Blogs I Read: Part 6 -- the final installment

Blog #6: Hoosiers Insider
I grew up with my dad being a huge Purdue fan, especially in basketball, the royal sport. Sadly, I didn't watch as much sports with him as I now wish I had, but they were certainly a part of our family life. So I was, by default, a Purdue fan as well.

Then I met this guy named Eric. Who LOVED IU (Indiana University, for you non-sports people out there -- and Purdue's biggest rival). I fell in love with said guy. I began to realize that Eric's love for IU and my disdain for it, especially that yucky Bob Knight guy, could really start to come between us if I weren't careful. So, I crossed enemy lines and joined their team, all in the name of peace.

And now I'm an IU fan.

There, I said it. It's out there in print.

Well, honestly, it's no surprise to anyone that knows me now. I don my IU wardrobe pretty much any time we view either a football or basketball game. I've allowed us to spend hundreds of dollars over the course of six years in Bloomington on season tickets to both sports. I schedule my TV watching time around IU sports events...even baseball this past week. I know the difference between nickel and dime defenses. I know what a spread offense is. I know that the same signal is used for a travel in basketball and a false start in football. I know players' names, jersey numbers, and even sometimes their hometown. I know some of their stories, and I have my list of favorites (A.J. Moye, you'll always be at the top). I've sat in the pouring rain, completely miserable, while stupid Ohio State fans chant their stupid O-H-I-O cheer all around me....in OUR stadium, mind you. I've teared up at several events, including one where our underdog football team (who are always the underdogs because we kind of suck) played my former favorite Purdue in the last game of the season and won it to get the chance to play in a bowl game for the first time in eons.

I'm an IU fan.

And one person who has helped me in all of this is Terry Hutchens of the Indy Star. My appreciation of him began before he had a blog, when I would read his reports of various games and IU situations online. He had an online newsletter, basically, called "Ask the Expert" where he would answer questions sent in by fans. When I was a new IU fan, this particular venue filled me in on all kinds of IU lore and history and kind of got me up to speed. Now, "Ask the Expert" has morphed into Hutchen's blog entitled "the Hoosier Insider," where he writes about things that don't get into his news stories. He also recently put up a fairly comprehensive IU basketball database, with stats dating all the way back to 1901, which is available to the general public in an easy format. In short, he's one of the best places to brush up on one's IU knowledge. You may just find yourself becoming a fan.