Commentary: The Thoughts

The Boiling Point: “The Thoughts” is a new feature offering one writer’s opinion on a variety of topics, most of which are Purdue related.


Welcome to “The Thoughts,” a new feature Wednesday feature at TheBoilingPoints.com which will offer my thoughts on a variety of Purdue and college sports subjects in around a paragraph per topic. Much like most crappy sitcoms, this feature’s future is forever in doubt, so we’ll see if it’s still here next week. As always, your comments are always welcome and I’d love to hear your thoughts on anything included, or even something I didn’t cover. Anyway, without further adieu, “The Thoughts”:

• Miami announced today that Jacory Harris will be the starter against Ohio State after sitting out a one-game suspension for taking improper benefits from Nevin Shapiro, the Miami booster at the center of the Yahoo! investigation that came out in August. That’s the same investigation that alleged Purdue quarterback Robert Marve was given impermissible benefits as well. I said when it came out that I believed Marve’s “knee injury” would be the cause of him missing the whole season, when in reality it would be his link to this investigation. Some said Marve likely got limited immunity from the NCAA. Call it a coincidence, but Harris’ suspension is over and suddenly Danny Hope seems quite excited to get Marve on the field. Sorry, but I’m too much of a conspiracy theorist to believe these two issues aren’t related. (UPDATE: Wednesday night OC Gary Nord told the J&C’s Mike Carmin “I don’t see any signs of him limping anymore.”)
• Speaking of being coy with injuries, humor me and consider this. You need either Peyton Manning, Danny Hope or Bill Belichick to call into work for you on Friday and tell your boss you’re sick (though you really aren’t). Which guy would you must trust to keep your status from your boss on that call? Please consider only their ability to hide/downplay/whatever an injury and not who you’re a fan of.
• I was at the game Saturday and, like many others, was shocked to find out the concession stands had run out of Powerade and water by the middle of the second quarter, but the people that say someone needs to be fired over this are off their rockers. I know it’s easy to stock up on water and it isn’t going to go bad before next week if it isn’t used, but you’re talking about throwing away someone’s career because they underestimated the number of waters people would need. That’s a bit of an overreaction, don’t you think?
• While we’re on the topic of people losing their jobs, I’ve watched the Purdue-Middle Tennessee State game twice now and I’ve never been less impressed with a Purdue team on opening day since at least Tiller’s first game. Eleven penalties? Just horrible. Arm tackles? They’re becoming a Danny Hope trademark. And I know Joe Holland tries his hardest, but perhaps on third-and-passing downs we should get someone a little faster to cover a slot guy? Still, all things considered, Purdue got the win, and for that I will not call for Danny Hope’s job this week. You all know (or will find out over time) that I am probably one of the biggest anti-Hope guys out there, but it’s hard to argue with results. Yes, Purdue looked ugly. Yes, Purdue almost lost to a team from the Sun Belt. Yes, I successfully predicted every play from Purdue’s first offensive series (roll right!). But I’ve said all along, it’s hard to argue with results. Like the guys at Boiled Sports said earlier this week, Purdue won and that’s all I need to be happy this week. (Well, other things certainly don’t hurt either)
• Two quick thoughts on the men’s basketball schedule that was released today: 1) I love ending the year with Penn State, who should be absolutely horrible, as the senior night opponent and then ending the season at IU. Purdue should be playing well heading into the postseason with those games at the end. 2) I’m real nervous about that New Year’s Eve game against Illinois.  
• Finally, as I’m writing this, Twitter is exploding with news that Gary Harris’ parents were on IU’s campus today. I don’t follow recruiting too closely, but I’m sure those of you that do will be in a tizzy over this. That’s all I have on that subject.

That’s it for this week’s edition of “The Thoughts.” Thanks for making it this far and let me know what you think, or, as has happened in the past, let me know how unemployable I am. As a reminder, TheBoilingPoints.com podcast will be recorded and posted tomorrow afternoon.