Friday
L had the day off after our DC trip (more to come on that tomorrow), although I still had to get up and take C to school. Why did I have to take her? M was on her senior retreat Tuesday through Friday.
Friday evening was the welcome home ceremony for the seniors. That was interesting, as all the kids (40-some) had to stand up and say something about their experience. A few of the speeches were super emotional. Some were funny. But most were about how good the week was, how they connected with people they didn’t know well before, etc.
This stretched out long enough that I didn’t have any interest in going to Cathedral’s football sectional opener against Lawrence North, who had a really talented young quarterback but not much else. M did run home then head back to the game. It was a tense one. CHS was down 10 in the first half, jumped ahead by 10 in the third quarter, but only led by two with LN driving late before they forced a fumble and got a late score to win by nine. Survive and advance, I guess.
Kid Hoops
L had two CYO games this weekend.
Saturday they played St S, a team they torched in a preseason scrimmage back in August. L and her best friend both scored about 20 points in that game. We knew St S was missing a girl or two that day. This game was not a repeat of that scrimmage.
You could tell our girls hadn’t played or practiced in nearly two weeks. It took a long time to get comfortable on either end, we had two players get three fouls in the first half, and once the girls remembered the plays, they were ice cold from the field. We were down six at half, 12 at the end of three. Not looking good.
We started pressing and trapping in the fourth quarter and the girls ripped off a 13–0 run to steal the win. L played like crap on offense – she had six points on about 3–12 from the field, 0–3 from the line – but she had two steals, forced two more turnovers, and a couple of assists in that run. The win moved our record to 3–1.
Worth noting that this was the first week that her game(s) did not coincide with a KU football game. KU being on a bye week made that easy. But, naturally, this game was played at 9:00 AM, when it did not interfere with any college football games. Next week her games will again fall in the exact time KU is playing.
Sunday we faced a team that was 2–2, St O. Based on scores, I expected a close game. We got that.
St O just killed us on the boards and grabbing loose balls. While we were one-and-done on the offensive end, they were getting 3–4 chances on each possession. It felt like we were down 5–7 the entire game. But we got it to three late and L hit a 3 from the top of the key to tie it. Seconds later she stole the ball at mid-court and got fouled on her layup attempt. She hit one of two free throws to give us the lead.
They came down and hit a shot to re-take the lead. On the next possession L had a great look from behind the arc that rimmed out. St O knocked down a few free throws and we lost 32–28. L finished with a team-high 10. The coaches and I were lamenting our inability to grab any loose ball afterward.
Tuesday we play the undefeated, first place team. Hoping we can keep that one close.
Colts
The team that can’t get out of their own way. During the week they benched Matt Ryan and elevated Sam Ehlinger as the starting QB. Ehlinger only fumbled once and didn’t throw any interceptions Sunday, so that was an improvement over Ryan. He wasn’t all that special otherwise, though. His fumble came at a key moment, as did Jonathan Taylor’s later in the game. This team LOVES to give the ball away deep in the other team’s territory.
Indy native and Cathedral alum Terry McLaurin made a fantastic catch on an under-thrown ball that setup the winning touchdown for the Commanders. At least Carson Wentz wasn’t the winning QB.
It is starting to feel inevitable that the Colts coaching staff and front office will be cleaned out after this season. I think Frank Reich is a good coach, if perhaps too reluctant to move away from under-performing players. Chris Ballard has done a lot right as general manager. But this team should be better than its record, and some key moves the past three years have failed to deliver expected results. The pass that Reich and Ballard got for Andrew Luck’s sudden retirement can’t cover their failures anymore.
Pacers
Who knew the Pacers might be the best team in the city when the calendar flipped to November?
My interest in the NBA has been increasing lately, mostly because I found a few good podcasts that I’ve added to my gym playlist. I really figured this would be a lost year for the Pacers. They are trying to rebuild, they seem perpetually bit by the injury bug, pretty much everyone knows that Buddy Hield and Myles Turner will be traded at some point, and any minor injuries will be used as excuses to shut players down in March in order to squeeze out every loss possible to increase their lottery odds.
The Pacers swept a road back-to-back over the weekend, including an embarrassing (for the Nets) win in Brooklyn Saturday. Rookie Bennedict Mathurin seems like the real fucking deal, dropping 32 on the Nets and averaging 21 a game coming off the bench. After losing an important game to the Spurs – another team expected to be deep in the lottery next spring – the Pacers have won three of five. Through seven games the Pacers have the same record as the Warriors. They need to stop winning!
I’m sure this team success won’t last. But at least with Mathurin and Tyrese Haliburton and a few other young guys the team is fun to watch. I hope they won’t regret these early wins when lottery time rolls around. They need the maximum number of ping pong balls in the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes.