D's Notebook

Tag: Indianapolis Colts (Page 6 of 12)

Weekend Notes

October 19, 2020 /

It felt like I mostly sat on my ass watching sports this weekend. Turns out a lot went on. Here are some details.

HS Football

M snagged a ticket at the last minute to the Indy high school game of the year: 5A #1 Cathedral vs 6A #1 Center Grove. Both teams were undefeated, had rolled through their first eight games pretty much unchallenged, and were ranked in the top 25 of the USA Today national poll.[1] They were also ranked 1–2 in the all-class Indiana computer poll, with a large gap between CHS and the #3 team.

I figured CG would win fairly easily. Although CHS had played a tougher schedule, CG is much more physically impressive. They have 6’8” and 6’6” kids on the offensive line. Their quarterback is just a junior and has offers from most of the Big 10. They have a d-lineman committed to Minnesota and a d-end who has offers from Clemson, Alabama, Ohio State, and pretty much every other major school. Their running back is an absolute horse who would likely be challenging career rushing records had he not missed almost his entire junior year because of injuries. CHS has a receiver who is going to Louisville…to play baseball. Their best running back is going to Columbia. Most of their other good seniors will go to D2 or D3 schools. Very good players, but without the ceilings of CG’s best.

Oh, and CHS won a very physical, nasty game 14–9 last year. So CG was motivated.

CHS punted on their first possession then CG scored without much effort. My prediction seemed solid. But CHS’ defense righted themselves and the rest of the first half was very even. CHS got two big completions and scored a touchdown in the second quarter to go into the break down just 10–6.

Then they controlled the third quarter, forcing multiple CG punts. They caught a huge break late in the period when they got an interception and ran it back 73 yards for a touchdown. Suddenly they were up 13–10 and controlling the game on D.

The fourth quarter was a series of traded punts. CG, who has arguably the best kicker in the state, put a 30-yard field goal off the crossbar to miss a chance to tie with about 4:00 left. The radio announcers started doing the math: three first downs and CHS would escape with a huge win. They got the first two, CG burned all their time outs, and the game came down to a fourth and one just past midfield.

CHS got too cute. Instead of giving it to their running back, who was having a good series, or letting the quarterback take it and make something happen, they handed it to a receiver on a sweep and he was stopped for a loss. The decision made some sense because CHS had not punted well all night, plus CG would have brought heavy pressure. With the way the CHS defense was playing, it was a reasonable risk.

CG had a minute to go 54 yards. They needed just 44 of those seconds, scoring on a touchdown pass with 0:16 left. CHS couldn’t do anything on the final three plays of the game and lost a terrific game 17–13.

CHS has to feel disappointed about the final outcome, but great about hanging with CG, something no team in the state did for more than 30 minutes. CG, provided they stay healthy, are going to roll through the 6A playoffs. Most assume that CHS will do the same in 5A. This should give them confidence that their first eight games were no fluke.

The highlights I saw on Twitter showed a group of CHS students in both the main visiting stands – the stadium was 50% capacity – and in one section of the end zone stands. When I picked M up I asked her where she sat, on the side or in the end zone.

“What do you mean ‘end zone’?”

L was with us – I had picked her up from a friend’s on the way – and she laughed out loud.

KU

Not much to talk about KU. The defense really hung in there and made some plays until they ran out of gas. The offense continues to look awful.

I was kind of half-watching when M walked through the room.

“Is that KU football? You never watch that.”

Which, first, is not true. But I explained how I don’t get as into football as basketball because KU has been terrible for a decade.

“Do people actually go to games?”

I knew what she was really asking but decided to deflect.

“Well, most stadiums have limits on how many people can be there. This game is in West Virginia so I’m not sure how many people are allowed.”

“No, I meant at KU. Do people just not go because they’re terrible?”

Roasted by my daughter who doesn’t know what an end zone is. I would be offended but, come on, it’s KU football.

Family Pics

The big event of the weekend was that we had family pictures scheduled for Sunday evening. But as the forecast looked rainy, we moved them to Saturday.

We haven’t done a true family pic in six years because they are always total disasters. At least one girl is crying, one or two of the others are surly and uncooperative, and S and I are usually stressed and yelling at everyone. It’s hard enough to get a Christmas card pic without total meltdowns, so we kept putting off the full family pic.

It had been a three-week hassle for S to get the girls to agree to clothes to wear. They didn’t want to go try things on so she would come home with bags full of things to try. They kept rejecting her suggestions without offering guidance on what they would wear. There had been plenty of yelling that I managed to stay out of.

Saturday morning when we told the girls pics were that night, one of them immediately burst into tears. For fuck’s sake. Another waited until about an hour before we left to start fixing her hair, which takes a long time to dry. Another was crabby and uncommunicative about the entire affair. And then the first girl cried again and refused to wear what she had agreed to wear. S was on the verge of tears. I decided to drink a beer and stay out of it because yelling at the girls to stop being jackasses never seems to work.

But we made it out of the house, everyone settled down, and we actually had a very good photo session.

You would think they would learn to shut the fuck up and just go along with what their mom wants them to do. It gets it over way quicker, there’s less stress, and they can get back to whatever it is they would rather be doing. But kids are dumb. Even smart kids.

Colts

Looked like it was going to be a disaster, then turned into a pleasant surprise. Aside from one bad interception Philip Rivers had a great game. Some receivers are stepping up to replace all the injured guys who should be playing. And I’ll write the first quarter off as a fluke for the defense.

Baseball

What a great end to the league championship series. The ALCS wasn’t necessarily a great game, but it was a great result. It felt very 2020 that Houston might find a way to reach the World Series. Thankfully Tampa shut the door and didn’t completely blow their 3–0 lead.

