Month: November 2024
It is finally here, the day we’ve all been waiting for.
That’s right, it’s time to start talking KU hoops again!
After another wild offseason filled with recruiting twists and turns,[1] the Jayhawks crushed poor Howard University by 30 Monday night. Howard is a good program and is picked to win their conference, although they have a roster full of grad-transfers and looked like a group of players who don’t know each other well yet. Last year KU would have slogged through this game, likely winning by 20 but not looking all that good in the process. Last night KU jumped all over the Bison early and while the defense faltered in the second half, never had those moments of “They’re not going to blow this, are they?” the team had last year.
The Jayhawks looked terrific. Especially given that they are without a defensive stud (Shakeel Moore), Hunter Dickinson is obviously playing his way back into form after missing a couple weeks with a sprained foot, the lineups are fluid, and the team is still trying to carve out an identity. They definitely look faster than they were a year ago. The ball was moving. It was so refreshing having multiple players on the court who were both willing to take a 3 and had the ability to hit them. Crazy how offense gets easier when the defense has to worry about guarding the 3-point line. My man Flory Bidunga might have set a record for most dunks in first game as a Jayhawk.
Surprisingly the defense was the highlight of the night. DaJuan Harris, knowing he doesn’t have to play 40 minutes a game, seemed to rediscover the intensity he played with his first two seasons on that end of the court. David Coit is probably going to get bullied in some games, but against Howard he used his quickness and tenacity to make life miserable for whoever he was guarding.
At first glance, this would appear to be Bill Self’s best ever transfer class. Zeke Mayo led the team in scoring last night. Rylan Griffen hit a couple shots, made some nice passes, played decent D. Coit might be the steal of the class. Moore should play significant minutes when he gets healthy. And AJ Storr, considered the gem of the class, looked more comfortable than he did in the exhibition games. I bet his performance is going to be up-and-down all season. If he figures it out, he could be the player that turns KU into an unstoppable force.
The most fascinating thing about this team to me is how Self put it together. Normally he recruits transfers as being the missing piece. That’s certainly how he sold Kevin McCullar on the program two years ago, and Dickinson last year. But this year the math is different. He wanted to get deeper, faster, and to bring in more shooters. I don’t think he told any of the transfers that they were the savior. Rather, he challenged them to come to KU, to improve their games while also integrating themselves into the deepest roster in the country, all with the goal of becoming the best team in the country in March rather than chasing stats to impress scouts. Each of those transfers will likely play fewer minutes and score fewer points than they did last year. Yes, the KU NIL money is nice. But so is having a chance to win the national championship, something only Griffen came close to when he helped Alabama get to the Final Four.
As a part of that, Self clearly has to change the way he manages the team. He’s always been a coach who tightened the roster as the season progressed. Unless a bunch of these guys start sucking, he can’t remove three of them from the rotation. I think we will see a lot of different lineups this year, with minutes varying game-to-game depending on how guys are playing and who the opponent is. Harris, Dickinson, and KJ Adams won’t be asked to stay on the court for 38 minutes because there is no one behind them.
I don’t think we will get to the point in February where, unless the team is in foul trouble, only eight guys are playing. Self asked the players to change to be a part of something bigger. I think/hope he made that same commitment.
It was one game against an over-matched opponent. We can’t read too much into it. Things get a lot realer Friday against North Carolina. And next week against Michigan State. And in three weeks against Duke. And then against Creighton. I’m guessing KU looks incredible in one of those games, totally out-of-sorts in one, and a mixture of those extremes in the others. The goal is to lessen that variance and have this team locked in when we get to March, when all that depth and experience will pay off.
See the Riley Kugel saga, for example. ↩
This was a fairly quiet weekend thanks to a KU bye week and the girls being busy on their own.
Halloween
Our Halloween was relaxed. We decided to go hang with our old neighbors. It sure brought back memories to sit in their driveway and watch kids scamper through the cul-de-sac. That was where our girls did almost all of their trick-or-treating. As we at chili we reminisced about the various holidays we shared with our friends, including the one when it was sleeting sideways and our girls insisted on going out. We might have been the only people dumb enough to hit the streets that night, and folks were literally dumping their entire candy collections into our girls’ bags. They thought the misery was worth it.
We’ve left a bowl at our house a few times with a sign telling folks to help themselves. And we always come back to an almost-full bowl. It helps that we get very few trick-or-treaters. We did that again this year. C and L were home and said they didn’t hear a lot of kids come to our house. Yet when we got home the bowl was completely empty, robbing us of our post-Halloween candy to share as a family. I didn’t bother to check our front-door cam to see which little a-holes helped themselves to the entire bowl.
