Ohio State-Wisconsin could be an extreme mismatch

UPDATE - Yes, our defense against the run is 4th in the NCAA, while our pass D and total D are both #1 in the NCAA. So maybe the word "weakness" is a poor choice. How about "least dominating attribute to our overall superior defense"? (h/t goes to Vernon Gholston's private favorite blog, MotSaG)

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Ohio State's least dominating attribute to our overall superior defense is their rush defense. Wisconsin's strength is their rushing attack.

So obviously, this weekend's game looks like it could be the first team with a legitimate shot at knocking off the top-rated team in the country.

Or is it?

Wisconsin superstar RB P.J. Hill left last week's game with a deep bruise and thus far does not look likely to play. Badgers coaches are "optimistic", but he hasn't yet practiced and it's not looking good for Hill.

The Badgers' second-best RB is Lance Smith, averaging 6.5 yards per carry and scoring a pair of TDs last week against Indiana. But Smith likes to smack around his girlfriend, and is not allowed to leave the state of Wisconsin, so he can't come to Ohio Stadium and play this weekend.

That leaves freshman RB Zach Brown. Brown's only rushed for more than 19 yards once in his career, and he got that against Indiana with a whopping 40.

So it's all on Hill's shoulders (or more accurately, his left leg and foot). If he plays, Wisconsin has a running attack that can hurt the Buckeyes. If Hill sits, Wisconsin can kiss goodbye any chance of beating Ohio State this year.

The lengthy "Welcome Back" post

I got back from the cruise on Saturday afternoon, in plenty of time to see Ohio State's complete domination of Penn State. More on the cruise later in this post.

Going into the game, I was genuinely scared about our chances. Yes, we had won our first 8 games, but I only feel that two of those were against decent team. Furthermore, we lost the last time we visited Happy Valley (and played poorly), and we all saw the offensive capability the Nittany Lions have as evidenced by their 38-7 blowout over Wisconsin. Add into that the fact that Penn State fans had been getting drunk since Thursday, and would therefore be very loud.

But no matter how many times ABC reminded us how great Joe Paterno is, it didn't matter, for we have Jim Tressel on our sidelines. Final score - Ohio State 37, Penn State 17.

Yes, that's right. Our offense scored 30 points. That's more than the 2005 and 2006 Buckeye offense scored COMBINED against Penn State (10 points in '05, 14 in '06).

I saw SO many things I liked about Saturday's performance, especially from the offense (which has become scary-good).

Todd Boeckman does still have trouble hitting the long ball to perfection, but we've shown the threat enough times that it will keep teams from putting 8 or 9 men in the box to stop Beanie Wells. Load up to stop the run, we'll bury you deep. Go to 5 DBs, Wells will tear up yardage.

Brian Robiskie and Brian Hartline are our skill recievers with amazing hands. Ray Small is our speed WR with lightning-fast wheels.

Beanie Wells is the main RB, but we also are seeing a new emergence from Maurice Wells to spell him. Also, Brandon Saine's speed from the backfield can make a sweep or a reverse very very dangerous to our opponents.

And now we have the threat of the tight end. In the past two games, our TEs have 11 catches and 2 touchdowns. Rory Nicol and Jake Ballard have now added another dimension to this team.

Like I said. Scary-good.

Oh, and we also have the NCAA-s top-rated defense. That kinda helps.

I'm convinced that this team is getting better and better each week and is handling their #1 ranking like a true champion.

Next up is another difficult one. Wisconsin is not the #5 team that they once were, but I'm going to be scared heading into this one. For some reason, the Badgers havce our number at The Shoe. Tressel has yet to beat Wisconsin at home. Time to change that little stat.

The good news about this weekend's game;

- Wisconsin's rush defense is ranked #51 in the NCAA. They give up about a dozen yards more per game than Michigan State, who just allowed Beanie to pass the century mark twice.
- Their pass offense is #73. That bodes well against our pass defense, which is about 72 places higher.

