DJ, Dru and an Old Guy Hoop It Up, Trickster Style

If you follow us on Twitter, then you saw this in our feed a couple of days ago. But for those who are resisting the siren song that is the nonsense of Twitter, check out the below video of Dru Anthrop, DJ Byrd and Ryne Smith demonstrating once again just how different their mastery of a basketball is than yours. As though there was any doubt.

Is Hail Fire a Great Tradition?

If you are a true Purdue fan you know Hail Fire and either love it or hate it.  It's one of those things that's become a custom in our Boilermaker society, just like Lebron, and Tebow are in everyday society; you either love it or hate it.

The Exponent wrote an article today claiming Hail Fire to be one of the greatest traditions at Purdue, which leads us to this... why?

Sure it's fun, and sure it sets a tone for what a lot of Boilermakers are about but one of the greatest traditions at Purdue? Give me a break!

Purdue is so rich in history and tradition this is like saying Pacquiao got his ass kicked against Timothy Bradley -- it's just not true.

With this article being written, there has been some speculation that the chant will be taken away, which could very well happen.

It's already been banned at Volleyball games and whether we will hear it again is still in question.

What really gets me about all of this talk isn't the chant, because I have participated in it my share of times, but the clout that it is being given. It's being put next to things like fountain runs, the Oaken Bucket and Breakfast Club. It just doesn't belong in that category.

With the reactionary athletic department at Purdue, don't be surprised if the cheer is gone, at least at Mackey.  It's not something to be upset about, I don't think, because it's just another chant; there will be more.  It's still among the loudest arenas in the country in my opinion and nothing can take that away.

Maybe after all we should quit worrying about those people (this word is used liberally) down south and cheer on our team.

Purdue Athletics Department Plans Something Awesome!

Did you read that headline right? On this website??? Yes you did. Yes, we're complimenting Burke and company. Why? because it's deserved.

Here's what they're doing:

On August 4th, a bunch of old guys* who used to play basketball for Purdue will suit up again to play against one another for your delight and entertainment**.

Distinguished.

You'll see heroes of yesteryear like Troy Lewis, Todd Mitchell, Brian Cardinal, Kenneth Lowe, Carson Cunningham, David Teague, Matt Kiefer, Bobby Buckets, Tarrance Crump, Marcus Green, Chris Kramer, Mark Wohlford along with maybe even a few more...and the youngest old guy on this list (so far), Ryne Smith.

After the alums play one-another in a game-til-the-death,*** the whipper-snappers will suit up for their last and only tune-up scrimmage in front of a live, studio audience before heading to Italy.  That's right- not only will you get to see some of your favorite Boilers from the 80s, 90s, 00s and 10s, you'll also get to see the future of Purdue basketball...from Byrd and Anthrop's c/o '13 to the class of '16 (or '17, depending on RS), on together on the court for the first time, to the public.

Jay Simpson's surgically-repaired foot should be ready by then...so everyone should be playing.  Also, you'll get to see DJ Byrd's dialed-in jump shot- he's been working with ex-Purdue great (possibly greatest), Rick Mount.

How much would you pay for all of this? $1,000,000? No. $10 US.  Not too shabby.  For me, August fourth is now the light at the end of the tunnel of my summer doldrums.  Usually, that date is pretty cheery for me anyway, as I mark the anniversary of my birth on that day each year, but this year, it'll be extry-special as I'll be watching a real sport**** after months of regular season MLB baseball being nearly all that's available.

J and I talked about this event...and we thought the possibilities for upcoming games might be endless. You see, this is the first time and event like this has ever been hosted by Purdue.  What if they tweaked it next time, and invited back transfers to play Purdue greats- maybe you'd see Smooge raining treys over Clyburn, Landry posting up Vanderveran, Lutz trying to stop David Lesmond, Minnoy being swatted guarded by JJ or Hummel stealing his old pal, Martin's, lunch money.

One can dream.

But for now, we don't need to dream...Instead, just know that in 52 short days, you're all invited back to Mackey to send off the new Baby Boilers, and co. to Italia in style.

*"Old guys" is a completely subjective term...some old guys might or might not be 12 years younger than the writer of this post.

