SB Nation - Stuart Schweigert

Catching Up With The Raiders: Raider History Revealed

saint — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 06:15:51 -0000

When I thought of the questions that I posed in Yesterday's Segment, Oakland Raider Trivia, I was struggling to think of question that were pertinent and gave me hope. I didn't know the answers to 4 of the questions, but I wanted to know, and tonight I will know.

Here are the answers:

1) Which team loaned the Raiders 400k in order to continue playing football? What was the owner's name?

That team was the Buffalo Bills. Ralph Wilson was the means to this end. Without Upstate New York, there would be NO Oakland Raiders. And to think that without without Marshawn Lynch and Langston Walker there would be NO...Well...On Second Thought...Nevermind!

2) What is the Current Value of the team?

In 2008, the Oakland Raiders were valued at $861 Million Dollars. In 2009, their value has fallen to $797 Million. That is not bad, especially considering that the team was bought for 180k by Al Davis in 1966!

3) Who is the Raider Fanchise Leader in Tackles? Sacks?

This question is more of an "Opinion Section". Tackles were not counted as an official stat in the NFL until 2001, so Tatum is my choice..Followed by Stuart Schweigert.

As for the sacks, they weren't official until 1982, there is no way to say who the Raider leader really is. I mean how many times did our defensive line, linebackers or defensive backs get the opposing QB behind the line of scrimmage before there was a stat for it?

I'd have to say Sean Jones, but I am probably WAY off.

4) Who played the most seasons in an Oakland Raider Uniform?

Jim Otto played in the silver and black for 15 years. From 1960-1974, he was the backbone of the team, and to this day is Mr. Raider. I've had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Otto, and he is class...pure class.

5) How many Raiders have won the NFL MVP while playing for the organization? Names?

The answer is 3, and, none of them repeated.

Kenny Stabler was the first Silver and Black MVP in 1974.

Marcus Allen stepped up in LA 11 Sseasons later, in 1985 and won the MVP.

Rich Gannon picked up the hardware in 2002.

So, there is some history, I feel much better now. Just being able to throw around the names of past and bask in past glory makes me proud to be a Raider fan and it is good to have this new knowledge.

Go RAIDERS!!!!

Lions Re-Sign Chuck Darby, Release Marcus McCauley, and Shake Up Practice Squad

Sean Yuille — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 02:25:22 -0000

More photos » by Paul Sancya - AP

6 months ago: Detroit Lions defensive tackle Chuck Darby reaches for a football during the NFL team's minicamp Tuesday, June 23, 2009, in Allen Park, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Browse more photos »

The Lions no longer hold the top waiver priority in the league, so they have to start doing their homework to get a list of possible players that are worth signing should injuries pop up. To do that, they held a mass tryout today, bringing in a total of 11 players (including some familiar faces).

Per a league source, they were running back Aveion Cason, cornerback Travis Daniels, defensive tackle Chuck Darby, cornerback Demarcus Faggins, defensive back Isaiah Gardner, receiver Taurus Johnson, safety Stuart Schweigert, receiver Derek Stanley, running back Kenny Watson, cornerback DeAngelo Willingham, and cornerback DeAndre Wright.

The Lions ended up re-signing defensive tackle Chuck Darby and releasing cornerback Marcus McCauley. Darby was released during the final round of roster cuts, and McCauley was claimed a day later.

Tight end Carson Butler and wide receiver John Broussard, members of the practice squad, were also released. Taking their spots are wide receiver Taurus Johnson and cornerback DeAndre Wright.

Boilers in the NFL: Week two of the preseason

BoilerTMill — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 17:45:54 -0000

With most of week 2 in the books it is time to start looking at fantasy draft options. Most of the Purdue guys are still kicking around, but the first round of cuts are coming. It is only a matter of time before this list gets a little shorter, unfortunately.

Side note: Speaking of fantasy, we have so far had four people sign up for the Hammer & Rails league through CBS Sports' college football. We need at least 6 more as well. If someone would be willing to commissioner this league it would be awesome as well. As a warning, CBS Sports fantasy is about as user unfriendly as possible, so hopefully someone out there has figures it out. Now, on with the update.

Arizona Cardinals - Chike Okeafor (OLB) - Okeafor had one assist on a tackle as he fights to stay a Cardinal. I would say his chances of making the roster are pretty good. The Cardinals lost to San Diego 17-6 in the second preseason game. He has been battling a sore back, however.

Carolina Panthers - Anthony Heygood (LB) - An undrafted free agent fighting for roster spot, Heygood got some more game action, notching a tackle as he tries to land a roster spot. He is in the same boat as Landon Johnson (LB) - Landon at least signed as a free agent this summer. He had no stats in the second preseason game though, a 27-17 loss to the Dolphins

Cincinnati Bengals - Greg Orton (WR) - Undrafted free agent fighting for roster spot. Greg had no stats in a 7-6 win over New England, so I would say his chances of making the roster at this point are pretty slim.

