Black N Purple

Northwestern to build new lakefront visitor center

2012-02-03T10:15:00.000-08:00

Today, we heard that NU will spend some of its hard earned money to build a new lakefront visitor center. According to the Daily Northwestern...

"The center, designed by the Chicago architecture firm Perkins+Will, will sit east of Fisk Hall next to Lake Michigan. The building is expected to cost about $32 million and construction is slated to be completed by early 2014, according to a University press release. Plans for the new center were announced last January.

"It's going to be a great visitors center," Schapiro said. "It's going to have two stories; there's going to be a balcony. It's beautifully designed and it's going to greatly expand capacity."

This center is going to be the gateway for prospective students and the University and will be a much needed change to the facilities for student admissions.

So what do I think? I think what about improving the facilities for students that already attend Northwestern? For example, could we improve the Union? What about the main library, which is an eyesore and is falling apart? Could we do something about that?

I also think, what about improving facilities for sports? This obviously includes a new football stadium and new basketball arena. Prospective students will be blown away when they visit the new visitor center. Later, when they come to NU, they will be disappointed by the other facilities they have to use for they next four years. Don't get me wrong, I think the visitor's center is great, we need it. BUT, we also need better, improved facilities in other areas. The administration needs to get its act together.

Why no posts?

2012-01-30T09:36:00.000-08:00

Why no posts? I haven't been posting because I am not enthusiastic. Not about NU's bowl loss to Texas A&M nor about the basketball team's results this year. Overall there is little to get excited about, even with recruiting, so I haven't been commenting. That's it.

New facilities and such

2011-11-18T14:28:00.000-08:00

Having read over at LTP today that prominent people read the blogs I thought I'd chip in on the stadium conversation. That is to say, I really doubt any big wigs read my blog, but they do at LTP and that is a credit to the effort they make over there. In any case if you are reading, this is what I think.

When I heard that the board of trustees had reservations about putting a new football stadium on the lake fill I suggested that this would be a big mistake. However, I have been thinking and reading various posts and I now believe that we need to keep football up on Central Avenue. However, we still need an all new, state-of-the-art stadium to replace Ryan Field. This should be similar to what we were expecting before. A new smaller stadium, that could be expanded in the future. This stadium should have luxury boxes and other seating options that would allow the leaders of our community to host functions at games. The stadium can be built next to the current stadium (just northwest). After the team moves to the new Ryan Field, the old Dyche/Ryan would be put to rest for eternity.

Now, what to do with Welsh-Ryan Arena? I suggest that this facility must be razed and along with it the deplorable tradition of our basketball teams. Destruction must also be the fate our own terrible student union on the main campus. From the ashes should rise another state-of-the-art facility at the former position of the union. This would be a union/student activity center that, in addition to restaurants, bars, a movie theater, a bowling alley and the like would have a 10,000+ arena for basketball, volleyball, concerts, conferences and other valuable university functions. Located close to south campus, and the business school this facility would serve students, faculty and business leaders. If done right, this would really be the crown jewel of the south campus and would be a facility that would firmly cement the reputation of Northwestern as one of the best schools in the country.

I really believe in this plan and think that it is the kind of idea, if feasible, could be presented to the administration and fundraisers as a priority.

Optimism takes hold

2011-11-17T12:23:00.000-08:00

In cyberspace, wildcat fans are bursting with optimism as we go into the Minnesota game this Saturday. Based on the idea that we are riding a 3 game winning streak and have had close fought games against, Iowa, Penn State, Michigan and Illinois we feel the team has shown a lot this season and is a lot better than our record shows. Can anybody say we are the best 5-5 team in the nation? Our only "bad" loss was to Army. At the same time, Minnesota has shown improvement as well and upset Iowa two weeks ago. So this game will be as tough as any. If we can win we will be just where I like the team to be at the end of the year, one game to go with a lot to play for. With Dan Persa playing as well as ever, I like our chances.

'Cats take care of business

2011-11-12T15:09:00.000-08:00

Behind strong games from Dan Persa and Jeremy Ebert, the 'Cats beat Rice 28-6 and moved to 5-5 on the year. Now going into the final two games of the season, the 'Cats have a chance to become bowl eligible. Wins against Minnesota and Michigan State, which are not guaranteed, would put them at 7-5 and on a 5 game winning streak. This would look good to any bowl selection committee. If Dan Persa continues to play well, anything is possible.

Joe Paterno's ordeal

2011-11-09T08:11:00.000-08:00

I can't help it. I have been thinking and reading about this story all night. Yesterday, I thought that JoePa should not be held accountable for the actions of accused pedophile Jerry Sandusky. But the more I read and the more I found out about this I don't think I can support JoePa anymore. Not that it matters. I am just one person out in cyberspace.

The troubling issues are that Jerry Sandusky was investigated for showering with an 11-year old boy in 1998. This was four years before he was observed raping 10-year old boy in the showers, the incident witnessed by Mike McQueary in 2002. There was another witnessed event in 2000 when Sandusky was witnessed by a janitor to having oral sex with an 11-13 year old boy in the Penn State showers. So this was a pattern of behavior, witnessed by more than one person and we are expected to believe that JoePa did not know anything about it? Furthermore, all of these incidents were in the showers and Sandusky had keys to these showers for three years after he retired! I suspect that this "retirement" was in fact a way for JoePa to quietly get rid of a huge problem.

Most accounts tell us that JoePa was CEO of Penn State football, more powerful than the president of the university. People answer to him, not the other way around. So if he told the athletic director about Sandusky in 2002, he was likely looking for a way to solve an unpleasant problem and expecting the AD to take care of it. The truth may come out in the end, but I now expect a lot of people to start pointing fingers. We may even find out that Penn State made Sandusky get treatment for his problem. The quote I posted yesterday was strange. Here it is again.

"If this is true we were all fooled, along with scores of professionals trained in such things, and we grieve for the victims and their families."

Scores of professionals trained is such things? Does this mean that Penn State sought the advice of professionals to evaluate Sandusky to see if he really was a pedophile? If this is true it will be mind-bogglingly crazy. Did they suspect him, evaluate him and then determine that he was safe to be around children? If this is true, Penn State would be even more liable for damages. Did JoePa have these evaluations done on his own, without telling Penn State? This is critical information. Even Sandusky's foundation must have known he was a potential threat to children and still no one could believe it. Matt Millen, a member of the Second Mile board said he was like "the guy next door." What if the board knew he was a possible pedophile and continued to let him take young boys over to Penn State to see the showers?

Everyone needs to come clean at this point. Millen needs to say, yes I heard something. Maybe this is why he is so emotional about this. He knew about it too! JoePa needs to tell the truth, as soon as possible.

Finally, he and any coaches that knew about Sandusky and did not act should step down, today. The Second Mile organization should be dissolved and its board investigated.

The Paterno situation

2011-11-08T06:49:00.000-08:00

"If this is true we were all fooled, along with scores of professionals trained in such things, and we grieve for the victims and their families."
Joe Paterno

Some are calling for Joe Paterno to step down or be punished for not acting more forcefully when he was told by a graduate assistant that his assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, had sexually abused a boy in the Penn State team shower. In an NPR poll this morning more than 80% of the respondents said that he should step down or take a leave of absence. I am not sure what should be done except that they should ask JoPa about his actions. Remember, hindsight is 20-20.

For example, if someone that worked for you accused another more senior person of such an act what would you do? Not only this, but the accused person is a friend, a guy you have known and watched for many years. Someone you trusted with your own kids.

First, you would probably think about it, because it is a serious accusation. Then you might decide to ask the accused person about it directly. That person would undoubtedly deny it backwards and forwards. Then you would think about it again. Then you might approach the accuser and say that the other guy said nothing happened. He would say that yes this definitely happened. So you might ask around and see if anyone else saw something. If no one did and you were worried about bringing such a huge accusation against your own hand-picked employee. So you would seek advice from others in the organization and they would say to let your supervisor know about it.

You then approach your supervisor and tell him or her of the accusation. Then you decide that if there is something there, something will happen. If not, then the accusations were groundless. The years go by and nothing happens, so you decide that you are glad you haven't heard anything more because the thought of it is just so painful.

Can you imagine what JoPa himself is thinking right now? He is probably so horrified that after all this time the dirtbag he stood by and believed WAS a sex offender. He also knows that since he didn't pursue it more forcefully, many other boys were sexually abused. I feel bad for the guy because that is a huge weight on his shoulders. Isn't that punishment enough?

I hope that JoPa comes clean and tells the whole story. But you know what? Since this is a ongoing investigation and since Penn State itself is liable for damages I am sure his lawyers will tell him not to talk. So, with his mouth gagged, JoPa will have to absorb the punishment he is about to get. That also, is a big punishment.

JoPa is likely to be linked with this scandal forever. But what about the graduate assistant? If I saw someone sexually abusing a kid in the showers #1 I would walk right over and stop it then and there, no questions and if I had to fight the guy I would, to protect the kid. Second, if my boss did not do anything after I told him, I would go to the police. Third, I would go to the police first and tell my boss later.

The actual witness did not do any of these things as far as we know. People are saying that JoPa could have stopped this monster sooner. True, but the graduate assistant (allegedly current assistant coach Mike McQueary) could have acted as well. Did he try?

For good articles about this click here and here.

Anything can happen!

2011-11-05T19:16:00.000-07:00

I just had a feeling this might happen. The 'cats have faced a lot of adversity this year. Congratulations guys, this was a great win.

Thursday Thoughts

2011-11-03T06:51:00.000-07:00

After winning big on Saturday we face a powerful Nebraska team this weekend in Lincoln. If you look at our schedule you could divine many things. First, if we had beaten Army (a game we really should have won) and Illinois (a game we almost won) we would be 5-3 and high on our chances to upset the Huskers. And say we had also held onto our lead against Michigan, we would be stellar 6-2 going into our game this week. A bounce here, a missed tackle there and we could realistically be 5-3 or 6-2.

On the other hand, the teams we have beaten are collectively 5-20 and are terrible. So if you look at it the other way, we are lucky to even have won three games this year.

Terrible or not, my feeling is that we have hung in there with all but one team this year and so are much better than our record indicates. Our offense ranks with the best, despite the injuries to Dan Persa. The defense is young and has struggled. Still, they have forced turnovers and have kept us in games at times. The defense has problems, but these are compounded by other factors that are beyond the players control. The Indiana game showed us how this team can be successful. When the offense keeps scoring, possession after possession, then the defense has a little breathing room. This is the way we have to win. We relentlessly score and the D just has to hold the other team down enough to win.