Game seven of the NLCS, though, was treeeeeeeeeeemendous. A back-and-forth game with plenty of huge moments, both good and bad, is perfect for a non-aligned viewer. Cody Bellinger’s game-winning home run was one for the ages. As a Twitter user I follow said, “That boy just hit the ball to Mars.” Also very 2020 that he apparently hurt himself, at least momentarily, celebrating with his teammates.

I kind of enjoyed the neutral field playoffs. I loooooved the seven games in seven days schedule. For everyone who complains about this year’s rules changes taking strategy out of the game, the schedule added a lot of tough decisions for managers.

I know the old Rangers stadium is probably not usable, but I think it would have been cool to have the ALCS in one of the stadiums, the NLCS in the other across the street.

It feels like it should be a very good World Series. But you never know which team will have good pitching all the way through, and which will slip up. I just hope Clayton Kershaw pitches well. I really don’t care who wins but I hope if the Dodgers lose it isn’t because of his failures. I usually don’t get into the “Athlete X deserves a championship.” I’m making an exception for Kershaw. A championship won’t erase all his past October struggles. But it will at least be a counter to them.

Dodgers in seven

  1. CHS was #25, CG #14.  ↩

Weekend Notes

September 21, 2020 /

It was a weekend dominated by watching sports, mostly on the TV.

Friday night we went to an (outdoor) fundraiser that a high school friend of S’s was throwing. This is her pal who nearly died of Covid back in April. He brought together a few well-connected friends he has (one is an NBA player) to throw a neighborhood concert that would raise money for families that were struggling with expenses because of Covid-related hospital stays.

It was a perfect fall night, the first Friday night this season you had to throw a jacket on to be outside. It would have been great to be at a high school football game. But the concert was fun. There were a lot of St P’s families there. We hung with a few of S’s high school friends. We very briefly met the NBA player.

Throughout the night we were following the CHS game. They were playing the #8 large class team from Ohio. Last year the two teams went to overtime with St X winning. This year CHS won by three, getting a late interception as St X was driving for a potential tying/winning score. They are now 5–0.

Sunday I watched some chunks of the Colts game. They looked pretty good despite losing three more important players to injuries. Since key players getting injured seems to be a trend around the league, I’m starting to think the healthiest team in January will be the true Super Bowl favorite. I caught the end of the Dallas-Atlanta game, which was just stupid. Then again, if any team knows how to blow an un-blowable lead, it is the Falcons. We had dinner plans so missed the late games and the first half of the night game, although what I did get to see of the Pats-Seahawks game was highly entertaining.

I watched most of the fourth quarter of the Lakers-Nuggets game, and that was absolutely terrific drama!

I missed some NFL during the day because I watched C cheer at the St P’s cadet football game. She had told me the team wasn’t very good, which is saying something since she knows nothing about football. But they were playing another allegedly bad team so there was hope. After a scoreless first quarter parents were mumbling about a 0–0 tie. But St C found a huge weakness in the St P’s defense, forced four turnovers, and won 22–0. It’s painful watching bad middle school teams try to play football. Most of the kids are too small to tackle. The offenses suck. The defenses are terrible. The parents are constantly complaining. Granted, all middle school sports are kind of a train wreck. But football seems a little extra bad. I had this thought two years ago when M cheered: how on earth are all the Catholic high schools around here good-to-great at football when CYO football is soooo bad?

Most of my weekend sports time was devoted to watching hours and hours of the US Open. Which was terrific…until Sunday. I am not a Bryson DeChambeau fan. Which is a shame because he’s a remarkable player and just had a legendary performance in the final round of a major. But he’s both insufferable and generally full of shit, which makes it very hard to get onboard with him. I wish I could like him, because he is very much about doing things different than what conventional wisdom suggests, which is something that golf needs. But his personality is soooooo grating that I can’t get over it.[1]

He’s definitely the future of PGA golf, though, and us haters are going to have to get used to him. Even if he doesn’t dominate the way Tiger in his prime did, more and more golfers are going to begin following his path of bulking up to chase speed and distance. Even if he isn’t always winning, golfers who resemble him both physically and in their game will.

I’m not sure that’s great. Anyone who plays golf wants to it as far as they possibly can. But Bryson makes a mockery of courses, even ones that have been stretched out and allegedly toughened up to fight the big bombers like him. It’s clear that superintendents, the PGA Tour, and USGA have no idea how to set up courses to prevent distance from being such a huge factor without making them impossible to play for the guys who don’t hit it 300+ with the driver. And the PGA/USGA don’t want to piss off the equipment manufacturers but putting greater limits on either driver size or performance, or taking some juice out of the ball (or putting spin back into it). Golf writer Andy Johnson has been saying for some time that golf is headed where men’s tennis went a decade ago, when racquets got so hot that long rallies disappeared and matches became, essentially, serving contests. The ATP did take some juice out of the tennis ball a few years ago. I don’t watch enough tennis to know if that has made much of a difference.

I don’t know what the right answer for golf is. The sport has a long history of the pros and weekend duffers being able to play the exact same equipment on the exact same courses. When the pro game begins to turn into a completely different sport, where long and middle irons aren’t needed anymore, it may be time to re-examine that relationship and whether the pros should be forced to play scaled-back equipment.

