Big Ten Football: Remembering Terry Hoeppner, 5 Years Later

Rise and shine, friends. Here's what's going down in the Big Ten today.

—Today marks the five-year anniversary of one of the saddest days in recent Big Ten history, as Terry Hoeppner succumbed to brain cancer on June 19, 2007. The report from the Herald Times that day is here. The Hoosier program is still trying to recover from the loss, but when a man—and a husband and a father—is taken away so swiftly, recovery can be elusive. He was 59.

—The Orlando Sentinel notes that the Champs Sports Bowl, currently a Big Ten bowl tie-in, has become the Russell Athletic Bowl. To celebrate, RussellAthletic.com has announced a 30 percent site-wide discount for the day, so in case you feel like buying something ugly that you don't want, now you only have to pay 70 cents on the dollar for it.

—In an interview with Eleven Warriors, Gene Smith takes a few swings at the viability of neutral-site playoff games, saying the possibility of a Big Ten championship in Indianapolis, a semifinal in Arizona and a championship game in Atlanta would likely be cost-prohibitive for fans.

We agree, but now Jim Delany will hit Smith with a taser until he genuflects before the Altar of Pasadena like a good Big Ten member.

—Ohio State revealed Urban Meyer's contract details yesterday, six months after his hiring, but according to the Columbus Dispatch, there's one last hangup: Technically, his contract still needs to be approved by the board of trustees.

That's likely to happen today, as there's nothing objectionable in the contract, and if the board nixed the deal, Columbus would burn.

—It's not sports-related, but this being a comment-driven website, this set of axioms about communication gathered by Civil War general Stonewall Jackson (via Futility Closet) is worth reading all the same—and adhering to. Rules 12 through 14 are particularly appropriate here. Do you hear me, commenters?