D's Notebook

Month: February 2024 (Page 2 of 2)

Reader’s Notebook, 2/13/24

February 13, 2024 /


Sing Her Down – Ivy Pochoda
I read this book while I was sick. Maybe the infection or virus or whatever was plaguing me combined with a lack of sleep and cold meds kept me from appreciating it. Because I did not get this book at all.

It is the story of two women who are released from prison during the Covid lockdown and travel from Arizona to LA. They run into some troubles and get the attention of an LA cop who has her own issues she’s dealing with. And, well, I’m not sure what else to say about it.

I didn’t get Pochoda’s style, didn’t like her dialog, didn’t understand any of the journeys the characters were on. I kept waiting for some “Aha!” moment that brought it all together and illuminated it for me, but that never came. I remember this getting good reviews so, again, I’m going to chalk it up to my illness and not to any actual deficiencies in the story.


Music Is History – Questlove
Man did I love this book. Questlove uses his life as a map for tracing various developments in music history. Beginning with his year of birth 1971 – mine too! – each chapter tackles a broad issue, using songs from both that year and others to flesh out that idea’s significance. He examines sampling, Blaxploitation films and the music that came from them, what should be correctly categorized as funk, political music, following lines of influence between artists and genres, the meaning of stardom, choosing your own path in the music world, the rise of hip hop, and so on.

I dig Questlove’s worldview and his writing. But, again, I read this while sick, and I fear his points didn’t stick with me as much as they would if I read it next week or next month. With that in mind, I may revisit it at some point.


The Peacock and The Sparrow – I.S. Berry
I ran across so much praise for this novel in various outlets. Much of it was from people who, like I.S. Berry, had served in the CIA or other intelligence services. They all agreed that the novel presented a hyper-realistic accounting of what it is like to be an agent in another country.

That’s cool and all, but as someone who has never been a spy,[1] should that matter to me? A good story is a good story, and since I don’t know what it is like to be operating in a foreign land, I can be tricked pretty easily into believing whatever the author wants me to as long as their story isn’t too outrageous. Good writing and a solid story are generally enough for me. Having people who claim to know what it’s really like suggest it comes close to reality is just a cherry on top.

That’s a thought I had while reading this book, which was indeed excellent. A CIA officer who is near retirement finds himself in the midst of an uprising in Bahrain during the Arab Spring of 2011–13. His official mission is to liaise with a member of the underground opposition to gauge their strength, intentions, and possible ties to Iran. As he discovers that the government was behind a bombing officially attributed to the rebels and that the US is illegally supplying weapons to the government, he grows disillusioned. He also falls in love with a local along the way (naturally), making him even more suspicious of the CIA’s aims. He ends up making a series of decisions that clear his conscious but have massive implications for the fate of Bahrain.

There are a couple of “twists” in the story. I put that word in quotation marks because I don’t think they are supposed to be big surprises. They become more expected and obvious the deeper you get into the book. I don’t think Berry’s goal was to shock the reader, but rather show how easily people can be deceived and take actions suggested by other. Even the most jaded intelligence service lifer.

  1. As far as you know.  ↩

Weekend Notes

February 12, 2024 /

Super Bowl

Most years I watch the Super Bowl fairly closely, tracking the game, commercials, and halftime show with an idea of being able to take an active role in whatever the post-game discourse is. Last night I sat on the couch for four-plus nearly uninterrupted hours, but was often letting my attention drift to other things.

So no deep takes today. A game that was super boring turned super exciting in the fourth quarter and overtime. No 49ers fan will ever agree if you tell them points after are not important. The Chiefs ascend to the game’s pantheon, and Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes do so for the coaching/quarterback elite of the elite levels as well. The Niners, once one of the most blessed franchises in the game, have a legit argument for least blessed (Super Bowl division, of course). And now ESPN can start forcing the draft down our throats for three months…

I had no idea about the clock rule in overtime, how the teams were basically playing the first quarter and there was no reason for either team to be using time outs late in the extra frame. That seems super dumb to me. It’s overtime; there should be some sense of urgency to score. Glad that didn’t end up being a factor because then we would have heard about it endlessly for the next six months.

Usher’s halftime show? Solid. The grumpy old man in me continues to be bummed that these shows have become more about spectacle than performance, and often a spectacle that is much better viewed inside the stadium than on TV. Usher did the right thing trying the thread the needle between dancing his ass off without relying exclusively on recorded tracks. To me, though, that’s almost more distracting as he would sing a handful of lines then drop out so he could dance again. I know that’s a hell of an expectation and there’s no best way to do it.

