Pikus Checks in From Ireland

I just got an email with this picture of Pikus and his new friends from Ireland. He said he's having a great time and that the local "flare" is great. I don't really know what that means, but at least he's having a good time.

*Pikus is the one in the middle holding the Heineken like it's a, well, you know.

Way To Make Your Free Throws Keaton!

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Boilers and Hawkeyes Tonight

So the Boilers have Iowa coming to Mackey Arena tonight. Purdue has won 5 straight including Saturday's huge win over #11 Wisconsin. This team is really playing some outstanding basketball right now. They are shooting the lights out, playing great D, the young guys are growing up fast, and everybody is doing their part to contribute. They are really fun to watch!

15-5 is their record. If there is anybody out there that thought Purdue was going to have this record this season is a liar. Painter really has these guys playing like a team and everybody knows their role. I was pretty skeptical of Painter early in the season because of all the close losses. Many times a young team needs a very strong coach to make the right decisions at the end of a game to get out with a win. I didn't feel Painter was doing a good job of this. But, as usual, I'm wrong. Painter has got these guys running on all cylinders. I don't think there's been this much excitement in Mackey since the late 90s.

Hopefully they can keep the good play going against Iowa tonight. Sorry to those of you without a dish, it's on the Big Ten Network, you are just going to have to come back tomorrow to get my expert analysis of the game.

On another note I was watching SportsCenter last night. Media Day for the Super Bowl was yesterday or Monday or whatever. Plaxico Burress said that he predicted a 23-17 victory for the Giants on Sunday. ESPN was trying to make a controversy of this like it was Bush giving out Presidential Secrets to the Iranians or something. What's he supposed to say, "...No, I really don't think we have a chance on Sunday. I really don't know why we're even going to play the game...." Just stupid. I should hope he thinks the Giants are going to win! SportsCenter went on about this for about 20 minutes. Very annoying.

Go Boilers!

Stirring Up Some Bad Memories

So I just got finished reading this article from ESPN.com, and if I wasn't having a bad day before reading it, I am now. Just thinking about what that scumbag Art Modell did to the City of Cleveland and the Browns Fans makes me want to get sick.

It starts out talking about Bill Belichick and how he learned a lot from being a miserable coach in Cleveland and then gets talking about Art. So we'll start from the beginning.

Belichick benched and later released Bernie Kosar. I really do not think much more needs to be said about that. Kosar was the savior of Cleveland in the mid-80's. Had remarkable performance after remarkable performance on the great Browns teams that went to the AFC Championships. Threw for almost 500 yards against the Jets in the first round of the playoffs in 86. The Monday night game against Miami. I can go on. Belichick had problems with Bernie because Bernie was very hard-headed, liked to change play calls, liked to audible, and liked to speak his mind. And if I remember correctly, Bernie's last play as a Cleveland Brown was a touchdown pass on an audible, in which he got benched for Vinny Testaverde. 2 years later, Testaverde was benched for Eric Zeier. Yep, Eric Zeier...

Yes, it's frustrating to watch the success of the Patriots with Belichick at the helm. It's really amazing how great of a job he's done, particularly how well he's done since both Crennel and Weis have left him. I think Crennel is a great coach for the Browns, and I think Weis is a fat moron that thinks he's much smarter than he really is. What he has done at ND is really amazing! But that's for another day.

I'm already a little worked up about Coach Bill, but then we get to Modell. I really don't even know where to start?? In the process of running the team into the ground, the decided that Andre Rison was the one who was going to lead the Browns the the promised land. Yes, the same Andre Rison who had his house burned down by his girlfriend. Apparently Modell had to go all over the greater Cleveland area to find money to sign him. Rison ended up with career lows in every statistical category. And there's also this little nugget after a disappointing home loss to the Packers and after the move to Baltimore was announced. Rison was booed by the fans throughout the game, lashed out, stating, "We didn't make the fucking move. So, for all the booers, fuck you too. I'll be glad when we get to Baltimore, if that's the case. We don't have any home-field advantage. I've never been booed at home. Baltimore's our home. Baltimore, here we come." Great signing Art!!!

Then we get to the move. It was purely financial. Art was a mental midget when it came to business and ran one of the most successful franchises into the mud. He wanted to give the team to his equally mentally challenged son and didn't want him to have to pay the inheritance tax, Baltimore gave him a deal that he couldn't refuse, and say good-bye to the Browns in Cleveland.

I don't know for sure if this was the reason, but it's the reason I want to believe, so there it is..