Another issue with the 'cats this year is that except for Dan Persa (and I think Kain Colter), we lack bona fide stars. In recent years we have had stars both on offense and defense. Corey Wootton, Tyrell Sutton, Nick Roach, Tim McGarigle, Luis Castillo, Barry Cofield, Mike Kafka, all guys that play(ed) in the NFL. We need guys like this who can put the team on their back and carry us for a while. This year we are still looking for the new stars of the team to rise.

So given these factors the team is doing well. Like I said they could easily be sitting at 5-3 and the press would be looking for our annual upset of a ranked team. I think it can happen. It all depends on the game. Did any of us think that Corey Wootton would come back from injury to sack and injure Ricky Stanzi in the end zone two years ago? Iowa was undefeated and we took them down in Iowa City. Anything can happen.

10 Questions for the IU game

2011-10-28T14:31:00.000-07:00

Here are 10 questions I have about the Indiana game

Will Dan Persa play the entire game? He is a warrior, but he has just suffered so many injuries.
Will a NU running back get more than 20 carries? I hate the running back merry-go-round. We need to pick one guy and give him 20-25 touches. This is a hallmark of a good coach. If a back only gets 5-10 touches in a game then the chances of him breaking off a big play are much lower.
Will Jeremy Ebert continue to play at a high level? Our backup QBs need to find JE as much as DP does.
Will Damien Proby and Chi Chi Ariguzo start again? I hope so.
Will the defensive line step up and put pressure on IU QBs? I attribute many of the woes of the defensive secondary to our lack of pass rush. If we get a rush, then good things will happen.
Can we play an entire game without going for it on 4th down? 4th down is the territory of teams with bad kicking games. We need to take the points and get off the field instead of risking turning over the ball. Turning over the ball on downs is a turnover, just like a fumble or interception.
Can IU take advantage of our weaknesses? Will the two Kevins (Wilson and Johns) know exactly how to beat the 'Cats?
Will the offense score in the second half?
Will Venric Mark return one for a score? We need this kind of spark.
Will the team fight like it did against Penn State? Our guys fought hard last week. Can they bring the intensity week after week, even when they are losing?

This week is crucial to saving our season. We need a win if we have any hope of finishing 6-6, which I believe we will. If we have a lead in the 4th, I hope Fitz sits Persa down. He is our MVP and we have learned that the hard way this year.

We want transparency!

2011-10-25T12:39:00.000-07:00

As reported by LTP and The Tribune, NU's board of trustees have expressed reservations about building a sports complex on the lake fill. The opportunity to upgrade our facilities is just that, an opportunity. NU now has the opportunity to go forward from a point where we have the worst sports facilities in the Big Ten, to having the best facilities. Isn't that what NU is about? Having the best of everything? As of now the process is in its early stages and subject to change. However, we do not know why some members of the board of trustees may balk at the current plan. We would like to know. I hope that this process becomes a dialog, not a decision handed down. Additionally, the students, players and fans should be involved in the process, not just the university administration. Any facilities that the university considers should be multi-purpose, facilities to be used by students and teams alike. I would like to hear what the reservations are and open a dialog with the board of trustees.

The board may think that new sports oriented facilities should be located on the lake fill but this will cost too much. Alternatively, they may feel that a nice compromise would be to locate these facilities on Central Ave. but they are willing to raise the funds. I have suggested that pure research buildings be built on Central Ave. because undergraduate students do not use those buildings as much and there is ample room for parking. In addition, that location is near Evanston hospital and this will enable collaboration between researchers and physicians. This would help NU to reap the financial benefits of medical discoveries, that the administration is well aware of.

Hopefully the board will not bow to the pressure of self-imposed deadlines and if they need to take longer to make their decision, they should take longer. However, the best choice will be to locate new facilities to the lake fill and to make these facilities better than excellent.

10 questions for the PSU game

2011-10-20T07:18:00.000-07:00

Here are 10 questions I have about the Penn State game

What will the mystery uniforms look like? If indeed the rumor is true.
Will we be able to score against Penn State?
Will the defensive secondary work out their communication problems?
Will Adonis Smith have a breakout game?
Can we put pressure on Penn State's quarterbacks?
Will coach Fitz break into his bag of trick plays?
Will Penn State fans create a "whiteout" at Ryan Field?
Can we hold on to a lead in the 4th quarter?
Will Joe Paterno tie Eddie Robinson as the all-time winningest coach in division I history?
Can the 'Cats pull out a victory to save their season?

Very Sad Again

2011-10-17T14:06:00.000-07:00

I am sad that we lost Saturday. I hope the team does not give up however, because I think we will finish 6-6 with wins against three teams on the schedule. I won't say which they are so as to not jinx our guys.

We will positively win this weekend

2011-10-14T10:10:00.000-07:00

Think about it. We have had only one bad game this year. This was the Army game. And if you think about it further, how many times did we think the 'Cats could have won on the road with a backup QB? Kain Colter is a very good football player, but it is a lot to ask a backup to consistently win on the road. Our other two losses are to undefeated teams, one of which we barely lost to (Illinois). So why do I think we win this weekend? Not because we have had Iowa's number in the past few years. It is because we have Dan Persa. He is in his 3rd game back from injury and I think this will be his best game so far. Throw in a little Kain Colter and we win. Iowa's offense will be better this week, but on offense we have the edge. This will be another close game, but I BELIEVE in the 'Cats and think we come home with a W.

Iowa Football: ANF Day

2011-10-11T11:20:00.000-07:00

Saturday at Kinnick: ANF Day and Black and Gold Spirit

One of the most silly things about Iowa football is the bumble bee motif. You know, the "game bibs" and the black and gold stripes everywhere. University of Iowa also puts into practice the idea that the Big 10 conference is more country than city. This week our City 'Cats will face the Iowa country mice (aka Hawkeyes) in front of a rabid fanbase decked out in gold or black in respective sections so that Kinnick will be black and gold striped. This would be enough to stupefy any opponent.

Iowa is also the home of many cute girls. In fact, when I was an undergrad at NU, most of the really cute girls I knew were from the great state of Iowa. Of course these were smart, cute girls because they decided to go to NU rather than going to U of I. Then again I didn't really know anything about girls, having gone to all boys catholic school for the previous 12 years.

This week is ANF day, which is a celebration of a foundation called America Needs Farmers.
ANF was first launched in 1985 during the height of the Farm Crisis, by legendary Hawkeye coach Hayden Fry, who wanted to show an increasingly urban nation why agriculture matters. Basically, if Hayden Fry starts something it will be recognized and celebrated in the state of Iowa. Anyway, a lot will be going on that will distract Northwestern and its fans.

Iowa fans are recognized among many as some of the nastiest, meanest sons o' beaches in the Big 10. While Ohio State fans may be sometimes represented by roving groups of drunken thugs, Iowa fans are vociferous, foul-mouthed meanies. I was at one game where two Iowa fans were swearing at an 11-year old NU fan sitting with his grandparents! We won. Lake the Posts has written about the trials and tribulations of the NU band at Kinnick. You can find stuff like this all over the internet. Here is one quote.

"Have you ever travelled to another college town to watch your team play? And while watching your team play, have you ever been convinced that you have never been surrounded by more dirt bags in one place at one time? Iowa City has my vote. The Iowa Hawkeyes' fans are 3 parts rude, 3 parts arrogant and 4 parts retarded. They've never won a big game that mattered (ask USC, UCLA, & Washington) but that doesn't stop them from still being world class A-holes." -Todd

Here is another

"A family friend of ours wearing Michigan gear was slugged in the face while sitting in section 104 of Kinnick stadium last night. Apparently they were cheering too much after the early pick six by Stanzi. I was totally embarassed by the action of two Iowa fans in their 30's who first verbally confronted a college kid and then slugged his father in the face after the father tried to defuse the situation. These Iowa fans weren't even drunk so don't use that as the excuse for these idiots. My family are die hard Hawkeye fans that take many road trips including into Madison, but we have never seen that kind of behavior on the road. Needless to say, we were embarassed by this incident and felt horrible as the dad just kept repeating, "I'll never come back here again." Happened in Section 104, Row 40, Seat 1-4. I hope these type of people are not season ticketholders. We went from being really excited after a big win to being nauseated and ashamed of how our friends were treated in the stadium that we love. I know that this sort of thing is not common, but I have seen and heard of many other incidents of poor Hawkeye fan behavior. I do not consider these types of fans as Hawkeyes even if they are wearing Black & Gold. They are not worthy of sitting in Kinnick Stadium." -Anonymous

Anyway, it is a harsh environment for our team, band and our fans. Let's hope the 'Cats come home with another win.

Sissy fight breaks out on Lake the Posts!

2011-10-10T09:41:00.000-07:00

OK, on saturday NU came out firing against Michigan. We made some strong punches but in the end had a terrible second half and lost. Readers should know that the team just lacks MOJO this year. Hopefully, we win the games we can and should win and, under the best of circumstances, we make it to 6-6. Which, during the Randy Walker years, was pretty normal.

More interesting than the game was the intense sissy fight that broke out on LTP in the comments section. LTP and some of the readers were complaining that our season ticket holders sold their tickets to Michigan fans and the Michiganders totally outnumbered the 'Cats fans. Back and forth, back and forth they went. All I have to say is this. I agree that it sucks that the U of M fans were in the stands BUT, this is a matter of supply and demand. There was a supply of tickets to the game and the demand was squarely in the 'ganders corner. So they bought the tickets. Some of the 'Cats fans were saying that these so called "Benedict Arnolds" should have left their seats empty or sold them only to other 'Cats fans. The issue is that if there were a lot of 'Cats fans trying to get tickets, they just might have done that. People sell their extra tickets on StubHub and StubHub doesn't ask whom you support. They just ask you if you want to buy the tickets and how you will pay for them. Yes, the ticket selling individuals are jerks but they are jerks who can and will sell their tickets when they can't use them. Some of our more patriotic followers said they hoped these traitors would just not get season tickets again. But wait! Aren't these the same persons who want us to sell more season tickets? They should instead plant kisses on the rear ends of anyone who buys NU football season tickets every year. We need everyone who buys tickets, the good and the bad. Face it, this is reality. We need any and all fans, even those sissies who sell their tickets to go to weddings and sissy boy things like that. They should text Jonathan Brown and watch the Illinois game with the rest of their sissy friends.

Michigan against Northwestern

2011-10-05T07:44:00.000-07:00

Denard can be rattled on the field.
How do we do it?

