Good evening, dear readers. As some of you who follow the Twitter stream probably know by now, my impending credential for this week's Big Ten Tournament has been revoked. This was an event that was an amazing step forward for the site last year, and it established a legitimacy that I had never dreamed of. Over a month ago, I was approved to return to this year's tournament, and I was gearing up coverage not only for this site, but for SBNation's Chicago and Indiana regional sites as well.
Unfortunately, I received a call today from the Big Ten that my credential is now denied, due to not being on Purdue's media list for the season. I have spoken with SBNation and they have worked with Purdue to try and get me back in, but the athletic department will not budge. The Big Ten is fine with having me, in fact they are willing to credential another SBNation writer willing to cover my planned work there, but Purdue itself does not want me there.I was even told that had I applied through the SBNation regional Indiana site instead of SBNation - Purdue things would be fine right now.
So where do we go from here? We move forward. I have worked with SBNation and I plan to sit down with Purdue's Sports Information Department later this spring to find out exactly what I need to do in order to avoid this in the future. At this point, I am dumbfounded as to what else needs to be fixed, but I am willing to do whatever it takes because these on location reports make the site that much better. I feel I am representing Purdue well, as the site has grown exponentially. The numbers for February were easily four times greater than the numbers for last February. I have to be doing something right, otherwise you great readers wouldn't keep coming back.
I will still be covering the tournament form home like I have so many of the other games this season. That means the usual Open threads and everything.
I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for making this site what it is. It is a pleasure to have you as an audience, and I am honored that many of you consider me an authority on Purdue. Unfortunately, I don't know if there is anything else you can do for me. Ultimately Purdue's Sports Information Department holds the keys here, and until I find out exactly what I need to do to get on their good side, I will continue to be hampered in my efforts.