Thanks, guys, it is beginning to make more sense now.
CarlB, I was wondering how you chose three of the six diagonal gluons. Would there not also be
\left(\begin{array}{ccc}
-1&0&0\\0&+1&0\\0&0&0\end{array}\right)
\left(\begin{array}{ccc}
0&0&0\\0&-1&0\\0&0&+1\end{array}\right)
and...
I know that it is a common question to wonder why there are only 8 gluons, so I am sorry for bringing it up again. I have been reading a lot lately about SU(3) and Hermitian Matrices with trace 0, and basically everything seems to make sense, that is except for one item. Despite seeing logic...