Football Recap: Notre Dame 31 - Purdue 24 - Purdued Once Again

It's Thursday night and I'm finally writing the recap for Saturday's heart-wrenching loss.  Why, you ask?  A number or reasons, I suppose, but mainly because I just finally watched the full game on my DVR.  It's been a busy week.

A primetime Saturday night game against our most hated (football) opponent, and I didn't watch it live?  That's what happens when one of your good friends decides to get married on a game day.  And they're both Purdue alums, the nerve. (full disclosure, the groom gave us ample warning and more than made up for it because he's a class act)

I wish the wedding had been held here!

I was forced to follow the game on my phone from the dance floor.  It was exhilarating giving the DJ score updates so he could announce them to the crowd of revelers. There were lots of Purdue fans in attendance, but as it was a Catholic wedding in Indiana, there were plenty of ND fans, too.  Seeing their surprise made it even better.

As I listened to the radio broadcast on the way home, the game was still tight and ND was driving but the Boilers still had a 17-10 lead.  After unloading my sleeping kids (no easy feat), I turned on the game to see a  31-17 score.  What the heck?  I only missed about four minutes of regulation, and the last time I saw scoring that quickly, I was in a very different mood. ND finished their drive with a TD (no surprise), then after a lackluster Purdue possession, all it took was one pass for the Irish to take the lead.  A few plays later, a Rob Henry pick six put the nail in the coffin.

Whoops

Like others, I felt as if my heart was ripped out during that fourth quarter.  I watched Purdue wilt, and even when the Boilers cut the deficit back to seven points, it still felt like the game was over.  But just seconds after scoring that touchdown on a beautiful, quick drive, Irish running back Amir Carlisle coughed up the ball and Purdue suddenly had a chance again.

And that's when I let myself get Purdued again.  Someone needs to add the word to Urban Dictionary.

To be Purdued - to enter a situation with realistic expectations, but to then be given a glimmer of hope which grows into confidence, only for it all to come crashing down in a wave of immense disappointment and failure

see also "Cubbed" or "Bartmaned" (at least I'm not as ill-fated in all my fandoms as Erik, poor guy)

After the fumble, I expected to see Purdue play with the same heart and energy that I enjoyed watching so much in the first half (OK, at the time, I was assuming that's what happened, since I hadn't watched it yet).  Instead we got to enjoy

1. a high snap that caused a broken play and loss of yardage
2. a ball thrown away because no receivers got open
3. an incomplete pass into double coverage on a play where the Irish only rushed three guys and still made Henry run around for his life
4. an uncharacteristically mediocre punt by our MVP

Did the Boilers play better than I ever expected?  Sure.  Did they simply run out of steam?  Probably.  Did they play that fourth quarter like a dog with his tail tucked between his legs.  Definitely.  That's what made it so hard to watch.

Even with a loss, there were lots of positives from this game - lots of things that could lead to growth and increased confidence for this team:

• The offensive line was better with the freshmen getting playing time
• Hunt had some really explosive plays in the first half
• Henry looked a lot more confident (although he's never going to be a good passer)
• The defense was stout in the first half, stopping ND on a fourth down opportunity, and the cornerback play that half was excellent
• Griggs redeemed himself after a horrible missed field goal
• The team and coaching staff worked hard, and it showed
• There was some legitimately satisfying play calling

But the attitude and composure in the fourth quarter showed that we're still at least a year away from a team with the same heart and drive we expected Coach Hazell to instill.  Prove me wrong at Wiscy boys.

Even though this is a recap and not a game preview I still have...

Three Final Things

1. Watching the post-game interview with Tommy Rees was sickening, just like last year.  Let's remember what a class act this guy is.



Don't get drunk and hit a cop, kids!

2. My betting futility continues, but seriously readers, take Erik's picks to the bank.  Who else was predicting such an accurate narrow Purdue loss?  He's got the margin exactly right two weeks in a row, and he's perfect against the spread.
3. Congratulations Andrew and Melanie!  