As much as I dislike Bryson, I can’t help but be impressed with how rapidly he has changed both his body and his game. Just over a year ago he said he wanted to gain a bunch of weight to help him swing faster and harder. He gained a solid chunk during the brief winter off-season, and then another chunk during the lockdown. He’s something like 40 pounds heavier than he was a year ago. The gains in his game were immediately apparent. But a lot of people, me included, didn’t think he could manage to hit the ball insanely far and keep it relatively straight. He will occasionally go off the rails a little, but it is utterly remarkable how well he controls the ball off the tee. When he turned pro he was not a good putter. Since the restart he’s been putting incredibly well. His wedges were always his issue. Suddenly in the last month they’ve turned into a plus rather than a minus. Someone on Twitter today pointed out that Rory McIlRoy has been trying to figure out his wedges and putter for five years. Bryson apparently fixed them in less than a calendar year. Insane.

It was also a little disappointing that the tournament didn’t turn into the usual absolute carnage that the US Open is famous for. There were big numbers, to be sure, and only two players were at par or better. But it didn’t feel like the disaster so many Opens of the past have been. And when I say disaster I mean in a good way for the viewer. I love watching the pros look like me, battering the ball from one side of the rough to the other, or having no idea where it will end up thanks to course conditions. Bryson and the other young bombers out there may have ended that era.

  1. It doesn’t help, for me, that he’s a big supporter of our president. Which, to be fair, most pro golfers are and I don’t count it against a lot of them. But when you already dislike someone, that just makes it worse.  ↩

Football!

September 14, 2020 /

Football is back! After three weeks of high school action, the college and pro ranks joined in this weekend to give us another nudge towards a sense of normalcy.

Let’s run through the weekend’s happenings.

High School

CHS played arch rival BCHS on Friday. CHS was ranked #1 in 5A, BCHS #1 in 3A. Despite the difference in size (CHS is a natural 4A school, with about 350 more students and draws from a bigger geographic region), this is a pretty even rivalry. Last year was a delightful game with the eventual 3A state champs in control most of the night until CHS made a few huge defensive plays and had two 60+ yard touchdowns in the second half to get the win.

This year…well, not nearly as exciting. CHS led 25–0 midway through the second quarter and seemed well on their way to another crushing win. They got sloppy, though, committing a ton of drive-killing penalties and allowed BCHS to get comfortable on offense. It was never close, but the final, 39–20, was CHS’ closest game of the year.

Now they move on to the annual Cincinnati part of their schedule, with home games the next three weeks against schools from Ohio.

I listened to the CHS game on the radio, as has become my Friday tradition. After it ended, I flipped over to the student broadcast of The Other CHS’ game, which was headed to overtime. These student announcers weren’t nearly as good as some of the ones I’ve heard in the past. I did enjoy the line by one of the announcers that even though he had to take the ACT Saturday morning, he was fine with the game lasting deep into the night. The Other CHS won by one in double OT.

College

This weekend of college football felt very strange. Two major conferences not playing. Marquee non-conference games cancelled and replaced by games that only the most devoted fan would be interested in. And then the Big 12 laying a big, fat egg against the Sun Belt.

I don’t care about the Iowa State and Kansas State losses. And, to be honest, I don’t care that much about Kansas losing to Coastal Carolina. I was not sure what Vegas was thinking, making the Jayhawks, who literally may not have a functioning quarterback, a touchdown favorite over a team that beat them last year. A loss was not that much of a surprise. KU getting absolutely housed in the first half? Now that was a surprise. Really glad I didn’t drink a beer until kickoff so I could stay awake for that garbage. As it was I only made it to halftime before bailing. 10:00 pm eastern time starts are bad.

Listen, KU sucks. They will not win a game this year. That’s nothing new. But anyone who thought that this year would bring some dramatic improvement wasn’t looking at the roster. Again, the team does not have a quarterback who is ready to take a D1 snap. The offensive line will yet again be the worst in the Big 12, making things even tougher on the quarterback.

The thing for KU is to get through this year. Because next year is when Les Miles’ careful and disciplined recruiting should begin to bear fruit. I don’t expect Miles to keep the majority of the kids he has commitments from in the current recruiting class, but bringing in a third-straight class that is almost all high schoolers will at least get the program back on firm footing for the first time since Charlie Weis drove off nearly 30 players in his first year. That always had to be the first step to end the cycle of suck. Then you start hoping some of these kids can play.

NFL

Welcome to Indy, Philip Rivers! All summer we heard how “playing behind one of the strongest offensive lines in the NFL will allow Rivers to cut down on his interceptions.” So naturally he throws two really bad picks, one early in the game when the Colts could have put the Jaguars away, the other late in the game that killed any chance of the Colts coming back. Oh, and the defense kind of sucked and the offensive line sure looked mediocre in the running game. Plus Marlon Mack may be out for the year. You shouldn’t overreact to one game, but losing to the worst team in the NFL was not a great start for the Rivers era. Oh, turns out he may be cursed, too, which could be a problem.

I casually watched several other games. Which is my favorite way to watch the NFL. I cooked. I read. I surfed the web and the socials. I took a break to coach a basketball practice. I don’t have to be totally invested in an NFL game. It can just be on, the background noise to fall afternoons and evenings. For that reason alone, it was good for the NFL to be back.

My only complaint of the first day of NFL games – well, other than the Colts game – was the crowd noise that Fox added to their games. I’m fine with this, in theory. But it has to be done correctly. Most of the time they had it cranked up at least 20% too loudly. It should not interfere with the broadcasters’ audio. In the Chicago-Detroit game, it was often hard to hear the announcers over the fake crowd noise. Which makes no sense. And the increases/decreases in crowd noise were always super abrupt. Like there was a kid with his hand on the volume knob, and he frantically spun it up or down depending on the play, rather that easing it to a new level.

