Weekend Notes

It is a rainy, dark, dreary morning here in Indy. Staying up until midnight to watch the Colts lose on the final play of the game doesn’t help things. What better way to kick start the day/week than pour a cup of coffee and review how our weekend went?

HS Football

As expected, Friday was a complete walkover for CHS. They were playing SHS. Last year when these teams met, the Irish scored on the first play of the game, led 37-0 at half, and won 54-0. But this year’s SHS team was improved, 2-2 instead of 0-4 and scoreless on the season. Would it matter?

It did not.

CHS scored on the third play of the game, while S and I were driving to run some errands to prep for our Saturday plans. About 20 minutes later, as we walked out of our second stop, the Irish were up 35-0. By halftime it was 51-0 and I didn’t bother listening to the second half. This year the scrubs did not score and that was the final. Three straight wins with a trip to Dayton next week to face a team that beat them in the closing minutes last year.

Saturday Tailgate/Football

Our biggest plan for the weekend was to head to Bloomington to tailgate before the Western Kentucky - IU game. L brought one of her best friends, we picked up C from her apartment, and met a big group of old St. P’s friends who have the tailgating thing down to a science.

I have no idea how many people were there, I just know we were included on a spreadsheet that gets released every week that had 40 families listed. Now this is a spreadsheet they use for the entire season, so not everyone on that list was present. But a lot of us who are not on the list rolled in, too. The organizers left Indy at 6:30 AM to arrive at a meeting point where they could get in line for the tailgate area together, so when the gates open they can claim a spot together. This for a 4:00 PM kickoff.

More than enough food for all the people, plus randoms who rolled in. I forgot to take pics but it was a super impressive setup.

I haven’t figured out how to embed pictures within a post rather than at the bottom of this new platform, so scroll down to see our favorite element of the gathering, a Cignetti cigarette. Apparently it releases smoke when IU scores.

It was a lot of fun to catch up with a couple families from St P’s, one of which we hadn’t seen in 5-6 years. We ran into other friends, as did the girls. Funny how winning a little has turned Bloomington into THE spot to be on Saturdays. And that was true last year, before the national championship.

BTW, that’s the most common topic, as you would expect. The two dads I spent the most time talking to are not IU alums, but have had multiple kids go there, so have adopted the Hoosiers. Much shaking of heads and saying things like “I still can’t believe they won it.”

We visited some other friends a few tailgates over, the dad a Hoosier. He pointed to an old guy sitting near us and told me he had come over earlier and introduced himself. This gentleman said he was 92 and had season tickets for basketball and football since the 1960s. “Things have changed,” he said and then walked away.

Yeah, no shit they’ve changed.

The only downside to the day was the temperature. The heat index was 105°, and you felt every degree of it. We parked about a half mile away and had to drag our chairs, wagon, etc to the site, which included a couple small rises in elevation. I was completely soaked both coming and going.

We did not have tickets for the game, and L’s friend needed to get back to go to the Pitbull concert, so when the folks going into the stadium started packing up, we headed out. Kind of the way to do it. We were home in time to watch most of the game, IU struggling early but finally getting going for an easy win.

Obviously being in B-town meant I missed the KU game. I was trying to track the score, but with spotty cell service that wasn’t worth the effort. I saw it was nearly halftime and KU was up 7-3. Half an hour later I saw Arizona State was up 17-7. It wasn’t until after we got home I saw the horror KU made of the 90 seconds of playing time surrounding halftime that cost them the game. Man, I think Lance Leipold is a really good coach in most ways. But his KU teams have a knack for doing the dumbest things right before halftime and in the last two minutes of close games.

Seriously, a 17-yard punt 30 seconds before the half, and an immediate ASU TD pass? And then letting them run back the second half kickoff for a TD? I looked at the box score when we got home and could not believe the numbers. Just seeing those you would think KU had won easily. I confirmed with people who watched that KU’s D was actually really good, it wasn’t just a function of turnovers and miscues giving ASU short fields all day.

