At 2:30 PM on April 16, 2012, Boilerdowd and J welcomed two bundles of joy into the Boiled Sports family.

Nicole Johnson -- Finally, a woman's perspective from a woman 

She's a lady.

You're used to the dainty nature of Boilerdowd around here so, sure, you've gotten to hear a sensitive side to things a few times. But how many times have you said to yourself, "Self, what this place needs is a woman's touch." Well, talk to yourself no further, because the second new addition to the squad is Nicole Johnson.

Nicole was most recently a writer for the Exponent, so she'll not only be a new voice and a woman voice.... she'll also actually know how to, you know, write. So that's nice. Nicole is also a Reamer so she has to balance her unabashed fan side with her journalistic -- and theoretically unbiased, you know, like Jeff Rabjohns or Terry Hutchens -- side. Boiled Sports will give her the chance to write as a fan. A screaming, hoarse, passionate fan. With a much prettier voice than any of us.

In her own words: "You may best know me as the chick that rammed the Boilermaker Special into the back of a police car."

If nothing else, we're hoping Nicole's now checkered history as it relates to the Special will one day result in us driving it down I-65 in a conductor's hat.

Please welcome Nicole aboard and remember there's now a lady in the house, so boys, zip your fly up and put on deodorant.

James Evens -- Another dude? What is this, a sausagefest?

The second -- and this is in no particular order -- addition is Mr. James Evens, formerly of Bleacher Report. And before you trash B/R, let me be among the first to say that I, too, was not fond of B/R's quality over the years. However, they've made a worthwhile effort to improve the quality and to put their writers through a screening process. James has been writing there for years and has had more that 650,000 "reads" of his content. He's a prominent member of the staff and is a Featured Columnist and a Syndicated Writer at B/R -- neither designation is merely given away. And if you still don't respect B/R, that's fine -- but you can't argue with James' dedication to his craft.

BS adds some muscle (may not be to scale)

James will be a senior this fall at the best University in the land (no, not Princeton, you jerks) and is eager to provide content to you clowns.

In his own words: "I would be a perfect fit for Boiled Sports because of my love of Purdue, my already massive resume as an online writer and as a general smart ass."

Oh, and he also said Boiled Sports is the best Purdue blog on the Web and we all know flattery will get you everywhere with us.

James will be posting here under the handle "PandaBoiler" (mainly because he's so lovable and cuddly -- also, he likes bamboo) and can be reached at evens.james@gmail.com. We're lucky to have him and we hope that you, too, look forward to another voice at BS.


These two are talented, passionate and excited to write about Purdue sports -- and yet they still chose to work with us. We hope you show our new additions the same respect and kindness you've always shown us.

Errr, well, maybe a little better than that, actually.

Love,
BS