My greatest sports memory has nothing to do with playing a sport, but everything to do with realizing I was part of the biggest “family” in the country.

Last year on a cold, rainy Saturday night, Ohio State traveled to play against the Nittany Lions of Penn State. The Buckeyes lost, but they learned what it’s like to deal with the Penn State family.

I bleed blue and white, so I may seem partial in saying that this was one of the greatest college football games I have ever personally witnessed, but honestly it was.

We were freezing and soaking wet from the ice-cold rain pouring down on us, but no one, and I mean not one single fan, left that game early. We all stuck it out.

The Buckeyes were favored, as usual. They were also ranked that season, well ahead of the Nittany Lions, who were coming off yet another losing season. So what was the big deal?

Imagine 107,000-plus Nittany Lion fans, all wearing white, screaming for their beloved Lions and bouncing to “Zombie Nation.”

ESPN announcers even stated that they’d never seen anything like it. I don’t think any of us ever will again.

It was incredible that our team could possibly run out to that field, after coming off of an embarrassing losing season, to put up a fight against the Buckeyes, who had some of the most talented players in the Big Ten.

What was even more amazing was that all the fans trusted that Joe Paterno, the Fantastic Four and the rest of the Nittany Lions could do it despite what all the “experts” thought.

There’s a famous anonymous quote that always reminds me of this particular night: “From the outside looking in, you could never understand. From the inside looking out, we could never explain.”

The term “bleeding blue and white” was official for all 107,000 of us that night. We watched an incredible football game, complete with fumbles, touchdowns, flags and plays that were thought to be impossible by most people, even those standing in those stands.