As I sit here in my apartment with Manti Te'o's girlfriend looking at the thermostat that reads slightly below freezing, I realize that I missed on my prediction about the team going undefeated in the Big 10 this year. Then again, undefeated teams in sports are boring and fascist, like strikeouts in baseball. Unless you're a fan of Connecticut or Baylor, you weren't at all excited about the seasons they went undefeated. The majority of America hates teams that win all the time, such as the New York Yankees and Duke's men's basketball team. Although I'm sure a loss at Iowa wasn't exactly pleasing to the team, just remember that eight NBA teams have lost to the Washington Wizards this year, so it happens.
I explained in my last post about the week leading up to Ohio State and how I portrayed their leading scorer. Turns out, I should have gotten the flu and sat on the sideline all week, as this is what Tayler Hill did against them last week. I get the feeling that I took an unhealthy amount of unnecessary shots in a period of four days, and then I remember I did what I was told and don't feel the slightest bit of regret. Word around the gym (I would say around the locker room like a normal teammate but I'd guess if I said that it would raise some suspicion and it wouldn't turn out well) is the team found out Hill wasn't playing until right before game time. I credit this and only this as the reason they went into multiple overtimes against the Buckeyes. I suspect Hill wasn't actually sick, but their head coach made her sit to play mind games with Coach Versyp's squad. This probably isn't a very likely situation, but we can all dream (how great is it that I worked the word dream into my blog on Martin Luther King Jr Day).
While I was waiting for some of the players to come out of the locker room after the game, I saw former Purdue standout Stephanie White getting ready to leave from announcing the game for the Big 10 Network. When I was in first grade, White did a basketball camp at Lafayette Jeff with my dad who was coaching the girls program there at the time. If I remember correctly, the camp was for fourth and fifth graders. Being the stud I was (if anyone would like to explain what happened from then to now, I'm all ears), I was allowed to participate in most parts of the camp. You could say that it was my destiny to play basketball with girls. I'm sort of like Jim Carrey in Man on the Moon who declares himself the "Inter-Gender Wrestling Champion". In my case, I'm a "Inter-Gender Basketball Champion" of sorts. I introduced myself to her and she remembered me (who wouldn't remember the only boy who participated in a girls camp?). We had a nice conversation about an internship opportunity with the Indiana Fever (where she coaches now). But, that is neither here nor there. I figured this would be a good time to tell a personal story of mine.
After the Ohio State win, the team began preparing for a so called improving Minnesota group. Improving is probably the right word because they weren't much of a match for the ladies. I would love to say that we practice guys prepared them incredibly well, but I'd be lying. The Golden Gophers' offense consists of a lot of cutting and filling spots on the perimeter. When we would cut during drills and other segments of practice, it was mandatory that we run into each other at least twice. This is not at all how Minnesota ran the offense during the game. It was probably the worst job we've done of running the scout team. Luckily, the girls came to play against the Gophers. The girls played so well that at some points it was like Minnesota had Lennay Kekua playing for them (that's two if you're counting).
According to announcers across America, every team that plays Purdue is improving. This makes me worried for the team because if the media doesn't say they're improving, then they aren't, right? Of course, Iowa is another improving team, an improving team who seemed to shoot a ridiculously high percentage from the field during the first half. Combine that with a rough start for the girls and you have a 20-point deficit at halftime. They only had one day after Minnesota to prepare for this ever improving Iowa team (tired of hearing how they're improving? So was I) so I partly blamed the events on that. The other part I blame on the fact that one of Iowa's players' mother is a Big 10 Network analyst. In other words, I'm saying the game was fixed from the beginning. The girls fought back in the second half to make it interesting, only to have their comeback efforts thwarted on the worst charge call I have ever seen.
To set the scene, freshman center Taylor Manuel catches the ball in the post almost right under the basket. Remember, NCAA basketball now has the circle under the basket that a player can't stand in and take a charge. That reminder is mostly for the referee crew of that game. Manuel spins over her left shoulder to shoot a right-handed layup, and Iowa's center falls toward the Purdue bench while standing in the dead center of the circle. I've always said the team wearing the white jerseys (the home team) gets the calls, and this was never more evident than that play. This essentially ended the last run Purdue was able to make and fell 62-46.
The RIP Squad will be back at it this week preparing for Northwestern and Michigan, two assuredly improving teams. Hopefully we decrease the number of concussions our guys get in practice and actually help the girls in some way. Michigan State has improved (last time I promise) so much so that they crept into the Top 25 rankings this week. The bad news for them is they probably won't be in the Top 25 next week. To decipher that, they're going to lose Sunday when the Boilers come to town.
Happy online dating and see you next week.
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