General

Indiana University Not Sure Where Indiana Is

Aug 26, 2009, 9:01 PM UTC

You’ve probably heard of Indiana, the state. It’s not very interesting. Its state motto is “the Crossroads of America,” which basically translates to “we have highways” or “don’t worry, you can leave.” But you are vaguely aware of its existence and its location, which is somewhere around Chicago. The American educational system has seen to that. â†µ

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â†µâ†µExcept, apparently, in Indiana: â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥The November 20, 2010 game between Penn State and Indiana will switch locations from Indiana’s campus in Bloomington, Indiana to [The Stadium Formerly Known As Jack Kent Cooke] in Landover, Maryland. â†µâ†µâ†µPeople in Indiana think Indiana is in Maryland, which it is not. Indiana’s getting $3 million for the privilege of moving its home game 11 hours from its campus, four from Penn State’s, and two from Philadelphia, which I’m sure is just fine by PSU and the 80,000 fans who will be there for a “road” game. Indiana, if a bit confused, is also content with the arrangement since it will allow it to build something or other or pay Kelvin Sampson or something. â†µ

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â†µBut anyone who figures on contending for the Big Ten title in 2010 should be furious. The Crimson Quarry, an Indiana blog that's "disgusted" at this turn of events, highlights why: â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥We have played Penn State four times in the last six seasons. IU’s average margin of defeat in State College: 36 points. IU’s average margin of defeat in Bloomington: 4.5 points. In each of Penn State’s last two trips to Bloomington, IU had the ball in the final minute of the game with a chance to win. Now, we won’t be playing at home. â†µâ†µâ†µPenn State has sat around twiddling its thumbs and has been handed a fifth home game; Vegas says that’s worth a touchdown. Recent history says it’s worth considerably more. Is the Big Ten in the business of handing out free touchdowns? (Shut it, SEC fans. That’s just Ohio State.) â†µ

â†µâ†µThis sort of thing is virtually unprecedented. Northwestern moved a 1991 home game against Ohio State to Cleveland, but no other school has made a similar cash grab since; the only ones before that were in the college football paleolithic. (Wisconsin did move a home game against Michigan State in 1993, but to Tokyo, bizarrely. File that under stunt, not blatant cash-grab.) â†µ

â†µâ†µJim Delany’s probably hearing from a half-dozen irate athletic directors today. “Must be Wednesday,” he sighs. “Or any other weekday.” He should move swiftly to ban this sort of thing. â†µ

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This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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