Weather and Shi...STUFF: Plus Boilers WIN!

Oh Boy, a goody bag of blog posts on this overcast Sunday afternoon in Meltsville, Michigan...

The B-Boys sure ROCKED the House in Champagne today, defeating Illinois 81-70. JuJuan (JJ)Johnson had 24 and 9 boards(Yeow!) and E'Twaun Moore followed with 20 and 5, 14 of those in the second half. LewJack (Lewis Jackson chipped in 10 w/5 assists and the Boilers managed to get something that has been alluding them all year: a good solid win on the road against a good team.

This sets them up nicely going into a huge week with Wisky (Wisconsin) and the Convicts (Ohio State) both coming into Mackey this coming week. If Purdue can beat the BADgers then pull the upset against the Buckeyes, they would be 1 game out in the Big 10 regular season race. Who woulda thunk it?

Frankly, I still think OSU is out of reach in the B-10 Title chase but stranger things have happened. A loss like they suffered can have a wide array of side effects on the psyche of a team. Some teams (For example:The classic Gene Keady Boilers, recent Tom Izzo coached Spartan Teams and yea, Bobby Knights IU squads plus all of Coach K's teams at DUKE) would take a loss like that then just destroy people they would play in the next few games.

But some teams lose confidence. Ohio State is a great team, don't get me wrong but they have a Freshman leader and a lot of youth in leadership positions by default and who knows, they could lose 2 or 3 in a row...I really don't see that happening but it most certainly can. And they will have to defend against it in some really tough upcoming games vs Michigan State on the 15th and at Purdue next weekend. The Boilermakers are looking to revenge that 87-64 shaolacking they took in Columbus on January 25th.This is WHY I truly LOVE College Hoops, it's real life drama, the very best sports has to offer...

Another big story around here is the weather: 47 degrees showing as I write this. In Michigan this kind of temperature in February brings people out in shorts (I'm not kidding). I knew we were headed for a slight warming trend in the next few days but I didn't think it would get into the 40's until mid-week. Jeez, I have to stop paying attention to the weather forecast, I keep forgetting they are never even close to being right...

Warm ups in mid-winter are kind of weird here on the island because we basically have a gigantic, mile long block of freaking ICE surrounding us and it plays havoc with the temperature, especially when there is a breeze blowing over it right towards us. We never know what it really is like until we get off and head towards town....

I have no inclination to go outside, even for a short walk. It's unfortunate but I'm not physically up to it today and I really hate feeling this way. I feel like the injuries are WINNING and that pisses me off! But truth be told, it's just the opposite, really...

I need to remember that I typically have good mobility for someone who has these type of Nerve and Skeletal issues with their back, hips, knees, neck and feet as I have. It's just ONE day that I need to take it a little easy, only one freaking walk forfeited, I can survive this, yes?! Yes...still, I want to be outside.

Still, it is rather strange to not be out in the fresh air but the funny thing is looking out the window, it's impossible to tell that it's really that nice out. We still have 6-8 " of snow on the ground, massive piles from the plows so just looking at it you would think it's still frigid out there. That helps...if peeps were riding by on their bikes wearing shorts...I'd have a hard time staying put inside!

So I cheated a little and thawed some Ground Round for burgers off the grill, YUMMY...