Pure Speculation...

There are many things to theorize, speculate, or claim to know about here in Bloomington right now. IU's athletic administration has run off to Seattle to hear the NCAA's opinion of Kelvin Sampson's shenanigans, the basketball team is trying its damnedest to get recruits so they're not terrible in the coming season, and football season is nearly upon us.

However, the most important thing to me is why...WHY on Earth the field at Memorial Stadium performed so horribly during last week's rainstorms (striking photography seen in the last post). For some background, there were a total of four rather major thunderstorms over a two-day period last week. The first three were standard, summer-in-the-Midwest thunderstorms with lots of wind and noise and the occasional tornado siren. The fourth, however, was a pure rain-maker; it dumped tons of rain upon Bloomington, overwhelming city's drainage system an causing nasty flooding on IU's campus and in downtown Bloomington. As stated below, the rain also had a nasty effect on the turf at Memorial Stadium.

Now, at first I was thinking, "There were four storms over two days, and the sheer volume of rain just washed away the soil underneath the turf." Then I happened to be watching a replay of IU's victory over Purdue on November 17, 2007, and it dawned on me: the final play at the south end of the stadium caused the problem.

See, Austin Starr is certain to go into Hoosier legend as one of the best men to ever kick a football through the uprights. Some people, though, don't realize just how good he is. Look at the photo in the previous post, then find a video of Austin Starr's winning field goal in the Bucket game. Notice anything?

AUSTIN STARR'S FIELD GOAL WAS SO EPIC, IT BROKE THE FOOTBALL FIELD!

Yes, the sheer force of that amazing kick striking the turf just past the crossbar in the south endzone must have rearranged the dirt underneath the turf in such a way that, when weather of any consequence struck the stadium, the whole thing fell apart. There you have it.

One might say, "This is terrible! Something must be done!" While it may be an annoyance, though, I'll let Austin Starr break football fields all he wants, as long as the Hoosiers keep winning.