Dallas Cowboys - Anthony Spencer (LB) - Spencer had two tackles and one assist as the Cowboys opened their giant new stadium with a 30-10 win over Tennessee. The Cowboys lost rookie OLB Brandon Williams to a torn ACL, making Spencer that much more valuable.

Denver Broncos - Kyle Orton (QB) - Kyle had a much better second week of the preseason, completing 16 of 22 passes for 182 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. Chris Simms is still breathing down his neck for the starting job, however. Kyle had an ugly left handed interception hat left Denver fans shaking their heads in dismay. Denver lost 27-13 at Seattle. Brandon Gorin (OL) - Gorin has a strong chance to be a starter along Denver's offensive line.

Detroit Lions - Cliff Avril (DE) - Cliff had no stats in the second preseason game, which is a shame because he had the chance to sack Brady Quinn, Medicine Woman. He struggled in limited action. Schweigert (S) - Stu had a tackle in the 27-10 loss at Cleveland in week 2. John Standeford (WR) - John had two catches for 16 yards after missing the first game with an injury. He has as good of a chance of anyone of making the final roster, as he performed very well in the second half of last season, all things considered for the Lions.

Houston Texans - Jacques Reeves (CB) - Jacques is battling a broken leg at the moment and may miss the entire season. Jeff Zgonina (DT) - Jeff still has a good shot of making a roster for his 17^th season in the league. He had two tackles and a sack in a 38-14 loss to New Orleans.

Indianapolis Colts - Curtis Painter (QB) - Painter saw quite a bit of action as Jim Sorgi was out again with a sore hamstring, but that will change in week 3 against Detroit. Sorgi is expected to return. Given his experience with the Colts, I have a hard time seeing Painter overtake him for the number two job. This is a season of learning for Curtis. Still, he completed 11 of 19 passes for 119 yards and an interception in a win over Philadelphia. He also ran once for a loss of six yards.

Jacksonville Jaguars - Uche Nwaneri (OL) - Uche is starting for now, but is likely headed to the bench once the season starts.

Kansas City Chiefs - Bernard Pollard (S) - Pollard sat out week 2 of the preseason. Had five tackles in preseason debut. Alex Magee (DT) - Magee played but did not have any stats against the Minnesota Favres last week. No one seemed to notice as it was all about Brett.

Miami Dolphins - Akin Ayodele (LB) - 8^th year in league. Akin is the likely starter again for the Dolphins. He had one tackle in limited action against Carolina. Ryan Baker (DT) - Undrafted free agent fighting for roster spot. Baker had a tackle and an assist in the second preseason game.

Minnesota Vikings - Ray Edwards (DE) - Like Pollard and Magee above, no one noticed what Ray Edwards did as Favre played his first game as a Viking. Edwards had a tackle and an assist as he is a likely starter.

New England Patriots - Matt Light (LT) - 9^th year in league. Has won three Super Bowls and has started all but two games in his career. Light will be the starting left tackle once again. Rob Ninkovich (LB) - 3^rd year in league. Rob had a very positive second week of the preseason, leading the Patriots with six tackles and three assists. Apparently he has moved from Defensive End to Linebacker

New Orleans Saints - Drew Brees (QB) - It is still smooth sailing for Brees, as he was 9 of 14 for 87 yards and a touchdown in the win over Houston.

New York Jets - Dustin Keller (TE) - DK plays his second preseason game tonight at Baltimore. The game will be on ESPN at 8pm

Philadelphia Eagles - Eugene Bright (TE) - Bright did not have a catch against Indianapolis, but he is still in the running for a backup tight end spot.

San Diego Chargers - Shaun Phillips (LB) - Phillips had one tackle in week 2 as he continues to hold down a starting linebacker spot. Nick Hardwick (OL) - 6^th year in league. Likely starter with 68 career starts at center and a Pro Bowl nod in 2006. Charles Davis (TE) - Davis did not have any stats in the second week of the preseason, making it harder and harder for him to make the roster. There is the possibility, however, of Davis making the roster as a fullback/H-back

San Francisco 49ers - Kory Sheets (RB) - Kory continues to be the most likely candidate to go from undrafted free agent to roster member, as he ran for 51 yards on 12 carries and added a fourth quarter touchdown to give the 49ers a 21-20 win over Oakland. Kory has all but sealed the 3^rd string running back job now.

I had video of Kory's TD, but SBNation allows only YouTube embedding, so you'll have to follow the link.