Once again the big takeaway is that no one did it better than Prince, and I’m not sure anyone ever will.

Jayhawk Talk

Not the best week for my Jayhawks. Blew a double-digit lead on the road for the second time this season, losing in overtime to a Kansas State team that often seemed only mildly interested in winning Monday night. Seriously, there were a few stretches where both teams played more like middle schoolers, kicking the ball back-and-forth in the dumbest ways possible.

Johnny Furphy, who was apparently sick, didn’t hit a 3 for the first time since he entered the starting lineup. Hunter Dickinson and KJ Adams missed a handful of relatively easy shots that could have kept KSU at arm’s length. Dajuan Harris again had several inexplicable turnovers. And Kevin McCullar was truly bad, forcing bad shots and missing four free throws along the way.

Guess those free throws should have been a clue something was up. McCullar shocked KU fans Saturday morning on ESPN Gameday when he said he might not play that evening against Baylor. Might Not turned into Definitely Won’t as game time got closer, and our sphincters got extra tight.

Fortunately KU’s defense was very good, Baylor’s offense was very bad, and the Jayhawks survived a truly terrible final minute to hold the Bears off. I was glad I missed the second half so those final 60 seconds didn’t ruin my entire night.

Put that all together and I’ve decided KU isn’t winning another road game this year. That’s not a super bold statement, as they have road games at Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Baylor, and Houston, with only OU being a game KU might be favored in. I’m assuming McCullar doesn’t play tonight in Lubbock. Who knows if Harris, who rolled his ankle badly Saturday, will. Furphy still seemed sick Saturday and Jamari McDowell didn’t play because of illness.

The Big 12 title is probably out of reach, as much because of strength of remaining schedule as KU not being able to win a road game. KU has five games left against ranked teams while Houston and Iowa State have just three. Unbalanced schedules suck.

With KU’s road woes, I’ve reached the point where I just hope the Jayhawks can win out at home and then be completely healthy in mid-March. Finishing in the top four of the Big 12 likely means nothing lower than a three seed in the NCAA Tournament. When healthy, KU can beat anyone and go on a run. If they are still banged up in mid-March, they could easily lose to whatever 14-seed they are matched up with.

Other College Hoops Thoughts

Baylor is starting to seem like a lite version of Kentucky. They sign a top ten kid every year, and have multiple freshmen who are expected to leave after one season in Waco. Most nights they have way more raw talent than the teams they are playing. Some nights those young guys are all locked in and look amazing. More often one or two of them are floating through the game, or are overwhelmed by playing against older, more experienced players, and the Bears look disjointed and lost. Not that I’m complaining. Scott Drew is a phony putz and I enjoy seeing him flail around, trying to get those young pieces to work together.

I have no love for Baylor, but it was a true bummer seeing how much Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua struggles after his knee injury a couple years back. He was a breath-taking athlete and seemed poised for stardom when he wrecked his knee. He seems like a shell of his former self, but at least he’s out there still making an effort.

Saturday night was also the second Indiana-Purdue game of the year. The Boilermakers beat the Hoosiers by a combined 41 points in their two games this season. Woof.

I’ve always been strictly neutral in the rivalry since I moved to Indiana. I generally root for whatever is the funniest outcome. Right now Purdue spanking IU is the funniest result, because IU fans are not happy. They are sick of Mike Woodson. They are sick that they would miss the tournament if the brackets came out today. They are sick of the national media fawning over Zach Edey and Matt Painter. They are sick that while they still have five more national championships than Purdue, the last one was nearly 40 years ago and doesn’t mean a thing to most recruits. I think they are also preemptively sick that this might be the Purdue team that finally doesn’t fuck up in March and at least gets to the program’s first Final Four since 1980.

Of course, I watch all this with a healthy dose of worry. IU has never fully recovered from firing Bobby Knight, even if they weren’t the same power in his final 5–6 years as they had been the previous 20. Bill Self is going to retire one day. Maybe someone seamlessly slides in and keeps the airplane aloft, the way he did when he replaced Roy Williams. But IU is a big, fat warning sign that sustained success should never be taken for granted in college sports.

