So...Ready to Start Your Season?

Finally, five weeks into the season Purdue is lined up with a formidable opponent. Cruising to an easy 5-0 record thus far they really haven't had a challenge yet this season. The scores may have been close in the end but if you were watching you would know that they have not been in any imminent danger of losing any game this season.

So if you tune into your television sets this coming Saturday at 8 pm you will find yourselves watching what might be the Big Ten Championship. Yep, I said it this weekend could prove to be the crowning of the Big Ten Champion. Let's look at how I came to this conclusion.

The boilers have looked spectacular on offense, sluggish on defense. So if they prove this weekend to be a the real deal and beat a top ten team in OSU they will put themselves in the driver seat in the Big Ten Championship run. Purdue will go on to play Michigan, Iowa, Northwestern, PSU, MSU, and IU. Michigan: inconsistent, especially with a confusing attack that the Boilers have. Iowa: lost to IU so, well, that kind of explains itself. Northwestern: lost to Duke who before had the nation's longest losing streak. PSU: down in the dumps and looks to not be climbing out anytime soon. MSU: decent team that lost a tough one today to Wisconsin. IU: they are IU. So with a clean a road that is possible in the Big Ten awaits Purdue after OSU, the Boilers have a good chance to be champions. The only trouble is, is the slight chance of either Illinois or Wisconsin going undefeated in the Big Ten as well (one will lose as they play each other this year).

It will be a tough road but so long as Purdue takes it one game at a time and their defense improves, watch out Big Ten.

Notre Dame this year has been having a less than average season. Coming into the game today 0-4, the worst in schools history, Notre Dame really did not have much to lose. Although, Purdue coming into the game 4-0, did have something to prove because many people think of Purdue's schedule as weak and that is why they have won the season's first four games. During previous season starts, the Notre Dame versus Purdue game is really a measuring stick of whether or not Purdue is going to be good this year. Notre Dame is normally a powerhouse, although this year they are awful. The game today really wasn't a measuring stick and from my eyes was a bad game for Purdue to play. To be honest, I thought Purdue was going to lose the game today because Notre Dame really did not have any pressure on them and Purdue really needed to win.
Purdue did pull it out controlling the game from the very beginning. To me it seemed like Notre Dame was playing catch up the whole game after going into the locker room at half time being down 23-0.
In the second half, they came back fighting. They only scored once in the third quarter, but in fourth they had two touchdowns. The Irish really have improved since the beginning of the year, although they have a long way to go. ND quarterbacks showed some improvements today throwing for three touchdowns and really putting the ball on the mark in all three of those. Notre Dame still had a chance with only 7:58 still to go in the game only being down by 7 points, but that was it. Purdue then score again with 5:33 sealing the victory. Curtis Painter played well today, although he threw for 2 interceptions. I think against a top ranked team like Ohio State that could prove to be fatal. I also think the key for Notre Dame's loss today was missing the 2 pats, and also the penalties. They had 11 penalties for 110 yards. If they hadn't lost all the yards, I think it would have been a lot closer game. Overall Notre Dame has shown a lot of improvement, but once again, Purdue is too much of a match for them. Maybe Notre Dame should try playing a high school team to get their spirits up, or maybe not because it's possible they would get beaten by them also.
Purdue plays Ohio State next and Curtis Painter needs to come out and perform better than what he did today. His decision making was good other than those two interceptions, although Ohio States defense will give him some problems that he has yet to see this year. My prediction for next week is that Purdue will win because they are in a "winning-groove", and also because the coaches will prepare them for the biggest game on their schedule.

Drew Brees

Something many people don't really get to experience is a famous person that went to a school really giving back to that school. Now everyone at Purdue can know what that feeling is like because Drew Brees, who plays for the New Orleans Saints, gave 2 million dollars to Purdue to help aid the building of The Brees Center. The Brees Center is a student-athlete academic center that is being built by Mackey Arena. It is now only 6,000 square feet but after construction ends in 2011, it will be around 11,000 square feet.
I personally think it was amazing for Drew to give back to Purdue, because if it wasn't for Purdue, he would have never been given the opportunity to earn that money. Also, it is a great way to spend the money because he will be furthering the education of college students for many many years.

Ass Whooping in Order

First lets start with the Boilermakers in their soon to be one-sided victory over the Fighting Irish. As we know, Notre Dame is not doing very good with a record of 0-4, and on the flip side Purdue is doing great with a record of 4-0. ND has a weak offensive with a rookie QB, but I'm sure Jimmy Clausen well be really good come some years. Their defense is better than their offense, but still lacking in so many ways. They need a miracle to win this one (slight overstatement).

The Boilermakers are doing great so far this year with an almost perfect offensive. Our defense has a some holes, but we are working on it. I'm not a defensive cordinator, but I'm always good for a good blitz package 4-3 or 4-4 formation to totally stop the rush and put pressure on the QB in hopes for a sack, fumble, or bad pass. Thats where the corner backs and safety have to really alert up in case the QB gets the pass off early and thats where they must at least swap the ball down. But they also need to be heads up for the bad pass because thats their pick. I am predicting an ass whooping on a minor level for Purdue vs. ND, 33-7.

