Our Midseason Review

As I'm sure you all know, JJ is a mid-season All-American according to the Sporting News. While the media see Johnson for what he is, I'm sure 25 doesn't care too much about that. Versus Penn State, JJ didn't fill it up, but it might be one of my favorite he's played this season. He quietly went about his business, grabbed 15 boards and made some very important passes to move the ball around the perimeter. As PSU's zone sucked in on JJ as a diversion, space was created for Jackson to drive and Smith to get open looks.

That's really what the best players do- make everyone better.

Same goes for Moore. Like JJ, he's been scoring around 20 points/game, but he doesn't get much media attention for his defensive effort, his rebounding and his distribution. Plus, and I don't think this surprises anyone in the Purdue family, when his shot hasn't fallen this season, I haven't seen him pout, whine or take one possession off. Moore quietly plays with a chip on his shoulder...but we haven't seen him get angry (at the other team) this season like he did late last year toward the end of the year. And while his opposition wouldn't like him when he's angry, Purdue fans and his teammates love him that way.

Both JJ and Moore have played exactly how Matty has wanted them to...and probably precisely how Purdue fans expected. Compared to last year, here's how their numbers have changed:

Player Min Pts Reb Ast Stl Blk

JJ +2.7 +3.8 +1.4 +.4 -.2 +.3

Smooge +.8 +2.9 +2.1 +.3 +.2 +.2

Both players were good-enough to garner conference and national honors last
season...and both have gotten better in nearly every category. They're much
of the reason Purdue is in the position it's in at this point...but that's obvious.

Here are a couple of other players that have impressed us so far and some honors
that we're bestowing on the just because we care.

Defensive Player of the First Half

Kelsey Barlow

Like Chris Kramer had to do, Barlow has been given the toughest assignments time
and time again. And other than Richmond's Kevin Anderson, he's pretty much shut
all of them down.

Offensive Player of the First Half

JaJuan Johnson

He's simply taken over the game time and time again. I think the interesting part
of JJ's game is the fact that he seems to play bigger and better on the bigger stage.
It'll only get larger from here out as Purdue begins to play ranked opponents and the
conference and nation's elite. Sampson, Leuer & Sullinger will all square off v. JJ
in the next three weeks.

Most-Improved of the First Half

John Hart

I know, I know, Smith is the "it" guy right now, but before Hart went down, he
was consistently providing a boost...and Purdue really needed it at that point
because no one outside of the Big 2 were stepping up. I'm looking forward to his
return. If we were only judging on the BT season, there'd be no question who
received this award.

One of our readers said Matty should be leading for coach of the year at this
point. I don't think there's any doubt about that...especially if the media looks
at where they thought Purdue would be following Rob's injury. Painter's quote,
"Our goals haven't changed." (which is emblazoned on the front of the
Mission Houston shirts) showed exactly the way he has approached the season.
And his team is beginning to believe that regardless of who's injured, they're
still one of the nation's elite. Hats off to Matty.



(please excuse the technical difficulties...our provider has been pretty lousy the
last few days)

Bestestest Writer Ever

A good friend of mine pointed this out to me today- IU Star Resident Genius, Terry Hutchens, has been elected...FOR THE THIRD TIME IN FOUR YEARS, no less, as the Sportswriter of the Year for the state of Indiana. Wha-wha-what??

I have no idea who votes for this prestigious award, but I'm guessing a room full of monkeys along with Terry's Mom and Dad are very pleased with their choice.

Here's the problem with this situation. It's probably fair to say that the largest print media outlet in the state will have the best chance of notoriety...BUT, the Indy Star is a joke...an un-funny, poorly-written one at that.

They decreased the size of their paper a few years ago...and they'll tell you it was for good reason. Make no mistake, it comes down to a few things. First, printing big pictures in full-color is expensive. Smaller paper, smaller pictures, cheaper overhead. Second, as the Star has continued to shrink its coverage of Indy Car, so there's less to write about there...and this year, as the month of May became the two weeks of May at IMS, there's obviously less content. Along with minimal Indy Car racing coverage, the apples of the Star sports editor's eye, UND football and IU basketball, haven't given them much to write about either.

Times are tough in the newspaper business, no doubt about it. Guys like Hutchens getting annual awards probably doesn't instill confidence in the consumer. Maybe, just maybe, *gasp* awards like this might be part of the reason many of you have turned away from mainstream media and toward outlets like this humble web address?

Nah.


*FYI- I can no longer find the link of Hutchens predicting Hummel to be little-more than a role player...for some reason, The Star has burned the evidence. But, I haven't forgotten.

Get Ready to Mount Your Brackets

Wait, that didn't sound right.

Anyway, Timmy put up the info last week about the Second Annual Boiled Sports Tourney Randomness Challenge.