Finally on the college hoops tip, I watched all of the Iowa-Nebraska women’s game Sunday. That was highly entertaining, with Caitlin Clark doing Caitlin Clark things for three quarters until the Huskers shut her down and erased a 14-point deficit to win in the closing seconds. We are going to the Iowa-Indiana game next week and L is looking forward to it.

Props to the Wall Street Journal for pointing out that not only does Lynette Woodard have the true women’s college basketball scoring record, but how the NCAA screwed her and a generation of female athletes when they reluctantly took over women’s sports in the early 1980s.

Clark is going to blow by Woodard’s record a week or two after she breaks the “official” NCAA mark. Hopefully Woodard gets a little more love from the national media in that interim.

Woodard was the first famous athlete I saw up close. When I was visiting an uncle who went to KU and lived in the same dorm as her, Woodard sat a few feet away from us in the cafeteria. I was astounded that she had like four trays of food. I couldn’t wait to get to college so I could get four trays of food at lunch! I also sat by her on a flight about a decade ago. But since I don’t talk to famous people, I didn’t say a word to her. Idiot.

Date Night?

Finally, we went out to dinner with friends Saturday. While eating I noticed something odd at a table near ours.

A couple sat there eating. It was a four-top table, and they were seated so they were next to each other rather than facing each other. They were young, attractive, and looked to be in love; good for them.

However I eventually noticed that the guy had an AirPod in his left ear. And he wasn’t saying much. Odd.

I shifted in my chair so I could see his partner and she had an AirPod in her right ear. She wasn’t talking, either. Very odd.

As much as was acceptable I kept glancing their way. They seemed to be looking at their table. This was during the IU-Purdue game so I wondered if they were watching it on a phone/tablet. Maybe it was hidden, but I couldn’t see a device on their table, and they never seemed to be reacting positively or negatively as you would when watching a game.

Even odder, at one point the guy leaned over, wrapped his arm inside his partner’s and they kind of snuggled into each other as they focused on whatever they were focused on.

Mega odd.

It was crazy strange to me that they chose to probably drop $150 on a dinner for two when they didn’t talk the entire time and spent their time watching/listening to something via AirPods.

Friday Playlist

February 9, 2024 /

An extra-stuffed playlist this week. There’s been a good run of new music, plus a lot of Other Stuff that deserves inclusion.

“Blue Skies” – Finnoguns Wake
The best piece of music I’ve heard so far this year is Finnoguns Wake’s four-song EP. Every song is a ripper.

“Lose” – Boeckner
Daniel Boeckner has been in several bands over the years, most notably Wolf Parade, Handsome Furs, and Divine Fits. This is his first solo single. It sounds exactly what I would expect it to sound like.

“What’s Love” – Empress Of featuring MUNA
This is a real, real good song.

“Revelator” – Phosphorescent
Matthew Houck has had mixed levels of success since his amazing 2013 album Muchacho, which featured the legendary “Song For Zula.” Which is understandable. It’s hard to follow up moments like that. For the first time I can recall since then, this song has grabbed my full interest. Probably because it lands in a similar sonic space to “Song For Zula.”

“Solace of You” – Living Colour
In the past couple weeks I’ve run across a couple things – one a podcast, the other a chapter within a music book – that referenced Living Colour. Which led to me listening to their first two albums this week. This remains my favorite of their songs.

“The Rat” – The Walkmen
Last week marked the 20th anniversary of The Walkmen’s Bows + Arrows album. It was a giant of its era and is one of the albums that helped me find a new musical home as sounds were changing in the early 2000s. Back in those days I would occasionally make mix CDs for friends. This song was a staple on them. It qualifies as a dreaded Blessing/Curse record. It is one of the greatest songs of its era. Which also made it impossible to ever match, pressure the band struggled with until they broke up. When they re-formed last year, this song sounded as good as ever.

“Punk Rock Girl” – The Dead Milkmen
Cult artist Mojo Nixon died this week. I don’t know that I ever listened to a Mojo Nixon song. Like I’m guessing 99% of my generation, this song is the only reason I had any idea who he was.

“Kick Out The Jams” – MC5
Also passing this week was Wayne Kramer, guitarist for MC5, one of the most important bands in American rock history. If you know an MC5 song, this is it.

