Dec. 24, 2014
NEW YORK - The Nittany Lions capped off a busy Christmas Eve with media day and a New Era Pinstripe Bowl Welcome Reception inside Yankee Stadium on Wednesday evening.
Following practice at Fordham University, coordinators John Donovan, Charles Huff and Bob Shoop, along with senior Mike Hull, juniors Jordan Lucas, Angelo Mangiro and Anthony Zettel and redshirt freshman DaeSean Hamilton traveled to Yankee Stadium to take part in the media day festivities.
"We've had a great week so far," Donovan said. "We've been busy. We've seen a lot of sights. We've been around town. We've had some good meetings and good practices. It's been busy. It's exciting. It's an exciting town. There are a lot of things going on. The game is going to be electric, and we are looking forward to it."
For Mangiro (Roxbury, New Jersey) and Lucas (New Rochelle, New York), the trip has been a homecoming and a unique opportunity to prepare for a game close to home.
"It means a lot to me," Lucas said. "A lot of family will be at the game that don't get to travel as much. A lot of my friends are able to come, and they've never seen me play before in State College. It means a lot to me to be back home and play in such a prestigious stadium."
"It's been fun. It's something that I will always remember," Mangiro said. "It's been fun to be around the guys who haven't been to New York before or to a city this big. It's been fun to see them wide-eyed and in awe of the Big Apple."
The players and coaches received a tour of some of Yankee Stadium's tradition-rich artifacts, photography and exhibits prior to media day. The tour included a view at countless pieces of photography throughout Yankee history and a case featuring all of the franchise's 27 World Series rings.
"I haven't really had a chance to sit down and think about the fact that, wow, we are getting ready to go play a game in Yankee Stadium,' Hamilton said. "We got a really cool tour before we came down for media day and got to see a lot of the history. It's pretty exciting to be here, and it's only Wednesday. On Saturday, it's only going to be more exciting."
Following media day, the entire Penn State travel party congregated at Yankee Stadium for a superb welcome reception and dinner. The holiday-themed affair featured a buffet dinner, carolers and an opportunity for the Nittany Lion football family to spend time together as a group during the trip.
Penn State will practice on Christmas Day before dinner and a trip to see the Radio City Christmas Spectacular during the evening.
Penn State and Boston College are slated to meet in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. with television coverage on ESPN.