Tag / Penn State

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2022 Final Standings

The 2022 college football season officially came to an end last week, after Purdue participated in the Citrus Bowl alongside the LSU Tigers on Monday.  This was my first time traveling to a bowl game, bringing my total for the year to three games and, thanks to my trip to Camping World Stadium, I managed to up my lifetime stadium total to six.

2021 Team Records

University Won Loss Winning Pctg
Penn State Nittany Lions 1 0 1.000
Louisiana State Tigers 1 0 1.000
Purdue Boilermakers 1 2 0.333
Florida Atlantic Owls 0 1 0.000

 

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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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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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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
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2021 College Football Kickoff

rossadeMy alma mater, the Purdue Boilermakers, kick off their 2021 gridiron campaign today, looking for their first winning season since 2017.  With Danny now entrenched in the marching band and COVID restrictions lifted, I’m sure to make it to a few games this year, regardless of how good the team is.  With that, it’s time to take a look at the results of the 21 college football games I have attended since the 1993 season, covering 4 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 12 7 0.632
Northern Illinois Huskies 1 1 0.500
Illinois Fighting Illini 2 5 0.286
Western Michigan Broncos 0 1 0.000
Northwestern Wildcats 0 2 0.000
North Carolina State Wolfpack 0 1 0.000
Michigan Wolverines 0 1 0.000
Indiana Hoosiers 0 2 0.000
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Doomsday Scenario

The Big Ten announced yesterday it was postponing its fall sports season, including football, because of concerns about competing during the COVID-19 pandemic.  It becomes the first Power Five conference to postpone and follows the MAC, who postponed their season last week, and the Mountain West conference, as well as Massachusetts and Connecticut, both football independents, who canceled their falls seasons this week.

Illinois recently announced it had 23 athletes, including 18 football players, test positive since June.  Northwestern paused workouts earlier this month after one player tested positive and 37 players were quarantined, until it was determined the test was a false positive.  Michigan State quarantined its entire team after 16 players tested positive, and Rutgers halted workouts after players reportedly contracted COVID-19 while attending a party, raising the team’s positive cases to 28.  A dozen Big Ten football players had previously opted out, including Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons and Purdue wide receiver Rondale Moore.

The conference hopes to move the fall sports to the spring, assuming the pandemic lightens up and allows for it.

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2016 College Football Kickoff

rossadeMy alma mater, the Purdue Boilermakers, kick off their 2016 gridiron campaign tomorrow, looking for their first winning season since 2011.  Time to take a look at the results of the 21 college football games I have attended since the 1993 season, covering 4 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 12 7 0.632
Northern Illinois Huskies 1 1 0.500
Illinois Fighting Illini 2 5 0.286
Western Michigan Broncos 0 1 0.000
Northwestern Wildcats 0 2 0.000
North Carolina State Wolfpack 0 1 0.000
Michigan Wolverines 0 1 0.000
Indiana Hoosiers 0 2 0.000
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College Football Kickoff

rossadeMy alma mater, the Purdue Boilermakers, kick off their 2015 gridiron campaign today, so I thought it was about time we took a look at the results of the 20 college football games I have attended since the 1993 season, covering 4 different stadiums in a whopping 2 states.

All-Time Team Records
School 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 12 6 0.667
Northern Illinois Huskies 1 1 0.500
Illinois Fighting Illini 1 5 0.167
Western Michigan Broncos 0 1 0.000
Northwestern Wildcats 0 2 0.000
North Carolina State Wolfpack 0 1 0.000
Michigan Wolverines 0 1 0.000
Indiana Hoosiers 0 2 0.000
by jim

No More Tickling, Elmo

Kevin Clash, the puppeteer behind Elmo on Sesame Street, resigned this week after the second allegation of inappropriate behavior with an underage child hit in under a month.  The first accuser recanted the day after the story broke, leading some to suggest that the it was simply a money play.  However, now there is a second accuser, and the first had recanted his recant, claiming that he now wants to call off the settlement.  To make things even more confusing, the second accuser is now changing his story, moving from underage sex to dry-humping.

What to make of all this?  Well, there is the old saying that where there is smoke there must be some fire.  That said, there is something unseemly about these accusations.  The stories, at least those that are being reported, seem to change daily.  The lack of criminal charges also makes things somewhat suspect.  In this post-Penn State world, though, you can’t really blame the folks at Children’s Television Workshop for not wanting to give Clash the benefit of the doubt.  The response to these types of allegations can, and have, brought down institutions, and nobody wants to see Sesame Street go away because of the supposed actions of one person.

by jim

My First 5K

With very little training and not quite knowing what to expect, I headed downtown yesterday morning with one simple goal: to finish the race ahead of a least one other person.  Was the mission accomplished or was it a day filled with failure?

The day started at 4:30 in the morning with a quick shower and breakfast before hitting the road at 5:00.  There is not a lot of public transportation options from the suburbs at that time of day, and I didn’t want to spend $20 for parking, so I drove down to 35th Street and switched over to the Red Line, which got me down to the greater museum campus around 6:15, an hour before the race started.

Everything was going down on the south side of Soldier Field, which is where I met up with my old friend Tina and her friends that were also participating in the festivities.  It basically turned into 45 minutes of pictures before it was time to line up in the starting corral. Continue reading →