Gen Con, Uber to invade Indianapolis

For more than 45 years, more than 180,000 have flooded the streets of Indianapolis, participating in the the longest-running gaming convention in the world. Gen Con – the best four days in gaming – is about to get Uberfied!

UBER customers can board a free UBERx shuttle from the convention center to Sun King Brewery

Starting Thursday, August 15, Uber users using the hashtag and promo code #UBERIndyGamers will receive a $40 fare – $35 off the normal price – from Indianapolis International Airport to their hotel in the downtown area. Have no fear Gen Coners, all Uber drivers will be decked out and dressed up in Gen Con-worthy apparel. As a way to kick off UberX’s start in Indianapolis, all Uber users will receive free UBERx rides from the Indianapolis convention center to various event locations. Check out the weekend list of Gen Con events so you can stay informed. Uber has also teamed up with Sun King Brewery, one of the official sponsors of the event, to provide free UBERx rides from the Convention Center to Sun King Brewery. #UBERIndyGamers

• $35 off Airport fare to downtown Indianapolis
• FREE UBERx rides from Indiana Convention Center to Sun King Brewery
• Discounted UBERlux ride in 2014 Bently Flying Spur Sedan
• Additional $20 E-credit for recruiting new members
  

  UBERx rides will drop customers off at Sun King Brewery

Starting at 8 p.m. on Saturday, August 17, Uber has teamed up with Albers Rolls Bentley of Zionsville to give Uber fanatics a luxurious way to ride in style to the Dance of the Dead at the Union Station Grand Hall. Uber members will be the life of the Gen Con red carpet when they roll up in an UberLUX 2014 Bentley Flying Spur 4-door Sedan. If you don’t feel like riding, don’t worry, Albers Rolls will have one of their luxurious new cars outside the main entrance of Union Station; but don’t get too close, it will be heavily guarded by Dungeons and Dragons warriors.

Uber will end its weekend with Gen Con by offering another $40 fare from the downtown area to the Indianapolis International Airport. Your work isn’t done when we drop you off, Gen Coners. At the end of the fun-filled weekend, Uber will be providing a promo code to all who used the services that weekend. When Uber users recruit a new customer, they will receive a $20 Gen Con event bonus credit to go along with the $10 credit they receive from recruiting new members. #UBERIndyGamers As always Indy Gen Coners, have fun, keep gaming and UBER ON!

UBERx is racing toward the checkered flag in Indianapolis

Uber is looking to help make Indianapolis’ first Brew week a smash – and safe – hit for all involved. The week-long Circle City Beer festival (Twitter, Facebook) will feature discounts to Uber customers leading up to a savory Saturday deal you’ll want to sink your teeth into.

#UBER20FreeResponsibly (Monday-Friday)

Uber is working to keep Indy safe, along with promoting UBERx’s debut in Indianapolis. Stylish new UBERx’s will be parked at various locations throughout the week with Uber Ambassadors giving out information and various discounts. After 8 p.m. each night, Uber customers that use the code UBER20FreeResponsibly will receive a $20 voucher for a safe – and stylish – ride home to kick off the celebration that is UBERx in Indianapolis.

• Get excited for UBERx in Indy: Get excited for FREE rides!
• Please don’t get too excited and ride over 10 miles, we have other customers that are as excited as you!
• A few free ride vouchers will be given to lucky customers; be nice to your driver and you may just get one.

But that’s just the beginning!

Circle City Beer week will conclude with an Uber deal that can’t be refused. Uber has teamed up with numerous food trucks that have taken over downtown Indianapolis to provide a zesty end to the weekend. Customers who use their Uber app can pay $20 using the promo code #UBERindyFood to get food and a ride home at the end of the night. When you get hungry, request a food truck and get to-your-location service with a choice of various menu items from Indy’s best restaurants on wheels. After your meal – or once you’re ready to go home – you are one touch from a safe, hassle free ride home to end the night.

