Is that a corncob on your head, or are you just happy to see me?Well, it didn't take long for Big 12 fans to begin mocking Big Ten teams. You remember the Big 12, right? That conference that Big Ten expansion will probably force to dissolve?
Well, on Saturday, Cornhole Nation (I think that's what it's called -- can't remember) put up a "profile" of Purdue. It's what you might expect from a trade school graduate: uninformed.
Some highlights:
They put up a photo of the Boilers celebrating winning the Bucket and mock the empty stands and hold that up as evidence that it will be easy to "invade" Ross-Ade. Someone may want to tell them that photo is from a road game at Bloomington. Solid reporting.
They say this:
Purdue has just a scant few bragging points with regards to their football program.
And then immediately say this:
Purdue QB's have registered more NFL starts, and accounted for more NFL touchdowns than any other school. 15 Boilermaker quarterbacks have been sent to the NFL, with the most recent and notable being Super Bowl champ Drew Brees. PU has turned 3 of these (Len Dawson, and Bob Griese) into Super Bowl MVP's...also the most from any other school.
I'm curious... when is it not "scant" anymore? Also, how is Eric Crouch's NFL career going?
Some more:
Football Games are played at Ross-Ade (like Gatorade?) Stadium. Recent renovations have reduced it's former seating capacity from 70k down to around 62k seats. So, basically only about 30k will be seeing Purdue black and gold on Husker gamedays.
Ah, I see. Because 30,000+ Husker fans will invade Ross-Ade, right? Not sure if they're aware, but the Big Ten already has football programs like OSU and UM and I'm fairly sure there aren't 30,000+ fans of those programs in R-A when the Boilers play them. But yes, Nebraska, I'm sure your fans are different. Keep in mind, though, 612 miles is a long way to drive a tractor.
The only trophy tradition I could dig up for Purdue was the Old Oaken Bucket.
Must not have dug very hard.
Under a description of our fans, they write:
Smart people. Nerds. (77% of residents hold a bachelors degree or higher).
It tickles me that having a bachelor's degree in Nebraska makes you a nerd.
To their credit, they do share this link in the hopes that Purdue fans resemble her.
Go ahead and read the whole thing and be sure to check out the comments, too, as it didn't take long for Boilermakers to begin going after them. I look forward to the day when we can welcome the Cornhuskers to West Lafayette.
(Thanks to Eric for the heads up.)
13 comments:
Of course it makes one a nerd. Haven't you been to Nebraska? (To be fair, I've only been to Omaha once, for a business trip - don't laugh - and it was a nice, small city.)
I'm sure they could take 30,000 to an IU game. Nebraska fans do travel very well, from what I've heard. There are a couple of theories I've seen: one is that they travel because, well, there aren't major-league pro teams to follow. Another is that it isn't so much Nebraskans traveling as much as it is alums in the area attending. (Not that there are 30,000 alums in Indiana, I'd guess.)
I wouldn't worry about Ross-Ade being half-and-half, but it wouldn't surprise me if a Purdue-Nebraska game sold out, and there will be a lot of red in the stands.
Anyway, I think it's cute. They obviously like us or they wouldn't spend so much time writing about us.
My intent isn't to bash Nebraska, but I really hope the Big 10 doesn't add them. It really wouldn't make any sense. The expansion is all about money and TV viewers. How does expanding the B10 footprint into Nebraska add enough TV viewers or generate enough revenue?
Outside of the money issue, I still don't like the idea of adding Nebraska. Their football program is respectable, but not the powerhouse it once was. Their men's basketball program is downright awful. It will do nothing but lower Purdue's RPI and the Big Ten's conference RPI.
From a sports perspective, I don't like the idea of adding Rutgers either, but if they can at least deliver the NYC TV market, they make sense from a $$$ perspective.
Nebraska themselves wouldn't add much from a TV perspective: the two biggest markets combined are something like 750,000.
But as a part of an expansion package, what they provide are more events, and that would produce more revenue. In addition, while the two main sports may not be doing so well, the program as a whole is pretty solid (31st in last year's Directors Cup), and even in down times, the football team draws well, which means more money for their opponents.
If they're part of a Big 12 breakup and arrive with Missouri or something like that, then the geography is a decent match, but I'm not sure that geography is the main focus of expansion. I agree that money is the primary driver: academics is important and proximity would be nice, but if the consultants say that the best move would be to ask Texas, Texas A&M, Missouri, Nebraska, and Iowa State to apply, I suspect that's what they'd do. (Not that I think that's what the consultants would say.)
That Nebraska blogger really does make Erin Piroutek out to be a thoughtful and well-reasoned writer. Dear Lord that was a lazy post.
I felt embarrassed for Nebraska while reading their "article". Unfortunately for them, that's probably how knowledgeable they are most of the time.
First of all "most recent" should not describe Brees, a la Orton and Painter. How many other schools sent 3 quarterbacks to the NFL during the 2000s?
Secondly, it makes me sick that the first comment on the article is from an Iowa fan trying to describe Purdue gameday. Although he alludes to Breakfast Club and our general "niceness" he is apparently commenting from the year 1997, as the 'basketball on grass' reference comes out.
Let's get T-Mill to start another sbnation fight! Come on!
I see they still believe that the "N" on the helmet stands for knowledge.
From Frank The Tank's Slant
CANDIDATES TOTAL ADDED REVENUE ESTIMATE
Texas $101,369,004
Rutgers WITH NYC $67,798,609
Nebraska $54,487,990
Maryland $50,818,889
Boston College $48,382,692
Notre Dame $47,629,255
Kansas $46,320,092
Missouri $45,901,459
Syracuse $43,504,813
Connecticut $38,080,271
Pittsburgh $34,365,175
Iowa State $31,831,077
Syracuse WITH NYC $65,874,573
That's why Nebraska.
Chris -- nice pull on Erin.
nextcomment -- you make me laugh.
Wow. Not a good first impression of NU fans.
Michael R. - great point: follow the money. Nebraska puts butts in the seats for football games.
For bonus Nebraska fan thoughts, go to today's Tulsa World article about Missouri in the Big Ten. The article also provides anecdotal evidence that BXII is a really, really, dysfunctional family.
http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsextra/OU/article.aspx?subjectid=92&articleid=20100519_202_B1_ANYONE178350
At the bottom there is a comment from a Husker fan whose buddy's dentist's dog-walker claims that the Notre Dame & Texs want a sweetheart deal (including only 7 conference games), the Big East is pushing Notre Dame to the B10 in order to save the other schools (wah???), and Nebraska gets added because they are super awesome.
I think BHGP's heads would explode with the amount of material NU fans will provide.
Lemme get this straight . . . the blog post calls the Boilermakers smart, talented (quarterback U, B10 basketball titles), beautiful, and with great facilities (Mackey) and you somehow turn this into hatefuel? Wow.
Stay classy Boilermakers. Stay classy.
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