Big 10 Tourney Starts Today!

If you would have told me at the beginning of the season that Purdue would be a #2 seed in the Big 10 tourney, I would have called you crazy. But here we are! After back to back losses at home to Wofford and Iowa State in December, I was ready to send Matt Painter packing. How wrong was I??? Now we're the #2 seed!

This group of Freshmen has really come together to play some very exciting basketball. I have to think the fact they played together in High School/AAU ball has something to do with this. The more chemistry a team has together, the better they are going to be. They are going to win games they should not, which would explain 2 wins against Wisconsin. The squabbles for PT is probably at a minimum. They probably get along better off the court than your usual group of 5 freshmen. And the adjustment to college is probably a little easier knowing that they have each other to lean on. I have to think that all of this has something to do with the success of these freshmen this season.

Anyhow, looking forward to the games today. It starts out at noon Eastern with Michigan and Iowa playing. And the winner facing Wisconsin tomorrow. I see Michigan winning this one. They seemed to be playing some better basketball ending the season, they put up a pretty good fight against the Boilers in the final game of the season.

Next on the plate is Penn State against Illinois at about 2:30. Penn State is coming off a big win against IU. Sure IU is in shambles right now, but a win is a win. I see Penn State coming together and pulling this one out. Illinois is just atrotious this season. Just make the misery end. Didn't these guys go to the Final Four a couple of years ago???

And the final game of the day is Minnesota against Northwestern. I don't see the Wildcats pulling this one out, they won 1 conference game this season, I don't see them making it 2 today.

The Boilers play tomorrow at 6:30 EST!

Big Ten Tourney, Honors, and the Future

The Big 10 honors came out this week and the Boilers were very well represented. Hummel was a first teamer, E'Twaun a second, Kramer a 3rd, and Keaton Honorable Mention. This is good stuff for the future of the Boilermaker program, not one of those guys is older than a sophomore! And unless they're smoking something, they will all be back for at least one more season, probably 2.

Matt Painter was voted Coach of the Year in the Big Ten and Kramer was also Defensive POY. How the defensive POY is a 3rd teamer is beyond me, but what do I know? Apparently not much.

So, Purdue's future is looking very bright. I wish I could say as much for the Big 10. If you take the Purdue guys out of the Big 10 teams you are left with 3 Freshmen, 2 sophs, and 2 juniors. One of the freshman is Eric Gordon, who is most definitely gone after his 1 season in Bloomington. There's another Hoosier who got honors, Armon Bassett, who would be crazy to go into the draft, but he's feelings on sticking it out at IU I would have to imagine are in doubt. So, that leaves you with 5 guys that aren't graduating/entering the draft/potentially transferring. In a year when the Big 10 is down, this really does not look good for the future of the conference.

Not to mention all of the IU recruits that are backing out of their letters of intent because of Scumbag Sampson. I hate IU, but what he did is just reprehensible. Makes me sick to think of what went on down there. What a jackass.

On a good note, Big 10 tourney starts on Thursday in Indy!! This is looking really great for the Boilers. They will start things off playing the UofI-Penn State game Friday night. Penn State is coming off a big win against IU, but I just dont' think the Claxton-less Lions will have the firepower to beat Illinois. Illinois really sucks this year, but I think they're going to have enough to win on Thursday. This tourney is going to be alot of fun for Boiermaker fans all around. With the solid D that they play, and the depth they have, it's going to be very tough for a team to beat them when playing 2 or 3 days in a row. Let's just hope the freshman can keep the pace up.

And the potential of a Purdue-IU rematch looms in the distance also. If IU can get it together for the Northwestern-Minnesota winner, the two teams will face each other on Saturday. Playing in Indy, I'm sure the Fieldhouse will be rocking for that one!!

College Basketball Saturday Roundup

Another fantastic Duke-UNC game last night. The only thing that could have made it better was for Dick Vitale and his sweat glands not announcing it. Did anybody see this guy?? You would think that he would know better than to wear a blue shirt when announcing a game like this. Isn't there somebody at ESPN that could have told him this?

