It’s been a busy and frustrating couple of weeks. And some of it is beginning to catch up with us.
The last two Sundays we’ve had torrential rains, which have wiped out soccer games each week. L. had her first make-up game last night (She scored two early goals, then none after that.) and M. has one tonight. Plus regular practices on top of that has us rushing around even more than normal. Throw in a Daisy Scout meeting, my two shifts at the school library, and this week has absolutely flown by.
I had another quality football game last Friday. I watched FHS win their fifth game of the year, getting an impressive road win over a team they had only beaten three times over the previous 19 years. I had the odd experience of hearing the coach say variations on his post-game comments four times. I caught part of his speech to his team, then listened in as he did a radio interview. I grabbed him next for a few questions for my story. Then, as I was driving home, he called into the state-wide scores and interview show where I heard him talk once more.
The coach is very young and in his first year at FHS. He has them playing good football and is full of enthusiasm. I have a feeling if he can get them winning consistently, he won’t be there very long. It’s kind of cool to get to see him in the early days of what could be a long and very successful career.
Other weekend football:
KU.
Ugh. Remember when I threw out the possibility that the Jayhawks could be 4-0 coming into last week’s Texas Tech game with a huge chance to make a statement? So much for that. The offensive line is so bad that it’s really hard to know if the team is better than last year or not. Jake Heaps rarely has time to throw, and when he does his receivers either can’t get open or can’t catch the ball. So I have no idea if he’s good or not.
The weak o-line has rendered KU’s terrific set of running backs nearly useless. And Charlie Weis can’t help himself not to make 3-4 wacky calls a game, always at the worst possible moment. All that keeps putting a defense that has improved on the spot to bail them out. You have to be able to score in the Big 12, no matter how good your defense is. It feels like the defense will make plays in the first half and then get rolled over in the second half for the next two months. But I guess two wins is a doubling of last year’s total, so that’s progress. Right?
All that has made the hype for Wiggins and his pals even more deafening, something I didn’t think was possible.
Colts-Seahawks.
Man, what a game! I was literally shaking for nearly an hour after the game ended from all the adrenaline pumping through me.1 The Colts just keep making plays, on both sides of the ball, when the result is in question. I’m still not convinced it’s the right thing to go to this balanced offense but I’m being swayed in that direction as it seems to be working. Now, if they can just get Trent Richardson running better. He almost looks too big to me, as if he’s bulked up to survive the NFL and that’s taken half-a-step from him. That trade will be discussed for years, but with Ahmad Bradshaw going out for the season, it makes even more sense.
Finally, I broke my losing streak and won my first fantasy game of the year last week! And I had to make a deal with the devil, picking up Phillip Rivers, to do it. But I won’t go 0-13 and I’m still in the running for the last-place money. Win-win.
There have been some great games in the MLB playoffs. Between all the other things going on, I wasn’t able to watch the quadruple header days in full. 2 But still, the Detroit-Oakland series has been incredible. Game three of the Boston-Tampa game was a classic. I hope the LCSes are as much fun as some of these games have been.
Finally, I sent a message to my local Cardinals fan friend just before St. Louis closed out Pittsburgh last night asking if his boys were allowed to stay up and watch. A few minutes later I got a response: a video of his seven-year-old in his baseball pants, a Cards hat, and no shirt, sitting at their keyboard, playing a perfect version of “Charge” on their keyboard. Duh-duh-duh-DUT Dah-dah. Charge! It looked like they were having a good time.
Maybe someday I’ll keep the girls up to watch the Royals close out a playoff series. Then again, since I dropped a big, fat F-bomb in front of them and their Cardinals buddies when Peyton threw his pick six in the Super Bowl three years ago, maybe it would be best to treat a Royals playoff game like an important KU game in March/April: the girls go to one part of the house with S. and I get the basement to myself.