Can we call it a trend when it happens twice? I don't know...but we can call it bothersome, disturbing and upsetting. Much like in the Clemson game, Purdue had the home Tigers on the ropes in Missouri on Saturday afternoon. And despite a 10-point lead with a little over 7:00 left, our Boilers managed to lose going away.I know, I know the Baby Boilers are young and extremely young. But, I have to pin quite a bit of this loss on the coach that I like quite a bit, Painter. With a comfortable lead, Purdue went into its "Prevent" offense and seemed to believe that not even attempting to shoot was better than an outside shot. I do understand that Mizzou's zone was tough for Purdue to handle, but I also know that if Missouri has three defender's above 18 feet, there's space down low...Instead of passing with the purpose to set up entry to the lane, Purdue seemed to be passing as if it was UNC playing the old four-corners offense in 1985.
Hummel & Martin fouled out and Calasan seemed to never get on track...Plus, JaJuan Johnson looked completely confused at times and doesn't seem to be able to rebound even when "battling" with a smaller shooting forward. It'll be nice when he gains a pound or two; until then Purdue really has very little presence in the lane.
I am hopeful for the future, but I'm also not blind...Purdue under Painter simply doesn't win games on the road; and to be a good team, you simply must be able to win away from home. As optimistic as I am about what can be, I'm pretty sure now that it's going to be at least another season before Purdue can be considered a contender for the Big Ten title. For this young Purdue team there is much yet to learn and the conference schedule will be here very soon.
Up next, following a finals week break, Purdue faces Louisville in The Wooden Tradition...Purdue's timing is pretty poor as Louisville is coming off of a loss and will be playing to prove something. I still think the NCAA tournament is possible, but Purdue MUST have a quality win or two in the pre-conference season to make the dance later this year.
Shocking!
Model citizen, Jamal Tinsley joined Selwyn Lymon in the long list of athletes who have become helpless, innocent victims to violent attacks. Tinsley, who was out with his entourage at around 3:00 am at a strip club got into an argument that later turned into gun play in downtown Indy. A Pacers' trainer was hit in the elbow by shots intended for Tinsley...and Tinsley's Rolls Royce looked like Suge Knights' BMW in Las Vegas a few years ago.I'm positive that most Pacers fans will have no problem forgetting about this or any of the other incidents involving Tinsley in the past few seasons. Way to keep it real, Jamal!
Refreshing!
I'm not a big fan of awards shows, even sports award shows, but I watched the last ten minutes of the Heisman show on Saturday night...I'm glad I did. I had never heard Tim Tebow speak before that night, but I like what I heard. My perception of him is that he seemed like a kid who was really excited to win the award and completely gracious to have done so as well (so excited that he repeated his "thank yous" twice).As a Christian, some of the thanking God by athletes seems shallow and trendy to me, but the mention of Jesus Christ holds more weight as it's not generic and it's much more intentional. I don't know, and probably never will know Tebow, but I like the fact that he claims Christ and seems to be humble enough to give Him credit for his physical gifts. Clearly, Tebow's unusual mix of size and speed coupled with his ability to prepare and think the game has made him a special player.
Amazing!
I'm currently watching the Colts beat a deflated and let-down Ravents team 44-13 in the fourth quarter. I'm shocked and perplexed by much that I'm witnessing. How and why do the Colts have so many second-stringers in the game? At the beginning of the fourth quarter Manning left the game, Sorgi came in and so did a bunch of guys who I honestly didn't know were even on the roster...both offensively and defensively.
How can the Colts call themselves competitors? The truest of all competitors, Tom Brady and his wise and fantastically-brilliant coach have told us that if a team is driven to be excellent, they must attempt to score a touchdown every time they have the ball and must never let off the pressure defensively. Clearly, Dungy, Manning and the Colts don't have what it takes to win a championship.
You stay classy, New England.
Manning should be ashamed of himself for not striving for more v. Baltimore...And Dungy Stinks.
7 comments:
Last time I checked, the whole point of the NFL is to entertain us. If I am paying the ridiculous prices to go to a game, I'd rather see Tom Brady chuckin TD passes then some crusto named Jim Sorgi handing off to someone named Kenton Keith. Just a thought.
How about this thought- Manning gets paid a whole bunch more than Sorgi and fans generally come to see Manning play. Would it entertain everyone if Manning and Addai got hurt beating a team by 30 and they couldn't play down the stretch of the season? Or would it entertain people if that same injury caused their favorite team to not make the playoffs? How about this- the way the Colts have designed their system coupled with salary cap rules cause them to have high turnover, especially in the non-skilled offensive positions and all of the defense. They need to get players field time...is there any better time to assess and teach than a game like last night? The Ravens kept their starters in, so the speed was the same, but the young Colts had the opportunity to get up to speed when they usually would not get a sniff of the field.
I don't know...just a thought.
What do you know about entertaining football? You're a Bears fan!
A couple more things- you don't root for either the Colts or the Patriots, so of course you want to see explosions and car chases...If your favorite team had a serviceable quarterback, you'd probably want him healthy.
Lastly, Brady never mentioned entertainment during his speech about attempting to score every possession...he talked about competition. From what I understand, competition is trying to prove you're better at something than someone else. Haven't you done that if you've won a game by 21 points versus 45 (ref. Pats v. Skins '07).
I think you're just jealous that the Patriots are getting more attention then the Colts. :)
I do believe during Manning's TD record year, he was in there chucking 4th quarter TD passes. But I guess you have forgotten that season.
Eric, go check those scores...I'm pretty sure the Colts didn't beat one team by 47 points...let alone did they go for it on fourth down multiple times IN MULTIPLE games when they were up by 28+.
On one hand, I think it's very good that the Patriots are getting the coverage because that coverage does no good...they'll either win a championship or they won't...unlike NCAA, they'll decide it on the field. But, isn't the champ the champ until another team wins a Super Bowl? It used to be that way, back when the Patriots were reigning Super Bowl champs. It's odd how that's changed.
So it's not a matter of padding the stats vs. not padding the stats...it's HOW MUCH you're padding the stats. Because Brady is doing it more then Manning, he is evil and Manning is good. Gotcha.
That's what I said. Well read.
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