Author: DB (Page 3 of 349)

I might be reading too fast. This is the 10th week of the year and I’m about to finish my 14th book of 2024. Because of that they are running together a bit. I apologize, as these summaries aren’t the most detailed of my writing career.

The World We Make – N.K. Jemisin
Jemisin’s Great Cities series was supposed to be a trilogy. Between the pandemic, US politics, and some other things that got her down, she decided to cut it off at two books.

Because of that, this book felt rushed and incomplete. Her story about the avatars of the boroughs of New York battling with and against each other as forces from another dimension attempt to destroy the city just never found a good rhythm. What should have been an epic finale came and went with a whimper.

I understand why she decided to cut things off. If your heart ain’t in it, your heart ain’t in it. But I think she let what could have become a great story wither and turn into something not worthy of her talent.

Moscow X – David McCloskey
McCloskey’s Damascus Station was one of my favorite espionage books of this decade. This was nearly as good.

Instead of focusing on the Middle East, here McCloskey pivots to the growing, new cold war between the US and Russia. When a rift develops between the ruling Russian elite, a secret CIA group – Moscow X – pounces to exploit it.

Rather than standard spy stuff, though, this book reflects the reality of the new Russia: the conflict is all about using capitalism to gain leverage over an opponent. The Russians are fighting with each other over money they’ve stolen, in one way or another, from their country. The CIA is using money to gain entry into the world of the Russian elite to find ways to bend them to the West’s advantage. That seems a long way from the original Cold War, when capitalism was battling communism as much as the countries were competing.

Calico – Lee Goldberg
This mashup of genres was a terrific read.

On a February night in 2019, a vagrant runs in front of an RV in remote Southern California and is killed. At the same moment, there are mysterious fires at two nearby military bases. And, soon, a semi-famous TV chef is reported missing from the same area.

I don’t want to give away too much about the plot, but it is a delightful mix of mystery and sci-fi. I really enjoyed how Goldberg laid out the elements of the story. Time travel plays a big part in the book and I loved some of the observations about living in the past one of the characters made. Not many stories about going back in time mention how much the past stank!

I said in my last car post that despite deciding to get a Tesla Model Y, I would continue to research EVs until I actually pulled the trigger to make certain of my final decision. It doesn’t take much to send me down research rabbit holes, and I spent a decent chunk of the weekend re-evaluating my choice and diving back into review videos and posts.

It started Friday when my brother-in-law in Boston, Uncle Maaaahk, mentioned that if I had time for more test drives, he has a friend who owns a Volkswagen ID.4 and loves it. The ID.4 had, in fact, been on my initial list of EVs. But I was underwhelmed with its specs and while reviews were generally positive, they also pointed out serious software flaws in the vehicle.

I checked prices Friday and was floored to see the ID.4s at our local dealer were all marked down anywhere from $10–12,000. They support Apple CarPlay, SiriusXM, and have HomeLink modules, all things missing from Tesla. Reviewers and owners raved about how nice they rode. Maybe I owed them another look!

Here’s where things got weird. Last week Volkswagen showed off the updated ID.4s to the public for the first time. These updates make the car more powerful, solve a lot of the software flaws, and smooth out some other issues. If these fixes worked, might the ID.4 be on equal footing with the Model Y? And if VW was cutting prices, maybe I should run over and test drive one on Saturday?

Then I realized the cars on the lot are all 2023s, while the ones that had hit YouTube are all 2024 model years. It looked like VW was marking down the ’23s at dealers to clear them out for the ’24s which should start rolling out of the Chattanooga plant soon. Some of the software updates might hit the existing models, but VW generally gets poor grades on their software strategy and there has been no clear guidance on how much, if any, of the improvements will be available for the pre–24 models.

Still, a seed was planted and I spent several hours Friday night and Saturday morning reading up on the ID.4, making lists, and comparing specs.

In the end it came down to the ’23 ID.4 having too many quirks and software issues to match the Model Y, especially when priced the same. Had VW cut prices further, so they were cheaper than the Model Y, then I would have been more interested.

My Saturday research then pivoted and landed on a car I really like but had also cut from my list because of price and charging network, the Polestar 2.

I think these look incredible. They get positive reviews. Like the VW, they also support Apple CarPlay and SiriusXM. They are more car than SUV but I just love their looks.

The hook for me was that the used Polestar market, as with so many EVs, has crashed over the past year. I found several that were under 20,000 miles and could he had for half their original price. I smelled blood in the water.

Again, I dove into videos and spec comparison lists.

Then S pointed out something very important that I had not thought of: since there is no Polestar dealer in Indy, what would I do if I needed service? I can have the tires rotated anywhere. But if it won’t start one day or I get a display full of warning lights, who would I call?

The nearest Polestar dealer and service center is in Columbus, OH. Polestar will pay to have your vehicle transported up to 150 miles if needed for service. Columbus is 180 miles away.

Plus it uses the wrong charging network (for now).

Fortunately I only spent about an hour diving into Polestar info.

That wasn’t the end of my hemming-and-hawing, though.

Tesla recently refreshed their Model 3s, the sports car sibling of the Model Y. The new ones look incredible! I’m not usually a red car guy, but I love the new red available on the Model 3.

The newest Model 3 also comes with several other interesting upgrades and improvements, ones that the Model Y will likely receive in 2025. Even better, the low-end Model 3 is the cheapest car in the Tesla lineup, checking in below forty-grand.

Alas, there is almost no backseat space in the Model 3, that low-end model is rear wheel drive, and I recalled from when I drove the Audi A5 for a week last year that I did not like being low to the ground, or at least the getting in-and-out of the low car.

So it’s back to the Model Y. Which isn’t a bad place to be. I’m just making sure.

One other thing about non-Teslas I’ve considered. There was a series of videos about the Kia EV6 I watched at the beginning of this process that got me really juiced about that car. The guy who made them just released a podcast discussing his two year experience with the car. He had the dreaded 12 volt battery issue that scared me away, although he said a simple jump start brought his car back to life. He said other EV6 owners he knows have almost all had a separate, major electrical issue right around 30,000 miles, a milestone he is about to hit. He assumes his car will have the same issue. He confirmed what I had read, that Kia corporate doesn’t seem nimble enough to deal with these issues and the dealerships in his area are clueless when it comes to fixing them.

He loves his EV6 and has been mostly happy with it. He and his wife own three cars between then, so one going out of commission is more of a bummer than a life-altering incident. He confirmed most of my fears about Kia, though. I felt validated.

That’s your update for this week. There’s still plenty in my notebook, so look for more posts about 1) why I’m ditching Audi, 2) my on-going sales experience with Kia, 3) how New Car 2024 fits into my long-term plans, and more.

Movies, Shows, etc

The Greatest Night In Pop
The funny way to sum up this look at how “We Are The World” was recorded would be to say it was outrageous. Some of you will get that joke.

I’ve read about that night several times, but there were still some terrific little tidbits in this film. I’m on record as not being a fan of the song, but I liked how Bruce Springsteen described his experience: no matter what you think of the song, it was a tool for helping people. That’s probably the best way to remember it. (Chuck Klosterman was on Bill Simmons’ podcast last week and said something along the lines of, “Bruce said the song sucked in the nicest way possible.”)

We still don’t know why Dan Aykroyd was involved. And it kind of ignores Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder singing back and forth to each other near the song’s end. Otherwise very much worth your time.

A

Ed, season two
Year one was better, but I didn’t complain about re-watching 22 more episodes featuring my old pals from Stuckeyville. A few observations. The season premiere was in early October, so a matter of weeks after 9/11. The persistent NBC peacock logo in the corner of the screen included a waving flag graphic for the first half of the season. America! A punch line for many jokes continued to be the word “homosexual” or “gay.” I don’t think the writers were anti-gay, but 20 years ago that kind of stuff was considered normal. I wish these VHS transfers weren’t so grainy because there were some fetching guest stars. Whoever posted these videos also corrected the biggest error of season two. The creators dropped Foo Fighter’s “Next Year” as the theme song. This person put it back in, which is kind of brilliant. On to season three at some point.

B+

Perry Mason, season two
Season one was very good. Everything about season two was better. Despite terrific reviews and decent ratings, it is another victim of mis-management at HBO and there will be no season three. Idiots.

