It is finally here, the day we’ve all been waiting for.
That’s right, it’s time to start talking KU hoops again!
After another wild offseason filled with recruiting twists and turns,[1] the Jayhawks crushed poor Howard University by 30 Monday night. Howard is a good program and is picked to win their conference, although they have a roster full of grad-transfers and looked like a group of players who don’t know each other well yet. Last year KU would have slogged through this game, likely winning by 20 but not looking all that good in the process. Last night KU jumped all over the Bison early and while the defense faltered in the second half, never had those moments of “They’re not going to blow this, are they?” the team had last year.
The Jayhawks looked terrific. Especially given that they are without a defensive stud (Shakeel Moore), Hunter Dickinson is obviously playing his way back into form after missing a couple weeks with a sprained foot, the lineups are fluid, and the team is still trying to carve out an identity. They definitely look faster than they were a year ago. The ball was moving. It was so refreshing having multiple players on the court who were both willing to take a 3 and had the ability to hit them. Crazy how offense gets easier when the defense has to worry about guarding the 3-point line. My man Flory Bidunga might have set a record for most dunks in first game as a Jayhawk.
Surprisingly the defense was the highlight of the night. DaJuan Harris, knowing he doesn’t have to play 40 minutes a game, seemed to rediscover the intensity he played with his first two seasons on that end of the court. David Coit is probably going to get bullied in some games, but against Howard he used his quickness and tenacity to make life miserable for whoever he was guarding.
At first glance, this would appear to be Bill Self’s best ever transfer class. Zeke Mayo led the team in scoring last night. Rylan Griffen hit a couple shots, made some nice passes, played decent D. Coit might be the steal of the class. Moore should play significant minutes when he gets healthy. And AJ Storr, considered the gem of the class, looked more comfortable than he did in the exhibition games. I bet his performance is going to be up-and-down all season. If he figures it out, he could be the player that turns KU into an unstoppable force.
The most fascinating thing about this team to me is how Self put it together. Normally he recruits transfers as being the missing piece. That’s certainly how he sold Kevin McCullar on the program two years ago, and Dickinson last year. But this year the math is different. He wanted to get deeper, faster, and to bring in more shooters. I don’t think he told any of the transfers that they were the savior. Rather, he challenged them to come to KU, to improve their games while also integrating themselves into the deepest roster in the country, all with the goal of becoming the best team in the country in March rather than chasing stats to impress scouts. Each of those transfers will likely play fewer minutes and score fewer points than they did last year. Yes, the KU NIL money is nice. But so is having a chance to win the national championship, something only Griffen came close to when he helped Alabama get to the Final Four.
As a part of that, Self clearly has to change the way he manages the team. He’s always been a coach who tightened the roster as the season progressed. Unless a bunch of these guys start sucking, he can’t remove three of them from the rotation. I think we will see a lot of different lineups this year, with minutes varying game-to-game depending on how guys are playing and who the opponent is. Harris, Dickinson, and KJ Adams won’t be asked to stay on the court for 38 minutes because there is no one behind them.
I don’t think we will get to the point in February where, unless the team is in foul trouble, only eight guys are playing. Self asked the players to change to be a part of something bigger. I think/hope he made that same commitment.
It was one game against an over-matched opponent. We can’t read too much into it. Things get a lot realer Friday against North Carolina. And next week against Michigan State. And in three weeks against Duke. And then against Creighton. I’m guessing KU looks incredible in one of those games, totally out-of-sorts in one, and a mixture of those extremes in the others. The goal is to lessen that variance and have this team locked in when we get to March, when all that depth and experience will pay off.
See the Riley Kugel saga, for example. ↩
This was a fairly quiet weekend thanks to a KU bye week and the girls being busy on their own.
Halloween
Our Halloween was relaxed. We decided to go hang with our old neighbors. It sure brought back memories to sit in their driveway and watch kids scamper through the cul-de-sac. That was where our girls did almost all of their trick-or-treating. As we at chili we reminisced about the various holidays we shared with our friends, including the one when it was sleeting sideways and our girls insisted on going out. We might have been the only people dumb enough to hit the streets that night, and folks were literally dumping their entire candy collections into our girls’ bags. They thought the misery was worth it.
We’ve left a bowl at our house a few times with a sign telling folks to help themselves. And we always come back to an almost-full bowl. It helps that we get very few trick-or-treaters. We did that again this year. C and L were home and said they didn’t hear a lot of kids come to our house. Yet when we got home the bowl was completely empty, robbing us of our post-Halloween candy to share as a family. I didn’t bother to check our front-door cam to see which little a-holes helped themselves to the entire bowl.
