My Top Ten Pictures of the First Five Years of the Junkie

A couple of days ago I posted about this site being five years old. I am sort of proud of the fact that I made it this long. I don’t consider myself a sportswriter, and I am far away from being a sports photographer. For some reason (a fact that boggles me) people come to this site to read what I have to say and to look at my pictures. If you take enough pictures over a five year span you are bound to accidentally take a few good ones. Here are the ten pictures that came to mind when I thought of the ten best in that span. I may have left a few out so if you have a favorite that I missed let me know.

Drey Mingo leaves the court with the WNIT trophy just before her illness

10. This may not be the best picture that I have ever taken, but it is one of my favorites nonetheless. The Purdue Women’s Basketball team was on a high note last season when they beat Depaul at home to win the WNIT preseason tournament. The team was on cloud nine thinking about how good things could be, and also the great trip ahead of them over the holiday weekend. That all came crashing down when Drey Mingo was diagnosed with meningitis. I had a seat right by the tunnel in Mackey so I got to see the players as they left the court. Drey was hugging the trophy as she left, and I thought it would be a great picture. When her condition was unknown a couple of days later I kept looking at this picture pondering how quickly things can change. For that reason it makes it onto this list.

Brett’s Streak Is Finally Over

 

Brett last season in Green Bay

After playing in 299 straight games and starting 297 straight Brett Favre will sit this one out. The last time that Brett did not start a game for his team George Bush was President. George H.W. Bush that is. Since then Bill Clinton has served eight years, and George’s oldest boy George W. Bush served eight years. The world has changed since that day in 1992 when the Majik Man went down for the Packers to give Favre his chance. Every streak needs a Wally Pipp, and Don Majkowski was the man who gave way to Favre. Since that day in 1992 237 quarterbacks have started games for other teams, and 117 head coaches have come and gone in the NFL. The streak is a terrific accomplishment, and should be applauded. Hell it should be celebrated. To play through some of the injuries he has played through is amazing. To do it at a high level is even more amazing.

Note To Brett Favre

 

Brett dropping back to pass last year at Lambeau

Brett,

Hello, I was once one of your biggest fans when you played for the Packers. For years I looked to you as the guy that what was good about pro football. You took the bad things in your life, and turned them into positives.

Ray Edwards Making an Impact in the NFL

At the end of his Purdue career I was not very high on Ray Edwards. He seemed to be part of a bad element in the Purdue locker room. After winning the Bucket in 2005 he didn’t even wait to leave the field to announce that he was not coming back to Purdue for his senior year. He did not have anything nice to say at all about the school that educated him for free for three years. Since he has left Purdue though he has had a decent NFL career. The one major blemish is his 2007 suspension for steroid use. I have never been big on the guy, but he is a starting defensive end for one of the elite NFL teams. He seems to be doing alright on the opposite side of the line from Jared Allen. Last week against the Packers he had three tackles including two sacks. Both of those sacks came early, and he spent the day harassing Aaron Rodgers. The picture to the right shows him bearing down on Rodgers for another hurry. Yet another Boiler making an impact at end in the NFL. Who will be the next player to step up?

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A Dream Come True

Yesterday I was in attendance in Lambeau Field when Brett Favre had a great game. Unfortunately Brett now plays for the Vikings. I have some experience seeing my heroes playing for other teams. In 2001 I went to Detroit to see Michael Jordan play for the Washington Wizards. It was good to see MJ play again, but odd seeing him in a Wizards jersey. Yesterday had a similar feeling. Five years ago if you had told me that Brett Favre would have been booed at Lambeau field I would have told you that you were crazy. That is exactly what happened though when he took the field. Every time. The fans were relentless. They let him have it every time that they could. I was sitting in the stands wearing my #4 Packer jersey with absolutely no intention of booing him. He has done too much for the Packers to forget about that now. As Percy Harvin is showing to the left Favre came back and threw for four touchdowns against his old team leading them to a 38-26 win. He threw at least four touchdowns in a game for the 21st time in his career tying Dan Marino for the most all time.

Favre wasn’t the only reason that the Packers lost the game. The primary reason has to be pass protection. The Packers offensive line was not blocking the Vikings at all it seemed like. Aaron Rodgers was running for his life out there. He also should shoulder some of the blame for hanging on to the football for too long. Sometimes you just need to get rid of the ball. The Vikings have sacked the Packers 14 times this season in the two games that they played. Twelve of those sacks were accomplished with no extra pass rush. Jared Allen and company had their way with the Green Bay offense. The picture to the right would show Aaron Rodgers passing the ball, but he is in between that Williams sandwich. This is what the fans saw for the entire first half. That is until the Packers realized that they could complete a quick pass and run with it afterwards. What a concept! The Packers went from being down 24-3 to getting to within five at 31-26. It was this rally that let me see exactly how great a game could be at Lambeau. The fans were great, and I could not help but get caught up in everything. As the week goes on I will have more on the game. Former Purdue end Ray Edwards had a great game, but I will get to that in another post. Even though the Packers lost I would say that my first trip to Lambeau was a great one.

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Game Preview: Purdue v. Wisconsin: Jump Around!

I have always heard how intimidating that Camp Randall Stadium can be if you are a fan of the opposing team. What better day to visit the stadium for the first time than Halloween? I am fully aware that the fans may not like my presence, but I am there to have fun. Besides they might think my Boilers jersey is just a Halloween prank. This could be a great game to go to if the Boilers play up to their potential. If they play the kind of road game that they played at Oregon they will win Saturday. If they play the way they did in Minneapolis, they will have some ‘splainin‘ to do. Purdue is a good football team that has the tools to win. They just need to put the tools together to get those wins. They will have to stop the run first and foremost. As usual Wisconsin has a huge back that is leading the conference in rushing. They always seem to find these guys. Our linebackers will have their hands full tomorrow. On the other side of the ball they need to execute the passing game. If they had executed better last week they would have ran away with the game. This should be a good game, and I hope that I am not disappointed. I have picked the Boilers to win, but I am not too sure of my pick. Wisconsin is very good at causing turnovers, and as we know the Boilers tend to turn it over. This will be the key stat of the game.

I was at the last meeting between these two teams in 2006. I took a friend to the game, and he even made the comment that he could not have possibly gone to a worse game. Purdue lost the game 24-3. At that point it was the lowest point total by a Purdue team since 1993. The next week Penn State shut the Boilers out to make the three points seem like an outburst. P.J. Hill ran for 161 yards and two scores. One of those scores is shown up above to the left. Purdue had lost its 11th straight game against a ranked opponent. That streak would continue until a couple of weeks ago when Ohio State helped us end it.

Predictions: Last week somehow I lucked out, and went 8-0. That brings my season total to 20-6. Iowa really helped that out with the amazing comeback with no time on the clock. This week I have no Slicer game to pick since they were ousted in the first round of the sectionals. I will replace that game with my first trip to Lambeau Field. I know that I am not really picking with my mind on that one, but hey I’m not going to pick against the Packers. I will also throw in a pick of the hockey game that I will attend Saturday in Wisconsin. Here are this weeks picks:

#17 Ohio State 45 – New Mexico State 3

#4 Iowa 35 – Indiana 17

#12 Penn State 38 – Northwestern 16

Michigan 28 – Illinois 10

Michigan State 21 – Minnesota 17

#4 Grand Valley State 38 – Northern Michigan 21

Notre Dame 49 – Washington State 23

Purdue 34 – Wisconsin 28

Bonus Pick: Green Bay Packers 24 – Minnesota Vikings 21

Bonus Hockey Pick: Wisconsin 3 – New Hampshire 2 (Saturday Night)

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