Tag / Boiler Up!

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2022: The Year In Travel

After two years of limited travel due to COVID, things opened up once again in 2022 and I actually found myself on an airplane or two throughout the year.  I thought it would be nice to look back at the trips I took this year.  Things started in late January, when I went to Hawaii for two weeks.  Things were still pretty locked down on the islands at the time, so I didn’t do a lot of activities, but a week relaxation at the beach and the pool followed by a second week of working remotely followed by afternoons at the beach did the body (and the mind) good.

The next trip came at the end of May, as the family headed to Boston for Angelina’s graduation.  The boys and I arrived late Friday night, where we basically went straight from the airport to the hotel to sleep.  On Saturday, we did some sight-seeing.  Sunday was graduation, followed by a celebratory dinner.  We all headed home on Monday, save Angelina.

At the end of July, I headed out to Denver for a quick trip to add a new stadium to my collection.  I arrived on Tuesday and high-tailed it out to Coors Field for that evening’s game, which the White Sox won against the hometown Rockies.  The follow-up the next afternoon was not as pleasant, after which I headed back to the airport for the flight home.

August brought a road trip to Indianapolis, to see Danny perform with the Troopers drum corps at the DCI World Championships at Lucas Oil Stadium.  What was supposed to be a two-night stay turned into three, when the Troopers unexpectedly made it to the finals. Continue reading →

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We’re #1 Again

This was supposed to be a rebuilding year for Purdue Men’s Basketball after the loss of Jaden Ivey, Trevion Williams, Eric Hunter, Sasha Stefanovic, and Isaiah Thompson.  Matt Painter and company weren’t having any of that, though, and, for the second time in school history, Purdue is the #1 ranked men’s college basketball team in the country.  A little over a month ago, they were an unranked upstart, but a 10-0 record with decisive victories against Gonzaga and Duke has seen them rise to the top of the rankings in record time.

When they reached #1 last year, the lost their next game that Thursday on the road at Rutgers.  This year, they are off until Saturday, when they play Davidson in a neutral site game in Indianapolis.  Hopefully they will be able to keep the train rolling and remain at the top heading into January and the bulk of Big Ten play.

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College Basketball Tipoff

The men’s Purdue Boilermakers kick of the 2022-2023 season tonight, the 125th in school history, so let’s take a look at the results of the now whopping 17 men’s college basketball games I have attended in my lifetime. You’d think it would be more, since I was a big fan and we had a great team while I was in school, but for some reason I only made it to two games while enrolled in college. The other fifteen have been post-graduation, although none came last season.  With Danny playing in the band for the women’s team at Purdue, I did manage to make a few of those games, but I haven’t decided how to track those just yet.  Anyway, without further ado, here are the standings for those 17 games.

All-Time Team Records

Team Won Loss Winning Pctg
Virginia Commonwealth Rams 1 0 1.000
North Texas Mean Green 1 0 1.000
Butler Bulldogs 1 0 1.000
Purdue Boilermakers 10 6 0.625
Northwestern Wildcats 2 3 0.400
Illinois Fighting Illini 2 3 0.400
Vermont Catamounts 0 1 0.000
Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders 0 1 0.000
Long Beach State 49ers 0 1 0.000
Iowa State Cyclones 0 1 0.000
Houston Cougars 0 1 0.000
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Travelling The 50 States – Indiana

Over my 47 years, I’ve done my fair share of travelling across these United States.  I thought it would be an interesting experiment go look back at those trips to each of the 31 states I have visited (62% isn’t bad, is it?) and see if, and when, I may be returning.  Working in alphabetical order, we start today with the 19th state to be added to the Union: Indiana.

State: Indiana
Joined the Union: 1816
Visits: 1100+

From the fall of 1992 through the spring of 1997, I matriculated at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.  Accounting for breaks, weekends home, and other holidays, I estimate I would have spent over 1100 days in the Hoosier State.