P.J. Hill seems to be their biggest threat, but we can't underestimate Tyler Donovan at QB. His biggest problem is when he's pressured, he throws INTs. Go get him, Vernon Gholston. Rip his arm off and beat him with the bloody stump.

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Now, for the cruise highlights;

If you've never been on one - do it. My GOD it was incredible. We did a Holland America cruise ship, and they know how to treat their guests. The food was unbelieveable - prime rib, duck, new york strip, rack of lamb, creme brulee, strawberry shortcake, tropical fruit cocktail - and if you don't want to come to dinner, room service is 24 hours a day, and it's all complimentary.

The girlfriend (pictured left) entered the Superstar challenge (American-Idol-esque karaoke) and made the finals. Finished in the top 4, performing in the theater in front of about 500 people. Damn, I was impressed. But she threatened to kill me if I You-Tubed the video of it.

I entered my first-ever Blackjack tournament in the casino. It cost me 20 bucks to try and qualify. I got into the finals on my first qualifying try. Then I won the whole damn thing. 500 bucks cash! With two hands to go, I decided to go for it....I had 2,800 in chips and went all-in. The dealer dealt me a blackjack and I coasted to victory.

I never got to see the Indians fall apart. The sports bar did not have the rights to broadcast the ALCS. Thank God.

Girlfriend's family was fabulous. I loved being there with them, and the love did not go unrequited. Her brothers invited me for cigars and wine on the deck for the final night. Yeah, this is a family I'd love to be a part of.

Went snorkeling on the British Virgin Islands. Saw a HUGE sea turtle, and a 4-foot barracuda.

I got to feed a stingray. If you ever get the chance, I recommend it. Honestly, they're like puppies. Maybe I'll put a video up of that later.

More later - I've got to go to work now. Vacation is over.

By the way....thanks for visiting the site, even while I was away.

Ohio State-Wisconsin on Big Ten Network

Bad news, Time Warner subscribers. You don't get to see the #1 team in the country from your living room this weekend.

The Big Ten Network has announced that they have the broadcast rights for Ohio State vs. Wisconsin, scheduled to kick off at Noon this Saturday.

Get thee to a local sports bar, ASAP.

I'm home

Details and more blogging later today.

How bout them Buckeyes!

So long, farewell, some German word, goodbye.....

My vacation technically started last night when I got off work....but the plane leaves in a few hours.

You kids be good now. I'll be back on Saturday the 27th. There's food in the fridge if you get hungry, and I left a little extra money on the mantle. Please remember to feed the cat.

Oh, and by all means....go visit the blogs you see in my right-hand column. I wouldn't link to them if they sucked, so check 'em out!

Go Bucks! Go Tribe!

Jeff

Time for the MANtage......

Good morning everyone. Lots to do today. Gotta finish packing, gotta work, gotta watch my Tribe get into the World Series, and I gotta have my daily MANtage.

Enjoy!

Manny Ramirez to-do list

Manny Ramirez' to-do list;

1) Piss off every fan of the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday
2) Piss off every fan of the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday

Mission accomplished, Manny.

Tuesday night, Ramirez earned the ire of Indians fans by over-admiring his home run, a blast that was so historic, it allowed writers to say Boston had been merely "hammered" by Cleveland, instead of "embarrassed".

Wednesday night, Ramirez irrited all of Massachusetts by claiming it's "no big deal" if the Indians eliminate Boston from the ALCS. He went on to say "It doesn't happen, so who cares? There's always next year. It's not like it's the end of the world.''

I'm thinking Boston fans and front-office staff can come up with 18 million reasons this year that he should give a damn.

Oh, I am loving this.....

Big Ten Bloggers roundtable strikes again!

1. Call your shot. We are halfway through the Big Ten season (or, at least, most of us are). What will be your team's final record? Where, if anywhere, will your team be spending late December/early January? Who will win the Big Ten?

I know I'm a homer, but it's my blog and I'll pontificate if I want to.

