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Don't Cross Penn State

By Jeffrey Lord on 10.27.09 @ 11:22AM

OK. I admit it.

I didn't go to Penn State. If you live where I live this is like living in Boston and admitting you root for the Yankees. Penn State and its legendary "JoePa" (that would be longtime coach Joe Paterno) are almost a religion. Actually, strike the "almost."

Ahhh. Religion. And that's the problem to hit Penn State, where we are being reminded that the second word "State" is operative here.

It seems the latest Penn State t-shirt has a blue line running straight down the middle. The school colors are blue and white, and the idea, but of course, is for fans to wear them en masse at a football game or elsewhere to cause a Penn State "white out." About a quarter way across the top of the line are emblazoned, shockingly, the words: "Penn State White Out."

On the back? Cleverly, it says: "Don't be intimidated...it's just me and 110,000 of my friends."

The problem? If you click on the link you will find a story about this outrageous t-shirt. Why outrageous? Because…drum roll…the words "Penn State White Out," when written across the top of the blue line resembles…the Christian cross.

Really. We kid you not.

So controversy erupts, in spite of some 30,000 shirts sold. Sigh. Even I know the only God at Penn State is a short Italian guy who's 80 something and fancies sunglasses over thick lenses, the better to see who to scream at as he prowls the sidelines.

Fortunately we've solved the economic mess, Afghanistan and Iraq so we have time to focus on Penn State t-shirts.

View all comments (7) | Leave a comment

Tim| 10.27.09 @ 11:36AM

I blame Newt Gingrich.

Ray| 10.27.09 @ 11:39AM

Those conspiracy-mongers have a problem with this t-shirt, yet didn't have a problem with the t-shirt that said "If God isn't a Penn State fan, then why is the sky blue and white."

Those that somehow see a Christian reference in this t-shirt need to have their heads examined.

Then again, there's a conspiracy afoot. A conspiracy I tell you!!! LOL.

Tim| 10.27.09 @ 1:04PM

It is unbelievable that people are "offended" by this shirt. The same people that are "offended" at this are the very ones that believe that they have the "right" to wear a shirt in public with filthy slogans printed on them.

Frank| 10.27.09 @ 7:59PM

Tim,

If this t shirt had an undeniable and unmistakable star & cresent on it, you can rest assured that those complaining about this particular t shirt, that they say has a Christian cross on it, would not be complaining about that one.

seph| 10.28.09 @ 3:43AM

I like the part where the "much ado about nothing" people are pretending 6 complaints about a t-shirt constitutes much ado. It's almost as though the link quotes the VP of University relations as saying "Six complaints is not a controversy." -- no wait, my mistake, it's *exactly* that way because the article does in fact quote him saying exactly that. Don't let the facts get in the way of your predefined narrative eh?

And come on, "resembles?" If "resembles" is a synonym for "looks exactly like, to such a degree as to be unmistakable" then I can see where you're coming from. I don't personally find the shirt offensive but we aren't actually going to pretend that there's a question as to whether or not that thing looks like a cross are we? Replace "Penn State" with a horizontal line and you could mount that shirt on a church. Give me a break.

Oh and Frank- don't be an imbecile. The fact that the article quotes the ADL - a Jewish advocacy group - ought to have given you pause to reconsider your statement. The imaginary Muslim liberals in your head aren't the only people who might have issues with the idea of a taxpayer-funded uni running off t-shirts that can be construed as an endorsement of a particular religion. Of course in saying this I'm assuming that you actually read the article before posting, which I'm aware is probably far too much to ask...

seph| 10.28.09 @ 3:48AM

Oh also I must've missed the part where individual Penn State students are responsible for personally dropping everything, ending the wars and fixing the economy (presumably by hand. Speaking of which, why are you writing blog posts when you could be out building a bridge Jeff?) I could've swore we had some big voety electionish thing last fall where we decided who would be in charge of doing that stuff, but apparently I need to go check in with my local War Endening Coordinator after work and find out what they've assigned me because it seems that I'm shirking my responsibilities.