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to do their best all the way through the college experience? Daniels: "It takes an unusual young person, it really does. I don't think this is my imagination, but the demands on the Division I student-athlete today are just beyond anything that people of earlier generations will remember. My wife and I are sponsoring and paying the tuition of a couple students a year, one from her high school and one from the school that I was involved with. The young woman who went to New Albany High School is a swimmer and just talking with her the other day about what her schedule is like, up at 4:00 a.m., in the water at 5:30 a.m., and this is three or four days a week for hours. The light days are three hours in the afternoon and they get one day a week off. "Yet, with all the demands of academics you hope our student-athletes have time for a little bit of extracurricular, it takes an extraordinary young person to compete at this level. I am so admiring of them. But it also reminds me that we have got to do everything we can to make certain that they succeed academically with all the pressure and time that they are being asked for in their sport." Gold and Black: How were you first introduced to Purdue athletics? Daniels: "We moved to Indiana when I was 10 and I was still young enough to identify with schools and I got interested in various Indiana teams. I remember going out to the Butler Fieldhouse. It was the cheapest entertainment that our family could swing at the time. Another thing I remember was watching local Indianapolis sports heroes come up to this place called Purdue. Mel Garland, remember that name? My good friend Tim McGinley was one. As a kid you are watching somebody six to eight years older and they are your hero and then they go off to Purdue and then you really start paying attention to that school. I watched, probably on a black-and-white TV for the first couple years, a lot of the great Purdue football and basketball teams." Q: What is your thought on using football as a strong tool to recruit alumni and advertise Purdue's brand? Where does that all fit in? Daniels: "It's a factor, no question. I think it can be overstated and it can be overemphasized. But there is no question that any school at our level, that the success in marquee sports draws attention and we like it when it happens." Gold and Black: (Gold and Black photographer) f Tom Campbell will take these pictures with you among the students at the football game and you always look so nondescript sitting there. How do blend in perfectly with those guys in the "Where's Mitch?" segment on the stadium video screen? Daniels: "Well, that's me, I blend in. I've been going down and standing in the student section sometimes for the first quarter, and knowing that I like to do things like that, someone came up with the 'Where is he?' idea. But it seems to be something people have fun with, and I like getting out with the fans." Gold and Black: Wearing red for the Nebraska game would be a mistake. Daniels: "Well, there's no danger in that. I'm always going to be in the right uniform. One (segment) that was really fun was at the Notre Dame game, and I just randomly picked a place. So (Notre Dames) take the lead and you just think honest in your heart that it will take the air out of our guys, but instead we go right back and score on them again. B.J. (Knauf) had a great run and a catch for the touchdown. I'm telling everyone, I really like this guy, it's going to be really fun to watch him, and somebody says 'That's his mom.' And just by chance, his mom and aunt were sitting four rows down. So I go down and congratulate them and we're all hugging and everything. So who knows where I'll be? Maybe I'll be by somebody else's mom (the next segment)." Gold and Black: You've had some good motorcycle riding weather this fall? Daniels: "I've had more weather than motorcycle time. It's true, it's been a fabulous year. This (job) is keeping me busy, though. I find myself looking out the window, but the bike is in the garage." Gold and Black: How do you handle riding the bike on the field for halftime of the Notre Dame game? Did that make you nervous? Daniels: "Yes. Yes, it did. Now, I love the band, and they wanted me to help and they tell me (what the halftime surprise stunt is) and I say, 'Well, maybe, but big bikes and grass are not built for each other.' And we have that soft turf, but I didn't want my first spill in my 40-year motorcycle career to be on national television. But I said I've got to help these kids out. "I have to confess. I did a practice run and went over to the field and rode and it went OK. I thought, 'This isn't too bad if it doesn't rain.'"j IllustrateD volume 24, issue 2 99