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Football Preview: Purdue vs. Notre Dame - September 14 - 8:00 - ABC

The bright (temporary) lights will be shining on Ross-Ade Saturday where a national audience is going to see first hand what Purdue is all about.  It's tough to imagine the players could get anymore pumped than this game...a night game at home versus your biggest rival on national tv.  The crowd should be rocking at gametime, but the biggest question is...will they still be there in the third quarter?

Yes,  Notre Dame sucks, but please be creative and don't make any embarrassing signs like this one

Why Purdue wins
We here at GoBoilers.net hate Notre Dame.  Kirk gave us an excellent rant in last year's preview, so if you're looking for somewhere to remember all the reasons you hate Notre Dame too, feel free to head to that link.  In the meantime, this Purdue team has to be a completely different squad from the first two games to even compete with the Irish.  In order to win, here's what has to happen:

1. Score the first two touchdowns and force Notre Dame into a passing game.
2. Get major pressure on Tommy Rees, allowing the cornerbacks to cheat and potentially force turnovers.
3. Hope that the lights short out at halftime resulting in a 14-13 "complete game" win.

Hey, it could happen!

Why Notre Dame wins 
Expect Amir Carlisle to run all over the Boilermakers.  Carlisle hasn’t had a ton of yards in Notre Dame’s first two games, yet he’s been efficient, averaging over 5 yards a carry. Purdue looked decent against Indiana State’s second string back last week, but gave up over 200 yards in their prior loss to Cincinnati.  The Boilers can’t expect to load the box either, as Tommy Rees has turned into a very efficient quarterback and should be able to pick apart Purdue’s secondary.  Even a good Purdue team would have a tough time with the Irish.  So far, that’s the first time “good” and “Purdue” have been mentioned in the same sentence all season.   
 

Player we're most concerned about since their stock photo may break our TV

Saturday may not be pretty on the field, but that doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with the play.  As always, Notre Dame has its share of hideous players, so let me introduce you to defensive lineman Tony Springmann. 

This guy (#69 of course) has it all and appears to be trying for every possible look you can have that’s related to Notre Dame.  Jesus-hair? Check. Irish-red hair? Check. Leprechaun-esque beard? Check.  If he shows up on my tv and it doesn’t break on its own, I may have to physically tear it off the wall. Picks of the week Notre Dame is favored by 21.  This week, we’re going to bet the number of wins that our favorite baseball team currently has. Kirk's Bet Kirk is already down by a ton as he has been going against his mantra of “never pick the Boilers” at the end of last year and bet the first two games of the year for Purdue.  He’s decided to turn the tables and bet against Purdue which is the best news yet for the Boilermaker faithful.  Kirk is notoriously awful at picking games, so hey, there’s a chance! Kirk’s favorite baseball team is the Cubs, who suck nearly as bad as Kirk’s picks.  Expect him to lose 61, their current number of wins. Notre Dame 28 – Purdue 3 Erik's Bet I know this preview didn’t give us a lot of hope, but I trust Coach Hazell.  Coach seems like a motivator and these guys will be fired up.  I still think it won’t be enough, but I’m going against all signs and think Purdue will hang around enough to give the Irish a scare.  My favorite baseball team is the Indians, who currently have 77 wins and are right in the middle of the wild card chase.  I just bought my playoff tickets today, which means they’re pretty much destined to lose out. Notre Dame 27 - Purdue 20 Three Final Things 1. Unbelievably, Brent Musburger and Kirk Herbstreit are announcing this one.  Girls, if it’s a blowout like many people think, keep an eye out for the camera.  Brent is known for his infatuation with girls that are fans of Notre Dame’s opponents when he has nothing else to talk about and you might just get on tv! 2. Gabe Holmes is injured.  Yes, the only non-running back with more than 2 catches against Indiana State is out against a team who made it to the national championship game last year.  Uh-oh.   3. Boiler Up!

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Football Recap: Purdue 20 - Indiana State 14

I purposely waited to write this recap since I'm pretty sure not a single soul actively searched for a recap of this game.  So for those of you coming here hoping that we'd get an early preview of the Notre Dame game, GOT YA!  Now you're forced to relive the most disappointing win in recent Purdue memory...