Seattle Seahawks - Craig Terrill (DT) - Craig had two tackles in the win over Seattle. He has been a stalwart in the Seahawks' defensive line rotation for years now. Seattle fans do like his ability to disrupt things on the line.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Niko Koutouvides (LB) - Niko had no stats in week two, as he fights for a roster spot after signing as a free agent.

Tennessee Titans - Stanford Keglar (LB) - Keglar had two tackles in the preseason loss at Dallas. Mike Otto (OT) - Otto is fighting for a roster spot, but the blog Music City Miracles thinks both Otto and Keglar will make the final 53 man roster.

Boilers in the pros: Preseason week 1

BoilerTMill — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 13:56:12 -0000

With the first week of the preseason in the books I wanted to take a quick look and see how all of our guys did in week 1. Obviously many guys are established on rosters already, but some are fighting for spots. This was a lot of fun, as I did most of the research on Sunday night, but waited until this morning to post it because there were a pair of preseason games last night. If I have time, I think I will make this a regular feature, as I have no weeded out hte teams that do not have former Purdue players on their rosters. Some guys, like Charles Davis, were happy finds because I didn't know they were still kicking around out there.

Here is how everyone did in week 1:

Ladies and gentlemen, your reigning NFL offensive player of the year.

Arizona Cardinals - Chike Okeafor (OLB) - 11^th year on team. Had a tackle against Pittsburgh in opener. Likely starter.

Atlanta Falcons - No players on roster

Baltimore Ravens - No players on roster

Buffalo Bills - No players on roster Side note: Who the hell is Gibran Hamdan? Apparently, he is a former IU quarterback that is on their roster, but I have never heard of him.

Carolina Panthers - Anthony Heygood (LB) - Undrafted free agent fighting for roster spot. Had one tackle in preseason opener. Landon Johnson (LB) - 6^th year in league, fighting for roster spot. The Panthers played their first game Monday night and Landon had no stats.

Chicago Bears - No players on roster

Cincinnati Bengals - Greg Orton (WR) - Undrafted free agent fighting for roster spot. Had no statistics in 17-7 loss at New Orleans

Cleveland Browns - No players on roster

Dallas Cowboys - Anthony Spencer (LB) - 3^rd year with team. Had one tackle in loss to open preseason. Likely starter.

Denver Broncos - Kyle Orton (QB) - Had brutal debut as starting quarterback with three interceptions. Completed 9 of 16 passes for 89 yards. Is still listed as the starter for now, but he obviously must improve. Brandon Gorin (OL) - Trying to return to NFL after starting 8 games at tackle for St. Louis in 2007. Six year veteran with 26 starts and former member of the Visa Five Layers of protection, thus making him the rare offensive lineman with an endorsement deal.

Detroit Lions - Cliff Avril (DE) - Second year player. Had two tackles as Lions won on late field goal. Stu Schweigert (S) - Found a home in Detroit last year after getting cut by Washington and Denver. Had four tackles in preseason opener and should be safely on the roster. He is also loving the fact he plays for his hometown team. John Standeford (WR) - After years on the Colts practice squad, finally made a regular season roster with the Lions. Emerged as #2 receiver late last season with four starts. No stats in opener

Green Bay Packers - No players on roster.

Houston Texans - Jacques Reeves (CB) - 6^th year in league. Will likely start at corner after breakout season in 2008. No statistics in opener. Jeff Zgonina (DT) - An astounding 17^th season for the last active player from the Colletto Era. Played in all 16 games last year with two starts. Is fighting for a roster spot apparently. No statistics in opener. UPDATE: It is no wonder Reeves had no stats in the opener, as he suffered a broken leg in camp and will be out for some time.

Indianapolis Colts - Curtis Painter (QB) - Rookie likely playing 3^rd string quarterback. Took the majority of snaps for the Colts in a 13-3 loss that was a boring as it sounds. Completed 10 of 17 passes for 77 yards.

Jacksonville Jaguars - Uche Nwaneri (OL) - 3^rd year in league. Likely starter at offensive guard after making 15 starts last year.

Kansas City Chiefs - Bernard Pollard (S) - 4^th year in league, probable starter. Most hated non-Yankee in New England after ending Tom Brady's season last year. Had five tackles in preseason debut. Alex Magee (DT) - Rookie on defensive line rotation. Had four tackles in preseason debut. The chiefs lost to the Texans 16-10.

Miami Dolphins - Akin Ayodele (LB) - 8^th year in league. Starter 13 games with 75 tackles last season. Likely starter again. Ryan Baker (DT) - Undrafted free agent fighting for roster spot. Both Ayodele and Baker had one tackle Monday night in a 12-9 field goal kicking contest.

