Purdue Boilermakers Tickets Information

Purdue Boilermakers
Boilermakers is the official nickname for the intercollegiate athletic teams at Purdue University. Like other sports nicknames, it is also used as an informal designation of Purdue's student body and alumni at large. The Boilermakers have worn the colors old-gold-and-black or old-gold-and-white in their uniforms since 1887.

History of the Boilermakers
The origin of the nickname Boilermakers goes as far back as 1891. At that time engineering degrees at the Purdue University required students to work in the forge room to heat and mould metal. In 1891, Purdue's football team won against close by rival Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana 44-0. A news account of the game stated the headline, "Slaughter of Innocents: Wabash Snowed Completely Under by the Burly Boiler Makers from Purdue". Another account in the November 1, 1891 Lafayette Sunday Times described the game as follows: "As everyone knows, Purdue went down to Wabash last Saturday and defeated their eleven. The Crawfordsville papers have not yet gotten over it. The only recourse they have is to claim that we beat their 'scientific' men by brute force. Our players are characterized as 'coal heavers,' 'boiler makers' and 'stevedores.'" Since this time Purdue's football team were called 'grangers', 'railsplitters', 'cornfield sailors', 'blacksmiths' and 'foundry hands', but ultimately it was 'Boilermakers' that finally stuck.

Till 1889, the Purdue Boilermakers competed as independent. In 1890, they joined the 'Indiana Intercollegiate Athletic Association', and in 1896 the Big Ten Conference. The Purdue Boilermakers won the Big Ten Conference Championship eight times in 1918, 1929, 1931, 1932, 1943, 1952, 1967 and 2000. In 1966 the Boilermakers competed in the Rose Bowl with a second-place finish in the Big Ten. The Boilermakers won the Rose Bowl in 1967 with the help of NFL hall-of-famer Bob Griese, when they defeated the University of Southern California Trojans 14-13. The boilermakers next appeared in the Rose Bowl in 2001, but lost the University of Washington Huskies 24-34.

In total, the Boilermakers have appeared in 14 post-season bowl games, compiling a record of 7-7. Their most recent appearance was in the 2006 Champs Sports Bowl under the coachman ship of current coach Joe Tiller. Purdue University has often been referred to as the 'Cradle of Quarterbacks' having produced a number of successful footballers and NFL hall-of-famers including Dale Samuels, Bob DeMoss, Bob Griese, Mike Phipps, Super Bowl MVP Len Dawson, Mark Herrmann, Jim Everett, Jeff George, Drew Brees, and Kyle Orton. The current coach of the Boilermaker football team is Joe Tiller.

Boilermakers Basketball
In addition to football, the Boilermakers are also very competitive in basketball and both their men and women's basketball teams have won more Big Ten Championships than any other conference school. Coach Gene Keady coached the Men's team for 25 years and completed his final season with the Boilermakers in the 2005 season. In 1997, Coach Keady was given the honor of being named Purdue's all-time-winning coach as he has led the Boilermakers to over 500 victories. Coaching legend John Wooden also played for the Boilermakers during his undergraduate years, 1929 - 1933, and earned All-Big Ten and All-Midwestern honors. At present the Boilermaker men's basketball team is being coached by Matt Painter.

Rivals
The Purdue Boilermaker's main rivals include the Indiana University Hoosiers, against whom the Purdue football team competes annually for the Old Oaken Bucket. The Purdue football team also plays against the Fighting Irish from the University of Notre Dame for the Shillelagh Trophy and the University of Illinois Fighting Illini for the Purdue Cannon trophy.

Athletic band
To support its sports teams, Purdue University formed a band back in 1886 named the 'All-American' Marching Band. The AAMB has made 75 consecutive appearances as the host band for the Indianapolis 500 and performs on all home games. The band plays the university's song "Hail Purdue!" and other music ranging from jazz to rock.

Mascot - The Boilermaker Special
The Boilermaker Special is a Victorian era locomotive and has been the official mascot of Purdue since the 1930s. The first such mascot, named Boilermaker Special I, was obtained by the university in 1940 and since then the students and faculty have consistently raised funds to maintain or replace the locomotive over the years. The current mascot, Boilermaker Special V, was unveiled at the Purdue-Notre Dame game in 1993.

Purdue Pete
Purdue Pete was the official logo of Purdue University's official Bookstore. In 1940, the owners of the bookstore at the time, Doc Epple and Red Sammons, hired a local artist Art Evans to draw a boilermaker as part of an advertising campaign for the store. This icon came to be known as Purdue Pete and a modernized version of it is still used by the University book store today. In 1944, Purdue Pete was used on the cover of the University's yearbook. Since 1956 Purdue Pete has been a regular feature at Boilermaker games in which a member of the cheerleading group wears a head costume of the icon.

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