A

Goodfellas
This aired on Super Bowl Sunday afternoon, and I watched the whole (edited) thing. Still the best.

A+

Lethal Weapon/Lethal Weapon 2
One night I came across these and watched a decent chunk of each. Say the last 90 minutes of the first and the first hour of the second. These were high rotation flicks for me back in the early 90s. Parts hold up. Parts are kind of fucking stupid. No grades since I didn’t see the entire movies.

Incomplete

Mr. & Mrs. Smith
I thought this had some terrific high points, some slow points that dragged a bit, and then some bits that were just odd/confusing and distracted. Much like The Americans, it is a spy show that is far more about being in a marriage than being a spy. Unlike Phillip and Elizabeth Jennings, who we met nearly two decades into their relationship, we see John and Jane Smith come together and try to navigate a new, forced relationship as they kill people. And, like The Americans, Mr. & Mrs. Smith does a great job at demonstrating that marriage is a tough task to begin with. Throw a bunch of super stressful stuff on top of it, and it gets even harder.

I think the strength of this show became more obvious after completing it, when I had time to contemplate and connect those broader observations about marriage together. I wish it had maintained the trajectory of my favorite episodes, but the less successful ones did not cancel them out.

B

True Detective: Night Country
Most disappointing show I’ve watched in some time. It arrived with the promise of calling back to season one, one of the best years in recent TV history. And there were some connections, but they often felt forced. The bigger problem was the story fell apart as the season progressed. Through much of the final three episodes it felt like the writers were meandering, looking for ways to make the story compelling but always falling short. Much of the dialogue seemed lazy and couldn’t be saved by the fine actors asked to speak it. And then the resolutions to the various mysteries? Some of them seemed flat-out dumb. From what I’ve read this was a highly polarizing season, for a variety of reasons. I’m in the camp that was not convinced.

B-

Help! I Wrecked My House
We got sucked into this one Sunday and watched it for approximately 153 consecutive hours. I like that the host isn’t all over-the-top about things. California chill works for me.

A-

Curb Your Enthusiasm, season 10
Spite store! RIP Richard Lewis.

A

Shorts, YouTubes, etc

I haven’t been using the YouTubes as much lately. Last month I had a goal of watching a little more so I could get my algorithm back to recommending cool, random stuff.

Japan’s Most Terrifying Bridge: Eshima Ohashi
I would never ride a bike or run across this bridge.

The ONE thing keeping this iconic vintage laptop from working…
I love the concept of videos like this, tinkering with old tech tools and getting them to work again. I always question the utility of them, though. How much can you really accomplish with a vintage computer. I guess, like so many hobbies, it’s all about spending time doing something you enjoy.

NA1SS Voice Contact Astronaut
The radio geek in me thinks this is pretty cool, contacting the international space station from your backyard with a handheld radio and antenna.

I knocked the bastard off – Retracing the footsteps of a murderer (Ep 3)
Beau Miles wraps up his hike.

DIRT Episode 7 – Atlanta
I didn’t like this one quite as much as the previous ones in the series. Seemed to lack a bit of focus.

Experience a Recording Studio On the Edge of Iceland’s Arctic Circle
How This Photographer Manifested His Dream Home on the Oregon Coast
An Exclusive Look Inside The Explorers Club’s Members-Only Clubhouse
Inside This Green Beret & Entrepreneur’s GORUCK Home Gym
Explore An Austin Musician’s Bohemian Bungalow
After watching DIRT, I dove into some of Huckberry’s videos about cool homes/hangouts. The recording studio and Oregon house are my two favorites.

Secret cafe in Kyoto
This is very cute and very Japanese.

LiMu Emu & Doug
This was some quality SNL-ing.

Finally, my EV content, which took over my life the last two weeks of the month. Rather than share every video – which would probably make you worry about my mental health – I’ll ID the feeds I spent the most time in.

The Out of Spec community has a bunch of feeds, but I watched their Out of Spec Reviews and Out of Spec Dave ones the most.
Ryan Shaw
Gjeebs

There were lot of other randoms I watched in addition to deep dives in those feeds.