“Footloose” – Kenny Loggins
The Footloose soundtrack was one of the biggest albums in one of the biggest years in music history. It spent nearly two months in the top spot on the Billboard album chart. It ended the year as the ninth biggest selling album, and highest selling soundtrack, of the Billboard year. Part of that was thanks to a fun movie, of course. And to six Top 40 singles, three of which cracked the top ten and two of which hit #1. This is the song that started it all. It debuted in the Top 40 at #36 the week of February 11. Two months later it would spend three weeks at #1. It is probably the reason that Kenny Loggins was included in the USA For Africa lineup. If you have Netflix you may have seen him in the new documentary about “We Are the World.” Oh, and that Ren McCormack had some moves.

Thursday Links

February 8, 2024 /

I meant to post these yesterday and got sidetracked by this-and-that. Thus Wednesday links become Thursday links.

As someone who dabbles in obsessive, esoteric pastimes, this article fascinated me. I know I occasionally get into weird little spaces where I am beyond consumed by a particular topic, but I’m pretty sure that has never gotten in the way of my relationships with friends and family. It seems to me that the payoff in this story was not worth the cost along the way, both monetarily and personally.

You probably know a Ken Fritz. Maybe you are a bit of one yourself. Prosperous mid-century America produced a lot of Kens. The kind of people who gave their all to their hobbies — bowling, gardening, woodworking, stamp collecting — and refused to pay somebody else to manifest their dreams for them.

He spent his life building a $1 million stereo.

Speaking of obsessions, I have a couple friends who are really into Air Jordans. They insist that despite what this piece suggests, prices haven’t dropped all that much, but would appreciate it if they did.

“Somebody who is 18 years old doesn’t know the brand because MJ ~laced up the Concord 11s~ when he came back to the NBA. They know the brand because Jordan shoes have recently sold out or have otherwise been very hard to buy.” In other words, young people know Jordan’s shoes. They know the formally elegant Jumpman logo. But they may not know much about the man himself.

Air Jordan Is Finally Deflating

I’m not a big car guy, but I do have a short list of cars I would chase if I had the funds to do so. There are realistic ones, like simply upgrading to an Audi Q8. If we didn’t have to put three kids in college and I had an serious income of my own, I would jump up to an Audi SQ8 Sportback e-tron or RS e-tron GT. Take another leap, say we won the Powerball, and I would order a heavily-customized Aston Martin DB12.

However, the car that has always been coolest to me is the Ferrari Daytona Spyder that was featured in the early years of Miami Vice. I know I read a lot about the car back when the show aired, but I can’t recall if I knew that the car used in the show was actually a replica built on a Corvette frame. Crazy!

The Story Behind the 1972 Ferrari 365 GTS/4 Daytona Spyder in Miami Vice

Finally, all of these are good, some of them are incredible. S and I both lost it over the “I’m the dumbest person at work…” one.

Men Explain Why They Prefer Low-IQ Wives

January Media

February 6, 2024 /

Movies, Shows, etc

Fargo, season five
I loved this season, it is right up there with season two as my favorites in Fargo’s TV run. There were a couple small moments that bugged me which kept it from being a straight A, although after listening to an interview with creator Noah Hawley they made a little more sense.

As always, almost every performance was spectacular, but Juno Temple and Jon Hamm were the clear stars. Temple’s Dorothy was filled with an uncontainable energy for survival. Hamm was brilliant as the evil “America’s Sheriff” Roy Tillman. He radiated pure rage. It’s also amazing how an accent done properly can elevate an actor’s work.

A-

Love Notes to Newton
A quirky film about one of the quirkiest products Apple ever made. I didn’t love some of the production choices but it was still a fun look at the life, death, and semi-resurrection of the Newton.

B

Emily the Criminal
I’ve been thinking about ways to spend my free time. Light credit card fraud was one idea. I’m moving it to the top of the list after seeing how well it worked out for Audrey Plaza in this movie. It was fun to see her play a different kind of psychopath.

B+

Barbie
Family movie night. Delightful, hilarious, both overtly and subverted political, skewers modern society yet is a strikingly positive movie, and is surprisingly touching at times. Plus almost every scene has Margot Robbie in it. Not many complaints.

A-

The Falcon and The Snowman
An 80s spy movie about the 70s. I remember this being released to a lot of hype then kind of being a dud. Turns out ticket buyers didn’t like it but critics did. It was one of the first times Sean Penn played a truly unhinged character. Timothy Hutton is a little over the top, but his performance fits the kind of old-timey vibe of the film. Lori Singer is stunning in her brief moments on screen. It’s an interesting story, based on a true tale of two friends who sold US intelligence to the Soviets. It feels very dated, though, mostly because of the technology of the actual film. The sound and lighting seem primitive compared to today. The colors are muted, and not because of artistic choices. Times have really changed.