Nothing washes down a few brews like tacos, hot dogs and cheese steak. On July 20, after opening the Uber App, customers can see which items from each truck are included in each promo. Food trucks participating in the event are Molly’s Fire Chicago dogs and Italian beef , Indy Cheez Steak, Dog Father LLC and the original food truck of Indy, West Coast Tacos. Although the $20 offer only applies to Saturday, July 20, these trucks will be at various parked locations throughout downtown during the week. You can find their location each day by opening map on the Uber app. For a small extra fee Monday-Friday, Uber drivers will take you to one of the trucks so you have a bite to eat on your fabulous ride home.

If you see these  trucks hummin’ you bestter start runnin’ because free food is on the way!

Saturday,July 20, $20 gets you:

• One food item from participating Indianapolis food trucks
• A celebratory ride in the fabulous UBERx; remember, try to keep your trip to 10 miles or less

Follow us on Twitter @Uber_Indy . If you have any questions feel free to ask! Check out the Indianapolis price fares for future rates.

#UBER20FreeResponsibly

#UBERIndyFood

Drink, eat, be happy and UBER ON, Indianapolis!

 

Vine; the new craze in social media

Vine App Icon

In 2012, just when people thought the world of social media couldn’t come out with anything else, they were thrown a curve ball with the Vine app for smart phones. Vine is one of the only social media apps that has no website and (probably) won’t get a website anytime in the near future. After being bought by Twitter just a few short months ago, Vine is now the new video craze of the world of social media that became the most downloaded app of the year on April 9. In order to understand where Vine is now, it is important to understand where and how it started. The description of Vine on the iTunes store says “Vine is the best way to see and share life in motion. Create short, beautiful, looping videos in fun ways for all your friends and family to see.”

Vine was started in June, 2012 by Dom Hoffman and Rus Yusupov and is a simple video sharing app that lets users record up to 6 seconds of video before being uploaded to Facebook and Twitter. The kicker with Vine is that videos can start and stop at any moment as the user simply holds a button on the screen until they are ready to stop and once they hold it again, it picks up right where the video left off. Users love the Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) style of video they can produce. In an app store review of vine, one user said “if a picture is worth 1000 words, Vine gives users 6000 words.

After developing in June of 2012, the rights to Vine were sold to Twitter in October of the same year and the app wasn’t “officially” released until January 24, 2013. In four short months, Vine is the number three downloaded free app on the iTunes marketplace and has a four star* review out of almost 5,000 voters.

After opening the app, this is the first screen you see

Part of why Vine has been able to be so successful is because of its simplicity. Upon opening the app, viewers are shown the “editor’s pick” videos that have received the most attention on the app – these are the videos that make other users want to get the app in the first place. On the home page, users are faced with only five options; they can watch videos as well as rate and comment on them, too.

After clicking the explore button on the top left corner, users can see more “editor’s picks” videos as well as videos that are “popular now.” They also have the option to choose videos with certain keywords – all keywords are hashtagged (# symbol) as they can then be monitored on Twitter trends. The next page to check out from the explore page is the activity page.

The “Explore” page on Vine app allows you to see what some of different types of videos can be found

The activity page is the page to see what your followers are up to. When downloading the app, users are asked if they want Vine to sync with Twitter and Facebook friends to make it easier to follow. Under the activity page is the profile page that is similar to the home page on Twitter. After going through all this, there is only one thing left to do – make a video!

In the top right corner is video shooting part of the app – the part of the app that provides the most entertainment. After shooting a video, it is published on Vine for all your Vine followers to see. Before publishing a video, users are asked if they would like to Tweet and or Facebook the video.

After two short months of using the app, I have already moved it to the Top-4 position on the bottom of my iPhone and it is one of the first things I check when I wake up each morning. Part of what I love about it is the simplicity of it. I have gotten away from Facebook (especially Facebook mobile) because of the complexity of it. I am constantly bombarded with advertisements or even worse than that – photos of babies from high school friends. Vine is so simple that I know what I get each time I log in and it has never crashed on me so it is something I have gained trust in. My favorite part of the app is that it’s starting to be used in other realms too. Just a few weeks ago, one of the top videos on the web was a six-second video of a suicide bombing next to a United States Embassy in Turkey.

