The Hoosiers were up 10-0 over the Ball State Cardinals in the first half. Security worker Tom Bush wasn’t satisfied.
“I need to do some pushups,” he says to himself from his spot in the north end zone of Memorial Stadium. “This is ridiculous.”
With less than four minutes left in the half, sophomore wide receiver Luke Timian scored on a pass from junior quarterback Richard Lagow and got the score up to 17-0.
Bush, 62, claps along with the Marching Hundred’s “Indiana, Our Indiana” as he walks to his usual spot — just behind the end zone and right next to the Red Steppers.
He rolls his wrists, inviting the crowd to watch him.
He gets down on the turf and takes off.
One, two, three …
The Red Steppers make a chopping motion with their arms, pointing at Bush with each pushup.
… Four, five, six …
The students join in, counting him down.
… 15, 16, 17.
Bush stands back up, makes the I-U with his arms and walks back to his spot outside the weight room. He wipes his hands.
“That’s better.”
***
Bush has matched each Hoosier point with a pushup since 2005.
It started when he was an usher by the handicap section of Memorial Stadium. The cheerleaders would do pushups when IU scored, but the student section didn’t seem to care.
It reminded him of a Michigan game he attended in Ann Arbor, where the cheerleaders did pushups and the entire stadium counted them off.
So he told the IU cheerleaders that if the Hoosiers scored again, he’d join them.
IU scored. He did pushups. The student section went wild.
In the 136 games since the Minnesota game in 2005, he’s accumulated 12,291 pushups. He says he’s done the proper number of pushups for every game, except after his knee replacement in 2013, where he only did 330 of his pushups against Indiana State and his son, Scott, took the remaining 112 in the Hoosiers’ 73-35 victory.
There’s no one particular reason he does what he does.
Part of the reason is that it keeps him in shape. Part of it is that he loves doing it every Saturday. Part of him wants to see all of Memorial Stadium cheering.
“Need to get the whole stadium counting ‘em off,” he says.
His goal is not to have the stadium cheering for him, though, but to hype up the whole team.
“I’m one of these optimistic fans,” Bush said. “Through the years I’ve seen all these different football coaches, each one you get the high hopes for. … You get let down, but I’m still hangin’ in there.”
***
Bush wakes up each morning at 5:30 a.m. to go to work at the Monroe County Clerk’s office.
His morning routine, during an IU football season, includes 150 pushups. That number jumps to 220 during the offseason when he doesn't have his Hoosiers tacking on an average of 90 each Saturday.
And it’s not just a Memorial Stadium affair — he also does pushups in his home for away games. In October, he went so far as to do them at his nephew’s wedding during the Maryland game.
But Wednesday, his pushups will come from Assembly Hall.
In addition to his duties working security for football games, he also works in Assembly Hall for basketball, escorting the visiting team to and from the court.
Bush has a positive outlook for Wednesday night’s matchup with No. 19 Utah.
“I think we’re gonna win,” Bush said. “It’s gonna be interesting. I think the defense is gonna be fine, it’ll be interesting to see how the offense is gonna be.”
In what will be IU Coach Tom Allen’s debut as head coach of IU football, Bush says the outcome of this game won’t entirely seal his fate as the Hoosiers’ leader.
“They could go out and lose this game and he could have a fantastic career, or they could go out and win and it could not go well,” Bush said. “I think the players are pumped and ready to go with experience from last year. Hopefully this’ll be a start to a great career”
