Week 7 fan: Mark Matheson
When 14-year-old Mark Matheson wakes up in the morning, he turns on a Penn State lamp, is surrounded by wallpaper that resembles a Penn State locker room and walks by a blanket hung on the wall that bears a big S.
Christopher Weddle
Mark Matheson, 14, of Downingtown, Pa., throws a football before the Penn State game against Purdue on Saturday November 3. CDT/Christopher Weddle
This week, he dyed his hair black, carefully parted it on the side, put on a shirt, a tie, khaki pants rolled up at the ankle, some sunglasses and a windbreaker. Everyone knew right away that he was Joe Paterno for Halloween, he said.
Matheson, an eighth-grader from Downingtown, religiously follows Penn State football statistics and players, and he loves the feeling he gets when he comes to Beaver Stadium for a game.
Since he was 7, Matheson's attended every home game with his parents, Eric and Marcia, both Penn State graduates, and several away games. He plays football, basketball and lacrosse, and he attended a weeklong basketball camp at Penn State last year. He aspires to be a coach of any of those sports.
"I'm either playing sports or doing schoolwork," he said Saturday but admitted that he also spends a lot of time reading or watching programs about Penn State football and other sports.
"We're building the team up right now," Matheson speculated with two friends he brought to the season's last home game. "Next year, I feel we'll be even better. We've got Pat Devlin."
Devlin, who's from Downingtown, is a local hero, Matheson said. T.J. Nelson, one of Matheson's friends, started cheering and pumping his arm at the first mention of the name.
Matheson, along with his friends and cousins, said they would try to cheer as loud as the student section during Saturday's game.
FAN of the game: Mark Matheson, of Downingtown
Game attire: Penn State cap, championship sweatshirt and Penn State football for tossing around before the game.
Favorite game: Penn State vs. Florida State, 2006 Orange Bowl
Favorite cheer: Zombie Nation
Why I'm the best fan: "I go to every game with as much intensity as the next fan, and I always know the stats."
Why I want to win the contest: "I just think it would be a great honor to be one of the (best) Penn State fans of all time."