Jeff Knapp, reference and
instruction librarian,
Penn State Altoona
Just Browsing: Football: Know thy Enemy
Jeff Knapp, Eiche Library, Penn State Altoona
If you know the enemy and know yourself,
you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.
If you know yourself but not the enemy,
for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat.
If you know neither the enemy nor yourself,
you will succumb in every battle.
—Sun Tzu, Art of War
And so we have the start of another football season. Soon, Happy Valley will be full of people, becoming the third largest city in Pennsylvania for seven Saturdays this fall. So what’s with the “Art of War” quote at the opening of this column?
I just want to be sure that my credibility as a Nittany Lion fan is not questioned, because this column isn’t about Penn State football resources. It’s about... the other guys, the guys on the other side of the line of scrimmage. Even though I’ve been a Penn State fan since before I understood that Penn State was a university, I can’t help but be fascinated about what our opponents are like and what their schools are all about.
It’s this curiosity about the “other” that was a driving force in me wanting to become a librarian. All my life, whenever I’ve become interested in something—or a fan of something—there’s only ever a certain amount of information to consume about that something. After awhile, it “runs out.” My problem is that I’m usually “still hungry.” So, I apply my curiosity to the other side, the “opponent,” or whatever. As a librarian, I always get to look for the “more” and the “other.”
As a fan of Yankees baseball growing up (don’t roll your eyes—with the exception of 1976–1978, they mostly stunk when I was a kid), I always wanted to know more about the Red Sox. During the Cold War, I was always a bit more fascinated by the Soviet space program and military aircraft (although I tried to keep this a secret from my father, a former Strategic Air Command officer). Part of it has to do with an attraction to the unknown, or “forbidden fruit,” so to speak. But I’ve also always felt somehow that studying just the side you loved was too . . . obvious. Or just too easy.
So am I a fan of Dear Old State? Of course! It’s just that I want to know about our opponents as well. For this edition of the Alumni Library, what I’ve gathered together for you is a collection of sites from the special collections libraries of some of our football opponents.
Ohio State/Michigan
While we Penn Staters know that the greatest college football rivalry of all time is (was?) between Penn State and Pittsburgh, it seems that the rest of the country seems to think it’s between Ohio State and Michigan. And who can blame them? This is always a big game, and often with Big Ten title consequences. One of my favorite sports quotes of all time says it all about the feelings this match up arouses in the participants: In 1968, Ohio State coaching legend Woody Hayes, when asked why he went for a two-point conversion late in the game despite holding a commanding lead said, “Because I couldn’t go for three!” This site is sponsored jointly by Ohio State and Michigan, and features great stuff like cover art from game programs through the years and comparisons of game reporting from the two schools.
Michigan
I wouldn’t mind Penn State being in the Big Ten as much if we just could beat these guys a little more often. Oh well. No one can deny that Michigan has a strong football tradition... and a lot of fans. This site has some great images of the Big House (Michigan Stadium, to the uninitiated) over the years, some old newsreels, and the history of their iconic winged helmet.
Wisconsin
My favorite Big Ten mascot—after the Nittany Lion, of course—is Bucky Badger. I don’t know why, really. Maybe it’s just his alliterative name. This photo archive has some great old team photos and some images of Camp Randall Stadium’s construction. 
Minnesota
Trophy games. That’s what I think of when I think of Minnesota. The Big Ten is full of trophy games, and Minnesota welcomed Penn State into the Big Ten in 1993 by inaugurating the Governor’s Victory Bell Trophy for the winner of the game between the two schools. Minnesota also participates in games for the two main trophies I can always remember: the Little Brown Jug, for the winner of the Minnesota/Michigan game; and Paul Bunyan’s Axe, for the Minnesota/Wisconsin winner. When you get to the search interface on this site, you can just search “football” under the “images” tab.
Pittsburgh
For you younger Penn State fans out there: Yes, we used to play Pittsburgh. And not just once in a while. It was the final, ultimate game of every season. We didn’t just play them. We p-l-a-y-e-d them. Even if one team was 10–0 and the other 0–10, both went into that game tense. While this collection does have some old photos of Pitt’s athletic programs, check out the Athletic Media Guides link that lets you browse the football and basketball media guides for most years going back to 1952.
And with that, I’ll bid you farewell until next time. Happy Browsing, and Let’s Go State!
Note: Some collections are restricted to Penn State Alumni Association 
members only. Join the Alumni Association.