My dad ( a chemical eng grad) took me to my first game when I was 12.....been watching hoping ever since 55 years now...watching Mount play and Big Dog were great , but this group is my favorite, praying they find the final four . How about you ?
How many years have you been watching Purdue basketball and favorite team
- Thread starter Bleedinggoldandblack
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I've been watching for about 45 years. Hard to say a favorite. I really liked the Three Amigos and Big Dog's team. I loved the Baby Boilers' freshman year. I was a big fan of Vince and the crews senior year.
This is probably top 10...maybe top 5. Definitely enjoying the ride.
This is probably top 10...maybe top 5. Definitely enjoying the ride.
I started paying serious attention in the late 80s when I was in middle school. First game I clearly recall is the Sweet 16 loss to Kansas State in 1988. I didn't have cable as a kid, so the only games I saw were the Raycom broadcasts on WANE TV in Fort Wayne. The first game I attended was Michigan @ Mackey in '94, my senior year in hs. Purdue lost that game but won the B1G with Big Dog and made the Elie Eight. Favorite team is probably 1998, my senior year at Purdue, if only because that was the only time I've had season tickets. Chad Austin, Brad Miller, Jaraan Cornell, Mike Robinson, Brian Cardinal. Alan Eldridge was the point guard.
The Purdue women were really good in thst era, too, despite frequent coaching turnover. Won the national championship in '99 under Carolyn Peck. Linn Dunn actually lives about 20 minutes from me now in rural NW Tennessee.
The Purdue women were really good in thst era, too, despite frequent coaching turnover. Won the national championship in '99 under Carolyn Peck. Linn Dunn actually lives about 20 minutes from me now in rural NW Tennessee.
Since 1978. Was in school (freshman year) for the last final four appearance in 1980...who knew? Loved JBC, Scooby Scearce, Ice Edmondson, Mr. Beach Rowinski, Troy Lewis...my first and only bb jersey was #23, Chad Austin, Citizen Pain, Big Dog, Brad Miller, E'Twaun, Robbie, CBoogie, Caleb (RIP), and now Zach...lots of great and painful memories.
Have been following for 71 yrs. My grandfather was in the Class of 1911. Started following the team on radio (John DeCamp).
Mackey was built during my time, and was lucky to be there on opening nite. Big difference from the earlier days at Lambert
Mackey was built during my time, and was lucky to be there on opening nite. Big difference from the earlier days at Lambert
I match you. I was 10 in 1969 and remember those names and all the success they had. Be 65 in June, so if I can still do math I think that's 55.
I've been a Purdue fan for as long as I can remember. My dad grew up in Lafayette and graduated from Purdue. I remember my brother and me going up for a weekend to stay with my older brother and walking around campus. Fell in love with the university back then. I remember waiting for the Sunday paper to read up on all things Purdue. That would have been around 1976.
My brother lived next to Joe Barry Carroll (sp?) so by proxy I'd say that was my favorite team. But the truth is, I like each new team as they are all uniquely special in some way. I think the key is to make memories with loved ones to enjoy the time God gives you. And thank God daily for being a Boiler!
My brother lived next to Joe Barry Carroll (sp?) so by proxy I'd say that was my favorite team. But the truth is, I like each new team as they are all uniquely special in some way. I think the key is to make memories with loved ones to enjoy the time God gives you. And thank God daily for being a Boiler!
This one of our top teams in recent memory....up there with 3 amigos senior year, healthy baby boilers, and big dog.....think miller-Austin senior year, edwards/edwards haas, sophomore baby boilers, and cardinal senior year are slightly behind.....edey is dominant, Smith is painter's best pg now, loyer coming on, jones gives us an edge, Gillis/tkr = toughness, bench is a boost....just stay healthy and keep gelling and this will be our best Purdue team of all time....
Attended a few games from 69-74 because my sister was a student. I was a freshman fall of 75 and have been a big fan since then. Favorite team was probably 79.