A friend pointed out the fake noise on the NBC broadcast should have reflected that had a crowd been in the new LA stadium, it would have been at least half Cowboys fans. I liked that thought.

Finally, I realized over the weekend that the NFL playoff format is different than the predictions I offered, with only the top seed getting a bye. I regret the error but will not update the picks to reflect the proper order. They were half-assed to begin with.

(Mostly) Sports Notes

February 18, 2020 /

Time for some of my famous half-assed sports thoughts!

NBA ASG

Man, I am mad at myself for not paying more attention to Sunday’s All Star Game. I blame L. I told her the game was on and she wasn’t interested, so we watched other things. I turned it on for the last 30 seconds of the first half then switched away, got distracted by a book and emptying the dishwasher, and forgot about it until it was over.

Sounds like the new format was a success, though. This Elam Ending thing is certainly intriguing. I really hope that the NBA uses it in the G-League and summer league games, or even that some college holiday tournaments give it a shot. I like the concept but I really want to see it in a true game setting to understand how it works in practice. I’m suspicious about changing the context of a game within the game. But I would also love to find a way for the end of close games to not take 20 minutes of real time to play.

Astros

The Houston sign stealing scandal has gotten really good over the past few days. You have players calling out the Astros and the MLB commissioner. You have fans just destroying the team and the league. In an era when so many dramas are manufactured, this one is 100% legit and I’m waaaay in on it turning into a season-long beef.

I saw this morning that an oddsmaker set the Astros hit by pitcher total for the upcoming season at 83.5. My initial thought is that seems low, although I’m sure MLB is going to step in and do its best to chill things out if the beanings get out of hand in April, which could make that number about right.

KU

You see what they’re doing, don’t you? Marcus Garrett having the best shooting game of his life Saturday? And Devon Dotson repeating the act Monday night? They’re getting all those shots out of the way so they combine to go a very March-like 0–21 on Saturday against Baylor. At least it’s February…

Seriously, game of the year Saturday in Waco (assuming Baylor beats Oklahoma tonight). I hope KU has a better plan to attack Baylor’s defense than they did a month ago.

Marcus Morris

Plenty of chatter among KU fans about whether Marcus Morris was deserving of having his jersey retired. Since the standards were relaxed late in Roy Williams’ run, I think Marcus absolutely fits the standard: he was the Big 12 POY which, even at KU, should be enough. As a couple writers keep pointing out, he had the most efficient and impressive offensive year of any player in Bill Self’s tenure.

Still, I understand some of the reluctance. And I think it’s totally based on how Marcus’ teams never made it to the Final Four. Most of all, it goes back to the 2011 VCU game, the worst loss of Self’s career and perhaps in school history.

CJ Moore had an interesting conversation with Elijah Johnson on The Athletic about that game. Elijah is always a super interesting quote, but I can’t believe I hadn’t heard him share this story before. He said in the team’s film session before the VCU game, the coaches ended it with a highlight reel of the 2010–11 season. The design, it seemed, was to remind the players of all the good things they had done and how great they could be.

However, Johnson said, the players took it a totally different way. He said the film room was dead quiet afterward. Some players were emotional. He said instead of inspiring them, the highlights reminded them of how close to the end they were, a big deal for a team that was exceptionally tight. He also said it made him feel like no matter how they played in the VCU game, they couldn’t match what had been contained in those highlights.

Fascinating. It may explain why KU came out so dead in the opening five minutes of that game, digging a hole they could never get out of.

It also makes me madder about the game I’ll always be maddest about. A freaking highlight video kept a team with the easiest path to a national championship any KU team has ever had from beating a team that shouldn’t have even made the tournament? Going to find a stray dog to kick for awhile…

Colts

Speaking of kicking dogs, there is a lot of smoke around the rumors that Phillip Rivers could end up as a Colt. I totally get it. You go get Rivers or Tom Brady or Drew Brees or some other competent, experienced quarterback, draft someone else in the first round, and use the veteran to get through the next two years before that rookie is ready to play.

But Phillip Fucking Rivers?

For starters he’s a douche. His skills are clearly on the decline. Most of all, he and his teams were Kryptonite to the Manning-era Colts. They knocked them out of the playoffs twice, once with Rivers on the sideline injured. They ended the Colts’ perfect season in 2005.

At least Brady won Super Bowls. And even lost Super Bowls. Rivers’ teams have never gotten close. His game is clearly on the decline. He’s never been mobile. Seems like a horrible move to me. Just another reason for me not to watch the NFL, I guess.

I’m also fearful the Colts will draft Tua Tagovailoa. No doubting the kid’s heart, but he’s undersized and always hurt. Not a recipe for a franchise QB.

The Algorithm

Sometimes the various algorithms that run our lives are spooky. M is creeped out by the ads that pop up on her Instagram feed. They seem to mirror closely conversations she’s had. The other day she was saying “DOG FOOD!” near her phone, over-and-over, to see if that sparked a bunch of dog food ads. It did not, which I think proves the algorithm knows when you are trying to game/mock/test it.

I do enjoy how the algorithm works most of the time. Especially on YouTube, when it will randomly pick up some old song I haven’t listened to in years and spits its video or a performance of it out at me.

I say that because it’s been months since I’ve watched any 2014 or 2015 Royals highlight videos. Yet, last night when I was doing some research I’ll discuss in my next Reader’s Notebook entry, there were a bunch of ALCS and World Series highlight videos that kept bubbling up.

I approve, algorithm, I approve.

