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Date	Title	Body
6 weeks 3 days ago	The ninth-worst offense, actually	the worst and best rankings use the same order (rather than putting worst at the top and 10th-worst at the bottom). The second-worst offense is a Gary Nord offense, which comes as no surprise to anyone, period.
18 weeks 4 days ago	71-60 UM	go away, MSU.
19 weeks 4 days ago	Purdue's monster-in-the-middle	is Mr. Hammons, btw. This is good stuff. I think it reinforces the idea that context is really important for defensive statistics ... for example, Purdue's strong defensive efficiency (moreso in non-conference play after last night's beating) is really "Purdue's DE with A.J. Hammons at center". It isn't a coincidence that they're 10th in DE in Big Ten play and that Hammons has been in foul trouble in every conference game against non-terrible competition (fouled out against Iowa, 4 fouls against Illinois, MSU, and Ohio, 3 fouls including 2 early against IU).
19 weeks 4 days ago	well, that's the thing	A block simply means making contact with and appreciably altering a shot that is subsequently missed; it may or may not result in a change of possession. (And that's one reason to not get too caught up in analysis: a block can be deflected to a defensive teammate for a fast break, knocked into an offensive player's hands for a kind-of Kobe assist, swatted out of bounds, or who knows what, and all of them count as 1 block.) It's like how blocking a kick doesn't count as a turnover in football. (Even stopping a fourth-down attempt isn't a turnover.) The name of the category is a simplification, so it covers some things it probably shouldn't and doesn't cover some things it probably should.
19 weeks 4 days ago	19-20, 95% from the line	I think some of Indiana's stats got compressed when you were writing that intro.
19 weeks 5 days ago	87-85 Michigan	in OT. The cabinet theory isn't particularly interesting. I like the bar fight theory better - corruption of "Whose ear?" - if only because it's dumber and thus more likely to be true.
20 weeks 5 days ago	Michigan 84-55	Purdue can't shoot. This isn't a problem in a game where scoring happens when you shoot, right?
36 weeks 3 days ago	one note about special teams	Kawann Short is very good at blocking kicks. This is probably not a surprise, given his strength and position, but is worth noting.
36 weeks 3 days ago	Morgan Burke's been doing that for 20 years	a little drinking isn't going to change it much. Well, other than the fact that the stadium is uphill from the bars (and some of the tailgating areas). Bad planning. Burke's approach, and that of George King before him, was that by God this is Big Ten football and you are going to show up. Actually improving the quality of the product on the field wasn't really a consideration (Exhibit A: every single coach under those guys; Tiller had partial success by running an offense people hadn't seen before and getting lucky with Brees, as much as it pains me to say). Hiring a guy with no I-A experience on nothing more than Tiller's say-so did a lot to kill attendance. True, bar drinking does have a way of keeping people from getting to the game itself, but who wants to sober up watching Purdue fart away a lead against a MAC school or get crushed in Big Ten competition? (Not every game can be as exciting as you-know-which-one ...) And really, there can't be more than a thousand or so in the bars. That wouldn't even make a dent in IU's Memorial Stadium. Burke seems to assume that he can focus on building competitive programs in other sports (which, TBH, he's done a pretty good job at) and that football will simply take care of itself. Younger fans might prefer to watch BTN; older fans have been through this many times already, thank you, no need to spend money on another 6-6 team. (It was one thing to have optimism in the mid-'80s with Jim Everett, or in the '00s with NFL-caliber QBs and Curtis Painter. Now, though ...) Burke's fortunate that a number of Big Ten schools travel well, or there'd be a much more noticeable drop in attendance.
