PURDUE MEMORIES NOT SWEET.Byline: STEVE DILBECK PASADENA - Wait 34 years for something, and you deserve a little more. Not just handed the bouquet, but petals thrown at your feet. Purdue was given roses, and then not allowed to enjoy the scent. It's not as if Purdue comes to the Rose Bowl every year. For the Boilermakers, this is an event. A once-in-a-lifetime happening. The entire country actually paying close attention to Purdue football. Very strange stuff. Most people couldn't begin to tell you where Purdue is. Give `em Indiana, and it's not much of a hint. The only Boilermaker boil·er·mak·er n. 1. One that makes or repairs boilers. 2. Slang A drink of whiskey with a beer chaser. boilermaker Noun a person who works with metal in heavy industry they've ever known is a whiskey with a beer chaser. So Purdue actually makes it to the Rose Bowl for the first time since young men were dodging the draft, and what happens? It gets a bad case of early nerves, or bad officiating, depending on where you call home. It gets a snapper snapper, name for members of the Lutianidae, a family of spiny-finned food and game fishes found chiefly in tropical coastal waters. Snappers are carnivorous, active, and voracious, with large mouths and sharp teeth. Most species travel in dense schools. sailing the ball over the punter's desperate stretch. It gets six penalties in the first quarter. It still manages a nice comeback to tie the game, and then gets pushed around by a team playing tough Midwestern football to their gimmicky West Coast offense. It gets a 34-24 loss to Washington on Monday that will not warm their frozen little hearts back in the great plains. ``Not being here in so long, you really feel like it's maybe a once-in- a-football-career chance, and you want to make the best of To improve to the utmost; to use or dispose of to the greatest advantage. To reduce to the least possible inconvenience; as, to make the best of ill fortune or a bad bargain. - Bacon. See also: Best Best it,'' Purdue linebacker Joe Odom Joe Edward Odom (born December 14, 1979 in Alton, Illinois) is an American football linebacker. He was selected with the 18th pick of the sixth round of the 2003 NFL Draftby the Chicago Bears out of Purdue University. said. ``You don't want to lose the game. Us not being here in so long, just added onto how badly we wanted to win it. I guess there really was sort of an obligation. ``We wanted to show people back home, show people around the country, that we are a prestigious program. We just wanted to play our hearts out, and I don't think we did that today. It's tough right now. Not being here for so long, just wanting to make everyone proud.'' See, you come from Indiana and you say things like that. Purdue has been around since 1869 and had made exactly one Rose Bowl appearance before Monday. This wasn't just a game, it was a pilgrimage. Bodies that hadn't seen the sun since before Florida introduced ``chads'' to the world poured down Colorado Boulevard Colorado Boulevard (or Colorado Street) is a major east-west street in Southern California, United States. It runs from Griffith Park in Los Angeles east through Glendale, the Eagle Rock section of Los Angeles, Pasadena, and Arcadia, ending in Monrovia. . And then it went all wrong. Purdue beat USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. 14-13 in it's first appearance back in 1967, just as it deserved. Only this time, the Boilermakers quickly fell behind 10-0. ``Emotions were high,'' said Purdue tight end Tim Stratton. ``People were really (psyched) up. It set us back, but we came back and got at `em. Then they came back in the second half and got at us.'' There was certainly that. Purdue caught the Huskies at 17-17 early in the third quarter and then shrunk before our very eyes. Washington scored 17 unanswered points and took control. Trouble was, those corn-fed Midwesterners on the defensive line were outweighed by an average of almost 50 pounds by the Washington offensive line. Football Einsteins had this one figured. Purdue wore down. ``Washington turned up the dial, and we weren't expecting it,'' linebacker Akin Ayodele Akin Ayodele (pronounced AY-kin AY-dell) (born September 17, 1979 in Irving, Texas), is an American football linebacker who plays for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League. College career Ayodele was a three-year starter at defensive end at Purdue University. said. By the time they were sending fireworks fireworks: see pyrotechnics. fireworks Explosives or combustibles used for display. Of ancient Chinese origin, fireworks evidently developed out of military rockets and explosive missiles and accompanied the spread of military explosives westward to over the Rose Bowl, Washington had enjoyed almost a 14-minute advantage in time of possession. ``Our offense is to quick strike,'' Purdue quarterback Drew Brees Drew Christopher Brees (born January 15, 1979 in Austin, Texas) is an American football quarterback for the New Orleans Saints of the NFL. The San Diego Chargers originally selected him as the first pick of the 2001 NFL Draft's second round. said. ``Their offense is to obviously pound it out.'' How messed up is that? A Midwestern school coming into the Rose Bowl and getting outmuscled by a bunch of West Coast types? It was all wrong, this little unfolding nightmare for those from the Heartland. Despite it all, Purdue scored to make it 34-24 and still had a chance to make some history. After Washington quarterback Marques Tuiasosopo Marques Tuiasosopo (born March 22, 1979 in Woodinville, Washington) is a professional football player, a quarterback for the NFL's New York Jets. He began his career in 2001 with the Oakland Raiders. mistakenly tried a pitch after a 26-yard gain in the fourth quarter and it was stolen by Purdue's Ashante Woodyard, Purdue lined up for a 42-yard field goal that would have brought them within a touchdown with 4:54 to play. Only amazing a·maze v. a·mazed, a·maz·ing, a·maz·es v.tr. 1. To affect with great wonder; astonish. See Synonyms at surprise. 2. Obsolete To bewilder; perplex. v.intr. comebacks and happy endings were not awaiting the Boilermakers this time out. Travis Dorsch's kick floated wide left. Washington ran out the clock, and Purdue was left hoping it wouldn't take another 34 years to check out this Rose Bowl thing again. ``I just have an incomplete feeling right now,'' linebacker Landon Johnson Landon Tremone Johnson (born: March 13, 1981) is an NFL linebacker with the Cincinnati Bengals. High school career Landon Johnson attended Coronado High School in Lubbock, Texas and was a three-time All-District pick, a three time All-City pick, a two time All-League said. ``Maybe in the future I'll look back on it and have a greater appreciation for it, but right now I just want to get back to it.'' And get the ending a long wait deserves. |
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