Bucket Game 2007

Here we are, the eve of the annual game to decide who get the Old Oaken Bucket. Tomorrow, in Bloomington, Indiana University's football team will host the Purdue University team in what is each team's big rivalry game of the season. Unfortunately, outside of the alumni of both schools living outside of Indiana, no one really gives a shit about the game or who wins it.

 

As has become the norm, the Bucket game will again be a battle to determine who sucks less between the two schools, in football at least. But this year does have a bit of a twist. Both programs have coaches whose livelihood could hang in the balance. Indiana, still reeling from the loss of coach Hoeppner, has to decide if they are going to stick with Bill Lynch while the Boiler fans seem to have become disenchanted with Joe Tiller up in West Lafayette. Both coaches have their supporters and both have their detractors.

 

Down in Bloomington it is the consensus that Lynch is a nice guy, but is not the guy to take the program to the “next” level. The problem in Bloomington is that if they cut Lynch loose and get that next level coach, how long will he stick around? The program has been such a piece of shit for so long that the next level ain’t much, but going to a bowl game every year would certainly be a step in the right direction. Face it, in Bloomington, basketball is king and football is a distant second, that’s the way it is, has been and unless the cosmos shift, will always be.

 

Lynch, the coach is a little different story. While compiling an overall winning record, many feel he inherited a pretty good program at Ball State and ran it in to the ground. He made one bowl appearance in 1996, but left the program with a losing record. He also seemed to have control problems with his team and a number of them found themselves afoul of the law. Perhaps he was just too nice to deal with rowdy, thuggish, MAC kids. An 8-2 record at division 2 DePauw buoyed his overall mark. Obviously Hep saw something and hired him to coach with him at IU. Just before Hep’s death last summer Lynch was named interim coach. I, like many cast a wary eye towards AD Greenspan for his decision and took a wait-and-see approach.

 

The Hoosiers got off to a great start, something unusual for them. They beat the patsies on their schedule unlike many years when they were lucky to split. There was talk that Lynch should have had the interim tag removed and hired permanently. A loss to Illinois dampened the spirits some, but in the upcoming weeks the Illini would prove to be a tough beat. Meanwhile the Hoosiers went to Iowa City and won and beat a bad Minnesota team at home. Then came the October from hell. Not unlike their upstate brethren the Hoosiers came up with squadouche against Michigan State, Penn State and Wisconsin. They finally got off the mat to beat Ball U before dropping a nondescript piece of shit to Northwestern.

 

At 6-5 the Hoosiers are bowl eligible, but does anyone actually believe this team deserves a bowl bid if they end up 6-6. For craps sake they can’t even sell out their own stadium unless Ohio State, Michigan or Purdue are in town. Why would any bowl committee want a team who’s fans won’t show up to home games. They aren’t going to show up at a bowl either.

 

So that leaves us with Lynch’s situation. He beats Purdue and he goes to a bowl as well as gets the Purdue monkey off the teams back. Frankly I don’t think he’s done enough with a win to garner anything long term, but he will probably, and maybe should be, given a 2 or 3 year contract. A loss and he has to go. Nobody in Hoosierland that actually cares about football wants to start over AGAIN, but the bottom line is the program must improve or move on.

 

Of course, getting a good young coach will probably lead to starting over again in a couple of years anyway since they probably won’t pay when others come looking for talented young coaches. Not with the basketball program sucking all the resources.

 

On to the Boilers. The Boiler faithful may not be as dumb as the Hoosier fans think they are, but one thing they are is unrealistic. At some point the Boilermaker fans decided they were in the same class as Michigan, Ohio State and Wisconsin. The teams gaudy September and early October records always get the fans tweaked to a, well, boiling point, only to have their hopes dashed. This year it was Ohio State. With a 7-0 record and everything on the line the team came out flat as a pancake and got their asses handed to them. Tired of this seemingly unending pattern the fans have turned their ire towards the coach of late.

 

Joe Tiller has compiled a 61% winning percentage at Purdue and has taken the team to a bowl game 9 out of his 10 seasons, including an appearance in the 2001 Rose Bowl. A record the Indiana fans can only dream of these days. At 7-4 this season it appears as though the Boilers will again be bowling regardless of tomorrow’s outcome. But for the fans it simply isn’t enough.

 

Purdue has reached as far it is going I don’t care who the coach is. Beat Notre Dame, get one against the big 3 and for fuck’s sake, beat Penn State once in a while. You do that and Purdue fans should have nothing to gripe about, but they will. And God help him if they lose tomorrow, which, while I find doubtful; it’s not out of the question by any means.

 

So IU fans, are you going to embrace Bill Lynch if he wins? Will you run him out of town on a rail if he loses? Is he the answer? Probably not, but he may be about the best you can expect. It’s not a glamour detail and will always be in the shadow of the basketball team.

 

Purdue fans, will you ever be satisfied? Can Tiller stay if he wins tomorrow, because I know you will all call for his ass if he doesn’t. Hey IU, tell you what, if the Boilers don’t want Joe T and decide to cut him loose I’d be on his doorstep about 1 second later and sign him to a contract until he retires. Boilers, be careful what you wish for, losing Tiller could and probably will bit you all in the ass!