Boiler up! Hammer down!

On our last Saturday in Lafayette we finally managed to buy seats to an at-home gridiron football game at Purdue Uni. The Purdue Boilermakers were playing the University of Illinois team so the stadium was pumped.Which took some hot air as there were 48,000 fans in the stadium. More than the total number of students on campus. Just to watch a footy game. Shouting, waving Purdue support symbols, doing the Mexican Wave, chanting. Support for Purdue is huge.

The stadium itself is expensive-looking; everything is state of the art. There is no discernible difference between it and the stadiums of professional teams you see on TV. Where does the money come from?

For half time entertainment, a massive brass band from Purdue occupied the entire field with its supporting musicians and dancers playing out a precisely choreographed music and dance tribute to Michael Jackson. 

The spectacle filled the field in a manner not unlike an Olympic opening ceremony production. All the performers were dressed in beautifully-cut uniforms of black, white and gold, right down to hundreds of pairs of matching performance shoes, everything betassled and bejeweled. Where does the money come from?

The game was televised. Microsecond replays looped through a mega-sized television screen at the head of the field. Throughout the play blasts of deafening motivational eat-em-up Jaws music exhorted Purdue players to Boiler up! Hammer down! 

The poor Illinois team had no hope. Like Christians in a Roman Colosseum. 

Outside, vast university car parks were chockers with fee paying parents, alumni and visitors, here for the day in their over-sized campers and F350 pickups, celebrating the game with pre and post-game tailgate BBQs and parties. All flying Purdue flags, wearing Purdue-labelled scarves, fleeces and topcoats. Even their Eskys and Trash containers were labelled with expensive Purdue trade-marked tags.

Amazing spectacle. Stunning facilities. And, quite simply, unbelievable amounts of money spent, just on a college footy game. Where does the money come from?

Game on

Halftime spectacle