Boilers Come Out Hot on Cold Night

Boilers cruise to an easy 86-62 win

On perhaps the coldest night of the year so far the Boilers came out of the gate hot last night. On a night that Robbie Hummel would be the talk of the arena, JuJuan Johnson and E'Twaun Moore lit it up. Both players ended the game with 19 points, but could have scored more in a close game. Moore had 17 of his points by the half, and really did not play much in the second half. He was 5-6 from beyond the arc including hitting his first five three's. He really does deserve the nickname 3-Twaun. When he is on there are few that are better than him. JJ decided to start the game from outside as well. He scored the first four points of the game all from just inside the arc. Of the 47 points Purdue had scored at the half, Johnson and Moore had 30 of them. Hummel also had a great half, but was just overshadowed by his teammates. Once the second half began it was just a chance to see what some of the bench players could do. Valpo only really made a run to close the gap when we put a less than stellar group out on the floor. The Boilers had this game from the get go. The next game for these boys will be a tough road test in Alabama. They are 8-0, and poised to have a great season. Saturday's game will be another indicator of how great it will be.

Free Basketball! What Can Top That?

This weekend while I was in town for the Grand Valley State game against Carson-Newman we decided to check out the Lakers men's and women's teams. We only paid $11 dollars a piece for the football tickets so we decided that the $7 to get into both basketball games was in the budget. I decided to pick up my football tickets at the will call window before going into the basketball game. At the window they told me that I could get into both games free with my football ticket. How great is that? Maybe I am spoiled because of the great atmosphere that I have seen in Mackey this season, but I really was not that impressed with the turnout. The student section had maybe fifty people in it. The women's game was a blowout when I walked in, but it quickly became a close one. The Lakers pulled away in the end though to win 81-68. Five Lakers scored in double digits. The only reason that the game seemed to get close was the foul desparity. For a small school these girls can light it up. They shot 65% on the night. Not too shabby.

Grand Valley is Going to Alabama Once Again!

Yesterday I was in Allendale, Michigan to see the Grand Valley State Lakers advance once again to the Division II Championship game by beating Carson-Newman 41-27. There were many storylines yesterday. I will try and hit on a few of them here. The first storyline had to be the snow. As you can see above the stadium looked like a Christmas globe the entire game. They had a crew of workers using blowers to clean off the yard lines during every break in the action. This was my first game in the snow, and it was worth the cold to be part of this. As we were waiting for the game to start I wondered how the snow and cold would affect Grand Valley. They are more of a passing team, while Carson-Newman is a running team. You would think that the advantage would go to the Eagles of Carson-Newman with the weather. The fact that there were only 14 completions in the game might tell you how badly the weather affected the game. There were some ugly passes yesterday on both sides of the ball. The game started with a quick drive by Carson-Newman that saw a terrible pass about 15 yards out of bounds on third down. When the ball left his hands you knew that it was way out. Grand Valley got the ball on a punt and P.T. Gates took the first play from scrimmage 59 yards for the Lakers. The weather forced Grand Valley to kick a field goal to go up 3-0. The Lakers ran the same play to Ryan Bass in the corner of the end zone three times, and Bass was open all three times. The only problem though was the fact that the ball never was close to him. The weather really set the tone for this game.

Can This Happen Again?

This year has seemed a lot like 2006 all year long. Today I will take another step towards that when I head to Grand Valley to see them try and make it to the finals in Florence, Alabama again. If they can pull this off their likely opponent will be Northwest Missouri State. Could Braly Stadium take another rematch between these two teams. Well we will cross that bridge when we get there. It's deja vu all over again. For now enjoy this video of the goalposts coming down after the win.

Notre Dame Will Not Accept a Bowl Bid

Notre Dame will not accept a bowl bid this season. That was the announcement made yesterday in South Bend. With a few words the Notre Dame season officially ended. Notre Dame was once sitting at 6-2 with Charlie Weis talking about a potential BCS Bowl bid. Then they lost to Navy, Pitt, UConn, and Stanford to finish the season 6-6. This means that we have most likely seen the last of Jimmy Clausen, Golden Tate, and maybe even Michael Floyd. With the coaching change it is hard for me to see any of them coming back. Next season could be as bad or worse than the 2007 season for Notre Dame.