36 weeks 5 days ago	that is easy to explain	aside from his having played for Ohio: Purdue has been less unimpressive, compared to recent seasons, than pretty much all other Big Ten teams, and everyone likes to be the first to spot a potential trend, so he's simply jumping on the bandwagon. Purdue: sucks less than other Big Ten teams. (Also, thanks to Wisconsin's collapse, the East Division is terrible. All Purdue has to do to win the title - ha ha! - is suck less than Wisconsin and then get lucky in the title game. Hope has shown he can get about one good game a year out of the Boilers, although unfortunately for him, they can't play Ohio in Indianapolis - that's who the good game tends to be against.) Purdue's done a fairly good job containing Denard in the past. That seems less likely this season, given the overall suckiness of the LB corps. But then Borges could easily counter that by calling more I-formation plays and making Denard turn his back on Kawaan Short. Of course, what he should be doing is running a bunch of spread option plays, because ever since Tiller brought basketball-on-grass to West Lafayette, Purdue has been surprisingly unable to defend running QBs, which is pretty weird given that they should be practicing against some of those very same plays every week, yes? (Well, when you have someone like Painter running option plays, it's, uh, not quite the same.) Marve was definitely the better QB prior to the latest injury, which is why APQBHG struck him down. (With an injured knee, he's most definitely a downgrade from CTB.) Henry is really the worst option of the "three", but don't worry, Gary Nord strongly believes in rotating QBs, because nothing strikes fear in an opposing coordinator's heart like facing the third- or fourth-best QB on the other team, so I'm sure he'll get some snaps Saturday. They will likely be running plays. Prior to the Marshall game, consensus was that at least Purdue was bashing weaker teams, something they did not do in the past, and possibly, if ND was good, the Boilers might actually have a 7-5 team or something this season ... and with the conference looking so poor, maybe they could make a run. After that game, the usual questions about the defense and Nord's play-calling arose. (Also also, poor special teams play. There's this thing with covering kick and with missing XPs.) So who knows? Purdue played a solid defensive game in South Bend, and they've moved the ball pretty well against bad competition. If Michigan's defense plays that role, it could be a problem. Purdue also just took a four-touchdown lead against a terrible team and desperately tried to throw it away; if they allow Denard to do what Cato did, they will not have to worry about blowing halftime leads, because they will not have one.
37 weeks 12 hours ago	back in another life	I saw a game in SEC country against an SEC team, even if it was a bowl game and thus not at all the same thing. (The '87 Peach Bowl, Indiana and Tennessee. This was back when my allegiance was divided among hometown and 10 years of childhood and current school, and only one of those three was providing relatively cheap bowl opportunities.) I don't recall anything obnoxious from Tennessee fans - quite the opposite, actually - but of course Indiana, so even in the Bill Mallory era, I mean, why bother? (And still the Knight era, so anything like "you should go back to playing basketball" would backfire spectacularly.) I saw two other bowls in SEC country, but neither against an SEC team (Florida State and then-independent South Carolina). It would be fun to go back and see one in a real stadium.
39 weeks 3 days ago	Two field goals and a two-point return.	Michigan botches the snap on its eighth TD. A UMass guy grabs the ball and takes off. No one really chases after him because it's 55-6.
39 weeks 4 days ago	'hopefully' is not the right word	given that Indiana just beat them 45-6 at home. I'd say a thrashing is the minimum requirement - I would prefer to see a walk-on fourth quarter.
39 weeks 4 days ago	to the first part, not exactly.	AIUI, it implies that in an average situation, QBs would be holding those teams back. As you point out, at least one of those teams is not in an average situation (OSU replacing a divot with an offensive coordinator). ND did seem to have some kind of issues with Purdue. I suppose it's possible that Purdue's defense has suddenly improved from meh to really good, and of course the QB wasn't the only change on offense, but I would think it reasonable to suggest that having a freshman QB is hurting ND.
40 weeks 5 days ago	Another thing about Purdue's dropoff	is that they went from being a spread team with a hilariiously immobile quarterback (the option plays they tried to run looked as bad as Painter did in a Colts uniform) to a team with a bunch of QBs with little-to-no experience and questionable health. The running game was more of a necessity than anything else. (There are also questions as to whether or not Gary Nord can even run an offense, much less one that utilizes that crazy "pass" thing the kids keep talking about.) Also, QB rotation = death to offense.
41 weeks 3 days ago	It's Daryl Hall	He's the one with the '80s hair (although you can't see it nearly as well in that picture). John Oates is the shorter guy who did not bring pointing skills to the table.