HS Football Playoffs
CHS won their opening playoff game against now 0–10 North Central 36–0. It was pretty sloppy with lots of penalties and wasted opportunities. L walked across the street to watch but I didn’t think it would be worth even that meager effort. I believe this is the first year since M was in seventh grade that I didn’t go to a single CHS game, although I still listened to each one and did walk over when our friends from Carmel played NC.
The Irish advance to play #1 Lawrence North, who after a slow first half looked really good beating their arch rivals Lawrence Central. I had that game on TV until the Pacers started. CHS has knocked LN out of the playoffs each of the last two years but this is a very different LN team. I will be watching basketball 80 miles north so likely won’t be able to follow the sectional championship game very well.
College Football
A KU bye week meant no heart-breaking, come-from-ahead loss. Which was a nice change from how this fall has gone.
I watched most of Ohio State – Penn State. I see Andy Kotelnicki’s kryptonite is still first and goal inside the 10. His offense always bogged down in those situations at KU. Even with better talent he still struggles when faced with a short field. It’s like all his creativity disappears and he just runs dives up the middle.
Clearly having either just played KU or having the Jayhawks next on your schedule takes a lot out of a team, with both Kansas State and Iowa State losing Saturday.
I was actually looking forward to watching IU play this week. I knew the game was on Peacock. We are Xfinity customers and I thought we got Peacock for free. Turns out we just get a limited part of Peacock free, and that tier does not include live sports. I was not going to pay $10 to see one game of a team I don’t really care about. But cool that IU is 9–0 for the first time in their history.
Colts
So much for Joe Flacco making a difference. I didn’t watch much of the Colts-Vikings game Sunday night but when I did, I saw an offense that was absolutely putrid. Yep, Chris Ballard and Shane Steichen are going to be looking for new jobs this winter.
Pacers
After beating the Celtics in overtime Wednesday to get their first win of the year, the Pacers blew multiple leads in New Orleans to lose another one Friday.
Worse, for the second time in a week they lost a backup center to a non-contact, achilles injury, this time second stringer Isaiah Jackson. For the moment Myles Turner is the Pacers only true big. I hope they are triple taping his calves and ankles, while also finding a way to move some of their wing depth to find another big body.
College Hoops Recruiting
It’s been a quiet recruiting season, so far, for KU. That was because Bill Self put all his recruiting eggs into one basket, and was waiting on a decision from Darryn Peterson, the #3 overall player in this year’s senior class. Peterson finally made his decision Friday night, picking KU. That’s been the assumption for months, mostly because he’s already signed a multi-year deal with Adidas and all the other schools recruiting him were Nike programs. Still, there were rumors that both Ohio State and USC were making big runs at him.
The Jayhawks got their man and can now, hopefully, start filling around him. KU will lose at least six players after this season, so there are opportunities for any young men who want to play in the greatest building in the game. DP, the highest rated recruit KU has signed since Josh Jackson, is a pretty good start.
Misc
I swear, October is the fastest month of the year. It just flies by no matter how old you or your kids are.
The sun setting at 5:40 is stupid.
Late summer keeps hanging on. We had two days around 80 last week. We are supposed to have a couple days in the 70s this week. It will flip eventually, but zero complaints about the weather at the moment.
The girls both went to parties Saturday. The cops showed up at the one L was at. But, she was quick to tell me, not because of the the actual party. One of her travel teammates had a bunch of people over. Naturally word got out, a hoarde of kids from other schools showed up and they were not allowed inside the house, so they first destroyed L’s friend’s basketball hoops (one of those movable ones) then started fighting in the street. The cops showed up to clear them out but never even knocked on the door where the actual party was. Glad we’ve trained our girls to understand they can have friends over, but can never, ever host a party. We’re not dealing with that shit.
Remember being in high school and hearing rumors that there was a party at so-and-so’s house, or in such-and-such neighborhood, and driving around hoping to find it and then talk your way in? I did plenty of that. But I never destroyed anyone’s basketball hoop. Or fought in the street.
Kind of an odd media month. There was some baseball early, but not much after the Royals were eliminated. A lot of reading The Lord of the Rings. A fall break vacation. But not much long-form stuff. That should shift in November. And there was a changing of the hobbies, a switch that is reflected below with a new section.
Movies, Shows, etc
Halloween Baking Championship
The winner was a bit of a surprise, as Manny rallied in the final three episodes to take the competition. Poor Aaron has now reached the finals of two different holiday shows without getting a win.
A-
Anchorman
As noted before, we watched this as a family with our hosts in Denver. Apparently the kids and moms did not like it as much as the dads. Not sure what is wrong with them.
