The Media Giveth...The Media Taketh Away.

All growns up.

Kerring for Ryan

Ryan Kerrigan is a talented, fast and strong football player. Plus, he seemed to put a maximum amount of effort into each down. There are plenty of guys that have that motor that coaches want, but don't have the production that Kerrigan does. But because of the combination of effort, ability, production and beautiful, flowing hair, Kerrigan received some well-deserved attention on Monday.

He is the first, first-team All-American at Purdue since Anthony Spencer. He is the BT's & (of course) Purdue's defensive player of the year and MVP. Kerrigan was also Lineman of the year and received recognition for his sportsmanship. That's pretty cool- he'll knock you on your ass...then help you back up.

He'll receive other awards by the media too in the coming weeks. But, his most prized award will probably be the large, solid gold-plated trophy that's on the way to him right now- The (coveted) Boiled Sports Purdue Defensive Player of the Decade. Due to cost, only one of these has been (or perhaps ever will be) given...Keep checking your mailbox, Mr. Kerrigan. J's 11 month old son packed it up and shipped it himself. It's molded out of all of J's gold chains, ear rings and bracelets that he wore in the 80s and 90s.

Other Boilers Honored

Wiggs, Beckford and Allen were all All-BT Honorable Mention. For some reason, I couldn't find any Purdue offensive players on the list. It could be because many were thrust into action after not being on the depth chart in camp...(related) it could be because the offense simply couldn't score for halves at a time. Regardless, I think Rob Henry could be a guy who receives some awards in the next few seasons. If so, he needs to work on an acceptance speech. Because every time I've heard him talk, I can barely hear him or understand him. That'll come in time.

All signs seem to be pointing to Keith Smith getting his sixth year of eligibility in '11. He'll be Purdue's 3rd player in three seasons to be granted this. Hopefully no one has to do this on the Purdue roster for the next five, because in all cases, it was due to horrible injury.

Here's to Bolden, Smith, Siller and Marve all making full recoveries and making one of these post-season recognition lists next year. Everyone already knows their names...but most of the media has probably forgotten about them. Purdue fans haven't.

Free Fallin'

I didn't get to post yesterday due to interwebnet problems at the BS world headquarters...But a lot happened.

First, Purdue dropped from 10th...to 22nd in the writer's poll (8 to 18th in the coach's). A significant drop was warranted, in my opinion...but 12 spots is a pretty huge drop. If you want to analyze the lack of consistency within the poll, it's not difficult. I'm not going to do that today. But, I will say that it makes Purdue the hunter once again. That might not be a bad thing. They played with no edge or grit versus Richmond. Painter should have been, and was embarrassed by the lack of effort by his squad. There will be others this season, but this is a pivotal moment for the team.