We have one day left until Christmas. It is time for all good little Boilermakers to relax and take stock of what we have been blessed with. I know this has been a rough year, both personally and for Purdue, but I am still thankful for the blessings that God has given us. Christmas has always been about giving. Its root, of course, is God giving his Son to the world as a Savior. This is something to be thankful for, and it inspires the spirit of giving that I hope I have carried over to this site.
Personally, I am thankful for all of you readers and that I can pour a lot into this humble website. I have received a lot of comments lately on how I have time to do everything I do here. SB Nation is pretty much amazed that H&R has the numbers it has with one person handling over 80% of the content. Most sites with our numbers have the amount of content I churn out alone produced by 3-5 guys. Honestly, I am blessed with the time do what I do because SB Nation now pays me to work their news desk from home as my main job. Basically, this has become my job, and I am happy to do it because I can't imagine a better job for me.
I am also thankful for the co-contributors who do a lot for this site as well. I never imagined that this site would grow into something that got so big that it needed to expand beyond me. I am grateful for everyone that helps though. Andy is a passionate Purdue basketball fan that has a gift for covering recruiting, which is one of my weaknesses. Riley is a hardworking young spy with Our Most Hated Rival that reminds me of myself about 10 years ago. Juan's volleyball coverage is unparalleled, with only Black Shoe Diaries coming close to his quality and passion. Five straight national titles will do that, however. Michael, our women's basketball writer, is a busy young man, but he gives our ladies a strong voice. John Wadas provides us with excellent knowledge of beer, which is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. Jordan and Keith have also provided excellent coverage of Purdue basketball over the past year.
I want to publically thank all of them for their contributions over the past year. This site is really a passion of mine, but it nice that they can help it grow even further beyond what I thought it could be.
Finally, I want to put together Purdue's Christmas wish list, as these are the things I think we all want to see in 2012:
- For Robbie Hummel - A healthy, all-Big Ten campaign that gets him drafted, hopefully by the Celtics.
- For the basketball team - a National championship sometime in the near future. Ryan Bucher recently e-mailed me with a debate question: Would you take 10 straight Final Fours without a National title, or a title followed by 10 winless seasons. I'd take a title. I just want one and the national respect that would come from it. We have a stigma of being the best college basketball program to never win the NCAA Tournament. That needs to end (and we all regret that it might already be over if not for That Game).
- For the football team - A healthy 2012 where it all comes together. I like Danny Hope. He is a nice guy and a passionate Purdue patriot. Now that OSU has abstained from the 2012 Big Ten race, I hope it all comes together for a surprising run in 2012.
- For the volleyball team - a healthy 2012 and a trip to the Final Four. Dave Shondell has turned this program into the pride of the athletic department. The time has come for the next step, especially since we can get four straight home games in the NCAAs.
- For Drey Mingo - This young woman deserves to become the best pediatric cardiologist in the world after all she has been through in the last two years.
- For the women's basketball team - A completely healthy year. This team has suffered more ACLs per capita than anyone else.
- For the baseball team - an NCAA Tournament invite. We go into 2012 as the most loaded we have ever been at Purdue. With a challenging schedule the time has come to return to the NCAAs for the first time in 25 years and to win the Big Ten for the first time in 103 years.
- For Drew Brees - Dan Marino's single-season passing yardage record. Of all these things listed, this is the most likely to happen. I'm not the only one thinking that we will someday see Mr. Brees making an acceptance speech in Canton, hopefully combined with Baylen and Bowen Brees announcing that they are returning to the Cradle as 5-star prep quarterbacks.
- For Kyle Orton - an Eff You season. KO has been so disrespected by the Bears and Broncos that I wish him an Eff You season where he leads a team to the playoffs with wins over Denver and Chicago along the way.
- For JaJuan Johnson and E`Twaun Moore - a successful beginning to their NBA careers and a role on an NBA championship team. Kevin Garnett has already taken JJ as his padawan learner. If Ray Allen can do the same with Smooge I think we'll see both around for awhile, especially if Rob gets drafted by Boston as their next Larry Bird.
- For Cody Zeller - a season worthy of a top 5 NBA draft pick and two losses to Purdue (just kidding... maybe).
- To you readers - You have already given me so much, so I wish you peace, prosperity, and God's guidance and wisdom on your lives going forward. I thank you for another wonderful year of doing what I do here.