I took a look today and there are only like 40-something of you clowns signed up. Last year, when we had probably half as much traffic, we had nearly 100 participants. Small potatoes, to be sure, but still.... you guys can outdo that. The site stats say 1,000 visitors a day so let's get on this. Enter the pool for fun. There's no cost to enter. Have your wife enter and then gloat when you beat her or be shamed when you lose. Enter your dog. Because, really, who the hell ever knows what's going to happen?

Last year, the winner was Nick B's entry "A Whole Lot of 3's," and his "reward" (if you can call it that) was our airspace for a post. True, he might have had a wider audience had he simply written his thoughts on a bathroom stall door, but we're (slightly) more sanitary. And Nick chose to call me out as his guest post topic for my criticism of Scott Martin's transfer. Fair enough, Nick. Just you wait -- one day, I'll have a chance to post about YOU. (Oh wait...)

Anyway, so this year's prize will be:

All-expenses paid trip to next year's Final Four.
A night with Tim's wife.
A night with Tim.
The first thing I grab when I reach into my desk drawer.

Wait, sorry, none of those were approved by BS Corporate. So we've settled on the following...

Winner of the 2009 BS Tourney Pick 'Em will get a coveted Boiled Sports T-shirt as well as a guest post here at BS on the Friday after the Final Four.

So enter and kick our asses. We freaking dare you.

Groundbreaking Report: Purdue Football Has Prestige

In ESPN's latest foray into idiotic rankings of intangible things, they're currently unveiling their "Prestige Rankings." Tomorrow numbers 6-10 are announced and then on Friday we all get to vomit together as Notre Dame undoubtedly makes the top 5 and they celebrate that like a national championship (you know, like they did when beating a .500 Hawaii team).

As it turns out, Purdue football is ranked 50th. So what does that mean exactly? Our program is the 50th-most.... prestigious? How does one measure such things? Sure, I know they have a formula but it's all just so silly. Purdue has 210 Prestige Points, 9 behind #49 Illinois. Indiana, on the other hand, is ranked #102 out of 119 and has negative-8 points. Negative. So, then, if you go to IU, you'll wind up a less-prestigious football player than you arrived? What does any of this mean? Is it that slow a month? I guess so.

Yes, yes, I get it -- it's to foster debate. But it's stupid. And people spent a lot of time, obviously, on conjuring this bullspit up. And aren't there better ways to spend time than this pseudo water-cooler chat fodder? I mean, do you know anyone who would read this list and then show it to their friends and say, "Dude, didn't you go to Boston College? They're only the 40th most prestigious football program in the country and DUKE is #38. Ha! Put that in your pipe and smoke it!"

Does ESPN think we're going to debate this in bars? Yes, here I am posting about it, but it's largely because there's little else to write about right now... and also, I'm not analyzing it or debating it because, well, it's retarded. If I had taken the total letters in the names of every player on the 1987 squad of each of these schools and arranged the teams in order of who had the most letters, the list would probably make just about as much sense.

Army #39, Oregon #53, Auburn #21, Iowa State #114, Rutgers #101..... uhhhhh, okay! Whatever you say, guys.

But tell me, who's more "now"?

We Have A Weiner

So clearly, the biggest winner last night wasn't Bill Self or Kansas or everyone who hates Memphis... no, it was reader Nick B for his winning entry, A WHOLE LOT OF 3'S. Nick (if that is indeed your real name) was consistent as hell, scoring 24 points in the first, second, third and fourth rounds, followed up by 16 in the semis and 32 in the national title. So he averaged 24 points per round for an impressive total of 144 points. He went 47-16 overall, which is pretty damn good.

Other honorable mentions have to include Mrs. Boilerdowd, who wound up in fourth place, which is just amazing. I led my co-editors here with a seventh-place finish, while Boilerdowd ended up in 14th and Tim was in 37th. Also of note, I successfully defended my sports honor against my wife, who after a very impressive start ended up 54th (still ahead of almost 30 of you). So I've got honor. And as we all know, once you get on her, stay on her. (Sorry, that's terrible.)

Anyway, so what does Nick B win for his trouble? Well, we thought it over and considered giving him a Nintendo Wii, a picture of Tim's sideboobs and a diaper from Boilerdowd's son (no telling what surprise might be in there). However, we decided that was all not enough fun so we're offering the Champeen of the BS Tourney Challenge Extravaganza his own post on this little-read, non-respected site that Terry Hutchens thinks sucks (seriously, he emailed me to tell me that... we'll be talking about it sometime, don't worry).

So, Nick B of A WHOLE LOT OF 3'S fame... shoot us an email at BoiledSports@gmail.com and let us know if you'd like to claim your prize. We'll give you a space here on Friday morning so plan on writing whatever you want to write by Thurs night or early Friday morning and send it on over.

Congrats to you, my good man.