Tag / Big Ten

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NBC Upfronts

Sports continues to be a big driver for NBC For the first time in 23 years, with the NFL, MLB, the NBA, and college football taking up a good part of the fall schedule, which was released on Monday.  The week gets off to a familiar start in September with two hours of The Voice returning for another round on Mondays, followed by Line of Fire, a new drama starring Peter Krause.  Come November, St. Denis Medical and The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins take over the first hour as The Voice goes to a single hour.  Tuesday will belong to the NBA when its season begins in October.

Wednesday and Thursday continue to be dominated by Dick Wolf franchises, with his three Chicago series running back-to-back-to-back on Wednesday and the two original entries in his Law & Order franchise the following night.  Thursday starts with a civilian version of the Peacock hit reality show The Traitors, hosted by Alan Cumming.  Happy’s Place and Newlyweds, a new comedy starring Téa Leoni and Tim Daly, kick off Friday, followed by a two-hour block of Dateline.  The weekend is dominated by football, with the Big Ten or Notre Dame on Saturday and the NFL on Sunday.

On the bench, NBC has one drama, one comedy, and a game show waiting for midseason.  The Rockford Files stars David Boreanaz in the role originally made famous by James Garner in the 1970s.  Sunset P.I. takes a comedic approach at the private investigator space, starring Jake Johnson and Jane Levy.  Finally, Today co-host Savannah Guthrie will host a live version of Wordle.

Shows gone from our television sets include Brilliant Minds and Stumble.

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How Sweet It Is

The Sweet Sixteen kicks off today following an opening weekend light on upsets and heavy on top seeds, although I did manage to lose my champion pick.  Three of my Final Four picks are still intact, which is better than usual.

A disappointing showing from the Big Ten in this region, leading to two of my three misses.

Purdue heads to its third straight Sweet Sixteen, which ties its longest streak in program history and is their seventh trip in the last nine years.

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And I Would (Once Again) Walk 500 More

This past November, Matt Painter notched the 500th victory of his coaching career against Akron.  In yesterday’s victory over Miami in the NCAA Tournament, he scored his 500th victory at Purdue, where he replaced Gene Keady in 2005.  Painter becomes the fourth coach in Big Ten history to reach the 500-win plateau, joining Tom Izzo, Bobby Knight, and Keady.

Keady ended his time on the Boilermaker bench with 512 victories, meaning that Painter, barring any freak occurrences, should pass his mentor early next season.  Painter will look to add to his total on Thursday, when Purdue faces Texas in the Sweet Sixteen.

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Put On Your Dancing Shoes

The nation’s attention turns to the college hoops scene for the next few weeks as the NCAA tournament kicks off later today.  I’m not in any pools this year, so most of these selections have no ultimate bearing on my life, aside from personal pride.  With the Final Four and the Championship taking place just down the road in Indianapolis, I may have to expend a not-insignificant amount of money should a certain school from West Lafayette manage to make it that far.  So, without further ado, let’s take a look at this year’s selections.

Maybe it is personal bias, but I am expecting big things from the two Big Ten teams in this bracket, including one making their way to the Final Four.

Purdue followed up a disappointing end to the regular season with a spirited run through the Big Ten Tournament to capture the championship.  Are they fixed?  Well, I hope so since I have them coming out of this region and heading to Indy. Continue reading →

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Braden Watch

Braden Smith finished Big Ten Conference play with nine assists in Saturday’s loss to Wisconsin, keeping him in fourth place on the NCAA’s career assists chart.  Smith is now just one assists away from tying North Carolina’s Ed Cota for third place and 47 away from Bobby Hurley’s record of 1076 as we head into the Big Ten Tournament.  At his current pace of 8.7 assists per game, Smith would need Purdue to play at six games between the Big Ten Tournament and the NCAA Tournament in order to best Hurley.  With the way they have been playing, that does not seem likely.

1,076 – Bobby Hurley
1,038 – Chris Corchiani
1,030 – Ed Cota
1,029 – Braden Smith

Smith ends his career with 585 assists in Big Ten Conference games, extending his record by 107 assists over Cassius Winston.  Purdue makes their first appearance in the Big Ten Conference Tournament on Thursday.

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Express Train From West Lafayette To Canton

Former Purdue quarterback Drew Brees, who led the school to their last Rose Bowl appearance in 2001, got the call to Canton last month as a member of the NFL’s Hall of Fame class of 2026.  Brees joins the hall alongside Roger Craig, Larry Fitzgerald, Luke Kuechly, and Adam Vinatieri and will be inducted August 8 in Canton, Ohio.

Receiving scholarship offers from only two schools, Brees arrived in West Lafayette as an unheralded freshman in 1997.  He became the starter the following year and, alongside head coach Joe Tiller, helped lead a resurrection of a moribund football program.  He left Purdue following the 2000 season with two NCAA records, thirteen Big Ten Conference records, and 19 program records.