HS Football Playoffs
CHS won their opening playoff game against now 0–10 North Central 36–0. It was pretty sloppy with lots of penalties and wasted opportunities. L walked across the street to watch but I didn’t think it would be worth even that meager effort. I believe this is the first year since M was in seventh grade that I didn’t go to a single CHS game, although I still listened to each one and did walk over when our friends from Carmel played NC.
The Irish advance to play #1 Lawrence North, who after a slow first half looked really good beating their arch rivals Lawrence Central. I had that game on TV until the Pacers started. CHS has knocked LN out of the playoffs each of the last two years but this is a very different LN team. I will be watching basketball 80 miles north so likely won’t be able to follow the sectional championship game very well.
College Football
A KU bye week meant no heart-breaking, come-from-ahead loss. Which was a nice change from how this fall has gone.
I watched most of Ohio State – Penn State. I see Andy Kotelnicki’s kryptonite is still first and goal inside the 10. His offense always bogged down in those situations at KU. Even with better talent he still struggles when faced with a short field. It’s like all his creativity disappears and he just runs dives up the middle.
Clearly having either just played KU or having the Jayhawks next on your schedule takes a lot out of a team, with both Kansas State and Iowa State losing Saturday.
I was actually looking forward to watching IU play this week. I knew the game was on Peacock. We are Xfinity customers and I thought we got Peacock for free. Turns out we just get a limited part of Peacock free, and that tier does not include live sports. I was not going to pay $10 to see one game of a team I don’t really care about. But cool that IU is 9–0 for the first time in their history.
Colts
So much for Joe Flacco making a difference. I didn’t watch much of the Colts-Vikings game Sunday night but when I did, I saw an offense that was absolutely putrid. Yep, Chris Ballard and Shane Steichen are going to be looking for new jobs this winter.
Pacers
After beating the Celtics in overtime Wednesday to get their first win of the year, the Pacers blew multiple leads in New Orleans to lose another one Friday.
Worse, for the second time in a week they lost a backup center to a non-contact, achilles injury, this time second stringer Isaiah Jackson. For the moment Myles Turner is the Pacers only true big. I hope they are triple taping his calves and ankles, while also finding a way to move some of their wing depth to find another big body.
College Hoops Recruiting
It’s been a quiet recruiting season, so far, for KU. That was because Bill Self put all his recruiting eggs into one basket, and was waiting on a decision from Darryn Peterson, the #3 overall player in this year’s senior class. Peterson finally made his decision Friday night, picking KU. That’s been the assumption for months, mostly because he’s already signed a multi-year deal with Adidas and all the other schools recruiting him were Nike programs. Still, there were rumors that both Ohio State and USC were making big runs at him.
The Jayhawks got their man and can now, hopefully, start filling around him. KU will lose at least six players after this season, so there are opportunities for any young men who want to play in the greatest building in the game. DP, the highest rated recruit KU has signed since Josh Jackson, is a pretty good start.
Misc
I swear, October is the fastest month of the year. It just flies by no matter how old you or your kids are.
The sun setting at 5:40 is stupid.
Late summer keeps hanging on. We had two days around 80 last week. We are supposed to have a couple days in the 70s this week. It will flip eventually, but zero complaints about the weather at the moment.
The girls both went to parties Saturday. The cops showed up at the one L was at. But, she was quick to tell me, not because of the the actual party. One of her travel teammates had a bunch of people over. Naturally word got out, a hoarde of kids from other schools showed up and they were not allowed inside the house, so they first destroyed L’s friend’s basketball hoops (one of those movable ones) then started fighting in the street. The cops showed up to clear them out but never even knocked on the door where the actual party was. Glad we’ve trained our girls to understand they can have friends over, but can never, ever host a party. We’re not dealing with that shit.
Remember being in high school and hearing rumors that there was a party at so-and-so’s house, or in such-and-such neighborhood, and driving around hoping to find it and then talk your way in? I did plenty of that. But I never destroyed anyone’s basketball hoop. Or fought in the street.
Kind of an odd media month. There was some baseball early, but not much after the Royals were eliminated. A lot of reading The Lord of the Rings. A fall break vacation. But not much long-form stuff. That should shift in November. And there was a changing of the hobbies, a switch that is reflected below with a new section.
Movies, Shows, etc
Halloween Baking Championship
The winner was a bit of a surprise, as Manny rallied in the final three episodes to take the competition. Poor Aaron has now reached the finals of two different holiday shows without getting a win.
