The Spring game is coming...I love it for a ton of reasons, but I hate it for others. The summer doldrums of sports are kind of already here- J and I forced to talk about IndyCar and MLB...no Purdue sports to be found...and generally, news that comes out of West Laffy in the Spring or Summer has something to do with ACLs and isn't the type of thing we like talking about.
Spring practice has been good for the Boilers though, at least from an injury standpoint. Sure, guys are banged up a bit, but that happens...there doesn't seem to be a major injury in the pipe. And for the first time in forever, Purdue has two healthy QBs to square off in the Black/Gold game who have both started in and played significant games while at Purdue. Who they will be throwing to though, is a different story.
For the second-straight season, depth at WR is a question mark. Sure, Gary Bush, Antavian Edison and OJ Ross have caught a decent amount of passes, but depth and consistency remains a concern. I still am not positive of what to expect from Ross. He's got great speed and overall athleticism, but he ran lazy routes at times and gave up on plays. I've always like Gary Bush as a solid option and Edison can do everything...and in spite of his lack of size, he's been very durable.
After these three, a BS favorite, Tommie Thomas has seen a lot of snaps with the 1s in the Spring. In case you don't remember, Thomas has ping-ponged back and fourth from offense do defense and now back to offense, but should be on the two-deep come the fall. I think we'll see Thomas play a role similar to what Gravesande did last season...but Thomas is a different guy in that he's an emotional leader and his teammates rally around him a bit. Gravesande tended to do his job a bit more quietly.
Shane Mikesky (87), the budding track star and RS Frosh-to-be has shown an ability to go up and get the jump ball in practice so far...but admits he needs to work on strength before he can be an every-down WR in the B1G. He's built a bit like Jonathan Standeford...and has a similar deceptive speed about his with his long strides. ChuckT, Charles Torwudzu (17), should also make a bit of noise as he tries to be a possession receiver for TerBush and Marve...His size and strength might help him find the field.
Raheem Mostert, arguably the most exciting player on the on the team, will also try to work his way into becoming a consistent WR...but I see him as a perfect back-up for Edison as he's able to come out of the backfield, play flanker or wideout. Ishmael Aristide (22), who along with Rob Henry just missed becoming leader of the free Purdue world last week, is working toward becoming a WR after switching from defense.
The WR position is one I'll be watching more-closely than any other this coming Saturday as LBD and I enjoy our final taste of Purdue football until August/September. Hopefully, the OLine can protect Marve and TerBush enough that we get to see a somewhat-normal offense.
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Brush with Local Talent
When I say McKinzie Roth, most of you would probably say, "Lawfirm?" And you might be correct. But, Roth is actually a local spokeswoman who I've been a fan of for a few years...If you're in Indy, you might know her as the Andy Mohr Ford girl? No matter. I shared this story with my wife, and she was about as impressed as you guys are about to be.
I was at the gym last week and almost ran into her...while she wasn't wearing a catsuit, she was still pretty impressive in person...good for her and her boyfriend/husband.
IndyStar Bias Shows Itself (again)
If you read the IndyStar regularly...what's wrong with you? If not, you might not have seen this.
We all know that the Star has a white-hot, undying love for all things IU...but what you might not know is that they'll shill for IU even when the opportunity isn't really there. To the Star's chagrin, Yogi Ferrell didn't win Indiana's Mr. Basketball, but, MSU super-talent Garry Harris did.
So the Star wrote a piece about Mr. Harris' accomplishment...and seemed to focused on the guy that finished second. Click here to check it out.
Also in the article, Ronnie Johnson is mentioned as a member of this year's Indiana All-Star team...along with a bunch of other names that you'll see playing D-1 basketball next season. Iowa, Butler, IU, Michigan, Purdue and others all found a gem in this year's talented class from Indiana...But I really like the guys coming to God's country next year- Have I mentioned that?
IndyCar
Because I can, I will mention IndyCar.
The new chassis heads to another road course this weekend- this time it's Long Beach...Here's to a race like what we saw at Barber with plenty of passing and action at the front of the field.
The cars will be coming to Indy, this time to prepare for the greatest spectacle, the second week of May...with practice beginning on May 13. Hopefully they'll be up above 220 at that point at the the 2.5 mile oval...but I'm not holding my breath.
I'm one of the people that was clamoring for a new chassis...so I'm not complaining. But, the DW12 will look a lot better going faster than it does hovering around 215 as it did at last week's practice.