BS Bracketgasm Update

We've now reached that part of March (April?) Madness where everyone has bracket fatigue. No, nobody really cares what's going on in your bracket, unless you correctly nailed this year's Final Four.

Before I get into the BS bracket challenge details, I did want to share a bracket story you might like. I play in one that is run by a former colleague and encompasses anywhere from 600 to 1,100 participants each year. He has tons of payouts, rather than winner-take-all, though the overall winner does get 20% of an impressive kitty. Well, this year, one entrant had FGCU in the Sweet 16 and Wichita State in the Final Four. And she only finished second overall. So if you think you had a bad beat somewhere, just imagine being that prescient and still not winning.

As for our little challenge, usually by now it's all but wrapped up with only a couple of possible scenarios left. But not this year -- this year there is excitement. Or something. 

Leading the pack is gregmc0532 1, who actually nailed three out of four (all but Wichita St) and can still gain points for Syracuse making the title game, though he has Syracuse losing to Ohio State. So if Louisville loses and Syracuse advances to the title game, I do believe Greg will wrap it up.

We have a two way tie for second, with JenPershing getting two of the Final Four correct -- she has Louisville and Syracuse correct, with Louisville winning the title.

Tied with JenPershing is spartane86 1 who, like Greg, correctly picked three of the Final Four with the only miss being Wichita St. However, spartane86 1 has Michigan beating Louisville in the title game, so if this happens, I think he will be our champion.

Right behind spartane86 1 is dkboilerfan 1 who has Louisville over Michigan in the title game and if that happens, dkboiler would be your winner. I think.

If Louisville does not advance to the title game, I think this opens the door for Purdueless Brandon to make a run at the title, as he has UM winning it all and Louisville not in the title game.

Everybody got all this? My head hurts. And I'm not even sure I exhausted all the possibilities -- I just got tired of it.

Remember, the winner of the challenge gets the opportunity to post at BS (subject to our approval -- no nudies!) as well as some Boiled Sports swag (basically, we rummage around the basement of BS HQ and find you some stuff).

Boiled Sports Bracketgasm Update

Devoted Recruiter

Two rounds are now complete -- sorry, three rounds -- and so it's time to take a quick look at your Bracketsaster and see how things are shaping up.

Oh, and as a quick aside on this second round/third round nonsense, I just have to give a big F U to the NCAA for continuing to insult people's intelligence. Thursday and Friday were not the "second round." They're only the second round if we expand the bracket to 128 and give 60 teams a "bye" into the second round. And isn't that just...ridiculous? Of course it is. Those are play-in games, or "opening round" games works, too. They can even go with their kitchy "First Four" and I'm fine with it. It would actually make sense when you look back in ten years and see that, oh yeah, that one year VCU played in the First Four and still made the Final Four.

But now? Now the NCAA has muddied the waters when you want to look back at a coach's history, for example as this link to Jaime Dixon's record shows. Do you immediately know when the second round became the first round? And thus when Dixon's Pitt teams actually advanced? I would imagine it's hard for Pitt fans to know. Although it's easy to assume when it comes to Pitt's performance in the tourney.

Why do I care? Because I don't like stupid crap that makes things less clear all because what? We don't want to hurt the feelings of the teams in the play-in games? Who cares? They're playing basketball and they have a shot at the big prize. I know many Boilermakers who would have gladly taken a slot in the First Four.

Anyway, as to the BS Bracketstravaganza, we've got leaders in the clubhouse who are on their own right now. There is no tie at the top, as entry "robertmw1789 3" sits alone. He (I'm assuming a he) has three of four Final Four teams remaining with only Georgetown out (eek). His title game is IU over OSU, so I think it's safe to say we're all rooting against him. Sorry, Robert.

Alone in second place as of now is "indyhudson6 5," who also has three of four Final Four teams in play, with their one miss being New Mexico (seems bdowd and I weren't the only ones wooed by Steve Alford's beautiful hair) and a title game of Duke over Kansas.