Been watching since 1979 when I was 8. Most games were on WRTV Channel 4 (I think). If not they were on the radio. I kept a notebook and recorded the stats live as the game unfolded. The Farm Bureau pregame " attic" tuba commercial is a formative memory in my life. The 1980 - 1984 teams made me fall in love with basketball - those seniors won the conference in 1984. 1987-88 may be my all time favorite team, although the Painter teams of the past 5 years have been darn fun to watch.
Moved to Indiana to go to Purdue from Georgia in the mid-90s, so I started following them closely then. I knew Bobby Knight was the jerk who threw chairs, which meant I *already* was not a fan of IU when I arrived. Those Miller-Austin teams in the mid-late 1990s were fun. The Douglass-Figgs-White women's team was also fun.
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Use to see Joe Barry walk by my apartment all the time would say hello , lived by the Stabilizer.....it was tough making it to class if it was Friday.
I met JBC as a 7th grader in ‘78 on a school field trip. Mike McCroskey was my coach and he had connections to the team. Ever since that day, I have bled Gold and Black.
Loved watching games with my Dad back when I was a young pup. But my memory only goes back 50 years for me. Bruce Parkinson's team was the first of my memory. Think Frank was on that team too. NIT champs back when that meant something. Loved Stevens team, was heartbroken when that last play went south.
Dad still watches. At 89 he saw, & favorite team was Mount, Faerber, Keller, Gillum. And he saw
Shellhaus's (sp?)team. Sure he has watched many of the legends since the games started on TV. Was @ Purdue in the early fifties. Hope he gets to see a NC this year!!!
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I became a fan my freshman year at Purdue in 1996. Those teams will always be special to me, as are the Drew Brees / early Tiller football teams. I loved the baby boilers, Tre, and many more but I really appreciate the group out there this year. They are not only really good but the joy they project playing together is infectious to watch.
I still loved it when they'd pull out the old tuba commercial from time to time.
Games ON!!!!!!
I got a stress fracture in my foot walking to class on the un-shoveled ice fields of side walks (do they still not clear the sidewalks?) and would get taped in the mornings in the training room. Got to be there with JBC several times and always remember that. He didn't talk much but was a nice guy.
Was 79, my only year on campus and that team was crazy good. Our seats were 4 rows from the top and I would watch that roof sometimes, to see if it might be moving a bit, from the noise. Been watching since I was a kid in the late 80s. NCAA tournament loss to Kansas State in 1988 (?) is one of my earliest sports memories.
I can't remember the individual teams well enough from when I was younger, so my favorite teams are all more recent. In no particular order:
1) The 07-08 baby Boilers. Their run of 11 straight wins in conference after losing at MSU was just awesome and so unexpected. Loved the thrashing of Baylor in the first round of the tournament too after everyone was saying Baylor would run us off the floor.
2) 2009-2010 team before Hummel's injury. Great memories of that New Year's Day game against West Virginia in Mackey and Chris Kramer's game winning layup against Texas A&M.
3) The 2017-2018 team. It was such a cool starting lineup with the 4 seniors (such a diverse group with PJ, Dakota, Vince, and Haas) plus the added juice of Carsen Edwards. It wasn't an important game but I remember them beating Iowa by 20+ at Carver with the team shooting over 60% from three. Just checked, and we were leading 51-20 at half. Just one of those games it looked like no one could beat us.
This year's team is great too. Don't want to pick them yet just because of recency bias, but they have the same juggernaut feel that the 09-10 and 17-18 teams had. Here's hoping for a happier end to the season.
I can't remember the individual teams well enough from when I was younger, so my favorite teams are all more recent. In no particular order:
1) The 07-08 baby Boilers. Their run of 11 straight wins in conference after losing at MSU was just awesome and so unexpected. Loved the thrashing of Baylor in the first round of the tournament too after everyone was saying Baylor would run us off the floor.
