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PRESENTS FOOtball: news and notes Link t purdu o 2012e's seaso statsn Welcome To 'The Furnace' BY GOLD AND BLACK STAFF it catches on with fans, Ross-Ade IfStadium mightHorseshoe at Ohio have a nickname. Akin to The State or The Swamp at the University of Florida, Ross-Ade has been dubbed "The Furnace" by firstyear coach Darrell Hazell. It was spurred by a visit Hazell made to Bob Bowen in Florida when con- Purdue 2013 Spring Practice Schedule March 19 - 3:30 p.m. March 21 - 3:30 p.m. March 22 - 3:30 p.m. March 25 - 3:30 p.m. March 26 - 3:30 p.m. March 28 - 3:30 p.m. March 29 - 3:30 p.m. April 1 - 3:30 p.m. April 3 - CLOSED April 5 - CLOSED April 6 – TBA April 8 - 3:30 p.m. April 9 - 3:30 p.m. April 12 - 3:30 p.m. April 13 - Spring game, 1 p.m. versation turned to stadiums and their nicknames. Hazell thought it'd be a neat idea for Ross-Ade Stadium to have one, and after some thought, Purdue graduate and long-time supporter Bowen coined, "The Blast Furnace." "I walked away and said, 'That's kind of catchy,' " Hazell said. "But I just kind of trimmed it to 'The Furnace.' I think it's a great name. You can go a lot of places with that. It's 'Beware, extreme temperatures.' " Purdue's student section, Brian Neubert the Ross-Ade Brigade, has enCoach Darrell Hazell starts his first spring practice dorsed the nickname, and with the Boilermakers on Tuesday. linebackers coach Marcus Freeman, an active tweeter, has hoping for a good turnout when been promoting it as well. "Spring game is only 6 weeks spring practices open on Tuesday. For the first time since midaway," he tweeted in early March. way through the spring session of "We need you to help heat up THE FURNACE (Ross-Ade Stadium) on 2005, practices will be open to the public. All but two of the 15 spring April 13! #Purdue #BoilerUp." practices will be open, an uncomPractices Open to fans mon approach in these days of colHazell admits that he doesn't lege football. "A lot of times, a lot of us colknow how many will show, but he's lege coaches are paranoid," he said. "(Coaches are) worried about giving (things) away and how to run power, which every team in the country runs power the same way. Or how to throw a three-step route, a slant route. Everybody's doing it the same way. We call it a little bit differently." But Hazell, who also had open practices at Kent State, wants the fans to be able to see the Boilermakers in action. How many will come out — the first practice is at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, either inside Mollenkopf Athletic Facility or at the fields to its north — remains to be seen. But it could be, Hazell thinks, anywhere from 10 to 100. He's even invited fraternities to visit. Holding open practices could help his players, too. Ashley Courtney—Lafayette, Ind. Senior, Public Relations and Rhetorical Advocacy Ashley is one of nine members of the softball team to earn academic All-Big Ten honors on the Spring 2012 semester. In all, 48 Boilermaker spring 2012 athletes earned this distinction. GoldanDBlack express • volume 23, express 26 • 25