Amid the hustle and bustle of last week's extensive football preparations, the fact that Penn State will soon play host to a minor league baseball team seems to have been forgotten.

As a matter of observation, it seems as though most Penn State students are either from Philadelphia or Pittsburgh. It's likely that half the student body stopped caring about baseball when the Phillies were eliminated the last day of the regular season.

The other half of State College probably hasn't cared since, oh, let's say May, given the Pirates' recent history.

Remember, this is a drinking town with a football problem. Or vice versa.

But some people hope that's about to change. And with a new, 6,000-seat baseball stadium scheduled to open on Penn State's campus adjacent to Beaver Stadium this summer, it just might happen.

When complete, Medlar Field at Lubrano Park will host the former New Jersey Cardinals' 75-game season. The Altoona Curve's ownership announced last Tuesday it had purchased the team with the intent of moving it to State College, signifying that the best laid plans aimed at making this place, at least partially, into a baseball town could actually come true.

This is all the more likely because not only is State College about to become a minor league town, the Penn State baseball team will finally get the injection of life it has needed for so long.

To those less-observant Penn State sports fans out there: Yes, Penn State does, in fact, have a baseball team. And it has been remarkably competitive over the years considering it plays in one of the most poorly equipped stadium of any Big Ten team in an area where the snow often doesn't melt until March. The Nittany Lions' current home, Beaver Field, has almost nothing in the way of amenities. It doesn't even have lights.

This swank stadium, at which Penn State will begin playing in the spring of 2007, will certainly help the Lions and their enthusiastic young coach Robbie Wine climb the ladder. And it's something students can get excited about, too, cheering on a legit college baseball program playing on a field fit for a major university like Penn State.

Imagine a lazy May day, skipping your last class and heading to the ball park. Imagine a sports fan having something to care about in the spring outside of football.

Though the club may end up adopting the name of Penn State's original mascot -- a mule named Coaly -- no one expects the minor leaguers to duplicate the popularity of the Nittany Lions football team.

But one more fun thing for a sports fan to do at school still lacking a competitive basketball program is worth noticing.