From what I've seen thus far in 2007, I see one Big Ten team that hasn't faltered yet, Ohio State. Illinois and Indiana have exceeded all expectations, and deserve props for it. But the rest of the conference has had their struggles and nobody yet knows what team will show up from week to week.

The "Big Four", though?

- Michigan showed a lot of power last week, but I'm not convinced yet...they struggled to close out Eastern Michigan and Northwestern in the previous two games.

- Wisconsin hasn't played a good game yet, getting spanked at Penn State, beat by Illinois, and struggling to beat Michigan State and Iowa at home. They only beat The Citadel by two scores. I'm not sure what to expect, but it's not four solid quarters...not yet at least.

- Penn State has been downright embarrassing at times (allowing 339 passing yards to Buffalo?), and dominating at others (38-7 against Wisky). They scare me the most because they're 5-2, playing 5 home games and 2 road games....guess which 5 they won?

- And Ohio State? They've looked better and better each week, and no team has been within 16 points of them yet. Only two teams have even been in the game still by halftime (Akron and Washington), and both teams were overwhelmed by defense shortly after.

And yes, I know the opposition hasn't been world-dominating. But when you play weaker teams, you should beat them by a lot....the final score in the first 7 games? Ohio State 250, opponents 46. That's a 29-point margin PER GAME.

My prediction is that Ohio State will go 12-0 and will play in the BCS National Championship Game. Possible trip-up games will be at Penn State and at Michigan (because you can throw out the proverbial records when those two teams play).

2. How is your team's coaching situation? Clearly, this varies from school to school, with some coaches approaching retirement (Carr/Paterno), some who are just starting out (Brewster/Fitzgerald), the unique case of Bill Lynch, and others who seem to be in their primes. If your coach is on the tail end of his career, where do you see things going from here? If he's still early in his tenure, any buyer's remorse? If he's in he's somewhere in the middle, are you happy or wishing things would go a different direction? How does your view correspond to the "majority" view among your school's fans?

It's Jim Tressel. I can't imagine wanting anything else. He understands Ohio State, he lives and breathes Ohio State, and he loves Ohio State. And I don't think I'm being a homer when I say that 99% of OSU fans would agree that he's the best thing Ohio State has seen since Woody Hayes.

BONUS BASKETBALL QUESTION: If you plan to cover basketball, give us a brief outlook for your team. Who is your best player? What do you expect from the team?

The outlook is up for debate, same as last year. Some powerful freshmen coming in and a lot of losses from the starting lineup gone. Nobody knows exactly how it'll unfurl, but the belief around Ohio is that we will see another uprising like we did when Oden and Conley took the floor. We should get better as we gel, but it might be an early struggle.

Best player? Kosta Koufos. Just wait til you see him play. Unreal.

Morning wrapup/random thoughts

First of all, I want to apologize to my readers for the low frequency of posts...which will continue for another week or so. Lemme 'splain.

On Friday, I will get on a plane and head for Fort Lauderdale. From there, my girlfriend and I are taking a cruise. St. Thomas, Bahamas, and a couple of other places where they don't need space heaters. With my first vacation in ten years coming up fast, I've been pulling doubles at work a lot. So I've let a lot of other aspects of my personal life fall by the wayside slightly. My apologies to you, my friends and readers. I'll fire a couple of days worth of posts at you, but it'll end this weekend. I'm be back in Ohio in time to see Ohio State/Penn State.

Here's the wrapup;

Ohio State Buckeyes

Yes, I know we've had an easy schedule. Yes, I know that we're number 1 only because everyone else has failed at least once this year. But here's the straight-out truth....when a good team plays an unranked opponent, what are they SUPPOSED to do? If you answered "win by a margin of between 16 and 51 points", then you are correct!

That's what top-ranked teams DO. They dismantle lesser opponents....none of this "letting them hang around" stuff. THAT'S why they deserve to be #1. Period.

