‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house…Nittany Lions were snuggling in for the night as Penn State Athletics took part in a nationwide intercollegiate athletics Twitter thread.

Athletics departments around the country coordinated the effort to make a thread of tweets, each with a line of “A Visit From St. Nicholas.”

We’re ashamed to say it all started with Michigan and a photo of the Big House covered in snow.

'Twas the night before Christmas… pic.twitter.com/WfGtxBdKfb

— Michigan Athletics (@UMichAthletics) December 24, 2017

Some schools, like Maryland and Notre Dame, switched the phrasing of the original poem a bit to work in some sports and mascot references.

The stockings were hung by the lockers with care pic.twitter.com/ViMDqXAF0y

— Maryland Terrapins (@umterps) December 24, 2017

While visions of Irishmen danced in their heads;#GoIrish pic.twitter.com/MfNFAMnbhA

— The Fighting Irish (@FightingIrish) December 24, 2017

Penn State Athletics kept it cool and classic with a reindeer reference, including a photo of the Nittany Lion with antlers on rather than a stadium photo or game gif like some other universities.

…the prancing and pawing of each little hoof. pic.twitter.com/cWVUNp0WJy

— Penn State Athletics (@GoPSUsports) December 25, 2017

You just can’t go wrong with the symbol of our best. After all, “We want the Lion!”

Well done, collegiate athletics social media managers. We applaud you for this incredibly organized effort.

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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