Like we discussed in COM 435, Vine has taken a while to reach its target population but with its daily growth, here shortly it will hit the first breaking point and from there, the app will be here to stay.

The Future of Purdue Basketball

This last weekend Matt Painter capped off an amazing 2013 recruiting class, using the final scholarship on blue chip Kentucky power forward Derek Willis.

Hearing about Willis leaves Purdue fans salivating over what could be a big-time player in a big-time class. The ESPN four-star recruit(48 nationally) is 15 years-old, 6’9 and weighs 185 lbs. He currently wears a size 18 shoe and has a 7’1 wingspan. Jeff Washburn‘s recent blog on Willis quoted Willis’ head coach Troy Barr saying “The amazing thing is that he hasn’t had one growth spurt yet.” As a sophomore at Bullitt East High School in Kentucky, Willis averaged 13.5 points-per-game, 8.5 rebounds-per-game, and 4.4 blocks-per-game.

Derek Willis, 2013 Purdue Recruit

Willis should blossom into a great Purdue player because of his ability to create a mismatch. At 6’9 he will likely play the 4(power forward) but could play a 3(small forward) assuming he doesn’t grow any more. ESPN says, “ He is a good athlete that has an advanced offensive skill level for a player his size in his age group. He is an outstanding shooter with a quick release that has range out behind the 3-point arc.” He was entertaining offers from Purdue and Indiana, and other schools (Kentucky, Louisville, Xavier, Oklahoma St.) showed interest.

As of this point, all 13 scholarships are filled through the 2013 season, but Painter is still heavily recruiting for the class of 2011 and 2012 which leads Boilermaker nation to think that someone will be transferring after the spring semester.

The book is closed on a magnificent 2013 class that will feature a new player at four different positions. Coupled alongside the 2012 class, Purdue is building a program that will be here to stay. Currently six of the seven recruits of the two classes are four star ranked and each member in the class of 2013 is ranked in the top 50 in the nation.

Matt Painter, Head Coach, Purdue University

In the class of 2012, Indiana may very well have the number one recruiting class in the nation that is getting tons of attention because four of the five players are all from the Indianapolis area. Most people in Indianapolis are overlooking what the Boilers have coming in in 2012 alone. With potential room for one more, the Boilers currently have commitments from  guys in Ft. Wayne, Illinois, and Ohio. Being from Ft. Wayne, not many people realize Rapheal Davis may be the best player in the state of Indiana. In the last six months, the 6-5 shooting guard has scored 50 points twice  and 67 once.  6’9, 235 lb. power forward Jay Simpson has made a name for himself in Illinois and is currently the states number one recruit in the 2012 class. Simpson shined in Merriville last weekend and is quickly climbing the top 150 charts. The last player(currently) in the 2012 class is Kyle Molock from Dublin, Ohio. Molock is recovering from an ACL injury but before the injury, he was considered the top point guard in Ohio.

In 2013, the Boilers are bringing in what should be a top 5 recruiting class that is being compared to the baby Boilers class of 2007. By rankings alone, the 2013 class tops the 2007 class. In 2007, Rob Hummel was ranked 76th overall, Scott Martin 75th, JaJuan Johnson 42nd, and Etwaun Moore 35th. In 2013, the Boilers have commitments from Kendall Stephens who is 49th overall, Derek Willis is 48th, Bryson Scott is 41st, and Basil Smotherman is 26th. Stephens, 6’5, is a silky smooth shooting guard who has a 6’9 wingspan. He hasn’t really burst onto the scene until recently and started getting some interest from Duke before he committed to Purdue. Scott, the first 2013 commit, is a pure point guard who loves contact and can get to the rim. Smotherman may be the top recruit of the class and at 6’4 has the ability to play shooting guard or small forward.