2) 2009-2010 team before Hummel's injury. Great memories of that New Year's Day game against West Virginia in Mackey and Chris Kramer's game winning layup against Texas A&M.
3) The 2017-2018 team. It was such a cool starting lineup with the 4 seniors (such a diverse group with PJ, Dakota, Vince, and Haas) plus the added juice of Carsen Edwards. It wasn't an important game but I remember them beating Iowa by 20+ at Carver with the team shooting over 60% from three. Just checked, and we were leading 51-20 at half. Just one of those games it looked like no one could beat us.
This year's team is great too. Don't want to pick them yet just because of recency bias, but they have the same juggernaut feel that the 09-10 and 17-18 teams had. Here's hoping for a happier end to the season.
I grew up in Southern Indiana in the 70's and 80's... my parents had me in an IU tee shirt from birth. They didn't watch basketball or care, it was just popular, same with the Reds (which is still my MLB team and I love). However, one Saturday afternoon on Channel 4 I saw Gene Keady... maybe 1982-ish? I was like "who is this maniac?... HE IS GREAT!". lol
As a few more years go by and I am a strong math/science kid and it became more-and-more obvious that I was going to go into engineering and my HS councilor said there were only two options, Purdue or Rose-Hulman. I was the first person in my family to go to college and I knew NOTHING about schools, majors, specialties and all of that but it just all clicked. I was a Purdue guy! I worked in the athletic department as an intern 92-95 and I live for Purdue spots now. I am so invested. But, it was very organic how I became a fan.
As a few more years go by and I am a strong math/science kid and it became more-and-more obvious that I was going to go into engineering and my HS councilor said there were only two options, Purdue or Rose-Hulman. I was the first person in my family to go to college and I knew NOTHING about schools, majors, specialties and all of that but it just all clicked. I was a Purdue guy! I worked in the athletic department as an intern 92-95 and I live for Purdue spots now. I am so invested. But, it was very organic how I became a fan.
I have been all about Purdue since I was around 4 years old in 1980. My dad went there and I graduated in 98. Unfortunately university of iowa got to my son by him living in iowa for a year at age 5. They bought my wallet too with academic scholarships as this is his freshman year there. Fortunately his two younger brothers i am keeping firmly in a Purdue hold. We are going to the game today so for me, today is just a lot of fun.
been a fan since 74, my Frosh yr
I started listening on the radio when I was 8. I listened to a lot of games in secret under the covers when I was supposed to be sleeping.
I am 55 now and don't remember ever missing a game via radio or TV or stream, even when I was overseas for 9 years.
One of my favorite memories was 1990...Scheffler's senior year. I manged to barely scrape up enough money to buy a ticket. I didn't have a car or a pot to piss in, but I made it to a lot of games.
This particular game, I was hitch hiking from old highway 52 near Morris Bryant. An older dude picked me up, asked where I was going and I told him Mackey. He said "Me too, you can tell me how to get there."
We get there and he has a courtside pass. He was there to scout Steve Scheffler...his name was Bill Musselman. He got me into the arena for free and I sat with him behind the bench!
My most vivid memory from that game is Scheffler and another Boiler trapping a guy in the corner and Scheffler was screaming "Wooooooo, woooooo!" right in the ball handler's face. Turnover.
My favorite team? Every team, every year.
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Watching since '61-'62 - Dishinger, Garland, McGinley
Best team? 68-69 - Mount, Gilliam, Keller, Faerber
Best team? 68-69 - Mount, Gilliam, Keller, Faerber
My mom worked nights for Purdue as a custodian in Lambert and Mackey we started hanging out and rebounding for the players when I was about seven or eight. George King was my favorite he always had Red Pop and it seemed he was always there. My Mom retired in the early nineties she still draws a Purdue pension. Count me around 57-58 years.
1989 for me. Grandpa got me hooked. He loved the big guys. Certainly would be having a ball with the run of big men we've had lately.