Holiday Weekend Notes

December 2, 2019 /

It was an enjoyable holiday weekend at our house. Some highlights…

KU Hoops

I’ll break this out later, but the KU-Dayton game on Wednesday was a fine beginning to the holiday break. That game is an argument for why college hoops is better than college football. Two very good teams going toe-to-toe in the season’s earliest weeks and a loss does not kill you for the rest of the year. Then again, in football that game has tremendous impact and meaning where in basketball, it’s just another in a series of fun if largely meaningless contests that come in the lead-up to March. So it’s a wash?

Coach K

While on the subject of college hoops, we had one of the greatest upsets in college basketball history Tuesday, when Stephen F. Austin went into Cameron Indoor Stadium and beat Duke. Now SFA is not a bad program. They’ve made the tournament a number of times in recent years and have even won a couple games. But this is Duke at home to an unranked, non-conference opponent. Shit does not happen. Ah, it happened, though, and in an especially satisfying manner with SFA collecting a loose ball and going full court to win at the buzzer.

And then Coach K told a reporter that on the day of the game, he was suffering from a minor health issue and “wasn’t himself.”

What. A. Dick.

He just has to casually roll this out to not only take away from SFA’s win, but also make it all about him.

Proud that I’ve thought he was a dick since 1986.

Turkey Day

For the second-straight year we walked one of the local races as a family. We were joined by a few other members of our family and some friends and walked the three-ish miles on a chilly morning.

We hosted the meal, but only had 13 this year, which is a pretty easy number to prep for. We did a large turkey breast, which for the first time ever I prepped with a brine. It turned out pretty good. I also did my standard Giada dressing, a corn soufflé, and some dandy mashed potatoes. We went way outside the box this year and eschewed the traditional pumpkin pie for a pumpkin cheesecake instead. It was real, real good as the kids say.

Holiday Vibes

I went out with some other dads on Tuesday night. When I left L was watching Elf on the couch.

Friday the tree and decorations went up, so the house is looking festive. That evening L and I did our first viewing of Christmas Vacation of the season. She’s watched parts of Home Alone multiple times already.

I’m off to a fairly slow start to my Christmas music listening routine. I expect I’ll round into form quickly since this is a quick Christmas season.

HS Football

It was state championship weekend here in Indiana.

C went with a friend to watch Chatard win the Class 3A state title Friday night. I tried to get her to wear her Cathedral sweatshirt, but she refused. The team that knocked Cathedral out in regionals ended up wining their second-straight 5A title that evening as well.

On Saturday, I watched my boy Coach H lead CHS to the 6A state title in a very entertaining game. They had a 20–3 lead going into the fourth quarter but needed to recover an onside kick and then convert two huge third downs to kill the clock and close out the 20–17 win. The game was beginning to feel like the state title game 11 years ago when the same two teams played and CHS blew a 19-point lead in the fourth quarter. This was was even more impressive since they were down to their third string quarterback by the fourth quarter due to injuries. This was Coach H’s second state title as a head coach.

College Football

Whoa doctor, the Iron Bowl was a good time! There were so many “Oh shit!” moments in that game. It was an utter delight for a relatively neutral, if generally anti-Bama viewer.

Most of the other Saturday games kind of sucked. Was there any doubt that Ohio State was going to lay some wood on Michigan? They should just stop playing the game and save everyone the trouble. And Fox really needs to stop calling it the greatest rivalry in college sports until Michigan wins a few again. Wisconsin-Minnesota was decent for a half, especially in the blowing snow. I bounced around the other games, but none were terribly compelling.

KU Football

Welp, about as bad a way to end a season as anyone could have hoped for. KU looked thoroughly uninterested in putting out any effort against Baylor. It was not realistic to think KU had a chance, but after some close calls against Texas and Iowa State earlier in the year, I sure hoped the Jayhawks would at least still be in the game, I don’t know, more than three minutes into the contest.

It was easy to get bummed out about the ugly close to the season. Given how the other nine years in the worst decade in the program’s history went, this felt like more of the same. Fact is, though, that for most of the season KU looked much better prepared and coached than they have since 2009. They lost four games by one score. Make a play here or there and steal just one of those and four wins feels like great progress. I have to keep reminding myself that it’s going to take a couple years to get back to mediocre, if Les Miles can in fact do that.

I don’t ask for much for Christmas but a quarterback and some linemen would be high on my list this year.

Pics

Sunday we planed on taking our family Christmas card picture. S got the girls up early and took them to a salon to get their hair styled. We had a beautiful outdoor display picked out to take photos in front of. And then a 45-minute trip to the salon turned into 90 because M has so much hair, and by the time we were ready to take pics, mixed snow and rain was falling. Not ideal for styled hair.

So we adjusted on a the fly and went to the local mall where we lined the girls up on the opposite side of the giant tree that Santa was greeting toddlers in front of. We snapped off some pics and were done in about 10 minutes.

Afterward the girls commented on how easy that was. To which S and I said, “No shit! We’ve been trying to tell you this for years!” Soooo many thoroughly terrible picture taking experiences because one kid or another was in a shitty mood and messed it up for everyone. Soooo many tears from the girls and yelling from us. I’d like to think we’ve turned a corner and all family picture experiences will be great from here on. I seriously doubt that is the case, though.

Colts

Yep, think they’re about done. And looks like I will get to collect my beer bet with my friend who insisted back in September they would win 10 games.

Weekend Notes

November 4, 2019 /

As has become routine, a quick-ish rundown of what went down over the weekend.

Halloween

OK, not technically the weekend, but worth a few words about how the girls spent Halloween.

M went to a friend’s house to hang out and watch movies.

C, along with most of the girls in her grade, dressed as Dalmatians. They didn’t quite make it to 101 but you get the idea.