There is no doubt that coach Matt Painter is expanding his recruiting empire. Pulling a kid out of Kentucky with a high level of talent is a very tough thing to do. Although 2012 and 2013 are very far away, Purdue fans can rest assured that the Boilermakers are here and they aren’t going anywhere for a long time.

Purdue Football 2011 Preview

Danny Hope’s third year as captain of the Purdue Boilermakers football team could be make or break for his future.

Last season the Boilermakers finished a disappointing 4-8, 2-6 in the Big Ten. The worst loss came against Indiana on senior day at Ross Ade Stadium in West Lafayette. The Boilermakers lost the game 34-31 on a field goal in overtime. It was a suck on a sour lemon that ended an overall disappointing year.Luckily, athletic director Morgan Burke gave head coach Danny Hope a mulligan. With injuries that ate up most of the first and second stringers, Hope was forced to take the field with inexperienced freshmen at positions like quarterback, running back, and virtually the entire secondary. This year, those inexperienced freshmen become experienced sophomores.

Coaching changes
Danny Hope is in the fourth year of his contract that goes through the 2014 season. In his past three seasons, hope has struggled, especially in conference play, posting a 13-23(8-16) record.

The big story of this off-season was the hire and sudden departure of linebacker coach DeMontie Cross. Cross spent five seasons with the Buffalo Bills and left Purdue for Wisconsin days after being hired.

Other notable changes

Brian Rock: Wide Receivers Coach
Rock left Purdue this off-season to become Kent State’s Offensive Coordinator.

Mark Hagen: Linebackers Coach
Hagan left Purdue to become Indiana’s Special Teams Coordinator.

Phil Elmassian: Linebackers Coach
Elmassian re-joins Hope’s staff after spending the last few seasons at Illinois St. Elmassian was on Purdue’s staff during the 2003 season when the team went to the Capital One Bowl

Patrick Higgins: Wide receivers Coach
Higgins joins the Boilermakers after spending 6 years at BYU.

Key Player Losses

Ryan Kerrigan

Ryan Kerrigan
Ryan Kerrigan graduated Purdue second in school history with 33.5 career sacks, and 5th in Purdue history with 57 tackles for loss. Kerrigan is thought by some to be chosen as a top 10 pick in the 2011 draft. Purdue football experts believe that out of all the great Purdue defensive ends in recent memory(Cliff Avril, Rosevelt Colvin, Ray Edwards, Anthony Spencer), Kerrigan is the most polished. Kerrigan cannot be replaced by one man, but as a unit, the Boilers should do just fine on the defensive line.

Keith Smith
Smith sat out most of his senior season with ACL and MCL tears. In three seasons, Smith became one of the most dominate receivers in Purdue history. Some think if he stayed healthy, he would have broken Purdue records. Smith is 14th on the Purdue receptions list with 140, and 19th in receiving yards with 1,586. In his junior season, Smith led the big ten in yard-per-catch average(7.6), and receiving yards-per game(91.7)

Cortez Smith
In his senior season, Smith was looked at as the go-to guy with injuries to Keith Smith and Justin Siller. Smith finished the 2010 season with 33 receptions for 434 yards and four touchdowns.

Dan Dierking
With injuries to Purdue’s top running-backs, Dierking became the workhorse. Although he was undersized, he had the hart of a lion. In his senior season, he had 117 carries (in his freshman-junior season’s he only had 54 carries combined) for 529 yards. Dierking’s effort will be truly missed.

Keith Carlos
Carlos, just like Dierking, was not thought of to be the starting running back, but with injuries, Carlos split time with Dierking.

Jason Werner
Although Werner was often criticized for taking bad angles, misreading zone’s, and not finishing tackles, he was a 6th year senior who knew the defense inside out. Werner was the defensive co-captain.

Al-Terek McBurse
McBurse, a sophomore was forced into a lead back role at the beginning of the season and underachieved for most of his two year stint with the Boilers. It has been unsaid why he has chosen to transfer.

Key Returner’s
Although the Boilermakers signed a baker’s dozen recruits for 2011, fans seem optimistic that 2011 can be successful. The Boilers have some key returnee’s from injury that they hope will spice up the offense a little bit.