In my opinion, the last game of the easier part of our schedule comes up on Saturday. Michigan State has skills, and will be tougher to beat than Kent State was, but they're still playing on John L. Smith's talent. When Mark Dantonio gets his mark on the entire squad, they'll be back in contention. But not yet. Dantonio, in fact, is the scariest part about this game. He knows our system, knows Tressel like a brother, and everybody from the sophomores on up have had extensive quality time with the man. If any single coach can disrupt our team on the field, this is the guy.

I'm just grateful the game is at The Shoe.

Anyway, the big key to this game is stopping Jevon Ringer. He's averaging about 160 all-purpose yards per game. Shut him down and you shut down the Spartans offense.

Ohio State 34
Michigan State 13

P.S. For those of you reminding everyone about 1998's Michigan State upset over then-number 1 Ohio State......John Cooper doesn't coach here anymore, and he never will again.

Cleveland Indians

Holy freaking crap! The Indians are on fire, and are now one game away from the World Series. The best part about last night was that Fox FINALLY figured out that another team was playing against Boston, and actually beating them. The tune of "Cleveland Rocks" as they went to commercial break was nice to hear.

Paul Byrd and Jake Westbrook were both masterful in shutting down the Sox for as long as they could, and they both allowed our offense time to get going, and our bullpen got the rest they needed before stepping up to dominate down the stretch. Hats off to the guys for that!

Day off today, then we send our ace to the mound. CC has not had a great game yet in the postseason, the only Tribe starter not to pitch a gem. He's ready. I can feel it in my bones that this guy will step up and get the performance he needs to send his team to the World Series.

Looking into the Boston bullpen yesterday, I saw a defeated team. They look like they're ready to clean out their lockers. Tomorrow night, if we get to Josh Beckett for 2-3 runs in the first few innings, they'll collapse in a pile of tears. Beckett's a stud, so that won't be easy to do. But if we do....

Yesterday I made a quick post about Tim Wakefield. I still can't believe that Boston sent a 41-year-old to save their freaking season! But it was because Terry Francona coached himself into a hole. Faithful BBC reader Brett pointed out that Jon Lester should have been the starter for Game 4, and he indeed is a much better option than Wakefield was. But Francona screwed the pooch by putting Lester in the 11th inning of Game 2. And they put him in when the Indians were up by three runs already. Why the hell would they waste a starting pitcher on a lost cause like Game 2? We'll never know....but it forced Wakefield to start Game 4 with no other viable options. Amazing how a move like that can end up affecting the entire series.

One last thing....does anybody else feel that Manny Ramirez needs a pitch thrown behind him just once? I'm sorry, but you do NOT show up a pitcher like that, especially when you're losing by 4 runs. However, Eric Wedge is way too classy. It's all about business with the coach, and he's not going to take a chance like that. Plus, Boston is demoralized right now. Why give them a wake-up call when you've got them in a trance?

Plus, the ultimate revenge for that Ramirez idiocy is to knock his ass out of the playoffs. Even though he's too much of a moron to understand it, that would hurt a LOT more than a fastball to his empty head.

The first pitch of Game 5 can't come soon enough. Go Tribe!

Raise your hand if your baseball team has 101 wins this year

I've been lacking in my posts lately, especially commenting on the Cleveland Indians. But I can't hold it in anymore.

The Indians are playing incredible baseball, and have shown the American League that they are the contenders for the title. As much as the media (especially Fox and TBS) wanted a Boston-New York ALCS, the Indians threw a huge monkey wrench into that plan. Now they are messing with the "Boston is invincible" theory.

As of this minute, the Indians lead the ALCS 2 games to 1. And they've done it with timely hitting, great defense, and now with great pitching.

Everything is falling Cleveland's way, and it's about damn time.

Now Game 4 is upon us, and it's a must-win for both teams....and Boston is sending Tim Wakefield to the hill. I don't think they have a choice. The only other option is to send Josh Beckett out there on 3 days rest....and Beckett left Game 1 after 69 pitches, because his arm was getting tight. If you want to know the dangers of pitching a big game on 3 days rest, ask Wang. So it's all in Wakefield's hands. Boston's vaunted pitching is on the ropes.