College Basektball Game of the Week: #4 Boilermakers v. Valparaiso

This week I have picked the Valpo game at Mackey as my game of the week. It is big for a couple of reasons. The first is how close I live to Valpo. I could literally be at their arena in 25 minutes. I have seen a few games there, and who can forget Bryce Drew hitting that shot in the NCAA's a few years back? This game is also big because it is the home team of Robbie Hummel. Next year we will travel to Valpo, and I will try hard to get a seat in that small arena. Last year Valpo came into Purdue and kept it close for the first half. The Boilers only led by two at that point. Purdue held them in the second half though and cruised to a 59-45 win. This year I don't think that it will be that close. Purdue is just too powerful. Although they came into that contest last year ranked tenth, and really were not that dominant. Chris Kramer was out for that game though. Barring something tragic tomorrow we will be at full strength on Wednesday. With a little luck we will have a higher ranking than #4 by the time we play next week. It will be interesting to see if we finally get some respect.

Game Preview: Grand Valley State v. Carson - Newman

This week I am going to brave the frozen tundra of Lubbers Stadium to see the semi-final matchup between the Grand Valley State Lakers and the Carson - Newman Eagles. Carson Newman did a very good job of stopping the North Alabama offense last week to advance. This week they will have to face Grand Valley's offense with a trip to Florence, Alabama on the line. I was in Lubber's in 2006 when they beat Delta State to advance to the title game. I was also in Florence the following week when Grand Valley won the title. I hope that some of that magic rubs off again this weekend. That night in 2006 was great with the students taking down the goalposts. We were part of the mob out on the field. Their is nothing like winning the big game, and for this week this is the big game. It may not have the billing that the Florida - Alabama game does or for that matter the Texas - Nebraska game, but it is huge for many people. See you in Allendale on Saturday.

Boilers Handle the Challenge

#4 Boilers win 69-58 over Wake Forest

Tonight was a great night to be a Boiler fan. Before the game the team unveiled the Big Ten Tournament Championship banner. The 1996 Conference Champion banner has been lonely way too long. They then honored the team for its Paradise Jam Title that they won last week. When the game started the crowd was rocking, and just like in the ACC game last year the Boilers came out cold. The good news is that they have a great defense. They forced Wake Forest into 25 turnovers on the night, and held them to 42% shooting on the night. The only blemish on the defenses resume is how easily Ishmael Smith could drive to the basket. We really had nobody that could match his quickness. This was the game where we saw how much Lewis Jackson meant to us. We did do alright against the size of Wake Forest. As they were being introduced I was amazed at how big they were. They really did keep us in check down low for the most part. The stat sheet says that they had ten blocks, but I would have thought that number would have been much higher. We struggled shooting early, but JuJuan Johnson and E'Twaun Moore really stepped it up for us to keep it a game going into the second half.

Harry Caray's Italian Steakhouse

Right in downtown Chicago is a great little restaurant that shows what is great about being in the big city. On my way to Wisconsin this past fall I spent the night in Chicago. Without even thinking I was walking around town wearing a Green Bay Packers hat. I never really took any heat except when I was eating dinner. That may be because I picked Harry Caray's Italian Steakhouse to eat at. This great little restaurant/bar is located just off the Chicago River on Kinzie in downtown Chicago. As soon as you walk in you are greeted by the bust of Harry that is shown to the left. What makes this place so great is the atmosphere while you are eating. I was there the day that the Cubs sale was finalized so I missed seeing Frankie O the bartender doing his weekly bit for Comcast Sports Net. They filmed the show earlier that day so of course I just had the locals to talk sports with. Sitting in the bar you can talk sports until you are sick to your stomach. Beware though. These people are passionate sports fans.

Target Field Construction Site

This July I was in Minnesota as part of our yearly baseball trip. We wanted to see the Metrodome one last time before it was torn down. We also wanted to see the new Twins stadium Target Field. Through a friend we learned that you could go to the top of a parking garage to get a great view of the stadium. We picked the wrong garage, but we still got a great view. We would have had to break down some barriers to get to the top of the other garage. From what we could see around the stadium, and the little inside the stadium this place is going to be nice. From the conceptual drawings you can see that this 40,000 seat stadium is going to look very nice. It has really taken shape even more since I was there. Looking at some photos online I would say that the outside is nearly complete. Just seeing the outside of the stadium is not enough. I will have to see a game here when it opens. Maybe my White Sox will have better luck here than they did in the old Metrodome. The stadium will have an exhibition on April 2nd, 2010, and will officially open on April 12, 2010 against the Boston Red Sox. My only question will be how much snow will be on the field that day.