Will NU be able to stop U of M's dynamic offense? It is not likely but here is a possible strategy. Denard Robinson is a force, but he can be rattled. He has thrown six picks and we have to take advantage of this. First, we need to keep rushing five guys on every play. We also need to get our quickest defenders on the field even if they are not starters on the depth chart. This means that we need to have our fastest linebackers on the field. Jeravin Matthews becomes the nickleback and Jordan Mabin moves from left to right on different plays, so that Denard cannot throw away from him. Again, we need to play the five fastest guys in the defensive backfield, even if this means we are going to put freshman and sophomores on the field. Mabin is our best player, so we need to constantly move him so that Michigan's coaches cannot call plays that take advantage of where he is. We could even line him up at safety on some plays. Another critical move will be to disguise where the safeties are playing. Most importantly, we have to give Michigan a look they have not seen on film. I don't think Denard will be able to respond in a way that will take advantage. He will just get rattled.

Illinois linebacker Jonathan Brown suspended for groin kick.

2011-10-04T09:43:00.000-07:00

Jonathan Brown's fame is spreading. The sophomore linebacker at University of Illinois was suspended yesterday for one game for kneeing Patrick Ward in family jewels during the first half of our game with the Illini. Black N Purple is curious who is Jonathan Brown?

Ron Zook described Jonathan as

"a good person, a spiritual person, and no one feels worse about it than him. But he got caught up in the moment, made a serious mistake and must deal with the consequences."

Ok, Jonathan is a spiritual person. Interesting.

Jonathan himself said,

"I apologize to my family, my teammates and the Illinois fans for letting them down," Brown said. "I also would like to apologize to the Northwestern team for my actions. What I did was out of character and won't happen again."

So, not only is Jonathan a spiritual person, but his actions were out of character. Hmm.

Brian Noe on ESPN radio describes Jonathan as a person who violated "man code."

"Jonathan Brown is completely wrong in two instances here. First off, it’s totally regrettable to knee another man in his jewels. It’s simply a different kind of pain to inflict on your opponent. The Golden Rule of, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”, typically doesn’t apply to football, accept for the jewels. Groin shots are off limits.

Brown’s second mistake is that he does this right in front of an official. It’s also on TV! Brown is a YouTube, low-blow, groin shot, 15-yard personal foul drawing cheap shot artist. Nice job, JB. If you’re going to knee another man in his privates, don’t do it right in front of an official on television."

Maybe this is what Jonathan regrets. The reaction of some is sniggering and saying way to go JB. But others are saying he is a complete sissy, who must turn in his "man card."

So we have arrived at this, so far. JB is a spiritual, low-blow, groin shot, sissy who was acting out of character.

I am glad at least he is spiritual, because he will be praying that all this attention goes away.

JB here are a few points.

There is a clothes store in Amsterdam called Sissy Boy. You might want to visit there if you ever travel.
What you want is that people remember your football accomplishments not your kneeball accomplishments.
People might think this was funny, the first time, but pretty soon you will be labeled by the NFL as someone with character issues.
On draft day, you know this will resurface.

I will continue to look on the internet for info on JB and if I find anything funny, I will post.

Want to follow Jonathan Brown on Twitter? Click here.

Defensive woes cost us game with Illinois

2011-10-03T14:04:00.000-07:00

Wow, it was a close game and we out rushed the Illini. I could never have predicted that. When your quarterback throws for 4 TDs, no picks and you score 35 points, you should win the game. But when you allow a wide receiver to gain 268 yards on 12 catches, you will lose and that is what we did. Play calling aside, injuries aside, being kneed in the groin aside, we lost because we cannot stop the opposition. Does this mean that we can't stop the run? No. We cannot stop the pass? No. What it means is that whatever we need to stop at the end of a game, we can't. Why? I think it is that we don't have the talent. Our guys are just smaller or slower or weaker and we cannot stop another team when it counts. Every time A.J. Jenkins caught a big pass, there was no one near him. No one!. If a guy is killing us, can't we put the best guy we have on him? If we have a dearth of talent in the defensive backfield, pick the one guy we have who is the best and tell him to cover A.J. Jenkins on every play. Speaking of this, I think it is time Jeravin Matthews gets moved down on the depth chart. Teams are picking on him. They will throw to whoever he is covering.

I also want to mention the groin kicking incident. OK so Patrick Ward gets kneed in the groin and is in obvious pain. Where was the response? Why didn't his teammates pound Jonathan Brown 4 feet into the ground for doing this. It is bad that this is all over the press. Yes our players are smart and don't get drawn into fights, but where is the fighting spirit? If your teammate gets kicked in the groin wouldn't you at least confront the guy who did it? This was a collective kick in the groin for all of us. Weak Northwestern was kicked in the nuts, again. People across the country are laughing.

Predicting a loss and a great post from another blog

2011-09-30T10:23:00.000-07:00

The great thing about fan blogs are that they are written by fans. Fans, such as they are, distort things in favor of their favorite teams. There is nothing wrong about this. You love a team, you write good stuff about them. Anyway, I found a great post from an Illini blog (A Lion Eye, huh?) comparing NU's recent success to Illinois recent (seasons?). I'm not sure whether to call it success. Last year the Illini smoked us at Wrigley field and were clearly a much better team. I have often felt the Illini played worse than their talent, much as we play better than our talent. I always attributed that to Ron Zook and his inability to motivate his players. But now they are good and will likely beat us tomorrow. So whatever the facts or interpretation of the facts are, NU has had more success on the field than Illinois in recent years. But I think that the momentum has shifted a bit and this means we may lose a few to Illinois.

So the keys to tomorrow's game are this.

Dan Persa: will he play? and will he play well? We need both.
Northwestern's running game: we need production from our backs. If Mike Trumpy is our best back, play him. Play the best player, not try to get everyone in the game.
Northwestern's defense: Can we stop anyone? Can we force some turnovers? We need both.
Coaching: nothing cute guys. DON'T LEAVE POINTS ON THE FIELD by going for it on 4th down instead of kicking a field goal.
Illinois defense: I think the Illini are going to score some points, so if their defense stops us, we lose.

My prediction is this: Illinois 42 - NU 28.

Western Michigan gives the 'Cats hope

2011-09-29T13:01:00.000-07:00

If we are to believe Kain Colter and coach Fitz, the loss to Army was an aberration. In fact, while Illinois and Army are totally different teams, they share something in common and that is that they are running teams. Meanwhile, despite being 4-0, Illinois almost lost to a 2-2 Western Michigan team at home and this gives us hope. Also, Dan Persa may be back and that might give the 'Cats a psychological boost. A lot can happen, but I think the stars must align for us to beat the Illini this week. Over at LTP there is a nice assessment of Illinois' running attack. Jhodges commentary is here. He predicts a win for the Illini.

Last week the Illini had to hold off WMU in the last minute to win 23-20.
We've got to be better than WMU, so we should win, right?

I think in most cases NU beats NU. What I mean is that the team is a head case. When the players and coaches come together, you see us win games we should not win. When something gets thrown off, we lose. There is sometimes a palpable lack of energy on the sideline. Sometimes, the coaches make inexplicable calls. But if both the team and the coaches are mentally there we win. We can definitely win this saturday, but who knows?

Northwestern versus Army

2011-09-16T09:22:00.000-07:00

Expect to see Army QB Trent Steelman score like this
tomorrow against NU. Let's hope we can contain him
just enough to win the game.

So far the season has gone very well for the Wildcats. We are so under the radar that ESPN's Big Ten Blog is routinely ignoring us. We have won two games with our backup QB, who has demonstrated that he is good enough to be our starter. If Dan Persa comes back and plays well, we have a chance to pull off some upsets. Looming on the horizon is a dangerous 0-2 Army team that boasts one of the best running attacks in college football. Look for our defense to give up 2-5 big plays and at least 3 TDs to Army's runners. Also, look for Army to go for it on 4th down a few times. I expect this game to be a higher scoring game for our opponent that the last two. I think we will win but by less than ten points with Army scoring around 28 points. This mostly because while our D will mostly shut down Army's running attack, it will give up several big plays.

To all of you going to the game enjoy the experience. Go 'Cats!

Northwestern versus Eastern Illinois

2011-09-10T06:22:00.000-07:00

I must apologize because this game is a little uninteresting to me that I haven't made any posts about it. I think we will win and do it in a large way, NU never blows out teams like Nebraska or Oklahoma does. You know 70-3 or something like that. I imagine that we will score over 30 points and EIU will score under 20. I also imagine we will see some of the backup QBs play, Trevor Siemian and Evan Watkins for example. Fitz will not risk injuring Dan Persa in a game like this, but I have been wrong before. If you are going to the game have fun. My son has his first soccer game today by the lake, so I'll have to check in on my cell phone.

Kain Colter rocks!

2011-09-03T18:09:00.000-07:00

Allright, For the last post obviously situation B was the case. DP is not ready to play yet. Now what to do with KC having a great game? Do we have a QB controversy on our hands? Great win!

Northwestern versus Boston College

2011-09-03T09:19:00.000-07:00

Do you trust this man to
run the NU offense?

The Kain Colter Situation:

I think that there are still some issues with Dan Persa's injury. He could and will play, but sparingly, if all goes well. I'm sure the substitutions will cause all of us fans agony during the game. Here are the situations I thought of that could explain what is going on.

Situation A: Persa is healthy enough to play but risks further injury, so if Colter plays well, Persa can sit this one out.

Situation B: Persa is still too injured to be effective. If so he will sit out the entire game.

Situation C: Persa could play but will not start. However, if we start losing, coach Fitz is forced to play him, and he will not be very effective. Then our future opponents know that DP is not doing well and can gameplan accordingly.

Situation D: Coach Fitz is playing mind games with BC. Persa is ready and able to play. Colter and Persa huddle before each possession and then Persa runs out on the field. Colter comes in to change things up, so that BC cannot adjust to our offense.

Remember, last year at this time we had no idea how DP was going to play, so the way I see it, having Kain Colter in may be a blessing. I am more worried about the running game and our defense. So my predicition is, if the defense holds BC to 24 points or less AND if we can run the ball effectively, we will win.

Painting the BBall court

2011-08-16T11:20:00.000-07:00

The vote is in and the basketball court is being painted. The fans voted for the "less purple" version that has the regions surrounding the keys and inside the three point lines purple. The rest will be stained wood. It will look great!

Get the official Northwestern Toolbar

2011-08-11T08:17:00.000-07:00

If you use Firefox or Internet Explorer (I use Safari) you can add this nifty toolbar to your browser that shows you headlines from NU sports. You can download at this link or click the headline to this post. This is the description of the toolbar.

