The Case Against Purdue Fans

Michigan State fans hate Purdue fans.

Wisconsin fans hate Purdue fans.

Indiana fans, obviously, hate Purdue fans. And know how crappy West Lafayette is, too!

Even the best Purdue writer on the web right now, Tim Cary, thinks Purdue fans are rude. Oh and by the way, those fans were Chris Kramer's mom.

Here's the deal, people. I have been to every game of the Big Ten tournament until today. There have been amazing games and awful ones, standout players and choke artists, great random fans and really irritating ones.

But the one constant throughout has been the POOR SPORSTMANSHIP of the Purdue fans infesting the upper deck of Conseco.

They moaned, whined, and cried every single time a whistle went against them on Friday. And that was a lot of whistles - 52 fouls were called that game. Seriously, an incredulous cry went up from Boiler Nation every SINGLE time they lost a ball out of bounds or got a foul. It was unreal.

And then yesterday, as I tried my damnedest to be civil to the angry folks in black and gold sitting next to me, all they had was dirty looks and barely contained rage. No sense of humor. No willingness to talk basketball. Or have fun.

Look, I know losing Robbie Hummel for the season hurts. And I know that it's not fun watching your team get crushed 37-11 in the first half. But, as I pointed out, I have sat through endless awful games this year thanks to the Hoosiers - I have sympathy. My angry West Lafayettian neighbors took this as a personal insult to their "amazing" team, pointing out that "we're number six in the country, where's IU at?" And they were NOT joking.

I need to point out that there are lots of good Purdue fans out there, I'm sure of it. I saw a few stick it out til the bitter, bitter end of the Minnesota debacle yesterday, and I went out of my way to give them props for it.

But when you storm out with 6:30 left in the second, stopping only to flip off the Indiana fans who have bent over backwards not to trash talk, and even to sympathize, during a game that I would have LOVED to spend chortling over "Boiler Doooowwwwwwnnnnn...." - Well, that's not class. That's a way to ensure that every other fan of the Big Ten roots against you next weekend.

Please, good Purdue fans, prove me wrong. Have some class. Enjoy your team as well as you can. And try and ditch the negativity.

Super Bowl Trivia

Drew Brees graduated from Purdue. How many Purdue Quarterbacks have won the Super Bowl? Can you name them?

Pre-Season Final Four Predictions

I’m going to go on record with my Final Four predictions. As I wrote around tourney time last year, there are certain trends that I follow when I’m predicting who will make the Final Four. I always predict two teams from one conference and have one team that was there the previous year’s Final Four (The 2009 Teams were North Carolina, Michigan State, Connecticut, and Villanova). Without further ado, my predication's.

(Note All Rankings is current AP Rankings)



#1 Kansas (Big XII)



I know, real courageous with choosing the #1 team in the country. This team has tons of talent and Bill Self got over the stigma of being a bad big game coach by winning the title two years ago. Most of this team played last year and the additional recruits will have Kansas cruising to a Big XII title. The Texas and Mizzou games should be great to watch, Oklahoma is ranked, and Baylor keeps getting better; but I see this as Kansas’ conference. Another reason I am picking Kansas is because I have an irrational love of putting Kansas in my Final Four. I have done so every year since the Paul Pierce era until they won their title. A one year hiatus and they are back in my Final Four.



# 2 Michigan State (Big Ten)



Another courageous choice by me, picking the #2 team in the country following my choice of the #1 team. Michigan State is my choice from last year’s four to return. They bring practically everyone back from a championship game team. They might have played above their heads in beating Louisville and then UConn, but I think that’s cause Izzo is a great tournament coach. I see him getting this team back to the Final Four.



#7 Purdue (Big Ten)



I have been touting Purdue for a couple years now, but the starting five has been starting together since they were freshman. They had a sweet 16 team last year and lost to eventual Final Four Team UConn. They are disciplined and play good defense and with a healthy Hummel will be a tough team to beat. It’s time for Painter to start stepping out of Keady’s shadow with his first Final Four team.



#17 Louisville (Big East)



Louisville is an elite eight team from last year with good returning talent. Pitino is a fantastic coach and has had success taking teams to the Final Four (Providence, Kentucky and Louisville). The Pitino sex scandal storyline could follow the team around all season which could create a potential distraction. I know Kentucky is the popular choice from the bluegrass state, but the Cardinals are my choice.



Lastly, Indianapolis is a great location for the Final Four. Indiana is as basketball crazy as any state in the USA and Indianapolis is the heart of the state. Indy is home to the NCAA Hall of Fame. Now, they have a state of the art stadium in Lucas Oil Field that is apparently going to set all kinds of attendance records as well as provide and exciting atmosphere for all the big games. I was in Indy a week before one of their Final Fours and the city does a great job preparing for it. If my predictions come true, tickets will be hard to come by with in state Purdue, just over the border Louisville, and not that far away Michigan State fans gobbling up the tickets. Even Kansas isn’t an unbearable drive. I know I will personally be scouring the Internet to find good deals on tickets and try to attend the conclusion of the Madness that is March.