A quick run through a busy weekend.
FNL
It was Cathedral’s homecoming week. They pounded their Jesuit brothers pretty easily, winning 42–21 with two of those scores against coming late in the game. I went for the first half but it was chilly, C’s back was bothering her (she’s been seeing a chiropractor), so we left after we watched one of M’s best friends since kindergarten win homecoming queen.
Next week is the big season finale: at Center Grove, who have lost one game – by one point in overtime to a team from Kentucky – in the past three seasons.
KU Saturday Experience
I haven’t watched ESPN Gameday in years. Neither for football nor basketball. I just hate the whole “panel of experts talking over each other” concept no matter what the setting. Gameday hasn’t felt fresh in years. Even when KU is involved during basketball season, I will record it and go back and watch the stuff directly related to KU later.
But Saturday, with the show making its first ever visit to Lawrence for football, I was glued to the TV for all three hours. I don’t know if the crowds were bigger, smaller, or the same as on other campuses, but it looked great on TV. Especially as the stadium began to fill up behind the set. The Booth isn’t a great venue to watch football – and thank goodness it might finally be on the verge of being made into something better – but it has always been a beautiful setting on sunny, fall days like Saturday. Even when the play on the field was terrible.
It was an unbelievable and unexpected moment for the school and program to shine after so many years of mistakes and horrible football. I don’t think any KU fan is kidding themselves into thinking the rebuild is even close to being complete. But hosting Gameday gave us a confirmation that things have finally changed, and better days are ahead.
As for the game…well, I only say the first half. L, of course, had a game that caused us to leave the house at halftime. The second quarter was brutal. Jalon Daniels fumbling on the one, TCU taking approximately eight seconds to go 99 yards and score, KU dropping a pass that would have converted a fourth down and put them in the red zone, and then Daniels suffering a shoulder injury that forced him from the game. I wasn’t too upset to leave the house because things sure didn’t seem promising for the Jayhawks. The Frogs looked so much faster and more physical on defense, and it felt like it was just a matter of time before the KU defense cracked under the pressure the TCU offense puts on you.
On the way to L’s game I heard Jason Bean come in and first tie the game, and then give KU the lead. What the heck is going on?!?!
As I sat and watched L play I followed the game on my phone. That third quarter seemed like an all-time doozy. Forty-two combined points after just 13 in the first half!
Like so many times in KU football past, the game came down to the inability to stop a score on one end and the inability to get one score on the other.
Perhaps if I watched the entire game I would have been more upset/disappointed with the result. I think not seeing a couple close calls go against KU on their final drive (or so I was told) certainly helped my mental state.
But, I walked away from the day feeling as positive about the program as I can remember. TCU is a damn good team, and we went toe-to-toe with them for 60 minutes. A couple bad-luck moments changed the outcome. Our savior QB got hurt and his backup came in and played even better, becoming the first KU QB in 14 years to throw four touchdown passes in a half. This is a game KU could have easily won without it being a fluke. And that’s not something you could say about this program against a quality opponent since 2008.
Progress, and I’ll hang my Jayhawk hat on that. Now the hope is that Daniels isn’t done for the season, that Bean can continue to be steady as long as he has to play, and that the team can find at least one more win to validate the season with a bowl game.
Kid Hoops
It was the final regular season game of L’s Back to School league. They played a younger team – I never figured out what age they were – and lost by two. This team was really good. They had these tiny girls who took 22-foot 3’s and hit them, plus a big girl three inches taller than our “tall” girls who got every rebound.
We had a sequence with about five minutes left in the game where we missed an open shot in the lane then gave up a layup and a foul to go down eight. The dad I was sitting by and I looked at each other, shook our heads, and agreed that was the game.
That lead stretched out to 10 before we made a valiant run. Three backcourt steals. Converted some layups. Forced two turnovers in the front court. We got it down to two points, with the ball, in the final minute. Our leading scorer got fouled and stepped to the line. She missed the first, hit the second, and then we had to foul to stop the clock. We lost by two but it might have been the best they have played in this league.
L didn’t play well on offense. She was 1–3 from the field and I credited her with five turnovers, although an official scorer might have placed the blame for one of those on her teammate. But she was good on D and got a couple big defensive rebounds when we were making that run.
Next week is the “tournament.” We got a break because the team we were supposed to play – which has been getting annihilated every week – already forfeited. So we are into the championship game of our bracket. From 2–6 to the championship game! What a turnaround!
The team she will play on through Cathedral for the next few months had their first practice on Sunday. They will start play in two weeks. The grind never ends.
MLB
I did not watch a minute of the playoffs so I have no comments. I did enjoy the various tweets from fans new to the playoffs on what a grinder they are for fans. Examples:
“Playoff baseball is like watching a loved one defuse a bomb.”
“Why watch playoff baseball when you can drink 6 pots of coffee and intentionally vomit instead.”
Yes, I remain mad at the game. But I also miss how October baseball can take years off your life.
TNF
I feel obligated to mention how horrible Thursday’s Colts-Broncos game was. I was rooting for a tie. I’ve decided these Colts stink, they aren’t going to get much better, so why not go for history and try to get as many ties as you can?