Another game is Michigan versus some school called Northwertern. N'Western is just a small road block for Michigan. They are just about outdone on every level of the game. Michigan is looking to light up the score board on many trips to the red zone. I don't know much about N'Western, but their stats show that they are outclassed on passing and rushing. And if their QB is not mobile with his feet, look for him getting sacked a number of times with a good chance of a fumble or bad pass into a Michigan pick.

In this game look for my man Mike Hart rushing about 200-230 yards, 3TDs, and something around a 40 to 50 long. Ryan Mallett in this game can complete around 65% of his passes and maybe a another TD to his name. Arrington and Manningham should be the main recievers in this one. I am predicting a serious ass whooping on a major level, 61-3.

The 2007 'Quarterback Shuffle'

The 1985 Chicago Bears were doing the 'Super Bowl Shuffle.' As for this years Chicago Bears' team, they aren't doing a good one. Three games into the season and they are cutting the man who they continually thought would improve but didn't.

Rex Grossman lost his starting spot this week due to terrible play thus far in the season. His totals on the season include a 52.8 completion percentage, a measly one touchdown to six interceptions. Lovie Smith finally gave into what many in the public thought is way overdue, a 'quarterback shuffle.'

Replacing Grossman is Brian Griese who hasn't started a game since 2005. He remarked on this saying it was a good thing because his body "feels great" as he chuckled a bit. A renowned backup around the league and with the Bears the past two seasons, Griese looks to get the Bears on the right track.

I believe that this move should have been done long before this. Rex has been given numerous chances to prove himself. All he has proved to be is inconsistent and bad at calling a game. Griese comes into this next game, against the Lions, with a chance to prove that he indeed should be the signal caller of this team. The Bears are by no means out of the playoff race. So, the fact that this change was made relatively early in the season gives Griese a chance to get his bearings, no pun intended, and right the ship.

This weekend is a good one for Griese to start off with. The Lions have a terrible defense and gave up 56 points last week to a downtrodden Donovan McNabb and Co. So as long as Griese doesn't try to do it all himself, hand the ball off a bit, and give the team a chance both him and the Bears should do all right.

I see the game as whoever wins between the Lions Defense and the Bears Offense will win the game. Those two units are the inconsistent ones thus determining the outcome. The Bears D versus the Lions O will also be entertaining, both being very skilled and talented. As for my prediction, with the Lions coming out on top 28-27. Also, look for the Lions homefield crowd coming into effect with the quarterback change.

Better Bring It

Ok, so I’m so pumped for the Boilermakers game this Saturday. They are going to be hosting the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. This game is always one of the biggest rivals that Purdue faces. The game seems to always be sold out and the fans go crazy.

The Irish have not won a game this year and that's what scares me. To most that wouldn't be a scary thing but a team that hasn't won a game is very, very hungry for a win. So Notre Dame coming into Ross Ade this Saturday is going to be an interesting game. Now, I really hope that Purdue blows out Notre Dame like the other four teams did, but the thing that scares me is that Purdue will go into this game thinking that Notre Dame will just roll over and Painter will go for another 300 yard passing game.
I just hope that the Irish's season does not make a change for the better this weekend. It would be an embarrassment to the Purdue Football organization for the rest of the season. Purdue would be known as the team that got Notre Dame back on track. Now given that the next three games that Notre Dame plays after Purdue aren't the easiest, UCLA, Boston College and then number one USC, but a win against a big rival will give them the confidence they need going into these games.

So this Saturday I’ll be decked out in my Purdue gear and cheer till my voice goes dead. I'll wake up early and send up a prayer up to Touchdown Jesus and pray that the Boilermakers come to play, because if they don't, Notre Dame will come in starved for a win and might just upset the Boilers.

OJ

As I posted earlier about O.J. first getting away with murder, and then committing armed robbery, viewers suggested that if a player were to be inducted into the hall-of-fame, off the field actions could change their inductance into the HOF(hall-of-fame). The thought of the comment was stated almost as a punishment if the player did not hold up to living a "perfect" life.
The idea isn't necessarily a bad thought, although I think a players performance on the field versus what they do off the field shouldn't matter. As an example: say a player came and just demolished all records, like a Michael Jordan of the NFL. Every little kid wants to be the athlete. He has every endorsement deal, he has everything he would ever want. He is the stud on the field and everyone looks at him as a god. Then all the sudden he decides to go on a rampage and do something against the law. Those actions should not be looked at after he has been inducted. The player had to work hard for his spot in the HOF, so that player should be awarded for his work ethic and his ability to perform under pressure. The player through his time in the NFL was successful in many ways because of the role model he was to the younger children wanting to be like him. My opinion of success is not how much money you have, or how many materialistic items you have, but how many lives you can change while doing what you do best.
People are not perfect although when your a star in a popular sport, or when everyone is critiquing your life, the expectations of you are raised higher because everyone wants you to fail. So when the athlete does fail, everyone can drop the hammer on him and say ya, he wasn't as good as everyone thought. He made a mistake, therefore he doesn't deserve any of the awards he worked his ass off for. That is not fair to the athlete because whether he did or did not break the law, he did something great for the league, and overall, he changed many young peoples lives because he proved no matter what the odds were against him, he pursued his dream and didn't let anyone stop him. O.J. had a dream to be in the NFL and set many records, and that is what he did. Just because he broke the law doesn't give anyone the right to take something away from him that he earned and deserves.