A-
Anchorman
As noted before, we watched this as a family with our hosts in Denver. Apparently the kids and moms did not like it as much as the dads. Not sure what is wrong with them.
A
Shorts, YouTubes, etc
Bill Self UNFILTERED on the portal, navigating NIL, Kansas as Preseason No. 1 | Goodman & Hummel
Unfiltered is a little strong. I guess he does say “shit” once. But otherwise your standard, solid interview.
Running Australia’s hardest 100km while needing a hip replacement
I got nervous when I saw the title for Beau Miles’ latest bullshit. Turns out it is his buddy who needed the replacement, not him. A touching short, with a sequel to come.
I built a chicken coop for zero dollars
This is some good, and wholesome, Beau Miles bullshit.
Beau Miles takes Cody Simpson on an epic adventure
Hey, Beau now has sponsored bullshit! I had no idea Cody Simpson, who was big on Disney Radio when our girls were in that phase, was a competitive swimmer now.
‘Afternoon Plus’ documentary on the BBC World Service (1982)
Did I watch and enjoy this British doc from 1982 about the BBC’s World Service? Hell yes I did.
We Answer Your Fall Style Questions For 2024
Get your wardrobes correct, fellas.
6 Minutes of the Best Jokes in Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee
Sometimes I like these better than the actual show.
We bought a NEW CABIN ︱ Svalbard
I can’t imagine living like this.
Inside The World’s Most Secret House Built Into a Mountain
This, on the other hand, would be a wild way to spend a shit load of money for a very isolated vacation.
How This Surfer Built His Dream Home on the Nova Scotia Coast
Forget the financial side of this. I wish I had the imagination to conjure up a place like this, then the ability to put it together.
Indianapolis | Cinematic Travel Diaries Shot on Sony FX30 w/ 20mm lens
Not a lot of travel videos about Indy. Makes sense this one is less than two minutes long, although I guess that’s kind of this guy’s thing.
The unique undersea tunnels that link the Faroe Islands
Fascinating. I read an article that mentioned these a few weeks before this video popped up.
Is Colorado a Food Utopia? Exploring Farm to Table Cuisine, Epic Landscapes & UFO’s | DIRT Colorado
Perfect timing, right before our trip to CO, even if it focused on different parts of the state than we did.
First Big Trip in Our New Truck
I know I’ve said this before, but it sure would be cool to be cool enough to live like this. Or, rather, it would be cool to be cool enough that brands sponsored you to live this way.
Leon Bridges Talks New Album, Texas Roots & How He Developed His “Futuristic Retro” Style
I dig Leon’s whole vibe.
Apollo 16 lunar rover “Grand Prix” in HD
Dopeness.
Remembering Fernandomania
A wonderful piece from a couple years back about a legend we lost in October.
Car Content
Lucid Air Pure: The Real Tesla Fighter
If only they were in my price range…
Photography
Welp, I’ve picked up the camera again. Check my Instagram feed. More details later, but here is a sampling of the photo vids I watched last month.
Italy on 35mm
“Street photography is creative freedom” | A Day with Chris Harrison
How to take Great Photos with Patience / Lake Garda on #35mm Film
Journals E28- Fuji XF10 Photography in the South Of France
Spain & Italy
Three weeks of film photography across Japan
Chasing Fall Color in the Eastern Sierra | Pentax 67
One Month Two Cameras
The Photo Dept.
“Afterlife” – Sharon Van Etten
New SVE music! We won’t get the album until February, making it the first 2025 album on my New Music list. For the first time, she collaborated with her band on writing songs rather than bringing songs to them to join her on. None of her magic gets lost in the process, at least on this track.
“Raleigh Arena” – Jim Nothing
Nothing’s album was one of four that came out the Friday we were in Denver I was interested in. It might be the best of that bunch. Now that we are into November, I will start giving Serious Attention to my Best Songs of 2024 list. Nothing has a song that is up for consideration.
“Changed Unchained” – Nadia Reid
SVE makes a comeback. Jim Nothing is from New Zealand. Put those together and you get the first new music in five years from New Zealander Reid! This has a bigger sound than her earlier songs that I love.
“Peaceful Place” – Leon Bridges
More mellow goodness from Mr. Bridges.
“Lost” – Soccer Mommy
I had to triple check to make sure this wasn’t Phoebe Bridgers.
“In The Living Room” – Maggie Rogers
Maggie never disappoints.
“Mr. November” – The National
Not about Derek Jeter.