This Is the Biggest Problem With EV Adoption
Actually news related to EVs rather than reviews or road trip vids.

A relatively laid-back weekend, although some of that was unexpected, so a quick post to get the new week started. No, I did not buy a car.

Jayhawk Talk

Another road loss, although the game at Baylor was chalked up as an L to begin the season, so no real harm. Kevin McCullar came back and looked decent. He still can’t hit a 3 and missed two makable layups, so maybe he’s 100% healthy? He was certainly rusty, so maybe the outside shot comes back if he can stay on the court.

KU battled well, coming back multiple times to take the lead. Baylor just did not miss in the last 5:00, or when they did there was a 100% chance they were getting the rebound. Still, the Jayhawks blew a couple possessions in crunch time that could have kept it close to the final buzzer.

The most concerning thing was Johnny Furphy getting absolutely cooked on defense. He’s generally been fine on D, balancing bad possessions with decent ones, his length making up for bad footwork and his lack of strength. But, man, the Bears put him insolation against either smaller or longer players and worked him over. KU fans immediately requested that film be sent to every NBA GM to show that he isn’t ready to be a pro yet.

Illness

Sunday was supposed to be L’s first “training camp” for her travel program. She had to stay home, though, because she tested positive for Covid Friday after school. She felt pretty bad most of the weekend but was acting better Sunday evening. She’s like a Covid magnet. She told us it seemed like everyone at school has the flu. I’m guessing those kids parents don’t test them for Covid anymore like we do.

So far no one else is the house has got it. I guess it was good for her to get it out of the way two weeks before spring break.

She has her school team end-of-year gathering tonight then first official travel practice tomorrow night.

School Calendar

She and C have reached the silly part of their school year.

Wednesday C takes the SAT, so she only has half a day and L gets to stay home and eLearn. They get next Friday off going into spring break. The week after spring break they get Good Friday off, then Easter Monday the following week. Finally CHS announced two weeks ago they are elearning on eclipse day, April 8.

The next time they have a normal, five-day school week is the week of April 15. And then the school year is almost over.

Weird week here. It was in the 70s Monday, high 60s Tuesday, then the wind chill was in the teens all day Wednesday. The sun is bright and dazzling today, but it is still very chilly. That combined with some other things has thrown my body clock off.[1] I’m having trouble sleeping at night then struggle all day to avoid taking a nap, usually unsuccessfully, so I can go to bed tired. The cherry on top was our tornado sirens going off at 2:00 AM Wednesday morning as severe thunderstorms blew through. Pretty sure I got less than four hours of sleep that night.

So rather that write about the Jayhawks and get mad again, finish up a Reader’s Notebook post, or share some more thoughts on the car-buying process, here are a few pretty solid links.

Sally Jenkins with a fantastic piece about how the NCAA’s stance on Lynette Woodard’s scoring mark – which Caitlin Clark passed last night – is just another hypocritical stance in its long history of them.

There is nothing trivial about this. It’s an act of erasure. Example: the NCAA regards Michigan as the holder of the record for most college football victories of all time, with 989. Yet the NCAA didn’t come into existence until 1910, and Michigan began playing football in 1879. The NCAA doesn’t strike or asterisk anything Michigan won “pre-NCAA.”…The NCAA wouldn’t dream of ignoring those years.

Yet they do so with women’s basketball.

The NCAA erased an entire generation of women’s sports

If someone writes about the Voyager spacecraft, I’m obligated to share it. I loved the opening line of this piece about Voyager 1’s impending death.

Billions of miles away at the edge of the Solar System, Voyager 1 has gone mad and has begun to die.

Death, Lonely Death

You know those sketchy texts you get occasionally about some package that can’t be delivered unless you do X or Y? In this piece, the author did a deep dive and learned that a text he thought was a phishing attempt was actually legit. Things are just going to get more confusing as AI takes over more and more of the logistics/customer service stack.

Thanks FedEx, This is Why we Keep Getting Phished

I dig stories about submarines, so this was pretty awesome. Well, other than the fact the Navy signed off on it because the world is as unstable and close to major war as it has been since the fall of the Iron Curtain.

