No more preamble. Here is your OpenThread for the day.

How can we top yesterday? The first game had this, courtesy of reader dbaltman:

Then you have last night's evening session, where there was some, ahem, disagreement with the quality of officiating in both games. Today should be interesting because of the storylines in both games. You have two programs that have an outside shot at that 4th #1 seed, especially if you want to cheer for Mrs. T-Mill's Hurricanes against Duke. On the other side in each game, you have a pair of bubble teams that might have won their way into yesterday, but would probably like another win over said #1 seed contenders in order to make their place more secure.

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So we meet again, Northwestern. I give you the following talisman, found on the concourse of Conseco Fieldhouse, to exorcise the demon of our regular season loss:

We are live in Kokomo, Indiana at the official parents of Hammer & Rails. Today's visit was prompted by the 100th Indiana High School state basketball tournament. My beloved Wildkats are hosting the sectional this year and I got to see them begin their quest last night with a 68-52 win over Logansport. Tonight they go for their state record 71st sectional championship against Lafayette Jeff, and I will be there. In the meantime, its time for some free laundry and a championship GameThread from my parents house. This championship started last year with the following video. Today we finish the job. It is also appropriate that we finish this at Penn State. It was at Penn State that we broke our long road losing streak in 2007.

We're due for a good old fashioned passionate ass-whipping. I am in section 112 and the comments are open. I've also tried to personally turn the momentum by watching Hoosiers this afternoon. It is an early March tradition for me before my teams get into tournament time. Since Kokomo starts their run on Friday and Purdue needs help, it was time. Have at it, gents.

Five players on the floor functioning as one single unit: team, team, team - no one more important that the other.

What is there to say about this? Robbie is gone, the two teams in front of us in the rankings just lost by eight points or more, one lost to a team we have already beaten (and that has beaten the other team in front of us), the entire country is doubting us, and a win all but secures our first regular season Big Ten title in 14 years. If there is truly a God out there, we win today by double digits and make a statement that, in fact, we are not dead motherf*****s.


T-Mill is in section 112, row 13 today. You guys are on your own for the OpenThread, so get it done through your TVs. Let's do this!

Because I can, here is every Purdue fan's favorite memory of a Boiler trip to Minnesota. It certainly beats Mike Alstott running for 4,000 yards, only to lose 59-56 because Jim Colletto doesn't know what defense is.

One year ago today Hammer & Rails went live. 517 members later it is going about 10 times strong than I could have ever expected. I thank everyone who has stopped by over the past year. You have helped make this one of the best Big Ten communities out there, and you have helped me achieve some of my dreams through this site. I know it is silly, but it really means a lot to me that this thing has come so far that it is getting national attention (even when I don't attack Syracuse).

So let's celebrate today with a win. I have a crazy busy day today, so I don't know how much I'll be able to comment during the OpenThread. Currently, I am LiveBlogging the Butler-Siena game for Rush the Court. Tonight I am covering the Danville North Central game as Travis Carroll's undefeated Warriors (ranked #1 in Indiana class 3A) visit Terone Johnson's Panthers (ranked #2 in Indiana Class 4A). This is all part of a basketball orgy, as I had the joy of covering my beloved Wildkats last night when they clinched their first conference title in seven years. Between games I have a lot of errands to run, but I am hoping to be home for at least the second half. Until then, you kids are running the show.

I'll bring beer.

This is where boredom happens. The Gamethread is live 3 hours early for a variety of reasons today:

1. I am so bored I am watching UEFA Champions League Soccer on Fox Soccer Channel. (Ah the life of the unemployed)

2. I forgot to mention Ryne Smith as needing a nickname in this morning's entry. Fortunately, reader Olafmetal provided a great one with "The Love Pump."

3. I gave up covering a high school game for this, so it had better be worth it. I was supposed to cover it last night, but after driving an hour to get there I discovered it was postponed because of the sheer terror that is a quarter inch of snow and no one knew about it.

So we have a game thread. Once again, here is you list of nicknames to use tonight: