New Web site provides plenty of laughs
for Boilermaker sports fans
by Ken Thompson
Lafayette Journal and Courier, February 16, 1998
Unless your sense of humor circuits have burned out, the newest Purdue-oriented Web site can't help but draw a chuckle.
GoBoilers.com, which bills itself as the Web site about Boiler Fans by Boiler Fans for Boiler Fans, is in its infant stages. Already, though, two things are crystal clear: Graduating Purdue safety Lee Brush can do no wrong and even a weak joke is funnier with a Purdue victory.
Under the Player Tribute section, Brush is the only player featured, but this is no skimpy tribute. Ten photos and commentary on the man who also inspired "Brush-A-Mania 101."
No credits can be earned for taking Brush 101, but the course outline includes what the spirit of Lee means to Purdue fans and a history of Brush-A-Mania.
The humor resides in the Fan Guide section, which includes "Everything I Needed to Know I Learned During the 1997 Purdue Football Season" and "Which Hoop Refs Do We Like?"
The former category features words to live by such as:
"Not all love happens at first sight." -- The Toledo game
"If you talk the talk, you better have the juice to walk more than the first half of the walk." -- aimed toward R.W. McQuarters and Oklahoma State
"The game ain't over 'til you say it is." -- Brian Alford
At first glance, "Which Hoop Refs Do We Like?" doesn't seem funny. Then you glance at the last category of the chart, stink quotient (Expected Purdue wins minus actual Purdue wins/games with this referee).
If you buy the accuracy of this chart, which calculates every Purdue Big Ten game since the 1995-96 season, Gene Keady and Co. had better hope that Phil Bova, Jody Sylvester, and Sid Rodehoeffer won't be working the season finale at Michigan State.
Another site in its infancy is a Big Ten basketball page called Kristof's and Adam's Page (angelfire.com/in/bigtenbball). One of the page's authors is Kristof Kendrick, son of Purdue basketball assistant coach Frank Kendrick.
A noteable link from this page is to The Big Eleven Online Magazine (www.bigeleven.com), whose best asset seems to be Big Ten related stories from college and Big Ten cities.
With the NASCAR Winston Cup season officially underway, a weekly, or even daily, stop at NASCAR Online (www.nascar.com) is a must for racing fans.
The NASCAR news of the day is just a fraction of the information on this site. Racing schedules, practice times, points standings and past results are all available here.
Photos galore of the drivers and cars are easily downloaded. A complete list of every Winston Cup, Busch Grand National and Craftsman Truck Series driver and team is available to answer even the toughest trivia question.
The Garage section isn't what you might think it would be. This is where the official rules and series car specifications can be found.
If the NASCAR information here isn't enough, the News section offers subscription information to three NASCAR-oriented magazines, how to obtain the official press guide and The Nascar Way, a book on the inner workings of NASCAR.
Hopefully it was just a glitch on the site but when I called up the Fans section, all I got was a blank page. Since NASCAR is known for its fan appreciation, expect any problems with this section to be cleared up soon.
