Tag / Boiler Up!

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Braden Watch

With nine assists in yesterday’s victory over Northwestern, Braden Smith remains in fourth place on the NCAA’s career assists chart.  With just one regular season game remaining, Smith is now ten assists away from tying North Carolina’s Ed Cota for third place and 54 away from Bobby Hurley’s record of 1076.  At his current pace of 8.7 assists per game, Smith would need over six more games to reach Hurley, meaning Purdue would need to play at least five games between the Big Ten Tournament and the NCAA Tournament.

1,076 – Bobby Hurley
1,038 – Chris Corchiani
1,030 – Ed Cota
1,020 – Braden Smith

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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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Braden Watch

With seven assists in yesterday’s loss to Ohio State, Braden Smith has surpassed Jason Brickman and sits in fourth place on the NCAA’s career assists chart.  With two regular season games remaining, Smith is now 19 assists away from tying North Carolina’s Ed Cota for third place and 65 away from Bobby Hurley’s record of 1076.  At his current pace of 8.7 assists per game, Smith would need a nearly seven and a half more games to reach Hurley, meaning Purdue would need to play at least five games between the Big Ten Tournament and the NCAA Tournament.

1,076 – Bobby Hurley
1,038 – Chris Corchiani
1,030 – Ed Cota
1,011 – Braden Smith

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Braden Watch

As we head into the final week of the regular season, Braden Smith sits in fifth place for the all-time NCAA assist leaderboard.  During Thursday’s loss to Michigan State, Smith notched ten assists, giving him 1004 for his career and becoming just the fifth player to surpass 1000.  With three non-tournament games remaining, Smith is five assists away from tying LIU’s Jason Brickman for fourth place and 72 away from Bobby Hurley’s record of 1076.  At his current pace of 8.8 assists per game, Smith would need a little over eight more games to reach Hurley, meaning Purdue would need at least five games between the Big Ten Tournament and the NCAA Tournament.

1,076 – Bobby Hurley
1,038 – Chris Corchiani
1,030 – Ed Cota
1,009 – Jason Brickman
1,004 – Braden Smith

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Fitbit 12 – Week 4

A warming trend, plus an unplanned trip to Iowa to wrap up the week, put me back above 30,000 steps after a brief blip.  The week got off to an ok start on Sunday, falling 23 steps away from 4000.  A morning visitation and funeral for my aunt on Monday led to 4200 steps.  A slight drop on Tuesday left me with 4100 steps.  Another drop on Wednesday put me at 3900 steps.  An increase on Thursday bumped me up to 4400.  Friday fell back down to 3900 steps.  I headed to Iowa on Saturday to take in some more exciting Purdue basketball, which wrapped the week up with 6400 steps.

Total steps: 31,026

Daily average: 4432.3

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Fitbit 12 – Week 1

Year twelve on the Fitbit platform gets off to a good start, thanks to a well-timed trip to southern California.  The week got off to a decent start on Sunday, where breakfast out and finding a charger for the rental car left me 35 steps shy of 6600, with some additional effort of an afternoon swim not included.  A trip to the beach followed by a tour of Sony Pictures Studios on Monday put me above goal with 8000 steps.  Tuesday was even better, jumping up to 8500 steps thanks to a tour of Dodger Stadium followed by a trip to Pauley Pavilion to see UCLA steal a victory against Purdue.  The trip to LAX for the flight back home on Wednesday left me with 5200 steps.  Returning to work, and getting a bit of rest, on Thursday led to a big drop, coming in with 3900 steps.  Bitter cold temperatures on Friday kept me inside all day, leading to 4300 steps.  The low point of the week came on Saturday, where the ongoing polar vortex left me 31 steps shy of 3700

Total steps: 40,230

Daily average: 5747.1

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Fitbit XI – Week 52

We wrap up my eleventh year using a Fitbit to track my steps on a high note, extend my streak of 30,000 step weeks to eight thanks, in part, to a trip to Southern California.  The week got off to a slow start on Sunday, finishing with just 3400 steps.  Monday saw a nice improvement, jumping all the way up to 4800 steps.  Work by Comcast knocked out my internet on Tuesday, forcing me to work from my sister’s house, which left me 29 steps shy of 5800.  A snow squall on Wednesday, and the corresponding snow blowing, gave me 5600 steps.  Packing on Thursday left me with 4800 steps.  Traipsing through O’Hare and LAX on Friday night helped push me over my daily goal, finishing with 7800 steps.  A trip to the Galen Center for exciting Purdue/USC basketball on Saturday, along with other activities, finished the week, and the year, on the upswing with 9600 steps.

Total steps: 41,990

Daily average: 5998.6

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2025: The Year In Travel

As we ring in the new year, it’s time to take a look back at the few trips out of Illinois that I took last year.  Things got off to a quick start in early February when I made my second ever trip to the state of Iowa to take in the Purdue men’s basketball team take on the Hawkeyes at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.  It was an easy win for the Boilermakers, who topped their conference rival 90-81.  After a night in Davenport, I returned home early the next morning.

My next trip came at the end of March, when I headed down to Texas for the first time since 2005 to visit Michael at school.  After getting a tour of his dorm on Friday, we travelled to Fort Worth on Saturday to see a live production based on the movie Clue.  That night, he rested while we picked up groceries and brought him dinner and his laundry.

My final trip of the year came in October, as I made my annual visit to Boston to celebrate birthdays with Angelina.  She got out of work early, so we met up at my hotel and caught up before heading to dinner.  Afterwards, we went back to the hotel, where she gathered her belongings, and her gifts, before heading back to her apartment.

And that’s it.  Here’s hoping 2026 has a little more adventure throughout the year.

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Fitbit XI – Week 51

As the 2026 work year got into full swing, things were pretty slow, but a trip to the old alma mater helped extend my streak of 30,000 step weeks to seven.  Despite a trip to the local hardware store, the week got off to a slow start on Sunday, needing 7 more steps to reach 3600.  Monday saw a nice improvement, falling 40 steps shy of 4200.  An additional 25 steps on Tuesday would have given me just 3300.  Another jump on Wednesday pushed me back up to 4400 steps.  Thursday came in at 3900 steps.  Friday managed to go back above 4100 steps.  A trip to West Lafayette to see Purdue battle Penn State at Mackey on Saturday ended the week on a high note, finishing with 6700 steps.

Total steps: 30,206

Daily average: 4315.1

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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.