A
Shorts, YouTubes, etc
Bill Self UNFILTERED on the portal, navigating NIL, Kansas as Preseason No. 1 | Goodman & Hummel
Unfiltered is a little strong. I guess he does say “shit” once. But otherwise your standard, solid interview.
Running Australia’s hardest 100km while needing a hip replacement
I got nervous when I saw the title for Beau Miles’ latest bullshit. Turns out it is his buddy who needed the replacement, not him. A touching short, with a sequel to come.
I built a chicken coop for zero dollars
This is some good, and wholesome, Beau Miles bullshit.
Beau Miles takes Cody Simpson on an epic adventure
Hey, Beau now has sponsored bullshit! I had no idea Cody Simpson, who was big on Disney Radio when our girls were in that phase, was a competitive swimmer now.
‘Afternoon Plus’ documentary on the BBC World Service (1982)
Did I watch and enjoy this British doc from 1982 about the BBC’s World Service? Hell yes I did.
We Answer Your Fall Style Questions For 2024
Get your wardrobes correct, fellas.
6 Minutes of the Best Jokes in Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee
Sometimes I like these better than the actual show.
We bought a NEW CABIN ︱ Svalbard
I can’t imagine living like this.
Inside The World’s Most Secret House Built Into a Mountain
This, on the other hand, would be a wild way to spend a shit load of money for a very isolated vacation.
How This Surfer Built His Dream Home on the Nova Scotia Coast
Forget the financial side of this. I wish I had the imagination to conjure up a place like this, then the ability to put it together.
Indianapolis | Cinematic Travel Diaries Shot on Sony FX30 w/ 20mm lens
Not a lot of travel videos about Indy. Makes sense this one is less than two minutes long, although I guess that’s kind of this guy’s thing.
The unique undersea tunnels that link the Faroe Islands
Fascinating. I read an article that mentioned these a few weeks before this video popped up.
Is Colorado a Food Utopia? Exploring Farm to Table Cuisine, Epic Landscapes & UFO’s | DIRT Colorado
Perfect timing, right before our trip to CO, even if it focused on different parts of the state than we did.
First Big Trip in Our New Truck
I know I’ve said this before, but it sure would be cool to be cool enough to live like this. Or, rather, it would be cool to be cool enough that brands sponsored you to live this way.
Leon Bridges Talks New Album, Texas Roots & How He Developed His “Futuristic Retro” Style
I dig Leon’s whole vibe.
Apollo 16 lunar rover “Grand Prix” in HD
Dopeness.
Remembering Fernandomania
A wonderful piece from a couple years back about a legend we lost in October.
Car Content
Lucid Air Pure: The Real Tesla Fighter
If only they were in my price range…
Photography
Welp, I’ve picked up the camera again. Check my Instagram feed. More details later, but here is a sampling of the photo vids I watched last month.
Italy on 35mm
“Street photography is creative freedom” | A Day with Chris Harrison
How to take Great Photos with Patience / Lake Garda on #35mm Film
Journals E28- Fuji XF10 Photography in the South Of France
Spain & Italy
Three weeks of film photography across Japan
Chasing Fall Color in the Eastern Sierra | Pentax 67
One Month Two Cameras
The Photo Dept.
“Afterlife” – Sharon Van Etten
New SVE music! We won’t get the album until February, making it the first 2025 album on my New Music list. For the first time, she collaborated with her band on writing songs rather than bringing songs to them to join her on. None of her magic gets lost in the process, at least on this track.
“Raleigh Arena” – Jim Nothing
Nothing’s album was one of four that came out the Friday we were in Denver I was interested in. It might be the best of that bunch. Now that we are into November, I will start giving Serious Attention to my Best Songs of 2024 list. Nothing has a song that is up for consideration.
“Changed Unchained” – Nadia Reid
SVE makes a comeback. Jim Nothing is from New Zealand. Put those together and you get the first new music in five years from New Zealander Reid! This has a bigger sound than her earlier songs that I love.
“Peaceful Place” – Leon Bridges
More mellow goodness from Mr. Bridges.
“Lost” – Soccer Mommy
I had to triple check to make sure this wasn’t Phoebe Bridgers.
“In The Living Room” – Maggie Rogers
Maggie never disappoints.
“Mr. November” – The National
Not about Derek Jeter.
“Cool It Now” – New Edition
I have vivid memories of a group of cute girls at Pittman Hills Middle School singing this in the hallway between classes one day and me realizing I need to learn more about New Edition. It’s kind of crazy that this was the biggest pop hit of their career until 1996, making it all the way to #4 on the Hot 100 while topping the Hot Black Singles chart. This was actually its second week in the Top 40, moving up to #30. Who knew in the fall of 1984 what a big part of my life Ronnie, Bobby, Ricky, Mike, Ralph, and Johnny would become.