Minnesota Vikings - Ray Edwards (DE) - 4^th year in league. Likely starter after 15 starts and five sacks last season. Had tackle in preseason debut win over the Colts.

New England Patriots - Matt Light (LT) - 9^th year in league. Has won three Super Bowls and has started all but two games in his career. Will be protecting Tom Brady's blind side until both head to Canton most likely. Rob Ninkovich (DE) - 3^rd year in league. Has played in just 8 career games as he tries to return from serious knee injury. No stats in preseason debut.

New Orleans Saints - Drew Brees (QB) - 9^th year in league. Will be starter after making the Pro Bowl for third time and second time being named All-Pro. Reigning Offensive Player of the Year. Completed 6 of 9 passes for 88 yards and a touchdown in 17-7 win over Cincy.

New York Giants - No players on roster.

New York Jets - Dustin Keller (TE) - 3 catches for 52 yards in preseason debut. Likely starter after solid rookie season in 2008. Big things are expected from him this year.

Oakland Raiders - No players on roster.

Philadelphia Eagles - Eugene Bright (TE) - An interesting one, as Bright was a pretty average Defensive end at Purdue and never played tight end. Undrafted free agent trying to make roster. Had one catch for eight yards in preseason debut.

Pittsburgh Steelers - No players on roster.

San Diego Chargers - Shaun Phillips (LB) - 6^th year in league. Likely starter as one of San Diego's best linebackers. Had 2 tackles in first game. Nick Hardwick (OL) - 6^th year in league. Likely starter with 68 career starts at center and a Pro Bowl nod in 2006. Charles Davis (TE) - Has bounced around league (Giants, Panthers, Jaguars) trying to make a roster, but has yet to play in an official game. No stats in opener

San Francisco 49ers - Kory Sheets (RB) - Undrafted free agent trying to make a roster. Kory probably had the most beneficial weekend of anyone. Rushed for 51 yards on 10 carries and a long of 25 in win over Denver. Also saw main competition Thomas Clayton unfortunately tear his ACL and get released. Has solid chance to make roster as 3^rd down back/kick returner.

Seattle Seahawks - Craig Terrill (DT) - 6^th year in league. Is having a very Jeff Zgonina-like career so far. Will likely be in the rotation at defensive tackle and may start. Had no statistics in opener.

St. Louis Rams - No players on roster.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Niko Koutouvides (LB) - 6^th year in league. Fighting for roster spot after disappointing year in Denver last season. Had four tackles in preseason debut. Buc fans are excited to have him.

Tennessee Titans - Stanford Keglar (LB) - 2^nd year in league. Played in 13 games as a rookie last season. Leads the team in tackles with 11 through 2 games (The Titans played in the Hall of Fame game too). The Titans think he may be the steal of last year's draft, too. Mike Otto (OT) - 2^nd year in league officially. Has been on practice squad and has played in one official game.

Washington Redskins - No players on roster.

Tuesday Notes: Lions Waive Gatewood, Re-Sign Smith

Sean Yuille — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 14:52:41 -0000

The Lions placed Curtis Gatewood on the waived/injured list and re-signed linebacker Spenser Smith. Smith is a rookie linebacker from Eastern Michigan who was released at the end of last month.
Brandon Pettigrew returned to practice on Sunday after missing quite a few days of action. He only took part in individual drills and wasn't going at full-speed, but the fact that he returned is good news. The same goes for Louis Delmas, who sort of returned to practice on Monday. Maurice Morris was also back in practice yesterday.
Kevin Smith left practice momentarily yesterday due to a knee injury but returned shortly after. Marquand Manuel also left practice, as he had to ice his calf.
Dennis Northcutt hasn't practiced a lot lately due to an injured thumb.
Bryant Johnson is starting to run again.
Jason Hanson missed practice yesterday due to the flu.
Casey FitzSimmons is now wearing a boot to protect his ankle.
The Lions' offense plays well when it knows what play the defense is going to run.
The heat index on Sunday was over 100 degrees during practice. It was by far the hottest day of the summer so far.

