To your call once more - would you freakin' rally?!

I'm disgusted. That's the way some of us put it, just matter-of-factly.

Today, we saw a drubbing on the field of Ross-Ade that for once played in our favor. While the team lit up the scoreboards, the stands were strangely quiet. Why, on earth, would you not be singing, cheering, screaming and almost crying from excitement as your team nabs the 8th touchdown of the game? Why wouldn't you root and holler for your team as they return from a last second loss?

The BS student writer is livid. THuff is sounding off.

A Reader-Suggested Revised Mackey Seat Map

Yesterday I posted about the Mackey re-seating and what did we all learn from that? Well, if you read the comments section, you learn that regular reader Boilergal has large people sitting next to her. Hey, wait a minute.... WE sometimes sit next to her! In T-Mill's seats! T-Mill, did you hear what she called you?

We also learned from Boilergal that if you don't like the seating situation, become a rich alum and buy good seats. Problem solved!

I don't think it's that big a deal that the good seats cost money. My issue is with the JPC control of everything and, more significantly, the weak student seating position within Mackey. To review, this is the proposed seating chart for the "new" Mackey in the fall of 2011:

For those with bad eyes, the darkest color is the proposed student section. Note, zero students tickets along either sideline...at any level. Reader Ryan went to work immediately and came up with what would be a dream solution and I felt it warranted being shared with everyone. Have a look:

Hoooo-baby. That would be fantastic. Can you imagine how that side of the arena would look/feel/sound? And they could carry the enthusiasm even over the lame-o people who sit on their hands and leave with ten minutes to go. Obviously, this would never happen. But it's fun to dream.

Thanks, Ryan, for the quick photoshop job.

Mackey Renovation Re-Seating & Other Nuggets

For those interested in information regarding the re-seating at Mackey for this fall, check out this story and the accompanying PDF that goes into detail about how awesome the renovation is...for the softball team, among others. Huh?

Anyway, with the seating capacity decreasing a bit, there will be a shuffling of where people sit. Ideally, we'd like to see them take the people who don't cheer and relocate their seats to University Drive. Absent that, though, we'd like to see the students have a more prominent and effective position within the seating structure. Reader Alan tweeted that the students are indeed expected to have more of a lower-bowl presence, expanded to both ends, which is a step in the right direction. Here is a seating chart that shows where the students will have seating:

The darkest color represents student seats, which you can see include wedges at both ends of the court. Not the best in the Big Ten -- by far -- but not awful.

Less pleasing is the heavy reliance on John Purdue Club membership in order to gain any level of priority for your new seats. In fact, you're more or less forced to join JPC if you want to be sure you have your tickets back, though it doesn't explicitly say that. The brochure does acknowledge, though, that even if you've had season tickets for years, you don't get any priority points for that unless you join the JPC. And, good news! You can join by March 31 and get credit for all those years of loyalty! Never mind the money you've spent... you gotta join up and spend more! Whee! Way to thank loyal ticketholders!

Also interesting is the pricing for the new club seating and courtside seating. At first, I couldn't figure out if the prices posted are for a season ticket or if it's just for the license for the seats. As in, PSLs, the thing many NFL teams do to screw their fans over and conduct a blatant cash grab. Regardless, what is being published as the "price" for a courtside seat is -- ready for this, midwest? -- $8500. Then I read more carefully and learned that the $8500 is, in fact, just a seat license, and your actual ticket prices will be tacked on as the season approaches.

Go ahead and swallow now.

Oh, but hey, the good thing is that you also get a women's season ticket! Everybody loves the fundamentals of the game and being able to watch young women work on those fundamentals is worth $8500 by itself.

Another tidbit I found interesting is that there will be club areas where alcohol will be available. I always thought you couldn't have alcohol on state property in Indiana and since Purdue was a state school, there wasn't a loophole. I guess I was wrong. Time to booze it up and then sit courtside and yell at 19 year old boys!

There's no doubt the new Mackey will be lovely, but the ramming of the JPC down people's throats is kind of annoying, and we continue to wish the students had a more prominent and impactful location. But all in all, this is about what you'd expect from Purdue University. That's not a good or a bad thing... it's just how it is.

Prison-Style Fight: Students vs. Alumni

We're alums. We're old. We're even cranky. But probably not quite cranky enough to boycott the games because of rowdy students. Molly O'Halloran's delicate sensibilities were "sickened" by the students of her beloved Purdue. She doesn't specify, but one can only imagine she's referring to the "First down.... BITCH" chant that has, unfortunately, become popular in Ross-Ade.

And this is one of those funny cases where we can honestly come down on both sides here. Let's start with dear Molly.

