I am a very big Penn State football fan. I not only went to school there in a five-year span in which the Nittany Lions won their first two national titles, but I also covered the team as a reporter for the Penn State student newspaper, the Daily Collegian.

A few years ago I took my kids to see Penn State's spring football scrimmage, but they had never been to a regular season game.

This was the year that was going to change. We picked yesterday's game against Temple, were able to get nine tickets for other members of my extended family, and we rented a 12-passenger van for the 4-hour trip to State College, Pennsylvania.

The weather was perfect -- 70 and sunny -- and we parked on one of the vast grass parking areas surrounding Beaver Stadium, arriving moments before the noon kickoff. The kids were amazed at the vastness of it all -- more than 40,000 cars, RVs and all other types of vehicles, many of which had something showcasing the owners' Penn State spirit in what was a sea of blue and white. The same could be said for the clothes, as almost everyone, except for the few Temple fans, were wearing someting with blue and white.

Walking up the tunnel to our seats was something my kids will always remember. There they were, in the middle of more than 107,000 fans, who were doing the wave, waving pom-poms and generally rooting on the home team. The kids wore their Penn State football jersies for the occasion, and they quickly became an active part of the crowd, cheering all positive Nittany Lion plays, while always keeping an eye out for Penn State's Nittany Lion mascot.

The game was very one-sided -- Penn State won, 45-3 -- but the kids enjoyed the game and the surroundings very much. They also were very interested in our 3-hour postgame tailgate, which ended just about the time the sun went down on what was a very memorable day for my family.

This was one of those outings I had thought about a lot, and that really lived up to my expectations. I'm hoping it becomes an annual event. Now to teach them the words to the fight song ...