46 weeks 6 days ago	Maybe Solecismic will put out an update	for The College Years, but with NCAA licensing where it applies. (I never got into TCY that much - might be a good thing.)
48 weeks 3 days ago	The past is essentially the present	Purdue has won four of the last six against Ohio in West Lafayette, including wins in 2009 and 2011 that give them a three-game unbeaten streak against the Buckeyes. (Thanks, cheaters!) It's true that Purdue hasn't won in Columbus since 1988 and hasn't beaten an Ohio team there that went on to break .500 since 1967, but who cares? A win in the Cooler would raise the possibility of gentlemen departing Ohio without a win over Purdue for the first time since the Korean War. (Purdue was 4-0-1 against them from 1943 through 1952, no doubt creating a generation of disillusioned vets who returned home to find the streak of shame continuing - Purdue was actually pretty good in 1943, going 9-0, but was nothing special the rest of the time.)
49 weeks 11 hours ago	Maybe, maybe not	On one hand, Burke is all about building a competitive program in all sports ... with the obvious exception of football (and even that was competitive during most of Tiller's era), he's kind of done a good job. (The problem is that without a competitive football team, it's hard to generate the cash to support the rest of the sports, especially if you want to go out and build new facilities for pretty much every sport all at once.) On the other hand, if a Boiler alum comes to the school with a nine-figure donation for sports, it's probably going to be for a) basketball, b) basketball, or perhaps c) basketball. (Unless it's Brees, in which case, who knows? It might go toward the general scholarship instead.) Plus, campus is pretty crowded. I'm not sure there's room for another arena. You could put one on the West Lafayette outskirts and run buses up there, but that seems unwise for a brand-new sport. I'd think you'd want it close to campus to encourage students to go.
1 year 3 weeks ago	not really	they would be in the middle of a heated IU-Northwestern rivalry. This other one takes I-69 northeastish from Indianapolis. (I believe the planned route for interstate expansion will follow IN-37's current route from Bloomington to Indianapolis.)
1 year 4 weeks ago	Reminds me of a Dilbert cartoon
1 year 4 weeks ago	After 1981	I kind of lost my taste for early-season conference snackycakes. It wasn't as bad as losing to Notre Dame, but it still started the Big Ten season 0-1. But in the '70s, yeah, they were pretty sweet. (Aside from the narrow escape against Northwestern in '72; I was too young to be aware of that at the time.)
1 year 6 weeks ago	Yes, they've been around	The change to Outback Bowl and Tampa (in 1986) was followed shortly by a move to January 1 (for the 1987 season on 1/1/88). I was at the 2000 game (grr failed two-point logic walrus grr blown lead), but didn't realize it went back so far on New Year's. The Citrus Bowl actually started on New Year's as the Tangerine Bowl, so in those days, I guess it had a legitimate claim to the date. It slid back in 1960 toward mid-December, but then after becoming the Citrus Bowl, it moved to New Year's for the 1/1/87 game. The Gator Bowl also dates back to the '40s and also started on New Year's, then slid back to December, then was pushed forward onto the 1st, but it didn't rejoin the club permanently until 1/1/96. So ... for younger people, yeah, those bowls are pretty much NYD fixtures. For older people, not so much (most likely defined by the Cotton Bowl: if you remember it as a big deal, you probably think of these other bowls as interlopers). I think it's the simultaneity that makes it so obvious these days. The fact that there are garbage bowls played nearly a week afterward doesn't help either.
1 year 12 weeks ago	that is odd	considering they don't seem to me to be that common in the Indianapolis area. But apparently you weren't hallucinating: they're also available in Delaware (??), Pennsylvania, Maryland, Tennessee, and Texas. What's interesting is that most Big Ten states, including Michigan, don't allow out-of-state plates (Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio, and Indiana prohibit them as well), so maybe that explains why they're elsewhere - schools can focus efforts on fewer states. If Purdue can round up enough interest in NC, certainly Michigan can as well.
