Maryland Terrapins Fans: Meet The Purdue Boilermakers

Jun 25, 2014; Sacramento, CA, USA; Dani Bunch of Purdue places 10th in the womens shot put at 53-7 3/4 (16.34m) in the 2014 USA Championships at the California state capitol. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Now we tour the Purdue University Boilermakers for Maryland Terrapins fans. The school is located in West Lafayette, Indiana — a town obviously located just west of the larger city of Lafayette. Purdue is a state land grant university whose most famous programs are Engineering and Aviation. The team nickname stems from the engineering students, as they originally were known to spend quite a bit of time working in the dark and hot boiler rooms on campus.

Lafayette is located almost halfway between Indianapolis and the Chicagoland area. Residents of the area are generally the fans of the Colts and Chicago Bears. The Cubs are the dominant baseball team, with some love for the Detroit Tigers as well.  NBA support is for the Indiana Pacers and Chicago Bulls, with the Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings getting the most NHL attention.

No one sport has dominated the Purdue athletic landscape, with both men’s basketball and football having some limited support. Since basketball is a religion in the state, that sport probably dominates, although the football team can claim New Orleans Saints QB Drew Brees as one of their own. Women’s basketball and women’s golf have had some recent success.

O’Bryan’s Nine Irish Brothers, Scotty’s Brewhouse and Von’s Dough Shack are all good food and drink options around town. Harry’s Chocolate Shop may sound like a great dessert spot, but note that this is actually a legendary bar that has great drinks and even greater burgers. No kids allowed at this “chocolate shop”. Instead, to get your sweat tooth taken care of, try Silver Dipper Ice Cream.