fromthestretch

I'm going to the games March 13-14 in Mesa and then the one on the 15th in Tucson.

Purdue had eight more fouls called on them than Wisconsin. We all know how terrible Big Ten officials are, but I'm confident in saying that they aren't favoring Purdue every single game. When you consider Purdue has won 12 of its last 13 games and is 6-4 in road/neutral site games this season, it's obvious that the Boilers are doing something right. Of course there have been fouls that haven't been called, but there is no denying that Purdue is a damn good defensive team. They are a great defensive team, quick as hell. They are so deep, they can afford to play that aggressive in your face pressure defense that disrupts the other team from getting into their offense. I didn't mean to diss Purdue, I think Painter has done a wonderful job of getting this young team to buy into his philosophy and execute - they simply outplayed the Badgers from the get go. I was just pointing out that they could also be called for a foul just about everytime they setup in their half court defense with all of the handchecking and grabbing that goes on. It could come back to hurt them in the tourney though as a lot of that will not be allowed. Didn't mean to sound overly defensive. Just consider it payback for the 1999-2000 season. :D I'm as surprised as anyone that Purdue is playing this well this season. After losing Landry, Teague, and Lutz, I figured Purdue would be maybe a 15 or 16-win team this season. The thing that really surprises me is how well they play on the road. Purdue hasn't been a good road team for several years. The fact that they are winning on the road and at neutral sites with such a young team gives me hope for the tournament. If nothing else, they should win their first-round game...they seem to always do well in the first round.

Purdue had eight more fouls called on them than Wisconsin. We all know how terrible Big Ten officials are, but I'm confident in saying that they aren't favoring Purdue every single game. When you consider Purdue has won 12 of its last 13 games and is 6-4 in road/neutral site games this season, it's obvious that the Boilers are doing something right. Of course there have been fouls that haven't been called, but there is no denying that Purdue is a damn good defensive team.

I didnt realise he was still out there. I would have thought that Dusty would have jumped on him like a vagrant on a passed out crack whore. He really hasnt been that bad for Baltimore. Someone will pick him up. His first year was okay, but he was dreadful last year. He hit .269 with 8 HR and 37 SB. Not great, but I wouldnt call it dreadful. No worse than anything we had in center last season. He had a .690 OPS. The Cubs got a combined .709 OPS out of CF last season.

Purdue has a really nice young team. Their next couple games (@Wisc, MSU) may determine how successful they will be in the Big 10 this season. Hopefully, Scott Martin's ankle will be ready to go for Saturday's game. If he has to miss any games, that's going to have a big impact on how the Boilers play down the stretch.

Does anyone like that clown? How does he keep his job. You ask anyone for the worst referees in college basketball and odds are he is one of the names they are gonna say. As bad as he is, he's still better than Valentine. Another guy who should be gone. Why can't officials understand that they are not the reason the fans are there? After I left Purdue and took a job at Seton Hall, I was talking to one of my co-workers before a Seton Hall basketball game. I told him the one thing I wouldn't miss about the Big Ten is seeing Valentine officiate games. Sure enough, the officials take the court and there he is. Now that Bob Knight is retired and will have more time on his hands, Valentine may want to put an extra lock on his door.

The HOF has and does make exceptions. Ichiro's lack of 10 years would be little different than all Negro League players having less than 10 years. Of course. However, considering his age, if he just voluntarily quit tomorrow they would hold that against him. As you alluded to earlier, if something tragic were to happen to him, he would get in based on what he has done so far. That's what I was trying to get at. Duh. :lol:

Does anyone like that clown? How does he keep his job. You ask anyone for the worst referees in college basketball and odds are he is one of the names they are gonna say. As bad as he is, he's still better than Valentine.

Is anyone arguing otherwise? I'm just saying that Bob Dernier isn't exactly the best example of a guy that gets on base.

Bob Dernier worked the count? The same Bob Dernier with a career .318 OBP? He may have known his job was to get on base, but he sure didn't do it well. What was his OBP the year the Cubs did well? So we're going to let one season represent his entire body of work? The previous poster said: Apparently, Dernier only knew his job was to get on base for one season. I'm not trying to dimish what he did to help the '84 team. His .356 OBP wasn't the best in the world, but it certainly didn't hurt. However, if you want to talk about the impact he had on Cubs teams, you also have to include the negative impact his .315 OBP had in 1985 or his .275 OBP had in 1986. He played well in limited action in 1987 after the Cubs wised up and realized he just wasn't that good against right-handed pitching.

It should be considered a factor, just like everything else voters look at. This will all be moot in 5-6 years when he gets to 3000. It should definitely be considered a factor. I don't know if you can really hold it against Ichiro that he wasn't able to come over to the US a few years earlier. I'm not saying he should be a lock at this stage, but if he can put up three or four more years of 220+ hits and 30+ steals, there's little doubt in my mind he'll be in.