**Warning! The last time something like this was planned by the athletic department was a flag football game for Boiler football alums...that game was rained out.  All signs point to this not being a possibility in Mackey Arena.

***Not really.

****I'm sure this will piss off some of the readers...dag-nabbit, I just wrote about Purdue baseball; can't win, I guess.






Addendum: Does anyone know if AC was installed into Mackey during last year's renovation?  I think not...hydrate and wear flowy clothing.

The Story Behind The Iconic Hummel Pic

You probably remember this photo from November 2011. After the Boilers narrowly avoided the humiliation of losing on their home court to High Point, Rob Hummel came back out and went back to work on his free throws. You may recall that he missed a couple of crucial FTs late in that game. Never mind that he looked gassed and was just getting his legs back after 20 months away from real games. Rob certainly didn't appear to see that as an excuse and I distinctly remember his reaction after missing the FTs and still winning -- Hummel looked like he wanted to punch himself in the face.

So he shot free throw after free throw, late into the evening. Cliff Brunt, who is working on a fantastic site he calls Indy Sports Legends, writes for the AP and was able to snap that photo. If you click here, you can read his story about that photo, the situation around it, and his thoughts about why it resonated. My favorite part of his analysis is the following:

The photo exemplified everything people already believed about Robbie. Hard work. Determination. Winner. Leadership, indeed.

And that's just it. People need heroes in their lives, even of the sports variety. Sometimes we build someone up because we want them to be the pure, wonderful person we need them to be. Sometimes -- like with Rob -- they even live up to it.

The Stadium Journey Returns to Mackey

Those of you who remember The Stadium Journey and their review of Ross-Ade will be happy to know that they returned to campus for the game against High Point to review Mackey. Evidently, Paul Swaney, co-founder of the Stadium Journey received a lot of feedback on his prior visit to Mackey -- and not in a good way. To that I would say, well, it's just one fella's opinion and he's more than entitled to it. We all love Mackey but then again, wouldn't we love it no matter what?

Paul decided to come back, though, and review the new and improved Mackey Arena. His review is here and it is glowing. Enjoy.

Mackey Ticket Update

The Mackey reallocation process is now complete, as per the University.

Morgan Burke spoke about the news:

"First and foremost, I want to thank our loyal John Purdue Club members for bearing with us during the last two months," athletics director Morgan Burke said. "My pledge to you in April was that we would be ready and willing to assist, and I hope everyone who went through the process found the tools manageable and our staff accommodating. At the same time, we recognize there is disappointment by some individuals who had to move out of seats they held for many years."

"Of course," he did not add, "as I also reminded you in the spring, if more of you cheap jerks gave us your money there wouldn't be a risk of Matt Painter leaving. Take your new seats and like 'em."

On a more useful note, remaining upper level tickets will go on sale to the general public tomorrow and you can get them by calling the ticket office or ordering them online. The price is $394 for a season ticket, plus $100 labeled as a "Legacy Fund donation." Yeah, so about $500 clams gets you a season ticket. Still seems like a good deal to me.

Also, some of those high-roller courtside seats remain available to JPC members at the "All-American" level and above. Not sure how many readers we have in that category, but if we do, have at 'em and don't worry about any waste -- we'll be glad to take any games you can't use off your hands.

Boilers Plan To Exact Revenge on Northern Illinois

The Purdue athletic department, cunning and skillful as we know them to be, has scored another coup with the scheduling of Northern Illinois as the black and gold's first victim at the new and improved Mackey Arena.

On 11/11/11 (why we're all so hell bent on it being that date is still lost on me), the Boilermakers will open the new arena (well, technically the volleyball team will christen it a few days earlier -- makes perfect sense to Morgan Burke) against the Huskies.

Remember, this is the university that humbled Danny Hope's Boilers two years ago and led to truly professional cheering in the pressbox by those "covering" the Huskies. Well, after lecturing Boilerdowd on his tawdry pressbox behavior (we're still trying to figure out why he was talked down to by the athletic department but those stooges were apparently not), the school has done their best to find a way to get back at Northern Illinois by rubbing a win in their faces.

Hey, it was this or diving.

On Senior Night, JJ and E'Twaun Do What They Do: Win 75-67

Thank you.

