Same Old Purdue Crushed 44-13

Unprepared.

Same old Boilers. Sure, the uniforms might change over the years and players and coaches come and go, but for the most part, this is the same Purdue we've been watching for many years. And I'm tired of it.

Barely 200 yards of total offense. Under 60 yards rushing. 1-for-11 on third down. Four more turnovers. A 44-13 home ass-whipping.

That was an embarrassing display in Ross-Ade Stadium this afternoon. Truly shameful. There's simply no way Michigan is that much better than Purdue. And to lose like that at home? In the first conference game of the season? When there are high hopes and getting off to a good start could quite possibly catapult you into the Big Ten title game? Much more easily than in most years? To come out like that and just stink up the joint so disgracefully?

I don't know who to be more irritated at, because now word is some of the players were bitching about the fans on mediums like twitter, as well as in texts and comments to others close to the program.

On that subject, they need to worry about their own responsibilities. Lecturing the fans should be pretty f-cking far down the list. And really, you're going to lecture and/or complain about the people who actually come out to witness that kind of horseshit performance? Those people are the real mother-fricking fans! They are the ones you should be apologizing to after that kind of display of what I guess we're obligated to call football.

Fans are allowed to be irritated and should be encouraged to be truthful. This isn't a one-way street where the people who pay to watch and drive many hours round trip to see games or who set aside time in their lives to devote it to Purdue football only are allowed to kiss asses and tell the team how great they are. If the team does something that earns them accolades, they know damn well they will get it. Hell, wins over irrelevant programs get the fans excited and talking title game. Title game. After some barely-impressive wins over terrible teams and a close loss to a decent team. Wow, print up the banner. And yet the fans got excited and started dreaming big. So I don't want to hear a damn word from the players -- past or present -- on whether or not lifelong, loyal fans (and students/alums, mind you) have the right to be angry after seeing their school piss themselves for three hours. Being a longtime, loyal fan means you do have the right to call a spade a spade and be pissed off when the school you love looks like a doormat.

All that said, I don't entirely blame the players here. When a team comes out for big games (and many non-big games, too) as completely flat and/or confused looking as Purdue does, you have to question the coaches and their ability to prepare. As we've said over and over, we like these guys a lot. But we've also been told that this is Danny Hope's best team ever, right? The best assemblage of talent that he's had at Purdue. And this is what Danny Hope's best damn team can do? THIS? I'll say it right here and right now: if this represents the absolute apex of talent and ability for Danny Hope, then I hope everybody is happy with mediocrity as the goal. Not of being mediocre -- of mediocrity being the goal. Because here's what's going to happen.

Next week, Purdue is going to be embarrassed once again at home by Wisconsin. There will be 10,000 fewer fans in the stands than there were this weekend, although Wisconsin travels well so maybe they'll fill the extra seats and it'll be an even worse home atmosphere than it's been. Then the Boilers will go on the road at 0-2 in the conference and play at Ohio State. Urban Meyer's team will de-pants the Boilers how ugly it gets will depend on Urban's level of mercy. They'll then sit at 3-4 (0-3) and Danny Hope will still be talking about the positives he saw out there and how they're moving in the right direction and doing a lot of things well. And you and I will be screaming and pulling our hair out -- not even primarily because of Purdue's record, but because you and I will be more upset about things than the head coach, who is really just thrilled to be coaching a major conference program. Winning games would just be icing on the sweet cake of being the coach of Purdue.

Then the Boilers will win one of their question mark road games or maybe the Penn State game at home. Suddenly people will start saying, hey, if we win a couple of these, this team could go to a bowl! And that would be good after the 0-3 conference start! And we'll all talk ourselves into that being acceptable. Maybe Purdue will somehow maybe scratch it out and wind up 6-6 (although I still think my 5-7 prediction from the summer is where they'll wind up) and end up in another shitty bowl game against a directional MAC school. They'll win the game in a shootout and then embarrassingly celebrate like they just did something that matters or should be respected.