Ichiro? No chance. He's only played here for 7 years. No chance? I think Ichiro is a lock if he retires tomorrow. He needs to play three more years to qualify. I had no idea. You have to play ten years? Yep. Although I believe the HoF can make exceptions for players whose careers are tragically cut short. For example, if Pujols were to die tomorrow (and no, I'm not wishing that on anybody), he'd probably get in based on how insanely good his numbers have been his first seven years.

Ichiro? No chance. He's only played here for 7 years. No chance? I think Ichiro is a lock if he retires tomorrow. He needs to play three more years to qualify.

Bob Dernier worked the count? The same Bob Dernier with a career .318 OBP? He may have known his job was to get on base, but he sure didn't do it well.

You rang?

I'm just hoping IU doesn't learn how to run an offense until after they play Purdue.

Don't lump the fans in with Larry Clisby and the rest of the awful radio crew. But hey, it's nice to know that I'm whiny. Look, you're whining already!! :lol: j/k In all seriousness, Purdue fans aren't any worse than any other fan base. Their radio crew, however, is a different story. Clisby can be pretty bad. He's been doing the broadcasts for as long as I can remember, so I've unfortunately gotten used to the poor quality of the broadcasts over the years. I was hoping they'd push him aside and give the job to Mark Johnson back in the late '90s, but they didn't. Instead, Johnson got sick of waiting and went on to do Illinois State basketball and football play-by-play for a few years, then Syracuse play-by-play, and now I think he's in Colorado somewhere. I think they keep Clisby around because they know if they got someone really good in there, that person might bolt for something bigger and better in a few years, which probably would have happened with Johnson. They know Clisby isn't going to get anything better. ETA: I should also add that Gene Keady liked Clisby, so that certainly helped keep him around.

He is tenacious on defense. He also has teeth that would make Gary Busey jealous. I really think that E'Twaun Moore will be the type of kid who has a good frosh year then will explode by at least his junior year. That kid is oozing talent. I've been more and more impressed with both Moore and Hummel as the season has gone by. There's no question that Moore is an incredible shooter. I was really high on Martin early in the year, but he's been very inconsistent and can't seem to stay out of foul trouble.

He is tenacious on defense. He also has teeth that would make Gary Busey jealous.

I'm really looking forward to two years from now when Moore, Hummel, Martin, and Johnson are juniors. Grant will be a senior that year, so Purdue could have a very strong and experienced starting five. I've said it before though, Johnson has got to put on some weight. One of these days he's just going to disappear through a crack in the floorboards. How is your recruiting the next couple of years? Also don't sell Chris Kramer short, the kid can play. The two guys they have lined up for next season are Lewis Jackson (a 5'9 PG) and Ryne Smith (a 6'3 SG). Jackson appears to be solid, while there doesn't appear to be much hype surrounding Smith. I haven't followed recruiting beyond next season, although it would be nice if they targeted another post player (ideally a center). The thing is, they only lose one guy after this year, and that's Terrance Crump. They lose four more after next season, and only two of those - Calasan and Green - are guys that play a decent amount. Kramer's a solid player. The kid kind of annoys me though. That's probably due to the fact that he loves to drive the lane and draw fouls, but he can't hit free throws.

I'm really looking forward to two years from now when Moore, Hummel, Martin, and Johnson are juniors. Grant will be a senior that year, so Purdue could have a very strong and experienced starting five. I've said it before though, Johnson has got to put on some weight. One of these days he's just going to disappear through a crack in the floorboards.

Don't lump the fans in with Larry Clisby and the rest of the awful radio crew. But hey, it's nice to know that I'm whiny. Purdue had a few games earlier this year where every little thing was being called against both teams. However, I will agree that they have let a lot of things slide the past 5-6 games. Last weekend against Wisconsin, there was a very obvious incident that should have been called a foul and nothing was called. It really wouldn't have mattered if they called it a block or a charge (although it should have been a charge against Purdue), but something should have been called considering how hard the contact was. Agreed. Well, that explains the "whiniest fans in the Big Ten" comment. :lol: I actually have a lot of friends that are/were IU fans. A lot of them also boycotted IU basketball, but their boycott started the exact moment Knight was replaced.

I would guess that's probably more of a dig at what the Twins received for Santana than it is a prediction as to the value of any package the Cubs will give up for Roberts. Here's a later question: Please no Jim. They can have Pie or Gallagher, not both. That's way too much. Well, that doesn't make me happy. I was hoping Callis was just taking a shot at the Twins.

I would guess that's probably more of a dig at what the Twins received for Santana than it is a prediction as to the value of any package the Cubs will give up for Roberts.