After those top two, we have glut of entries tied at third. Leading the BS staff pack is the Panda, who is hanging tight at 14th place, though he deserves far worse for picking Gonzaga to go to the Final Four. He does, however, have his other three FF teams, with da U over Louisville for the title.

Games in this tournament resume Thursday evening, but you of course have the option of seeing your boys in Black and Gold tonight at 7 PM on...well, AXS.tv (formerly HDNet) has been covering the CBI, but my DirecTV channel guide tells me I get Houston/George Mason tonight, followed by Western Michigan/Wyoming. So if anyone has any intel on where to see the Boilers tonight (aside from Mackey Arena), please feel free to share.

BS Trivia Contest Day 3: Win Tickets to Heart of Dallas Bowl

[UPDATE: We have multiple winners, plus some other alternates who knew the answer is Ryan Russell. Thanks for playing!]

We've reached Day 3 of the epic Boiled Sports bowl game ticket giveaway.

You know, when Coach Hazell has Purdue in a BCS bowl game, it'll be even more fun to give away tickets.

What a great Christmas present it would be to hand over a pair of tickets to see your Boilermakers play in the historic Cotton Bowl. Be one of the first two people to email the correct answer to today's question to BoiledSports@gmail.com and you'll win a pair of tickets.

View the question, after the click-through.

Trivia Day 1 Answer

The answer for Day 1 was crowd favorite Billy Dicken. (He makes terrific cider, by the way.)

In the 1997 Alamo Bowl, Billy led the Boilers to a win over Oklahoma State 33-20 in San Antonio, throwing for 325 yards and completing a 9-3 season in Joe Tiller's first year at the helm.

Here's to more first-year success like this.

And thanks to reader Derrick on reminding us what Billy is up to these days, as he is the OC/QBs coach at Illinois Wesleyan. 

Congrats to our winners and thanks for the huge response. Enjoy the remaining chances to win.

BS Trivia Contest Day 2: Win Tickets to Heart of Dallas Bowl

[UPDATE: Winners came in fast and furious... and so to give me less emailing to do, you can stop sending your answers now. We have two winners and an alternate winner in case one of them backs out. Next chance to win tomorrow at noon, eastern.

Oh, and the answer is eight years. 1997-2004.]

It's Day 2 of the great Boiled Sports ticket giveaway.

*tumbleweed*

Hey, that's not the joke you think it is! It's just meant to symbolize north Texas!

Anyway, it's Day 2. After the click-through, you'll see today's question.

Once again, the first two correct answers emailed to BoiledSports@gmail.com win a pair of tickets each to the Heart of Dallas Bowl on January 1 in the Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Tejas.

BS Triva Contest Day 1: Win Tickets to Heart of Dallas Bowl

I love you, BS Ticket Oak.

[Editor's Note: This was supposed to post at noon, but Blogger is dumb. Our apologies. That is all.]

Today is Day 1 of our monumental gigantic modest giveaway of tickets to see your Boilermakers play in the Heart of Dallas bowl on New Year's Day.

We kid, but a Jan 1 bowl game is actually a fun experience as you're one of only a few programs left playing at that point -- no matter how you got there, you're there.

We wish we could also fly you guys to Dallas for the game, but since we're not totally loaded (or we're just not willing to share our riches), we'll give you free tickets instead.

As noted earlier in the week, the first two correct answers emailed to Boiled Sports at BoiledSports@gmail.com will win a pair of tickets each. (Since I don't trust the class to follow instructions, I'm actually turning off comments for this post -- an unprecedented move that maybe we'll make more often. Heh.)

After the click-through, you'll see today's question. 

Anything Drew Brees Related Gets Airtime Here

We got a note from a marketing person at Country Time about an event involving Michael Waltrip and Drew Brees. An excerpt:

Today marks the first day of the "Campaign For A Name," and Drew Brees needs your help!! Drew Brees, would like Countrytime's new Half & Half beverage to be named after him, but he has stiff competition in Michael Waltrip. Check out the video below to learn more about the "Campaign for a Name," there will also be additional videos launching in the next few weeks, so keep an eye out. 

