Hardy is a 6'7” specimen with long arms, incredible leaping ability, and surprising agility for a big man. Despite his physical prowess, this talented wide receiver hasn't received a shred of national recognition over the past few years.
He may not have the name recognition of DeSean Jackson or Early Doucet, but he's definitely put up the stats.
With 10+ touchdown receptions in each of his first three seasons in Bloomington, I think it's safe to say that James Hardy is a man to be reckoned with.
Saturday morning we set off for Ryan Field about an hour before the game. The tailgating outside of the stadium exceeded my expectations. The weather in Chicago was a little warmer than the norm for November, so people were out drinking, eating hot dogs, and having a good time.
Ryan Field is a great venue for a medium-sized school; it holds about 50,000 people in a horseshoe-shaped stadium. As we entered, I admired the beauty of the venue, which included some well-manicured flowers and shrubbery behind one end zone, as well as a bowl-shaped field.
(What can I say? I'm a fan of that which is aesthetically pleasing.)
The only problem with the stadium was the lack of fans. While the seats behind both sidelines were mostly filled, there were little or no people in the north end zone.
I thought that maybe they were just tailgating outside of the stadium and would be late arrivals. But those late arrivals never came.
I'd say the ratio of Northwestern to Indiana fans was about 70-30. But the Hoosiers made a lot of noise and so did their band. More specifically, the Indiana band played like a well-oiled machine.
They were all the way across the field from the Northwestern student section, but made more noise than the Wildcats’ band situated right next to us. They also played these imperial domination songs that made James Hardy look like the most intimidating person in the world, if he didn't already.
I suggested to one of my friends that one of the easiest ways to get a scholarship to a university would be to play for the band. I'm not saying that every instrument is easy, but Northwestern had two band conductors for one song.
The girl was just dancing to the music and the guy was looking away from the band and watching the game as he carelessly moved his hands back and forth to the music. I bet if I'd just trained to be a cymbal player, I'd be getting a free ride to my school of choice.
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