Not sure which game this is from, but I'm pretty sure it could have come from either one.

Heading into the game, many Boilermaker fans had put the prior week's shellacking behind them and I had even come up with a way to sugarcoat the loss to local Cleveland coworkers who were upset that Ohio State had only won by 20 points and asked how I could live with a blowout loss in the first week...

• "It really wasn't a blowout...the Bearcats scored their last two touchdowns after failed 4th downs deep in our end!"
• "Cincinnati is expected to be good this year.  They might even go undefeated!"
• "It was their first game under the new system and they had some kinks to work out.  This week's our cupcake game to try some things and really get the machine oiled for Notre Dame."

Sure enough, the opening kick was returned for a touchdown and things were looking excellent in Boilertown.  A dominant defense (albeit against an offense missing their best player) and an offense that moved the ball a bit and this had the makings of a classic FCS blowout.  While the Boilers couldn’t punch it in from the 1-yardline and settled for a field goal (and missed another), there was no inkling that Purdue would slow down or that Indiana State could manufacture more than 2 first downs on a given drive.  

Towards the end of the first half, Purdue blocked a punt deep in Indiana State territory which looked to be the dagger as the Boilers once again marched down to the 1-yardline.  However, things went sour quick as the coaching staff made the biggest blunder of the year (hopefully) by calling 3 straight runs with no timeouts.  Stuffed all 3 times, the field goal team couldn’t get out on the field before time expired.  People may not agree with me, but one thing Danny Hope was quite good at (other than getting blown out at home to any team not named Ohio State) was clock management…ESPECIALLY compared to the Joe Tiller.  Let’s hope, for my currently hole-less wall’s sake, that we don’t have to live through another coaching regime with Tiller-esque game management.   

Still, Purdue had dominated the first half, and we had found another name besides Jeremiah Alphabet to laugh at in starting running back George Cheeseburgerorough.  Sure, play was sloppy at times, but I of course came up with the obligatory glass half full excuses:

• The defense gave up only 4 first downs in the first half to a team that scored 35 on Indiana the prior week!

• We should have scored several more times…the score really doesn’t show how awesome we were!

• Heck, no Purdue wide receiver has more than 1 catch…once we get them involved, I see a 38-0 blowout on the horizon!

Damn my optimism.  Purdue would score again to make things 17-0, but that was the end of any good feelings.  The defense went into some sort of prevent mode, giving up 2 touchdowns sandwiched by a Purdue field goal.  The offense couldn’t get anything going (and even when they weren’t getting anything going, they were still snapping the ball with 12 seconds left on the play clock!) and the defense couldn’t get a stop.  Luckily, the Sycamores shot themselves in the foot. 

Indiana State drove the ball from their own 10 to Purdue’s 37-yardline and looked ready to strike again.  A false start and a holding penalty forced a 2nd and 25 which was even enough for Purdue’s awful second half defense to stop.  Indiana State would get the ball back one more time, but Ricardo Allen came up with a huge interception (not sure if you can call anything over an FCS school huge, but I just did) to seal the game.

So what did we learn?

1. I’m done making excuses for this team.  In its current state, this is a team with poor coaching and poor execution.  Are there reasons behind it?  Sure.  Can they turn my opinion around with a couple well-managed games?  Absolutely.  But until then, I am not impressed by the disciplined approach we expected to see from Coach Hazell and his team.
2. Purdue will almost assuredly be the underdog in every game, meaning that a 1-11 record is definitely possible.  If they play like they did in the first two games, it’s almost a certainty.
3. The Boilers had no wide receiver catch more than 2 passes.  Is this a function of bad quarterbacking or bad route running?  Probably both.
4. Cincinnati isn't good.  They got killed by Illinois.  There goes that excuse.
5. Coach Hazell is bound and determined to prove to people that he’s going to do things “his way” by wearing that ugly, impractical, awful vest ensemble for every game.   Is anybody else completely embarrassed by this?  It’s the middle of summer!  Wear some short sleeves at least!

