In this business, we typically only see bits and pieces of the people we cover.
So when we say so-and-so is a "good kid" or something like that, we're generally extrapolating off the very minute context we actually have to draw from. We don't really know.
But this, I know: Ricardo Allen is a great kid.
There was this moment last year after one of Purdue's several disheartening losses where the Boilermaker defensive back was walking up the dungeon tunnel that connects the basement of Mackey Arena - where football holds its post-game press conferences - to the light of day. He came up alongside a reporter, who thanked him for his time during the post-game press conference. It was more of a "thanks for not blowing us off" thank you than a "thanks for coming" thank-you, if that makes sense, because it was one of those seasons, where the monotony of losing was wearing on people.
Allen replied, "You guys show up for us every day, the least we can do is show up for you."
Fast forward to almost a year later, today, and Allen's done everything he can to get Purdue a win in his final game in Ross-Ade Stadium, forcing two turnovers that should have produced two scores in a game the Boilermakers lost by less a touchdown.
There he is in the post-game media gathering answering questions about all the same damn stuff that's made up this hopeless season of transition for Purdue, his senior year just being collateral damage.
One of the most motivated and determined athletes I've ever covered in roughly a decade-and-a-half around Purdue sat there and talked about it "being a privilege to be a Boilermaker" and his desire throughout his career to help "the young ones," i.e. freshmen, and then stood up when it was all over and thanked everyone in the room for the past four years when he could have just skulked out of the room following the indignity that took place Saturday, and has taken place all season, really.
Again, just snapshots, but when taken into account along with all sorts of other anecdotal evidence about Allen's work ethic and team-oriented approach, paints the picture of someone who deserved much better than he got when it all was said and done.
In all likelihood that will be a 1-11 season a year after Allen and his classmates endured the painful season that got their former coach fired.
It was Danny Hope that went into Daytona four years ago and leveraged his shared history, his own modest upbringing, under similar circumstances to those many of the athletes college football recruits grow up under, to build a bond, to build trust with Allen and a few of his high school teammates, none of which made it this far. It was the reason Allen came north when he could have gone to Florida State or wherever else. Seriously.
One of Hope's great strengths was his ability to strike that bond, build that trust and earn peoples' loyalty. It was what he was great at.
So for this senior class, that connection was strong, a break that has not been clean, in hindsight, no matter how rosy all the springtime talk of everyone "buying in" was.
Allen did buy in, giving his all until what will be a bitter end, Saturday being one of its most disheartening lows.
Purdue could have won Saturday. It had a hundred chances. I don't want to say Purdue should have won just because of how much Illinois had to screw up to make the game what it was, but any number of scenarios play out differently and Purdue's losing streak is snapped and Tim Beckman is literally on fire right now.
Opportunities came and opportunities went, the consummate Charlie Brown-kicking-the-football sort of game. Purdue was set up time and again, only for something to go terribly wrong, often dropped passes, sometimes penalties, whatever.
Purdue's defense played well after Illinois' first two touchdowns. Illinois is a bad team, but has a good offense at least, so stopping the Illini and holding them to just 20 points is an accomplishment.
Four turnovers should have produced enough points to win at the end of the day. The offense generated none.
Purdue got tricky, almost recklessly tricky, with an ill-fated fake field goal and a questionable trick play on the biggest third down of the game, putting a freshman wide receiver on the field to make the most important pass of the day to that point.
Questionable stuff, but given the alternatives - in one case, kicking a field goal when you'd hooked one just before halftime; the other, dropping back to throw up-field on third-and-eight when receivers had been dropping balls and Illini blitzers dropping the quarterback - it's hard to definitively say,
"This would have been better."
In a perfect world, guys like Allen would leave with better, with something more to show for their efforts in their final home game, something more than a narrow loss to a bad team in front of a pathetic crowd played in frigid temperatures and horizontal snow.
Didn't happen.
So after next week, when Purdue plays at Indiana in its last chance to beat an FBS team this season, Allen and his fellow seniors will leave with the dubious distinction of being part of a team that by just about any measure will go down as the worst in school history.
That fact is about as cold as temperatures were, but reality nonetheless.
One can only hope for better in the future.
Nothing's promised, but one thing's for sure: There's at least one player who played his last game in West Lafayette today who's really going to be missed.
Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2013. All Rights Reserved. Reproducing or using editorial or graphical content, in whole or in part, without permission, is strictly prohibited. E-mail GoldandBlack.com/Boilers, Inc.
