Purdue Mentioned in Sports Illustrated!

The way this season has been going, I've almost stopped perusing the Sports Illustrated and ESPN college football sections, because Purdue has pretty much fallen off the radar. However, SI's College football guy Stewart Mandel did a piece about all his preseason preditions that went awry. I smell Boilermakers!

• [Joe] Tiller is a proven offensive mind and ... I'm as excited as anyone outside of West Lafayette to see his new wrinkles this season." (5/3/05)
Apparently those wrinkles involved turning a once-promising defense into one of the worst in the country. Also, as Tiller himself said this week in response to a question about offensive schemes, "The system is fine, but it's better when you've got a great player under center." Senator, I served with Kyle Orton. Kyle Orton was a friend of mine. Senator -- Brandon Kirsch -- you're no Kyle Orton.

Back in the national media, baby. You can read the whole article here.

Homecoming #1 -or- Alumni Band

So last weekend Kate and I made the 12-hour drive back to West Lafayette, Indiana for our first official return to Purdue since Graduation in August of 2002. I say "official" because we went to a football game like 2 weeks after graduation, and that barely counted. Anyway, I hadn't been to the campus for a solid 3 years. I guess 3 years doesn't sound like much if you've been out for a while, but it felt like forever for young grads like us.

The centerpiece of Homecoming was, of course, the disaster of a football game against Northwestern, which we lost 34-29. Ironically, I'm sure they scheduled Northwestern thinking it would be an easy win that would convince us to donate lost of cash, but no one could predict how bad the team would be this year. Just read my previous post. The main accomplishment of the trip is that we bought a ridiculous amount of Purdue stuff.

This was also my first opportunity to take part in the Alumni Marching Band, which I guess is how band dorks relive the glory days. While I was in school, I'd see the old alumni out there rehearsing for homecoming, and it always looked like they were having a lot of fun. I'd think "Wow, I can't wait to come back for alumni band!" Then I'd remember, "Wait, I do this every weekend, and I'm pretty tired of it." Apparently they get the old band back together every two years. I passed on it the first time, because I hadn't had a chance to miss it yet. This year Eric convinced me to give it a go.

So back in the day I marched bass drum, up until my super senior year when I did tenors. The only real reason for the switch was that it was the only marching percussion thing I had yet to do (if you count high school, and I do). I was even bass drum segment leader at one point- and yes, that was on my resume. I like to think it helped.

I figured since I'm not the young man I used to be, I'd sign up for bass. Being the thinking man's drum it wouldn't matter as much that my physical skills have been steadily slipping away (I've barely played since graduation). But, as it turns out a lot of people had the same idea, and I was asked to play tenors. Let me give you a little tip: Everyone always feels sorry for the guy with the biggest bass drum, because it weighs so much. Well, the biggest bass weighs about 50 pounds altogether. Do you know how much a set of custom Yamaha tenors goes for? 75 pounds! So I knew I was in for a long day. They even convinced Eric to do Tenors, and he hadn't played them since high school. He soldiered on valiantly, but it was way too much to learn in one day.

Friday night was the music rehearsal. Nothing was really new- they ran us through a battery of school songs and band classics (Louie Louie, the Horse, the Hey Song). There were two interesting things about this: First, I was surprised that if you asked me how to play the songs I couldn't tell you, but as soon as we launched into them I didn't even need the music. It was like total recall, only without all the awesome sci-fi stuff. However, just because I remembered how to play stuff doesn't mean I could. Simple stuff took a little while to come back.

Saturday morning was the marching rehearsal, and we put the drill with the music. I have to say, I was having an awesome time. It was the atmosphere of band, but without the pressure. Everyone was there because the really wanted to be- to the extent of traveling several hours to be drilled. I did notice that after we played something I would snap back to attention and stand there for a handful of seconds before I remembered that this wasn't "actual" band, and that I am an "adult" who can move while the director's talking. Old habits die hard.

The game was great. We played, we did cheers, started the wave- just like the old days. Only this time, by the end of the day my back, feet, shoulders, hands etc. were killing me. Doing the "Block P" at halftime was more fun than I ever thought it could be, and the "I am an American" routine almost brought a tear to my eye. Reminiscing is weird- the stuff that really brings you back are the little things you never really thought about at the time. Like the drum instructor yelling "Hook up!" or Kate waving to me from the audience.