Please show your support for the Northwestern Wildcats by using the Northwestern Wildcats Toolbar.Here is your chance to prove that you are the #1 Wildcats fan. Download the toolbar today, and every time you search not only will you earn Points, but you will raise money for Northwestern Athletics! Go Wildcats!

Sounds good to me!

Seniors looking forward to this year.

2011-08-10T09:08:00.000-07:00

Seniors Kevin Watt and Jordan Mabin discuss their offseason preparation.

Go to this link.
http://nusports.cstv.com/allaccess/?media=254695

Vote for NU basketball court

2011-08-09T10:28:00.000-07:00

Hurry over to the NU athletic department facebook page to vote for the design of the basketball court. I like #3. It will distract our opponents.

Quentin Davie signs with Lions

2011-07-27T11:11:00.000-07:00

In my opinion the Lions get a great player as an UFA. Davie gets to go to a team with a depleted linebacking corps and a chance to make the team. My first team is the Lions, so I am very happy.

Happy day in Evanston, Sad day in Columbus

2011-05-30T07:27:00.000-07:00

Wildcat fans can rejoice because the women's lacrosse team beat Maryland 8-7 to claim another national championship. Congratulations!

Meanwhile, Ohio State University announced that Jim Tressel had resigned amid the controversy of NCAA violations. I think, having been to Columbus many times, that it is true that players cannot help getting perks from the community. The people there just love them. So after reading Ray Small's comments, I believe it. Players just get stuff. So Jim Tressel could not control his players and it is likely that this will end up in sanctions. However, the players are just as responsible and they will learn to understand this in a painful way.

You know our basketball team is getting better when...

2011-04-21T09:47:00.000-07:00

we have a junior who is declaring for the NBA draft! What? A first for NU. John Shurna is declaring for the NBA draft but has not signed an agent. So he can still withdraw by May 8th. Wildcat nation and Bill Carmody will be waiting to hear the news.

The Mike and Mike bowl!

2011-04-15T07:27:00.000-07:00

Get Ready! We are playing Notre Dame in 2014 and 2018! We better start refurbishing the stadium ASAP!

How Butler gets it done: Required reading for Bill Carmody and Co.

2011-04-05T10:53:00.000-07:00

Last night's championship game was awful. But in there somewhere was hope for Northwestern Wildcat basketball fans. You see, Butler is much like NU and if we could just do what they do, maybe we could at least make it to the NCAA tournament. So, check out this article about how Butler recruits. Sounds familiar, right?

We get Washington State in Pullman!

2011-03-22T10:13:00.000-07:00

Beasley Performing Arts Coliseum, Pullman

Washington, where the 'Cats will play next.

In the wacky world of the NIT, the Wildcats get to travel to Pullman, Washington to take on the Washington State Cougars in the 3rd round of the NIT. I bet no one in their wildest dreams expected us to be playing there this March. It will be a big advantage for the Cougars since Pullman is so remote that our fans will have to fly to Seattle and then by small plane into Pullman. It is on the far western border of Washington State about 8 miles from Moscow, Idaho. This again is a winnable game for the 'Cats since WSU's RPI is 82, very close to ours of 87. But given the very large number of WSU fans at this game, it will be a stiff test for our boys. If we win, we get to go to Madison Square Garden!

Men advance in NIT and Jim Tressel slaps himself on the wrist

2011-03-21T11:14:00.000-07:00

Hoops
As everyone knows, the Men's hoops team beat Boston College 85-67 on Sunday to advance to the NIT quarterfinals. BC has an RPI of 58 and this was a quality win on the road against an ACC team. Congratulations to the Wildcats. Now we face the winner of the Washington State, Oklahoma State game. Baby steps, baby! The women lost a heartbreaker to Alabama 72-70.

Tressel
As most of you know as well, Jim Tressel voluntarily extended his suspension from 2 to 5 games after (and only after) the NCAA upheld the suspensions given to the "Tat Five." This action was meant to spin the story so that Jim would look better after most major columnists summarily trashed him last week. However, the trashing continued, with many pointing out that a) the players may still practice and b) Tressel will continue to coach during the week. This includes watching film, meeting with other coaches and making game plans. All he can't do is stand on the sidelines and make in game decisions. Even other coaches have started to chip in their opinion of the goings on in Columbus. In my opinion, Jim Tressel knows which side his bread is buttered, and will act accordingly. What I mean is he will do whatever it takes to win as many football games as he can; including breaking the rules.

B&P

Finish strong

2011-03-17T11:11:00.000-07:00

Last night's win at home against UW Milwaukee in the NIT was great and shows that our team is in form. While the season was disappointing in some ways, the team seems to have gotten stronger as they have faced adversity. Let's hope the 'Cats can finish the season strong with a run in the NIT. One more win and we reach 20 wins for the season and as well an unprecedented two NIT wins in a row. I know it isn't the big dance, but we are taking baby steps, baby.

-BNP

Good luck to our hoops teams

2011-03-16T09:38:00.000-07:00

Good luck wishes go out to both the men's hoops team, who play UW Milwaukee at WRA tonight and the women's hoops team who play Creighton tomorrow night at WRA. Go out and support our teams! Go 'Cats!

Bill Carmody should stay for one more year

2011-03-14T11:14:00.000-07:00

Teddy Greenstein made some excellent points in his column Saturday evening about NU men's basketball. Nowhere did he suggest that BC should be fired but he did point out that BC should make some changes. First and foremost, we need to get the team to play better defense. I suggest that the loss of Kyle Rowley to transfer last year made a greater impact than is recognized. Just having that big body in there at crucial times during the game would have made the difference in 1 or 2 games this season. Second is BC's approach to recruiting, which he described as passive. This would be an easy one for BC to remedy, if he has the energy. Other points pertaining to scheduling and BC's mannerisms have been discussed on the blogs before. Our performance in the BTT and hopefully in the NIT have made me comfortable in saying that BC should be back again next year. Until it is clear that we can do better and we have an excellent candidate waiting in the wings, we cannot make a change.

The best quote from Teddy was,

"Carmody, in turn, has every right to ask Schapiro and Phillips either to tear down or completely refurbish Welsh-Ryan Arena, which hasn't had significant work done in more than 20 years. It's a dump, and another major reason why NU basketball sometimes struggles to attract both fans and recruits."

Thank you, Teddy. I couldn't have said it better or more succinctly.

-BNP

Winning IS everything at Ohio State

2011-03-09T11:42:00.000-08:00

What do you do when you have an extremely popular football coach that knowingly breaks his contract and NCAA rules, and then is exposed? You suspend him for two non conference games and fine him $250,000.

Jim Tressel was slapped on the wrists and will likely not be on the sidelines for OSU's games against Akron and Toledo. The reaction has generally been negative and the expectation is that he will receive a stiffer punishment from the NCAA. In reading the emails, Tressel said very little as if he didn't even think it was a problem. Basically, it was equivalent to "those darn kids, what are they up to this time!" Anyway the story is not over yet and we will wait for more news.

Tressel under fire

2011-03-08T12:15:00.000-08:00

Running a clean program appears to be a problem these days. Here at NU we worry about graduation rates and academic all americans. At other schools the problems are of a different sort. Sports Illustrated ran an article last week about the number of felons on major college football teams, and if you look at the list the Big Ten is well represented. Recently, it has been Iowa that has been in the public eye the most.

Now we hear that Jim Tressel is under fire because he knew about the NCAA violations of Terrelle Pryor and others in April, a few months before the violations became known to the university. The problem is that he is required in his contract to tell OSU administration about any violations as soon as he knows about them. It is a major pickle for OSU athletic director Gene Smith because Tressel is a popular and well respected coach. He has the persona of being a squeaky clean, honest and religious man, so if it is true that he lied, then many will say, so what, Jim must have had his reasons. However the part of his contract that specifies that he come clean is underlined!

Folks, the truth here is that when your best players screw up there is the temptation to treat them differently. If unimportant players had done what Terrelle Pryor of Den Herron did, then Tressel would not have had a moral dilemma. He would have informed his boss and suspended them immediately.

I predict that Tressel will not be fired over this incident, but this is not the first time he has had problems at OSU. So again his reputation has been tarnished a little more and with that the entire game of college football. If you want to really see and exemplary and squeaky clean football program, look no further than Evanston, Illinois, home of our Northwestern Wildcats!

Congratulations to Juice Thompson

2011-03-03T07:30:00.000-08:00

Juice finished his career at Northwestern with a big win against Minnesota. The Wildcats will likely face the fading Gophers in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. With the win, the "Cats are 17-12 overall and if they can beat Minnesota in the BTT, will likely get an invitation to the NIT. I also feel that with this win Bill Carmody is going to be back next year as coach. The BTT is wide open with many teams in the middle of the pack. I actually prefer us being in a position to win the 8-9 game (a possibility) and then playing the #2 seed with nothing to lose. So cross your fingers and say a little prayer and maybe we can win a game or two in the BTT.

Over

2011-02-24T19:53:00.000-08:00

It is 66-52 and PSU has won, this is a major disappointment.

Better now

2011-02-24T18:38:00.000-08:00

Allright, it is 24-19 and I feel much better. 'Cats are playing some defense now.

Disgusted

2011-02-24T18:22:00.000-08:00

We just started the game going down 18-2 to these losers from Penn State. Very frustrating.

Opportunity knocks!

2011-02-24T09:11:00.000-08:00

Tonight, we get Penn State in our house. The hoops team gets a great opportunity to go to 7-9 in league play and knock off the pesky Lions and return the favor from last week. Go Shurna! Go "Cats!

The common thread...

2011-02-15T07:31:00.000-08:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, I have been reading all of the blogs and all of the articles that are commenting on Bill Carmody's job. All of the comments on all of the blogs and articles and the common thread has appeared. And Jim Phillips, if you are reading this, take notice, the problem with the mens basketball team is not the coach, but Welsh-Ryan Arena. If you factor in the abysmal place we play home basketball games with a recruit's expectation about how college basketball should be different than high school, then Welsh-Ryan does not meet the expectation. So it must be an embarrassment for Bill Carmody to tour the facilities with a potential high quality recruit. So while the easy thing to do would be to fire Bill C. and hire a replacement, it isn't going to work. Why? Because that person will have to do the same thing, convince a player to come to NU for every other reason than to play basketball games in high quality facilities. I imagine that when players go to other schools the first place that the coach takes them is to the stadium. He then says imagine playing here in front of 20,000 screaming fans. I also imagine that Bill C., shows the players the campus first and then goes up to Welsh-Ryan and says, oh yeah, this is where we play our games.