Please share with your readers if you feel they would like to help Brees win it all. In fact, the most active fan will win a chance to meet Drew Brees if he is fact the winner. In the following weeks we expect some others to enter the race as well, and we will keep you updated with any news. 

Normally, we ignore marketing emails -- especially ones as poorly-written as this one -- but given the combination of our admiration of Drew and Boilerdowd's undying love of auto racing, we thought we'd bring this to you. The video, after the jump, is also pretty well done for what it is. And I will say that no matter what he's advertising, Drew is always funny in these things. (The little kid version of Drew with the birthmark is especially funny to me.)

Our Day At The Drew Brees Dream Foundation Golf Tournament

I want one.

A great event to benefit a great charity took place last Friday at the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex, and BS was there to participate, along with a host of others.

I got into town very late on Thursday night/Friday morning, flying into Midway in Chicago and then renting a car and driving down. I got several offers to hang out and go together via Twitter but each random person I stopped near on Cicero Avenue looked at me weird. I imagine some of them would have carjacked me if I had been driving something better than a Dodge Caliber.

Anyway, on Friday I made my way to the golf complex and the first person I met was contest winner Doug Ledman. As you may recall from his son's contest entry, Doug -- Purdue class of '78 -- was a teacher for 32 years, recently retired, and has put four sons through Purdue. If ever there was a guy who deserved a day like this, it's Doug.

We got lunch and after saying hello to Gene Keady, we caught up with Ed, the kind soul who donated the two foursomes for this event. We then found Michelle, the runner-up to Doug in the contest and eventually the rest of the crew trickled in. We had two more players who were there from Big Brothers Big Sisters of Lafayette as well as contest winner Martin and B-Dowd's brother, whom you may know as K-Deezee from his handful of Handsome Hour appearances.

We began on the 12th hole of the Ackerman course and learned that we'd be playing the back nine of Ackerman and the front nine of the Pete Dye-designed ass-kicker known as Kampen. Within a couple of holes, we came across the drink girl for the first time...and her helper was Danny Hope.

We had missed the green to the right on the par 5 we were playing and so we now were chipping on. And it was my turn as Coach got out and stood to watch. Outstanding. So now I'm trying to force out of my mind that not only do we need my chip to get close, but I have Danny Hope evaluating me. Fortauntely, I hit one of my better flops and Coach even complimented my shot. Kind of a nice ego-booster.



Coach Hope with the BS foursome.

 Coach Hope spent at least ten minutes with us, talking about football and life and asking about us. And, as pretty much anyone who has met the man will attest, he's a very hard guy not to like. Coach asked where I was visiting from and I told him about living in Houston until recently and now moving my life back to New York.

"Are you gonna be in Houston when we come to play Rice?" Hope asked excitedly. "Maybe you'll be there to close on your house!"

Coach also talked about how many guys are coming back with experience and how talented he thinks the team can be. The funny thing was while he did talk to us personally and asked about us -- and listened -- he also seemed to still be working from his bullet points on why the team is looking good. Maybe that's just his style and his laser focus, I don't know. But as I said, it's hard not to like the guy.

After we'd taken a number of photos and he'd happily obliged, I said, "Thanks for being patient with us, Coach." To which he responded, "Hey, thanks for being patient with us."

I later learned that he spent a good 10-15 minutes with the other foursome, too, to the point where K felt like he was taking too much of the coach's time. Good guy.

We moved around the course at a decent clip, given it was a scramble that was quite well-attended and only once did I make a wrong turn and wind up at the incorrect tee. It just so happens that it was the tee Morgan Burke was at as well and as he gave me that "WTF?" look that you give a yahoo on your local muni course, I just shouted, "Sorry, Morgan, wrong tee!" and did a U-turn without stopping to do the K-turn approach. At which point Ed said, "Well, I guess we really will be driving over the tee boxes." (We were only close, not actually on it.)

The Boiled Sports sponsorship signs appeared on holes 1 and 11 (I think) of Kampen and looked terrific. As I said to Ed, the thing I enjoyed most about them was knowning Burke would see them and curse.

