High Noon at the OaKen Corral

This is the tale of two gunslingers. Each man represents his respective home in the state of Indiana; each man has a dying deed for the other. Though they have faced off before, they have never done so under these circumstances. Boiler, the man from West Lafayette, has lassoed a long-lost friend of Hoosier, Boiler's adversary to the South. He has taken Hoosier's friend captive. That friend is Bowl Berth -- but his friends just call him Bowl. Right now Bowl is in a Bucket. \nThus, in the name of football -- in the state of Indiana -- and in the final stages of fall, these two foes face one final hurdle: each other. Saturday, in Boiler's backyard, the two gunslingers of Indiana will meet at High Noon outside the Tippecanoe County Courthouse. The two gunslingers will fight for honor with their hearts. They will fight for glory with their guns. They will fight for their lives. They will fight...for a Bucket? \nThey will not fight at the O.K. Corral; instead, the High Noon heat will hit the streets at the OaKen Corral. Since 1925, the Old Oaken Bucket has been the prize possessed by the winner of the IU-Purdue game. This is a bucket that is so old...(How old is it?)...that it has the word "Old" in its name (cue the drum-beat). Come Saturday, our friend Bowl is in that Bucket, and the only way to Bowl is to blow away Boiler. \nThe stage is set Saturday for football. Its conclusion rests in the players' response to one question: Do you want it bad enough? \n"I didn't sleep at all last night," senior offensive lineman Justin Frye said Tuesday. "I've played football since the third grade, and I have always been a football player. This is it." \nThis is it, Justin. This is the re-birth of a rivalry. This is High Noon at the OaKen Corral, and you've got four feats to finish before you get the hell out of Dodge. \nBeat Boiler, win a bowl berth, bring the bucket. Oh, and get the girl.