It’s a sunny Saturday afternoon in State College. The Nittany Lions are up by two possessions, the student section is straight bumpin’ after a Neil Diamond impersonator’s rousing rendition of “Sweet Caroline”, and it’s time for the Nittany Lion to hop into the student section and crowd surf the quarter away.

Just a few years ago, the Nittany Lion would float above the crowd up and down the student section like it was his job. Well, I guess it is his job, actually. Students were thrilled to lift the lion through the crowd.

Except that rarely happens anymore.

Instead, the Nittany Lion stands at the bottom of the student section with his arms up for a few seconds while he’s waiting for students to pick him up. Once he gets past the few Nittanyville students who waited outside Gate A all week for this moment, he starts to sink a little.

But why? What happened to ruin the Nittany Lion’s crowd surf?

Snapchat. As students pull out their phones to take videos or photos of the Nittany Lion passing by them, they fail to help hold him up. He never quite makes it to the top of the student section. He might even get dropped onto the bleachers at the worst points. And it’s just unacceptable.

We can’t let this happen:

So please, I beg of you, please put your phone down for ten seconds to hoist the Nittany Lion up through the student section. I promise your Snapchat friends will live to see another day even if they don’t see your up close and personal video of the Nittany Lion crowdsurfing.

About the Author

Elissa Hill

Elissa was the managing editor of Onward State from 2017-2019. She is from Punxsutawney, PA [insert corny Bill Murray joke here] and considers herself an expert on all things ice cream. Follow her on Twitter (@ElissaKHill) for more corny jokes.

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