The game almost felt secondary tonight, as the Boiler faithful sent off 33 and 25 with many resounding Mackey cheers, as thanks for four years of dedication and hard work. Once again, the place was clearly deafening even through the TV broadcast. Let's say that first, everyone: great work again, especially the Paint Crew who always brings it.

As is always a concern on a night like this, the home team fell behind. However, it wasn't really that Purdue was playing poorly -- Illinois was just shooting the lights out and playing like the team we all thought they were capable of bring this season. Of course, that only lasted about ten minutes and then they reverted to the Illinois who resides on the bubble.

The Illini rode that hot early shooting to a 13 point advantage of 31-18. From then on, the Boilermakers ground them into dust, outscoring Illinois 57-36 the rest of the way. Yeah, that's a little more like it.

The forces of good showed again how this team just might be a little different than some of the others over the years. There has -- as of yet -- been no terrible letdowns. Beating Wisconsin was followed by a convincing win over OSU which was follwed by the requisite beatdown of IU which was followed by a senior night victory over Illinois. Assuming they can close the deal against the lowly Hawkeyes this weekend, this will end one of the best regular season stretches we've ever seen from Purdue, and that includes some pretty great seasons.

As for the game itself tonight, the scoring leaders were -- who else? -- JJ and E'Twaun, who had 23 and 18, respectively. They combined for over 50% from the field, 4 of 9 from three, seven assists, 11 rebounds, three steals and two blocks. Two performances indictative of the seasons these fine young men have had. Both Smooge's steals resulted in breakaways; one ended with a one-handed jam and the other with an "and 1" three-point play.

Kelsey Barlow effectively got under McCamey's thin skin tonight, as well, and though McCamey's numbers wound up pretty good (18 points on 50% shooting) it's tempered by the fact that most of his damage was done early in the game.

Ryne Smith chipped in 8 points and 9 big rebounds, not to mention a level of hyperness I haven't seen out of him this year. He was bouncing around, flailing his arms, playing to the crowd...Ryno was having some fun. And I love it. It looks to me like this guy is ready to be a senior.

Lewis Jackson had a fairly quiet night but as has been the habit of this team, the mythical "third scorer" baton was passed again -- this time to DJ Byrd. DJ hit three treys and scored 16 points, to go along with his seven rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block. Not a bad all-around game from a guy who when he plays his next game in Mackey will only be a junior.

Matty shortened the bench considerably tonight, with only eight guys seeing the floor. I don't know if this was just an anomaly or a sign of how things will tighten up as we head into March basketball.

Senior night was perfect for the seniors themselves, as JaJuan had another game that typifies his season this year, as well as a beautiful monster jam off a feed from DJ Byrd. It reminded one of so many jams that made us talk about what a manchild JJ was.

And Smooge had his jam on the breakaway (not bad for an "unathletic" guy), but more a propos of his time in black and gold was his final basket of the night, a triple with two guys in his face and under a minute to go, the shot clock down to 4 seconds and the Boilers leading 69-64. Naturally, it rattled home as the sniper hit his target.

I can only imagine how great it was to be in the house tonight. This team loves one another and it is very obvious. They want to succeed together and they want to celebrate those successes with one another. We've seen a lot of Purdue teams and at the moment it's hard to think of one that is more cohesive than this one. A lot of that is probably because of Matt Painter, but a lot also has to do with the character of these young men.

As much as the guys are enjoying the ride, one thing that remains very clear as you watch this team is that each of these victories, milestones, steps and celebrations are all seemingly part of the journey... the mission continues.

Changing the thinking at Purdue

Every athletic department and subsequent fanbase has a culture. The culture is often shaped by records and can be changed by the mentality of coaches. For this reason, I'm excited about what's going on around the football/basketball complex in West Lafayette.

A young Gene Keady and a younger Joe Tiller both believed that championships were a possibility each season at Purdue. But as their time on campus drew to a close, both had significantly changed their outlook. Complaints about facilities, problems with recruiting big-time talent, competition for those players and the fanbase all became themes for both coaches.