And for the most ludicrous comment of the article. "...if Modell had it to do all over again, he would have likely offered the Browns job in 1991 not to Belichick, but to former Browns player and assistant coach Bill Cowher..." Oh really??? No kidding??? And if I had listened to the news this morning I would have brought my umbrella to work with me. And if I had known that cop was sitting in the middle of the highway, I wouldn't have tried to see exactly how fast my car can go. Or even, "...if I knew Tim Couch was going to blow, I probably wouldn't have drafted him with the first pick in 99..." How did this guy run a professional football franchise for this long??? Seriously?

But on a happy note, he had to sell his majority share of the Ravens and he's probably senile by now and hopefully nobody listens to him. He's been kept out of the Football Hall of Fame. First of all, he doesn't deserve to be in it after he did this to Cleveland, and second, some crazed Browns fan would probably take a shot at him when he was in Canton for the induction ceremony.

Ahhh, I feel a little better now.

Some Links For Your Monday Morning

Apparently you should not get hit by this guy when riding your bike.

I think this woman has the quote of the year so far. "If I hadn't gotten so drunk, I guess my baby wouldn't have died." They should try putting her into a microwave to see how it feels.

The New Home Sales numbers came out today. The December numbers were the worst of 2007 and the November numbers were revised down even further. This is not good at all for the economy. I have a pretty good feeling the fed will be lowering rates another 50 basis points on Wednesday.

But at least our airport security is in tip top form!

Want to go to the Super Bowl?? Better have some cash!

Tiger won another golf tourney, tying Arnold Palmer for 4th all time in career wins. And Clemens is still trying to tell people that he didn't actually do steroids. I suppose the sun is going to set in the west tonight too.

And finally, when Pikus gets back from Ireland, he's going to be really excited about this!

I thought a nice soothing picture of the Engineering Fountain would be nice. Hope you're having a happy Monday.

Boilers Take Down #11 Wisconsin!!

All it took was a block by Robbie Hummel on a Michael Flowers shot with 1.2 left on the clock for the Boilers to beat the Badgers on Saturday. Purdue played real well all 40 minutes and have started a scary trend of winning the close games.

Again Purdue shot the ball well, going 7-20 behind the arc. E'Tuan led Purdue with 16 points and Hummel played another spectacular game with 10-7-5.

This team is really looking tough. This win makes them 15-5 on the season and 6-1 in the Big 10. Only a half game behind league leading IU, who lost yesterday to UConn, with games against Iowa and Illinois coming up this week, we look to be in real good shape at this point in the season.

Painter has obviously done a great job with these guys. First, recruiting them and getting them to West Lafayette then getting them to mesh this well as a team this quickly. There's a really bright future in Mackey arena, and after the last couple of seasons of futility, this is a very welcome sight!

Surprise, Surprise!!

As I was scrolling through ESPN.com today, I found a new column written by Bill Simmons. And guess what???? It's another Boston column! What a surprise.

Now, there was a time, probably 2-3 years ago when I would get very excited when his columns came out, word would get around the office that it was posted and trading would pretty much stop for the next 10 minutes to read it and 20 more after that to talk about it. It was good stuff, every time. There was a great mix of sports, pop culture, current events, The Real World, Boston, mailbags, TV, and draft/game/award show journals. Very, very good stuff. But over the last year or so these once great columns have become very bland and very Boston.

But alright, I get it, he's from Boston, they've been on the most improbable stretches of sports greatness in recent memory. And if the Cleveland ever went on a stretch like this, I may be the same way. But the big difference is that I write a blog that probably nobody reads and he writes for ESPN. I'm actually surprised his editors let him get away with as many Boston articles as he pumps out. Whatever.

Enough about that, the Great Mike Alstott has retired from football and there are a couple of great runs against IU posted here. I have some great memories of those horrible teams he played on at Purdue. He retires as the Bucs all time leader in TDs. Not to mention he was like Kevin Mack from the original Tecmo Bowl when would-be tacklers would bounce off him.

And the Boilers have a huge test tomorrow when the no. 11 ranked Badgers come to town. Tip off is at 3 Central and it's on ESPN, so if you don't have the Big Ten Network you are in luck, but I have a feeling it's not going to be in HD, so that blows, I guess I will deal. The Badgers only have 2 losses, Duke and Marquette, so if Purdue can pull this one out, the tourney voters may forget about the horrible loss to Wofford earlier this season. And by the way, Wisconsin beat Wofford by 27 in December. Let's hope the hot shooting continues, this would be a huge victory for the Boilers.