All in all, I don't know if Alumni Band makes you feel young or old. In the midst of doing bandy things you feel like a kid again, but then you look around and wonder "Who are all these old people? And why am I so sore?" So I guess I felt sort of young, sort of old, but definitely dorky.

It was a fun trip. In addition to all the Purdue stuff, we were able to see my sister Carly and Daniel and spend a few hours in Indianapolis. It may be the Hoosier in me (shudder) but I really like Indy. We were able to hit some stores and load up on Colts schwag that you can't find around here (including this jersey, that Kate is just adorable in), being that Baltimore is still a little miffed at the Colts. But as I tell all the Ravens fans, how do you think Cleveland feels?

So it looks like we're going to try to get back for homecoming about every 3 years. That puts me in alumni band once every 6 years, which should be a good interval. Daniel was taking pictures at the game, so eventually I hope I can get some of those up on here. Until then, the only souvenirs I have are callouses and this temporary tattoo that will not come off my arm. Thank God I didn't put it on my face.

Purdue Football - We've got your Shame!

First of all, I have to preface this by saying that I have the utmost respect for (Purdue head football coach) Joe Tiller, and I will never forget what he did for this program. Purdue football was absolutely dismal for about 2 decades before he arrived in West Lafayette my freshman year. We've been to 8 bowl games in 8 years (one of only 8 universities to do so) and have achieved a spot in the national college football conscience. It's hard to complain about that considering what Purdue Football used to be.
That said, there is absolutely no excuse for the steaming pile that the team has laid on the turf this season. A brief recap: Last year we started out 5-0 and were on the national championship radar before a series of injuries, bad calls and freak accidents occurred and we lost 4 straight. The second half of the season was pretty rough, and we ended up losing 5 games by a combined 14 points. The losses were tough because they were all so close, but it still felt like we had a good team, who try as they might, just kept getting tough breaks. In the offseason we had a few key players graduate, but retained all 11 starters on our highly-ranked defense and were the 2005 preseason #11.
This year is a completely different story. We had trouble right out of the gate. Although we won our first 2 games, they were against crappy, crappy teams, and they were way to close for comfort. I listened to them on XM, and although I couldn't see what was going on, I could tell they were moving the ball much too well against us. Then, the freefall started.
After the first few losses we could come up with excuses. You know, They got the good calls, if we would have gotten a few more yards here, etc. But now, sitting at 2-4, our problems are pretty clear:
1. We have no defense whatsoever.
2. The offense absolutely stinks.
I really can't make any more excuses or offer Purdue fans hope. We stink.
For real though, here are main things I notice. And keep in mind that I've only been watching football for about 8 years, and the only organized sport I've ever been in is "Marching Band." The closest I've ever come to playing football was the time my freshman year when a Notre Dame receiver ran out of bounds while we were waiting to go on at halftime and kicked a hole through my buddy Eric's drum (I deftly dove out of the way). Seriously.

Section 1- Defense
1. Tackling is abysmal. It's not uncommon to see 3-4 missed tackles on a play before the opponent goes down. That seems like it should be pretty basic.
2. Pass coverage is awful. Just watch. When the opponent catches a ball, there's no defenders within 5 yards of him.
3. We cannot stop the run. We're making average running backs Heisman contenders. Giant holes in the line.
4. We're not pressuring the Quarterback. Answer me this: If we're not covering the pass, stuffing the run or going after the Quarterback, what exactly is the defense doing?

Section 2- Offense
1. Poor play calling. This can be blamed on the coaching. If we run up the middle on every first down, they may catch on. Although to be fair they have been mixing it up a little more recently.
2. The option offense. It's just not working. Isn't that obvious? We keep staying with it, though. What's it going to take for us to change? Doesn't anyone else remember that Kirsch was fine when he stepped in for Kyle Orton in the spread system? More specifically, the running back stays way too far behind the quarterback for this to ever work. I think the coaches got way too excited by the fact that Kirsch could run a little on a broken down play, so they decided to scheme for him to run. He's just not fast enough for that.