His NFL career began in 2001 after being selected by the Chargers in the second round of the draft.  After backing up Doug Flutie in his rookie season, Brees became the starting quarterback for the Chargers for the majority of the following four seasons.  Following the 2005 season, Brees became a free agent and headed to New Orleans, where he became a legend.  In 2009, he led the Saints to their first Super Bowl appearance and championship in franchise history.  He retired in 2021 as a thirteen-time Pro Bowler, two-time NFL Offensive Player of the Year, the 2006 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year, and holding eight league records and fourteen Saints franchise records.

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Top Of The Heap

With just under thirteen minutes left in the second half of Purdue’s victory over Wisconsin Saturday night at the Kohl Center, Braden Smith tied the all-time assists record in Big Ten history with a pass to Gicarri Harris, who drained a three-pointer despite being fouled on the play.  Less than four minutes later, he dished off under the basket to Oscar Cluff, who converted on the layup to give Smith sole possession of the record.  Smith finished the night with twelve assists, putting his career total at 893, three more than Cassius Winston, who toiled for Michigan State from 2017-20.

The win, giving the Boilermakers a 3-0 start in Big Ten play for just the third time under coach Matt Painter, was also the 100th victory for Purdue’s senior class, making them the eighth-fastest class in Big Ten history to reach 100 career victories with 124 career games.  Smith and the Boilermakers look to extend their records tomorrow against Washington at Mackey Arena.

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NBC Upfronts

For the first time in 23 years, the NBA is returning to NBC and that was the focus of their new fall schedule, released on Monday.  The week gets off to a familiar start with The Voice returning for another round on Mondays, followed by Brilliant Minds, the sophomore medical drama starring Zachary Quinto.  Tuesday will start off in September with a second installment of The Voice followed by On Brand with Jimmy Fallon, an unscripted series where the boorish Tonight Show host staffs a premier marketing agency with “the most creative, clever and competitive go-getters he can find.”  When the NBA season begins in October, it will take over the night.

Wednesday and Thursday continue to be dominated by Dick Wolf franchises, with his three Chicago series running back-to-back-to-back on Wednesday and the two original entries in his Law & Order franchise the following night.  Thursday wraps up with another season of The Hunting Party.  On Brand with Jimmy Fallon will continue on Friday, followed by a two-hour block of Dateline.  The weekend is dominated by football, with the Big Ten or Notre Dame on Saturday and the NFL on Sunday.

Come November, things will shift again.  The two-hour Monday edition of The Voice will be shrunk to one hour to make room for the displaced Tuesday comedy block, which will be anchored by sophomore hit St. Denis Medical.  The Friday comedy block with also return, with fellow sophomore Happy’s Place back to lead off the night.  At this point, the second half of both hours is undetermined.

On the bench, NBC has three comedies and one nature documentary series. The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins reunites Tracy Morgan with Executive Producer Tina Fey in a comedy where a disgraced former football player is on a mission to rehabilitate his image.  Stumble is from Jeff and Liz Astrof.  The final comedy is an untitled community center project from Sierra Teller Ornelas. In Surviving Earth, viewers will go back in time to see how life not only survived cataclysmic events but thrived.

Shows gone from our television sets include Found, The Irrational, Suits LA, Night Court and Lopez vs Lopez.

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Dancing Time

The nation’s attention turns to the college hoops scene for the next few weeks as the NCAA tournament kicks off later today.  I found myself joining a free pool at work this year, so while most of these selections have no ultimate bearing on my life, there is some personal pride on the line.  Things are not looking good for me to attend any game should a certain school from West Lafayette manage to make another run this year.  So, without further ado, let’s take a look at this year’s selections.

My selections here are mostly chalk, with a couple early upsets but with the top two seeds heading to the Sweet Sixteen.  Michigan State is my pick to advance to the Final Four, though that may be some inherent bias towards the Big Ten.

Old friend Mason Gillis shows up with top seed Duke, who I have heading to San Antonio for the Final Four.

Continue reading →

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Gathering Some Hardware On The Hardwood

For the third consecutive year, the Big Ten’s Men’s Basketball Player of the Year calls Mackey Arena home.  Braden Smith took home the honor on Tuesday, thanks to a season averaging 16.3 points, 8.8 assists and 2.3 steals per game.  He became just the fourth player in Division I history to have at least 500 points, 270 assists, 140 rebounds and 70 steals in a single season.  Along the way, he scored his 1000th career point, his 500th career rebound, and broke the school record for career assists.

After Zach Edey won the award the previous two years, Purdue becomes the first school to have three straight Big Ten Players of the Year.  This is the seventh time overall that a Boilermaker has won the award.