I mean, if he wanted to look like a stormtrooper, he might as well just add on the helmet to make it complete…

Wait, he did this at Kent State too?  How did we not know about this before we decided to hire the guy?

Coach, I’m pleading with you.  I know you read our blog because we are the second-most important independent Purdue blog that we know of. You have the chance to be (and more importantly) look like a cool and awesome coach on the sidelines.  The vest has got to go.

It could be a long year, but it looks like it’ll be an even longer year for Kirk.  I’ve already built up a $59 lead in our annual fake betting pool and he now has to run around his house naked 5 times since I guessed the margin of victory right with my 27-21 prediction (I’m not proud of it, but I could sort of sense it).   You don’t want to know what happens if you guess the exact score correctly.

I know this was sort of a depressing post, but keep your chin up Boiler Nation.  Worse Purdue teams have shocked us before, and I suspect they’re already heading into this week’s bout against Notre Dame with a “nothing to lose” attitude.  We’ll post our preview of that one later in the week.

Boiler Up!

P.S. Betsy, I just paid some punk $3,241 (in Rubles) to secure our preferred twitter handle…apparently he knew how big GoBoilers.net was going to get.  Once we get it up and running, we’ll let you and all of our tweeters know.  Thanks for the suggestion!

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Football Preview: Purdue vs Indiana State - September 7 - Noon - BTN

When things look bleak, it's always a good idea to play a bad DI-AA, I mean FCS, opponent, right?  Maybe, but we all know how much success the FCS had against FBS foes last week.  Will Purdue fall into that same trap against Indiana State?

Fear the tree?

Why Purdue wins
A loss tomorrow means that the program has taken a gigantic step back under Hazell.  I'm talking a step backwards into the Grand freakin' Canyon.  IU put up 73 points on the Sycamores last weekend, and even with an offense that doesn't play to the quarterback's strengths, the Boilers should at least be able to muster enough points for an easy victory.  Add on that Indiana State is missing star running back Shakir Bell who hurt his shoulder last weekend, and the Purdue defense should be able to get the job done.

Why Indiana State wins 
FCS teams have to be feeling good after last week's upsets, and you know the Sycamores are going to be playing angry after letting IU score a near-record number of points.  Actually, maybe that's more reason why Purdue will win, not ISU, because they need to punish those fools for letting IU look that good.  But back to why the boys from Terre Haute may win: the Boilers are sloppy and don't seem to be playing with much heart right now.  If ISU can catch some early breaks from turnovers or lackadaisical Boiler effort, maybe they can derail this already struggling train.  And then maybe I'll smash my head through a wall.

Player we're most concerned about since their stock photo may break our TV

As much as I want to pick on a guy named Jeremiah Alphabet, this contest wasn't even close.  Say hello to a lineman who is literally offensive, Paul Patrick.

Now we know what happened to the Cowardly Lion after he got out of Oz

Picks of the week
Purdue is favored by 17.  To keep the trend going of betting things related to our recent reunion at the U.S. Open in NYC, we're betting what we ate for lunch that day.  Exciting, I know.  Maybe next week we'll bet how much we spent on beer, but then again, that could help Erik build an insurmountable lead.

Kirk's Bet
Still feeling burned after last week's disaster, it's hard to bet on the Boilers with such a large spread.  But then you realize how bad Indiana State really is at the moment, and if we can't win by 20, I don't want to live on this planet anymore.  I was less focused on lunch and more focused on watching tennis (I get to eat in NYC way more often than Erik, although the food selection at the Open isn't too bad), so I grabbed a giant hot dog (insert joke here) and a beer (in a commemorative cup, it's apparently now a tradition for me) while I was waiting in the line to get back into the stadium to get a front row seat and my life threatened by John Isner's rocket serves.  A punch to the gut (and that ain't just the hot dog talking), that ran me $16.

Purdue 38 - Indiana State 17

Erik's Bet

Part of me is really disappointed with Erik's prediction, and part of me is simply scared the game might actually be this close.  Erik will be betting his $15 brisket sandwich from Hill Country BBQ (they do some good stuff!).  He also had some short of chocolate peanut butter pie (I know, what a fatty) and a Heineken, so let's say $27 total.

