Category / Football

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RIP Mongo

Former Bears great and NFL Hall of Famer Steve McMichael died today aged 67.  He was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, in January of 2021 and was removed from his ventilator and moved to hospice care earlier today.

McMichael spent thirteen seasons as a defensive tackle with the Bears, earning All-Pro honors twice.  He’s currently second in franchise history with 92½ sacks and third with 814 tackles.  He made a franchise record 191 consecutive starts, starting in week 7 of 1981 and lasting through the end of the 1993 season and was a key part of the fabled “46” defense that led the Bears to the Super Bowl XX title.  He was elected to the Hall of Fame last year.

Following his football career, McMichael turned to professional wrestling, where we worked with both the then-WWF and WCW.  In August of 2001, he appeared at Wrigley Field as the guest conductor of the seventh inning stretch.  Prior to belting out Take Me Out to the Ballgame, McMichael had a few words for home plate umpire Angel Hernandez, who was involved in a questionable call the previous inning.  Hernandez stared down McMichael from the field and, eventually, McMichael left the booth, having been ejected from the stadium.

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2024 College Football Kickoff

The Purdue Boilermakers, kick off their 2024 gridiron campaign today, starting a new era of Big Ten football with new member Oregon coming to town in October, for just their third visit to Ross-Ade Stadium.  Now that Danny has graduated, my game attendance is likely to trickle back down to the once every couple of years pace I was on before he matriculated after attending an all-time high five games last fall.  That said, it’s time to take a look at the results of the now 32 college football games I have attended since the 1993 season, covering six different stadiums in a whopping three states, including one bowl game.

All-Time Team Records

University Won Loss Winning Pctg
Syracuse Orange 1 0 1.000
Penn State Nittany Lions 2 0 1.000
Ohio State Buckeyes 1 0 1.000
Wisconsin Badgers 1 0 1.000
Louisiana State Tigers 1 0 1.000
Notre Dame Fighting Irish 4 1 0.800
Purdue Boilermakers 19 11 0.633
Northern Illinois Huskies 1 1 0.500
Illinois Fighting Illini Continue reading →
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Refreshing The Wardrobe

The Purdue football team unveiled new uniforms this morning for the first time since 2016.  The initial release showed just two each of helmets, jerseys, and pants.  The helmets, one gold and one black, each featuring the motion P logo on the sides and a triple stripe down the middle, with the gold helmet featuring a black/white/black stripe pattern and the black helmet going gold/white/gold.

The jerseys come in black and white, and feature block numbers outlined in gold, with the Purdue wordmark across the chest.  Sleeve stripes will be gold/white/gold on the black jerseys and black/gold/black on the white.  The pants, which come in gold and white, have a strip down the outside of each leg, matching the pattern from the same-colored helmets.

The currently released setup gives the team seven different combinations to choose from.  I would expect there will eventually be a gold jersey and black pant option.  Maybe even a white helmet, though I would personally hope not.

The new look will make its on-field debut on August 31st against Indiana State.

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The Call To The Hall

Three former Bears will be heading to Canton this summer as part of the NFL’s Hall of Fame class of 2024: Steve McMichael, Devin Hester, and Julius Peppers.  McMichael, the legendary defensive tackle who is battling ALS, makes it after nearly two decades of waiting.  Hester, the record-setting return man gets in on his third try. Peppers, a nine-time Pro Bowl defensive end, makes it on his first attempt.

McMichael, 66, spent thirteen seasons with the Bears, earning All-Pro honors twice.  He’s currently second in franchise history with 92½ sacks and third with 814 tackles.

Hester, 41, was drafted in the second round of the 2006 draft and quickly made an impact, returning a punt for a touchdown in his first game and recording six touchdowns over his first thirteen weeks.  In less than two seasons, he became the leading kick returner in Bears history.  In 2011, Hester became the NFL’s all-time leading punt returner after breaking Eric Metcalf’s record with a TD return against the Panthers.  He currently holds the NFL career record with 20 special-teams regular season touchdowns.

Peppers, 44, spent most of his 17-year career with the Panthers, but gathered 37½ sacks in his four seasons with the Bears, earning All-Pro honors in 2010.  He is currently fourth in NFL history with 159½ sacks.

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A Year Of Activities

For the first time in my 49 years, I managed to attend a ticketed event in every month of 2023. Let’s take a look back and see what I had going on this year.
The first quarter of the year is typically the quietest for me.  This year started strong, with a trip to Florida for the Citrus Bowl on January 2nd.  College basketball ruled the day in February, with my first trip to Bloomington, Indiana coming that first weekend.  The Big Ten Tournament rolled into the United Center in March, making me three for three to start out the year.

The second quarter brings the start of baseball season, which easily knocked out the next three months.  I added 19 games over these three months, which included the Orioles against the White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field in April, the Mets battling the Cubs at Wrigley Field in May, and my first-ever visit to T-Mobile Park in June to see the White Sox play the Mariners. Continue reading →

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2023 Final Standings

The 2023 college football season, and Danny’s marching band career, came to an end yesterday, after Purdue squeaked past the Hoosiers 35-31.  After winning the Big Ten West last season and making a New Year’s Day bowl game, this year’s 4-8 finish was a bit of a disappointment.  Yesterday’s game brought my total for the year to six games, a new high point.

