Snowboarder

I am not much of a snowboarder, but there is something about the fine powdery hills of Breckenridge that truly draws me west. I am heading there later this summer for some much needed mountain air and relaxation. If I need some snowboard goggles cheap or an outdoor heavy bag for some mountain camping I certainly know where I can go, especially if I need them at the last minute.

As a former boy scout I am quite the avid camper. I want nothing but the best camping gear and some rawlings trapeze gloves are fantastic for almost any activity. You don't necessarily need them for snowboarding. they give you dexterity and warmth, which are hte two most important factors needed in gloves. Finally, if you plan on doing some horseback riding you might need wide calf english riding boots.

Poker

There are dozens of things that I hate about Indiana fans, but here are a few of them:

• Grown adults wear the candy-striped pants. Seriously. These people probably play online poker.
  
• I saw a grown man of 60 in an IU gray sweatsuit (yes, sweatsuit and pants) complete with gut hanging out as if he had not worked out to break a sweat since Branch McCracken was coaching.
  
• Every foul called on Indiana is the greatest tragedy in the history of sports.
  
• They should learn how to play poker, because that might be a real job for them
  
• The best student section yesterday was Michigan's, who was active throughout. The worst was Indiana's, who acted like it was beneath them to cheer against lowly Penn State. It is like they were cheering for online poker tournaments.

Welcoming a new kitty cat into our home

Guest post written by Beth Masters

We've had a cat for a few years and I've always thought that he could really use some extra feline company. There aren't really any cats in the neighborhood and the dogs all pal around together. He really needs another cat around the place. So, I decided to look into adopting another cat for him to pal around with.

But I'm not just running out to any random shelter and adopting the first cat that I see. I'm really doing my research for it. I've also been trying to figure out how a second cat will fit into my budget. I really want to be debt free and was concerned about how getting another pet would hinder my journey to no debt.

But I determined that it's within my budget and it will keep me on my financial track. Now I'm just worried about cat naming, but I guess that the cat will speak to me in a way and let me know what its name should be!

Sheep

When I was at Purdue one of my favorite things was the cow-print covers I had on the seats in my leBaron convertible. it added character to a car that was falling apart by the time I graduated. I loved that car. everything about it was great and I have many fond memories of dropping the top on summer nights and enjoying the Indiana weather.

Sure, I didn't need luxury car seat covers for my car, but some sheepskin seat covers would have been nice had my cow print ones died. Fortunately, they did not. I could have even gotten some high quality sheepskin rugs for the floor mats as well. Ah well, it is a missed opportunity that I regret since I didn't get better quality products.

Northwestern

The common phrases on this site the last 24 hours have been NIT bound, bad officiating, talent levels and heart. Quite frankly I am disappointed in anyone who calls themselves a fan and is saying that the season is over. I checked this morning and I still saw 8 games left plus the B1G tourney. This season is FAR from over. Like someone trying to find a wetsuit, you have to try several wetsuits before you find the right one. That is our lineups right now.

I was in the paint crew until that buzzer sounded, imploring our guys to fight and not give up. The people who left sicken me, I also heard people cheering about Watford getting hurt and hoping he tore is ACL. For those people I have no respect, none. Am I angry that we lost, HELL YES I AM, but I am never going to cheer for someone getting hurt even if it is IU.

Yes, this loss hurts, but its not the end of our season. Maybe that is just me but until every second of every game this season, I will be screaming my ass off, Yelling MOVE! right along with CMP. Cheering for the hustle and scrappyness we show. I don't want to see anymore posts about how frustrating this is or about any other issues. I love this team and will never give up hope! There is still plenty of time to make the big dance. Now more than ever does this team need us and we need to show them we support them 110%. This is God's country! this is Purdue University! I am a Boilermaker and together we attack! Hail Purdue!

recruiting

It was a very quiet day overall for Purdue football when it came to national signing day. We were involved in no hat dances, no ESPNU press conference, or no raids from a state to the north at the last minute. That's the way I like it. To me, if you're enough of a prima donna that you need ESPN at your press conference showing you signing a letter you're not going to amount to much because you're already used to being coddled. with them, you can find a Nike Coupon.

We don't do it that way at Purdue, and we never have. Give me an actual quarterback that wants to prove himself for every Jimmy Powlus out there.

According to Rivals.com we have the No. 34 class in the nation, which is good enough for fourth in the Big Ten between Ohio State, Michigan, and Nebraska. This is skewed somewhat by sheer numbers, as a small class of 12 at Wisconsin is theoretically behind our large class of 24. Still, this is great improvement over being 12^th in the Big Ten last year (when we got dinged with the smaller class), 8^th in 2010, 12^th in 2009, and 10^th in 2008. these numbers do factor in Nebraska as a full Big Ten member.

As much as people rip on coach Hope, and some of it is warranted, it is hard to compete in a conference like the Big Ten when we're not even at the middle of recruiting. Yes, that point may sound like a contradiction to my hatred of the ESPNU prima donnas, but recruiting is really a balance of finding solid talent that still wants to prove itself.

At least on paper, this class looks like it has that talent. Every single player on the returning roster (except for Robert Marve) comes from a class that was not rated highly at all. It can be argued that it is a stretch that they are even competing at the same level of some of these higher talented squads. As we see every time Ohio State ventures to West Lafayette, however, talent can be a huge boost, but it doesn't automatically mean wins.

This class was solidly Purdue throughout the day. The only loss of a verbal was Dion Witty, who was a possible academic casualty and ended up at Memphis (motto: Spectare Calipari Meyer Saban Pitino Tibi Subveniet = We'll have someone take the SAT for you, courtesy of Boiled Sports). Witty was a 5'11" 175 pound defensive back. His loss was at a position where we have a lot of depth, so it is not a grave loss.

Instead, we replaced him with a surprise commitment of Joey Warburg, who was an Illinois verbal and had visited Arkansas, but literally came out of nowhere to sign with Purdue. Warburg is a 6'5" 255 pound road grader of an offensive lineman from Louisville Trinity High. Since long-snaper Jesse Schmitt hails from that school he gets the assist for landing Warburg.

Bet

With College Football just around the corner some people might be interesting looking for new places to place some strategic wagers. Once again, I am not a betting man myself, but I can see the intrigue and excitement it would add to the proceedings. Sports Betting can be a great way to earn some quick money if you know what you're doing.

So I am back just in time to see our Boilers go on the road to complete the home-and-home where our end was satisfied in 1998. To make me feel ancient, the Rice game at home was the first start in Ross-Ade for Drew Brees and my first home game as a freshman. The Owls will now host us in a game that doesn't look as easy as it once was, especially given the struggles of last week. The optimist in me is encouraged by the way we came from behind last week twice in the fourth quarter. The pessimist reminds me it was against a Sun Belt team at home, where a bet should be a sure thing.

Going to the Lake

Thanks for the post, Vernon Lowe

The kids and I love to spend the summers at our lake house. It’s so nice to get away and just forget about all the stresses of life. My parents used to take me to the lake when I was a kid, and I am so glad I am able to do the same for my kids. A lot of the families in our neighborhood go out to the lake too, so the kids have a lot of playmates, and I have a lot of friends there. A few summers ago there was a string of burglaries in our neighborhood over the summer when we were all gone at the lake. Luckily, our house didn’t get hit. After those robberies happened we didn’t want to take any risks. I searched Security Systems Michigan to see what alarm system would be the best for us and got one installed right away. I wasn’t going to let something like that ruin the summer for my kids and I. the world isn’t perfect, so we need to be able to adjust to the changes.