Purdue 27 - Indiana State 21

Three Final Things
1. I'm excited to be going to the game on Saturday.  With two small children, it's not too often I can make the trip, but tomorrow will be a special daddy-daughter date as I take my 4-year old.  We went to a game, just the two of us, last year, and when I told her what our plans were this year, the first thing she said was, "Will the cheerleaders be there?"  It might be a long day, but hopefully the Boilers will do enough offensively to keep her attention.  If not, she'll probably wander out of the stadium to find the bounce house set up for the fan fest.  I wouldn't be able to blame her.

2. I know it's football season, but the thing I'm most excited for about Purdue athletics right now is the return of Kenny Lowe!  I loved watching the guy as an undergrad, and now that his pro playing days are over, it's not just good to have him back with the program, but his basketball IQ, defensive expertise, and teaching ability will be huge with current and future Boilermakers.

3. Boiler Up!

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Football Recap: Purdue at Cincinnati - (Un)welcome Back

Hi boys and girls!  Did you miss me?  I'm sure you did, almost as much as you missed Purdue football.  Hopefully you enjoy GoBoilers.net more than you liked that pitiful excuse for football you watched at Nippert Stadium on Saturday.

That's right, coach Danny Hope once again led the Boilers into a game where they were poorly prepared with an inadequate game plan, misused their starting quarterback, displayed poor discipline, and were horribly over-matched resulting in a 42-7 shellacking to a good team.  Man, I am sick of this!

Wait, you say Purdue fired Hope last season?  Wow, you could have fooled me.

In all seriousness, the game was miserable, and while it may look like Hazell's regime is starting out like more of the same old garbage, there's more to this loss than meets the eye.  But let's jump into the obvious problems first.

1. Rob Henry: Excited for that read option and a quarterback that's a serious threat to run?  Then go watch Clemson or the 49ers.  Instead, Coach Hazell seems set on using Henry as a pocket passer, something he's unfortunately not very good at.  Henry went 18 for 35 for only 161 yards and two interceptions (one of which looked like the receiver ran the wrong route, but I'm not going to defend Henry that hard).  It was brutal seeing him repeatedly overthrow receivers, and his best pass of the day, a 27-yarder to DeAngelo Yancey on the second series, was thrown behind the receiver pretty badly.  So is Hazell as poor an in-game coach as Hope and stupidly misusing his quarterback?  Maybe, but it's more likely that Hazell is getting this team ready for a more traditional pocket passer in the future, but Appleby and Etling simply weren't good enough to be thrown to the wolves yet.  We have to think about the long game, since it's clear this year's team isn't going anyplace, but as a fan, it would sure be more fun to watch the offense play to Henry's strengths instead of his weaknesses.

You want me to do what? Throw the ball?!  You realize Drew Brees isn't wearing this jersey anymore, right?

2. Turnovers: The Boilers turned the ball over four times, two of each flavor.  The interceptions were horrible as were fumbles by Hunt and Bush.  There were also at least three Purdue fumbles that they were able to recover.  Sloppy care of the football plagued Hope's squads, and it seems the team is still infected.

3. The offensive line: This is probably the reason we aren't seeing a freshman quarterback this season.  The line isn't very good, which was probably why the Boilers couldn't even score with a first and goal opportunity from the five yard line.  Silverberry Mouhon sacked Henry to force a fumble (nice call in your preview, Erik), and Purdue saw a lot of hits behind the line of scrimmage.  The line also had trouble blocking for the rushing game.

4. The rushing attack: Blame the line, but Akeem Hunt was also lackluster.  Other than his sloppy fumble, Hunt only ran for 21 yards on seven carries.  Dawkins was a little better, but for the Boilers to have any success on the ground this season, Hunt needs to bring out the big play potential we saw last season.

5. Penalties: Seven penalties that included at least three false start calls and a couple delay of game mistakes.  Working those kinks out in the first game, huh Boilers?  You do practice, don't you?