B

Curb Your Enthusiasm, season nine
Fatwa!

B

Kingsman: The Secret Service
I pulled up a list of movies to watch if you are into James Bond and this rated pretty highly. I didn’t know until about an hour into it that the movie’s roots are in a comic book series. That might have eased some confusion I had in that first hour. I ended up enjoying the bawdy, sarcastic, satire-ish, escapism but it took me awhile to get there.

B

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood
I’d been meaning to re-watch this since last summer, when I read Tarantino’s novelization of it. I finally did, and in maybe the worst way possible: I stumbled across it on FX one night, recorded it, and watched it in bits and pieces over the next three weeks. FX doesn’t edit much, by the way.

Like my first time, B+ for the movie, A+ for Margot Robbie.

The Super Mario Brothers Movie
We watched our four-year-old nephew one night and chose this to keep him occupied. He loved it, but he also told us about his day at daycare and all about his basketball team during the show, so I wasn’t super focused.

B-ish?

Skyfall
Last month was Casino Royale. This month the other contender for best Daniel Craig Bond movie. I feel like I’ve gone back and forth a couple times, but I’m sticking with CR as #1 for now, with this close behind.

A

Only Murders In The Building, season one
A slow, wacky build to a delightful ending. Since our family was in the midst of its Disney Channel days when Selena Gomez first became a star there, it’s really hard for me to view her as an adult. And would she really hang out with Steve Martin and Martin Short? I dig those beautiful New York apartments, though.

B+

The Outpost
When the last roughly 45 minutes depict a single firefight with the Taliban, I think it’s safe to call a movie “intense.”

B+

Shorts, YouTubes, etc

Sears 1982 Christmas Holiday Season
A bunch of B-roll and a bit of an ABC news report about shopping during the 1982 holidays. I love the shots of the kid playing Intellivision in the department store. In the early ‘80s us video game degenerates always knew where the Ataris, etc were hidden in the Jones Store, Dillard’s, etc and you could sneak a few games while your mom shopped. On the good days no one else was around and you might knock out half an hour of play before you had to leave.

Atari Home Computers – Kiosk Presentation
Coincidentally I came across this via another source. It is a truly amazing look at the world of 40-some years ago. As a fellow computer enthusiast said, this feels more like it’s 200 years old.

Cologuard – SNL
Funny shit, literally.

Building the ultimate Tudor BB54 Big Crown
I’m pretty sure I’ve talked a little about how I’ve gotten into watches in recent years. A feed I follow suggested this vid, where for some reason they take a roughly $4000 watch and make a few changes so it resembles a different watch.

Running 220km in the footsteps of a murderer, part 1
Running 220km in the footsteps of a murderer – Part 2
A new Beau Miles series!

Felicien Kabuga: The man behind Rwanda’s hate media
The Rwandan Bishop Who Incited Genocide
After reading Charles Cumming’s Kennedy 35, I fell into am internet rabbit hole reading, and in some cases re-reading, pieces about the Rwandan genocide. Which led to watching videos like these.

Weekend Notes

February 5, 2024 /

Last week was pretty much a lost week for me. I could never shake my cold. In fact, it kept getting worse. I thought I had turned a corner Friday before my stomach and head started hurting in the evening. I woke up Saturday feeling even worse. I ate some cereal, took some meds, and passed out on the couch for another three hours. Sunday morning I again thought I was feeling better. Then I woke up after an unexpected nap of 90 minutes. I just can’t get rid of this congestion. As I try to clear the cobwebs Monday morning my head still feels full of various fluids over a week after they first made their presence known. If I didn’t have a haircut this morning, I would probably be crawling back into bed.

I say it was a lost week because I barely left the house. I went to the grocery store a couple times. I picked L up from practice Monday and Tuesday. I went to her game Wednesday. And that was about it. Otherwise I just laid around the house, bundled under my blanket all week.

Maybe this week will be better.

Weather

Thursday was February 1. That was the first day we saw the sun here in Indianapolis in 10 days. It also got up over 50. I walked out to get the mail that afternoon and had that false sense of imminent spring that can come this time of year.

It’s one thing for that to happen on February 25th. It’s another on the freaking first of the month, when spring is still six-to-twelve weeks away.

