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Gold and Black Illustrated, Vol 28, Digital 2

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GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 28, ISSUE 2 12 BY TOM CAMPBELL I t was a photo that was 34 years in the making, but took less than a second to actually make. As photo- graphs go, it's pretty simple. No Photoshop magic or special lighting involved. The photo of Joe Tiller clutching Drew Brees, who's clutching a single rose was made in the moments af- ter the Boilers beat Indiana 41-13 to secure a 2001 Rose Bowl bid. Click. That photograph has become a part of the Purdue fabric. And I'm proud to have been the one behind the camera on that chilly November night. It was a game that was a perfect ending to a season that was pure magic. College football players can go their entire careers without knowing what it feels like to be mobbed and hoisted on the shoulders of students they might see the following Monday in class. But Purdue fans did it three times during one six-week stretch in 2000, starting with a 32-31 win over Mich- igan. Three Saturdays later, there was Drew's Miracle to Morales that knocked out the Big Ten's other beast, Ohio State, 31-27. But the best? No question it was the Indiana beat- down in the gathering darkness of Ross-Ade Stadium on Nov. 18. I looked up from the sidelines. Every seat was occupied by a pair of bouncing shoes. On the field, mobility was next to impossible. The field was just as crowded with excited fans like myself, who were dealing with the realization that a dream was about to come true. Purdue was going back to the Rose Bowl. And at the center of it was Purdue's greatest coach and greatest player, together, if only for the briefest of moments. "We're going to the Rose Bowl," the giddy coach exclaimed. "We're going to the Rose Bowl." I had often thought of a photograph from Purdue's 1966 season, a photograph made by Bob Mitchell. He was poised with his camera outside Memorial Stadi- um in Minneapolis on Nov. 12, 1966, following Pur- due's 16-0 win over Minnesota. That win sent Pur- due to its first-ever Rose Bowl. Jack Mollenkopf emerged from the locker room wearing a fedora, London Fog coat, his trademark white shirt and black tie, held in place by a tie bar with the Old Oaken Bucket on one side and a Shillelagh on the other. Under his left arm, Mollenkopf carried the game ball. In his right hand, three roses. On his face was the biggest grin any Purdue fan had ever seen on the coach some called "Jack the Ripper." As he walked to the team bus, he stopped and smiled for Mitchell and his camera. To me, that is one of the truly iconic photos in the history of Purdue athletics. And I wanted to shoot one that would be just as mem- orable, just as iconic. But to have an iconic photo, you need to have an iconic event. For me, that event was the 2000 Bucket game against Indiana. As the game clock wound down to zero in that 41-13 A Magic Moment Bob Mitchell

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