Sunday | 10:38am
Tucker and Taylor Haas performing Beauty and a Beat:
Tucker Haas >> The Biebs
Sunday | 9:41am
The PSU Football 2013 THON pep rally dance from last night:
Sunday | 12:03am
PSU Football- THON 2013 Pep Rally:
Saturday | 11:43pm
The Men’s Swimming Team took the 2013 Pep Rally dance title. It was by far the most creative dance and it really wasn’t even a close contest. They never truly announced runner-ups, but if there was one it was probably the football team. The dance was, eh. They mainly drew a decent roar from the crowd because of their reputation. Overall, the pep rally has been pretty good. Following the dance contest, some people have cleared out but there is still a lot of energy in the BJC. Also, it sounds like they are letting people in now, so if you wanted to come check it out you can still catch BOB, Pat Chambers, and the rest of the festivities.
As the pep rally was getting started, behind the stage, section 131 held up cards spelling THON. Pretty cool.
Saturday | 9:29pm
If any dancers are checking out TSP this weekend they will immediately recognize this little guy. He has been dual wielding “Laura Croft style” two waterguns shooting up everyone today (If you don’t know who Laura Croft is you didn’t live a complete childhood). I decided to follow him on his trek around the floor.
Here, he is spending about 10 minutes trying to get the water from the dancer’s cooler, into the guns. Then, I decided to do some proper investigative reporting (not creeping) and asked him for his name.
As you can tell by my crappy picture quality, he wasn’t into an interview. Unfortunately I didn’t take a selfy of myself but I was as wet as Tucker Haas. He’s quick, be careful out there dancers.
Saturday | 8:40pm
UPDATE: The lines are still extremely long outside. They were said to be as long as a seven hour wait at one point. I don’t really have an updated estimate right now, but if you’re outside in line right now, you probably aren’t getting in for the pep rally. Sucks to suck. The best advice I can give you is to go sleep and if you want to give yourself the best opportunity to secure a spot for the final four hours, your best bet is probably around 3:00 am or 4:00 am once the crowd clears out from the Pep Rally.
Anyways, on a positive note, here is a video of BOB speaking at THON last year that will send chills up your spine.
Saturday | 3:25pm
To get you ready for tonights Pep Rally, here is a promo video for the 2013 THON Pep Rally via thontech.
Saturday | 3:25pm
Am I the only one that found this image really disturbing?
And I’m not talking about the dude in the background with the American flag pinnie and jorts. Call me whatever you want to call me, but I just feel like having people dressed in costumes with fake semi-automatic weapons at THON is one of the worst judgments in taste that I’ve ever seen, especially with Sandy Hook only about 3 months in the past. Have the people in costumes, I think that’s awesome. But the guns should have been taken out for THON. Just my 2 cents.
The BJC is at capacity right now even though it looks like a lot of the upper deck is relatively empty. In fairness, the concourses are an absolutely madhouse so I’m assuming that’s why the building is being closed off. The line to get in is absolutely massive so if you’re planning on coming to check out THON soon, be prepared to wait.
Saturday | 1:45pm
Here is VIDEO of Jay’s speech:
Saturday | 1:32pm
Hour 19: When I just wrote “hour 19″, I almost couldn’t believe it. It feels like I’ve been in the BJC forever at this point. Over the last few hours there have been a few high points including a speech from Jay Paterno. Jay discussed an extended metaphor between THON dancers and how the goose flying in the front when in v-formation does not “honk”, and instead cuts the wind for the rest of the geese behind it. All of the other geese then honk encouragement to that first goose. He then ended the comparison saying that all of the students at Penn State and everyone in the building were honking behind all of the dancers this weekend, who were the front geese.
He also had a brief discussion about how important it is to feel pride in being a part of the Penn State community, which resonated well with students.
There was a bit of downtime after Jay’s speech for the OPP crew to mop the dance floor and now we have a live band performing country cover songs, adding something different to the THON vibe thus far.
The floor at the BJC is still packed and currently on the border of being at capacity so if you’re planning on going to the floor without an awesome TSP media pass (haters gonna hate), plan to wait in line for awhile.
Here’s a live shot of the BJC from our new perch in press row:
Saturday | 8:39am
Penn State Pride Hour coming to an end. Great performances by The Statesmen, the Blue Band, and the Cheerleaders. A lot of energy in the BJC right now. Lovin it.
Saturday | 7:49am
The latest line dance at 7 AM seemed to reenergize everyone. It was the loudest and most energetic I have seen for a few hours. The overall atmosphere picked up and there has been a lot more energy in the BJC ever since. Good work, people. Keep it up!
Saturday | 7:36am
As Bronny mentioned earlier the packages came out for the dancers and we came across some pretty interesting gifts. We ran into Henry and he got some plato, water guns, bubbles, and a linguistic puzzle of Barbie (who was known as Jazelle). His favorite gift was clearly Jazelle (can’t argue with that).
