If you're like my brothers and I, you're chomping at the bit for football season. We all watched the Purdue practice tonight together as if it was a big game...and on Friday night, we're going to watch a high school football game...just because the jones is getting stronger- the end of the tunnel is nigh!
Watching the Boilers' practice on BTN, I took away a few noteworthy things-
-The offensive line and specifically, Ken Plue looks impressive and crisp.
-The interior defensive lineman seem to be the largest group of tackles that I can remember at Purdue
-Many of Purdue's receivers were struggling to cleanly-catch the ball. Even the guys that caught it bobbled an awful lot and used their bodies to gather the rock. Plus, so many of these young guys are just rail-thin. The lack of strength might be tough when Purdue plays bump coverage...Oregon's corners usually do; we'll know a lot early.
All that said, Keith Smith looked precise, strong and sure-handed and Valentin should be good as well. This coupled with the tight ends should help Purdue move the ball through the air, at least underneath.
-A lot of people in the program are excited about Elliott's leadership ability. In your opinion, when was the last time Purdue had a real field general leading the offense? That attitude alone might help the offense's level of success.
-I have a stronger and stronger feeling that ATM is not grasping the offense, and in spite of his talent, might not be too effective until mid-season, or after. The very good thing is that the other four backs should give him plenty of time to understand his role.
-While I really like the potential of Rob Henry, I'm worried about his throwing motion...it's reminiscent of Billy Dicken's. That worked out fine for both Purdue...and Dicken who made money playing in the AFL. But, for those of us who were hoping he was the next Drew Brees, think again...but Brees could never, and still can't run as fast or jump as high as Henry.
-Mike Neal benches 510. From the perspective of a guy that squats about 150-less pounds...that's perplexing. I didn't even know they made bench racks that could hold that much weight.
Jerks
If you believe Brett Favre came back to football to make his daughter happy or because the Vike's owner pleaded with him 48 hours ago to come...then, aw schucks! You're as simple as those who believe Usain Bolt is just a naturally-freakish athlete.
SEC Domination
I hear the SEC has banned students posting to Twitter and Facebook while at SEC games. AWESOME!!
There are so many stupid aspects to this policy...but I guess this idea is supposed to keep people focused on TV instead of the interwebnet during the games...or something. Regardless of the redonkilous reasoning, doesn't this seem nearly-unenforceable? I'm pretty sure every SEC student should send a Tweet to the SEC letting them know how little they appreciate this jack-arsed policy...during their first game.
The really good news is that Jim Delaney and Co. aren't following suit just because the SEC is so awesome and fast.
State of Emergency
I was watching UM on BTN's practice tour and noted that they have more indoor practice area than any other entity, professional or amateur, in America.
So, how do you think Aggie fans take to that kind of news as their AD panhandles the boosters for snack money for roadies later in the season? Alright guys, let's just shut this down- if you can't pay for a banana and bottle of water for each player, you should probably shut it down.
Other Junk
EsPN's new show "Sportsnation" fits perfectly on that network. It's awful. While the show has been on for a while (I guess) I always turned it because it looked like a commercial or a joke, to me. Turns out, it is...but the joke is on me I guess- I'll never get that hour back.