“Cool It Now” – New Edition
I have vivid memories of a group of cute girls at Pittman Hills Middle School singing this in the hallway between classes one day and me realizing I need to learn more about New Edition. It’s kind of crazy that this was the biggest pop hit of their career until 1996, making it all the way to #4 on the Hot 100 while topping the Hot Black Singles chart. This was actually its second week in the Top 40, moving up to #30. Who knew in the fall of 1984 what a big part of my life Ronnie, Bobby, Ricky, Mike, Ralph, and Johnny would become.
A few sports thoughts, mostly about basketball.
KU Hoops
Much better performance Tuesday in the second exhibition contest against Washburn. Of course, they better have looked better against a D2 team. Hitting shots is always a good thing, and KU actually seems to have multiple shooters this year. They ran a little more of what you expect to see on the offensive end than they did against Arkansas. My man Flory Bidunga is going to really good, maybe as soon as next year.
Assuming Hunter Dickenson is 100% next week, the only thing this team seems to be lacking is an attacking wing who can finish. AJ Storr has that potential, but I haven’t seen it yet. Freshman Rakease Passmore definitely has that in his DNA, he just needs to learn how to apply it better. I think he is going to be one of those players who gets a little better every year and, suddenly, when he’s a senior, is an All Conference level performer.
I still need to do an accounting of KU’s crazy off-season. Maybe I’ll crank that out next week.
Pacers
It was far more nerve-wracking than it needed to be, but the Pacers got a big win over Boston last night. They had leads of both 24 and 21 points in the second half before completely falling apart and allowing the Celtics to force overtime. Pascal Siakam hit what felt like a season-saving 3 that clinched the win. 2–3 feels miles better than 1–4. Bennedict Mathurin also had an incredible game, scoring 30 off the bench. He might be making the leap, but I’m not sure he isn’t best suited to being the first reserve wing instead of moving back into the starting lineup.
Something is officially up with Tyrese Haliburton. His shot looks terrible. His defense is somehow worse than it was last year. There has to be a physical explanation.
High School Hoops
L’s new season is about to begin. CHS had a scrimmage last night against a pretty bad team. The Irish won the five-quarter event by a combined score somewhere in the range of 56–9. The score reset each quarter and I didn’t write each one down, so that’s a guess.
The coach hasn’t announced official rosters yet, but L did not get a varsity number on picture day. She was the tenth girl off the bench in the final varsity quarter last night, then played the first half of both JV quarters. She’s not super thrilled with how that worked out, but I think it’s the best thing for her long-term development. She needs to play to get better. That wouldn’t happen if she was #8 or #9 on varsity, just getting a few minutes here-and-there, often when someone ahead of her messed up and the coach needed to yell at them before sending them back onto the court.
We have two really good freshmen who jumped over L, and then one junior who has missed two years because of injuries is back and took another slot in the varsity rotation. That junior is still very rusty, and makes some bad mistakes at times. But she also has great instincts and made a couple incredible passes last night. L thinks she should be ahead of her, but I understand why the older girl got the nod.
We had a talk about how it was ok to be disappointed at not making the first varsity roster, and how she needed to use that as motivation to keep improving, to stay focused, and to show the coach that she made a mistake. The coach has also said she expects the rosters to be a lot more fluid this year than in the past, with the middle seven-or-so girls taking turns floating back-and-forth between JV and varsity depending on how they are playing, opponent, etc. It would have been really cool to make varsity as a sophomore out of preseason camp. She’ll still get her shot.
The good news is I think our JV will be better than last year. The top six are all sophomores who have played together a lot, really get along, and have fun while playing. Last night they were doing things like back-cutting defenders that they never did last year. Between the higher reps and a more fun JV experience, hopefully L gets over her initial disappointment and remembers this is a game that she only gets to play for three more years.
They start the regular season next Friday night. We have a terrible schedule in terms of travel this year, so I’ll be spending lots of time in the car the next three months.
Bonus Colts Content
I’m still a little surprised, but the Colts did it: they benched Anthony Richardson for Joe Flacco, with initial indications that it is not a temporary move.
As you would expect, the move has sent tongues wagging here in Indy. Richardson’s numbers have been truly terrible, and that is what the casual fan sees. Checking himself out of the game Sunday because he was gassed was the final straw.
But as Steven Ruiz showed on The Ringer, Richardson’s numbers aren’t as bad as they seem. He’s been extraordinarily unlucky in almost every measurable metric. Yes, he makes some really bad throws. But he also has the highest receiver drop rate in the league. I pointed out earlier this year that something about his passes seems hard to catch. The QB’s job is to put it on the receivers’ hands, though, and his are letting him down more than any other QB in the league. He also has the highest rate of being hit as he is throwing, and percentage of accurate passes defended.