And L dressed as Robin from Stranger Things and joined two friends who were dressed as Dustin and Steve from the show.

The big thing was that this was the first year ever our girls did not trick or treat in our old neighborhood. Last year we were still trying to sell the old house so we went over to turn on lights, put a car in the driveway, and then hang out with the neighbors. This year C and L were in separate neighborhoods near St. P’s, hanging with school friends.

Although I missed the annual dad chili cook-off and sitting in the driveway and drinking, it was nice to drop the kids off, come home for a quiet evening, and then go pick them up when they were done. We only had one group of three trick or treaters at our house. That was mostly because it was snowing, the windchill was in the 20s, and kids were not spending a ton of time outside.

World Series

Again, not officially last weekend. But that was some game seven, with the Nationals coming back to win with a 2015 Royals-like, late-inning rally. I’m still in a little shock that the Nats were able to pull off the upset. It will be interesting to see if they’re any good next year, between having the oldest roster in the league and a number of free agents to be.

L Sports

Basketball on Saturday. A nice win by eight over a team that was a good match. She scored one basket.

Soccer on Sunday, a makeup of a game that she was supposed to miss. She was kind of reluctant to play, we think because of getting hurt in her last soccer game. But she ended up being very glad she went. They won 5–1 to clinch first place by two games. She had an assist and then, finally, a classic L goal. She had a defender on her heels, faked her both directions until the girl turned her hips, cut the ball inside, flicked it outside to get an angle on the goalie, and then finished. She raised her hands and threw her head back, as if she, too, was saying, “Finally!” This was her only goal that was from her work this season, rather than a tap-in or from the penalty spot. Think she was glad to know she still has it.

Royals Hire Mike Matheny

Not happy about this. At all. His one, glaring weakness in St. Louis was his inability to handle young players. That’s what the Royals need right now, someone similar to Ned Yost who can nurture the young prospects as they begin working their way to the majors.

But I also thought Ned was a bad hire and he clearly learned from his failures in Milwaukee, although he was still driving us crazy deep into 2014.

So I guess I’m open to being surprised if Matheny ends up working out. Doesn’t mean I have to like it right now.

High School Football

Friday was week two of sectional play. Cathedral had a bye in week one so it was their opener. On a cold, clear night they ran up a 38–0 lead before halftime, played the sophomores through a running-clock second half, and advanced 38–13. M and C really wanted to go, so I bundled up in my ski trip clothes and sat through it. Thank goodness for that running clock. This Friday they play the team that knocked them out of the playoffs last year. That team has won eight straight games so it should be a good game.

KU Football

One of the most reliable things in fall is KU coming off a big win, there being excitement around the program, and K-State kicking their ass and sending us Jayhawks back to reality. Bill Snyder may be gone but the math remains the same. For now.

Just an ugly loss. Pushed around on both sides of the ball, Carter Stanley playing his worst game of the year, and not converting when they had chances to keep the game close early.

I didn’t expect to win. I was hoping we could keep it competitive, though. There’s been progress, but still a long way to go.

Colts

I was at L’s game when I heard groans go up. I looked at my phone and saw that Adam Vinatieri had missed another field goal, this one that likely would have won the game. So two of the Colts’ losses are directly on him and his misses. He gets credit for winning last week’s game – although his misses in that game made the game-winner necessary – so he’s still trending to the bad side. It might be time, Adam. It might be time.

Of course, none of that matters if Jacoby Brissett is out long-term. Brian Hoyer was decent yesterday. But if the Colts have to rely on him for multiple games, I think winning my bet that the Colts will not win 10 games is back in play.

Belated Weekend Notes

October 29, 2019 /

OK, finally some weekend notes.

Youth Basketball

L’s team finally got their second win of the year, a nervy 18–15 win. They were down 14–10 in the fourth quarter, which seemed like a monumental gap. We got back-to-back steals and scores to tie, then cranked up the defense, got a couple more scores, and held on for the win.

It was everything a 5th–6th grade basketball game should be: maddening, hilarious, outrageous, and ridiculous. The girls try hard but, bless their hearts, it’s pretty rough rowing some days.

L was held scoreless for the first time this year. That was largely because she missed most of the second half. She got body-checked and went down pretty hard just before halftime. I was worried at first she had hit her head. A week after the possible concussion in soccer that would not be good. Turned out it was more of a hip bone directly into the hardwood thing. She eventually loosened up enough to come in for part of the fourth quarter. She missed a couple shots and two free throws, so she had her chances.

Kansas Freaking Football

How about them apples! Sure, it was Texas Tech, who isn’t all that great this year. And, sure, it came partially to a massive gaffe by Tech that gave KU the chance to attempt a second game winning field goal when the game should have gone to overtime. Still, a week after missing kicks, not making stops late, and having the clock operator help their opponent, KU did everything they had to do to win in the fourth quarter.

Man, the offense looked good at times. Brent Dearmon really might be a genius. Which means he’ll be in Tuscaloosa or Baton Rouge or South Bend or some other legit college football town sooner rather than later. I say back the truck up and pay that fool to stay.

We’ll see if they can keep it together again this week again Kansas State.

World Series

What a weird damn series. Last Thursday everyone had the Astros dead and buried. Today it is the Nationals who look cooked. With Strasburg going for the Nats tonight I fully expect a game seven tomorrow. Then the big question is can Max Scherzer be right enough to go?

Colts

A thoroughly uninspiring win against the Broncos, helped greatly by some rather fearful coaching decisions on the Broncos’ sideline. I had a bad feeling about the game for some reason, so I spent most of the first half doing yard work and running errands. It warmed up enough by halftime to watch outside, which was pretty glorious. Still not sure how good the Colts actually are. But they’re in first place and I’m another win closer to having to buy some beer for my buddy who believed they were a 10-win team in August.