Life Aboard a Nuclear Submarine as the US Responds to Threats Around the Globe

When I realized that the Kia EV6 likely wasn’t the car for me, I started thinking about the areas where it failed to be sure about what I was looking for. Kia is fairly new to EVs, so their products are not mature. They don’t seem to have a strong organizational commitment, on either the corporate or dealer side, to EVs at the moment. With the electric market softening over the past year, I wonder about how serious they will continue to be about their models going forward. If they are already having difficulty identifying and fixing wide-spread electrical issues now, what happens if their EV sales tank? Kias currently rely on the less common and reliable charging network, although with the Tesla network opening to other brands in the next 18 months, that will change. If I want an EV, I need one that addresses all these shortcomings.

There was an easy answer to most of these questions.

Oh, God.

Fuck.

Tuesday I test drove a Tesla Model Y.

As usual, we back up before we go forward.

One year to the day before my Tesla test drive, M and I rode down to Cincinnati for a campus visit with her buddy A and her dad T in his Model Y.[1] He is a true convert, ditching a BMW for his Tesla, and extolled the car’s virtues during our roughly four hours in it. This was my first long-term ride in a Tesla, and I liked it, quizzing T about his perspective along the way. As soon as we got home M said, “You’re going to get a Tesla now, aren’t you?”

I said no but, dammit, the girl might have been right.

OK, back to last Tuesday.

I arrived at the dealership, signed a waiver, and an associate led me to a Model Y. She showed me how to get the steering wheel and mirrors to comfortable positions. Being a Tesla, this is not as straightforward as in most cars. Then she guided me on how to find pretty much everything I would need during the drive on the car’s touchscreen.

The dealership sits right in the middle of a huge construction area, so I asked her for a suggestion on the best route to get to the highway. Knowing I had never driven a Tesla before, she recommended taking a couple laps around the next door mall’s parking lot to get used to the acceleration and braking before I drove on the actual street.

Good advice! Kia dude just had me jump on the street and go.

Then she plotted me a route, saying it would take me through neighborhoods and on four-lane streets so I could get a feel of how the car reacted to those scenarios. From there I knew how to get to the nearest interstate on my own.

Then she said, “OK, take it wherever you want, just be back in half an hour or so,” and walked away. No yappy sales person sitting next to me. I was on my own!

The full regenerative braking on the Tesla is trippy. I got the hang of it pretty quickly, although it was weird to have the car slow in proportion to how little pressure I put on the accelerator. I never had an “Oh shit!” moment of panic or confusion. Rather, sometimes I would forget to hit the accelerator when a light turned green since my foot wasn’t putting pressure on anything. Kind of a weird mental block.

I took her advised route, which led me through a rough section of pavement that confirmed that the Model Y has a relatively stiff suspension. Not sure I love that, but it’s not a deal breaker either. I would prefer a more cushioned ride, but also want sporty responsiveness. Those often don’t go together in the budget range I’m currently in. The Tesla definitely leans to the sporty side of that equation.

Once I got to the interstate I zipped around between traffic but, without any big openings, didn’t get a chance to properly punch it. I exited and prepared to turn back towards the dealership. I was the first car at a red light with a long entrance ramp ahead. This was my moment. And then a big ass tractor trailer truck pulled onto the ramp just before I got a green light. Ass.

No worries. Once he got onto the interstate, he quickly moved to the left and I blew by him in the right lane. The dealer had set a speed limit of 85 MPH. I hit that pretty quickly and started laughing. Going from 50-to–85 might be more impressive than 0-to–60. It felt instantaneous. There wasn’t much traffic around me this direction so I let my speed drop and floored it several times just to feel that sensation again.

The big knock about the Tesla driving experience is that so many things are accomplished via the touchscreen.

Like 98% of car functions are controlled through the giant, iPad-like screen. It is a little odd, especially the lack of a center display in the dashboard, but I found it to be very intuitive. You can set shortcuts for most-used settings at the bottom of the screen. I think once you get those dialed in to your preferences, it’s pretty easy to interact with for someone who is fairly tech savvy. The screen is incredibly responsive, very Apple-like, in fact. I didn’t detect any lags in my brief time playing with it.

