|
08 February 2010
Tired of reading Super Bowl recaps? You've come to the right place...
Here's the dilemma: think of your team's biggest rival. Whether it's in-state or a border rivalry, it's always the first game you find when the schedule is released, it's the one or two games every year that have the ability to salvage an otherwise crummy season. But, what happens when your biggest rival hits the skids for a few years and falls off the national landscape? It's happened to Michigan/OSU (sorry Cohron), it's in danger of happening to Kentucky/Louisville (unless we're competing in translucent white suits) and it's definitely happened to my alma mater Purdue's biggest rival: Indiana.
For twenty years (1980-2000) Purdue/IU was dominated by two personalities. Gene Keady and Bobby Knight roamed the sidelines and did their best Spy vs. Spy routine for the entire time. Keady won 7 Big Ten coach of the year awards and Knight won 6 (albeit three of them before Keady ever came on the scene, ahem). One memorable moment included this inspirational speech including "I'm tired of f***ing losing to Purdue!" which I certainly can't get enough of.
But, in the last decade hit and things took a turn. Knight was out at IU, the Kelvin Sampson "era" happened and Keady retired, handing the reigns to former player Matt Painter. Painter gets a massive 2007 recruiting class and every player with a pulse flees Bloomington as quickly as possible.
Purdue took down the Hoosiers in a tough game on Thursday night. But, that was to be expected. A home game against your in-state rivals for this IU team was the biggest game of there season. In the end, the talent on the Purdue sidelines was just too much (despite their efforts to blow it) and the Boilermakers won in Bloomington for the first time in a decade. There's no feeling better than beating your rivals, but there's something sort of hollow about it. So, here's the question:
Do I want IU to be competitive again? (more after the break)
Yes: Having a game with two top ranked teams can be good for both. Whoever wins gets a nice resume builder and the exposure is mutually beneficial. In Scottish soccer the top (by a long ways) rivalry is in Glasgow: Rangers vs. Celtic. They call it the "Old Firm" because the sheer passion of the fans on either side inspires ticket sales, jersey sales, et al. It's Reaganomics! A rising tide and whatnot.
No: Nothing stings like a loss to IU potentially killing a chance at the Big Ten title. Well, maybe one thing, a loss to IU killing a chance at the Big Ten title and then having to hear about it from their fans.
Yes: I do have friends who went to IU and they're by and large a friendly, easy going group. Bloomington is a fun town, more fun than West Lafayette by a mile and despite the fact that there's not much to do with that Political Science degree, they're a good lot.
No: God, I hate those freaking candy cane warm-up pants.
I guess when it comes down to it I want IU to be really good, but lose to Purdue something like 9 out of 10 times. Can I have that?
