MIAMI BEACH, Fla. -- They could have remained outside, basking in the sun on a beautiful, 80-degree day. Instead, 10,000 Penn State football fans chose to head indoors.

"The level of enthusiasm is incredible," Penn State President Graham Spanier said. "This is phenomenal."

One day before thousands of white T-shirts turned Dolphins Stadium into Beaver Stadium, Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, his team and the Penn State Blue Band fired up the masses under the roof of the Miami Beach Convention Center, and the event almost went off without a hitch.

The rally began at 2 p.m. and was scheduled to last roughly a half-hour, but after Paterno's turn at the mic, the speakers in the back of the hall crashed, which prevented a final video from being shown.

Paterno was sent back to the mic, but it was also affected.

"We weren't in charge of [the audio equipment]," Spanier said.

"The convention center folks were struggling with it. They said they tested it out, but obviously something went wrong."

A Convention Center audio technician, who would not provide his name, said the audio failure was unfortunate and could have been caused by a number of factors, including damage from hurricanes several months before.

"We lost half of the speakers," he said. "It was some type of mechanical failure."

Penn State Director of Branding and Communications Guido D'Elia was noticeably irate, since he had worked with Penn State Alumni Association Executive Director Roger Williams to plan the event.

It was obvious, though, that even with the event's technical difficulties, the fans were ready.

"These folks are ready to rock and roll," Williams said.