Gold and Black @ 30: Year 20--2009-10

Related links: Year 1: 1990-91 | Year 2: 1991-92 | Year 3: 1992-93 | Year 4: 1993-94 | Year 5: 1994-95 | Year 6: 1995-96 | Year 7: 1996-97 | Year 8: 1997-98 | Year 9: 1998-99 | Year 10: 1999-00 | Year 11: 2000-01 | Year 12: 2001-02 | Year 13: 2002-03 | Year 14: 2003-04 | Year 15: 2004-05 | Year 16: 2005-06 | Year 17: 2006-07 | Year 18: 2007-08 | Year 19: 2008-09

Gold and Black Illustrated is celebrating 30 years of publishing. Over the next few weeks, we will look at each publishing year, recalling the moments that took place in that particular year.

Note: Captions describing each cover are not available on mobile platforms.

Like just about every Purdue men's basketball fan and observer, all memories from this year go back to one moment.

It was just over midway in the first half at The Barn in Minnesota with coach Matt Painter's team looking like a sure-fire Final Four team. It already had built a double-digit lead on a good Minnesota squad and was looking invincible.

You all know what happened next. Over 10 years later, it is still difficult for me to write. But it's hard to remember much more about that season then Rob Hummel's horrible season-ending moment in Minneapolis.

But also a defining moment of that season happened in the same game. Purdue lost its double-digit lead and fell behind to coach Tubby Smith's Gophers only to rally to win by one point. In reality, the ability to pull things together to get that victory over the Gophers had everything to do with the Boilermakers winning their first Big Ten regular-season title under Painter. And that title will endure equal to or exceeding the "what could have been" pall that will forever be cast over the 2009-10 men's basketball season.

Yet, there were other memories. I vividly recall watching coach Danny Hope's team pull to a second half lead at Oregon and look to be in position to pull a stunning upset in the second game of the season. But mistakes and bad luck down the stretch cost Hope and Purdue a victory (38-36 loss) that might have forever altered the trajectory of the football program under the first-year coach.

Unfortunately for Hope, the opportunity to create a better first impression came once again two weeks later against Notre Dame. Hope had a chance to beat Notre Dame but chose to call a timeout that arguably gave Notre Dame and its coach Charlie Weis time to regroup on a game-winning scoring drive in a 24-21 Irish victory. The fan base forever lost confidence in him from that point forward. It was almost like his tenure was doomed from that moment forward. In reality, it didn't have to be. But also in reality, it was.

And for me, it wasn't the decision Hope made in the clutches of the battle. It was how he kept focusing on it with the media not for just one week, but for the rest of the season. He simply couldn't, or at least didn't, move on.

Hope gave great effort as a coach and a recruiter. Nobody had more want-to and was more devoted to his kids and his program. But sometimes, it is the things you choose to focus on that limit progress and growth.

Joe Tiller told me years later that he thought the 2009 team should have won a minimum of eight games. He thought the '09 team was that good, and that is part of the reason why he would have liked to coach one more year and then retire, instead of leaving after the 2008 season.

And Tiller was right about the '09 team. It beat No. 7 Ohio State handily when the Boilermakers were in the midst of a five-game winning streak. It also posted Purdue's first (and only) win at Michigan since 1966. There were memorable moments in the 2009 football season, just not enough positive ones as Purdue finished 5-7.

The guy that set the tone for Painter's program in the early days more than any other? In my humble opinion, it was Chris Kramer.

Not that highly regarded out of Huntington, Ind., Kramer's constant effort on the basketball court returned the term "Play Hard" to Mackey Arena and combined it with winning basketball.

I can't think of any cover in our history that better depicts the person it is featuring. Despite the relative disappointment of not getting past the Sweet 16, it was Kramer that willed the Boilermakers to victory over Texas A&M in the Round of 32. His last-second drive to the basket not only gave the Boilermakers a hard-fought overtime victory, it also provided Kramer one last moment in the sun as the ultimate Boilermaker baller.

Not only is the above cover my second favorite of the publishing year, but it meant much more to me.

It marked the end of an era.

Getting Bob Griese, Len Dawson and Drew Brees on the same stage is about as good as it gets for a Purdue person. To have them on the last newsprint cover of our magazine is about as fitting as it could get.

Things were changing at Gold and Black as we tried to be in lock-step in the changing world of media. A weekly publication (26 times per year as we did at that time) mailed to our loyal subscribers just couldn't get the job done in the Internet world.

We knew that, and knew it was time to change. And change we did, as Gold and Black morphed into a bi-monthly glossy publication coupled with 30 digital issues that were e-mailed to our subscribers..

There was no looking back, but I admit I still miss the process of putting a weekly magazine together. I was blessed with a hard-working staff, great photographer and hard-working layout person, and that made it all the better

What I don't miss are the all-nighters we frequently pulled during the football season putting the magazine to bed before we hit the sack. Yet, there was something about helping assemble all the pieces necessary to produce a relevant magazine that was redeeming. And, it was fun, too.

Membership Info: Sign up for GoldandBlack.com now | Why join? | Questions?

Follow GoldandBlack.com: Twitter | Facebook | YouTube

More: Gold and Black Illustrated/Gold and Black Express | Subscribe to our podcast

Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2020. All Rights Reserved. Reproducing or using editorial or graphical content, in whole or in part, without permission, is strictly prohibited.