I think these complaints set the fanbase back as well. There were clear divides among the fans whether Tiller and Keady should stay or leave during their closing seasons at Ross Ade and Mackey, respectively. No one wanted to disrespect what these men had done for the athletic department, but many, myself included, thought they were both dismantling what they had built as they began losing more and more games that they wouldn't have lost in seasons prior...And the resulting recruiting classes left both programs in difficult positions.

Matt Painter is not Gene Keady...we all know that. He might have been picked with the help of Keady to succeed him, and he played and coached under Keady, he's his own guy. He's not as animated on the court, he runs a different offense, he goes after different types of players...but like Keady years before, he has his team in the position to win conference championships...and maybe do something Keady never could- win a national title. The media certainly believes Matty's team should be in the pre-season conversations.

Like Painter, Danny Hope is not his predecessor...Granted, he has a handsome mustache like the guy before him and he coached under Tiller, but it might stop there. With Hope, we still don't know a lot about what's coming down the shoot. But what we do know, is he's a bit of a bulldog- he scowls when he's angry, gets after officials, is demonstrative in practice and has an idea of what his team should be...I think speed is his number one focus, and if the talent level can steadily rise with each recruiting class, Hope's teams, like Painter's might soon be in the talk for conference titles or better each season...time will tell.
I just watched a video detailing the facilities around Mackey Arena that are being built...I'm excited about the changes. But, I've heard some of the Purdue family saying that a new arena was the answer, not a change to the existing facility.

I don't agree. I like Mackey and like the fact that it's a loud place and the fans are close to the action while having a good view from about any seat in the arena. Many new arenas have the fans set further away from the court and have boxy designs that don't give the sight lines that the in-the-round arenas have.

The attached practice facility and other student athlete facilities will help all sports and will provide an instant big-time look as fans and athletes alike head toward the complex while driving down Northwestern. Painter believes these facilities will help recruiting...they might already be doing so...but the average 17/18 year old will be more impressed with the real thing than they will with sketches and computer models.

On the football side, the medical facilities in the new buildings will help out and the offices, study and training rooms will aide Hope's recruiting in a season-or-two. Plus, there's still talk about changing Ross-Ade, and it'll probably happen before Burke's time as AD is over at Purdue. I don't think any of those plans are set just yet, but I don't know if stadium expansion makes much sense unless the fanbase and the market demands it. The improvements to Ross-Ade a few seasons ago were a big step forward, but the fans really hold the keys to what comes next, it seems.

This is where the mentality of the fanbase comes into the equation of changing the future of Purdue athletics. This is an issue from the 50 year alum down to the Freshman who just stepped onto campus this fall.

Purdue has around 400,000 alums...I'd have to guess that 200,000 are within three hours of West Lafayette. Yet, Ross-Ade wasn't close to full for the Toledo home opener. Sure, some have been de-energized by the last few seasons, and the economy is still pretty horrible, but empty seats send a loud message to recruits...and there were plenty of them two Saturdays ago.

I don't think a sold-out Ross-Ade stadium each Saturday is going to happen any time soon, but at minimum, I'd like to see and ravenous, vociferous and consistent student section...there's no reason this can't happen. The tickets are price well for the students, and the student base is large while the stadium is easy to get to.

On the alum side, if more seats can't be filled, is it too much to ask for more energy and enthusiasm? It probably is for many of the old guys...but there are plenty of people who graduated in the 70s, 80s, 90s and 00s that are in the seats who have let the crappy culture of Ross-Ade take the moxy out of the crowd.

It should never be a negative for a fan to stand up and yell during defensive stands...but, both at Mackey and Ross-Ade, I've been told to sit down numerous times just for cheering on the defense. To me, that's inexcusable...And until it changes in West Lafayette, the homefield advantage for our Boilers will not exist as it should.

My commission is simple- if you only make it to one game this season, make it worth while and get up every time you feel like cheering...and leave without a voice. If you've got season tickets, you should be well-trained by the time the Big Ten season starts to yell each time the defense is on the field and the Kafka tries to check out of the play initially sent in by the Wildcat coaches.

If you're sitting between the 30s, especially on the press box side, you might get a hard time...but there's strength in numbers...and an old dog can learn new tricks...even one who graduated 40 years ago and is set in the idea that he only stands during halftime. These people in the seats that I can't afford are paramount in equation of making RA a formidable place to play again.