And speaking of Boston's pitching, was Daisuke Matsuzaka's performance really worth the 101 million dollars they spent to get him?

No. Probably not.

Game 4 is Tuesday at 8pm. Paul Byrd looks to continue his playoff run, after manhandling the Yankee lineup in Game 4 of the ALDS. I think both starting pitchers will have a lot of trouble, and it'll come down to the bullpen.

Damn, this is exciting.

For the first time since January 7th......we're #1!

Jesus, doesn't ANYBODY want to be #1?

Well, OK then. We'll take over now, boys. Step aside.

Ohio State took care of business today. Weak business, but they still did the job and did it well. Rushing TDs, passing TDs, a defensive score and a special teams score. They hit on all cylinders and won 48-3.

Then LSU decided that they didn't want the spotlight anymore and let Kentucky come back from a 13-point deficit to win 43-37 in 3OT. Of course, when a SEC team does this, it means the whole league is 'teh awesome'. But it still means they ain't numero uno in the real world.

Then, Cal....KNOWING that they had control over the top spot in the NCAA, choked it away....AT HOME....against an UNRANKED TEAM.

Thus, the formerly third-ranked Buckeyes will take over the top spot in the polls. 4th-ranked Boston College had a nail-biter against Notre Dame. Seriously. Notre Dame. So you can forget about a Golden Eagle leapfrog. And nobody will seriously consider 5th-ranked South Florida as a #1. So it's all in Ohio State's hands.

They're 7-0. If they win their last 5 games, they get the National Championship bid.

We don't rebuild. We reload.

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The Tribe just scored 7 runs in the 11th inning. Is this the best day ever or what?

Back in the saddle and ready for a blowout win on Saturday

The last 8 days have been quite hectic for me, and it's not likely to end for a little while. But I'll get into that at the end of this post.

The Buckeyes are 6-0 and ranked #3 in the nation. Damn, that felt good to type. Things are only going to improve over the next few days, as lowly Kent State comes to visit the Horseshoe. The Golden Flashes are 3-3 in the MAC, and even their head coach is hoping to keep it close. Even the guy running the show isn't talking upset? Ok, then.

Kent has only one weapon, RB Eugene Jarvis. Jarvis could crack the 1,000 yard mark on Saturday with a good game (but who are we kidding....nobody's running for 149 yards against OSUs defense). QB Julian Edelman can run the ball as well (60 ypg, to go with 180 passing ypg), but he's picked up most of his yards against weak defenses.

That's about all I can say about Kent State. I'm not expecting much, and neither should you. After surging ahead of the pack in the NCAA, Tressel knows not to allow a Stanfordesque letdown. I would expect him to allow a blowout, much like he did in 2002 when Ohio State beat Kent State 51-17.

Ohio State 54
Kent State 7

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Next Friday, I'll be taking a cruise with my girlfriend. Gonna learn to surf in the Virgin Islands, too. So obviously, I'll be taking a week off from The BBC. In the meantime, I'm pulling a lot of double shifts to make some extra bucks to take with me. Translation - lots to do, very little time.

Brutus needs your help

First, a little background....the subject of this article is an old friend of mine, and her bulldog. Mary Borton is the daughter of former Ohio State quarterback John Borton (1952-1954). Obviously, she grew up surrounded by scarlet and gray, and is one of the biggest Buckeye fans I've ever known. The Borton family has influenced The BBC from its' inception, and was responsible for my own daughter seeing her first Ohio State game in person, so anytime I can help them out, it's my pleasure.

It looks like Mary may have been fleeced by a puppy mill. She found a purebred bulldog, and fell in love with him immediately. Obviously, being a Buckeye fan, she named him Brutus. Brutus fast became the light of her life, but it didn't take long for the little guy to develop problems. Puppy mills do that sort of thing...they breed dogs on the fly and without any care, and the dogs eventually develop serious problems. The breeder gets rich quick, and the dogs deteriorate, leaving the owners with enormous medical bills.