Tiger

I watched bits of the Zozo Championship as my sleep schedule allowed. With Gary Woodland and Tiger Woods leading the event all weekend, I had plenty of reason to watch. I just wasn’t crazy about watching a rather meaningless golf tournament after midnight.

And the whole “Chase for 82” thing is silly. A) It only includes PGA tour wins, so Tiger’s true career win total is not reflected in it. B) As has been established many times, Sam Sneed’s 82 tour wins is a farcical number. C) Even if we decide that matters, isn’t win #83 the important one? Why is the PGA celebrating a record being tied? What was celebrated more, Hank Aaron’s 714th or 715th home run?

High School Football

Sectional playoffs started last week. Cathedral had a bye so we stayed in. Unfortunately, wind chills are expected to be in the 20s for their game this week. M hasn’t told me yet whether she wants to go or not. And if she goes, I likely have to go.

Speaking of going…I forgot to share how one of the songs the Cathedral band played as part of their halftime show this year was “Should I Stay or Should I Go.” As a massive fan of the Clash, I approve. But I also chuckled that I’m sure it was selected because of its use in season one of Stranger Things. Apparently that made the song part of Indiana culture!

Sports Notes

October 22, 2019 /

I had a Reaching for the Stars post lined up for today, but one huge sports story has me skipping to throw down some sports thoughts on your heads.

Kansas – Missouri Basketball is Back

Well this was a total surprise. I have a few birdies out there who occasionally drop hints that big news is coming. None of them shared even a whiff of this coming out before last night’s announcement.

My initial reaction was that it was dumb that KU caved and agreed to this. I liked holding this petty grudge against Missouri for their role in breaking up one of the best conference rivalries in college sports. And since we Kansas fans like to think the rivalry means more to MU than to KU, that made it even more fun.

Alas, the teams were going to get together in the regular season eventually. There would be too much money offered at some point not to do it. I will assume that is the case here. I always hoped it would be because of the next round of realignment that found KU and MU in the same conference again.

I think the timing is very interesting. In the seven years since the teams played, KU has been much, much better than Mizzou in basketball. Now, with KU facing probation, a potential loss of scholarships, and a sure hit in recruiting for a year or two, it seems like an odd time to open the series up again. I’m not saying KU is going to turn into TCU in basketball. But there would seem to be a, hopefully momentary, dip in the talent level coming to Lawrence.

I wonder how much the NCAA situation had to do with KU agreeing to this. KU is going to be pouring a lot of money into the legal fight against the NCAA. And then there is the possibility that the NCAA may ban the Jayhawks from the tournament for a year or more. Is this an attempt to find some more revenue when expenses will be up and revenue potentially down in the near future?

It makes sense that football is not included. There’s no reason to play that game. KU can’t compete right now and Missouri gains nothing by giving KU the chance to pull an upset. Plus, both schools are scheduled out for several years. I figure football will get added down the road as spots open up in each school’s calendar.

I think the first year will be great. I wonder about after that. There are plenty of fantastic, non-conference rivalries out there. Missouri has had one with Illinois forever. But what made the KU-MU games of the past so great was because they meant something. The last basketball game, in 2012, featured two top four teams fighting for the conference title and a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament. Our generation grew up on KU and MU fighting for the Big 8/12 title. And even if one team was out of the title race, there was nothing better than beating your arch rival and knocking them out of the title race.

For us old folks the rivalry will still mean plenty. But for the younger folks, will it ever grow to what it used to be when it’s just another fun, non-conference game in December? Does losing to your rival mean the same thing when you still have two months of conference games coming after? When KU has had big conference wins over Duke, Kentucky, Michigan State, etc in previous Novembers/Decembers, those were a lot of fun. But the games against Iowa State, Texas Tech, and Baylor were always more important.

KU Football

I wasn’t going to write about it, but since I’ve opened up the notebook, some effort by the Jayhawks in Austin on Saturday! I have a KU buddy who lives in Austin who told us beforehand he was not going to the game. As KU hung around in the first half, I began texting him to get his butt over so he could watch history take place.

Jokingly, of course.

But, man, they gave it a good run. I had three non-KU friends text me when the Jayhawks converted the two-point conversion to take the lead late in the game to get my thoughts. Each got a variation on the same response: We left plenty of time to blow it.

1:11 was exactly enough time, as it turned out.

Still, a fine effort. With the state of KU football, you totally take moral victories.

And I have to share some love for Carter Stanley, who played his ass off and had the Longhorn Network announcers ripping their own players for getting “trucked” by him. The guys who have stuck with KU football over the past decade have been through some shit. It’s nice to see guys like Stanley have a moment where it works. It’s a shame the previous coaches put the program in a state where these moments are rare and a surprise. It’s also a shame he had to wait until his senior year to finally enjoy some success.

Colts

Another nice win for the Colts, another excellent coaching day for Frank Reich. I’m starting to get worried about the bet I made back in September that the Colts were, at best, an 8–8 team. I may have to pay my buddy the Miller Lite he put on the line for saying they would go 10–6.

Pacers

The Pacers tip off their season tomorrow against Detroit. Most experts have the Pacers making the playoffs since the Eastern Conference is so weak. Seems about right.

But we have no idea what to expect from this team. Victor Oladipo is engaging in light practice, but not anywhere close to returning from the quad injury that ended his 2019 season. And when he comes back, it will likely take him months to get back to where he was. This feels like a season where the Pacers are stuck between competing and dropping into the lottery. Really, it is one where they need to teach the new parts how to play together and then get ready to make a run next year.