So let me say this Jim Phillips, you need to get to work with a plan to raise funds for not only a new basketball arena/student activity center BUT also a completely renovated Ryan Field. The time is NOW. NU has invested millions into research buildings, but the time has come to invest in the students and quality of student life and that includes better sports facilities. Come up with a plan and start partying with rich people. Then get them to give, give, give!

Before ya'll go, go over to Spread Far the Fame and read this article about Coach C. I agree with LTP about Bill C. and his future but the way it stands right now, nobody, not even a reincarnated John Wooden could win, in this day and age at NU. The change we really need is to get rid of Welsh-Ryan and build a new place that we can be all proud of. Then and only then can we discuss whether we have the right coach.

BNP

Dark clouds forming around Welsh-Ryan Arena

2011-02-14T10:08:00.000-08:00

Very briefly, both the men's and women's hoops teams lost this weekend. These were games that, if the respective programs have turned the corner, we would have won. Overall, both losses were disappointing. The men were not even competitive. Losing a close nip and tuck game leaves a different taste in the mouth. The game with Penn State wasn't even close. The women, were competitive, but lost at home, something they just cannot do if they are going to compete in the Big Ten.

Despite the announcement of Bill Carmody's contract extension, the issue of whether to fire him has resurfaced and stays a reality. If the 'Cats fail to even make the NIT this year, many people will be upset. The debate over the issue of Bill Carmody and his employment may be moot, but it comes down to two camps. There is the "we can't get a better coach to come to NU, and we'd probably do a lot worse if he is gone" camp and the "he's done a great job and brought us to a higher level, but we need someone else to get even higher than we are now" camp. I am staunchly in the second camp. We don't know what we will get, but we have to take the plunge to find out. The argument that he is the best we can get, is just sickening.

But, as Welsh-Ryan Ramblings has pointed out, it isn't the coach that is the problem. This is true for both the men's and women's programs. It is our facilities. We need a modern basketball arena and we need it now. Guess what? The best plan for the future of our team is to keep Bill Carmody, and give him a new, modern, nice looking, basketball arena. If that happened, I would be happy to see coach C on the sidelines for a while. If we don't start seriously talking about a new arena, we can wait for the rest of our lifetimes to see our mens team improve.

Happy Valentines Day

Badgers down Wildcats: it's tough to win on the road

2011-02-11T07:56:00.000-08:00

Really in any sport teams have to learn to win on the road, and it's a tough thing to learn at any level. No doubt the women's basketball team is a program on the rise, and has won games on the road this year, but last night they just couldn't do it, losing 62-41 to the Badgers in Madison. This was one of those games that defines a season. If they won, they would have been 17-8 (6-6) and heading into the end of the season with some momentum. Next up for the women are Iowa 18-7 (6-6) at home on Sunday at 2:00pm. The game will be on the Big Ten Network and is a WBCA Pink Zone Event in support of the fight against breast cancer.

Women next up for critical game

2011-02-10T10:22:00.000-08:00

After the men's hoop's team beat Illinois, there was considerable optimism in Wildcatland. Then they lost badly to Michigan on the road. Now 4-8 in the Big 10, there seems little hope for either a NCAA tourney bid or a 20 win season. The fans are especially upset this year because we felt that there was so much potential and now there is little to hope for.

The women on the other hand, have really stepped it up and are taking a two game winning streak into Madison to play 13-10 (8-3) Wisconsin tonight. It is a familiar situation. A winnable game on the road. If they get the win their record will rise to 17-8 (6-6) which looks pretty good going into the home stretch of the season. Let's wish them good luck. Go 'Cats!

Women beat Illinois 80-79, can men follow suit?

2011-02-04T08:42:00.000-08:00

In comparing the two hoops teams, the women won a very close game at home to the Illini. No matter what the women are on the rise. Coach McKeown has signed the overall 9th ranked player in the nation, Morgan Jones and the 60th ranked player Alexandra Cohen (who is ranked the 7th best center by ESPN). The women are now 4-6 in the Big Ten and face Ohio State in Columbus on February 6th.

The men play the Illini on national television Saturday. They need to win this game. No more needs to be said.

January Blues

2011-01-31T10:22:00.000-08:00

Both the Men's and Women's hoops teams now have finished the month of January with more losses than wins. The women went 3-5, but more importantly started 3-1 for the month only to lose the last 4 games. The men went 4-6 in January but one of those wins was a meaningless game against SIU Edwardsville. The men have dropped 3 in a row. January and February have been difficult months for our hoops teams and we need to see the swoon stop as of February 1st!

Ring around the rosie

2011-01-27T11:17:00.000-08:00

The men's BB game last night was a tough one to watch. Bill C. said that it was a game of ring around the rosie, I suspect meaning that the team would pass the ball around until someone heaved up a three pointer. We had 39 three point attempts in the game! We also committed 31 fouls leading to 46 (46!!!!!) free throw attempts by the Gophers. It is amazing we only lost by eleven. If this continues, the NIT will become an impossibility. Let's hope the women have better luck at the Barn.

If you haven't read about football oversigning then follow these links

2011-01-26T09:29:00.000-08:00

Since national signing day is coming up I thought I'd mention oversigning. Oversigning is the practice of schools signing more players than they have scholarships available, and this is not illegal. The conference that usually does this is the SEC and guess what? A team from the SEC usually wins the BCS national championship. For every player signed by a school that oversigns, is a player not signed by a school that does not oversign. The Big Ten made it official in 1956 (1956!) that its schools cannot oversign. For more info on this follow these links. Here is a quote from theozone.net, which I particularly liked.

"The Tigers beat the Wildcats by three points in overtime last season. If Northwestern had 45 more players to sift through over these last four seasons, how much better do you think they'd be in 2010? Instead, they choose not to cut players or chase academic risks. The gall!"

Anyway, for more look here...

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/22802/big-ten-victimized-by-oversigning-elsewhere
http://www.the-ozone.net/football/postseason/oversigning.html
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/andy_staples/01/24/oversigning/index.html
http://oversigning.com/testing/

Men's hoops cannot get "over the hump"

2011-01-24T09:41:00.000-08:00

The Kelly Family have been waiting since the early 1960s for
the 'Cats to make the Big Dance!

What is the hump? Beating a ranked opponent at home in a way that is not a total fluke. We have had big wins at home, and even occasionally on the road, but when the team has finally arrived, we should be winning games like the one yesterday. So I guess this means we have not arrived. Yesterday's loss was a difficult one to swallow because the game wasn't even close. Our three Big Ten wins this year are all against 1-6 teams. Our chances of going to the NCAAs are getting more and more distant and with that sentiment, I start thinking, how can we salvage the season?

First, we need to win all of the games we should win. That is
@ Minnesota*
@Michigan
@Penn State*
Iowa
@Indiana
Penn State
Minnesota

This gives us 20 wins and makes us 10-8 in the Big Ten, however the stars are games we may not win (as well as any of the other games). It also means we only lose 3 more games on the schedule. But if we can do it, it would be huge. So the most important stretch for us on the schedule is February, when we need to go 5-2. If we can do that then we will probably go to the NIT, where we need to get a home game and then make a run. If this happens, God willing, we can salvage the hoops season. The silver lining? The women's team may make the NCAA this year.

Bitter, bitter pill

2011-01-23T15:22:00.000-08:00

The Bears go down to Green Bay giving Wisconsin a double victory on the day. What a bitter pill for Chicago. Savor it Wisconsinites, your joy may last only for a short time.

Double dog, damn you Wisconsin!

So much for that prediction...

2011-01-23T10:31:00.000-08:00

Allright, it is just after halftime at Welsh Ryan and we are getting schooled by the Badgers 50-26. I hope I get the other game right.

Damn you Wisconsin!

Chicago versus Wisconsin this weekend.

2011-01-21T11:19:00.000-08:00

A lot will be said this weekend about the Chicago versus Wisconsin rivalry. Da Pack versus Da Bears, it can't get any better that this. Let it be said that NU versus UW is becoming a bigger rivalry and hopefully we can set the stage for a big win on Sunday.

Wisconsin is a resplendent, bucolic state with more dairy cows than humans. We in Illinois stream to Wisconsin in the summer, looking for rest and relaxation. No doubt we annoy our neighbor's to the north as we drive our watercraft all over their waterways.

Chicago is a sturdy, urban environment where people outnumber cows. Wisconsinites stream to our city to live in the big time, where almost everything is world-class. No doubt, they annoy Chicagoans with their slow driving and rubbernecking at just about everything.

Let's be nice this weekend when the folks from Wisconsin go home with the taste of beer, Chicago pizza and bitter disappointment in their mouths.

NU 86 UW 80 and...
Bears 35 Pack 24.

Yay, Carmody gets "multi-year" deal

2011-01-11T11:15:00.000-08:00

NU Bloggers can delight that we can continue to express our opinions about Bill C. for the next several years. I will go out on a limb and say this was not a great decision by Jim Phillips, but hey, prove me wrong Bill, just go ahead and do it.

The article by Tina Akouris in the Sun Times was interesting. In it she says...

"Before the signing was announced, a vocal minority of NU fans was probably hoping Carmody would be leaving Evanston for another job."

That is true.

Then this quote...

“I don’t read them, and I know stuff is out there,” Carmody said. “I guess maybe I’m desensitized to it. You do what you do, and you move ahead. I deal with the university president [Morton Schapiro] and [athletic director] Jim Phillips, and they make the decisions.”

Strangely, Bill C. did not know much about his two year extension. “It was finalized before the season, but I lost track and didn’t think about putting out a press release. It had been done for a few months.”

In reality this is a two year extension rather than a multi-year extension. So perhaps they are giving Coach C. his final chance.

BnP

Back to basketball grousing

2011-01-04T09:21:00.000-08:00

It's funny reading some of the other blogs and comments that there are always these nagging problems with Bill Carmody coached teams. Low free throw percentage year after year, wasting time at the end of games, failing to call good plays at the end of games. My current issue is the problem with playing John Shurna, who was reported to show up before the game in a walking cast. Yes, he's a warrior, but seriously I have two issues with this.

1. If he's hurt we need him to to heal so we can win games against lower ranked opponents and/or make a run in the Big Ten Tournament. If he isn't 100% the rest of the year we are in trouble.

2. OK, now we need a guy like Kevin Coble. So Bill C. is a confident man who gets angry with his players, but we need depth on our team. When our best player goes down, we need someone to step in and Kevin Coble would have been the man.

