The uniforms are among the most simple in the game, barely more stylish than the legendary cloth donned by "The Mean Machine," the fictitious prison team led by Burt Reynolds in the cult classic "The Longest Yard."

	The Nittany Lion Shrine has been a hallowed place on the State College campus since 1942.

The coach, straightforward as they come.

But the mascot? Now that's a riddle few know the answer to. What in the name of the cat family is a Nittany Lion anyway? Apparently lots of people have asked the same question.

It's one reason that Penn State sports archivist Jackie Esposito wrote "The Nittany Lion, An Illustrated Tale" two years ago.

"I actually did it because I got tired of answering the question: 'What is a Nittany Lion?' " said Esposito, who's held the position for eight years. "We get calls every week. From all over the country, bar bets, arguments, that kind of thing. They all see the Penn State team play but they don't know what the mascot really is."

The athletic symbol at Penn State University is named after a mountain lion which once was native to central Pennsylvania.

The legendary H.D. "Joe" Mason, a member of the Class of 1907, conducted a one-man campaign to choose a school mascot after seeing the Princeton tiger on a trip with the Penn State baseball team.

A student publication sponsored the campaign to select a mascot and Penn State is believed to be the first college to adopt the lion as a mascot.

Since Penn State is located in the Nittany Valley at the foot of Mount Nittany, the lion was dubbed a Nittany Lion. In regional folklore, Nittany was an Indian princess in whose honor Mount Nittany was formed.

Penn State's Nittany Lion shrine was dedicated on Oct. 24, 1942, during Homecoming Weekend. Animal sculptor Heinz Warneke and stonecutter Joseph Garatti molded a 13-ton block of Indiana limestone into the most recognizable symbol of Penn State.

The shrine is a gift of the Class of 1940 and rests in a natural setting of trees near the Recreation Building. It's not the only tribute to the beast that you can find around State College, Pa.

Another popular location is under the skin of many a Penn State football player. LaVar Arrington is the most high-profile poster boy. Like many members of the team, he sports a Nittany Lion tattoo on his left arm.

"Oh yeah, the Nittany Lion head is in the little book behind the desk," said Raven Pletcher, an artist/piercist at Art of the Ages on South Pugh Street in State College. "Some people bring in their own version, some people want it done differently, with a football or a basketball, or their class.

"I'd say we've done 50 or 75 percent of the work on the football team. Alumni, students, football players, basketball players, we get it all. We probably do 50 or 60 a year. To tell you the truth, I think some of the guys here are a little sick of working on the lion."