Fall Break

A pretty boring break for us, as we have trips ahead of us.

M went up to Ball State to hang out with a friend of hers. Apparently they went to a few parties Friday night, but I tried not to hear too much about that.

Normally we get our flu shots over fall break but I couldn’t wrangle all the girls together at the same time to knock that out efficiently. The Walgreen’s nearest our house, which is where our insurance works, has temporarily stopped doing shots, so that’s an added bummer.

KU Football

As has been the case so often this year, I missed the best part of the game because of basketball. The part I saw Saturday against Baylor was pretty stinky. Seemed like Same Old KU in the first half. Then, as soon as I left the house, the Jayhawks rallied to at least make it interesting.

I guess the good thing is this team does not seem to quit, no matter how poorly they play in the first half. The bad thing is these first half holes have been dug in nearly every game.

The bye week comes at a good time. Seems like there’s a chance Jalon Daniels could be back in two weeks. A couple of the other injured players could use the extra week of rest, too.

But with the strength of schedule left, finding that sixth win is getting harder-and-harder.

Kid Hoops

L started play with her Cathedral team this week. They had only practiced twice, and several girls – including L – missed last week’s practice. So I figured the first week would be rough.

The fall league schedule is two games every other Saturday. The first two opponents were 7th grade teams from L’s travel program.

In game one we were up 9 midway through the second half, but the other team threw a trapping press at our girls that they couldn’t handle and they gave it all up, losing by two. Worth noting L was not on the court when they were blowing the lead. I’m not saying we win if she plays. I am saying she’s a better pure point guard than the girls who were turning it over every possession.

Game two was against a better team. It was never really close and we lost by 19. I think the coach realized her error in not playing L for that long stretch of the first game, as she played the entire first half then deep into the second half before getting her first break. Didn’t help much on the scoreboard but at least we got the ball across the ten-second line.

No concerns about the play. They need more time to work together. They were also missing a couple girls Saturday. I don’t know how good those girls are but it would have been nice to have nine bodies instead of seven when playing back-to-back.

Of the girls that were there, L has played with four of them. Her best friend is on the team along with three girls they played with last winter. One of the new (to us) girls is big, pushing six-feet. She can really rebound and affect shots. But she’s like a lot of girls her size, her age: she’s very awkward and it’s a real mess when she tries to score. The offense, what there was of it, was not very focused on getting her the ball. I think the coach should find ways to set her up for easy looks as they get deeper into their time together.

Colts

Yep, shitty again. Or at least Matt Ryan is. I’m afraid he’s toast and the Colts were, once again, snookered into hitching their franchise’s fortunes onto the performance of a player who is well past his prime. Even when he gets time, his throws look weak and off-target. Maybe he’s just hurt and can be salvaged but it’s really hard to win in the NFL when you have a creaky QB playing behind a line that struggles to protect him.

Crazily the Colts only have one divisional game left on their schedule. If they get their shit together they are going to need lots of help to win the division.

Weather

Phenomenal weather the past few days. A little breezy, yes. But up near 80 during the day, not too chilly at night. These are the days you wish for this time of year. If only we could get a little rain. Indy is one big pile of blowing dirt, dust, and leaves, and everyone’s cars look disgusting. It’s not worth taking them to the carwash, because within five minutes they’ll be covered in a thick film of muck again.