We might get close to 60 a couple days this week, but there is snow in the forecast next week.

I’m just saying I wouldn’t mind an early spring.

HS Hoops

Friday night I watched the big CHS sectional semifinal on the computer. It was #9 Lawrence North, who beat the Irish on Wednesday, vs. #1 Lawrence Central. LN led by 11 late in the first half, then gave up a 22–2 run that bridged halftime. LN fought back and got as close as three a couple times, but LC won by seven. LC won the next night, too, capturing only the second sectional title in school history. They hadn’t won a sectional GAME in 20 years before Wednesday. Not sure how you go from that to 22–1 in a year, but that’s exactly what they’ve done.

There are five teams that CHS played this year that are still alive.

The highlight of the game for me was that the wrong team inbounded the ball to start the second half, and the refs had to re-start the half. I say this was a highlight because the teacher who normally runs the clock/possession arrow at CHS is notorious for talking too much and having the arrow pointed the wrong way. It’s not an every game occurrence, but it’s happened at least five times this season. Once he had the arrow wrong, they caught and corrected his error, then seconds later there was another held ball and he again forgot to switch the arrow. Come on, man!

It was nice to see he’s consistent and does it in non-CHS games, too.

Jayhawk Talk

I thought about putting this off until tomorrow. Saturday’s performance was so good, though, that I didn’t want to risk not being able to give it proper credit if the Jayhawks drop a turd in Manhattan tonight.

So…

OOOOOOOOH YEEAAAHHHHHH!!!

A good, old fashioned, ass kicking of an elite team in the Phog!

That was KU’s best performance of the season. Not only was it against the best defense in the country. It was against a historically great defense, one that was poised to set records for defensive efficiency. And the Jayhawks sliced them up for 40 minutes, shooting nearly 70% for the game. SEVENTY PERCENT!!!!! They scored more points in the first 35 minutes of the game than any team had scored against Houston all season, including overtime games. Even the area where KU struggled – 18 turnovers – was more about them throwing the ball out of bounds for no reason than anything Houston was doing on defense.

It was just the latest entry in the Magical Saturday Big 12 Games In Allen Fieldhouse catalog, one that the kids who were in the stands Saturday will recall fondly the rest of their lives.

The funniest part of how easily KU handled Houston is that most KU fans – including me – had been extremely worried about this game for a couple weeks. Houston is a fearsome team on defense. They are limited offensively but they also can put up numbers if their defense forces a lot of turnovers, as they did to Kansas State a week ago. This was exactly the kind of game that KU has always found a way to win at home. I’m not sure most KU fans had that much faith in this year’s team going into the game.

To beat the dead horse a little more, Johnny Furphy is the difference. He just keeps producing, and gets more efficient each game. He missed just one shot Saturday (although he missed two from the free throw line). His 3s came in huge moments. He threw down a powerful dunk in transition. He grabbed rebounds. He played decent defense. I was worried he might not be up for the task against a team like Houston. He proved me wrong. Now everyone is worried that instead of a 2–3 year player, he will spend a single year in Lawrence. Declaring for the draft is a ways away, but if it indeed happens, that would make his rise even more incredible.

It’s a small sample size, but since Furphy became a starter, KU is, by one analytical measure, the second-best offense in the country and the third-best team overall. Wild.

It’s not fair or realistic to expect him to keep going for 17 & 7 every night. Whether he is scoring or not, opponents have to account for him on defense. Which opens things up for the other four Jayhawks on the court.

My one hope coming into the game was that Hunter Dickinson would carve up Houston. For all their athleticism, they are not a big team. And athletic defenders don’t bother Hunter. He just uses his big body to render them helpless, as long as he can get the ball in scoring position. He had great numbers, 20 & 8 on 15 shots, but his willingness to share the ball was what made KU’s attack really hum.

We are now at the midpoint in the Big 12 schedule. KU and Houston are tied for first, with three teams a half game back. TCU is another half game back. The next month is going to be crazy. Houston would seem to have a slight edge because of their schedule, which includes a return date from the Jayhawks the last day of the season. Sure would be nice if Iowa State had to come to Lawrence…

Speaking of wildness, how about that Iowa State – Baylor game? Sadly I missed Scott Drew getting ejected. I did see each team blow five-point leads. I saw Baylor miss a ton of free throws. I saw the clock operator start the clock too soon, giving Iowa State a chance to stop the clock and inbound the ball instead of trying to grab a rebound and get up court for a final shot. I saw the Clones bank in a game winner that was wiped out because it came a fraction of a second too late. Imagine if that had counted. Whoever runs the clock in Waco might need to find a new city to live in because their itchy finger had just cost the Bears an important game. Situations like that are why parents make themselves scarce when coaches come looking for someone to run the clock in youth games. You never want to be the person who messes up the clock and have to deal with irate coaches/parents/kids afterward.