Chippewas Shut Down By Purdue's Defense

Boiler win easily 64-38

Who decided to have a basketball game that early in the morning? I always complain about the early starts that the Purdue football team gets, but this was a half an hour earlier. Starting a game at 10:30 am my time really makes for an interesting morning. On the drive down to West Lafayette I kept wondering if that would affect the players. Playing a game before most college kids are even awake has to be hard. The other factor that had to be on most people's minds was the fact that Purdue had just come off a great win against #9 Tennessee to win the Paradise Jam. Tuesday Wake Forest comes to town as part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. This game in between could have been trouble.

Tiger Woods Seriously Injured in Car Wreck (Update)

Not a lot is know right now, but according to ESPN Tiger Woods was seriously hurt this morning when he hit a fire hydrant and a tree outside of his house this morning. Here is a link to the ESPN article.

Update: He has since been released from the hospital. We can now breath a collective sigh of relief.

Yet Another Update (12/8): Reports this morning claim that a blonde woman was rushed to the hospital on advanced life support at about 3 AM this morning. Things just keep getting worse.

College Basketball Game of the Week and Weekly Preview

This week the game of the week is easily the Big Ten/ACC Challenge game between the #6 Purdue Boilermakers and the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. I have been watching Wake Forest on television for years, and the chance to see them in person is exciting. What makes it even more exciting is the fact that Purdue has been playing well. The Big Ten has never won the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. This year could be the year if we win a couple of close games. The way I see it though we will walk away second place yet again. There will be some buzz on campus come Tuesday. I really can't wait. Before that game though Dan LeFevour leads the Central Michigan Chippewas into Mackey Arena. What?...he doesn't play basketball? He seems to do everything else. In that case with no LeFevour on the court I think that Purdue should roll Central Michigan. This will be a good tuneup for this team heading into Tuesday's showdown. I am sure that the crowd will let the team know how it appreciated the effort in the Virgin Islands when they come out onto the court tomorrow.

csd Flashback and Weekly Football Preview

Last year I was up in Allendale, Michigan to watch the third round division two playoff game between the Grand Valley State Lakers and the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs. At first I just thought that this would be yet another win in Grand Valley's storied history. What I saw though was a team that came into Lubber's Stadium on a mission. The Bulldogs stopped the Grand Valley offense cold for much of the game. At the half the score was 7-6 in favor of the Bulldogs. Towards the end of the third quarter Minnesota Duluth scored a touchdown, but the extra point attempt was blocked. That ended up being huge for the Lakers. A late touchdown tied the game at 13 to set up overtime. With just over a minute left in the game the touchdown pass was huge. The crowd really got back into the game. The Lakers ended up losing the game 19-13 in double overtime in one of the best football games I have seen. What made the game great was the odd way that the overtime period went. Grand Valley had the ball first, and missed a field goal attempt. All the Bulldogs needed to win was a field goal. In trying to get better field position though they were picked off. This set up the second overtime. The Bulldogs scored a touchdown, but had yet another PAT blocked. I don't know that I have ever seen two PAT's blocked in one game. All GVSU needed to win was a touchdown and a converted PAT. The Laker quarterback Brad Iciek then through his third pick of the game to seal the win for Minnesota Duluth. During this game Grand Valley blocked a punt, two PAT's, and blew up a fake punt. What ended up doing them in though was the fact that they missed three field goals during the contest. That is to be expected though as the field goal kicker usually does not get many reps in during games up there. This week the teams face each other again, but this time in Minnesota. Both teams have identical 11-1 records going into the game. The Lakers avenged their only loss of the season last week by beating Hillsdale 44-27 last week in the second round of the playoffs. I think that they will avenge last seasons playoff loss this week. It won't be easy, but Grand Valley just has too much history behind them for me not to pick them.

Alex Guyton Will Return Against Evansville

This week Boilermaker coach Sharon Versyp announced that Alex Guyton will be back on the court by the Evansville game on December 19th. She may see a couple of minutes before then, but the date for full return in the Evansville game. Her presence down low will be welcome for sure. Another body on the court is also a great thing. She looked great at times last year, and it will be interesting to see how she has progressed.