(More after the jump)

On Sunday, Jim Schwartz ended a punting drill after Aaron Brown wasn't on the field and ready to block, saying he didn't want to waste the players' time.
Click here to check out Jim Schwartz's interview with Chris Mortensen, who was at Ford Field on Saturday.
The Lions' official site has a funny interview with Julian Peterson and Larry Foote that essentially turned into a trash-talking session with Peterson representing MSU and Foote representing U-M.
Drew Stanton's latest blog post talks about how football is fun again for him.
With Roger Goodell in attendance, Schwartz spoke to the crowd during Saturday's practice at Ford Field and talked about how the he doesn't want to see the Thanksgiving game get moved.
Goodell said Lions fans have a reason to be optimistic and that Martin Mayhew and Tom Lewand have proved themselves in the short-term.
Don't expect Detroit to get an exemption for blackouts, as Goodell pretty much ruled out any chance of that happening, saying that it is a long-term policy. You know what, Roger, the fact of the matter is that blackouts are going to be more common with the economy being the way it is, especially for a team like the Lions. If they get better, chances are sellouts will happen more often, but in general, the blackout policy is stupid. Now-a-days, most people are not going to suddenly decide to buy tickets simply because the game won't be shown on TV. There are enough resources now-a-days for them to follow the game a different way, or they will simply just stop caring. I know a lot of fans who did the latter last season when the blackouts started piling up, and it's understandable. When you can't watch your favorite team, interest goes down, which is why the blackout policy really just needs to be eliminated altogether.
Stuart Schweigert gave away a ton of stuff he was wearing to fans after Saturday's practice.
BIGWalt2990 uploaded two videos of Gunther Cunningham from last year's Hard Knocks. The videos are quite interesting and give us a look at just how intense Cunningham is.
Former Lion and current Saint Dan Campbell is out for the season.

Best Years in Purdue Sports History #2: 2000-01

BoilerTMill — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 18:14:58 -0000

A slow week this week has allowed me to get a jump on finishing this series. As a programming note, I'll continue with previews and stuff over the next three weeks, but I will be out of town July 11-19 with very limited internet access. I'll likely write some previews ahead of time and schedule them to post then, but otherwise I won't be around to comment or post anything that comes up suddenly. I had asked the Boiled Sports guys to come over and guest host for a week, but they too will be unavailable for most of that week. Therefore, feel free to use the FanShot and FanPost features if anything noteworthy comes up. If anyone wants to volunteer to guest host that week please e-mail me.

In the meantime, let's look at the choice that I seriously thought would be #1 on the list. Some confusion in the voting criteria may have made it #2. The 2000-01 school year was my junior year on campus. The basketball team was coming off of its closest approach to a Final Four under Gene Keady, while the football team had Drew Brees returning for his senior season.

Need I say more?

Football highlights:

I think it would be easier to countdown what wasn't a highlight for this season. Four of the games from this year alone made the Best Wins of the Tiller Era list I did last year. The four wins that didn't make the list were in blowout fashion, though the Northwestern game could be included since it came over our fellow Big Ten co-champion.

The season started off with a nice twist. At this point in coach Tiller's career we were known for our offense, while the defense was a major question mark going into the 2000 season. Many of the regular contributors on this defense were freshmen that went on to be stars on the 2003 team. They performed well from the beginning though by shutting out Central Michigan 48-0 in the season opener. It was Purdue's first shutout in 19 years dating back to a 35-0 win over Northwestern in 1981. Travis Dorsch tied the school record for career field goals in the game, and he would break it in the next game against Kent State. That game against the Golden Flashes was more of the same as Purdue won easily 45-10.

A trip to South bend followed, and it was yet another game that makes me angry still today. It was the second of three straight "luck of the Irish" wins Notre Dame got over us in South Bend from 1998-2002. All three of those losses were incredibly frustrating, but they did make the 2004 stomping we gave them that much sweeter. As fun as that 2004 win was, it makes me hate the 2000 game even more. Purdue played like absolute crap and got beat by a tight end playing quarterback for the only time in his career. He couldn't run the option worth a damn, but our mistakes handed them 17 points in a 23-21 loss. The thought of a Notre Dame tight end playing quarterback (poorly for that matter) and doing better than Drew Brees makes me want to punch something even now.

George Godsey led a clutch fourth quarter drive that set up Nick Setta's game-winning 38 yard field goal as time expired. In this game, Notre Dame had a 60 yard interception return for a touchdown and a blocked punt set up another TD. A 22 yard TD pass to Vinny Sutherland gave Purdue the lead with less than 4 minutes left, but the defense couldn't hold on. What made matters worse was the fact that this win set Notre Dame up for their first undeserved BCS bowl of the past 10 years, though it was delicious watching Oregon State beat the crap out of them in that season's Fiesta Bowl.

Demoralized, Purdue returned home to face Minnesota in the Big Ten opener. That day was a memorable one for Brees as he became the new Big Ten career leader in completions and attempts. He threw for 409 yards on 33 completions in 49 attempts to set the new record. He finished his career against Minnesota with especially high numbers. In three games against Minnesota Brees completed 92 of 127 passes for 1,214 yards and 10 touchdowns without an interception. He had a career best 522 yards and 6 TD's against the Gophers as a sophomore in 1998.