Not all of that is statistical noise. Sometimes he takes too long to make a throw, thus the pressure. Sometimes he make passes that are on the money, but to a target that is covered and thus should not have been thrown.
The trap with a prospect like Richardson is that he HAS to play, no matter how bad the initial results are. He had limited reps in college, where he could physically overwhelm people and didn’t have to worry about doing the little things right. Adjusting to the NFL is difficult for almost every quarterback. It is even tougher when in addition to coping with the speed and skill level, more complex defenses, rules differences, etc., the prospect is also trying to learn the basics of the position.
The Colts have been on a treadmill of quarterback mediocrity since Andrew Luck retired. Drafting Richardson at #4 two years ago was a gamble on a once-in-a-generation physical talent turning into a long-term solution behind center. I totally get chasing a playoff run this year, especially when the roster is filled with guys in their primes who may not be around in three, four, five years if/when Richardson figures it out. But I’m also with Ruiz in that benching Richardson puts the bigger plan in jeopardy.
Bonus World Series Comment
I’m glad the Yankees lost. Especially in such a brutal fashion.
L and I stopped at Buffalo Wild Wings after her scrimmage last night to grab some food. For some reason despite there being a million TVs, we could barely see either the Pacers or World Series games. We could see, however, a TV that had MLB Network on, which was running its George Brett special. Right at the point when it covered the three straight losses to the Yankees in the ALCS. Hate that franchise.
Sometimes it is hard to articulate why you believe the things you believe, especially long held views. They become a part of who you are and the inflection points that led you to adopt those stances can be difficult to recall.
Take politics, for example. People our age have likely held the same views, or some version of a core set of opinions, for over 30 years now. Do we remember what it was that triggered our beliefs on how government should or should not behave? And do we generally vote for one party or the other based on habit without considering the decades-old reasoning behind it?
That got me thinking about how I feel government should function. In general, I believe that unchecked capitalism is evil. Pure capitalism insists that profit is more important than anything else. The best way to maximize profit is to reduce labor costs to the lowest possible level, to eliminate and/or ignore rules that add expense to manufacturing/providing a service, and so on. Ruthlessly trimming costs while selling at the highest price the market will allow, no matter the damage done to the workers or communities where companies are located or the environment.
Making money and accumulating wealth is fine. Doing so in a manner that intentionally splits society into Haves and Have Nots and prevents the Have Nots from changing the system so it isn’t aligned against them is not in the best interest of a healthy nation.
I believe one of the government’s main roles is to apply guardrails to the economy to keep unadulterated capitalism from trampling all over society. When companies get too big and control too much of the economy, they should be reigned in. When business owners jeopardize the health and safety of their workers as they seek higher profits, the government should be there to protect labor. Even when checked, capitalism will still chew up and spit out portions of the population who can’t keep up. The government should be there to support those who are left behind and aid them in their efforts to get back on track.
While I believe in the respect of the rights of the individual that is core to what makes America different, I also believe that in order to have a healthy, functioning society, we often need to take into account the collective over the individual. Especially in a nation of 350 million people. Not always, but often. Government should be the entity that cautiously herds a wide range of competiting interests into a logical collective that solves problems for as many people as possible. Even if sometimes that progress is not the most graceful of efforts.
Obviously I could spend paragraphs breaking down why I support this cause or am against that policy, but I feel like these are the bedrock principles most of what I believe in are built upon.
With that in mind, it should be no surprise that I loved Nilay Patel’s endorsement of Kamala Harris on The Verge this week. So many endorsements are about policy or personality. Patel mirrors my view on what the purpose of government in a modern society is – guiding collective action – and the candidate best suited to ensuring that continues to happen.
The bummer about the age we live in is that Patel’s piece is much more a takedown of the Trump campaign than a glowing endorsement of Harris. To be sure, he is a fan of Harris, even if he has some critiques of her campaign. It’s just the force she is up against is so overwhelmingly toxic that he spends the bulk of his time attacking it.
I especially liked Patel’s thoughts on how Trump and his supporters view collective action. Basically, the movement doesn’t believe that collective action events exist, or if they do, argue they are actually good things that should be left alone rather than threats that need to be addressed.
Trump doesn’t give a shit about any of this because he only cares about himself. He generally does not care to solve problems unless it benefits him personally, and the intellectual foundation of the MAGA movement that’s built up around him is the complete denial that collective action problems exist at all.