Brutus' condition is that his spinal cord is growing crooked. He lost the use of his back legs at 6 months. He's now a little over a year old, and he can only drag himself around. Imagine what it's like for that dog to use the bathroom without being able to lift his leg or squat down.

The Akron Beacon Journal ran a large story on Mary and Brutus...you can read the whole thing here.

Mary's a sweet girl, and isn't looking for revenge against the puppy mill responsible....and she's actually a bit embarrassed that people are offering to help her. But she's not going to have an easy time paying for Brutus' conditions. And if you knew Mary, you'd jump at the chance to help her out.

So far, someone has donated a dog cart for Brutus, so she can replace the baby stroller she was using to take him for walks. But if you know of any way you can help out a sweetheart of a friend, drop me a line, or throw a couple of bucks at Brutus' PayPal account - you can donate to the e-mail account brutusborton - at - yahoo.com

The response thus far has been wonderful....in Mary's words;

Other people have volunteered to build him a ramp, donated treats and toys, Petsmart gift cards and offers to dog sit. The response has been incredible and I have been busy answering each and every inquiry. There are more every day!

I'm kinda hoping I can throw her a little support from my friends at The BBC.

I'm sending her 10 bucks tomorrow, and I'm going to convince my girlfriend to match it. Got a couple extra dollars? Send Brutus a little love. You'll bring a smile to two of the cutest Ohio State fans ever.

Holy crap, the Indians looked awesome!

Not much time to post here...still in Utah, and I'll be home Saturday morning. Here's hoping when I get there, the Indians will be up 2 games to none.

If you want a great review of yesterday's dismantling of the Wankees, go to Halftime Adjustments. But here's my little diatribe for the day.

Who else out there thought they were watching Yankee Television yesterday? What the hell? I can't even begin to count all the times Joe Buck would say "this is good for the Yankees" for whatever reason. The part that really made me blow my top was when they discussed how "embarrassing it was to lose so badly, especially when you're the heavy favorites like te Yankees are."

I'm sorry. Maybe I'm not looking at a program from 1977, but my current one states that the Indans are 2 games better then the Yaks, are playing at home, and are the hottest team in baseball (not counting the ones that rhyme with 'Molorado Mockies'). We haven't lost a series in nearly TWO MONTHS, and they're speaking as if we're already swept.

Get over it, guys. You're not getting the Boston/New York ALCS that you're so richly dreaming of. There's a team standing in your way....you know, the one that finished with the best record in baseball?

Douchebags.

Purdue takes over the blog! RUN!

Our hosts for this weekend's game have a few wonderful blogs of their own...check the lower right column for proof of that. One of them, Boiled Sports, has taken over the BBC for a short while (it's OK, I took over theirs too).

I asked J Money over there a few questions about Purdue football, and their thoughts. No, nobody talked about predictions for this Saturday's game.....

So, I'm going back to watching Game 1 or the Indians playoffs! Here's where I give control to my friends at Boiled Sports! WOW! CC just made Jeter practically fall over swinging at a fastball strikeout. Lemme go back to my game now.....

1) Purdue, despite a somewhat easy schedule, has surprised a lot of the country by being 5-0, and by playing strong football in the process. Is there a shared sense of excitement amongst Boiler fans, and when the talk gets serious, what are the expectations for the rest of the season?

We think most Purdue fans aren't too surprised at what they've seen thus far...most of our friends thought Purdue would be, at worst, 4-1 at this point...but it turned out that the teams that looked tough in the pre-season are just dogs. Nothing Purdue can do about that. Our feeling is that most everyone is optimistic, but not yet "doing back flips" due to their excitement. Most are talking Jan.1 Bowl...honestly, we haven't heard about anybody talking Rose Bowl, yet.

1a) If Purdue beats OSU and is 6-0, what becomes of the expectations?Now you're talking.