I much prefer physical knobs and switches. I think it is super annoying that everyday controls are a layer deep on a display. But Tesla’s screen seems to work good enough that this can be overcome. I think their system would be annoying for a casual driver. S and I rarely swap cars. That will likely happen even less often if I get a Tesla because these controls would drive her crazy.

Which brings up one big negative: Tesla does not support Apple CarPlay in any way. You can connect your phone via Bluetooth, but unlike a CarPlay-equipped vehicle, you don’t get access to the entire screen for your media, just small controls at the bottom of the screen. If you want to change playlists in Spotify, or switch between audio apps, that must be done on your phone’s screen. Which isn’t super safe at 75 MPH. But even my buddy who works at Apple and owned a Tesla admitted that their systems are good enough that he didn’t mind having to use them over CarPlay. That said, he now drives a Lucid which does support CarPlay.

There are some third party adapters that allow you to add a CarPlay screen, but they seem pretty janky. For their cost you might as well pay for Tesla’s Premium Connectivity to run Spotify or Apple Music natively.

Another bummer is that Model Ys do not support SiriusXM. I’ve been an SXM subscriber for ten years and it is a huge part of my music life. I could still stream it via the app and Bluetooth, but I’m not sure that’s worth the annual cost given the lack of on-screen controls.

The car’s interior is very spare. There is a ton of storage room, like amazing amounts. I think that can lead to having too much crap in your car. But I also find my Audi has like 20% too little space, making it difficult to store necessities within reach of the driver. Other than all that storage, the Tesla is pretty spartan inside. I would describe it as nice but not luxurious by any measure.

I’ve also learned that Tesla has moved from a combination of ultrasonic sensors and cameras similar to my Audi, to exclusively using cameras for proximity alerts. While their cameras are of amazing quality, they are far less accurate and users complain that the car will often scream at them that they are about to hit a wall, parked car, etc when they are actually several feet away. Not sure how cool that is when the charging port is in the rear of the vehicle, normally requiring the driver to back into a charging station. The lack of sensors can also make some of the assistive driving functions a little wonky, especially in poor lighting conditions. I guess these are all things that you get used to, and may be adjusted with future software refreshes. It seems like a misguided cost-cutting move, though, to ditch the sensors.

In summary, the Tesla felt far more competent than the Kia. Teslas aren’t without their issues; a lot of owners complain about fit and finish issues inside and out. The driving software can be temperamental. Apparently the automatic windshield wipers are infuriating in their lack of consistency. But Tesla is also famous for a constant flow of software updates that both fix reported issues and roll out new functionality. When mechanically possible, a Tesla that is several years old can have the exact same, updated functionality as a car straight off the production line. Teslas have been around for a decade and are backed by a company that is solely focused on EVs. Throw in their massive, easy-to-use Supercharger network, and the Model Y was a clear winner over the Kia EV6.

After I returned to the dealer the lady who had helped me get set up was out on a break so I talked to another associate. He was very chill. I asked him how come their website shows a bunch of cars on the lot that are exactly the same with incrementally different prices. Other than the type of motor (Rear wheel, all wheel Long Range, or all wheel Performance), about all you can select as options are exterior and interior colors, tire size, five versus seven seats, and if you want to add a towing hitch or not.

“Honestly I couldn’t tell you,” he said. His best guess was their pricing algorithm is based on how long a car has been on the lot and inserts discounts to move the oldest first for tax purposes. “They are all the same. My best advice is to find what you want and pick the cheapest one.”

I liked this process much more than Kia’s. Hell, if S was into EVs, she would 100% buy a Tesla just because of their laid-back, low-contact sales interactions. You can actually buy a car on your phone without ever talking to another human if you want!

Tesla’s current incentives aren’t quite as aggressive as Kia’s. Kia’s are generous enough at the moment that we were considering buying one even with two months left on my Audi lease. Tesla’s current price cuts are not as steep, meaning there’s no rush. They’ve been aggressive with price cuts over the past year, so I bet they’ll drop prices again between now and the day my lease expires.

So as of today, I think I will be replacing my Audi Q5 with a Tesla Model Y Long Range. I already got my buddy T’s referral code so we can both earn some goodies out of it.

