Book excerpt: The history of Purdue athletics is sometimes funny, sometimes poignant and triumphant and often pretty amazing -- but always uniquely human. Along the way many characters have arisen in over 11 decades of competition and nearly 200 of these great stories are chronicled in Tales from the Boilermaker Country. On the hardwood, readers will learn why Purdue turned down its first opportunity to play in the NCAA Tournament, allowing archrival Indiana to win the 1940 title and how the first "Big Dog" in Purdue men's basketball history wasn't Glenn Robinson. From the football sidelines, the authors reveal the dramatic incident which almost cost the lives of Rose Bowl heroes Bob Griese and George Catavolas at the 1967 Hula Bowl. Also, readers will find out how long-time New York Yankees' owner George Steinbrenner became an assistant coach for the Purdue football team and a quarter century later was instrumental in luring the Boilermakers' NCAA Final Four coach away from ! Purdue. Included are the stories of Purdue's national championship teams; the 1961 golf team which was led by a player that never lost to golfing legend Jack Nicklaus and the triumphant story of the 1999 Purdue women's basketball team surviving three coaching changes en route to a national title. You will enjoy reading stories from some of the colorful characters in the school's past: Mike Alstott, Lin Dunn, Gene Keady, George King, Ward "Piggy" Lambert, Jack Mollenkopf, Michael "Scooby" Scearce, Moose Skowron and Joe Tiller -- to name a few. And you will travel back to the early days and the origins of Boilermaker sports when the team traveled by train and continue through the digital age when Heisman Trophy hopeful Drew Brees was promoted for the award in cyberspace.