As Danny prepares to get his drink on legally, perhaps at Harry’s, as he celebrates his 21st birthday, we have a picture of the scoreboard at last year’s Purdue football game against Michigan State, wishing him at happy 20th birthday.
Tag / Boiler Up!
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 |
Turkey Time
We are entering the home stretch on 2022, and, to prepare for Danny’s upcoming birthday, we have various shots of him from the 2021 Purdue football season, from games against Illinois, Michigan State, and IU.
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 →
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
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
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.
| 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 |
The Big 16
Ten years after their last expansion that left the Big Ten Conference with fourteen teams, the league grew again this week when news broke that USC and UCLA, formerly of the PAC-12, would join the conference on August 1, 2024. The move extends the reach of the Big Ten from the Atlantic to the Pacific and follows the expansion of the SEC last year by adding Texas and Oklahoma.
For the Big Ten, the benefits are obvious. First, in keeping up with the SEC, they show they are serious about competing for championships in a future of super-conferences. Adding traditional powerhouses in high revenue sports, USC for football and UCLA for basketball, also gives the conference an added boost in media rights, with their next deal expected to surpass $1 billion. Another bonus, and huge revenue generator, is the opportunity to expand the reach of the Big Ten Network into southern California and the nation’s second-largest market.
For USC and UCLA, the benefit is mostly money. In 2019, the last pre-pandemic season, the PAC-12 dispersed approximately $33.58 million to its member schools. The Big Ten schools, however, took in $54.29 million. By the end of this decade, that number is expected to be $100 million. In that regard, the PAC-12 just could not keep up.
The downsides for both sides include increased travel times and costs, though that is expected to hit the two Los Angeles-based schools harder as they will have more frequent travel to the far reaches of the conference. With the additional time comes increased time missed in the classroom, which will impact the non-revenue generating sports harder. The biggest loser in this agreement may end up being the Rose Bowl, the traditional New Year’s Day meeting ground between the Big Ten and the PAC-12.
Logistically, this means Purdue will most likely move to the East division in football, helping to maintain their yearly battles against Indiana but also ensuring more games against Michigan and Ohio State, making their road to a bowl game more difficult. Sixteen teams may also force the introduction of divisions into the basketball ranks as well.
Is this the end? It seems unlikely, as this move will cause ripples throughout the NCAA. With more consolidation into fewer elite conferences, good schools in the remaining conferences, like the rest of the PAC-12 and the ACC, for example, may start looking for new landing spots. Notre Dame may see that, with many of their traditional rivals now located in one conference, their desire to stay independent will start to wane. Only time will tell where this eventually ends up.
Gone Too Soon
Word broke yesterday morning that former Purdue basketball standout Caleb Swanigan, who was just 25, had died. Swanigan, who had an unstable childhood before being adopted by former Boilermaker Roosevelt Barnes, spent two seasons at Purdue, declaring for the NBA draft following his sophomore year in 2017. His NBA career ended in 2020 when he declined to enter the NBA Bubble due to personal reasons.
Swanigan, who struggled with his weight as a child, had started putting on weight again following his departure from the NBA. At just 25 years old, he died of natural causes yesterday in a Fort Wayne hospital. Hopefully he can find some peace now that seemingly eluded his life on Earth.
FB8 – Week 13
A pretty bad week, thanks to numerous work “emergencies”, but saved somewhat by another day over goal to end the week. Things got off to a decent enough start on Sunday, as I managed to score 4600 steps thanks to some mid-inning pacing while watching the White Sox. Monday saw a slight decline, as I finished 27 steps shy of 4000. Tuesday was even worse, as I fell down to 3400 steps. Wednesday saw a slight increase, as I finished with 3500 steps. Thursday was the low point of the week, ending with a mere 2800 steps. Friday saw a meager increase, jumping back up to 3600 steps. A trip down to Purdue to see Danny’s band concert combined with 80-degree weather put me over 8200 steps, the second week in a row I’ve managed to have a single day above goal.
Total steps: 30,331
Daily average: 4333