Someone on Twitter said last week that they had just realized how cool our logo is. A great compliment and I hope others thought that too as they shanked their drives.

A nice perk on the day was that the refreshment stops were complimentary, including alcoholic refreshment. Given that I'd had a couple beers already and that it was, you know, free, I decided to try the MGD 64 Lemonade. I don't know why, either, but it wasn't half bad.

Ed, for some reason, said "I thought you might try one of those." Sure, sure... but if it had been a Leinenkugel, everybody woulda been fine with it. Snooty, if you ask me.

We weren't a foursome full of dedicated golfers, so the fact that we wound up with 15 pars and three bogeys as a team sounded okay to me. And our 74 wasn't nearly the worst score. Of course, the other BS foursome managed to post a 66, which I was impressed with....but was stil 11 shots off the winners. Wow.


J demonstrates the form of an old man.

 After the round, we gathered under the tent once again for some more chow (from Brunos!), drinks and the charity auction to raise money for the Brees Dream Foundation.

Drew himself ran the auction and managed to get people to up their bids by being his charming self. He auctioned off three autographed Saints #9 jerseys for $750 apiece, plus a signed helmet for $1200. Sadly, our bid of $20 came up short.

He also sold nine -- nine -- two-person packages to go to the Saints-Steelers game in October and get sideline passes (and air and hotel, etc.) for $3500 apiece.

In the end, the fairly short charity auction raised $50,000 for the Brees Dream Foundation. Gotta feel good about that.

Drew also took a couple shots at the NFL owners, which drew some laughs, but I guess the last laugh wll be on the people who spent $3500 to go to a Saints game this fall that might not happen. Heh. (Yes, yes, I know they'll make good on it.)

Drew expertly cajoling money out of the deep pockets of Purdue alums.

After the auction, a couple of us headed to the pro shop to cash in our $10 credits there, and Michelle managed to get a photo with the man of honor -- it's amazing how much more normal it seems when a young girl asks for a photo with an athlete rather than a middle-aged dude like me.

My Drew story of the weekend didn't come until the next morning. As I walked into Triple XXX for breakfast at 7:45 AM before hitting the road, who is sitting at the counter but the man himself. What's neat about being a celebrity at Purdue is that as much as he is beloved, he's also able to be himself. I imagine if he was eating in a greasy spoon in New Orleans, he might be endlessly pestered. But in West Lafayette, people let him enjoy his breakfast -- yes, he ordered the Drew Brees -- with only a modicum of fuss.

All in all, a terrific day with some great people. Congrats again to the winners of the BS contest and special thanks again to Ed Sigo, class of '97, who generously donated the funds needed for the two foursomes and the sponsorship signs. He said multiple times that no thanks were necessary, but we are extremely appreciative.

Drew Brees Golf Event -- BS will be on the Scene

As you may know, Boiled Sports will have a presence at the Drew Brees golf outing at Purdue tomorrow. If you happen to be playing it in, look out for the Boiled Sports sponsorship signs on holes on each course. In addition, look out for the Boiled Sports/Ed Sigo foursomes -- we'll be driving our carts over tee boxes and across greens while hanging out the sides and jousting with our 3-woods.

Ed Sigo, once again, is the Boiler alum who was kind enough to sponsor not one, but two BS foursomes. The finalists of our reader contest all get to play, in addition to a couple of Big Brothers Big Sisters volunteers from the Lafayette area. All in all, this is a nice thing for a lot of people, and Ed gets the biggest share of credit for his generosity.

I'll do my best to take some pictures and potentially some video. I'll also let smoldering Drew Brees know that all the ladies of BS love him and the men....well, the men love him, too.

BS Giveaway - Oprah-Style

OOOH!! So close!

Holy moly. That was quite a display of voting you all put on there. It's also interesting that you guys seem to care more about who wins a free round of golf than you do bout football and basketball questions (based on the number of votes). Duly noted.

As you can see at the right, Entry 1 won out by the narrowest of margins, in a true Bush-Gore kind of showdown. Of 1868 votes cast, 1731 of them were for either Entry 1 (Doing it for Dad) or Entry 2 (Ladies Tees). The winning margin was 65 votes, or just 3 1/2 percent. Amazing.

