IllustrateD volume 24, issue 5 21
f
f r o m e d i t o r b r i a n n e u b e r t
P
urdue's supposed to be tough,
right?
I mean, the mascot swings a ham-
mer, for crying out loud.
That's supposed to be — or at least
is needed to be — the Boilermakers'
general identity, at least in football and
men's basketball.
The toughness, that is, not the ham-
mer-swinging.
Yet in this past year, during which
the school's two flagship sports each
finished in last place in the Big Ten,
there was a gaping void in that catego-
ry.
Both teams were soft.
Neither was tough, in virtually any
sense of the term, whether it was phys-
ical or mental.
Particularly mental.
Both programs encountered difficult
times and went south, whether
it was football in the throes of a
string of blowouts or basketball
in turning-point situations or
the seven-game losing streak
that capped a trainwreck of a season in
fitting fashion.
If it doesn't change, Purdue's for-
tunes may not all that much either.
Talent and physical ability are obvi-
ously important, but the Boilermakers
had enough of both last season to at
least be competitive.
It was other stuff that was missing,
the fortitude Purdue needed to play
over its head on occasion or at least not
curl up into the fetal position when it
came time to do something difficult to
win a game, or at least stay in one.
For Purdue to bounce back from
what had to be the worst combined
season for its two most prom-
inent sports in school history,
all things considered, this is
where it starts.
Darrell Hazell inherited a
team that wasn't necessari-
ly wired to respond to its new
staff's coaching style after years of be-
ing used to something, shall we say,
different.
Matt Painter found himself, or
brought on himself in recruiting, a tox-
ic mix apparently incapable of playing
how it was supposed to or co-existing
particularly well.
Both situations, on paper, should be
different now.
If I could italicize "should" more
than once, I would.
Hazell admits making a mistake last
winter in not familiarizing himself with
his personnel as much as he might have
otherwise in advance of his first season
Tough To Be Good
Trent Johnson, Agent
Coming this fall to a computer
or tablet near you!
Thanks to all who enjoyed the show
in 2013-14. We look forward to next year!
Gold and Black LIVE
featuring the staff of GoldandBlack.com
Interactive live video-stream sports talk show — ask questions,
chat with other fans! Show will stream live on WLFI.com on selected Fridays during football
and basketball season. For complete schedule, visit the college page on WLFI.com.
next show aug. 29