While it is possible that I visited the state of Indiana at some time during my youth, given its proximity to the Chicagoland area, the first confirmed visit would have been in the early 90s, when I made my campus visit to Purdue.  I can’t say that i have any particular memories from this trip, but I’m fairly sure it happened.  Starting in August of 1992, West Lafayette became my home away from home for the next five years.  In December of 1993, I made my first visit to Indianapolis for a double header of Purdue women’s and men’s basketball at Market Square Arena.

As I was stopped at a gas station before getting on I-65 on my way home after graduation, I said that I would never return to the state of Indiana again.  That pledge lasted a little more than two years, as I returned to campus in September of 1999 to see Purdue defeat Notre Dame at Ross-Ade Stadium.  I would return again in December of 2000 for the final game of the season, seeing Purdue defeat IU and earn their first trip to the Rose Bowl since 1967.

My next trip to Indiana came in March of 2001, when I saw the Monkees at the Star Plaza Theatre in Merrillville.  In November of 2004, I returned once again to my old stomping grounds to see Purdue once again defeat Indiana at Ross-Ade Stadium.  I made two football trips the following year, watching Purdue fall to Notre Dame in October and defeating Illinois in November.  In 2006, I made my first visit to South Bend with friends from work to see Notre Dame once again defeat the Boilermakers at Notre Dame Stadium.

My next trip to Indiana came in November of 2008, when Purdue managed to defeat Michigan at Ross-Ade Stadium.  The following September, it was another loss against Notre Dame.  In October of 2011, there was another family clash as Purdue defeated Illinois by a touchdown.  Two months later, I spent New Year’s Eve of 2011 at Mackey Arena, watching Purdue defeat the Fighting Illini in my first basketball game back on campus since graduating in 1997.  I returned a little more than a year later on the second day of 2013 for another successful tilt against the Illini at Mackey Arena.

In 2013, I made the mistake of returning to Ross-Ade stadium in September with a work friend, as her husband’s alma mater, Northern Illinois, throttled Purdue.  In March of 2015, a trip to Mackey Arena saw the basketball team beat the Illini, but the football tilt that November went the other way. Continue reading →

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FB8 – Week 35

After the disappointment of last week, a late surge helped put me back above 30,000 steps for the week.  Things got off to a slow start on Sunday, where I finished with 3800 steps.  Monday fell off quite a bit, dropping to 2800 steps.  Tuesday saw a very slight increase as I ended the day 4 steps away from 2900.  Wednesday was the week’s low point, finishing with only 2200 steps.  Things started to improve on Thursday, where an after-work trip to the local grocery store helped push me over 5600 steps.  A trip to Guaranteed Rate Field on Friday left me with 5200 steps.  My best day of the week came on Saturday thanks to a trip down to West Lafayette for Homecoming, which left me with 9400 steps.

Total steps: 32.078

Daily average: 4582.6

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FB8 – Week 32

A trip down to some old haunts helped put me will over 30,000 for the week.  Things got off to a slow start on Sunday, where I finished with 3400 steps.  A slight increase on Monday saw a jump up to 4300 steps.  Tuesday was the low point of the week, falling down to 2900 steps.  Wednesday rebounded a but, rising back up to 3600 steps.  A trip down to West Lafayette for a Thursday night football game helped me surpass my daily goal, finishing with 8600 steps.  Breakfast with Danny combined with a Purdue volleyball game on Friday, not to mention the end of the previous night’s football game, left me with 6600 steps.  A thrilling White Sox game on Saturday left me 24 steps shy of 5700.

Total steps: 35,188

Daily average: 5026.9

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2022 College Football Kickoff

My alma mater, the Purdue Boilermakers, kick off their 2022 gridiron campaign tomorrow night, looking to improve upon last year’s first winning season since 2017.  With Danny now entrenched in the marching band, I’m sure to make it back for a few games this year after setting a career high with 3 games last year.  With that, it’s time to take a look at the results of the now 24 college football games I have attended since the 1993 season, covering 5 different stadiums in a whopping 2 states.

All-Time Team Records
Team Name Won Loss Winning Pctg
Penn State Nittany Lions 1 0 1.000
Ohio State Buckeyes 1 0 1.000
Notre Dame Fighting Irish 4 1 0.800
Purdue Boilermakers 15 7 0.682
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