As you may recall from the rules I posted, B-Dowd and I get to vote as well. And our singular votes carry as much weight as the nearly 1900 already cast. What can we say, we like having arbitrary levels of power.

Of course, it really doesn't seem fair for someone to lose by such a slim margin, regardless of how we cast our votes. Our wonderful benefactor for this event, Ed, felt this way as well and so he contacted me during the fierce battle:

"I am seriously considering sponsoring another foursome based on the entries. I am a sucker for this stuff."

Basically, Ed isn't as mean as us and couldn't stand the thought of any of our finalists losing and he DID, in fact, pony up for another group. SO... as Oprah herself  might say...

YOU get a spot and YOU get a spot and YOU get a spot....

Yeah, each of the finalists is hereby cleared to play in the event. The top two vote-getters will play with me and Ed, while the others will play with B-Dowd's brother in the other foursome (you've heard his handsomely dulcet tones as a fill-in on the Handsome Hour from time to time). And then we'll all have some brews and be merry at the cocktail reception afterwards. (And then at Harry's into the wee hours if I can slip Ed's American Express card away from him.)

Seriously, thanks to everyone who entered and voted. And a big thanks to Ed Sigo, one of the more generous people we've met in a while.

BS Foursome Finalists Awaiting Your Vote

So here we go.

The following four entries are the finalists for the Boiled Sports golf givaway. If you haven't been reading and aren't up to speed (or have a really bad memory), catch up here and here.

Let me also do the obligatory, "all the entries were great" thing. No, but seriously, they really were. I wish we could buy another foursome or two and declare many winners because, honestly, a golf outing with the witty readers of BS would probably be more fun than should be allowed.

That said, we only have the one slot to give away. And here's where we need reader input. Please read the following four entries and then vote in the poll at the right. No, it's not perfectly scientific, but then again, you aren't determining this by yourselves. We'll close the poll on Thursday evening and B-Dowd and I will confer and, at that time, share our votes with one another. Between, me, him and your votes, hopefully we'll arrive at a consensus. If not, a dance-off will commence. Enjoy.

(And, for the record, these are in no particular order. Just the order I opened the Word docs in.)

Entry 1 -- "Doing it for Dad"

What’s up fellas? I would like to enter my father into this contest and am writing without his knowledge. He’s a Purdue grad from way back in 1978. He’s spent the last 31.5 years teaching U.S. History and Psychology at Connersville High School and this is the first year of his retirement. He now resides in Lafayette and is a season ticket holder for football and split a season ticket package for basketball this season. While in Lafayette he works as a substitute teacher at Central Catholic Junior/Senior High School.


I don’t think his golfing skills would work out that well for winning a trophy but the guy is no slouch. To give you an idea he falls somewhere between Judge Smails throwing his club and Ty hitting every putt on the green. Basically what I’m telling you is he’d probably be good for a shot here or there.

Sure it’s weird to enter my dad rather than myself but I’m not much of a golfer and I don’t think anyone is more deserving. He put 4 kids through Purdue. He has an entire room in his house, where I still live, with Purdue memorabilia. He’s kind enough to put up with his son who lives with them despite having a full time job so I can save money for a wedding that’s upcoming.

Don’t worry about him not being old and curmudgeon like. He isn’t one of the olds at Mackey and Ross Ade. Our seats are in the last row of Ross Ade so that we can stand and clap without any idiots yelling at us to sit down. At Mackey he’s constantly standing and cheering, but more importantly the guy is only in his early 50’s so stop being so judgmental you jerks!

Most importantly to me he puts up with his blogging son who has a full time job and still lives at home. The guy is a saint who raised 4 boys and probably wanted to yell at times but was the best father in the world. The guy deserves so much and I try to give it to him whenever I can, oh man that sounds dirty oh well there’s no going backward only forward (stupid typewriter).