Not sure I have a favorite team. Kind of really like them all.
Not sure I have a favorite team. Kind of really like them all.
1987-88 season, my freshman year. My first and probably favorite season, though have been a lot of other great ones through the years.
God bless the Stabilizer- Kool Ray and the Polaroidz made for an unforgettable experience 😎
My first game as a sophomore was in the field house , it’s last year , a fraternity brother was on that team . my favorite team is every Purdue team. Although I did get tickets to the first game in Mackey and that Mount, Keller and Herm Gilliam team does have a special place in my memory
My freshman year (1980) was Keady’s freshman year … loved how he was totally un-intimidated by the red-sweatered fatass down south….. that winter of ‘84 was glorious— when the Prince of Pecs, Ricky Hall, Steve Reid, Mark Atkinson, et. al caught fire and whipped the Illini to take the B1G title.
Purdue was absolutely hosed as conference champions that year, when they were shipped to play the Memphis State criminals on their home floor .
Otherwise , my favorite Purdue team was the Baby Boilers that year Hummel blew out his knee at the Barn …. There is no doubt in my mind that was EASILY a Final Four team!
Purdue was absolutely hosed as conference champions that year, when they were shipped to play the Memphis State criminals on their home floor .
Otherwise , my favorite Purdue team was the Baby Boilers that year Hummel blew out his knee at the Barn …. There is no doubt in my mind that was EASILY a Final Four team!
I've been a fan since 2003 so over 20 years.
My favorite team was the core 4's freshman year/RD and AJH junior year. That year thanks to RD, the team finally turned the corner from the horrific RJ two years. Painter probably gets fired if that team doesn't turn it around.
Painter owes a small percentage of every check to RD imo. Without him Purdue would not be what it is today.
My favorite team was the core 4's freshman year/RD and AJH junior year. That year thanks to RD, the team finally turned the corner from the horrific RJ two years. Painter probably gets fired if that team doesn't turn it around.
Painter owes a small percentage of every check to RD imo. Without him Purdue would not be what it is today.
Been a fan of Purdue basketball (and football) since 1961-1962. Kept a scrapbook of Journal & Courier articles. Eventually delivered the paper 1966-1969. Went to games in the old fieldhouse and was fortunate to attend the first game in Purdue Arena. Still have the program. Sat behind the basket where the UCLA guard hit the winning shot. Graduated high school with Joe Sexson’s son, Rick (RIP).
Under the covers , me too 🤣
I watched my first game in 1955. This is the best team we have ever had.
My father attended Purdue starting in 1929. He told me that he would play pick-up basketball games on Saturdays at the old Memorial Gym with John Wooden and other members of the Purdue basketball squad. As such, when I was a kid in the late '40's and early '50's, we would sit around the old Philco floor model radio and listen to the Purdue basketball games. (we didn't have a TV until the mid '50's.) My earliest recollections included the "bleacher collapse" game in the late '40's, games with Ernie Hall, Ted Dunn and Denny Blind, (who were Lafayette Jeff graduates), Bill Berberian ( later a long-time coach at West Lafayette HS), and then those players who played while I was in school at Purdue - including Terry Dischinger (who recently died in Oregon), Willie Merriwether (who was a team-mate of Oscar Robertson at Indianapolis Crispus Attucks), Joe Sexton, etc.
I've been a rabid Purdue fan ever since. Of course, Rick Mount, Glenn Robinson, Joe Barry Carrol, Brian Cardinal, Brad Miller, stand out, as well as the more recent stars.
I believe that Zack Edie and this year's team will go down as one of the most memorable teams of all.
I've been a rabid Purdue fan ever since. Of course, Rick Mount, Glenn Robinson, Joe Barry Carrol, Brian Cardinal, Brad Miller, stand out, as well as the more recent stars.
I believe that Zack Edie and this year's team will go down as one of the most memorable teams of all.