One thing that jumped out in those chaotic closing minutes is how imperfect replay review is in basketball, especially college. I’m sure I’ve made this rant before, but the fact you can review a play and overturn an out-of-bounds decision but not also review the foul that caused the ball to go OB is insane.

In the ISU-BU game, the referee gave possession to Baylor after a ball went out of bounds. Since there was under 2:00 to play, it got reviewed. The replay showed the ball, in fact, touched the Baylor player last. But it also showed that the ISU defender clearly hit his arm and caused the turnover. But the non-called foul isn’t reviewable. ISU got the ball.

The NBA allows fouls to be switched upon review. College should go to this system. If an offensive player loses the ball because he was fouled, call the foul, even if it takes replay to show it.

The best thing to do would be to say there was incidental contact that caused the turnover, and give the offense the ball back. But then you’re introducing even more variance into the replay interpretation, and not all plays are as obvious as the one Saturday. I can only imagine the outcry when three refs huddle around a monitor for five minutes trying to determine if there was enough contact to adjust the call one way or the other.

Even better, give each coach one review per half, which do not carry over if unused, and otherwise get rid of replay review except for clock malfunctions/scoring questions. There are 15 marginal possession calls every game. Why the game has to grind to a halt for only the ones in the last two minutes has never made any sense.

Friday Playlist

February 2, 2024 /

“Real Doll Time” – VR SEX
I’m not sure exactly how to describe this song. It harkens back to the earliest days of punk with its aggression and hint of nastiness, but sounds thoroughly modern at the same time. No matter how it ends up getting categorized, it 100% rips.

“Lagunita” – Lizzie No
Lizzie No is primarily a folk artist, but when she decides to plug in and rock out, I dig the results. Not sure if this is a true Country or Not song, but it certainly has some CoN-esque vibes.

“Alibi” – Hurray For The Riff Raff
This, on the other hand, is a definite Country or Not entry. If you have a moaning peddle steel guitar in the mix you will always get that label. This seems like a big departure from HFTRR’s previous catalog, or at least from their songs that I’m familiar with.

“Vanishing Point” – Tanlines
I was trying to narrow down who/what this track reminded me of. There’s a lot of New Romanticism in there, so Spandau Ballet, Bryan Ferry/Roxy Music type pop. Certainly Bowie. A hint of late era Police? Most of all I hear coked-up, pasty white people trying to slow dance sexily.

“newrules” – Sjowgren
I can find almost no info about either this band or song. So I guess just listen and enjoy.

“That’s the Joint” – Funky 4+1
Props to Brother in Music E$ for sharing this with a few of us this week. It is one of the most sampled songs in the history of hip hop. If you’ve never heard it in full before, I have no doubt there are dozens of little moments within that you’ve heard in dozens of other songs.

“Girls Just Want To Have Fun” – Cyndi Lauper
This week’s 1984 track is one of the most memorable of that year, and of the entire decade for that matter. Cyndi Lauper’s first solo single had been bubbling under the Top 40 for nearly two months before debuting at #31 the last week of January. The first week of February it was up to #21. By mid-March it would reach its peak of #2 for two weeks. Why did it struggle and then suddenly race up the chart? The video, of course! The stunning visuals combined with Lauper’s catchy-as-hell track grabbed America’s attention and launched one of the most remarkable years in pop music history.

High School Hoops Chronicles, S1V12: Finale

February 1, 2024 /

Wednesday’s sectional quarterfinal went pretty much as expected. Lawrence North jumped on Cathedral early and never let up. It took four possessions for CHS to even get the ball into the paint on offense, and that resulted in an immediate turnover. Our first shot was a hurried airball. LN hit their first four 3s and 6 of 8 for the half. Meanwhile our only 3-point attempt that even hit the rim came on the last play of the first half when we banked in a half-court shot to cut the LN lead to 34. The Wildcats cruised through a running clock second half to win by 32. They are a damn good team. They advance to play their arch rivals, #1 Lawrence Central, who won their quarterfinal by 55.