Ralph Bolden
The biggest return is running back Ralph Bolden. Bolden was forced to miss the entire 2010 campaign with a torn ACL. In 2009 before his injury, Bolden was second team all Big Ten, had 11 total touchdowns, and was 75 yards short of a thousand yard season. Bolden in the backfield will mean the Boilers will not have to rely as much on the running game of the quarterback.

Justin Siller
Siller will try to replace the Smith clan this next season at wide receiver. He brings size and an unusual athletic ability. He can line up at quarterback, running back, or receiver. Purdue fans are eager to see the 6’4 wide out blossom this season.

Rob Henry
Spring practice brought, and answered, a lot of questions about  who would be under center for the old gold and black in 2011. Robert Marve started the 2010 season as the starter but freshman Rob Henry was forced into the role after Marve tore his ACL against Toledo. Henry was a pleasant surprise and was named a team captain at the end of spring practice which leads some to believe he will get the starting nod to commence the 2011 season.

Ricardo Allen
Head coach Danny hope says Ricardo Allen is his best overall athlete. Allen has already been looked at by some NFL scouts as a member of the 2013 or ’14 draft class. As a freshman in 2010, Allen had three interceptions, two for touchdowns in back to back weeks. He quickly adopted a nickname thanks to NFL star Darrelle Revis. This season, opposing wide receivers will venture to “Allen Island” when they take on the Boilermakers

Ricardo Allen.

Gerald Gooden
 Gerald Gooden may be the most important piece to the puzzle that is Purdue’s defensive success next season. Gooden started opposite Ryan Kerrigan and achieved vast amounts of success last season. In 2010, Gooden was third on the team with 4.5 sacks throughout the season and had 8 tackles for loss. It will be interesting to see how much of that success was thanks to offenses focusing on Ryan Kerrigan.

Replacing Kerrigan will be a three man job held by junior Robert Maci and redshirt freshmen Rashad Frazier and Ryan Russell. On a recent talk show, Danny Hope praised his two redshirt freshmen and knows they will end up as successful as past Purdue defensive end greats.

“They (Frazier and Russell) are very talented,” Hope said. “They have excellent size potential and that’s not always the case at our defensive end spot. These two can be big ends and (big ends) are hard to come by. There is a great upside in talent for Frazier and Russell.”

Allen will help senior safety Albert Evans and senior linebacker Joe Holland lead the defense. The Boilermakers secondary is still young, but returns every starter. The defense is fast but needs to improve on flying to the ball and finishing tackles in order to be successful.

Spring Game Recap
In the annual black and gold game last Saturday, the fans were treated to a mediocre performance as the gold team(first team offense) won 14-3. Some questioned why both teams combined for 17 points and there was virtually no defensive pressure all game(no blitzes were allowed because of fear of injury and the game being televised on Big Ten Network).

2011 Breakdown
Even with all the question marks at different positions, Purdue has a pretty generous and favorable schedule in a very important year for head coach Danny Hope.

2011 SCHEDULE

Date	Opponent / Event	Location	Time / Result
09/03/11	vs. Middle Tennessee State	West Lafayette, Ind.	TBA
09/10/11	at Rice	Houston, Texas	TBA
09/17/11	vs. Southeast Missouri State	West Lafayette, Ind.	TBA
10/01/11	vs. Notre Dame	West Lafayette, Ind.	TBA
10/08/11	vs. Minnesota	West Lafayette, Ind.	TBA
10/15/11	at Penn State	University Park, Pa.	TBA
10/22/11	vs. Illinois	West Lafayette, Ind.	TBA
10/29/11	at Michigan	Ann Arbor, Mich.	TBA
11/05/11	at Wisconsin	Madison, Wis.	TBA
11/12/11	vs. Ohio State	West Lafayette, Ind.	TBA
11/19/11	vs. Iowa	West Lafayette, Ind.	TBA
11/26/11	at Indiana	Bloomington, Ind.	TBA

Middle Tennessee State
The Blue Raiders went 6-7 in 2010, but with an easier opener in 2011, The Boilermakers will start the season 1-0.