Trump simply cannot use the tools of democracy to run the country on our behalf. His brain does not work that way, even when it appears to be working. He is too selfish, too stupid, too cognitively impaired, too fucked in the head by social media — too whatever. He just can’t do it.
Patel goes on to explore how Trump fails the collective action test specifically on gun violence and vaccinations.
The Verge being a tech site, Patel also dives into the uncomfortable relationship between leaders in the tech industry and Trump. Specifically how these Tech Bros believe supporting Trump will allow them to race into the AI era without having to face consequences for whatever evils their experiments conjure up.
They would prefer to remake our country into a broken oligarchy where they have finally ended the free market and privatized our lives into an overlapping series of enshittified subscription monopolies, and they have taken to openly wishcasting what they would do with unchecked power.
I’ve tried not to read too much about this year’s election, as it tends to increase my blood pressure, make my heart beat funny, and generally make me feel bad. But I read Patel’s piece multiple times. I wish more people would.
A vote for Donald Trump is a vote for school shootings and measles
The Hobbit, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King – J.R.R. Tolkien
I’ve thought about re-reading The Lord of the Rings for several years and finally pulled the trigger. Which was dumb. Given how focused I am on nostalgia, memories, and anniversaries, I really should have tackled it last year, the 40th anniversary of the first time I read it. In fact, that’s how I spent the fall of 1983, working through these four books as a couple friends did the same. So much for symmetry.
I honestly can’t tell you what triggered me to finally jump in. I was waiting on several books from the library and had a lull. We have all the LOTR books in our one remaining bookcase, so I’m sure I had seen them at some point and they made an impression. On the last Saturday in September I checked to see if they were available via ebook at the library and most were.[1] I checked out The Hobbit and The Two Towers and put holds on the other two. Thus I snuck one book in between The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring but basically spent the last month pouring through these four classics.
This was at least my third time reading the series. There was the first time in seventh grade, a mid–90s re-read, and now. I’m not sure if I squeezed out another effort sometime between the first two.
So it had been 41 years since the first read, I’m guessing 27 or 28 since the second. Plus I saw the movies when they came out roughly 25 years ago. Naturally, as I worked through the books lots of details came back to me just before I got to those sections of the stories. I forgot how much influence classic Greek epics had on Tolkien’s writing, surely as much as traditional British writing.
As easy as it is to make fun of people who go all Star Wars on LOTR, they really are great stories. It was fun to pick up moments that have influenced more modern works. As I read The Two Towers I sure felt connecting points to the general arc of The Empire Strikes Back. When The Ring comes to its final fate, I immediately thought of the final moment of action in Die Hard. Plus plenty of general points that pop up in modern stories.
I’ve said many times how I am intrigued by the concept of sci-fi and fantasy, but really struggle to connect when I occasionally take a stab at those genres. I’ve always thought some of that was because of how well Tolkien crafted his worlds and stories, and that nothing else made sense to my mind. There is some general, fantasy silliness in his books, at least to me, the non-fantasy fan. But the stories do hold up well, other than some casual racism. I bet some uptight parents even think Tolkien was kind of woke for the moments when he had women assert that they had the right to fill the same roles as men. All that makes it worth devoting a month that could have been spent on other books working through stories I’ve read before.
My biggest criticism is there was too much detailed description of this mindless march or that one. Too much detailing of every tree and plant the Fellowship saw, or spinning out history that doesn’t have a great effect on the core story. So many names of kingdoms and blood lines. There was some juvenile laughter on my part about how often the Hobbits place their heads in each other’s laps to take a nap. The stories could be tightened up just a bit. But they are supposed to be epic quests against absolute evil attempting to take over the world; you have to allow some space for Tolkien to stretch shit out.
Now the question is will I watch the movies again? My To Watch list is probably longer than my To Read list. Right now it doesn’t look like Peter Jackson’s movies are on any streaming platforms we pay for. I would imagine we’ll either re-up with Max at some point, or they’ll land on Prime or wherever eventually and then I’ll load them into the queue.
- Old man eyes. I stick to my Kindle unless I have no choice. Especially this time of year when I can’t read outside very much in bright sunshine. ↩
These summaries are usually heavy on the sports. After a weekend like the one just passed, that is problematic. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, good happened for teams I follow over the past three days. Just a reminder that sports are terrible and I’m dumb for letting them hold such large sway over my life and mood. You people who waltz blissfully through your days without being affected by the result of a game have it right.
So, I’ll try to keep these brief.