Anyhow, great game. Back and forth. Duke came back in the 2nd half to make a game of it. The Cameron Crazies were crazy. And Carolina pulled it out in the end. Fun to watch. Very intense. #1 vs. #5. Lived up to all of the billing! There's nothing like a great college basketball game between 2 teams like Duke-UNC. Tyler Hansborough had 16-15, and earned every one of those buckets and rebounds, and Danny Green had 18-8 for Carolina.

Is it me or does Hansborough flop a little like Brian Cardinal once did for the Boilers?

ESPN showed speedo guy. Just a dude in a speedo dancing around like only somebody in a speedo could. Then they went to commercial. Dan Shulman had to issue an apology about the way he was dancing and the video that ESPN had just shown the country. It's sad that we, as a nation, has come to this. I dont' even know where to start on this so I'm not going to try. That's just sad. If there was anybody out there that was watching the game and was subsequently offended by a dude in a speedo, they need to have their head checked. Unreal

Memphis won again last night. The victory puts John Calipari right next to Adolph Rupp by being the only two coaches to win 30 games in 3 consecutive seasons. On the surface this makes Calipari look like one of the great coaches in history. But look a little deeper and see that he did it against the worst competition in D-1 and the picture isn't so rosy. When the next best competition in the league is the UAB Blazers, coached by none other than the worst coach in NCAA basketball, Mike Davis, not such a great feat. Although I'm not certain about it, I'm pretty sure that one of the requirements for Memphis basketball players is that that they're not allowed to go to class. I think I heard that somewhere?

No, I didn't actually hear that, I just made that up. But would anybody be surprised?

The Boilers wrap up their regular season this afternoon at Michigan. They need to take care of business and end the regular season on a high note. After the way they played at Ohio State earlier this week. They need some solid momentum going into the Big 10 Tourney.

Everybody keeps talking about how Kentucky is a shoe-in for the NCAA tourney. Am I the only one out here that remembers that they lost to Vandy by about 50 a couple of weeks ago? Sure, they're playing some better basketball right now, but just because they're Kentucky, doesn't give them a free pass to the tourney. I'd much rather see a George Mason type team make the tourney than a Kentucky. The Wildcats scored 11 in the first half of that game. I'm sorry, but no team that scores 11 in any half of any game does not deserve to make the tourney!!

Another example of this is Ohio State. They in no way deserve to make the tourney. I think they've beat 2 teams in the RPI top 100. They have a .500 record in the very weak Big 10, and they have 1 signature win, against my Boilers, and not much else. Just becaue they made the Championship game last year doens't mean they get a free pass.

Go Boilers!!

One Question???

So, I was watching the Big 10 network and was wondering, where do those guys watch the games when they're not on camera?? They can't possibly sit on the set all day. Do they have a lounge area with couches and lazy-boys? Is it a conference type room with a bunch of flat screens? Is it like the deal they have at places like Champps where it can be one big TV or split up? These are the things that keep me up at night. Couldn't you just see Gene lounging with his feet up and a bowl of popcorn sitting on his chest while the others there do all the work?

Oh Man!!

The Boilers blew a golden opportunity last night losing to the Buckeyes last night. Of all the people to really pee down their leg in the face of adversity, I didn't think it would be Chris Kramer. I still can't believe he made such a horrible pass. But anyhow...

Purdue played a pretty solid game last night. After a slow start, being down 0-7, they came storming, actually there really wasn't a "they" it was more "E'Tuan", back. They played pretty well until the last couple of minutes of regulation, when the spirited Buckeyes stepped it up a notch and took a win from the face of defeat.

The Buckeyes were looking right into not making the tourney with a loss. And considering they made it to the Championship game last season, that would be quite a turnaround. Sure, they don't have Oden and Conley, but they still have Butler, who caught fire last night, and the rest of the team still in tact. So getting to the Championship is probably a stretch, but at least they should have enough left in the tank to make the NCAAs.

