I was surrounded by a sea of screaming, jumping Penn State fans, waving blue and white pompoms and cheering along to the Blue Band's music. The cheerleaders and Lionettes rooted from the sidelines. The clock was ticking down, and the scoreboard showed a tight game.

If this sounds like a Saturday in Beaver Stadium, you're wrong. This was the scene at the men's Nittany Lion Basketball game against Seton Hall this past Saturday night -- the most exciting Penn State sports event I have seen so far in my three years here. Leaving the Jordan Center, I had a bit of a guilty conscience. It had taken me three years to get to my first Penn State varsity basketball game.

As a freshman, I came to campus loving basketball, softball and soccer, which I had played my entire life. I had planned on getting season tickets for men's and women's basketball and attending a slew of other sporting events. That was before I was clued in on the sentiment that "nobody" goes to basketball games here. In fact, there's an attitude that nobody goes to any sporting events here besides football. I had a hard time finding people who wanted to go to the games with me.

Let's face it. We didn't all grow up as the quarterback of our high school football team. Some of us were divers, boxers, gymnasts, runners, pole vaulters, short stops and goalies. However, when students come to Penn State, many become football fans at the exclusion of all other sports, sports they had loved their whole lives.

I have an unpopular confession to make: I don't even understand football the way I should. I never played it, didn't have a high school team to follow and my dad's earnest attempts to educate me failed miserably.

But since coming to Penn State, I have enthusiastically attended almost every football game because at Penn State going to football games "is what you do." Whether or not you love the sport, attending is a matter of school pride and the center of most students' social lives.

At times, it seems that some of our football players take advantage of the sport's popularity on campus. In the past, I have witnessed players walk through pep rallies or fan tunnels while ignoring high fives, avoiding eye contact and once even keeping on iPod headphones the entire time, conveying total disinterest. So, it's refreshing to see the level of fan appreciation from athletes in other sports.

In November, the basketball team hosted an open practice with free food for their fans. The practice had a Rocky theme and some of the players went all-out, greasing down their bodies, donning boxing gloves and shorts and staging a mock boxing match. The coach even got in on it. A few players wandered throughout the fan seating area, greeting them. Then, the entire team performed a rendition of "Crank that (Soulja Boy)" that they had prepared for fans. Although teams don't need to go as far as dancing and dressing in costume, it was nice to see athletes behaving so down to earth and doing something out of the ordinary for fans. I can't imagine our football players putting on a show like that.

Basketball games also have often-ignored advantages over football games. First of all, student tickets for basketball are only $5 and half-price admission can be secured for members of certain student organizations. Second of all, it's indoors. There's no chance of getting snowed or rained on or sun burned in the Bryce Jordan Center. Plus, while snuggling up next to a 100,000 fans on benches can be cozy, it's nice to have your own seat and actually be able to sit down.

Everyone knows our football program has brought national recognition and school pride, and I am thankful for that, even if I don't understand the concept of a safety. However, for those of us who have had a life-long love affair with other sports, we shouldn't toss them under the rug the moment we buy our first jersey. School pride doesn't end the day after our bowl game. It wouldn't hurt to appreciate our student athletes who practice just as hard but don't receive the same recognition as football players.

Now I only have a year and a half to reach my new goal: Attending at least one varsity event in every other sport before I graduate. Hopefully, I can also take some serious football lessons from my younger but wiser sister.

I wonder if the water pollo team can Soulja Boy?

Caitlin O'Malley is a junior majoring in international politics and public relations and is a columnist for The Daily Collegian. Her e-mail address is cmo160@psu.edu.