Good to be a Hoosier

This was a very good weekend to be a Hoosier. I admit, I am a convert. My dad claims my first word was "Purdue," (I remain skeptical about the veracity of that) and I grew up in West Lafayette. When people ask me why I came to IU I usually reply with the cliche "I saw the light." Nonetheless, my background gives me a unique perspective on this rivalry and I often feel sympathetic to both sides.

I started Saturday started off by wandering around various tailgates, first stopping by an IU one to say hi to Blake, then off to meet my dad and his Purdue friends. As these particular people always do, they begged me to go eat something because they think I'm too thin, and then shoved a beer in my hand because they think I don't drink enough. In my humble opinion, I believe when they look at me they realize they are a bit on the heavy side and should perhaps lay off the liquor every once in awhile. They also tried to get me to drink this liquor out of a paper bag called "Hot Damn." It wasn't that I was adverse to drinking the liquor, it was the fact that everyone at that tailgate had drank out of the exact same bottle, gross! At least with Sink-the Biz things kind of get "washed off" in the bucket of beer, but straight from the same bottle is just too much for this germaphobe to handle.

After my mandatory meal and drink, we threw the football around for awhile, which prompted my dad to apologize to the others, "yeah, she may be fast, but her sister's the one with the coordination." Thanks Pops. Whenever Purdue fans would walk by they would exchange greetings of "Boiler up!" I got sick of this and finally offered my own rebuttal, "Boiler up yours!" Ah, good old fashioned trash talking! Since I'm too chicken to do it in my own sport, I thoroughly enjoy doing it during other ones.

Finally it was game time and Dad and I made it to our seats in the very left hand corner of the first row of the South end zone that I bought at the last minute Friday morning before the game sold out. Although we couldn't really tell what was going on at the other end of the field or how many yards till the first down, it was actually a neat perspective on the game. It gave me a better appreciation for how the sport moves from the players' point-of-view. In the second half, Eric Gordon (IU basketball freshman phenom) sat behind us, and graciously signed various items for the fans that recognized him. The worse part of the game was that once the sun went down I had to constantly jump around and breath into my sleeves to stay warm; I was definitely not as prepared as I should have been.

The Hoosiers built a big lead in the first half then struggled in the second. It came down to an IU field goal, which kicker Austin Starr gave just enough umph to get it over the cross bar into our end zone. As I often do, I got overly excited and nearly fell off the bleachers jumping up and down in celebration, but it was just so exciting! Once the clock finally ran out, students stormed the field and everyone in the stadium, Hoosier or Boiler, could tell that Terry Hoeppner was smiling from up above. My dad gave me a high five and was unusually optimistic; clearly, my conversion has softened him a little. He even revealed that he was wearing an IU Track & Field t-shirt below his multiple layers of Purdue gear. Alas, his lucky Mike Alstott-signed hat was not enough as IU won it's first Old Oaken Bucket game in 6 years and paved its way to "Play 13," Coach Hep's old rally cry.

Things got even better in the IU-Purdue rivalry for me on Sunday. Earlier my dad had been bragging that he was going to Texas in two weeks to visit his girlfriend and watch the Purdue women's soccer team play in the NCAA Final Four at Texas A & M. I reminded him that they had to play IU first, but he pretty much ignored that comment. Well, IU won in penalty kicks to advance to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time in school history! The IU men's basketball team also demolished no-name Longwood Sunday afternoon, and I saw Eric Gordon at the Applebee's by the mall, apparently going to celebratory meal with his family. Two times in two days I was in close proximity with someone who will likely be a pro star this time next year, maybe some of his magic will rub off on me and my pick-up game will improve a little, ha...

For a kid who grew up selling programs at Purdue games and alternating different Purdue t-shirts to wear to school, occasionally my Hoosier pride seems a bit unnatural. After this weekend, though, I know for sure I have fully converted; "Our Indiana" is also my Indiana.