Somehow, more than 20 of the contingent became ill on New Year's Eve and through New Year's Day morning -- and it doesn't seem to have anything to do with adult beverages.
Everyone finds a different way to spend a little down time on a work trip.
Covering the Rose Bowl in Los Angeles meant a little pickup basketball, where Harrisburg Patriot columnist Dave Jones and I ran out of gas (Dave's not so young anymore, you know) and got schooled by a couple of State College media types.
It also means finding something interesting to eat.
Penn State coach Joe Paterno said he will not coach the Rose Bowl from the sidelines because of concerns from his healing hip.
Paterno underwent hip replacement surgery after Thanksgiving, and though the operation was successful, he said his legs don't yet have the necessary endurance to permit standing and walking around for the length of a game.
He will coach Thursday's game against USC from the press box, as he has for most of the season.
It's Rose Bowl week in L.A. and you can only stay holed up in downtown hotel room, staring at a laptop, for so long.
(Of course, it's a little easier here with a view of the snow-capped San Gabriel mountain range in the distance.)
But we digress.
There is more to bowl week than talking to players and writing stories and searching around for what kind of free food and drink there is to be had.