He’s not exactly a hot female golfer but let me tell ya all 5’5 of him is a real catch. If nothing else there’s no way you’d be the smallest guy in the foursome. So he’s got that going for him, which is nice. Also, he has a rather large collection of vintage Playboy’s that I might have snuck looks at in my early years. Keep that in mind.

As you can tell he’s a good dude who I’m sure would love the opportunity to be involved in such a great event. You’ll also notice I only used one space after a period per your earlier tweet (yes I’m clearing sucking up).

Entry 2 -- "Ladies Tees"

So I heard you all need a fourth partner for the Drew Brees Golf Outing and I think I am your girl. I do have some golf ability considering I took the golf class at good old Purdue and the pro thought I had played before (the first day of class was my first day swinging a golf club…ever). But more importantly, I am five foot tall and blonde and although I do not think my back side looks near as good as Natalie Gulbis’s, I get told otherwise.


Besides, I think you should pick me because I am graduating in a week (how cool of a grad gift would free golf be right?) and on my way to law school (read: no life for the next three years), and I could use one last breath of fun before I start living in a library. I want to go into sports and entertainment ideally, so even though I can be a girly girl, I can also talk sports with the boys. And you do not have to worry about walking on eggshells with me either. I have bunches of guy friends and am in a sorority so dirty jokes and cursing like a sailor are my idea of a good time.

Other than that, since I weigh about 100 pounds soaking wet, drinks from the drink cart will not put you out much money since I am a lightweight or cheap date, whichever way you want to look at it. The best part is you will get 18 holes to make fun of me for using hot pink women’s and junior clubs and not being able to drive more than 100 yards off the tee (don’t worry my short game is decent).

I will stop writing now, since after all it is senior week and I should be drinking or doing something irresponsible, like trying to get kicked out of Harry’s.

Entry 3 -- "The Purdue Lifer"

I hope you’ll read this letter and really consider adding me as the crucial fourth member of your group for the Drew Brees golf outing:

First of all, I am currently a Purdue student. I’ll be a senior in the fall. I am majoring in political science and just completed a semester internship at the Indiana Statehouse. I am actually the fourth generation to attend Purdue from my family, and both my parents graduated from Purdue.

More importantly, though, I am a true bleed-black-and-gold Purdue fan. I have been indoctrinated in the culture of Purdue. I love Purdue and have loved it my whole life. It was actually one of the first words I ever spoke.

I have been attending Purdue basketball and football games my whole life. I was there when three Purdue Petes celebrated another Big Ten Championship in 1996. I was there for the field-storming when Purdue beat Notre Dame for the first time under Tiller (but I wasn’t allowed on the field). I’ve enjoyed many spankings of IU in Mackey and Ass Hall. I was there for the deafening atmosphere in Mackey when JaJuan and Etwaun beat the Buckeyes this year. I finally got to storm the field myself when Purdue beat Ohio State two years ago with Joey Elliott. I made the road trip to Detroit for Curtis Painter’s heart attack comeback against Central Michigan. And my best Purdue memory actually involves Drew Brees—I was there for “Brees to Moraleeeeees!”

Having a chance to meet Drew Brees would be so unbelievable to me. The Brees Rose Bowl team was probably my favorite team at Purdue. I got to meet a lot of the guys from the team before and after the games. I was watching warm-ups and Tim Stratton threw me the football from the field. For a ten year-old kid, that was a moment I will never forget. And I really admire the athlete and person Drew Brees has become. He’s a real role model for me.

But enough of the Purdue sentimental crap: The real reason I should be included in your foursome is because I am an awesome golfer, if I do say so myself. I consider myself a modern day Ty Webb (Chevy Chase in Caddyshack), not because I measure myself with other golfers by height but because I have developed that force in the universe that allows me to be the ball.

I try to play almost every day. I went out on the course on Mother’s Day for a round with my mom and grandmother. I know I should have let them win, but I just can’t help getting really competitive when it comes to golf. So, yeah, I basically kicked their asses.

Anyway, I’m a big fan of your Web page and of the Handsome Hour, so please give me this great chance.

