Hail Homecoming

We were back at the tailgate lot bright and early on Saturday morning, with the sun shining and the flags flying.

Our friends Kyle and Kristin were able to park right beside us, and they were flying a different kind of flag.

Bless their hearts for opening their home to a large number of returning alumni in town for the Homecoming game. I think they had 16 for the sleepover. That they knew about. :)

Jim and I were not among the overnighters, and we left our house around 6 am. It was early! We remembered almost everything, and Jim bought this cute table when we got there. :)

Jim is the master of the tailgate grill.

Cooking up some ultimate pancakes.

Riley and Matthew were fired up for the game and the pre-game activities, including a little football on the ground. Not to be confused with football on your phone.

We also had time for a little corn hole.

Courtney showing her skills.

Good morning, Adam!

Jon supervises the corn hole game.

Kyle and Kristin's group was cooking pizza on the grill, and then bratwurst. Don't worry about the smoke, everything was fine.

Chellsey and Courtney.

Darci and Andrew.

Little tailgaters, Riley and Matthew.

David and Shylah.

We tried to get a photo of the whole group, or at least most of the group. I think Kyle was exiting as I took the picture.

Some of us did actually make it into the game. Here is the 20 yard line group.

Since it was Homecoming, the alumni band took part in the halftime show. I'm pretty sure this is Darci's sister.

I thought she would be out there, but I couldn't really see well enough to tell for sure. So I took a picture of everyone with a piccolo. Great job, Leigh! (Hope this is you!)

As has been the case for most of the games this season, the halftime festivities were the highlight of the game. The team? Not good.

Several folks were inducted into the athletic Hall of Fame during halftime. That's Matt Light who played for the Patriots.

Joe Tiller, who coached many great Purdue players.

Like Drew Brees. :)

The alumni cheerleaders were launching a 'dummy' over their heads.

At the end of the third quarter, another Boilermaker great, Mike Alstott, led the crowd in 'Shout!' He is Jonathan's favorite player, and the reason Jon spent his childhood as a fan of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I think his favorite team is still the Bucs.

Legend has it that during his Purdue days, Mike would train by pushing a jeep up the hill beside Ross-Ade stadium.

It's tiiiiimmmeee to shoouuuuut!

Purdue Pete was having fun with some alumni.

The team was in a huddle, but it will take more than that to salvage the season. The team made a quarterback change right before halftime, and the new freshman QB did a pretty good job. It was not, however, enough to stop the pummeling handed to us by NIU.

One bright spot of the fourth quarter was seeing these two on the big screen. Fans are invited to email photos, and a few are selected and shown near the end of the game. Lookin' good boys!

No, the game was not pretty, but the day sure was.

By the end of the game, the stands were pre-tty empty. I, however, stayed 'til the last tick of the clock.

I returned to the tailgate lot to find the party still going on, despite the scoreboard. I think it's gonna be a loooonnnngggg season.