If you’re a Penn State student, chances are you’ve got a close relationship with good ol’ Wikipedia.

The world’s most popular online encyclopedia can come in handy fro anything from a quick fact check to a deep dive on a last-minute research project.

One of Wikipedia’s most interesting features is its open collaboration policy, which allows anyone to make changes or add information to certain pages on the site. While this can obviously be problematic and annoying, it often creates room for hilarious one-liners and subtle jabs amongst Wikipedia’s vast depths.

Naturally, we set out to find the best nuggets hidden within the Wikipedia’s countless pages about Penn State.

Maryland White Out Burn

The wiki page for Penn State football’s White Out provides some quality information about the game’s history and traditions. However, it also features a jab directed at Maryland tacked onto the end.

The White Out has influenced other teams in the Big Ten. For example, Maryland celebrated a “Black Out” in 2019 during their home game against Penn State.^[5] Penn State emerged victorious, however, by a score of 59-0.

Maryland infamously decided to cancel classes ahead of its matchup against Penn State football in 2019 and even announced a stadium-wide “Black Out” to help create hype for the big game. Unsurprisingly, the stadium was taken over by white Nittany Lion jerseys, and most students funneled out of the stadium by halftime.

Classes: canceled
Turtles: not feared
Maryland's student section: empty

pic.twitter.com/DSJz1R0qmX

— Onward State (@OnwardState) September 28, 2019

Penn State’s Student Organizations List

Since anyone can edit these pages, it’s interesting to see which clubs likely went in and added themselves under the “student organizations” list on Penn State’s official wiki.

Additional organizations on campus include Thespians, Blue Band, Chabad, Glee Club, Aish HaTorah,^[139] Student Programming Association (SPA), Lion’s Pantry, Boulevard, Apollo, 3D Printer Club, and the Anime Organization, which hosts a Centre County anime convention, Setsucon.^[140]

The most notable mentions here are the two THON orgs, Boulevard and Apollo (which are usually thought of as separate from normal clubs), and the Anime Organization. The marketing hustle from the Anime Organization to include their convention in this section is very respectable.

Penn State Hoops: ‘Overcoming Historical Irrelevance’

Yeah, this one stings, but it’s also (h)ilarious. This is actually an entire 340-word section of the Penn State men’s basketball wiki. I’ve attached some of the best quotes for your self-deprecating needs.

Penn State is consistently ranked near the bottom of the Big Ten in attendance and revenue,^[2] which has been attributed to local apathy and noncompetitive teams. The Bryce Jordan Center has far more seats than can regularly be filled, and large, black curtains cover parts of the upper deck during most non-conference and weekday games.^[3]

Penn State has come close to breaking through on several occasions in the 21st century, only to fall back to mediocrity.

In what was referred to as “the most Penn State basketball thing ever” by fans on social media, the season was cancelled prior to the start of the Big Ten Tournament

Legion Of Blue

First, I was surprised that not only did the Legion of Blue have their own Wikipedia page, but it was also very fleshed out. Since Nittanyville doesn’t even have its own page, despite being the more popular and well-known student section, the sophistication of the LoB’s entry is impressive.

During the final TV timeout of each game, Legion of Blue officer Ethan Cook, better known by his persona as “PSU TV Guy,” hands out a free flat screen TV to the student showing the most spirit.

Shoutout to TV Guy for getting some Wikipedia fame. We stan.

Some students have noted that Penn State basketball season tickets pay for themselves after considering money saved from eating the Legion of Blue’s free food before games.

The whole “organization” section of this page is basically just a well-disguised ad for joining the Legion of Blue. Mad respect. This particular quote from the wiki is in reference to an Onward State article about the affordability of hoops season tickets. Nothing like a good self-plug!

Fast & Slow Wave

The Beaver Stadium Wikipedia page is chock-full of pedantic explanations of normal chants and traditions you’d see during a home Penn State game. The explanation of the “fast and slow wave” is by far the best.

The Penn State Student Section initiates a wave during sporting events. After the wave passes around the stadium twice, the student section slows down the wave to about a fourth the speed of the normal wave. After the slow wave passes, the wave speeds up to over twice the speed of the normal wave. The wave has, on occasion, been reversed in direction following the fast wave.

I’d like to think that someone calculated the speed of the slow wave and then went to Wikipedia to confirm that it is in fact 25% of the normal wave speed. This excerpt also notes how lucky you would be to attend a game in which the student section reverses the direction of the wave.

CATA

The Center Area Transportation Authority’s wiki page is another sleeper. This page is very detailed and includes the organization’s history, routes, fares, future upgrades, and, my personal favorite, the fleet. That section of this page is really, really impressive.

You really do learn something new every day.