".. but ok. If that's how you interpreted it, then that's how you interpreted it.

My point was simply that Penn State has a huge, loyal student/alumni population, which stretches even beyond the borders of PA, and will always be loyal to the school, regardless of what happened.

And agreeing with ONE statement that als463 made shouldn't automatically make me one of the Penn State crazies. I know, just as well as everyone else here, that she is ALL ABOUT Penn State, and can take things to the extreme when it comes to our alma mater. (Sorry als, but it's true)

als463's response was to something I said to 33girl concerning the likelihood that football players with ties to Penn State would forego scholarships to other schools in order to play without a scholarship to Penn State, but her response had to do with her view that parents whose kids (any kids -not limited to football plalyers) had scholarships to other schools might still send them to Penn State. I don't disagree with her view on that - it just had nothing to do with my response to 33girl which strictly dealt with football players, so her comment wasn't really relevant.

I'm not sure how it wasn't relevant.. but ok.

I also never said that EVERY parent of a football player would turn their child away from playing at PSU and never assumed any such thing. As a matter of fact I stated that some parents under some conditions might encourage their boys to do that, but I mentioned several reasons why I didn't think it was likely that many would (for one thing I don't think there would be many who fit that criteria to begin with).

You didn't say this earlier, so... I was under the impression that however I interpreted your statement was correct.

Again, I understand that we probably did completely misunderstand you, but I hope you understand why you were misunderstood.

And I hope you understand why you were misunderstood, as well. The funny thing is, I think people read others' comments here and somehow turned it into something I said.

Oh well. This is why I generally stay away from saying my piece about this whole situation. It only causes issues.

But whatever, it's over and done with. No hard feelings.