KU Hoops Exhibition
No Hunter Dickinson, no Rylen Griffen, no Shak Moore. So you couldn’t expect too much facing a hungry Arkansas team in John Calipari’s first competitive appearance as the Hogs’ head coach. You know what, though? It would have been nice if the guys who did play didn’t, mostly, play like ass. If juniors and seniors weren’t totally out-played by freshmen and sophomores. If this more athletic lineup that could shoot actually looked athletic and hit some shots.
You can’t read too much into these exhibitions, especially when KU’s roster was limited and there was the added significance that this one had to the home crowd. And, honestly, I think Bill Self wanted the team to play poorly so he can show them how far they need to go. I guess we’ll find out in two weeks against North Carolina whether the message was received.
KU Football
Lucy + Charlie Brown = the KU football experience.
A dropped touchdown pass. Fielding a kickoff at the one yard line and stepping out of bounds, followed immediately by a safety and then a Kansas State touchdown thanks to a short field. A missed PAT. Not being able to get a first down in the closing moments, K-State kicking a long-ass field goal, then not being able to recognize/deal with the Wildcats blitzing on every down of KU’s final possession. Then, the saddest moment in recent KU football history: Jalon Daniels fumbling while valiantly-if-hopelessly scrambling to try to keep the game alive.
All of this was 100% predictable to anyone who has been a KU football fan for decades. In fact, we should start printing BINGO cards of random stupid shit just to track the impressive ways the Jayhawks find to blow games.
Of course what really sucks about all of this is Saturday’s game was right there to win. Change any two of those moments above, the Jayhawks break their 15-year losing streak to the Cats and maybe save their season. But it’s KU football and, well, you know…
That weird, winning percentage list of KU’s losses this year now shows that a team has a roughly one in 50,000 chance to go 0–6 based on the Jayhawks’ highest win probability moment in each game. Wild. And infuriating. KU has now lost by six, three, four, eleven, four, and two points.
Colts
Sunday might be the moment that broke the Anthony Richardson experiment, at least temporarily. It started with the usual stuff. A gorgeous, 69-yard TD pass squeezed in between over a dozen bad balls (He was 2–15 pasing in the first half). Easy throw after easy throw bungled, with the occasional beautiful ball downfield mixed in.
Then, in the midst of a key drive in the third quarter, after scrambling madly on consecutive plays, Richardson tapped his helmet and went to the sidelines before a third down play. Oh no, another injury.
But, wait, he wasn’t injured. He was just exhausted after running for his life on consecutive plays. So he checked himself out of the game.
Yeah, this is not going to go over well with Colts fans.
It didn’t matter that Richardson returned on the next series and threw three of the prettiest balls you will ever see, one broken up on a great play, the second dropped, the third caught and initially ruled a touchdown before review put the ball at the one. Folks here are going to see the wild inconsistency and add taking himself off the field like a middle schooler and lose whatever patience they had with Richardson.
The Colts have been losing close games. The playoffs should be in reach. Joe Flacco may not have the long-term upside AR has, but he also doesn’t miss the easy throws and make the huge mistakes the starter makes. Eventually the Colts will make the switch, it will likely be too late, they’ll punt the Richardson referendum down the road another year, and the front office will be facing some serious heat over their jobs in the winter.
The Colts have now lost by three, three, four, and two points.
Pacers
Whoa.
Destroyed by the Knicks Friday night. Not a surprise. You knew New York would be out for blood after last year’s Eastern Conference semifinals, in which the Pacers anhiliated them on their home court in game seven. Tyrese Haliburton scoring more than zero points would have been nice.
Then losing to Philadelphia, who was playing without both Joel Embiid and Paul George, at home Sunday. That’s a much bigger deal than losing to the Knicks in a revenge game. We had family over so I missed almost all of this one. Hali missed two free throws that would have tied the game late in overtime. He’s not off to a great start.
I am officially Concerned about the Pacers. They travel to Orlando tonight, not a team you want to face when you are struggling. Then they get Boston, at New Orleans, at Dallas. They better tighten shit up quick.
Fever Coaching Change
This isn’t necessarily a bad moment for me personally, but the Fever announced Sunday morning that they were not bringing coach Christie Sides back next year. She got a lot of heat early in the season, when the team looked disorganized and confused. But then she got a lot of credit when the team rounded into form and made a playoff run.
Normally I would think her dismissal had to do with player dissatisfaction.
However, the Fever hired a new president and GM since the team exited the playoffs. Because of that, I think this is more just a philosophy deal, a disconnect between Sides and her new bosses. Like half the league has fired their coaches in the past month, which seems a little weird.