We also ran into Nikki from Penn State-Beaver. She received some candy (her favorite was Skittles), a princess hat, and a lot of Finding Nemo stuff because that’s her favorite movie. She said she was really enjoying the atmosphere and was overall in great spirits.
Saturday | 5:52am
Goodness I’m tired. I just spent a few hours on the floor talking to everyone, and right now seems about the lowest that everyone’s been (myself included). For some reason, the music has been pretty weak lately and the energy is getting sapped out of the building because of it. I honestly can’t remember THON ever playing music this weak, especially at a time when people need energy. Good news is that packages are coming out to dancers now.
Also, ran into these two dancers who are about as overdressed for THON as it gets. Baxter (left) and Henry (right) were obviously standing out on the dance floor, so we went over to say what’s up. They said that they had planned to dress in formal garb for an hour of THON since they knew they were dancing because they’re “gentlemen and this is how gentlemen dress.” Good to see the dancers having some fun out there.
Update: Almost immediately after I posted this, the music started picking up. I guess DJ Larry Moore is a TSP fan.
Saturday | 3:58am
And these are the tank tops for Greek hour coming up in a bit. Could be controversial, right? Being a Greek, I love them. That’s just me though. Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion, I guess.
In fairness, on the back it says “and we’ll finish it together”.
Saturday | 3:46am
Don’t think I fell asleep or left on you! I just spent a little bit of time out on the floor this time catching up with some dancers. The BJC is probably at about 45-50% of the capacity that it will be at tomorrow night and Sunday afternoon but the dancers for the most part look great. Some are starting to get some glazed looks in their eyes, but they jump back to life when they hear a song they like or one of their friends comes to see them. All in all, everyone is still doing really well. This time of night is generally the worst time for dancers and tomorrow night will be exponentially worse. So try to come out and support your dancers if you can spare the sleep.
Anyway, onto some of the people we met. We came across Mitch and Sammy, who are dancing together (they’re dating), but not officially because Mitch’s fraternity doesn’t pair with Sam’s sorority for THON. Either way, they’re still a great looking couple, don’t you think? 1/2 no homo. So far, Mitch’s favorite event of THON was hanging out with the kids, Sammy’s was the food (awesome). As far as what they were looking forward to, Sammy was looking forward to the final 4 hours and Mitch was looking forward to sitting down (can’t blame him). I asked both of them how confident they were in their abilities to finish. Sammy threw up two 5′s on her hands and walked away with more swag than I’ve ever seen before in my life. Mitch told me that he was “a perfect ten, like the models on entourage, a perfect ten” in his confidence to finish. Then he told me that he wanted to make sure I wrote perfect ten. I like these two.
The blogs might start being a little bit less coherent as we get into the weekend, by the way. Sleep does wonders for writing skills. Fair warning.
Saturday | 1:38am
The BJC rocking at 1:30 AM after the cover band Shake Shake Shake plays “firework”. Who said Friday night was the lamer night of the two?
Saturday | 12:53am
Ahlby and I decided that we’re going to start going around the dance floor asking random dancers how they’re doing. So, here’s Jess, a Senior dancing with Hershey’s Kisses for The Kids (pictured below – Jess is second in from the left). Haven’t heard of that? Neither had we. So, we researched. They’re a pretty small group of what looks to be about 10-15 students from Hershey, PA who, according to their THON profile, have 2 things in common: 1. Loving THON 2. Loving Hershey chocolate. Can’t hate that.
She said that her favorite part so far was getting in the water fights with the kids and she’s looking forward to the last 4 hours the most. She seemed to be in great spirits, and seemed even more excited when she found out she was being interviewed by her favorite Penn State website. But seriously, all the dancers look great right now.
PS – Heard a rumor about a dancer getting EMS attention with a 104 fever but is being a warrior and attempting to stick it out. Respect, but be safe, everyone. FTK.
Saturday | 12:52am
We checked in with Scott and said he’s doing great. He just got out of doing a dance circle so he was a little bit sweaty (he was obviously killing it) but other than that he’s looking good. We caught up with some of the dudes he was dancing with and their motto for the night was, “Who’s having a better night than us? No one.” Clearly they’re living the dream right now.
Friday | 11:58pm
Things are beginning to slow down now. Still a very solid crowd out here though. I would say it’s about 2/3 of the way full from what is was at around 6 PM. We’re about to head back out on the floor and hopefully grab some interviews with Scott (not mush), along with some other dancers.
Friday | 10:16pm
via Jim Gardner
This picture describes what THON is all about. This is why we spent countless outside in the freezing cold asking for donations. For kids to have the opportunity to be here right now enjoying moments like this.
Friday | 10:01pm
Just some general shenanigans on the floor right now while a live cover band is performing in the background. Lots of water gun fights, which are a little bit frustrating when you’re trying to document something with expensive equipment (just kidding, we’re TSP, we’re using iPhones) but still fun nonetheless. We thought you might recognize these 2 THON kids, Tucker Haas (middle-left) and Robbie Schweitzer (middle-right) with dancers Kari and Jess. Pretty apparent that Tucker lost the water gun fight ,which isn’t so bad considering he won the battle with cancer 6 years ago (Robbie has also been cancer-free for longer than Tucker). You’ll see Tucker again on Sunday afternoon for his highly-anticipated performance.
Friday | 9:10pm
Hour 3: Just met up with Skret – said he’s feeling great still, but complained a little bit about the lack of food. They had spaghetti, meatballs (he was pretty upset about being given only 2 meatballs), salad, and penne. You may say that’s plenty of food, but Skret is a difficult man to please. He still looks great though. No tears yet.
We also ran into these 2 dancers and were immediately intrigued because of beard guy’s curly mustache and awesome hat (we later found out his name was Tyler). His friend (Austin) also played poke-mon during dinner, which is something that I’ve never seen before at THON, but still awesome.
Overall, the BJC is still full of energy. The only time there was a quick dip was after the hour-long instruction of how to do the line dance. The stands have only cleared out a little bit since the beginning at 6, but not much at all. The lower level is still going crazy and the Greek orgs are starting to do their signature chants. Everyone’s starting to settle in. We’ll check back in in a bit.
Be sure to follow TheSchoolPhilly on Instagram for pictures of the weekend. We’ll try to upload some to twitter as well.
Friday | 6:47pm
Full 2013 THON Line Dance lyrics HERE.
“Call Me Maybe” and Snap Chat back-to-back references. I’m digging that.
Jay-Z Beyonce have a baby / Need a sitter, “Call me maybe?”
SnapChat, can get wild / Here comes Honey Boo Boo Child
Friday | 6:38pm
Great picture courtesy of the Daily Collegian:
Friday | 6:35pm
Sitting here in press row. Enjoying myself as I’m sandwiched between 6abc and the chick running THON’s official twitter. Smart move by THON putting the three biggest media outlets next to each other. Gangnam Style played for the 1st time. Don’t worry folks, if you missed it, it’s only the first of many. Line dance going on right now #FTK
Friday | 6:32pm
Here’s the official beginning of THON 2013 from the perspective of the stage. Great energy in the BJC right now. The dancers all look great and beyond excited to be here. It’s going to be a great night.
PS – Scott just read about his nickname being “Mush” on his phone and wanted to vehemently deny the rumor. S/O to AirPort for that one.
Friday | 5:38pm
via Daily Collegian
via @PennStateMBB
Chambers stayed true to his promise, and handed over a big, fat check to THON. I hear he wasn’t supposed to show up, but I guess he did. You da man, Pat. Top that, O’Bie.
Ps. That’s the most I wrote about Penn State basketball all season, I think.
Friday | 5:37pm
Hour – 0: Welcome inside the BJC for THON 2013. Pat Chambers and Tim Frazier came out to present the check from the game last night and an absolutely electric national anthem was sung (USA! chant at the end included). We checked in with Skret and the people he’s dancing with. Kids got the eye of the tiger right now. Awesome atmosphere in the BJC.
Friday | 5:35pm
Here is a link to watch THON live all weekend long, mostly for sad alums like myself who wish we still went to Penn State. Obviously, I’ll be up next weekend for State Patty’s Day though.
Ps. Dancers stand in 25 mins. Rumor has it Scott is already in tears.
Friday | 4:43pm
Here’s the face of the Skret (I think that’s his user name for TSP – he doesn’t write anything anyway so it doesn’t matter). But he’s the guy that we’ll be following for a lot of this weekend. Going to be checking in on a lot of dancers, but this is going to be our go-to guy. Guarantee his face won’t look like this 36 hours from now. Add some tears, and maybe it might look the same.
BJC is filling up though. And we also just got a new blogging spot that doesn’t make us sit in a room with no windows for 46 straight hours. Big things.
PS – Skret’s nickname in his frat is apparently Mush. We’ll be using that periodically as well because it’s hysterical.
Friday | 3:59pm
Alright, let’s do this! Me and Ahlby are all set up in the press room (which will lovingly be referred to as the dungeon for the remainder of the weekend) and ready to blog like there’s no tomorrow. Music is already blasting in the BJC, everything seems relatively calm all things considered, and there’s a nervous excitement in the air. Expect some pictures coming soon.
Friday | 2:32pm
Don’t mind me…just stealing some pictures off of Instagram. Kathryn won’t mind, she’s a friend of TSP’s. BJC…eh.
Stage, looking good.
KD puts their diamonds in the sky for THON, abroad in Italy
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Friday | 2:26pm
Follow along all weekend on our LIVE blog right here. We will have Bronny, Mahlbs, and Herbstreet reporting LIVE from THON. Also, Scott will be dancing in THON. Myself and Squeak will be the eyes in the sky from Philly. Let’s get after it!
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