I had one electrician out last week to get an estimate to run a line for a home charger, and have messages out to several others to take a look. Being able to charge your EV at home is a game changer, the step that truly makes owning an EV radically different from a traditional car. Superchargers are great for road trips, but charging at home for everyday travel is cheaper and far more convenient.

I’ll continue to do research over the next couple months to make sure this is the right choice. I’ve been reading about a few other cars, but nothing has jumped out at me as requiring a test drive.

To close this post, I want to make a very important point: Elon still fucking sucks. If I get a Tesla I might get a bumper sticker that says “Fuck Elon.” That’ll start some conversations!

It was a three-day weekend at CHS. Which was good since L and I started the weekend off early.

Caitlin-palooza

I took L and one of her hoops buddies down to Bloomington Thursday night for the Iowa-Indiana game. This was my first time in Assembly Hall 2003. Our seats were better for that game.

We were UP THERE!

We arrived right when doors opened two hours before tip and found the back of the line, which was roughly half a mile from the arena. Fortunately it was in the low 50s and dry. Things could have been much less pleasant in Indiana in late February! It took us exactly 30 minutes to get inside. By then the only sections of lower level seats that were GA had been taken, so we went into the balcony and grabbed a few.

Assembly Hall is behind those trees somewhere.

Caitlin was already on the court and warming up, 85 minutes before game time according to the official clock.

She must have used up all her shots in pregame because she turned in one of her worst games of the year, going 8–26 from the field and just 3–16 from three. She even missed three-straight free throws at one point. Still she put up 24 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists, exiting the game with a couple minutes left as IU closed out their win. It is crazy this was considered a bad game for her.

IU was ready for their moment. They blew a game to a bad Illinois team last Monday but were 100% focused for the Hawkeyes. They took the lead late in the first quarter and steadily pulled away. The Hoosiers nearly got the lead to 20 a couple times before winning by 17. Local girl – from Fishers, just north of us – Sydney Parrish hit consecutive 3s to push the lead to 17. A third-straight 3 just missed. I’m not sure Assembly Hall would have survived that moment had Parrish connected. IU was fantastic defense and rode a few hot streaks on offense to build their margin.

The game was super chippy, which was awesome. As much as I enjoy Caitlin, I don’t always love some of her antics, which seem unnecessary and over the top. The Hoosier players and coaches weren’t having it. Mackenzie Holmes stared Clark down twice after blocking her shots. A couple other IU players yelled at her when she complained. And Clark got into it with the IU coaches at one point.

Assistant coaches in women’s ball seem way more aggressive than on the men’s side. Both teams had to have assistants held back from going after refs after bad calls.

The crowd was almost as hot as the Hoosiers. It was officially a sellout, although there were scattered empty seats in our area. There were plenty of Iowa folks mixed in but it was still a 98% loud, proud Hoosier crowd. One national writer said the crowd was better for this game than when KU came to B-town in December.[1]

They showed lots of good fan signs on the video board. One student had a white board on which he was tracking Clark’s “Flops” and “Whines,” which was funny. Another kid had a sign showing Clark and a crying baby next to each other. The best was a student who had a sign that showed Iowa coach Lisa Bluder and labeled her as a “D1 Yapper,” which was awesome. I’m going to start using that phrase.

For some reason former Hoosier (and Pacer) Victor Oladipo was there, wearing sunglasses the entire time. He’s getting paid $9 million to do nothing at the moment, so I guess he can roll back to his alma mater for a big game when it suits him.

Fun to get to see the biggest star in the game, hell the biggest star in sports, in person. Who was the last athlete that had people lining up for hours almost every night they played? Also fun to see the Hoosiers, who aren’t quite as good as they were last year, put it all together on the night of their biggest home game of the year.

At halftime L ran down to find one of her travel teammates. They, in turn, met one of our new girls on their team for the coming season. She is 5’10”! She looks athletic. I think she got some varsity time at her 4A school this season. I am intrigued!

Jayhawk Talk

Well that was an almost perfect Saturday for the Jayhawks. The much-hated Texas Longhorns made their final visit to Allen Fieldhouse before leaving for the SEC. KU jumped on them early, had a 20-point lead at halftime, and auto-piloted it a bit to a 19-point win. The starting lineup was balanced and efficient. It might have been the best bench game of the year. KU’s defense looked terrific and the offense was humming. As several national writers said, if you give Bill Self a week to prepare, he’s going to find your weak points.