Rice
The Owls finished the Conference USA season 3-5 and again don’t present a huge problem for the Boilers. The Boilers often struggle on the road, but if Hope wants to be the coach at Purdue in the future, he will not lose to mid-majors. (2-0)

Southeast Missouri State
The Redhawks finished a surprising 9-3 and made a post-season appearance. This will be the Boilermakers second home game and if they are still healthy at this point in the season, they will come out with a win. (3-0)

Notre Dame
The Irish finished the first season in the Brian Kelly era 8-5 with a win over Miami in the Hyundai Sun Bowl. Last season, they had a weak schedule, their best win came against an overrated Utah team. The Irish still had embarrassing losses to Navy and Tulsa. Notre Dame will come into the contest probably ranked and a heavy favorite. They will be ripe for the picking as Danny Hope knows how to get his team up for the ranked opponents(Ohio State in 2009 and Northwestern in 2010). (4-0)

Minnesota
Purdue opens the 2011 Big Ten season at home against the Golden Gophers who finished tied for Purdue at 2-6 in 2010 conference play. Purdue beat the Gophers at home in 2010 28-17 even after fans found out in the third quarter that basketball star Robbie Hummel would miss his entire senior season with another torn ACL. The Boilers will have no problem taking care of business in the Big Ten opener. (5-0, 1-0)

Penn State
The Nittany Lions finished 7-6 last season, but Happy Valley is one of the toughest places to play in all of sports. (5-1,1-1)

Illinois
Illinois is a game that could go either way. In 2010, the Illini destroyed Baylor in the Texas Bowl. They beat the Boilers 44-10 in Champaign last season in what was a fluke of a game. Sean Robinson, who’s redshirt was pulled 2 games before due to injuries, received the start because Rob Henry’s injured finger. The Boilers looked out of sync all day. Coach Hope will make sure the Boilers remember that score, and will protect the home field. (6-1,2-1)

Michigan
Purdue will travel to the Big House where they won the last time for the first time since 1966. The Wolverines have a new coach in Brady Hoke, but still have the most dangerous athlete in the Big Ten in Denard Robinson. He will expose Purdue’s defense like he did much of the 2010 game. (6-2, 2-2)

Wisconsin
Wisconsin won the Big Ten last year and lost a heart breaker to TCU in the Rose Bowl. Visiting team wins in Madison are as rare as a total lunar eclipse. (6-3, 2-3)

Ohio State
The five seniors and the lying head coach will be back when Ohio State comes to Purdue. The Buckeyes are a perennial powerhouse of the Big Ten and Coach Tressel won’t let them slip in Lafaette like they did two years ago. (6-4,2-4)

Iowa
The Hawkeyes are known for their nasty defense. They went 8-5 last season with a three point victory in the Insight Bowl against Missouri. Last season, the Hawkeyes didn’t play Purdue, but it will be hard to come into Lafayette on a cold mid-November senior day and get a win. If Coach Hope wants to remain the play caller for the Boilers, he has to protect his home field. (7-4,3-4)

Indiana
The players don’t forget. The coaches don’t forget. The students don’t forget. After IU won the 2010 Oaken Bucket, one would think they had just won the national championship. They raced over to the Purdue student section taunting the fans waiving the bucket, laden with “P’s” around, chewing on the few “I’s” there were to find. IU has a new offensive coordinator and loses Ben Chappell who threw for three touchdowns in the 2010 game, and Tandon Doss, who caught three touchdowns. The Boilers will be hungry to hang their 58th “P” on the bucket(IU has 27 “I’s”) and get revenge for what happened in 2010. (8-4, 4-4)

Postseason Expectations
The Boilers should finish in the middle of the pack in the Big Ten at 4-4, but with home wins over ranked Iowa and Notre Dame, a win over Illinois, and road wins over IU and Rice, the Boilers should be in their first bowl game in the Hope era. Athletic Director has hinted that it is bowl game or bust this season for Danny Hope.