I'm tired of mediocrity, but I can deal with it if it's all part of a grand path to somewhere. But when being mediocre and winning a few games here and there and going 4-4 in the conference is considered a successful season, I have a problem with it. And that's where we are. We're looking at what everybody says is Danny Hope's best team, and that can't even stay within thirty points of an unranked, 2-2 Michigan squad with a QB who would be lucky to return kicks in the NFL.

When was the last time Purdue won a big game? When was the last time the showed up? And don't give me Ohio State in 2009 when Purdue was 1-5 and the stadium was half-empty. Everybody had already (and rightfully) quit on that season, so whoop-dee-do. There was no pressure. The Boilers were the speedbump for Ohio State and, yes, OSU overlooked them and Ryan Kerrigan nearly won that game by himself.

Don't give me Ohio State in 2011, either. I'm talking about a game that mattered when hopes were high. A game like the games Drew Brees won in '98-'00 or the games Kyle Orton won in 2003 and 2004. Has it been that long? Probably. I don't remember the last time they went into one of those defining games when they could actually state to the conference and the college football audiences that they'd arrived, that they were back, and did anything but crap the bed. That's another part of what is so infuriating -- they don't just miss the mark in those games, they get curb-stomped.

This coaching staff should be ashamed of this. But they won't be. Danny Hope will stay upbeat and will slap the guys on the back and tell them to get ready for Wisconsin and that they're all champs in his eyes, or some such nonsense. No, I'm not in the locker room, but the players all love him and that's because he's a player's coach. He's not a guy who lays into them and inspires them to be better by being hard on them.

I'm not going anywhere as far as being a Purdue fan. And neither is anyone else reading this, I'm sure. But I'm disgusted with the state of things because they are no different in 2012 than they were in 2009. Hell, they're no different than they were even further back than that. Mediocrity and underwhelming performances in big games have become an absolute guarantee. They're automatic. Sure, if you rack your brain you can think of the 2009 games against Oregon and Notre Dame, when Purdue gave you some serious hope that they could compete with those programs and on that big stage. But that's the last time I remember that happening and lest we forget, Purdue lost those games.

I don't have any solutions. I don't know if calling for changes is even the right thing. How high does the problem go? How pervasive is this culture of mediocrity? Have we entirely accepted it? What will it take to change it? I mean, really change it. I don't know for sure. But I know I'm sick of this crap.

Purdue Football: Small-Time?

A question has been rattling around in my head since the Bucket Game on Saturday...and perhaps earlier than that. Is Purdue football small-time?  Whether it is or not, it's acting and being treated by alums and administration as a small-time program. So I guess that means it is.

I love the school. I love the program. I want nothing more than to see these guys succeed. And it's these guys I want to see succeed, because I think they're talented enough to do so. I'm not longing for five-star, entitled punks who don't go to class. I like the guys who are there because they want to go to Purdue. That's one of the things that made the 2000 season so special and made the '03 and '04 seasons so almost-special.

Then I read quotes from Danny Hope at last night's football banquet and one of them is this:

"Everything about the program is going in the right direction. It’s unfortunate that we had some struggles."

Really? Really? Everything??


No, Coach, just....no. Everything is most assuredly not going in the right direction. And do you know how I know? I can simply look at the W-L record this season. And beyond that I can look at the way Purdue had no shot in several games. Simply no chance... primarily because they couldn't move the ball, or stop turning it over, or stop other teams from moving the ball... it all depended on the week, but no matter what, there were serious problems all over the field. Suggesting everything is going in the right direction is, quite frankly, absurd.

There is no accountability in this program, and that quote underscores it. Guys are fumbling. Guys don't know plays. Guys aren't in the right positions. Guys don't close the deal when they clearly should be able to. And the team is losing to good competition, mediocre competition, and inferior competition. The team is losing at home... on senior day... in the Bucket Game.... to a horrible IU team. And at home to a MAC team....two years in a row. That's simply inexcusable. 