Molly, first off, take it easy. You were a student once. And I bet you said -- and did -- some things that, were we to tell you children about them, you might turn shades of Hoosier red. Maybe not, maybe you were an angel. But not everyone is and if college-age students want to use a semi-curse word in a football stadium, well, I'd have to say there are worse things that could be going on.

Second, I think we're about the same age. And I love this line from Molly's letter:

"I was a student at Purdue in the early ’90s. The team was not good. Student attendance was low but we went to every game regardless because of our support of the team."

Student attendance was low but the students went because they supported the team! Wait, what? I'm no physics major, but that doesn't seem to compute. I kid, of course, but I think Molly let her anger get in the way. I also take umbrage with this part:

"We sold our tickets to the other games because I will not subject my children to the students’ behavior. The football games are not about you the students. It is about tradition, alumni support, John Purdue club members and the players on the field. The team can play without you, the Purdue University student."

Well, Molly, that's just plain ridiculous. I understand that you're angry (and boy, is she angry, since she heard these foul-mouthed hooligans at the Toledo game back in early September and despite the intervening seven weeks, she's still frothing!) but to suggest the team doesn't need the students is, um, a bit short-sighted, to be polite.

Has it occurred to you, Miss Molly, that the team is made up of, um....students?

Also, as an alum, you're most likely seated absolutely nowhere near the students. I know that I can barely ever make out what's being chanted at games, so I doubt your kids can, either. And if they're not ready for the words they might learn at a football stadium, well, I guess they're not ready to go there yet. But let me tell you something else -- those words and phrases are not much different from what they're likely already hearing on the playground at recess. I know, shocking.

And lastly to Molly, Purdue athletics -- despite what the form letters from Morgan Burke, Danny Hope and Matt Painter may lead you to believe -- are most decidedly not about "John Purdue club members." If we had to rank things and who the athletic teams are "about," I would have to say the students are at the very top (you know, since they go there and all), while the significance of John Purdue club membership is somewhere near the same value as my dog wearing a Purdue bandanna. Yes, the financial support is nice, but when Danny Hope was gushing about the support the team receives and who "deserved" the upset the most, who did he repeatedly call out specifically?

Yes, the students.

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Okay, counterpoint time.


All that said, the students actually should class it up a little bit.

We love that you guys are there at the games. We love seeing you screaming, posing, crowd-surfing, hoisting the "P" that's been there for many years, etc. But let's be honest: the "BITCH" part of the first down chant is kind of lousy. And sad. And it reflects poorly on you. And us.

We're all Boilermakers and that's an awesome feeling, especially on days like two Saturdays ago. But when you turn a fairly original chant (that already irritated other teams and fans, which we all loved) into something that sounds kind of classless, well, you're not only cheapening the chant, you're cheapening yourselves.

Don't misunderstand -- we fully support antagonizing opposing teams and their fans. Especially OSU fans wearing mid-90s era Starter jackets, Notre Dame fans who have no affiliation whatsoever the to school and IU fans who respond to football blowouts by mentioning their dusty basketball championship banners. What we can't really get behind is including misogynistic undertones to the cheers you do.

We're not here to tell you what to do. And we won't stop coming to games unless you beat us up. But remember, as cliched as it is, you're a Purdue student and you're not only representing yourself when you're visible or audible -- you're representing the entire Purdue family. Do us proud.

Get Up and Shout Now

For your viewing pleasure, and that of co-editor boilerdowd, below is a video I took this weekend at the Purdue-Iowa game. B-dowd and his brother were out in the john when this went on so they missed it, and I know how disappointed they truly were at that.



Okay, so it's a rip-off of sorts and it's kind of a questionable choice of songs (I think I heard boilerdowd suggesting "Move This" by Technotronic, or perhaps a rendition of "I Know What Boys Like"), but hey, at least it's something the student section seems to really get into. While some may not particuarly like it, it's not so hard (for me, at least) to think back to my early years at Purdue and to remember how terribly the student section was with regard to spirit or cohesiveness or, well, anything... anything besides throwing full plastic cups of soda after touchdowns (which might as well have been mortar shells when they traveled 20 rows and hit you in the temple).

Still, if you aren't a fan, so be it. But at least it's something, and that's a good start. I'm much more bothered by the fact that the wave is done at Purdue games than by "Shout."

The Ending's Gotta Go

I love the "1-2-3-4 First Down!!" chant during a big drive by my Boilers...and I know that visiting fans hate it because it's so frustrating (that's a good thing, to me)...But, I liked it the old way. Hey Purdue students- Could you stop the not-so-clever ending on the chant? It's an embarrassment to everyone but you. If you're not careful, the university will take it away again...That would stink because it's something that was Purdue's first and is a real good part of game day at Ross-Ade.