Purdue could not sustain that momentum a week later in losing 22-20 at Penn State. Travis Dorsch missed a 46 yard field goal with 2:36 left that sealed the win for Penn State, who was just 1-3 coming in to the game. Once again, special teams cost us as two botched punts led to two Penn State touchdowns. Purdue came home to face Michigan at 1-1 in the conference and needing a win to stay alive.

It's just a shame ABC didn't get the double-bird from Dorsch or Tim Stratton hanging from the goalposts

That win ranked as the #5 win on the Best Wins countdown. Dorsch redeemed himself for numerous failures (firing a double-bird salute toward the student section in the process) as Purdue upset Michigan 32-31 on his last second field goal. More details can be found on that link, but it started the most memorable October in Purdue football history. Purdue followed it with a convincing win over Northwestern (41-28) in Evanston and another memorable overtime win over Wisconsin in Madison to set up a battle for first place against Ohio State.

That Ohio State game is the best football game I have ever attended, narrowly beating out the Colts-Patriots AFC championship game in Indianapolis a few years ago. The fourth quarter alone is more than enough to make me watch the tape I have (a generous gift from Boilerdowd) until it wears out. Short of Purdue winning a National Championship in football or basketball with me in attendance (or my beloved Kokomo Wildkats winning a boys basketball state title) I doubt I will ever have a game top it. The game itself can be summed up with the following play:

I still don't remember anything after he actually caught the pass. It was easily the happiest moment in Ross-Ade Stadium history. I doubt any Purdue fan objects to yet another viewing of it.

We now controlled our destiny for Pasadena with a week off. In that week, a critical game happened as Northwestern upset Michigan in another fantastic game in Big Ten history. That proved to be a critical result, as we simply crapped the bed at Michigan State in an ugly 31-10 loss. Fortunately, Iowa also upset Northwestern on that day, meaning we got a second chance and controlled our own destiny going into the Bucket game. Given that chance, there was NO FREAKING WAY we were going to let Indiana prevent us from going to the Rose Bowl. Montrell Lowe's 208 yard, 4 touchdown day booked us that trip with a 41-13 win over the Hoosiers.

The Rose Bowl, even though we lost, is still one of the most memorable trips I have ever taken. At the time I deliriously though it would be the first of many trips under Tiller. We would only come close one more time, that being in 2003. We had waited a lifetime to play in Pasadena, and even if we don't go again until 2035 I am glad I got to go once just to see at least 50,000 Purdue fans also make the trip. Hearing "I Am an American" in Pasadena was almost as tear jerking as it was the very next time I heard it in a virtually silent Ross-Ade Stadium on September 22, 2001.

As for season honors, Drew Brees brought home a ton of them. He won the Maxwell Award as the nation's most outstanding player, was on numerous All-America teams, made the Cover of Sega's College Football 2K1, and is the only Purdue athlete (and second Purdue alumni, joining Neil Armstrong) to reach prestigious Level 8: Multiple Dead Male Hookers of the infamous Dead Hooker in the Trunk Scale. For someone else to reach this level that person will have to be a Purdue grad and first person to set foot on Mars or lead Purdue to a football national title. The stakes are set. I am sure if Drew ever reads this it will be the highest honor of his career. That, or he will think I am completely insane and he will possibly have a restraining order filed against me.

Basketball highlights:

After such an incredible football season, the men's basketball season was very anti-climactic. Midseason injuries to Rodney Smith and John Allison derailed what had been a promising year, but any team that relied on John Allison and his pitiful rebounding ability for a big man didn't have a lot of promise. At least he wasn't Matt ten Dam.

Purdue started the year with a shocking loss at home to Central Michigan on a last second layup. They then upset #1 ranked Arizona in the Wooden Tradition at Conseco Fieldhouse. Virginia delivered a 92-79 loss in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge before Purdue reeled off seven straight non-conference wins over easy opponents. A December 30^th 87-82 loss to UCLA in Mackey Arena gave Purdue a solid 8-3 record going into conference play.

Purdue beat Michigan, Northwestern, and Wisconsin to start conference play 3-0, but consecutive losses to Iowa and Minnesota ended the hot start. Purdue broke the streak with another win over Northwestern, but then lost 66-55 to Indiana in Bloomington. The Boilers were able to rebound once again in a home win over Minnesota, but that is when things quickly went south. Purdue then dropped six straight games, losing Allison and Smith (the two leading scorers) to injury in that stretch. A late season win over Michigan and Big Ten Tournament win over Minnesota salvaged a 15-14 regular season finish, but it broke a string of 8 straight NCAA Tournament appearances. It also meant we would dance only once over the next seven seasons.