E'Tuan had another solid game. He's really turning into a special player. Scott Martin finally showed some of his potential by having a great game shooting from the field. He was 5-10 from the field including a 4 point play at the end of the first half. If the Boilers could have pulled it out, that shot would probably be talked about as the straw that broke the Bucks season, but it wasn't to be. He also added 6 rebounds. Just wish he could get a little more consistent from the line. He almost threw up an airball and then canned the 2nd on one trip to the stripe.

Marcus Green played horribly. He hit a 3 in the first 5 minutes of the 2nd half, and then decided he didn't have to play anymore. Offense, defense, apparently he thought his 3 was enough. Mercifully he fouled out before the end of the game, but he was just painful to watch try and move around the court.

Speaking of painful. The 2nd half of that game was just painful. If I was not a Purdue fan, there is no way that I could have watched it. I think from about the 17 minute mark to about the 4 minute mark there was a foul called on every trip down the court. There was no flow, no pace, no nothing. And this is what really did the Boilers in. The trademark of this season is being able to put up 10-14 point runs in about a 3 minute stretch, while forcing about 4 turnovers, no offensive rebounds, and hitting a couple of clutch 3s. Well, they could never get into rhythm in the 2nd half, and this really hurt them. Yes, some of them were fouls, but they really were calling it tight. And after a 20 minute delay starting the 2nd half, it was just horrible...

So, looks like the Boilers are headed for a 3 seed in the Big 10 tourney. They win in Columbus, they win in Ann Arbor this weekend, they have a 1 seed, but they didn't come to play last night. Although, now that I think about it, IU is in shambles right now, not playing good basketball. IU loses one of the next 2, and Purdue takes care of business at Michigan, they get a 2 seed. Sort of disappointing considering they controlled their own destiny going into last night's game.

If you would told me 3 months ago that the Boilers would be a 3 seed in the Big 10 tourney I would have been thrilled! Funny how things change! Not to mention this is a team of Freshman and Sophs. The future is looking really bright in West Lafayette!!

On another note, the Browns signed Shaun Rogers to a 6-year $42 mil deal!! This will be the first Browns season I'm really excited for since about '86. Things are looking bright in Cleveland too!! Except for the housing market, that still sucks. But the Browns, Cavs, and Indians!! Nice!

February is FINALLY over!

Well, the worst month for sports if finally over, and we can start getting on to some things that really matter. Spring Training baseball, Fantasy Baseball drafts, and the NFL free-agent signing period! Wooo-Hooo!!!

Let's start at Cleveland Browns Stadium, or Berea, or wherever Phil Savage calls home these days. In the last week the Browns have signed Shaun Rogers, Corey Williams, and Donte Stallworth, and re-signed Derek Anderson.

We'll begin at QB with the re-sign of Anderson. I think this was essential. The Browns have assembled a team that can do some damage this year! Not in 3-5 years, THIS YEAR. Anderson will hopefully build on the Pro Bowl season he had last and get himself into a consistent groove. With the talent the Browns have, the don't need Anderson to have a 100+ passer rating every game. They need consistent play, and this is what Anderson is going to give you.

So you say that Brady Quinn needs to be either starting or traded?? Well, I don't see the problem with having 2 capable QBs on the team? Look at how many QBs the NFL went through last season. I don't know the exact number, but I think it was somewhere in the neighborhood of 70 QBs took a snap. If Anderson gets hurt, and you've traded Brady, who do we have playing QB??? Ken Dorsey?? Josh Cribbs??? What's the problem with a little insurance policy??? I'm not going to hide the fact that I do not like Brady Quinn. I don't think he's that great of a QB, when he was at ND, all he did was beat mediocre teams and throw the ball to Jeff Smardjtizmarta. But with the way the Browns have gone through QBs in the last 9 years, I see nothing wrong with leaving Brady on the sidelines to learn another year.

Sticking with the O, we signed New England Patriot Donte Stallworth. Donte will be the new #2 target for Anderson this year. I love this signing! I love anybody that comes from the Pats. I hate the Pats, but I think they learn that they need to win as a team. Look at what they turned Randy Moss into??? Anyhow, when Anderson drops back he's going to have #1 Braylon, #2 Stallworth, #3 Winslow, #4 Jurevicius. Or he can turn around and hand the ball off to a resurgent Jamal Lewis running behind one of the best front 5s in football. You tell me how a team is going to stop all those weapons???