I really believe Hope will do his part in the coming seasons as he wins more and more games...especially if he's able to pay his staff their market value, but if you don't think crowds are important, read some comments by various recruits during the past few weeks. These young kids can have their minds changed by the support, or lack thereof, in the crowd around the field...Let's start the three-game homestand off the right way this week.

There are supposed to be a good amount of recruits at the game...a couple DBs from Florida might help sure up the defensive backfield in '10 and after. And even though Northern Illinois isn't aOSU or UND, they're still a solid bowl team...the Huskies are pretty good. Here's to NIU's team feeling uncomfortable all Saturday afternoon. Let me just say that gaining homefield advantage doesn't mean hurling curse words and insults at the opposition or, especially, visiting fans. Leave the classless behavior to Wisconsin and Iowa fans...and the stuck-up bitchiness to the Domers.

The paradigm shift to the thinking around Purdue's athletic department can start this week...and Ross-Ade can once-again become a tough place to play for opponents.

Palin the Newscaster

Okay, so I know many other sites had this over the weekend but we were taking it easy. Reader Patrick provided this to us and gave us the possibility of being ahead of the curve but hey, we're not newsbreakers here.

But there's a video on YouTube of Sarah Palin doing the sports on the local newscast in, supposedly, Anchorage. Now, I don't know how everyone is so certain this is her, but there's also speculation on it being "definitely the 10 o'clock news." Which is weird, because she gives in-progress score updates during the clip. And if the Bulls are playing the Clippers in Chicago and they're only in the third quarter, this cannot possibly be the 10 PM news in Alaska. Because that would be after 1 AM in Chicago.

Anyway, here she is. And you can see why she didn't pursue this career path. Oh, and the connection to us, of course, is that Purdue is ranked second in the nation in hoops and is playing at, uhm, "McKay Arena." Or something.



I also love that she builds up the Knicks-Nets highlight by talking about Willis Reed facing his old team at the Meadowlands and then..... okay, here's the score. Thanks for playing.

She also takes the time to hammer the Minnesota North Stars for how bad they suck and then... shows that they're winning their game. Nice connection, Sarah.

Boiled Sports Best Sports Venues (# 5-1)

We've addressed it before, but our Best Sports Venues has a few issues that are inherent that we can't overcome. First off, we haven't visited every park, arena and stadium in America. I think all of us have venues that we'd still love to visit. I'd like to see a football game at the University of Oregon as well as in the SEC, for instance. But, we scored the venues in multiple categories and tried to place venues at the top that were the best places to watch a contest.

Baseball parks dominate our top-5...My theory on why baseball parks are the best places to watch a sporting event is simple- The game is simply not as exciting and you'd better have a great place to enjoy it or no one will come. There's a Triple-A park here in Indy that's a lot like many of the parks across America. It's a family-first atmosphere, the views of the field are great from anywhere, it's clean, they have great concessions and broad concourses and the seats are comfy. A baseball game is a conversation event where you go to watch with someone you like being around. That's not necessarily the case for football or basketball because all of that pesky action gets in the way of your conversation.

So, do I agree with every choice in our top-20? No. But, I think the venues are all there for a reason. One or multiple members of the BS staff really liked watching a sports contest there...The top-5 are truly great places to watch a game.

5.
This arena was first built in 1967 and has a capacity of 14,123. Its first contest hosted the Lou Alcindor-led UCLA Bruins versus the home team and the last contest for this venue isn't going to be for a long time. Why? Because it will be drastically updated in about 2 years. This renovation will cost nearly $100 million once it's completed and will actually down size the capacity by about 800 seats. While it's not the greatest-looking facility from the outside, inside it is a great place to take in a college basketball game. The sightlines are excellent and the tunnels are wide for entry and exit. The concessions are a bit dated and the concourses also reflect the era in which the facility was built, but these pitfalls didn't keep it out of our top-5. Mackey Arena is also designed in a manner that the sound is directed at the court and opposing players have often said they can't hear their team mate next to them when the place is rocking.