Purdue did receive an NIT invite and that lead to home wins over Illinois State and Auburn, but a double overtime loss at Mackey Arena to Alabama prevented Purdue from going to New York. Both Allison and Smith were able to return for the NIT.

Other highlights:

Women's basketball - The women's basketball team, behind current Indiana Fever star Katie Douglas, Camille Cooper, and Kelly Komara, turned in a fantastic season during the 2000-01 year. All they did was win the Big Ten and come within a basket of winning their second National Championship in three years.

Unlike 1999, the ladies didn't enter the NCAA Tournament as one of the favorites. Purdue came in as a #3 seed at 26-6 and had lost the Big Ten Tournament championship to Iowa. An opening round over UC Santa Barbara was easy in Mackey, but Purdue was tested in a 3-point win over LSU in round 2. In the sweet 16, Purdue survived another close game, beating Texas Tech 74-72. They also got a huge break when Xavier upset top seed Tennessee in the other regional semifinal. Unfortunately, freshman point guard Erika Valek tore a ligament in her knee during the game and was lost for the rest of the tournament.

Purdue took care of Xavier in the regional final 88-78 to reach its third Final Four in program history. Once there, they faced tournament Cinderella Southwest Missouri State. The Bears featured the NCAA's career scoring leader in Jackie Stiles and had become the story of the nation during the tournament. Purdue held her to 22 points in an 81-64 victory to earn a rematch with Notre Dame.

Most people thought the other semifinal between number 1 seeds UConn and Notre Dame was the real national championship game. The two heavyweights had dueled twice in the regular season and most people assumed The Irish's 90-75 win in the Final Four would give them the title. Notre Dame had even defeated Purdue 72-61 during the regular season. The Boilers surprised everyone by building a 12 point first half lead and controlling most of the game though.

Purdue led 66-64 with about a minute to play but was unable to stop the nation's best player in Ruth Riley. Riley tied it with a basket in the lane with 1:01 remaining then got a rebound after a Purdue miss at the other end. Riley was then fouled in the final seconds and hit both free throws to give Notre Dame a 68-66 lead. Douglas missed an 18-fotter at the buzzer for Purdue, giving the title to Notre Dame.

Douglas would finish as a first-team All-American for Purdue, while several freshmen such as Shereka Wright and Valek would go on to have stellar careers.

Baseball - I have spoken about how Purdue has a poor history in baseball numerous times, but the 2001 season was probably the best the Boilers have had in the last 20 years. Purdue began the year by upsetting the #1 team in the nation, Rice, 5-2 in the season opener. They then lost to #16 Central Florida, but pulled off another upset of #24 Wake Forest to win the prestigious Coca-Cola Classic in Houston during the season's opening weekend. As a result, Purdue actually made an appearance in the bottom of many national top 25 baseball polls for a week.

Unfortunately, the hot streak didn't last. Purdue lost 11 of its next 13 games, including all six games on a spring break trip to play some of California's top baseball schools. Once in Big Ten play Purdue got hot again. Purdue went 19-7 in Big Ten play and finished 32-22 overall. It also had some rare national recognition from its early season wins, so a good showing in the Big Ten Tournament would likely mean an NCAA Tournament berth.

What ultimately hurt the Boilers was snow. One game of a four game series at Michigan State was snowed out early in the Big Ten season. Purdue won the other three games, but since that fourth game wasn't played the Boilers lost the Big Ten regular season title to Ohio State by just a half game. Had Purdue played that game and won, it would have ended a 92 year Big Ten baseball title drought that has now reached 100 seasons. They also would have hosted the Big Ten Tournament instead of the Ohio State. Rain also cancelled a fourth regular season game with Minnesota in West Lafayette.

Unfortunately, Purdue couldn't manage the one win it likely needed to secure an NCAA Tournament at large berth once they got to Big Ten tournament play. Purdue dropped games to Illinois and Michigan to finish 0-2. Their 32-24 record was overlooked by the committee and Purdue had to stay home.

Pitcher Chadd Blasko was named the top pro prospect from the Big Ten and was a 1^st round compensatory selection by the Chicago Cubs in that summer's draft. Dave Gassner, another starting pitcher on that team, went on to have a better pro career. He was drafted by Toronto and later made the major leagues for two games with the Minnesota Twins. He is Purdue's most recent Major Leaguer and managed to win his major league debut on April 16, 2005.

Women's Indoor Track and Field - The women's indoor track and field team won its only Big Ten team championship to date in 2001. Krissy Liphardt was an individual Big Ten champ by winning the 400 meter dash. To me, these last three achievements added to football should have made this the best overall year combined in Purdue sports history.