6. The linebackers: Cincinnati ran for 221 yards and Munchie Legaux frequently found receivers open on short routes in the middle of the field.  This was a clear weakness heading into the season, and it likely won't be too difficult for good teams to exploit.  The secondary isn't off the hook either, as they didn't perform up to their caliber either, and the defensive line only tallied one sack (Ryan Russell).  Giving up 42 points is an indictment of the entire defensive squad.

Play of the Game: This week's game ball goes to Cody Webster for his 73-yard punt from his own end zone that caused the Cincinnati returner to fumble and set up Purdue's only touchdown of the game.  Always a sad game when the best player on the field is your punter, but good for Webster!

No one should have expected this football team to be fixed in a week, let alone a season.  Many of the problems that plagued the program for the last few years are still unfortunately front and center.  Hazell's turn around will take time, but I think we all were hoping for a little more excitement and passion from this group of players.  The schedule is brutal, but instead of simply losses this year, we'll be looking at a bunch of blowouts if the players and coaches don't figure out how to play with pride.

That's no fun at all.  Let's hope the team takes their frustrations out on Indiana State this weekend.

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Football Preview: Purdue at Cincinnati - August 31st - Noon - ESPNU

As our loyal readers pick their jaws off the floor from reading the last post and realizing GoBoilers.net isn't just a flash in the pan blog, we're going to back it up by actually posting something relevant...

It's becoming so cliche to say "OMG! I can't believe the football season starts this Saturday!"  I've heard it no less than 8 times in the last 3 days, which is pretty impressive since I rarely ever talk to anybody.  I'm not big into cliches, so I'll spare you, but...OMG! I can't believe the football season starts this Saturday!

Sorry about that.  It just came out.

This is what a Bearcat looks like?  I don't know whether to be confused or disappointed.

Why Purdue wins
Cincinnati fans are already talking about an undefeated season under new coach, Tommy Tuberville.  With a weak non-conference schedule, most people think the conference and a BCS berth (yes, the new American conference amazingly gets a BCS bid) will come down to the Louisville/Cincinnati game at the end of the year.  Meanwhile, Purdue comes into the game with a horrible outlook from the national media (ranking 98th overall from Deadspin's first serious rankings that I ever remember them doing).  Most people think the Boilers will be awful.  I'm not so sure.  A new coach, a new energy, and a veteran quarterback lead Purdue into a fairly cocky Cincinnati.  The game's a white-out.  It's sold out.  However, if starting quarterback Brendon Kay starts slow, expect the crowd to get antsy and for Tuberville to put name-of-the-year candidate, Munchie Legaux (fittingly from Louisiana) behind center.  This will be his first time juggling these two veteran quarterbacks, and their mismanagement combined with a veteran performance by Rob Henry could just be enough for Purdue to pull off the upset.

Why Cincinnati wins 
The Bearcats have only had one major non-conference game in their on-campus stadium since 2009 (NC State) and the crowd is going to be riled up.  Cincinnati has a high-powered offense, and one can imagine a quick first-possession touchdown leading to an out-of-hand game in a hurry.  If Kay is on, expect the defense to spread, leaving speedster Ralph David Abernathy IV to run all over a tired defense.

Player we're most concerned about since their stock photo may break our TV

Silverberry Mouhon may or may not have been named after a FroYo place, but that's not going to keep #92 from potentially wreaking havoc as a starting defensive lineman.  He either has the start of a mohawk going or a very pointy head, and that's what concerns me the most about this guy.  If he shows up in a highlight real, not only will the picture potentially break my tv screen, but announcers will just say his name over and over and over again because ESPNU announcers are like that.  The over/under on hearing Munchie Legaux's name announced is already 72, so this could get brutal.

Picks of the week
Cincinnati is favored by 10.5.  Kirk doesn't know this, but we'll be "betting" an order of meatballs from The Meatball Shop, an awesome place in Manhattan that Kirk and I stumbled across for a late dinner the other day after a great day at the US Open. 

Kirk's Bet
Kirk bet against Purdue nearly every time in the second half of last season.  He's changed his tune this year and is betting his $8 order of Classic Balls w/ Mushroom Gravy topped with the Family Jewels (fried egg).   