While we're not ready to look to UM yet, we can say we'll start thinking "something special is going on now" if our Boilers can beat the Bucks. Plus, the symmetry of the horrible loss v. Wisconsin back in '04 might make some think that the program has reversed the curse that started with Orton's fumble that night...maybe. The program really hasn't been the same since.

2) Curtis Painter may be the Big Ten's best quarterback nearing the halfway point of the season. Where do you rank him among the rest of the conference, providing specific details, and where do you rank him among former Purdue quarterbacks, especially Kyle Orton and Drew Brees.

First off, we would rank Drew Brees the best of the three Purdue QBs. Painter compares well with Orton as a Senior, but he's still going to get better...better than Brees though, that's doubtful.

As of right now, it seems to us Painter is the best of the drop-back passers and his accuracy has been amazing for about 80 percent of the season. Boeckman's pretty close (but Robo has made some super-human grabs that help out quite a bit) and if Henne was healthy, he'd be right there as well. Morelli is as overrated as any QB in the nation and while both he and Christensen were both blue chips, we don't see either commanding their offenses, at this point. Juice Williams and Kellen Lewis are both elusive and fit well in their systems, but they're not great quarterbacks. Adam Weber might be as good as anybody in the next two seasons...but he needs a supporting cast.

3) With an easy Big Ten schedule, Joe Tiller had the road to success two years ago, and Purdue ended up failing early and often. Tiller's head was on the chopping block, but survived. What will it take from the Boilers this year to garner forgiveness in the eyes of all Boiler fans, or has that already happened?

First, he's already done a lot to get people off of his back. Much of it has little to do with what's happening on the field...Seeing Purdue players on the police blotter angers fans and alums alike. Since spring, things have been cleaned up pretty well. Also, a few seasons ago, tremendous egos like one of the quarterbacks and a DB made it tough for many of the alums to embrace the team. This team seems to not have those problems and we're not seeing the pouting and whining.

We really believe Tiller could retire whenever he'd like, and until then keep going to mediocre bowls, if the players were good guys and good students. Sadly, Purdue's A.D. (Burke), alums and most fans completely accept things just as they are because many people think it's either this or back to Burtnett, Akers & Coletto-type results (83-96)...But to resign the program to the middle of the pack seems pretty sad, to me. Some old guys might remember Purdue ranked in the top-5 in the country for three consecutive seasons...but it's been a while.

Coaches like Alvarez, Beemer, Rodriguez, (even further back) Frye and others believe(d) that their program has/had no ceiling. Purdue, its coaches and its fans should be no different.

All that said, we (Boiled Sports) want character guys, but are really ready for the program to take a step forward. We honestly don't think Purdue has grounds to fire Tiller if we're winning 7-8 games a year...but another Sun Bowl-type bowl makes me think, "You ready to go fishin', Joe??" What our expectations have become are a Jan. 1 bowl every three seasons and a bowl victory every other season (at least)...We don't think thats too much to ask. And if every now and then (like in 2000 and 2004), we can creep into the national consciousness and the top ten in the country, that'd be nice, too.

Thanks to Boiled Sports....good luck on Saturday, guys!

I'll be back in Ohio Saturday morning, everyone. Be good, and GO TRIBE!!!!!

Far far away

Hey guess where I am???

I'm in Utah! The significant other, or whatever she is, needed some assistance (no, not that kind of assistance), and I hopped a quick flight out. I'll be here til Thursday, but I finally was able to get to online and post.

Thursday afternoon, Boiled Sports will be taking over this website for a brief period. I've posed three questions to their blog, and they get to answer them on my site. Likewise, they've given me three questions and I'll post my answers over there on the same day.

I love the idea of Big Ten bloggers trading sites and I hope it'll continue throughout the rest of the season. I know I'll be doing my best to keep it rolling.

So on Thursday, please welcome our Purdue guests. Be nice, now.

I'll be back in Buckeye Nation soon. But while I'm in Utah, I think I'll go door-to-door, spreading the message of Jim Tressel. Should be fun.