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

2021 Final Standings

The 2021 college football season, at least the regular season, has come to an end, after Purdue beat the dreaded Hoosiers last weekend to notch their first 8 win season since 2006.  After going 5 seasons without a football game, I attended 3 (almost 4) games this year, my highest total of all time.  I also managed to travel to two different venues, bringing my lifetime total up to 5.

2021 Team Records
TeamName Won Loss Winning Pctg
Purdue Boilermakers 3 0 1.000
Northwestern Wildcats 0 1 0.000
Michigan State Spartans 0 1 0.000
Illinois Fighting Illini 0 1 0.000

Moving On

After an atrocious 2013 season on both sides of town, the White Sox and the Cubs drafted back to back, at #3 and 4 respectively, in the 2014 draft.  The Sox took hard throwing left hander Carlos Rodon out of NC State and the Cubs followed with slugging catcher Kyle Schwarber out of Indiana.  Both quickly moved through the minor leagues, making their major league debuts the following year.  After starting in the bullpen, Rodon quickly moved into the rotation and was thought to be a building block of the rebuild.  Schwarber was moved to the outfield and, after a knee injury wiped out his 2016 season, was a key contributor in the World Series as the Cubs ended their 108 year championship drought.  Yesterday, both saw their time in Chicago come to an end as they were not tendered contracts for the 2021 season, making them free agents.

The two were not alone.  In addition to Rodon, the White Sox non-tendered right fielder Nomar Mazara, who had a disappointing season after being acquired last winter.  The Cubs non-tender list, along with Schwarber, included outfielder Albert Almora Jr., infielder Jose Martinez, and pitcher Ryan Tepera.  Almora, the 6th overall pick in the 2012 draft, never quite became the hitter the Cubs thought he would.  Martinez, acquired during the season from the Rays, went 0 for 21 with the Cubs, setting a record for most at bats without a hit.

Ironically, both Rodon and Schwarber might make sense in the short term for the team on the opposite side of town.  The Cubs could use some starting pitcher depth and might want to take a flier on Rodon, hoping he can stay healthy for a season.  The White Sox could use a left handed bat to balance out their lineup and have an open spot at DH for 2021.

Sweet Sixteen

As we head in to the Sweet Sixteen, I’m currently towards the bottom in my work pool, thanks to upsets galore that have wiped out many of my picks.  3 out of my 4 Final Four picks are still alive, but with plenty of people picking Kansas to win the whole thing, I’ll need to get as many early points as I can.

2016Souths16

Some tough breaks here in the South bracket, but the good news is that my champion is still alive.

2016Easts16

My best bracket to date, with only 3 losses. Continue reading →

Tournament Time

It’s that time of year again, as the nation’s attention turns to the college hoops scene for the next few weeks. I’m in three different pools again this year, one at work, one at my mom’s work, and one run by a friend.  The Purdue Boilermakers return to the tournament for the second straight year, though they will likely not have an easy go of it.

2016SouthThe South bracket has the overall #1 seed in Kansas, who is also my pick to win the whole shebang.

2016EastThe Big 10 is well represented in the East region, with both IU and Wisconsin picked to make it to the Sweet Sixteen.

 

Continue reading →

Time To Go Dancing

It’s that time of year again, as the nation’s attention turns to the college hoops scene for the next few weeks. I’m in three different pools again this year, one at work, one at my mom’s work, and one run by a friend.  For the first time since 2012, the Purdue Boilermakers return to the tournament, though they will not have an easy go of it.

2015midwestrd1The Midwest bracket has the overall #1 seed, the undefeated Kentucky, who I envision will make it to the Final Four.  Purdue, should they make it past their first round opponent, will run into Kentucky in the second round, so it is extremely unlikely they make it past this weekend.

2015westrd1After winning the Big Ten Tournament, Wisconsin earned the #1 seed in the West bracket.  The only big upset I am picking here is Ohio State over VCU.

Continue reading →

Sheets Of Integrity

Holy crap, what a weekend of upsets.  I probably shouldn’t even bother checking my ranking anymore, given the sorry state of my brackets.  Let’s take a look.

2013_Midwest_Rd3The Midwest Region isn’t too bad as I have 3 out of 4 alive for the Sweet Sixteen, as well as everything going forward.  If only the rest were this good.

2013_West_Rd3Jesus H. Christ!  Only one team still remains, and I have them losing in the Sweet Sixteen, so this region is pretty much dead to me.  Gonzaga once again couldn’t get out of the opening weekend and New Mexico, my Final Four pick out of the region, completely crapped the bed by losing to Harvard.

Continue reading →

It’s Dancing Time

It’s that time of year again, as the nation’s attention turns to the college hoops scene for the next couple of weeks. I’m in three different pools again this year, one at work, one at my mom’s work, and one run by a friend. No Purdue in the tournament this year, so my picks were made mostly with my head and not my heart, though it pained me to have IU going as far as I did.
2013_Midwest_Rd1
I have Louisville coming out of the Midwest region.

2013_West_Rd1
New Mexico is my pick to come out of the West region. Continue reading →

Sheets Of Integrity

Well, the opening weekend certainly played havoc on most everyone’s brackets.  Two #2 seeds fall in the first round to #15 seeds?  It had only happened 4 times ever prior to this year’s tournament and then twice in one day last Friday.   Another #2 should have fallen on Sunday to an upstart Purdue team that lead the entire way, before deciding they didn’t need to have an offensive plan for the final minute.  All things considered, a Sweet Sixteen that doesn’t include Duke can’t be all bad.  Let’s take a look at my 2 brackets heading into today’s action.


There’s a lot of black Xs on the sheet, although only one in the Final Four and both of my championship teams are still alive. Continue reading →