Matt Painter shows he does not have Tiger Blood

After almost a week of speculation, incorrect news, and distress from Boilermaker nation, Matt Painter finally signed a new eight year salary that could exceed $2 million annually.

Earlier today it was unclear as to what Painter’s decision was going to be, but twitter and other social networking sites took the Boilermaker faithful for a stomach turning roller-coaster ride that was vastly unnecessary. Everything started Monday night when Dick Weiss of the New York Daily News tweeted, “Matt Painter to Missouri 7 yrs, 14 mill’ Tigers got a great coach will Purdue make a pitch for Brad Stevens?” News spread like wildfire and within minutes, the entire nation was tricked into thinking Painter was heading to Missouri. After a very long Tuesday, it was said by the University of Missouri Athletic Department that they wanted a decision by Painter on noon, Wednesday. Early Wednesday morning, the roller coaster ride started up again and made for one very long day; a day that will make some wonder if social networking like twitter and Facebook are good for the media.

At 12:01 p.m., one minute after Missouri wanted Painter’s decision, Bernie Miklasz reported that Coach Painter had been in contact with Missouri’s Athletic Director and would fill the vacancy for Missouri basketball. Throughout the day, Indianapolis Star reporter Jeff Rabjohns kept the people of West Lafayette grounded. Rabjohns was one of the first to report that both schools had been contacted and neither had heard from Matt Painter on his decision. Hours later, more rumors were sent out via twitter that a Purdue player had said there was a players only meeting at 8 p.m. Wednesday night and that Painter was going to inform the team he was leaving before he informed the media. Minutes later, that rumor was buried. Finally, around 3:30 p.m. ESPN’s 1070 the fan tweeted, “Despite reports to the contrary, Matt Painter will remain at Purdue as head coach. Rumor quickly spread and minutes later, first reports from Fox 59 in Indianapolis and ESPN about the decision. Miklasz quickly fired tweets apologizing to fans and media about biting the bullet. Shortly after, confirmation came from Purdue that Coach Painter would continue his quest for a national championship with the old gold and black. As it turns out, Painter doesn’t have tiger blood after all.

On a day that most of Indiana was blanketed with snow, sun shined valiantly from the West Lafayette sky. The school that can never catch a break (John Hart’s lingering foot problems, Robert Marve, KK Hauser, Keith Smith, and Rob Hummel’s torn ACL’s) finally caught one on Wednesday.

Matt Painter

What is a good day for Purdue basketball is also a good day for the school of Purdue and basketball in Indiana. Earlier this week, Athletic Director Morgan Burke and Purdue President France Cordova were catching flack from all directions because it was thought that they weren’t trying hard enough to keep Painter around. The Big 10 Coach of the Year three of the last four years was being paid a measly $1.3 million a year, good enough for eighth best in the Big 10. Tuesday, Senior Associate Athletic Director, Nancy Cross, made a bold move in lashing out at John Purdue Club members informing them that it was their own fault for Painter only being paid $1.3 mil. a year. While some thought it was wrong for her to bite the hand that feeds her,  it needed to be said. Numerous students and John Purdue Club members voiced their opinions about what would happen if Painter did leave to Missouri. Most said they would pull their memberships and VIP cards, both huge sources of revenue to the school and the athletic department. While some Indiana University fans are mad about staying, most are happy. It is true that in 49 states, it’s just basketball, but this is Indiana. With IU in resurgence and Purdue already close to the top, the rivalry may be heading back to the glory days of the Knight vs. Keady battles.

What excites Purdue fans the most is the reason Matt Painter said he wanted to stay with the Boilermakers. Some questioned how Painter could even think about leaving Purdue. Purdue is his alma mater, Robbie Hummel will return for a, what hopes to be, magical year. Mackey Arena is undergoing a makeover that will make it one of the top athletic facilities in the Big 10. People could not question coach Painter for exploring his options. He only wanted to put himself in the best position for a championship. To him, it has never  been about the money. He wanted what was best for his assistants, and he wanted a place that would give him the most tools to win a championship. His tool bag is full now, so is his wallet. He has everything he needs to win a championship, the current team, the recruits, the facilities, the assistants, but most importantly, he has the student support. Now that Painter is being paid with the likes of the top coach in the nation he needs to perform like one the top coaches in the nation.

