Saturday, January 15, 2022

Yesterday afternoon I took off to drive up to Purdue to take in the Nebraska at Purdue basketball game.  It’s about a 3-hour trip to get up there.  Accompanying me were a couple young guys from church who had never been to Mackey before.  Our YM Collin Mattingly and my godson Emmanuel “E” Smith really took it all in!  I think they were impressed with the atmosphere.  We had great seats, Section 2, Row 12–behind the Nebraska bench.  Sitting that close, you could get a real feel for just how BIG the players are!  Mackey makes for a very immersive experience, taking in that loud and energetic atmosphere…you just can not get all that from watching on TV.  Once again, it was a fun time in Mackey Arena.  The Boilermakers seemed to just take off right from the start, in fact within a few minutes, the Boilermakers were leading 17-2.  Mackey was electric!   It was certainly a lot of fun!  And, of course, I got a bit sentimental when the capacity crowd sang along with the band to “Hail, Purdue”.

First time in Mackey for Collin and E.

Purdue is often called the ‘cradle of astronauts’,  and these were in the crowd last night!

Always great energy from the Paint Crew, the Boilermakers’ student group that fills 6 of the 18 seating sections in Mackey.  

All in all, it was a great night for this old Boilermaker

We stopped on the way to the game at the famous “Beef House” for an early supper (or was it a late lunch?).  Terrific as usual.   The relatively early –630pm– start of the game made for an earlier arrival back home Friday night (got back right at midnight).  The weather was very pleasant for a January night.  Snow had been predicted, but none came here or anywhere along the way.  TBH, I was hoping to find some snow this morning…

At the Beef House…

Saturday morning, no snow, not even a dusting.

Another fascinating thing about Purdue is their fleet of little robots that deliver meals across the campus.  We encountered several on the sidewalks as we walked to the game.  It’s really cool to watch them as they make their was around, and to see how the people never seem to interfere with the robots’ tasks.  It’s like these robots are part of the everyday routine on campus.

Here, a group of the little “Starship” robots are queued up for their next run to deliver food to some hungry Purdue student

My memories of my time at Purdue are crowded with happy times with great people.  The faculty and staff of the College of Agriculture made you feel like you really did matter to them, and you knew they were ‘all in’ to help you succeed.  Those memories warm my heart even now.  No wonder I get a little nostalgic whenever I return to campus.

Have a good weekend.