Same for me, as far as the first game that I clearly recall was the '88 loss to K State in the tournament.
Also, remember the women's '99 championship very clearly. I was in Owen Hall that semester(across the hallway from Rodney Smith). Lots of celebrating and a lot of furniture burnt in the middle of Stadium Ave that night.
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AJH made a pretty big transformation throughout his career as well. Never had a lot of motor especially in HS, but really made big gains at Purdue.
Probably 77 or 78 timeframe. I really did not have any early exposure to Purdue, until a couple years before my freshman year there in 79. But been hooked ever since. Now my kids and grandkids love Purdue almost as much as I do. Looking forward to taking my oldest Grandson to a Purdue basketball camp this summer. He doesn’t know it yet and I can’t wait to tell him. lol. My favorite Purdue team, is the one playing that year.
Great thread!
I've been a devotee of Purdue basketball since the early 1980s, and I have vague memories of the 1980 run (I was seven).
My parents graduated from Purdue. I was born and raised in Dearborn, Michigan, but our family is from West Point, Indiana. I attended Purdue basketball camp seven times and graduated from Purdue in 1995.
Of course we did not see much of the Boilers on television until the gradual expansion of coverage, though I would devour coverage on TV 18 and WTTV when we were visiting on breaks, etc. Metrosports and Raycom aired some Purdue games. For the 1987 IU game at Mackey, my parents let me call one of my aunts, who placed her phone by the television speaker so I could listen to the game.
There are so many beloved Boilermaker squads; 1984 was a magical year, the 1987 and 1988 teams were great -- though I was indeed present at the Silverdome for Kansas State. The teams with Glenn, Cuonzo, Waddell, etc. when I was a student were so much fun and 1994 was oh-so-close. This century has seen all kinds of success and there is more to come.
Yet I have always been fondest of the 1990 team, when Scheffler was conference MVP. I just loved the way that team played together, the mix of Tony Jones (a great student-athlete), Jimmy Oliver, Chuckie White, Ryan Berning, and a young Woody Austin was great. It was just a nice group that also included some benchwarmer named Matt Painter.
I've been a devotee of Purdue basketball since the early 1980s, and I have vague memories of the 1980 run (I was seven).
My parents graduated from Purdue. I was born and raised in Dearborn, Michigan, but our family is from West Point, Indiana. I attended Purdue basketball camp seven times and graduated from Purdue in 1995.
Of course we did not see much of the Boilers on television until the gradual expansion of coverage, though I would devour coverage on TV 18 and WTTV when we were visiting on breaks, etc. Metrosports and Raycom aired some Purdue games. For the 1987 IU game at Mackey, my parents let me call one of my aunts, who placed her phone by the television speaker so I could listen to the game.
There are so many beloved Boilermaker squads; 1984 was a magical year, the 1987 and 1988 teams were great -- though I was indeed present at the Silverdome for Kansas State. The teams with Glenn, Cuonzo, Waddell, etc. when I was a student were so much fun and 1994 was oh-so-close. This century has seen all kinds of success and there is more to come.
Yet I have always been fondest of the 1990 team, when Scheffler was conference MVP. I just loved the way that team played together, the mix of Tony Jones (a great student-athlete), Jimmy Oliver, Chuckie White, Ryan Berning, and a young Woody Austin was great. It was just a nice group that also included some benchwarmer named Matt Painter.
Became a Purdue fan in 1967 when I was an Explorer usher for the football team’s home games. After being able to attend every football home game that fall, I also began following basketball during the 1967-68 season although I was only luke warm on the Purdue basketball team at the time. I preferred football to basketball at the time. Didn’t attend any basketball games that season and only saw Purdue on tv maybe twice. That changed during my freshman year at Purdue 1968-69. Purdue began the season ranked #1 in football and ended the basketball season as NCAAT runners up. I became an avid Purdue basketball fan that season. The 1968-69 team basketball team is my favorite team.
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