Boilers, Hoosiers to renew storied rivalry

Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. Mackey Arena will be host to one of the best rivalries in college basketball. The Indiana Hoosiers will take on the Purdue Boilermakers in a game that could mean more than some may think. IU, who still has one more tune up game Saturday against Iowa, is trying to bolster their resume to make a NIT birth. Meanwhile, Purdue is in a virtual must win situation 3 games behind Ohio State with only 8 to play.

The Rivalry started back in 1901 and Purdue holds a commanding series lead at 110-84. Both schools have dominated the Big 10. Purdue has a Big 10 most 22 conference championships while IU is in second place with 20. IU has brought home 5 National Championships while Purdue has only had one in 1932. Any IU fan will be quick to note that in 1932 there was no NCAA Champion and the national champion was voted on.

IU comes into this game hot, winning two of their last three, two in a row against ranked opponents. Purdue, on the other hand, skids into the match up losing 4 of their last 7 games.

The last two years, the games have not been as meaningful for the teams as in the past but that is soon to change. The Hoosiers are playing better basketball right now than any team Tom Crean has courted in his time at IU and any smart fan should know that records can be thrown out the window when these two teams battle. Until Crean came to IU, Coach Matt Painter virtually had the state of Indiana, a recruit hotbed, to himself. From 2007-2009, Painter has only recruited two kids not from the state of Indiana. Some think the only way to win championships is to recruit nationally but(before the injury to Rob Hummel) Purdue showed that they could be a top 5 team with almost all in-state talent. The 2009 Indiana All-Star game featured 3 Boilermakers and no Hoosiers and Coach Tom Crean began to catch some flak for not recruiting the state hard enough. He quickly silenced those who doubted him. In 2011 IU has 2 Indiana All-Stars and, the probable, Mr. Basketball in Cody Zeller. In 2012 Matt Painter has a top 15 recruiting class nationally but is getting no recognition because of the job that Tom Crean has done for that class. Crean boasts the #1 recruiting class nationally for 2012 with four players committed,(three from Indiana) one more soon coming. Most thought that with Crean bringing in the 2012 recruits, Painter would get the upper hand in the class of 2013, but that isn’t the case right now. Crean has landed two players from Indianapolis that are top 50 recruits in the nation. Painter is close behind with one commit who is also a top 50 national recruit. Coach Crean has also landed verbal commits from the class of 2014 from Indiana kids who are the #1 and #7 ranked players in the nation in their age division.

It will be interesting to see where this rivalry goes when IU gets back on their feet. With two young, fiery coaches, this rivalry could go down in history with the likes of those like, dare I say, Bob Knight and Gene Keady.

Although some may say it is just another hard nosed Big 10 game, both Purdue and Indiana know it’s more than that. The game will mean bragging rights for a few weeks(until PU visits IU on Feb. 23) for the fans. It will be for Indiana to show that they are on the road back to greatness. It will be for Purdue to show that they still own the state. It will be for those in attendance to show why Mackey Arena is one of the hardest places to play in the Big 10. It could also be the drop of water that could tip the cup toward one school over another for a recruit.

As much as Purdue fans love to kick Indiana while they are down, both schools need this rivalry to mean something again. The state of Indiana needs this rivalry mean something again. The Big 10 needs this rivalry to be good again. In a few years, this game could determine the outcome of the Big 10.

Regardless of the outcome, Tuesday will be a night for the state of Indiana to enjoy. Both teams will show grit and toughness that is bred from playing basketball in the state of Indiana. If somebody from another state questions why we care so much about nights like this, there is nothing else to say to them but…

It’s an Indiana thing

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