Notice how Kevin C.'s problem was with an injury and how fast he should return from it. John Shurna is injured and is playing. Maybe the issue here is that Bill C. is pushing his players too hard and Kevin C. just did not want to deal with that. It's not a problem to push the players when they are healthy, but when they are injured and are obviously hampered? I'll bet Bill C. is pissed that again his chances to make the NCAA are ruined by an injury to a player. But why not be smart about it? A lot of people are saying the same thing.

Bowl Game Thoughts

2011-01-03T21:10:00.000-08:00

Ticket City Bowl
OK, we lost, but I was so impressed by the efforts of freshmen Kain Colter and Adonis Smith. These guys almost single handedly picked up the Wildcats and brought them close to an awesome comeback victory. They must be a key part of the future of NU football. However, our defense is in disarray. We need stars on defense, and right now we do not have any. Look for players to switch from offense to defense this spring.

Big Ten losses on New Years Day
I commented earlier this season that, on the whole, Big Ten teams play soft schedules in non-conference play (including us). This came back to haunt our conference on January 1st. I was especially happy to see Bret Bielema lose the Rose Bowl after his running up the score shenanigans this year against Indiana and us. Just remember Bret, what goes around, comes around. Look for more of that to happen to the Bretster in the future.

Orange Bowl
I just watched Stanford kick the stuffing out of Virginia Tech. I don't like either Jim Harbaugh or Stanford (in general) but these guys are an example for us. Now that Jim and Andrew Luck are going to leave Stanford, look for them to drop a little. But again, these guys play in a physical way that I wish we could. I have to hand it to them, they looked awesome tonight. If Jimbo goes to Michigan, life will get even tougher for us. Let's hope he goes to the pros. Also, comparing Jimbo to Bret B. makes Harbaugh look like a total class act.

Ticket City Bowl Preview

2010-12-29T13:19:00.000-08:00

Many publications have predicted that we will lose big to Texas Tech, mirroring the losses to Illinois and Wisconsin. The issue here is that both of those teams exposed our run defense and this is not what TTU does well. They are a passing offense built on the spread. Our defense knows the spread and should be able to slow it down. What would help would be if we could grind out yards and keep the ball away from TTU. This may be a challenge, but look for our offense to run the ball a lot, with Evan Watkins and Stephen Simmons to get a lot of touches. Then we will create passes with TTU keying in on the run. We will need to score any points we can, so look for Stefan Demos to have a big game.

On defense we will have to find a way to disrupt TTU's quarterback Taylor Potts. Interestingly, Taylor is not a runner, having rushed for -15 yards on the year. So we need to work on getting to him in the pocket. TTU averaged the least time of possession in the Big 12 this year, yet scored 50 touchdowns and 9 field goals, so they work very quickly to score points. No lead will be safe for us on Sunday. For a complete rundown on TTU's stats on the year look here.

So this is a potential barn burner and for us to win we need to create turnovers, control the ball and score points whenever we can. I predict big (and surprising) games from Evan Watkins, Stephen Simmons and Adonis Smith. I also look for NU to win a close game 28-24.

Nice article about NU QBs

2010-12-15T10:29:00.000-08:00

Are NU's quarterbacks ready to play in the Ticket City Bowl? Texas Tech's QB Taylor Potts has thrown 31 touchdown passes this year so we will have to keep up on the scoreboard. Check out this article on how NU's QBs are preparing for the game.

Wrapping up the football season

2010-12-02T12:19:00.000-08:00

After the loss this weekend I thought that it was time to wrap up the season, so that when we approach our bowl, which at this time appears to be the Ticket City Bowl, we can feel as if we have a clean slate.

Overall, the team is young and outside of Dan Persa we have few bonafide stars. Were it not for slipping up against Purdue and holding onto leads versus Michigan State and Penn State, this team came within a hairs width of going 9-3. So given our lack of stars we did pretty well. This should allow us to build on this season going forward.

Best of this year

Dan Persa and his effort every game. Big Ten coaches noticed this and named him the first team all conference QB ahead of other notable players.
Jeremy Ebert and his production. Ebert was DP's go to guy and was named first team all conference by the writers.
The win against Iowa. Here the stars aligned and we put it all together.
The game at Wrigley. So we lost, this was an event noticed around the country.
Marketing and advertising. The athletic department listened and implemented a successful promotion campaign that brought people to Ryan and Wrigley fields.

The good this year.

Freshman contribution. Many freshman played and made valuable contributions.
Special teams play. The special teams improved all year and our return game was becoming scary to opponents.

The dissapointing this year:

The defense played awful at the end of the year and led to us giving up embarrassing numbers of yards (Illinois) and points (Wisconsin).
Coaching. We fans do not know whether coaches work hard but players don't listen or whether coaches make mistakes but more than once fans were questioning players effort and concentration. Announcers labeled the 'Cats as 'sloppy.' We noticed poor play calling and time management. Many considered that coach Fitz was too conservative and that the team could not go for the jugular when we were winning. So overall I am saying that this year coaching falls into the disappointing category.

Any more? If I think of some I will add them to the list.

Power Rankings Week 12: Who will win the Big Ten?

2010-11-22T07:39:00.000-08:00

1. Wisconsin (10-1): last week 1. Wisconsin wins the Big Ten with a victory over Northwestern this weekend at home.

2. Ohio State (10-1): last week 3. Wins a share of the Big Ten title and a BCS bowl with a win against Michigan this weekend.

3. Michigan State (10-1): last week 4. Wins a share of the Big Ten title and a possible BCS bowl with a win against Penn State this weekend.

A full explanation of the BCS scenarios is here.

4. Iowa (7-4): last week 2. Travels to rival Minnesota this weekend. Predicted final record is: 8-4.

5. Penn State (7-4): last week 6. Can they upset MSU at home this weekend? Quite possibly yes!

6. llinois (6-5): last week 5. Their running game crushed us last weekend. This week they travel to that Garden Spot, Fresno California. Predicted final record is: 7-5.

7. Michigan (7-4): last week 7. Can they upset OSU at the horseshoe this weekend? Quite possibly no! Predicted final record 7-5.

8. Northwestern (7-4): last week 9. Can we pull of the upset at Wisconsin? Uh uh no. Predicted final record is :7-5. Man, do we want that Purdue game again.

9. Purdue (4-7): last week 8. Tried hard to beat MSU, now get IU at home. Predicted final record is: 5-7.

10.Minnesota (2-9): last week 11. You never know, perhaps a win on senior day?

11.Indiana (4-7): last week 10. This team would have a hard time beating Mt. Carmel High School.

Wrigley game wrap

2010-11-20T21:52:00.000-08:00

"The things is that Dan Persa doesn't play defense" - Bob Davie at the end of the NU-Illinois game when asked what impact the loss of Dan Persa had on Northwestern's performance.

True, but if we did not turn the ball over to Illinois' offense so easily, the defense may only have given up 400+ yards rushing to the Illini. The other blogs say it all. We were terrible and lost. End of Story. I worry that Wisconsin will also run for over 500 yards making it possible that we could give up 1000 yards rushing in two weeks. Other thoughts.

Loved the spectacle, we should do this every year.
Mike Trumpy had a great game and only had 12 carries?!
Evan Watkins struggled.
Game plan did not help Evan.
Game reminded me of the Randy Walker days when we would regularly give up huge yards/points, even though we had future NFL starters on the team.
Other freshman contributors look good.

B&P

Uh, I repeat, Bill Carmody should go.

2010-11-19T14:27:00.000-08:00

Just go Bill. I know you have done a terrific job here at NU, but giving Kevin C. an ultimatum about going to Italy is just dumb. OK, if he were not one of the best players on the team, you can kick him off. But the thing is, we need all the good players we can get! My problem is that Bill C. probably thinks we are stacked with talent right now. Yes we have excellent players, but we don't have the kind of players that are sure to get us to the NCAA tourney. Plus, Kevin Coble is not just an average player, he is going to help us win games. So, he had a family trip to Hawaii. Big deal, Bill. Just tell the team he isn't ready to play yet and let him do whatever he wants. Anyway, I stick by my previous comments that Bill C. should go and this story just underscores this ten more times! A coach like Tom Izzo, who has succeeded over and over and over again can pull a move like this, but Coach C. you aren't that.
B&P

East endzone out of play now

2010-11-19T10:56:00.000-08:00

The two schools and the Big Ten have agreed to play the game at Wrigley field tomorrow toward only the west endzone. The concern is that players would be injured crashing into the wall in the east endzone.

My abbreviated predictions.
NU over Illinois, Wisconsin over Michigan, Penn State over Indiana, Iowa over Ohio State, Michigan State over Purdue.

Wrigleyville eve

2010-11-19T10:35:00.000-08:00

It is the eve of one of the most exciting sporting events in recent NU history. Tomorrow the sun will rise and ESPN's gameday will greet the enthusiastic crowd of NU (and Illinois) supporters. I am expecting great things from Evan Watkins and I suspect with the three games he starts this year, we may have a bit of a QB controversy going into next season. Go Cats!

NU loses recruit to Wisconsin

2010-11-16T07:11:00.000-08:00

Apparently the lure of Wisconsin was too much for Derek Watt, who turned down a full-scholarship at NU for a grayshirt at UW. Watt was interested in playing with his brother JJ and was disappointed to learn that Northwestern does not offer a degree in dairy farming. Since UW does offer this degree, it was a no brainer for Derek. Here is the quote from Bucky's 5th Quarter.

"Derek Watt, a senior linebacker/running back at Pewaukee High School, has changed his commitment from Northwestern to Wisconsin, according to a tweet from his brother J.J.

It's unclear if Watt will have a full-scholarship with the Badgers. He originally committed to Northwestern in July in part because the Badgers could only offer him a grayshirt due to a lack of scholarships.

Watt's only other offers were from a handful of MAC schools, North Dakota and Illinois State, but don't forget that J.J. used to be a tight end at Central Michigan and had to walk-on at Wisconsin just to get on the team.

One has to wonder if this will influence J.J. to return to Wisconsin for his senior year. The opportunity to play with his brother for one year might be enough to keep him around."

Monday Reaction

2010-11-15T11:11:00.000-08:00

I'm really busy this week but I will make short posts. My reaction to the weekend?

Bret Bielema relaxing on Sunday
after his big win against IU.