Cincinnati 24 - Purdue 17

Erik's Bet

I hope it doesn't happen, but I just don't see Coach Hazell's debut going as well as planned.  I'm betting my $8 order of Special Pizza Balls w/ Spicy Meat Sauce topped with the Family Jewels.   

Cincinnati 38 - Purdue 20

Three Final Things
1. The announcers for the game are Eamon McAnaney and Anthony Becht.  McAnaney went to Notre Dame while Becht's wikipedia entry mentions nothing about him being an announcer.  Might be best to go to a bar for this one...

2. Cincinnati has former IU commit and Notre Dame transfer Gunner Kiel on the roster.  He's red-shirting this year, but I'm not sure whether to applaud this guy for finally seeing the light or to hate him for committing to our two rival schools.  I'm leaning toward hating him still.

3. Boiler Up!

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We're Back!

Hey everyone - we're back!  

Kirk and I took a much needed summer break (like N'Sync, we took extended breaks and we're each about 30 pounds heavier, but we still sound the same) and now your favorite bloggers are back to try and figure out what we missed.  We have plenty of time to get back in the groove as football season doesn't start for...6 days?????  Crap.  We probably spent a couple days too long on our 5-month around-the-world vacation funded with all the money we made from those awesome google ads on the site.  Oh wait, that was a dream.  The money IS enough to pay for half of a beer at the US Open this week, so we'd like to thank the 5 people who clicked on the 30-day Viagra free trial ads.  Hope you're enjoying your highly improved sex life.

A lot has changed in the Purdue landscape since the Boilers bowed out of the CBI.  Here is the real short version of things for anyone else who's been distracted by Nick Swisher all summer. For anything else that happened this sumer, check out the guys' takes at Boiled Sports.  Yeah, I know that's lazy.

1) The basketball team lost 3 players to transfer (Marcius, Lawson, A. Johnson) and assistant coach Micah Shrewsberry.

2) They did come back and add 2 players (Errick Peck and Sterling Carter) and new assistant coach Brandon Brantley.

3) Rob Henry has been named starting quarterback - will Hazell stick with him?

Even more importantly, here's what's changed with our site:

1) With this post, our site has become one of the only active unaffiliated Purdue blogs in the entire universe! Boiled Sports is now part of a nationwide blog network, joining Hammer and Rails in the "I'm not sure what this means but I hope their getting paid handsomely for it" group.  Meanwhile, Hank has left underrated "The Railroad Tie" for a writing gig, which leaves us and Jumbo Heroes (who took their own extended break) to be your independent voices.  I spent a good 10 minutes and could not find a single other active Purdue blog that wasn't sponsored by someone.  What does this mean?  2 things:

1. You can now call yourself an official PBH (Purdue Blog Hipster) for sticking it to the man and realizing how cool it is to read independently of big ugly corporate goons trying to take over the innocent blogs (we just want to write, man!).
2. We'll sell this blog out in a heartbeat if we get the chance.

2) Google Reader is no more, meaning that sadly, even less people are reading GoBoilers.net.  If this is you, make sure to check out Feedly...you can set it up to be very similar to Google Reader because we know you can't afford to miss a single word we say.

3) We didn't post anything this summer, yet we're still averaging a bunch of visits per day.  We're amazed and excited people are still finding our site, and if you're one of those people, stick around!  For those who like to reminisce, our two most popular posts are the "Nate Minnoy - Where Are They Now?" feature and Kirk's fantastic court-side reporting in his "Team Scrimmage Recap".  Amazingly, we are now the #1 site on google when you search Nate Minnoy and was even linked by some rapper with 20,000 followers on Twitter that went to school with Nate (sorry for no link - the tweet is apparently too old to find now)!  It's an exciting time to be a part of GoBoilers.net and we thank all our loyal readers for sticking with us.  To reward you, you can now "retweet" and "like" our posts below each entry.  You don't have to thank us...we know it's the best gift anyone has ever given to you.

We've only been at this for a year and it's already been a crazy ride.  We can't wait to see what the next year brings!

Boiler Up!

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