L never played, which she was fine with. She had no interest in measuring her progress this season against some grown-ass women.

I give L a solid B/B+ for her first season of high school ball. She started and was team captain for all 23 JV games. By the seventh game she was dressing for varsity. She got on the court nine times with the varsity girls and was officially double-rostered by Christmas.

She averaged 5.6 points per JV game, with a high of 15. If you factor in the quarters she missed because the coaches were saving her for varsity minutes, she jumps up to 6.8 ppg.[1] That’s decent. Her assist numbers weren’t great, but it’s hard to get assists in JV. If you have a reliable scorer you can pass to, she’s probably playing varsity. Turnovers are another area where she can make a big improvement. Her defense definitely got better from having to guard our best varsity perimeter player in practice.

Most of all, she was the rock for the team. I don’t know what our scoring totals were, but I’m guessing two of her teammates scored more total points that L did. But those girls constantly got subbed out because they ran plays wrong, got lost on defense, didn’t rebound, or got into foul trouble. L never left the court unless she was dying for a break, got injured, or was needed for the varsity game.[2] She stayed on the court because even when she wasn’t scoring, she made the team better. She was the one person who could settle the offense down, who could get her teammates into the right spots. That’s why she often sat for a minute or less of game time when she did get a break, since things went sideways quickly when she wasn’t on the court.

It’s been interesting to gauge her freshman year against those of her travel teammates. One of them goes to a 2A school and was the best player on their varsity team, which seems wild to us. She was not our best travel player but I guess against a weak high school schedule she tore it up. Props to her! Several go to big, suburban schools and spent all year on their freshman teams, playing in roughly 15 games. A couple other girls floated between their freshman and JV teams. Meanwhile L played in 32 combined games. I don’t know that there’s a right answer for what the best experience is. I’m hopeful L benefitted from playing so much with such a big role.

Looking ahead, CHS loses two seniors, the only two girls in the program that are six feet tall. They are going to be huge losses, literally and figuratively. One of our junior starters is a D1 soccer player and there’s always a chance she won’t play as a senior. At a private school, you never know what new players might show up or which expected returnees enroll somewhere else next fall.

All that means there is a big opportunity for L to be a varsity player next year. She needs to work hard over the next nine months to earn that spot. Her jump shot is the most obvious area that needs improvement. Without size, CHS is going to have to adjust their offensive philosophy and look to shoot from outside more. None of the returning girls are great shooters. If L can fix her mechanics, that can earn her playing time. She needs to continue to get stronger so she can compete with varsity level players. Her ball handling also needs to take a step up if she’s going to consistently play against 17–18–19 year olds.

The other big thing for next year is that Indiana is set to do a major reclassification of high school sports. We still aren’t sure of all the details, but based on what has been reported so far, there is a very good chance that CHS will move down to 3A. That will be huge for the girls basketball program. It will likely put us in the same sectional as Chatard and at least one other Catholic school rather than in one of the toughest 4A sectionals in the state. Chatard is going to be very good the next couple years, so winning a sectional will still be a tough task. It isn’t out of the question, though. I would hope that moving down means that the regular season schedule will change, too, and we will drop a lot of the high-level 4A schools we currently play every year. CHS loves to play insanely tough regular season schedules in every sport to prep for the playoffs. Given who is expected back in the program, though, it will be a good year to play an easier schedule.

On our way home Wednesday L asked me how long she should take off before she starts training. I like that she’s planning ahead, but told her to relax and not even think about basketball for a few days before we come up with an idea for what’s next.

I talked with her AAU coach this week about his plan for the spring. He’s still getting a feel for that, but it sounds like high school teams do most of their practicing on weekends when they are not in tournaments. Our program really pushes signing up for the group training they run on weeknights. It seems like several of L’s teammates are going to do that, so I expect that’s the path we’ll take. All that begins in March.

It would also be nice if she could squeeze another inch or two of growing out of her body along the way, but I’m afraid she might be stuck at 5’6”.

That wraps up her first year of high school ball. I hope you’ve enjoyed following her as much as I’ve enjoyed sharing.

  1. I know that’s not a real stat. Using it as my own semi-advanced stat, like how college players are rated per 40 minutes or possessions or whatever.  ↩

  2. The one notable exception when she got into foul trouble in the JV City championship game.  ↩

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