Media Day Notes

I'm beginning to exhale...feel comfortable...the light at the end of my tunnel is shining brightly in my eyes: The Big Ten's Media Day is upon us.

Jim Delaney just left the mic and had quite a bit to say:

-The expansion of the conference is not necessarily over, but it sounds like he and the rest of the league are pleased with the expansion of just one school, at least at this point and with college sports the way they are today.

-He and a committee will look at where the football conference championship game will be, this coming spring.

-The conference divisions for the 2011 season will be decided in the next month to month and one-half.

-He really likes Nebraska's addition to the league and didn't mention any specific schools as possibility for further expansion. Me thinks the league will stay a 12-team conference unless another conference has a big change (regardless of when that occurs).

A few thoughts from/about Hope:

-He mentioned academic success of the team academically to start...the team is nearing his goal of an average 3.0 GPA...they're at 2.9

-He loves the leadership of Smith, Kerrigan and Marve...that's why he brought them to Chicago for media day.

-Hope stressed the importance of not turning the ball over...on multiple occasions. That's a good thing because I think everyone who watched Purdue understood how important Purdue's problems hanging onto the ball really were.

-Hope likes ATM, Carlos and Dierking at RB...and still sees a possibility of Bolden returning this season. I'd rather see him at 100% in '11 than 75% in '10, myself.

-He's really high on Robert Marve and says his teammates are as well. He loves his athleticism and thinks he has one of the best arms he's been around as a college coach...he's been around a lot of college QBs.

-He really likes Siller and thinks he'll be a large asset for the squad.

Other notes:

-Rich Rodriguez looked/acted drunk

-Brewster thinks Minny's stadium is the greatest single structure ever to be erected by human hands

-Paterno is 83...looks it, acts like it...still funny. PSU's schedule is stupid-hard.

-IU's is just as easy as PSU's is hard...can Lynch squeeze 6 wins out of a 7-win schedule?

-Many coaches reminded me of my Dad as they talked of technology (Twitter, texting, Facebook)...they should all call the Forehead, he can give them some pointers.

-Dantonio looked pissed for much of his time behind the podium...I like that dude.

-Tressel was pretty boring...his team won't be.

-Zook compared his team's attitude and mental state to that of the team that won the BT title a few years back...problem is, Mendenhall isn't on the team this season.

Just in case you're still jonesin' for more...

Scout has their Purdue preview up...pretty solid. This sums it up well:

"This will be a maddeningly-inconsistent team."

The Field Is Set

Today, Lil' Boilerdowd and all of the males in the Boilerdowd family headed to IMS to watch Bump Day. It was LBD's first visit to the track with cars running...and he fought off feeling a little under the weather to enjoy a pretty eventful afternoon of qualifying. An added bonus to the day, was that I got to connect with fellow Purdue Blogger, race fan and all-around good dude, T-Mill for the afternoon, and Mrs. T-Mill* to boot.

I'm going to try not to bore you non-race fans with too much of this...and for those of you who think I shouldn't be writing this because it's supposed to be all-Purdue sports, all the time- let me remind you of a few things. First, it's not your site. Second, we never said the site would be only Purdue sports...and actually, four years ago, we wrote a lot more about non-Purdue sports than now. But, this time of year, as the Purdue news continues to slow to the pace of molasses out of the tap at winter in Vermont, we're left with few options. But I digress.



Growing up in Indy, my brothers and I loved CART/Indy Car racing. And outside of race day, one of our favorite track visits each year was Bump Day. While I'm not a fan of the shootout format adopted this year, Bump Day is still, with a few tweaks, as dramatic as it was 20 years ago.

If you watched it on TV, you know there were some questionable moves toward the end of the day that left Paul Tracy and others on the outside looking in. But, the best drama for me and many others was watching Tony Kanaan and his team do everything possible with a machine (or two maybe) that simply has not been right since the team arrived at the greatest track in the world.

I love this guy, but have never met him. I'm not typically like this about athletes, but I am just a big fan TK. In fact, when he came out for his qual run around 5:25 today, I was nervous for him.

Years ago, my Dad was good friends with a driver who had some good years at Indy, but had some struggles toward the end of his driving career. One recurring theme during that period was a mad dash to get a ride, shake it down and qualify it, all in about 5 hours on Bump Day. Our family's hopes and heartbreak on those Sundays rode along with Johnny Parsons, Jr.

It felt weirdly-similar today as we watched Kanaan scramble and struggle. And as he turned four very-fast laps and placed himself solidly into the field, it was tough not to admire the grit and struggle of this guy and his team.

Sure, J Money mocks race fans as a blood-thirsty bunch whose passion for Indy Car, Neckcar or other leagues is nothing more than a love of twisted metal and splintered carbon fiber. But, the nuance of racing is what I love. Today was a great example of why the little details and moments during a race weekend make it great to me.

I've said it before, The Indianapolis 500 isn't my first love in sports, you all know what that is. But I love the month of May in Indy (or at least two weeks, for now) and if nothing else, it's a diversion as I pine my time until the fall.

*photo might or might not be Mrs. T-Mill