First Impressions And Bad Decisions
August 23, 2017 at 3:43 p.m.
By Roger Grossman-
I AM still going to write about that, but I also must write about a terrible decision made by an Indiana-based university that was announced this week.
First, the high schoolers.
Wawasee Athletic Director Cory Schutz has a big problem. This summer, field turf was installed at Warrior Field. It was celebrated as a great move (by me and many others). But the rubber hadn’t even settled into the faux grass when the home team wore out that new carpet to the tune of a 52-34 win over Lakeland Friday.
Needless to say, Warrior fans are excited. Who can blame them?
Tippecanoe Valley fans who were blown away by the way the Vikings pushed around Warsaw in their scrimmage were very eager to see what would happen when they opened the regular season at Bremen. Don’t be fooled by the 28 point margin in the end – that was a competitive football game at halftime.
People who were there, and obviously I wasn’t, say that when the game started to get away from Valley was when they saw the fight get away from them too. But if you think about it, that makes sense, right?
This group of guys experienced the nightmare of 2016 first-hand. So forgive them if, when things got rough, their memories reverted back to that experience. The cure for that is winning a close football game. They need to get that first one, and if it comes early enough, there is enough talent at the skilled positions on that football team to have a fun fall.
By the way, I am fascinated by Tippecanoe Valley re-embracing the “Death Valley” concept. For many years, the football field at Valley was called Death Valley. That changed a few years back after a series of tragic events involving Valley students, teachers and administrators. It felt wrong to have that constant reminder of grief and sorrow. Understandable. So the sign was taken down and it was not called that anymore.
But now there is a movement to bring it back. There is a sense of trying to take back the community in it. To stare “death” in the eye and not blink.
I hope with all my heart it works out.
Warsaw ground out a 21-6 win over Columbia City. As expected, the Tigers threw only 12 passes during the course of the game. Last season they had individual drives where they threw 12 or more passes.
The biggest takeaway from the Tigers’ win was that this team has a pretty high ceiling. Their top 20 players are pretty good, and with so many veterans in new positions and new faces getting significant Friday night playing time it’s easy to be optimistic about how their season could play out. The next two weeks will tell a lot – at East Noble Friday and the NLC opener the following week against Plymouth.
There is another subject that I just could not wait another week to deal with.
Purdue University announced at the beginning of the week it would start selling alcohol at home football and basketball games this season.
Like, inside Ross Ade Stadium and Mackey Arena.
Now, the university will tell you there are two reasons why they think this is a great idea. One is the money it will generate. Yep, it will make a lot of money. But what a low, desperate move. A state university paid for with tax dollars (yours and mine) that is supposed to be a place of higher learning and education is stooping to the lowest common denominator in the name of making more money.
For shame.
Then they tell you the other reason: to get more people to come to games and stay at games longer. Average attendance at Purdue football games is about 34,000. That is pitiful.
So their solution: get you drunk in hopes that you won’t care how bad the team is.
Nice.
In their statement announcing the plan, Purdue says there won’t be alcohol vendors outside the sections closest to the student sections. It should be pointed out that about two of every three students on campus are under 21 and are prohibited by Indiana law from consuming alcohol. Oh, I went to college – I understand that most kids drink in college anyway. But by selling it at the game, Purdue is now opening itself to selling alcohol to some kid who gets hurt, or worse.
Then the lawyers start lining up.
The argument then says “well people drink and get drunk while they are tailgating and then come inside the stadium … what’s the difference?” The difference is the university is complicit in it for-profit.
It makes it that much more likely that you will sit next to the guy whose whole goal is to get all smash-faced for four to five hours.
Watching Division I football sitting next to “Bobby” and his buddies who staggered into the stadium just before kickoff and then take turns buying drinks for each other and letting you wear a little bit of it for the rest of the day is not my idea of a good time.
What’s next … changing Purdue Pete to Purdue Pabst and carrying a beer stein around instead of a sledge hammer?