Right now it’s hard to see a conference win on the schedule. But maybe the offense learns how to hang on to the ball, the defense continues to be at least decent, and one of the other mid teams on the schedule arrives at KU week banged up, physically or mentally, and the Jayhawks can grab a couple. Not holding my breath, though.

In the evening I switched between the Michigan State - Notre Dame and LSU - Ole Miss games. Thankfully they were staggered by an hour. The Notre Dame game was not of the highest quality, but Sparty kept it interesting for three quarters. The Lane Kiffin Bowl, though, was fantastic. It had everything you want from a game as a neutral. Well, not a true neutral, as I like I imagine 95% of people outside Louisiana was pulling for Ole Miss. I was even annoyed when I saw stuff on ESPN Friday saying that they could not get blown out by LSU. They were ranked one spot lower than the Tigers! They were in the CFP last year where LSU was sitting at home. It wasn’t dumb to say LSU was the favorite but to act like it was a mismatch on paper was typical ESPN dishonesty.

So I was thrilled Ole Miss pulled it out late, after nearly pissing it away. Oxford, MS might have been the happiest place on earth late Saturday.

Sunday

With the Colts playing late, I was excited for whatever NFC North game(s) we got in Indy. I was thrilled when I saw it was Minnesota-Chicago, and that it was raining in Chicago! Old time, NFC North football!

Then the game kind of stunk. After scoring 159 - or 59 - points last week, the Bears could only manage one field goal. And they lost Caleb Williams late in the game. The Minnesota defense was great but their offense could only kick three field goals of their own. I guess a 9-3 game is, truly, classic NFC North football. Serves me right.

Like most of the rest of the country, we got Commanders-Cowboys for the late game. I was in the kitchen finishing dinner and half-watched as Washington totally botched the last play before halftime. Then I noticed Jayden Daniels was rolling around on the ground after the play. Then I heard the groan from the crowd when they saw the in-stadium replay. I should have known to look away instead of seeing his elbow bend the wrong way when Fox showed it to viewers at home. When Tom Brady screamed “OH SHIT!” he spoke for all of us.

Then, for some bizarre reason, Fox showed the replay way too many times, plus a close up still shot of his dislocated lower arm. Then on the halftime they showed it multiple times again, with sober comments like “We don’t want to speculate but it appears to be an elbow injury.” There’s rarely been a more obvious injury, I think it’s ok to say his elbow is trashed. And then they showed the replay at least twice during the second half.

WTF?!?!

It reminded me of another time replays were shown too often.

Finally, to wrap up the weekend, we had Colts-Chiefs.

The Colts looked great on their first drive but I assumed it would be like last week and that would be their sole high point of the night.

Silly me.

I’m not really sure how they did it, especially losing Alec Pierce in the first half and with Sauce Gardner going out late, but they got the game to overtime and then were maybe inches away from winning. If Daniel Jones lofts that ball to Laquon Treadwell just a little farther we might be talking about a fantastic upset.

Alas the Colts settled for a field goal with time on the clock, which meant the Chiefs would win. And they did.

I would assume Pierce is out for extended time. Keenan Allen was brought in to strengthen an extremely weak wide receivers room, and he faces a three-game suspension for getting a DUI his first week in Indy. Plus I’m pretty sure he’s washed up. The defense kind of played out of their minds Sunday and still gave up over 500 yards. Granted, it was on the road against the Chiefs. But I’m starting to think Lou Anarumo’s scheme is bad, and the talent within it not great.

Speaking of that, how had I never heard anyone say, until Cris Collinsworth last night, that Gardner is a terrible match for Anarumo’s system? Gardner’s skills are about 180° away from what Anarumo wants to do. And the Colts sacrificed two first round picks for him. They might end up being shitty this year, in a year when there is a deep class of quarterbacks in the draft, and will have no chance to get one.

It really is baffling how Chris Ballard still has a job.

As I said, this morning is a huge contrast to Saturday. It is 61° and has been raining for hours. It is not supposed to be above 70° until Thursday. The warmest day in the 10-day forecast is 75°. Mother Nature definitely flipped the switch.