And no matter how many times we raise these issues, there are readers who -- inexplicably -- attack us for being so demanding and it's always the same excuse -- the injuries. Injuries, I'll say surely not for the last time, do not cause guys to not know plays. Or to not block properly. Or to not tackle properly. Or to drop passes. Or any number of other things that come down to 1) Coaching and 2) Accountability. If you make fundamental errors or repeated mental mistakes... you should be benched. Not permanently, but temporarily. I don't care if a walk-on has to take your place for a half. How much worse would things be? And it would make a point to the unprepared or unfocused player. 


Or hey, how about working on fundamentals in practice instead of being everybody's best pal, Coach Hope? How about not making f-cking jokes to the sideline reporter going into halftime? Take this shit seriously. You're paid -- handsomely -- to make this program respectable. Nobody expects Purdue to be competing for national titles. Nobody really even expects Purdue to challenge for the conference. All people want is exciting football and average bowl seasons. Seriously, isn't that what the majority of fans and alums seemingly are okay with? 


And there, my friends, is the problem. When you expect or hope for mediocrity and fall short, it's dreadful. If you shoot for the moon and fall short, perhaps you at least begin to plant the seeds for success. Say what you want about Joe Tiller -- and we have -- but when he came in to Purdue, he rejected out of hand the losing culture. He simply said they were going to compete and build a winner. And he did that. Understand something here: while Joe mailed it in his last few seasons, his first 6 or 7 years were inarguably impressive. Tiller won 9 games his first season. He beat Notre Dame. He won the Alamo Bowl. Purdue beat good teams. They scared teams. They changed the way the conference played offensively. People want to talk about Rich Rodriguez bringing his offense to the Big Ten. No, sir. Joe Tiller made that high-flying spread offense accepted in the Big Ten 13 years ago. 


My point? That is can be done, but this coaching staff and this athletic department doesn't want it bad enough. Danny Hope should be sickened and disgusted by a 4-8 record and 9-15 over two years. Okay, so it was injuries this year -- what was it last year? Because, despite some excitement, last year was a lousy year, too. 5-7 is not good. It's not promising, it's not acceptable...it's not funny. 


More than half the teams in the country go to bowl games. You only have to go .500 to qualify. Not going to a bowl these days is a referendum on your program. Not going three years in a row? Unacceptable. Simply unacceptable. 


How come there is all this media talk about Rodriguez potentially being fired at Michigan? Two lousy years and now a pretty soft team that clawed to 7-5. Unmitigated beatdowns at the hands of their rival. And, rightfully, the natives are restless. Randy Shannon at Miami gets bagged after four years, 7-5 this year, 9 wins last year and a ranked team..... but it wasn't enough. Now, maybe Miami and Michigan fans are sometimes delusional....but the point is, they're simply not accepting average/mediocre teams. And let's be clear: those programs/teams are in far better shape than our Boilers. 


So why are we at BS the only ones saying the Purdue football program's current state is unacceptable? Where is the media? Where are the alums? Come on, old John Purdue Club members! This team lost to Notre Dame, a MAC team and IU this year! How low do things have to get before people with influence begin to get pissed? 1-10? 0-11? I'm not suggesting (yet) that Coach Hope definitely has to go. I'm simply asking why it feels like we're the only ones in the Purdue realm who are highly concerned/irritated at the state of things? How come nobody is questioning Danny Hope's nonsensical rah-rah "everything is going well" baloney? That's just....stupid. And insulting. 


All is not well, Coach Hope. And for things to begin to get better, you need to recognize that and get angry and do something about it.

Augusta People Think They're Bastion of Morals

Well, it's Masters time, and I can honestly say if you told me I got to play one major or one course in the country and all I had to do was pick, I'd choose Augusta National. I love this tournament and, by most accounts, it's the best experience out there for players and fans alike. Of course, you have to pass a rigorous morals test to be a part of it.

Well, you have to pass that morals test, unless you're a moneymaking machine like Tiger Woods. Then you can do whatever you want and guys like Billy Payne will actually make some people side with Tiger. Sure his behavior was reprehensible. But when a southern fried fool like Billy Payne gets up there and puts on that big of a haughty display, well, just shut up, Billy. Nobody cares about your moral high ground. You put on a terrific tournament, yes, and it's a beautiful golf course. But without the players, it's just a lot of grass and sand.