Purdue pitiful.
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I AM still going to write about that, but I also must write about a terrible decision made by an Indiana-based university that was announced this week.
First, the high schoolers.
Wawasee Athletic Director Cory Schutz has a big problem. This summer, field turf was installed at Warrior Field. It was celebrated as a great move (by me and many others). But the rubber hadn’t even settled into the faux grass when the home team wore out that new carpet to the tune of a 52-34 win over Lakeland Friday.
Needless to say, Warrior fans are excited. Who can blame them?
Tippecanoe Valley fans who were blown away by the way the Vikings pushed around Warsaw in their scrimmage were very eager to see what would happen when they opened the regular season at Bremen. Don’t be fooled by the 28 point margin in the end – that was a competitive football game at halftime.
People who were there, and obviously I wasn’t, say that when the game started to get away from Valley was when they saw the fight get away from them too. But if you think about it, that makes sense, right?
This group of guys experienced the nightmare of 2016 first-hand. So forgive them if, when things got rough, their memories reverted back to that experience. The cure for that is winning a close football game. They need to get that first one, and if it comes early enough, there is enough talent at the skilled positions on that football team to have a fun fall.
By the way, I am fascinated by Tippecanoe Valley re-embracing the “Death Valley” concept. For many years, the football field at Valley was called Death Valley. That changed a few years back after a series of tragic events involving Valley students, teachers and administrators. It felt wrong to have that constant reminder of grief and sorrow. Understandable. So the sign was taken down and it was not called that anymore.
But now there is a movement to bring it back. There is a sense of trying to take back the community in it. To stare “death” in the eye and not blink.
I hope with all my heart it works out.
Warsaw ground out a 21-6 win over Columbia City. As expected, the Tigers threw only 12 passes during the course of the game. Last season they had individual drives where they threw 12 or more passes.
The biggest takeaway from the Tigers’ win was that this team has a pretty high ceiling. Their top 20 players are pretty good, and with so many veterans in new positions and new faces getting significant Friday night playing time it’s easy to be optimistic about how their season could play out. The next two weeks will tell a lot – at East Noble Friday and the NLC opener the following week against Plymouth.
There is another subject that I just could not wait another week to deal with.
Purdue University announced at the beginning of the week it would start selling alcohol at home football and basketball games this season.
Like, inside Ross Ade Stadium and Mackey Arena.
Now, the university will tell you there are two reasons why they think this is a great idea. One is the money it will generate. Yep, it will make a lot of money. But what a low, desperate move. A state university paid for with tax dollars (yours and mine) that is supposed to be a place of higher learning and education is stooping to the lowest common denominator in the name of making more money.
For shame.
Then they tell you the other reason: to get more people to come to games and stay at games longer. Average attendance at Purdue football games is about 34,000. That is pitiful.
So their solution: get you drunk in hopes that you won’t care how bad the team is.
Nice.
In their statement announcing the plan, Purdue says there won’t be alcohol vendors outside the sections closest to the student sections. It should be pointed out that about two of every three students on campus are under 21 and are prohibited by Indiana law from consuming alcohol. Oh, I went to college – I understand that most kids drink in college anyway. But by selling it at the game, Purdue is now opening itself to selling alcohol to some kid who gets hurt, or worse.
Then the lawyers start lining up.
The argument then says “well people drink and get drunk while they are tailgating and then come inside the stadium … what’s the difference?” The difference is the university is complicit in it for-profit.
It makes it that much more likely that you will sit next to the guy whose whole goal is to get all smash-faced for four to five hours.
Watching Division I football sitting next to “Bobby” and his buddies who staggered into the stadium just before kickoff and then take turns buying drinks for each other and letting you wear a little bit of it for the rest of the day is not my idea of a good time.
What’s next … changing Purdue Pete to Purdue Pabst and carrying a beer stein around instead of a sledge hammer?
Purdue pitiful.
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