Monday Gumbo

You Can't Lose What You Never Had

I know, I know, Purdue was all-but-guaranteed to get the services of a transfer from Wright State...can't remember his name right now...but, as we all know too well, guarantees from recruits, whether they're 17 or 22 years old, are about as solid as mashed potatoes.  The guys that want to come to Purdue end up at Purdue, plain and simple. Those that are wishy-washy don't want to come and there's not much else that can be said/done about that.

Many around the message boards and Twitter are piling on Matty right now, saying he's not a closer.  In their defense, there seems to be a pattern forming here- when Painter faces off against slimeballs coaches for big time talent, he doesn't win very often. But the guys who enjoy the limelight, keep taking additional visits and try to wait as long as they can might not be good fits with Painter anyway.  I'll speak from my own perspective for a moment...since that's all I can really do-

If I had a very talented guy/girl say he was interested in working for my company, but he needed to go to a few more interviews before signing on with me, I'd probably be visibly agitated.  That might be why Painter hasn't been able to close out on some of these guys.  OR, maybe, perhaps, the playing field isn't level.  We all know life isn't fair...and watching recruiting battles reminds us of this, and other principles- not everybody operates by the same rules, the good guy doesn't always win (in fact, he doesn't usually win) and you can't ever quit when things get difficult.

One thing Purdue fans can be sure of is Matty is an excellent judge of talent.  Recently, coaches like Teflon John Calipari, Tom Izzo and Tom Crean have all followed in his wake after an offer was given to a kid. I don't know if Purdue will land a five-star guy anytime soon...but those that are coming in the next two years are pretty damned good at playing basketball.

Specifically, the class of '13 is looking better and better.  My hope is that their individual rankings don't get inflated...and the three guys (who actually want to come to Purdue, by the way) continue to work hard with the chip squarely on their collective shoulder.  Bryson Scott started to show a lot during his HS season, Kendall Stephens has done so time and again in the last few months, and just this weekend, Basil Smotherman played at an elite level at an AAU tourney.  While Smotherman was the sixth man on his HS team last season, during the AAU season, that's not the case...and when called upon, he's been answering the bell.

As of now, it doesn't look like there will be any additions to the recruiting class for next year...upper classman, or any other class for that matter...but there are a few guys that have expressed interest in Purdue, so while the doors are closing, nothing's completely shut...yet.

The last thing I'll leave you with is what I've always said- while reading up on recruiting is a good thing to do as a fan, try not to get too enthralled with recruits until they're officially Boilermakers.  There are too many variables that are out of control of Purdue's coaches.  Plus, I like the guys that have chosen to play for my alma mater.  And one of those, Ronnie Johnson will be playing a huge amount of minutes nearly right away.

Definitely coming to Purdue.

Tortoise and the Hare

While slow and steady will win you a ton of contests, the Lotus power plant at Indy doesn't look like it's going to win anything this season...or maybe any other...but they've got the slow part down pat.

While most of those running laps around the famous oval are in the upper-two-teens, the Lotus machines seem to be unable to squeeze anything more than a 208, thus far.  Granted, these teams, and this power plant doesn't have the miles of testing that the other two do, but that doesn't really matter at this point. These cars look like they don't belong...and since there have been so many defections already from Lotus power, I'd bet that there won't be many running this engine by the end of the season.

A couple of 221+ laps have been turned so far...but one was heavily-aided by a tow.  I'm still hoping for a pole of 222 or 223...but the more I watch these cars, the more I think that they just don't have it in them, especially with the boost set up as it currently is.

Teams like Andretti, Penske and Ganassi simply aren't finding top speeds, at least yet...but the rumor is none of them are trimmed out yet, and are just getting the cars shaken down...these three have the best engineers and the deepest pockets, and they know what they're doing. So hopefully, we'll see some shockingly-fast laps by Saturday, if not before.  If you want to follow what's happening at the track during the day, click here.

Until the three big money teams start focusing on qualifying, enjoy seeing new guys like Clauson and Newgarden making names for themselves.

In Case You're Wondering, but Are Too Lazy to Check

John Hart has transfered to IUPUI...and Barlow is rumored to have interest in Iowa State.  BUT, the enigmatic Barlow might end up anywhere for his final year of NCAA eligibility (after sitting out a season).

As of right now, Purdue has 11 of 13 scholarships occupied for '12-'13...and Anthrop (at the very least) will get another year under scholarship unless something dramatic and unforeseen occurs.

Champs!

Purdue's Baseball Boilers clinched a part of the B1G title this weekend...but couldn't get the one additional needed win for the outright title at home this weekend. They'll have three chances to get the sole title versus the six games under-.500 Iowa Hawkeyes on the road...and will also play ISU this week for the last game ever at Lambert Field.

They're currently 39-10...a 40+ win season should help them with their case to get into the post-season.