Purdue: what's not to love?

It must be Valentine's Day. How do I know this? Maybe it's because of the love and scent of fine champagnia that permeate the air of my swingin' bachelor pad. Or perhaps that is the smell of dirty laundry and stale beer.\nAlas, hate is also in the air. A Valentine's Day match-up between IU and Purdue will hardly have lots of cuddling to offer. Fisticuffs, on the other hand, are a distinct possibility.\nNo, there couldn't be a better day to see two bitter rivals facing off in a game that is pretty much a necessity for both. As a matter of fact, I'm in love with the idea.\nPurdue is hoping to rebound from a 40-39 home loss to Northwestern on Wednesday. Yeah, that's right, 39 points. That might have been considered a barnburner in Gene Keady's playing days, but I have a feeling that he had a word or two for his team coming into this game.\nThere's no doubt those of the black-and-gold persuasion put all of their hopes and dreams into beating IU. The back of the Purdue media guide features a picture of last year's game at Mackey Arena. Donald Perry is shooting a free throw. The scoreboard reads "Home 49, Visitors 33." And that's the only reason that they put the picture on the cover. It isn't a great photograph, just a little thing to shove in IU's face.\nI love it when teams try to be all sneaky like that to one-up their opponents.\nYou know what else I love? A.J. Moye (in the manliest sense possible, of course).\nIU goes to Penn State, and the guy Moye has to guard is none other than Jan Jagla. I know what you're thinking -- how tough could it be to guard a dude named Jan? \nWell, about as tough as anything you've ever done when Jan is Penn State's leading scorer and stands nine inches taller than you. Oh, and he almost single-handedly beat your team the last time that you played in his building. \nSo what does Moye do? He holds Jagla to six points. Jagla made only two of his 12 shots. For his efforts, Moye got some elbows to the head (when you are nine inches shorter, your head finds elbows much easier), knocked down and on one occasion, a kick to the head. And each time, he played on. You can look all over the country this Valentine's Day, but you won't find anyone playing with half as much heart as Moye does.\nI don't know whether to love or hate the fact that the Big Ten is more open this year than it has ever been. Every night, teams are going on the road and stealing victories in front of crowds unaccustomed to defeat. No game is a sure thing. It's not even worth predicting what will happen at this point.\nThe downside will come in the NCAA Tournament. It's unclear how many Big Ten teams will be there or how far they will go. People will always accuse the Big Ten of being "weak," but they are always proven wrong. Will they finally be proven right this year?\nOne thing that I know I hate is the McDonald's "I'm lovin' it" ad campaign. (How's that for a smooth transition into a completely unexpected subject?) To be specific, I'm talking about that commercial where the guys play basketball on rollerblades. \nWho thinks of this stuff? Has anyone ever actually done that in real life? I might be saying this because I'm clumsy, but I think that you are almost guaranteed to break something if you were to try that -- not to mention the fact that you'd look like a complete dorkwad. But back to what I'm supposed to be writing about.\nLike every good IU student, I have a disdain for Purdue. But the one thing that bothers me the most about that institution is Gene Keady's hairdo. \nAt this point in time, Rogaine technology is advanced enough that he could cover his bald spot in a natural-looking fashion. Even that spray-on hair in a can looks better. But he chooses to stick with the combover.\nI suppose it is just a part of his whole being at this point. I could see some recruit's mom saying, "That coach from Purdue called today, I forget his name … You know, the gentleman with the really bad combover."\nOkay, I admit it … I love that hair. What else would I write about?