And, HOLY SHIT NIC TIMBERLAKE!!!!

https://x.com/KUHoops/status/1761568235684573184?s=20

Oh, and the uniforms KU wore were fantastic. I love these updated versions of old uniforms Adidas has been rolling out every year. I prefer the version with red letters a little bit more, but these were nice.

Not all was great for KU, though. That they won without Kevin McCullar, whose knee acted up again, was encouraging. What was not encouraging was Self using the phrase “If Kevin comes back…” four times in his postgame, radio interview.

IF?!?!?! WTF?!?!

I mean, KU might have just played their most complete game of the year, against a talented but flawed team. So that was cool, and a great development for March. But the Jayhawks need McCullar to win NCAA games. And a month before the biggest games start the head coach is talking like he’s not sure McCullers knee will be healed by then.

Terrific.

I don’t call out the KU fans often, but chanting “SEC” at Texas and Oklahoma is dumb. I know it is meant to mock, but if you’re going to chant about conferences, give your own conference some love. Don’t chant what SEC teams chant in big, non-conference games. Or just start the Rock Chalk Chant early and throw the Horns Down when you’re waxing Texas.

Also, KU is 3–0 against SEC teams this year. And 3–0 against teams going to the SEC next year. I still fear some .500 SEC team more than anyone else in the second round of the NCAAs.

Court Stormings

Oh so much hand wringing about Duke’s Kyle Filipowski getting knocked over and apparently injuring his knee when the Wake Forest students rushed the court after beating the Blue Devils Saturday. Seriously, the rest of the day on ESPN every other game seemed secondary as each broadcast team had to weigh in, and each halftime show was devoted to breaking it down, in Zapruder Film like detail.

Hey, it super sucks Filipowski got hurt, and hopefully it is nothing severe or lingering.

But Filipowski isn’t the first person to get injured in a court storm/field rush. It’s just when it happens to a Duke player, who is a potential All American, it becomes the biggest story in the world.

Court storming is great. But, come on, these aren’t new. If you’re playing a Duke, a Kansas, a Kentucky, and your school is either a Little Brother or just not as good, you have to know this is a possibility and be prepared for a court storming. You’re not going to keep all those kids off the court. But you can either delay them, or funnel them to a section of the court giving all the players a chance to get clear and safe before the celebration really kicks off.

Some KU fans made a big deal about how Wake Forest athletic director John Currie was the AD at Kansas State when there were a couple particularly scary court stormings in Manhattan. I’m not sure he’s directly responsible – Wildcats gonna Wildcat when they beat KU – but it is weird that after he was forced to take measures to protect visiting players in Bramlage Coliseum, there didn’t appear to be much in place to avoid bad situations in Winston Salem.

Kid Update

Our big accomplishment for the weekend was C finding a prom dress. She is our procrastinator and it had been a struggle to get her out shopping. But she found a beautiful dress and we’re on schedule to have everything ready for prom in two months.

CHS had elearning on Friday so the school could set up for their big, annual fundraiser. L got her work done early so we went out to get her some new basketball shoes for the travel season. She was hoping to get the Sabrina Ionesco shoes, but they are mega-narrow and she had to settle for some Nike GT Cut 2’s. New hoops shoe time is one of my favorite parts of her basketball calendar. I’ve been known to grab some AAU Dad shoes on the same trip, but I held off this time.

We had a travel parent zoom meeting last night and she starts workouts next weekend. Her team will play for the first time while we are on spring break, but hopefully we make it back in time for her to play the second half of their second tournament. Right now we are scheduled to play in Cincinnati twice and Louisville three times then everything else is 20 minutes from our house.

M got a job leading tours around the UC campus. I talked to her before her interview and she was a little nervous. Then she texted and said the interview lasted five minutes and she got the offer right away. Surprised it took them five minutes to realize she’s like the perfect person to show prospective students and their families around UC. Not sure if she’s led any tours yet but she’s on the call list for helping out when folks need a guide.