Section 3- Kirsch
1. HE NEVER LOOKS AROUND. I can't stress this enough. He takes the snap, stares at his intended receiver, watches, watches, then either throws to him or runs if he's covered. Not only does everyone on the field know exactly where he's going to throw, wide open guys are frantically waving their arms on the other side of the field to no avail. I used to blame him, but now I blame the coaches for letting it continue. For God's sake, at least pretend to look for another receiver once in a while! Someone else finally asked about this in the Indy Star, but the dude totally misunderstood the question.
2. He pitches the ball way too early on the option. The whole point is to get defenders to commit to you, then toss the ball to the running back. As soon as it looks like someone is coming for Kirsch, he tosses the ball. Since the defenders were nowhere near him yet, they just adjust and get the running back. He does this every time, and we still run the play.
3. He has horrible accuracy/range. He's pretty off target most of the time, but if he has to throw more than 10 yards, forget about it. Against Northwestern this weekend he was throwing passes that were easily 5 yards over the receiver's head. He throws interceptions that are so blatantly to the defender, sometimes it's not clear which receiver he was aiming for. I've never watched a Big 10 football game and thought "Wow, I could suit up and play quarterback better than this guy" until this year.
4. He just doesn't get it. He made the following quote to the Purdue Exponent: "I thought I was playing fine. We were moving the ball. The drives were stopping around the 20, but we were getting field goals." He also said he had "no idea" why he was pulled from the game. Well Brandon, you were playing terribly, and we were down 28-16 to Northwestern.

My point is this: I know next to nothing about football, and I can see all kinds of problems. We didn't lose very many players from last season, and the coaching staff is the same, so what's the problem? What has gone so wrong? There was so much hope this year. At Purdue they're evening selling shirts that say "Destination: Pasadena" on them- you can find them on the discount rack. All I wanted was to keep the bowl streak alive, and that hope is all but dead. Now, I just want to see some effort out there.

Win or lose, I am a Purdue fan for life.

80% Positive

What is 80% positive? It's my goal for this blog. I'm going to try to post mostly positive messages- things I like, what I'm up to, things that make me laugh, interesting links, etc.

Have you ever clicked the "Next Blog" button at the top of the page? I've tried it a few times when I'm bored, with very mixed results. First we have to overlook that most of them are very boring. There's a pretty big quotient of high-schoolers on here who make daily posts about which friends are being mean and what boys smiled at them, and so on. I'm not saying anyone's flocking to this blog, but I'm only going to post when I have something to say or show, not because it's part of my routine. What I say may very well be completely irrelevant, but I promise it won't be that kind of drivel.

But moreover, most of the blogs I've looked at are very negative. They're filled with posts like "Oh, I'm really depressed today" and "work was worse than usual" and "It's such a gloomy day." I realize many people use this as a way to vent or commiserate, but I don't understand using it as a diary of discontent. If someone hits "next blog" and they land here, I want them to be mildly amused. Besides, I'm not trying to get my own show on Comedy Central. I'm pretty bad about calling friends and family, so I want this to be sort of a message board for people who already care what I'm up to.

So why 80%? Well, because I've made about 5 posts so far, and I'm a rabid Purdue football fan, and I feel a very non-positive post coming on. If I can post 4 positive thoughts for every complaint, I'll be way ahead of the curve.

Now I'm off my soapbox. Thanks for stopping by. But more importantly, stay classy. And if you didn't get that reference, go rent Anchorman.

Something for Everyone

Check out this shirt. Kate showed me a new website to get Purdue schwag, so I've been checking out the goods. I'm sure they sell these shirts for every college- you know, with the school name and various majors printed underneath? I myself have 3. Mechanical Engineering, Psychology (my minor, Kate's major), and Band. That's right, Band. And I wore it proudly. But I've never seen the "Undecided" variant.

I've been thinking about it, and I can't decide who would buy this shirt. Someone who wants people to know they go to Purdue, but can't decide on a major? Why wouldn't they just buy one of the million Purdue shirts that don't list a specific school? Do they want to make sure people don't think they're an engineer or turf-green management major?

On the plus side, this new store has a lot of cool stuff. Purdue items are pretty hard to come by in Maryland. Actually, we're going back to Lafayette for homecoming Oct. 14th. I think it's going to be equally important to go to the game (against my sister's alma mater Northwestern) as it will be to fill the car with Purdue goods we can't get here. I have my eye on a bath rug set for our newly-renovated Purdue-themed bathroom. Maybe I'll post some pictures of that disaster on here.