Our win was really well deserved and Dan Persa has now etched his name in the annals of NU football history. I was sad to see he got hurt, but if he had a ruptured achilles, it was going to happen sooner or later. He totally outplayed Ricky Stanzi and Iowa fans must be outraged by their team's effort Saturday. We got our 7th win and can be guaranteed a spot at one of the Texas bowls.
Illinois losing to Minnesota was a shock and I think this weeks game will be awesome. I think Evan Watkins will do really well because our system creates good opportunities for quarterbacks to succeed. These next two game will give Evan excellent experience for the future.
Bret Bielema is a horse's ass and I encourage all other coaches in the conference to say as much. Twice this year he has made decisions that were unsportsmanlike. All I can say is life has a way to bite people in the rear end and I will happily report anything that happens to Bret that falls under this category.
Penn State lost to Ohio State much like we lost to them.

Football Predictions Week 11

2010-11-12T11:11:00.000-08:00

The good, the maybe and very bad: week 10.

The good teams

Ohio State, Nebraska, Iowa, Michigan State, Wisconsin

The maybe teams

Michigan, Northwestern, Illinois, Penn State

The very bad

Minnesota, Indiana, Purdue

Predictions

Iowa (7-2) @ Northwestern (6-3)

I don't think we will beat Iowa this year, moreover I think the score will be lopsided.

Iowa 42 - NU 17.

Minnesota (1-9) @ Illinois (5-4)

Another long day for Adam Weber and the gophers

Illinois 31 - Minnesota 13.

Penn State (6-3) at Ohio State (8-1)

I am really hoping for an upset here so I will call it.

Penn State 31 - Ohio State 28

Michigan (6-4) @ Purdue (4-5)

Michigan can potentially win two straight. Go for it Wolverines.

Michigan 56 - Purdue 42

Indiana (4-5) @ Wisconsin (8-1)

Indiana played Iowa tough and I think they will play Wisconsin tough too.

Wisconsin 24 - Indiana 17

Michigan State (9-1) - bye

Is wanting Northwestern to play a winnable bowl lowering our standards?

2010-11-09T10:08:00.000-08:00

LTP wrote passionately that fans who want us to finish 6-6 or 7-5 so that we could play in a winnable bowl are lowering their standards. I don't necessarily agree. First of all, we are a young team and are not likely to pull off the type of upsets we have in the past. In fact, the only game I think we have a chance to win is the Illinois game and that is no gimme. So finishing 6-6 or 7-5 is a very real possibility. Next, no bowl will be easy for us this year, with many excellent teams falling into lower echelon bowl territory anyway. I don't care about building for the future as much as I just want to watch NU play a bowl and win it. So if this is the Texas Bowl or something like that, so be it. Whatever happens, a win is important, a close loss to an excellent rival will be good too, but a blow out loss to a quality opponent will hurt, and more importantly, will make me shut off the TV these holidays.

Monday Reaction

2010-11-08T11:24:00.000-08:00

My reaction to Saturday's loss to Penn State is this. In recent years past we have suffered huge let downs at the end of games. One that comes to mind is a regular season loss to Bowling Green during the Randy Walker years. The problem is that our offense usually scores to keep us in the game. Saturday this did not happen. I have to agree with what people are saying on the internet and that is because our play calling gets conservative. Walk used to call all sorts of trick plays, Fitz does not. Anyway, I feel bad for the guys. My advice is take the game to the other team, the whole game. We did it for one half and got our behinds handed to us.

Here are some gems from the posts to LTP's reaction to the game:

David said:
"We got creamed. PSU squeezed 60 minutes of ass kicking into 31 minutes."
What an awesome comment David!

Zeek said:
"That’s really the main thing that pisses me off about this loss. The whole team quits on Dan Persa and the only thing Fitz can say about it is that he wished he had 22 Dan Persas. That sounds great, but he’s the head coach. Do something about the other 21 players quitting on #7"

I don't understand it either Zeek, but the thing is that historically this is a problem that our teams have had. Staying motivated for an entire season. I think it's a lot easier to stay motivated when a player doesn't have other distractions like midterms.

NU Cat 95 said:

"The hard reality here is that, despite a record that would indicate that this is a decent-to-good team, the Cats aren’t very good. Let’s review who we beat to get to this point:

Vandy: 2-7
Illinois State: 5-5
Rice: 2-7
Central Michigan: 3-7
Minnesota: 1-9
Indiana: 4-5
Total: 17-40 (.298)

Only one school with a .500 record — and that was our gimme I-AA opponent. I think the wins against this inferior competition masked a lot of NU’s problems early on. Now that we’re playing some better teams, those issues (lack of a running game; poor decision-making from the coaching staff) have been routinely exposed."

This is exactly right, live by the cupcake, die by the cupcake.

Buckyor said:

"I’m not in the locker room, so I don’t know what’s going on in there, but there’s something wrong in there that needs to be fixed. I don’t think it’s something that can be fixed by just plugging Player A into Slot 1, or by replacing coaches. I just hope the people in charge of the program, who are in the locker room, see that problem. So far I’m not 100% convinced that they do."

Coach Fitz will keep whatever is in the locker room there, so we can only speculate. The issue is what Jason Wright said once and that is a lot of the players think that they have all they want by going to NU for free and playing football. Winning is a bonus. He said that between his sophomore and junior years he decided that playing was not enough and that he wanted to individually excel. He did.

Polymersci said:

"So now this leads me to leadership. While Fitz may be in the limelight for his improvement of the program, and there is a Fitz “love fest,” he needs to be accountable for the current issues"

True enough, if the players practice something all week but do not perform it on gameday then someone has to take responsibility.

There are many more excellent comments there. That's all I have.

Football Predictions Week 10

2010-11-05T11:28:00.000-07:00

The good, the maybe and very bad: week 10.

The good teams

Ohio State, Nebraska, Iowa, Michigan State, Wisconsin

The maybe teams

Michigan, Northwestern, Illinois, Penn State

The very bad

Minnesota, Indiana, Purdue

Predictions

Northwestern (6-2) @ Penn State (5-3)

Dan Persa will give us a fighting chance but Penn State will win. Next year, Danny will get his win against PSU next October!

Penn State 27 - NU 17.

Minnesota (1-8) @ Michigan State (8-1)

Minnesota travels east and the Spartans get their ninth win of the season. Congratulations MSU.

MSU 49 - Minnesota 21.

Wisconsin (7-1) @ Purdue (4-4)

No let down for John Clay and the Badgers.

Wisconsin 35 - Purdue 10

Iowa (6-2) @ Indiana (4-4)

Iowa rolls in to Bloomington and humiliates the Hoosiers at home.

Iowa 41 - Indiana 7

Illinois (5-3) @ Michigan (5-3)

UH OH, Rich Rod faces his 4th straight loss. Time to bring up firing him Wolverine fans.

Illinois 35 - Michigan 28

Ohio State (8-1) - bye

Overall, we have mostly the good teams going up against the very bad teams, so look for high scoring, lop sided affairs. Our game against Penn State should be the most competitive of the bunch.

Latest Sagarin Ratings for the Big Ten

2010-11-05T10:51:00.000-07:00

Here are the latest Sagarin Ratings. With our win against Indiana we dropped to #70. Penn State moved up to #43 and by the predictor algorithm Penn State should be favored by one touchdown.

4  BIG TEN   (A) =  75.90      75.15  (  4)   TEAMS= 11      75.43  (  4)
College Football 2010 through games of October 30 Saturday the BCS uses the ELO_CHESS from here
HOME ADVANTAGE=3.03       RATING    W   L  SCHEDL(RANK) VS top 10 | VS top 30 |  ELO_CHESS   |PREDICTOR  
  11  Iowa           A  =  87.48    6   2   72.49(  35)    0   1  |    1   2  |   86.79   15 |   87.62   10
  13  Ohio State     A  =  87.05    8   1   65.15(  85)    0   0  |    1   1  |   85.45   16 |   88.38    7
  17  Wisconsin      A  =  84.23    7   1   68.22(  67)    0   0  |    3   1  |   90.20    6 |   79.72   33
  18  Michigan State A  =  83.84    8   1   69.97(  55)    0   0  |    2   1  |   88.72    9 |   79.79   32
  26  Illinois       A  =  80.69    5   3   73.01(  26)    0   1  |    0   3  |   80.65   26 |   80.11   31
  43  Penn State     A  =  75.43    5   3   71.15(  43)    0   1  |    0   3  |   76.39   42 |   73.90   46
  46  Michigan       A  =  74.76    5   3   69.96(  57)    0   0  |    0   2  |   75.02   45 |   73.88   47
  70  Northwestern   A  =  69.51    6   2   61.78( 117)    0   0  |    0   1  |   70.77   62 |   67.68   80
  93  Purdue         A  =  65.05    4   4   68.98(  59)    0   0  |    0   2  |   68.87   75 |   60.88  110
 110  Indiana        A  =  61.14    4   4   61.57( 119)    0   0  |    0   2  |   59.50  127 |   62.19  102
 134  Minnesota      A  =  57.43    1   8   70.84(  47)    0   0  |    0   3  |   54.76  153 |   59.44  11

Crossroads

2010-11-04T11:47:00.000-07:00

As always, and thank you Lake the Posts, LTP has dissected the Penn State game nicely. I can add only a few thoughts. This is a crossroads game for us. My gut feeling is that this is a game we will not win, and if we lose, it is not the end of the world. My gut feeling is also that we stand a good chance of winning at home either to Iowa or Illinois.

That said, this game is within our reach. Penn State is not as strong as they have been in the past and if there is any year to beat them, it is this year. There is also our knack for winning on the road and the bonus that our best player will be playing in front of his friends, family and the team that didn't recruit him. Not in our favor is that Penn State needs this game badly. They play us at home saturday, then travel to Ohio State, Indiana and then home against Michigan State. A win this week and one at Indiana gives them 7 wins, with the chance of stealing one against MSU for 8 wins. So this is a must win situation for the Nittany Lions.

Why is this a crossroads game? If we win, we are one our way to a likely 8 win season and if Penn State wins, ditto. If we lose, we are not doomed, but chances are we get, at best, 7 wins. Same for Penn State. So given the importance of this game expect Penn State to be extremely focused. Mistakes will kill us, either with penalties or with turnovers. Penn State will have prepared for the tight end trap that worked so well against Indiana, so we will have to have some other play ready for Mike Trumpy. I am hoping for a low scoring game. This will be in our favor, so if we keep the score low and close we will have a chance to pull it out at the end.

Power Rankings Week 10

2010-11-02T10:06:00.000-07:00

Here are my latest power rankings. I put the 'Cats at number 9 because I think that any of the teams above us can beat us (or already have). Sure we would play Penn State and Michigan close, but it's a toss up as to whether we would win against teams like that.