Some of Payne's melodramatic nonsense:

"He disappointed all of us. Our kids and our grandkids."

Did he affect your lives? Your kids lives? Your grandkids lives? No, sir, he did not. You're a fool.

"Our hero did not live up to the expectations of the role model we sought for our children."

And whose fault, pray tell, is that? Tiger's? You conjured up mystical "expectations" of a man who never allowed anyone to truly know who he was? We didn't know what a cad he was, but anyone with more than half a cantaloupe for a brain DID know that he was keeping everyone at arm's length. And if you're seeking a role model for your children, here's a wild idea: BE a f-cking role model for your children. Don't be a pontificating, chastising, condescending, hypocrite. If you think Tiger should be punished, why is he allowed to play this week? Oh, right, money.

"His future will never again be measured only by his performance against par but measured by the sincerity of his efforts to change."

Oh, the drama! And this is funny, given that people have asked Augusta to consider "changing" over the years and the response has been a flat "no" every time. Frankly, I bet it's still hard for a black man to gain membership to the club. And we all know women are basically shot on sight. Understand, I don't think a private club has to allow anyone in that they don't want to; that's the right of a private club. But to lecture on changing and being a better role model is a bit hollow coming from a place as proudly exclusive as that douche-haven.

Of course, if any of this pissed you off like it pissed me off, and you find yourself feeling an ounce of sympathy for Tiger as he gets dragged through the mud by a guy who's probably only 2 or 3 generations removed from being a slave-owner, well, just remember that Tiger agreed to let Nike run an ad featuring him and his late father's disembodied voice.

I thought this was all a private matter, Tiger?

Defend That, Tiller Defenders

Go ahead, you short-sighted, easily-pleased, easily-satisfied jacks. I dare you. Justify that performance and tell us again that we are out of line in questioning the preparation and coaching of this team. Do you think our talent is that bad? And even if it was... whose fault is bad talent? Perhaps those who recruit them? Nahhhhh, can't be Joe's fault! He's a good guy!

Whose fault is it when the team gets steamrolled, yet again, only this time by a team with not nearly the talent of a PSU or an OSU? We were told to lighten up. We were asked things like, "Did you really expect them to beat OSU/PSU?"

While that pussy mentality many Purdue "supporters" exhibit is inexcusable in itself (yes, I do think we should be beating those teams... sometimes), let's for sake of argument accept it. It's ludicrous, but okay.... poor old Joe. He just wants to retire and go fishing. We can't expect him to compete against the class of the conference! Not even at home! So okay, then, what's the excuse this week? Come on, I want to hear it. What's the reason that we shouldn't be coming down on the program -- and specifically, the coaches -- this week?

Do you find this acceptable? Or do you think Joe has "earned" this? I've heard that phrase a lot. He's "earned" the right to go out how he wants. Folks, he already went out. He's gone. Today's game was just one more indication of that.

And nobody earns the right to torpedo a program, no matter what he's done for it. Sorry, I don't agree. I'm f-cking furious and you should be, too. This is embarrassing. No, not that we lost to Northwestern on the road... but once again, it's HOW this team loses. Giving up 48 points?? To that team? All due respect to the Purple Warriors, but they still haven't played much of anybody and the one team they did play (and who beat them -- MSU) is getting dump-trucked by OSU as I write this. So why do the Boilers put up another listless performance?

Because the team has given up. I don't want to hear specific guys pointed out that you think were playing hard.... it doesn't matter. Overall, the team is seeing the record and the effort being put in from the top down -- and hearing the comments about the limitations of how good they can be -- and they're checking out.

As Tim says below, look at the way Matt Painter runs things and contrast that fire to the lazy-ass, disinterested, unemotional way Tiller is running things. And then he has the audacity to say those who would dare to question him are "low IQ." You want to talk about a lack of class, there it is.

Once again, I do appreciate what Joe did to put Purdue football on the map and to turn around a dormant and long-dismal program.

HOWEVER... This is unacceptable. I am pissed and disgusted. And you Tiller apologists should be, too. This is nothing to be proud of.