So when we say so-and-so is a "good kid" or something like that, we're generally extrapolating off the very minute context we actually have to draw from. We don't really know.
But this, I know: Ricardo Allen is a great kid.
There was this moment last year after one of Purdue's several disheartening losses where the Boilermaker defensive back was walking up the dungeon tunnel that connects the basement of Mackey Arena - where football holds its post-game press conferences - to the light of day. He came up alongside a reporter, who thanked him for his time during the post-game press conference. It was more of a "thanks for not blowing us off" thank you than a "thanks for coming" thank-you, if that makes sense, because it was one of those seasons, where the monotony of losing was wearing on people.
Allen replied, "You guys show up for us every day, the least we can do is show up for you."
Fast forward to almost a year later, today, and Allen's done everything he can to get Purdue a win in his final game in Ross-Ade Stadium, forcing two turnovers that should have produced two scores in a game the Boilermakers lost by less a touchdown.
There he is in the post-game media gathering answering questions about all the same damn stuff that's made up this hopeless season of transition for Purdue, his senior year just being collateral damage.
One of the most motivated and determined athletes I've ever covered in roughly a decade-and-a-half around Purdue sat there and talked about it "being a privilege to be a Boilermaker" and his desire throughout his career to help "the young ones," i.e. freshmen, and then stood up when it was all over and thanked everyone in the room for the past four years when he could have just skulked out of the room following the indignity that took place Saturday, and has taken place all season, really.
Again, just snapshots, but when taken into account along with all sorts of other anecdotal evidence about Allen's work ethic and team-oriented approach, paints the picture of someone who deserved much better than he got when it all was said and done.
In all likelihood that will be a 1-11 season a year after Allen and his classmates endured the painful season that got their former coach fired.
It was Danny Hope that went into Daytona four years ago and leveraged his shared history, his own modest upbringing, under similar circumstances to those many of the athletes college football recruits grow up under, to build a bond, to build trust with Allen and a few of his high school teammates, none of which made it this far. It was the reason Allen came north when he could have gone to Florida State or wherever else. Seriously.
One of Hope's great strengths was his ability to strike that bond, build that trust and earn peoples' loyalty. It was what he was great at.
So for this senior class, that connection was strong, a break that has not been clean, in hindsight, no matter how rosy all the springtime talk of everyone "buying in" was.
Allen did buy in, giving his all until what will be a bitter end, Saturday being one of its most disheartening lows.
Purdue could have won Saturday. It had a hundred chances. I don't want to say Purdue should have won just because of how much Illinois had to screw up to make the game what it was, but any number of scenarios play out differently and Purdue's losing streak is snapped and Tim Beckman is literally on fire right now.
Opportunities came and opportunities went, the consummate Charlie Brown-kicking-the-football sort of game. Purdue was set up time and again, only for something to go terribly wrong, often dropped passes, sometimes penalties, whatever.
Purdue's defense played well after Illinois' first two touchdowns. Illinois is a bad team, but has a good offense at least, so stopping the Illini and holding them to just 20 points is an accomplishment.
Four turnovers should have produced enough points to win at the end of the day. The offense generated none.
Purdue got tricky, almost recklessly tricky, with an ill-fated fake field goal and a questionable trick play on the biggest third down of the game, putting a freshman wide receiver on the field to make the most important pass of the day to that point.
Questionable stuff, but given the alternatives - in one case, kicking a field goal when you'd hooked one just before halftime; the other, dropping back to throw up-field on third-and-eight when receivers had been dropping balls and Illini blitzers dropping the quarterback - it's hard to definitively say,
"This would have been better."
In a perfect world, guys like Allen would leave with better, with something more to show for their efforts in their final home game, something more than a narrow loss to a bad team in front of a pathetic crowd played in frigid temperatures and horizontal snow.
Didn't happen.
So after next week, when Purdue plays at Indiana in its last chance to beat an FBS team this season, Allen and his fellow seniors will leave with the dubious distinction of being part of a team that by just about any measure will go down as the worst in school history.
That fact is about as cold as temperatures were, but reality nonetheless.
One can only hope for better in the future.
Nothing's promised, but one thing's for sure: There's at least one player who played his last game in West Lafayette today who's really going to be missed.
Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2013. All Rights Reserved. Reproducing or using editorial or graphical content, in whole or in part, without permission, is strictly prohibited. E-mail GoldandBlack.com/Boilers, Inc.