Entry 4 -- "Porter Roberts Likes His T-Shirt"

I became a Boiler in 1987 when my oldest brother Dave went there. I put up with IU crap in Greenwood, Indiana. When I got my license I was more excited to visit my other brother Ben, who was then a Boiler, than I was to drive around scenic Fort Wayne.

Some may say I take my love for Purdue sports too far. After Chad Austin's Ass Hall dagger in '97, I saw him wearing his hat tilted to the side when speaking with the media after the game, and I felt obligated to do the same the next day in school. That same year I printed out the NBA stats of Alan Henderson & Glenn Robinson to confront a moron who told me that brittle knees was Big Dog's equivalent as a player.

At Purdue, I was a 4 year season ticket holder for football and basketball. I was there for the Morales catch, the Dorsch bird flip, and unfortunately, saw us lose to ND in our last home game while I was a student. I participated in the 3 consecutive field rushes in 2000. I went in Old Gold to Columbus for the rainy OSU game in 1999 and watched helpless as Dorsch got an easy FG blocked (for the 57th time in his career) that would have tied the game. I was also in Bloomington that year when Vinny ran a punt back that allowed us to win and me to breathe for the 1st time in about 46 minutes.

My co-rec run-ins with Purdue basketball players were almost all positive. Although my intramural team won the game, a then-redshirting Willie Deane threw down a memorable dunk. Mike Robinson/Michelle Duhart were good people and teammates. Alan Eldridge surprisingly had me in the athleticism department, while Tony Mayfield surprisisingly did not. I got into a verbal spat with Joe Marshall (which I was told was quite entertaining) and ended up scoring over him to win the game. While funny, I was slightly embarrased to play against Porter Roberts while wearing a t-shirt with his picture on it (1996 Big 10 title shirt). Porter noticed and complimented me on it, escalating the embarrasment.

My appreciation for Drew has continued since his days as #15. I spend a little too much every year on him in my fantasy football auction. I was angry at any Purdue alum that rooted for the Colts in the 2010 Super Bowl. I have donated to his charity and twice written him letters seeking an autographed gift for my ex-girlfriend. Both times he kindly obliged.

I would appreciate this gift more than some others. Perhaps as importantly, my golf game will not show anyone up. The odds of me playing an entire hole well are equivalent to the odds that Danny Hope will one day be described as the Bill Belichick of the Big 10. Lastly, in honor of Francis from the movie Summer School, this contest is very, very, very, very cool. Thanks.

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Vote now. Polls close Thursday. Winner announced Friday.

Update on the Contest to Play In Our Group At the Brees Golf Event

Entries are actually continuing to come in (what else should I have expected from current and recent Purdue students other than procrastination on your assignment?) for the chance to join the BS foursome and today is indeed the deadline. And here's how I want to handle this.

We will cull the entries to the best three or four (or ten or 16 or whatever I feel like) and we'll post them here. We'll then ask you, the readers, to cast your vote in a poll on who should win the fourth spot in the foursome.

You, the readers, will count as a vote; I will count as a vote; and B-dowd will count as a vote.

If we have not determined a winner that way (that is, if we've all voted for someone different), the three finalists will battle one another in a test of skills much like the end of Billy Madison (or Gladiator, your pick). Only instead of academic trials, you'll be subjected to evaluations on boozing, cartwheels and pole-dancing.

The poll will only be up for a few days so that we can wrap this up by the middle of next week.

Stay tuned.

You Can Do Better? Prove it. Big Ten logo contest.

Thanks to Mackey West, a loyal BSer, we're hosting another contest. And, since I'm in charge of it, you'll actually see something come of it (oooh, burn, J Money).

Pretty Simple.

There will be two categories:

1) Name the Divisions.
Pretty simple. It's your turn to name the new league divisions. You can be funny or serious...whatever you think will get you in our good graces.

2) Design the logo.
All of you graphic designers or those wish they were will get a chance here.

Rules are simple- We'll only take one entry e-mail into consideration. Within that message, you can have three of each category, max. The Deadline is 1/1/11. The winner will win a prize of our choosing.

Good luck. (the e-mail address is on the right side of the page)