4.
Another basketball arena is next up on our list. This venue has had four different buildings, but the current version was opened in 1968 and had a pricetag of $123 million. It's been the home of AHL, NHL, WNBA and most notably the New York Knicks. It's been called the greatest arena in the world...and according to the Boiled Sports staff, it's our highest-rated basketball arena as well. Madison Square Garden has a capacity just below 20,000 for basketball, over 18,000 for hockey, 20,000 for concerts and its adjoining theater can hold 5,600 spectators. As a WNBA facility, it will hold right around 5,000 burly ladies (due to heavy partitioning). MSG gets high marks for its tremendous location, great sightlines and gut feeling. Even as a guy who has no attachment to NYC and its sports teams, I still felt like it was a special place...and I don't even like the NBA.

3.
The next venue is probably the most interesting sports venue in our countdown. It's boasts of a train that runs on a wall in left field (that pays homage to the fact that it sits on the old Houston Union Station), a hill in center field, a retractable roof, and one of the oddest-shaped outfields in MLB. It was opened in 2000 and has a capacity of nearly 41,000. The layout of this ballpark is cozy in the fact that the fans are close to the action. It was originally called Enron...which I don't know why the name was changed. Minute Maid Park, home of the Houston Astros replaced one of the eight wonders of the manmade world and still improved upon that engineering marvel. One more noteworthy feature of the field is the fact that it has a natural grass surface in spite of its retractable roof. The architecture is excellent, in my opinion, in the simple fact that they managed to make the building look attractive even though they roof is one of the largest superstructures I've ever seen in person.

2.
The next venue was opened in 1994 and has a capacity of over 43,000. This park, as referenced earlier in our countdown, helped revitalize a portion of its host city's downtown. We're not the only ones who find this park to be a great place to watch a game. Sports Illustrated called it the best park in the majors in 2008. No matter which name you call it, Jacobs Field, The Jake or Progressive Field, it's a great place to watch a game...even if the Indians are playing. Jacobs Field has a nice view of the city over the scoreboard in left field and doesn't have a red brick facade that so many of the new MLB parks seem to have right now. Instead, they built it with an aesthetically-pleasing external structure that looks like well-thought out scaffolding combined with yellow brick and stone. Its hosted an All-Star game as well as a couple World Series games. Comfort, atmosphere and amenities nearly earned this venue the number one spot on our list.

Number One


If you're like me, and you've only seen this park from the outside, or if you're like J and Tim and have watched a game there, you know this park is noteworthy. It's location is great as it sits on the bay of its host city. Its architecture is retro, but not cliche and it can be easily reached by patrons via foot, car, train and even boat. It scored highly in every category except the fact that Tim and J had only visited it once. From sightlines, to location, to comfort to gut feeling, it earned its composite score of 43 out of 50. Like many of the newer venues on our list, it replaced a dog of a stadium (Candlestick) and San Francisco did it right when they built Pac Bell Park (now called AT&T). Everything was thought out, even the advertisement for Coke outside of left field is cool. It took three years for the park to be completed and unlike most parks built in the 2000s, was built without any public funds. There are statues all around the ballpark paying homage to Giant greats...the most noteworthy part of the park, its backyard is named after Willie McCovey (McCovey Cove). The park has hosted bowl games, XFL games (both with a screwy one sideline arrangement), an All-Star game, World Series games and even record-setting homerun games. The guy who set the home run record also has hit the most shots into McCovey's Cove...15 in all. The Giants won't be leaving this 41,000 seat venue for New York anytime soon; they signed a 66 year lease for their homefield when it was completed.

(This is the final installment of the Boiled Sports Best Sports Venue Series...But check back in for the Boiled Sports Readers Sports Venue Poll in the very near future.)

You're Welcome, Purdue.

With five individuals giving $1 million gifts to Purdue's athletic department, the Mackey Arena Renovation is closer to being a reality.

One of the donors, Dr. Donald Shelborne helped me rehab my ankle with his revolutionary cryo-cuff system back in '94...I of course paid him for the service, and he invested my money wisely...thus, I am partially responsible for Dr. Shelborne's sizeable gift.

In other words, you're welcome, Purdue.