2023 Team Records

University Won Loss Winning Pctg
Wisconsin Badgers 1 0 1.000
Syracuse Orange 1 0 1.000
Purdue Boilermakers 3 2 0.600
Minnesota Golden Gophers 0 1 0.000
Indiana Hoosiers 0 1 0.000
Illinois Fighting Illini 0 1 0.000
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Let’s Try This Again

This past June, the Big Ten introduced their “Flex Protect Plus” model, integrating USC and UCLA into the football schedule and having each school play nine conference games each season, facing every other conference opponent at least twice, home and away, in a four-year period.  That lasted about two months before it was announced that Washington and Oregon would also be joining the conference, sending planners back to the drawing board.

Last week, the conference announced their updated “Flex Protect XVIII” model, which, again, features protected rivalry opponents that will be played on an annual basis while ensuring schools will play every other conference school at least twice, home and away, but no more than three times in a five-year period.  The Big Ten Championship game will feature the top two teams in the conference standings, with tie breakers still to be determined.

So, once again, what does this mean for Purdue?  First off, they will continue to have two protected rivalries to be played every season: Illinois and, of course, Indiana.  The revised schedule now has them hosting Oregon in 2024, facing USC at home and Washington on the road in 2025, hosting Washington and travelling to UCLA in 2026, their first appearance in Pasadena since the 2001 Rose Bowl, facing UCLA at home and Oregon on the road in 2027, and, finally, travelling to Los Angeles to face USC in 2028.

Will we actually get through all five seasons before the next round of conference musical chairs takes place?  It seems unlikely, but this is the plan in place for now.  With Danny poised to graduate this spring, this will give me some motivation to continue going to the occasional game to see new opponents.

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2023 College Football Kickoff

My alma mater, the Purdue Boilermakers, kick off their 2023 gridiron campaign today, starting a new era with new coach Ryan Walters hoping to continue the momentum that led the team to the Big Ten Championship game last December.  With Danny entering his final year in the marching band and the family having season tickets for the first time, I’m sure to make it back to campus for more than my usual allotment of games this year after tying my career high with three games last year.  With that, it’s time to take a look at the results of the now 27 college football games I have attended since the 1993 season, covering six different stadiums in a whopping three states, including one bowl game.

All-Time Team Records

Expr1000 Won Loss Winning Pctg
Penn State Nittany Lions 2 0 1.000
Ohio State Buckeyes 1 0 1.000
Louisiana State Tigers 1 0 1.000
Notre Dame Fighting Irish 4 1 0.800
Purdue Boilermakers 16 9 0.640
Northern Illinois Huskies 1 1 0.500
Illinois Fighting Illini 2 6 0.250
Western Michigan Broncos 0 1 0.000
Northwestern Wildcats 0 3 0.000
North Carolina State Wolfpack 0 1 0.000
Michigan State Spartans 0 1 0.000
Michigan Wolverines 0 1 0.000
Indiana Hoosiers 0 2 0.000
Florida Atlantic Owls 0 1 0.000
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The Big 18

Not even two months since the Big Ten announced their “Flex Protect Plus” model, which incorporated UCLA and USC into the football schedule for 2024 and beyond, it’s time to go back to the drawing board.  The conference grew again yesterday when Oregon and Washington, formerly of the PAC-12, would join the conference starting with the fall 2024 semester.  The move further extends the reach of the Big Ten on the West Coast.
On the field, the move gives the Big Ten additional content to sell to their media rights providers and an additional footprint in the west to help cut down on the travel requirements for student athletes.  Off the field, the Big Ten Network will get the opportunity to expand into multiple markets in the Pacific Northwest.  Meanwhile, the PAC-12, who also lost Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah to the Big 12 this week, looks to be on the verge of collapse, with only four schools remaining as of now for the 2024-2025 school year.

With the 2023 college football season about to start in about a month, the schedule-makers will need to revamp their approach to account for the new schools.  Do they simply add Oregon and Washington into the mix?  Split the 18 schools into three divisions of six teams each?  Two divisions of nine?  I imagine we will find out sooner rather than later while waiting for the next pair of dominos to drop.

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Future Football On The West Coast

The Big Ten dropped their 2024 and 2025 football schedules yesterday, the first to include UCLA and USC.  With sixteen teams, the conference is abandoning its divisional format and moving to a “Flex Protect Plus” model, where each school will play nine conference games each season and will play every other conference opponent at least twice, home and away, in a four-year period.  In addition, there are eleven protected matchups that will be played annually, featuring a combination of historic and geographic rivalries along with trophy games.  The Big Ten Championship game will feature the top two teams in the conference standings, with tie breakers to be determined.

So, what does this mean for Purdue?  First off, they will have two protected rivalries to be played every season: Illinois and, of course, Indiana.  They will face USC at home in 2024, their first visit to West Lafayette since 1976.  UCLA makes their first appearance on the schedule in 2025, where Purdue will make their first appearance in Los Angeles since the 2001 Rose Bowl.  Over the course of the two seasons, Purdue will play every other Big Ten team at least once.

Unfortunately, Danny will be out of school before any of this takes effect.  Maybe we can look at that 2025 UCLA trip as a chance to meet up.  I know of a pretty good breakfast place that I think he would like.