1 year 12 weeks ago	not gonna happen	They went out of their way to exclude out-of-state schools: 1)  The group shall be based, headquartered or have a chapter in Indiana; 2)  The group has made broad and significant civic, community, and charitable contributions across and exclusively in Indiana, or are descendants of native or pioneer residents of Indiana under IC § 9-13-2-170; Anyway, they've been trying to push a bill to kill off most specialty plates as it is ... while it would make sense to offer more (and thus collect more revenue), it's unlikely to happen, especially with no surrounding states allowing out-of-state school plates.
1 year 12 weeks ago	they don't allow any out-of-state schools	but obviously UM would not be allowed no matter what. (I don't know that I'd want a UM plate on my car if I lived in Ohio. Targeting? No thanks.)
1 year 12 weeks ago	Disappointing tournament losses are not new to Purdue fans	although this recent one was actually a far closer game than it had any right to be: if it hadn't been against Bill Self, Purdue probably would have been down double digits most of the game. Painter played Inanimate Carbon Rods #1 and #2 for 29 minutes total and got not-bad performances out of them, particularly Marcius. It took Kansas 20 minutes to figure out that that #4 guy is pretty good and perhaps they should make other Boilers carry the scoring load, and to figure out that a team that shoots well from beyond the arc and attempts a fair number of 3s is perhaps a team you should defend beyond the arc. But after 1986 and 1988 and 1990 and 1994 and 1995 and 2000, what's one more nail in the coffin? Plus it's hard to avoid thinking about what could have happened the last couple of years if only the parts for that bionic knee had arrived in time. It would have been nice to have made a serious run with a loaded lineup, not just to perhaps snag an elusive title, but also to have something to hold up when obnoxious Indiana fans do their obnoxious thing. (Great, you have five old titles, that's awesome, no one cares, and P.S., we still lead the series.) It was a nut punch, though. Not as bad as Everette Stephens (IIRC) dribbling off his foot in Pontiac in '88, but with Michigan's loss just two days prior, it did pretty much poop all over the weekend. (But IU and MSU and OSU won. And Wisconsin. woo big ten. woo. At least Duke lost.)
1 year 15 weeks ago	Population isn't a requirement if there's interest	Bloomington is significantly smaller than Ann Arbor, yet IU averages more per game at Assembly Hall (larger than Crisler by a few thousand) and has for decades. The reasons are simple: basketball is the big sport here, and IU's been good enough often enough that interest can be sustained even through down times. (The same is true to a lesser extent at Purdue; much less national success, but enough conference success to combine with general basketball interest to put ticket sales in the top 25 despite having a significantly smaller arena than IU does.) The thing is not that Ann Arbor isn't a big town - it's that Ann Arbor isn't a basketball town. Neither is Columbus. (Even with a larger, newer arena and significantly better teams than in the past, OSU struggles to outdraw Indiana and Wisconsin.) Neither is Minneapolis. (Minnesota hasn't drawn capacity crowds since 1999.) In 1989, Michigan was sixth in the Big Ten in attendance; in 1990, they were seventh. In neither season were they drawing capacity crowds. Basketball success is cool, but football success is paramount, and if there's a secondary sport, it's hockey, right? At OSU, I doubt there's a secondary sport behind football. At Minnesota, I doubt there's a secondary sport behind hockey. Unless someone comes in and develops a program that takes the conference by storm, that won't change. (Look at how long it took Sparty to draw sellout crowds, and watch what happens when Izzo leaves.)
1 year 16 weeks ago	It would be more accurate ...	to say "refs who haven't called Big Ten games" because there are no Big Ten refs, just guys who do some Big Ten games. (Poorly.) I don't think it has anything to do with the NCAA tournament specifically - even some of the worst refs don't seem to call more fouls in March - but more with adapting to a crew that the players might not have seen before, and doing so in a single-elimination environment. A bad call or two in January doesn't have much of an impact unless you're looking at seeding; a bad call in March can dig a hole for a team that it can't escape.
1 year 16 weeks ago	Nice Civ reference	but I think it's more like the bug in V, where even after a city-state goes from anger to neutrality, you still can't enter its territory (as if it stayed angry at you even when pretending otherwise). And that's fine, because you can still win the game without its help. Just move on to the next big city, acquire it, and let the silly little city-state rot on its own. In this version, city-states never get to dominate the world.

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