Now to the D, where the real help was needed. They acquired Shaun Rogers from the Lions for this season's 3rd round pick and Leigh Bodden. I haven't read a whole bunch about Rogers, but I guess he's having some problems fitting in with the coaching staff in Detroit, and hasn't been playing quite as well. He was a Pro Bowler in 04-05 and has been nothing more than a big, fat, distraction since. All I can hope for is that he decides to get back into shape and help a good team get to the playoffs. I can understand how being on a losing team can break down you morale, and a change of scenery is generally a good thing. Let's hope that this revitalizes the 28 year old Rogers into good things! The Browns gave up a 3rd round pick and Leigh Bodden to bring Rogers into camp. I wish I could say that they got good value for that trade, but only time is going to be able to give the answer for this one.

And the last acquisition is DE Corey Williams from the Packers for this years' 2nd round pick. I don't' know much about Williams other than the stats I can find on ESPN.com. 7 sacks last season, that's probably more than the Browns have had in the last 2 years. He's definitely going to be an improvement over what they had.

Now, the Browns do not have a pick in the first 3 rounds of this years' draft? If you would like to look at it this way, their first round pick was Brady, the 2nd round pick was Corey Williams, and the 3rd round was Shaun Rogers. The situation they are in now, the fact that they are a good team NOW, and they desperately need help on the D-Line, they made good decisions. The only college D-linemen who could have a decent shot at making an impact in their rookie season will be picked in the first 20 slots. I think Savage did the right thing. Williams and Rogers are going to be inserted into the D-Line and are an instant upgrade from the guys they had last season, plus, it adds depth which they really need running a 3-4.

On another note, former Boilermaker Niko Koudivides signed a 3 year deal with the Broncos. I would love to see the Browns sign Roosevelt Colvin, who was released by the Pats earlier this week to play some OLB. Partly because he's a Boilermaker, partly because he's good, and partly because he threw down a nasty dunk on me at the co-rec during an intramural game. It wasn't quite the Roy Hariston, behind the back, off the glass, elevate from one side of the lane and throw it down on the other, but it was pretty nasty, especially for a guy who's only 6-3.

Boilers Looking Good!

The Boilers took care of business again this weekend with a big win over suddenly confident Northwestern. Purdue looked a little shaky in the first half and then came out of the locker room shooting the lights out to win by 25. Hummel led Boilermaker scorers with 15 including 6-6 from the free throw line. The Boilers kept the hot shooting going by shooting 45% from the field including 11-22 from behind the arc.

The Boilers looked solid again. They did what they were supposed to do to the worst of the Big 10. They've got 2 games left, Ohio State and Michigan, both on the road, to sure up another Big 10 title, and the first for Matt Painter.

Again, I sound like a broken record, but this team plays great together. They're fun to watch. They win games they're supposed to and they're even winning games that they're not supposed to. Something that Joe Tiller and the football program needs to learn. But that's another post for another day.

IU looked horrible in their loss yesterday to Michigan State. Sure it was senior day, but to put up 59 points in the first half??? Unreal!! Michigan State was unconscious! I don't' think IU had much chance to win that game they was MSU was shooting, but they didn't even put up a fight. I guess all of the "KS" signs on the IU players shoes was weighing them down.

Yeah, it's got to be a tough situation for the IU guys. But Sampson didn't die in a single car crash when he was on a recruiting trip, working his best to do the best for the program. He got caught lying, then cheating, then lying again about the cheating. Not once, but TWICE, at 2 different schools. He's a cheater, he doesn't belong in college sports.

But on the other hand, he's adding to the horrible play of the Hoosiers, so I really shouldn't be too upset about it.

I just came across this picture on the web. Hummel only scored 12.5 his senior season??? And now he's playing this well in the Big 10? So, has he elevated his game that much in the last year or is the Big 10 just that horrible?? Ummm, don't answer that question...