Swimming and Diving - This really isn't for anything the program did, but 2001 was the year that the Boilermaker Aquatic Center opened, moving our programs from the dank Lambert Fieldhouse pool into one of hte nicest collegiate aquatics centers in the country. It is so nice, in fact, that Purdue hosted the 2003 women's NCAA championships.

Friday Notes: Recapping Thursday's OTA

Sean Yuille — Fri, 22 May 2009 15:48:24 -0000

More photos » by Carlos Osorio - AP

7 months ago: Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft, talks with offensive coordinator Scott Linehan during drills at the team's football practice facility in Allen Park, Mich., Friday, May 1, 2009. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Browse more photos »

NFL.com has a minute-long video showing some highlights of Matthew Stafford from yesterday's OTA.
Stafford's performance yesterday was nothing surprising. He made some bad throws but threw the ball like a No. 1 pick at times as well. He took reps with the No. 2 group, so he didn't get to throw the ball to Calvin Johnson. Daunte Culpepper, who was "the sharpest," according to Dave Birkett, had that luxury. Drew Stanton was the QB splitting reps with Stafford in the No. 2 group, and he "had a pretty good day throwing the ball." In the end, though, Birkett came to this conclusion:

But Stafford remains the most talented. Even with the veterans, his passes seem to get on the receiver as soon as they turn around.
My guess is that once Stafford learns the ins and outs of the offense, he will get more and more of the No. 2 reps. Obviously the Lions don't want to just forget about Stanton, but I imagine by training camp Stafford will start to pick up more reps, hopefully to the point where he gets to work out with the No. 1 team every once in a while.
Rookies should expect to hear it from veterans for being a rookie; that's just part of getting acclimated to the NFL. If the rookie is the top overall pick of the draft, though, he should expect to hear about how much money he has, as was the case with Stafford on Thursday.

"A guy couldn't catch me coming out of a bootleg, and he said, 'Sorry, I was just picking up all the money falling out of your pockets,'" Stafford said, laughing. "Just funny stuff like that. But they've all been great, welcoming me."
Eric Hicks later admitted he made the comment after Jared DeVries ratted him out.
Don't expect to find Stafford in any GQ photo shoots like the one Mark Sanchez did.

"No, I haven't had any offers, but my abs aren't as cut as those of Mark Sanchez," Stafford joked after Thursday's OTA workout. "But, yeah, I saw that. I'm gonna have to give him a call about that."

Asked if he thought Sanchez's photos were airbrushed, Stafford laughed and shook his head, "I don't know. We're not THAT good of friends."
That would have been the quote of the day if Hicks hadn't used the "money falling out of your pockets" line during practice.
Newly signed offensive tackle Ephraim Salaam only participated in individual drills during the OTA on Thursday.
Jim Schwartz thinks free agent Roderick Hood "was still in the exploratory range" when he visited the Lions, so don't get your hopes up that he will end up in Detroit.
Defensive end Dewayne White missed Thursday's OTA, which was voluntary, for personal reasons. Fellow defensive lineman Grady Jackson hasn't practiced yet this offseason due to the problems with his brother, but he is now back with the team.
Safeties Stuart Schweigert and Daniel Bullocks and defensive end Jason Hunter also sat out practice on Thursday.
Louis Delmas is serving as the punt team's personal protector, which lines up basically as a fullback and barks out different things relating to blocking and blitzing.
I was pleasantly surprised to find no new FanPosts about Michael Vick considering he was released from prison earlier this week. I've reiterated before that the Lions have no interest in him, but hopefully by letting Jim Schwartz do basically the same thing, there will be little to no mention of Vick on this site in the future.
The Free Press and MLive have photo galleries from Thursday.
The 49ers signed Dre' Bly to a one-year deal, and another former Lions cornerback, Brian Kelly, was brought in for a physical.

Friday Notes: Lions Sign Stuart Schweigert

Sean Yuille — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 10:05:09 -0000

As usual with Lions blackouts, check out Pride of Detroit on gameday for live updates and for links to online streams of the game. There is usually at least one good stream out there; it's just a matter of tracking it down. With that being said, if you happen to find an online stream of the Lions' game on Sunday, please post a link to it in the comments section of the game thread.
Sports Illustrated's Don Banks believes the Lions should try to hire Patriots Vice President of Player Personnel Scott Pioli. I doubt he would want to leave New England, especially for the Lions, but it's definitely worth a try. He has a great track record and would be someone that could turn things around.
Dwight Smith practiced for the first time in a long time earlier this week and should be back for Sunday's game.
The Lions signed safety Stuart Schweigert, who is from Saginaw and played for Purdue in college.
Rod Marinelli thinks the Lions should have signed Daunte Culpepper sooner than they did.
Pacman Jones was reinstated by the NFL earlier this week.