In Good Hands With Morgan Burke

It’s been officially decided – Purdue’s plan to build a new basketball arena in 2025 has been put on hold. Wait, what? Yes, you read that right – the school had a plan in place to use Mackey Arena until that time and then build a new $300 million arena, at a time when arenas could cost who-knows-what amount. Perhaps the idea was to generate excitement and make Mackey tickets a must-have, sort of like seeing a game at Yankee Stadium before they move out.

Anyway, that plan has been scrapped and instead Mackey will undergo more than $80 million worth of renovations. Presumably these renovations might include seats with backs to them and a video board. You know, to get up to 1980s standards, at least.

Don’t get me wrong – I love Mackey. But it’s definitely time to spruce the place up.

Morgan Burke, Purdue’s athletic director may have overstated Mackey’s historical significance a bit when he said, "To build a brand new facility you lose the history and the tradition of this building. You have a 40-year brand that is known all over the globe. It added up to us."

Yes, when children in Nepal heard of the planned new arena in 18 years, they went on a hunger strike. Known all over the globe indeed.

Burke went on to compare the facelifted Mackey to Camden Yards in Baltimore, saying that Mackey “could become the Camden Yards of college basketball arenas.” Except, presumably, that it wouldn’t be an open-air stadium and would continue to have hardwood and not grass. But otherwise, just like Camden Yards.

Interestingly, the expected seating capacity of the revised Mackey will drop, from 14,123 to roughly 13,300.

The only downside to this project, which is expected to take place over the next five years, is that it puts an indefinite hold on the Ross-Ade Stadium renovations going on across the street. Phase 2, as its known, would entail putting a second level over the East stands of the Stadium. And it’s on hold because of the arena renovations.

"You're not going to do the deck during this five-year period. You just can't," athletic director Morgan Burke said.

I don’t really understand why he’s speaking in the second person like that, but it’s neither here nor there, I guess.

Burke has consistently said he would prefer the football team's season ticket base reach 50,000 before adding the deck.

Yes, Morgan, well, we’d like a football team with national significance and a few ten-win seasons. Tell you what, I’m sure if you provide that, your season ticket goal will be easily reached.

What I don’t quite get is the point of this desired deck to go over the East stands. According to the article, it would seat about 8,500. Then they’d remove the bleachers from the South end zone, which seat 7,000, leaving a net increase of 1,500 seats. Really? Our goal is to go from 62,500 capacity to 64,000?

In the meantime, the Mackey Arena project will benefit the football program.

The Boilermakers currently have two outdoor practice fields adjacent to the Mollenkopf Athletic Center, one that's 100 yards long and another that stretches only 70 yards.

To make room for parts of the arena project, two side-by-side 100-yard practice fields will be built just south of the current Grand Prix track, which eventually will be moved to the west campus.

Well, this could explain some of the Boilers problems with getting into the end zone. Perhaps the week they were shut out by Penn State 12-0 they had been practicing on the 70-yard field and just weren’t accustomed to having to go a full 100 yards.

Blog-hating Joe Tiller provides some amusing copy:

"We thought we could survive on 70 yards, but the reality is it's very difficult to do that because, for instance, at no time can you practice your two-minute game," Tiller said. "And we have to kick off from the 10-yard line to simulate where the kickoff is.”

Yes, and you have to leave somebody’s hat and shoe at one end to mark where the end zone is and you have to hope nobody throws the ball into Mr. Furley’s yard or else we’ll never get it back.

When the arena project is completed, Burke believes the next major goal should be to add the deck to the stadium.

"I don't want people to think we've lost sight of doing it," he said. "I think we need to do it, it's when you should do it. (The arena) project will take priority over the next four or five years. It probably eliminates your remaining obvious deficiencies in your facilities.”

My facilities? Are you talking about my bathroom, Morgan?

I do like that Burke doesn’t want people to think they’ve lost sight of doing Phase 2 to the stadium. Especially given that he says the following things in the same article:

"I think at that point in time, if all the stars line up, the university needs to think long and hard about if that's the right time to finish Phase 2.”

“…strategically, I do think that deck is the way you finish the stadium, and I think it needs to be done. But I don't have a timeline for it.”

“Whether you ever get to Phase 3 (adding a deck on the north end of the stadium), I don't know."

Thanks for clearing all that up, Morgan. Glad you’re our athletic director. And people wonder why Boilermaker fans are a cranky bunch.