With no groundbreaking news until May 8th (a.k.a. Purdue basketball's Judgment Day) and the sultry background noise UEFA Champions League Soccer I figured it was as a good of a time as any for a Boilermakings. Some of these bits are old news, but with extended commentary.
Monroe Brooks dismissed from football team - Reader Ditch Parrott gets credit for the FanShot yesterday, while reader Phillip Sharon provides the likely reason why via e-mail today. Since Brooks was on the roster at the time of the event, that likely means some Fulmer Cup points for our Boilers, but not enough to reach the Big Board. Let's hope this is our only incident, as we came dangerously close to winning the whole thing in 2006 thanks to the legendary Kyle Williams. Your current leader is Minnesota, representing conference pride.
As for Brooks' actual dismissal, I think this hurts mostly from a depth perspective. I didn't see where he had been a projected starter on the O-Line. It is nice to see coach Hope take a hard like that this kind of crap won't be tolerated. Remember how many offenses Stu Schweigert racked up? How about Vinny Sutherland? Granted, they were key players and Brooks was a backup offensive linesman, but I am not a fan of showing favoritism that way.
Chris Kramer, FahKara Malone receive Big Ten Medal of Honor - This honor goes to a senior athlete at each school in the conference. We don't need to recount Kramer's accolades, but this is well deserved for Malone as well. Kramer also recently received the Varsity Walk Award for the outstanding senior who brings national recognition to Purdue athletics.
Jay simpson named best in State in Illinois - Credit to the Purdue Basketball blog, who is all over basketball recruiting. Simpson is a 2012 commit from Champaign
Women's Golf wins third straight Big Ten title - I mentioned this briefly in the last entry, but this is a well deserved honor for probably the most dominant program in the athletic department at the moment. Purdue has been a threat to win the National Championship in women's golf for several years now and is the class of the Big Ten. Purdue had three first team all-Big Ten selections in Maude-Aimee LeBlanc, Laura Gonzalez-Escallon, and Numa Gulyanamitta. Gonzalez-Escallon was the individual medalist at the event as Purdue broke its own four round conference record. The win also pulled Purdue into a tie with Indiana in the Crimson & Gold Cup Standings at 7.5 points apiece with five possible points remaining.
Mark Herrmann, Bart Burrell headed to Hall of Fame - It is the Indiana coaches Hall of Fame, but a nice honor no less.
Torri Williams signs with Texans - He'll join former Boilers Bernard Pollard and Jacques Reeves in the defensive backfield if he can make the roster.
Purdue fails to cause Boobquakes - Take that, Iranian clerics! Why the hell did this not happen when I was in school?
SEC wants to expand if the Big Ten expands - This suddenly got a whole lot more interesting. Imagine if the SEC adds Florida State and Miami to make it an even tougher football conference.
Keith Smith listed as a player who will blow up - I can definitely see a big season for him. There are few physical slot receivers like him in the conference. As a team, Purdue is listed as a surprise in the conference. Adam Rittenberg likes us too.
Purdue Rube Goldberg team does it again - This is really sports related, but a friend and former co-worker Brent Childers shot the video, so he gets a hat tip.
Finally, more on Big Ten expansion for basketball - This is a major reason that I only want to add one team so we can have a conference title game in football. I love the symmetry of the Big Ten basketball schedule right now. 12 would lessen that, while a full 16 teams would suck as much as it does in the Big East. I say again, how can you truly have a regular season champion with that unbalanced of a schedule? We've also already seen the Big Ten can't figure out the protected rivalry thing in basketball too. Do we really want to go six years between home and homes with IU?