Hot! Sizzling! Flaming! Blazing!

These are the words adorning the cover of the ticket form for this weekend's fare at Rec Hall.

What are the people in the Sports Information office so fired up about? Why, it's the Big Ten men's and women's gymnastics championship -- the first time in history that Happy Valley plays host to Big Tens. And one of those excited is Associate Athletic Director for Communications L. Budd Thalman.

"No question, it's going to be a big event," Thalman said. "It is our first-ever Big Ten Championship -- that makes it an historic event."

The festivities begin Saturday afternoon with the men's team and all-around competition. The women's team and all-around will take place that evening. On Sunday, the men will hold their individual and event final. The women do not hold individual finals.

The tournament is an event that can have a major impact on the host school, Big Ten Assistant Commissioner Mark Rudner.

"It can be great for the community," he added. "The wrestling was held in Iowa a couple of weeks ago, and they had 11,000 (people in attendance)."

Gymnastics will not pack that many in this weekend, said Bud Meredith, ticket manager at Rec Hall, but he does expect about 4,000 fans per session. Meredith noted that a large portion of the advanced ticket sales for the meet (about 2,000 for the women's event Saturday, and 2,200 combined for the men's events Saturday and Sunday) have been to fans of visiting schools.

But the people at Sports Information are pushing tickets here. They have distributed promotional placemats in a local McDonald's restaurant. They have rented out three local billboards. And they have distributed fliers or made announcements at football games and at men's and women's basketball games.

Regardless of how well the promotion works, Penn State is not in it for the money, Thalman said, adding that the event is not expected to generate much of a profit. He said any money made would be split between the University and the conference, which is sponsoring the championship. Both Thalman and Rudner declined to disclose exactly how much the championship will cost.

But the gymnasts are not concerned about money. They are just excited about hosting their sport's conference nadir.

"I think it is great, considering we've only been in the conference a couple of years," freshman gymnast Tyson Bryant said, adding, "Hopefully, if we put on a big show, it will come back here in later years."

These sentiments were echoed by the Lady Lions.

"We're really excited we get the home crowd," sophomore Bridget Foley said. "We're glad we don't have to travel, which really tires us out."

Senior co-captain Coby Silver is also glad her last Rec Hall meet will be for the Big Ten title.

"(The team is) really, really psyched that it's at home," Silver said, "We're glad to have the home crowd behind us."

And it is not just Penn State gymnasts who look forward to competing at Rec Hall.

"The fans were enthusiastic," Ohio State's Blaine Wilson said of his team's Feb. 26 visit. "Some places we go, the fans are just dead."

The genesis of this weekend happened last August, when Penn State petitioned the Big Ten conference for the right to host. After reviewing the University, the conference enthusiastically granted Penn State its request.

"Penn State has a history of managing and running championships effectively in the Atlantic 10," Rudner said.

And Penn State Men's Gymnastics Coach Randy Jepson said he believes this year's championship is the beginning of a similar legacy.

"I think the people are going to be in for quite a treat, we have a numnber of festivities planned," the coach said, adding, "the theme is that this will be a very hot weekend."