1. Wisconsin (7-1): last week 2. Reach the top after MSU loses big to Iowa.

2. Iowa (6-2): last week 4. The boys from Iowa just crushed Michigan State last week.

3. Ohio State (7-1): Beat rudderless Minnesota, but I’m not sure where to put the Buckeyes.

4. Michigan State (8-1): last week 1. MSU was handed their BCS aspirations on a plate by Iowa last week.

5. Illinois (5-3): last week 8. Really powered past Purdue. I am not sure if we can beat the Illini this year.

6. Penn State (5-3): last week 9. The Rob Bolden experiment is over.

7. Michigan (5-3): last week 5. I’m not sure who the Wolverines can beat anymore.

8. Purdue (4-4): last week 6. Pummeled in Champaign. How did we lose to this team? at home?

9. Northwestern (6-2): last week 7. Our unconvincing win at Indiana lowers my confidence in the ‘Cats even more. A win this week in happy valley will go a long way to improve the ‘Cats standing here.

10. Indiana (4-4): last week 10. Hoosiers should have beaten us. Instead they beat themselves.

11. Minnesota (1-8): last week 11. I’m feeling bad for Adam Weber at this point.

Football Predictions Week 9

2010-10-30T15:36:00.000-07:00

The good, the maybe and very bad: week 9.

The good teams

Ohio State, Nebraska, Iowa, Michigan State, Wisconsin

The maybe teams

Michigan, Northwestern, Illinois, Purdue

The very bad

Minnesota, Indiana, Penn State

No changes here!

Predictions

#7 Ohio State (6-1)@ #128 Minnesota (1-5)

It just can’t get any worse for the Gophers.

Ohio State 41- Minnesota 10

#16 Wisconsin (7-1) bye week

#13 Michigan State (8-0) @ #17 Iowa (5-2)

Michigan State is a team of destiny but can they keep winning? I think they might lose, but will pick them in a close one.

MSU 31- Iowa 30

#82 Purdue (4-3) @ #26 Illinois (4-3)

The surprising Illini win again!

Illinois 31-Purdue 17

#67 Northwestern (5-2) @ #103 Indiana (4-2)

I’ve got to go with NU this week. We have a decent defense, so we win.

Northwestern 28- Indiana 21

#40 Michigan (5-2) @ #54 Penn State (4-3)

This one is a tough one to call. Two teams that are underperforming.

Penn State 24- Michigan 23.

The keys to our game with Indiana.

We need to win this game. What are the keys?

1. Penalties: same as last week

2. Turnovers: if we give up turnovers on the road we will lose.

3. Pass defense: We need these guys to step up.

4. Special teams: no mistakes men, none!

5. Coaching: Again, coaches play to win.

Power Rankings Week 9

2010-10-29T11:52:00.000-07:00

Not much has changed from last week, except Iowa drops to #4 and OSU moves up one to #3.

1. Michigan State (8-0): last week 1. The Spartans took care of NU, now have Iowa.

2. Wisconsin (7-1): last week 3. I really wanted the Badgers to lose last week and they still won.

3. Ohio State (7-1): last week 4. Creeping back up, the Buckeye’s still have a chance to win the Big Ten.

4. Iowa (5-2): last week 2. Why did you have to go out and lose to Wisconsin?

5. Michigan (5-2): last week 5. Got some rest.

6. Purdue (4-3): last week 6. Pummeled in Columbus.

7. Northwestern (5-2): last week 7. Narrowly lost to Michigan State.

8. Illinois (4-3): last week 8. Beat up on the Hoosiers, but that is not saying much.

9. Penn State (4-3): last week 9. Scored more than one TD in a game.

10. Indiana (4-3): last week 10. What did I say? The Hoosiers are bad. If we lose to them this weekend, we are bad too.

11. Minnesota (1-7): last week 11. Disarray in the Twin Cities.

We need to find two more wins

2010-10-25T11:06:00.000-07:00

Going into the Indiana game, Northwestern needs to find at least two more wins on the schedule. While we are going to be competitive in all of our remaining games, none of them are sure wins. We need one to be bowl eligible and then another to be bowl competitive. My feeling is that the most important thing is that we become bowl eligible and then we get a bowl we can win to break the streak. Let's look at the remaining games on the schedule.

10/30/10	at Indiana *	Bloomington, Ind.	11:00 a.m. CT
11/06/10	at Penn State *	University Park, Pa.	TBA
11/13/10	vs. Iowa *	Evanston, Ill.	TBA
11/20/10	vs. Illinois (at Wrigley Field) *	Chicago, Ill.	2:30 p.m. CT
11/27/10	at Wisconsin *	Madison, Wis.	TBA

Of these games, all are winnable but none are sure things. The Indiana game should be a win, but we have gone to Bloomington and lost there when we should have won. Again, Penn State is not at their best this year and so could be beaten, but the game is on the road. We will not be favored against Iowa, but we have had success against Iowa in recent years. Illinois, could be our 7th win, but they are much improved and are talking about winning out. Wisconsin will be the toughest test and if we are 6-5 going into this game, I would not be optimistic about winning our 7th game at Camp Randall. So, the must win games is IU to get to #6 and then pluck one or even two wins after that. I will go so far to say that win #7 (or 8) will be at Wrigley Field against the Illini. The other possible win will be at Penn State with Dan Persa playing in front of his peeps.

BNP

Heartbreak!

2010-10-25T08:58:00.000-07:00

Saturday's game was an epic and was won in the 4th quarter by Michigan State only after they employed some trickeration. In the end the best team won. There were many plusses on the day for the Wildcats including major contributions by freshman. What happened in the 4th quarter is being debated but the way I see it was that we had to play with the lead. Coaches and players alike were challenged to hold a 10 point lead on the #8 team in the country and this proved difficult. My keys to the game were:

Penalties: 6 for 66 yards, a big improvement.
Turnovers: we gave up two to MSU's one.
Running game: we out rushed MSU!
Special teams: no mistakes given, special teams came to play.
Coaching: Coaches did well except not anticipating the fake punt and not brewing up more trickeration for us.

All in all it was an excellent game. We were in a position to win, and could have. Next year, we get a game like this!

2010-10-22T11:15:00.000-07:00

The good, the maybe and very bad: week 8.

The good teams

Ohio State, Nebraska, Iowa, Michigan State, Wisconsin

The maybe teams

Michigan, Northwestern, Illinois, Purdue

The very bad

Minnesota, Indiana, Penn State

Predictions

So how will the games go this week? Here are some Big 10 notes. Rankings are the computer rankings.

#65 Purdue (4-2) @ #13 Ohio State (6-1)

The collective depression in Columbus Ohio this weekend will not prevent the Buckeyes from beating those pesky Boilermakers. That said, I would be oh so very happy if Purdue wins.

Ohio State 31- Purdue 21.

#62 Penn State @ #132 Minnesota (1-5)

Minnesota’s football team is in freefall right now. They are given a chance this weekend to make a change, with a weaker than normal Penn State team coming to play. I still give it to Penn State.

Penn State 17- Minnesota 14.

#16 Wisconsin (6-1) @ #20 Iowa (5-1)

This is the best matchup of the week in the Big Ten and I believe that Iowa plays the kind of physical football that will beat the Badgers. But it will still come down to one play at the end of the game. Look for Wisky to suffer a bit of a letdown.

Iowa 27- Wisconsin 24.

#104 Indiana (4-2) @ #39 Illinois (3-3)

Do not be fooled, Indiana is a bad team. Illinois wins.

Illinois 42- Indiana 28.

@ #10 Michigan State (7-0) @ #64 Northwestern (5-1)

Dan Persa and Co. get the #8 MSU Spartans. Don’t get me wrong, but I think we can win this game, but everything has to go right for us. Will it?

Michigan State ## - Northwestern ## even.

#26 Michigan (5-2) Bye

The keys to our game with MSU.

We want to win this game and we can win this game. What are the keys?

1. Penalties: Gentlemen, do not commit useless penalties or we will lose.

2. Turnovers: we need to force two more than we give.

3. Running game: Dammit Pat, give up on the running game, just throw it. When you want to run, give it to Dan Persa. Otherwise, run a few screens.

4. Special teams: no mistakes men, none!

5. Coaching: We lost to Purdue due to bad coaching decisions. Here’s some advice: when it comes to winning the game give the ball to DAN PERSA not STEFAN DEMOS. DP is our best player, give it to him, do not kick the field goal. Also, play to win, not to tie!!!

Power Rankings Week 8

2010-10-22T10:44:00.000-07:00

1. Michigan State (7-0): last week 2. The Spartans took care of Illinois and now have to play the best college football team in Illinois on the road. Papers in Michigan are calling this a trap game for the Spartans. Let’s hope they are right.

2. Iowa (5-1): last week 3. Iowa is improving and beat Michigan 38-28. This week they face the upset minded Wisconsin Badgers. (Probably Wisconsin fans don’t think that Iowa is favored).

3. Wisconsin (6-1): last week 4. The huge upset of Ohio State does not vault Wisconsin to the top of the Black N Purple power rankings. I simply moved everyone up one. This because UW already lost to #1 MSU. This week they have to prove themselves again at Iowa. Then if they win they really deserve to be #2.

4. Ohio State (6-1): last week 1. Plummeting from #1 in our poll, the Buckeyes get the pesky Purdue Boilermakers, who beat them last year.

5. Michigan (5-2): last week 6. U of M have lost two in a row and get a well-deserved week off.

6. Purdue (4-2): last week 9. The pesky (I like that word) Boilers can make it three wins in a row if they beat OSU in Columbus.

7. Northwestern (5-1): last week 6. WE had the week off and now can play spoiler to MSU’s national championship aspirations.

8. Illinois (3-3): last week 7. Illinois were given the chance to make a quantum step forward last week, and did so for the first half. Problem is that football games have two halves. This week they get bottom dwellers Indiana.

9. Penn State (3-3): last week 8. Penn State is horrible, but they are given a reprieve at Minnesota. Maybe if they are nice, the Gopher players will invite them to some good parties in the Twin Cities on Saturday night.

10. Indiana (4-2): last week 10. Indiana, barely beat a tough Arkansas State (2-5) team last week. Just kidding. Bowl eligibility is a funny concept when it comes to the hapless Hoosiers. Look for them to drop the rest of their games. Except, maybe that game against Northwestern.

11. Minnesota (1-6): last week 11. Last week the Gophers were drubbed by Purdue. Their coach was fired and they now have to play Penn State. The good news is they are playing at home and the players can go out to parties Saturday night. Also, Minnesota has cracked the Bottom 10 for two weeks now.