IU
Oh, I guess I owe S’s Hoosiers some props. They destroyed Nebraska a week ago, while we were in Colorado, and that was the first moment I thought they were legit. Saturday, after hosting ESPN Game Day for the first time, they took care of Washington to go to 8–0 and sit tied for first in the Big Ten. An absolutely astounding turnaround. And in the perfect year, with the expanded playoff.
They travel to Michigan State this week, host Michigan next week, then have a bye before they go to Ohio State. Two-and-one and a home playoff game is very much in play.
Big Moments
It is sad that the two best sports moments of my weekend came from teams I don’t really care about.
Freddie Freeman’s 10th inning, walk-off, grand slam homer in game one of the World Series was an incredible moment. I was thankful I switched over just in time to see it live. Glad it happened to the Yankees, too.
Then Washington’s Hail Mary to beat Chicago Sunday was also fantastic. We had this game on, but with family over I could only keep one eye on it. Seemed kind of wild up until I was finally able to sit down and watch for the last minute or so, which took that wildness to another level. I legit screamed when Noah Brown caught the tipped ball for the win. Our neighbor is a Bears fan. I should check on him.
Halloween Fiestas
L and her man went to a party Friday night. She dressed as Catwoman, he as Batman. They were cute. They couldn’t stay long since she had practice early Saturday. I think they were both fine with that, as neither of them are into the party scene much at this point. I’m not a prude or anything, but I legit don’t understand how so many parents let high school kids go wild in their homes.
Saturday one of S’s sisters and her husband hosted their annual party, which is much more small kid centric than it used to be. Or at least our kids are bigger now so we’re not in the target audience of the gathering. We made an appearance, ate some chili, laughed at the little kids’ constumes, had a drink or two, then left when the pumpkin carving nonsense started. When our girls were the little ones that always seemed like when things went a little off the rails. A couple of our nephews were already trending towards problematic when we were walking out.
“Halloween I & II” – Cloud Nothings
Happy Halloween!
“Dance Now” – Girl and Girl
If I had gone into a coma in 1983 or 1984, woken up this week, and this was the first song I heard, I bet I wouldn’t have realized I just slept through 40-ish years. All kinds of Eighties goodness in here. Another great Aussie band to add to our collection. If S and I ever make it Down Under, she’s going to be bummed that I just want to go to clubs and watch indie rock bands.
“Serial Killer” – Sunflower Bean
Maybe I have Eighties on the brain this morning, but I hear some big mid-80s vibes in this tune, too.
“Baseball Bat” – French Cassettes
Happy World Series week! Also good fall-times music.
“Positively 34th Street” – Japandroids
The J’s farewell album came out last week while we were away. I’ve spun it several times this week and enjoy it. Definitely not to the level of their legendary Celebration Rock, but not many albums are. I do like how the second half of the album softens their sound just a bit, notable on this track. It’s not acoustic, coffeehouse music by any measure, and it still has that big push that fuels so many of their songs. But it’s only played at 7 or 8 instead of 11, which suits their age well.
“Happy Again” – Phantogram
New Phantogram tracks will always get run from me. This one, about being optimistic and embracing the day, seems oddly out-of-touch with the world we live in. But maybe in a couple weeks things will be happier and clearer than they are at the moment…
“Why?” – Red Giant
Talk about hard to Google, this band took some work. Then I laughed when I got their bio because every site that has written about them clearly just uses the band submitted info, as they all reference how leader Dave Simpson is a guitar prodigy and YouTube celeb, including the same number for his YT follower count. Anyway, this song about being bullied and bouncing back, is solid. It sounds like if one of those turn-of-the-millennium bands like Seven Mary Three or Fuel or whoever tried to make a Buffalo Tom song.
“Purple Rain” – Prince
Man, sometimes I am a complete idiot. I spend an entire year on a special project where I play videos from the greatest year in pop music, and somehow skip right over one of my favorite songs ever made. Now, in my defense, when I pick a video each week I’m only looking at the space between numbers 30 and 40 in that weeks Billboard Top 40. Thus, I missed that “Purple Rain” debuted in the Hot 100 all the way up at #28 the week of October 6, the same week Hall & Oates’ “Out of Touch” popped into the Top 40 in its second week on the chart.
Thankfully this week I finally checked out the video of Sturgill Simpson performing “Purple Rain” – guitar work is fine, I just can’t get onboard with that voice – and decided to seek out Prince performances. This is the first one I watched. It is WILD. I could easily do a 3000-word breakdown of it. Instead I’ll just share it with you and remind you that you can read more of my thoughts on Prince’s best song here.