The team did make news yesterday when they extended Domantas Sabonis. Word on the street was they were exploring trade options. But, as these things tend to do, a last-minute deal was worked out to keep the power forward on the squad. Now they have to figure out how to get him and Myles Turner to be able to play together. They have too much money wrapped up in them to not have them on the court as much as possible.

The Pacers have some really nice parts, when fully healthy. I wonder if the parts fit together, though. And whether a fully healthy Oladipo is enough to compete in the East.

Weekend Notes

September 9, 2019 /

Last week kind of sucked. I had the worst cold I’ve had in years, and it totally wiped me out. I think I slept most of the day Wednesday and spent the next four days coughing constantly. Friday and Saturday I had a headache that no amount of ibuprofen or sinus medication would knock back. My night time attempts at sleep were interrupted by coughing, a sore throat, or general discomfort that kept me from sleeping for more than an hour at a time. As a bonus, S was on a girls weekend with her sisters, so I was hustling the girls around to events while also watching one of my nephews.

It feels like I’m finally coming out of it today, though. I appreciate all the thoughts and prayers.

I’ll save the update on the girls’ events for another post. Let’s talk about some other things that went on this weekend.

KU Football

I know there is much handwringing about the meek Jayhawks falling to Coastal Carolina at home by the baseball score of 12-7. People are talking about one particular play call that seemed straight out of the David Beaty time management system and totally out of place for a Les Miles team. Or the absolutely pathetic play by the quarterback and wondering how the “stud” juco guy Miles brought in hasn’t seen the field yet.

I have none of those negative emotions. Just because KU has a new, high-priced coach with an impressive resumé does not mean the program is suddenly better. Especially when the offensive line is still not good enough to play at the Power 5 level. Miles can bring in studs at skill positions every recruiting class, but until he recruits some kids that can legitimately play the line, the results will not change.

I had pretty limited expectations for this year. Two wins most likely, maybe steal a third somewhere. But this year was all about Miles using his juice to start bringing in players, update the culture, and set the team up to start winning next year, or even two years from now.

We’ve been waiting ten years. What’s 2-3 more? For now the team isn’t worth getting upset over.

Colts

I watched parts of the Colts game Sunday. They didn’t look bad! Jacoby Brissett looks legit. The offense looks balanced. The defense hung in against a tough offense and gave the team a chance to get back in the game. And then Adam Vinatieri left seven points on the field that could have turned an overtime loss into a regulation win. Age may finally be catching up with Mr. Reliable.

I figure the Colts are an 8-8 team, unless Brissett is really good.1 He just might be, but games like this are the ones that good teams find a way to win and mediocre teams let slip away. The good news is the Colts started 1-5 last year and still made it to the playoffs. Of course, that was with Andrew…

US Open

We were busy Saturday afternoon and evening, so I only saw a few moments of Serena Williams’ loss in the women’s final. I don’t think people appreciate enough what she’s going through right now. Listen, there’s no tactful way to say this: she’s still not in great shape after her traumatic childbirth experience. And yet she’s still beating people up and making it to Grand Slam finals before it all catches up with her. Maybe she’ll never get it back and this is how the rest of her career, however long it lasts, will go. But, good grief, I think it’s incredible that she is still such a force despite basically becoming a totally different person physically.

As for the men’s final, I checked in early and saw Nadal was up and then forgot about it between the Colts game and doing some pool cleaning. Fortunately my brother-in-sports John N texted me in the midst of the fourth set to let me know some terrific drama was underway. So I got to see the last 90 minutes or so of that epic match. There were so many wonderful twists and turns to the final set-and-a-half that made it impossible to stop watching. L watched with me, and I believe this was the first tennis match she’s ever watched. Naturally she was just killing me with questions, which got a little annoying as the tension built. But she recognized that this was a big event and hung in until Nadal had secured the win. That was a fine way to end a busy weekend.

1. I have a one-beer bet with a friend who insists they will go 10-6.

Andrew

August 26, 2019 /

I have lived in Indianapolis for 16 years. Saturday night was the third biggest sports night in the city over that span.

1: Colts beat Patriots to win the AFC title in 2007

2: Colts beat the Bears to win the Super Bowl

3: Andrew Luck announces his retirement

This may seem like weird ordering to outsiders, but the vibe in this city after that AFC title game win was way beyond the mood two weeks later. A lot of that had to do wth the games. The title game was an epic, cathartic, unforgettable game punctuated by a string of monumental plays in the fourth quarter, and a radio call that will live forever in Indy, “Intercepted! Marlin Jackson! Marlin’s got it! We’re going to the Super Bowl!” The Super Bowl was sloppy, played in the rain, filled with mistakes, and the only memorable thing about it was Prince’s halftime performance. It was a letdown after the instant classic conference title game.

But Saturday night, when Andrew Luck dropped an absolute bomb on the Colts, on the NFL, and on the city, that was something else. Totally unexpected. Craziest timing possible. Beating the Patriots seemed like an improbable task, but it was still within the realm of possibility. This, though? Uh-uh, no way, not a single Colts fan had this anywhere in the back of their minds.

When I first saw the news I figured it was a joke from a fake account that mimicked some NFL “insider.” Then I flipped over to ESPN and saw the ticker and been taken over by new of Luck’s pending announcement. It was a surreal moment.

The football implications are obvious: this totally derails the Colts rebuild, which had gone almost flawlessly since Chris Ballard and Frank Reich took over. They had nailed their first draft and free agent class. Their second efforts in both areas got positive reviews. And Andrew Luck seemed to be totally back in 2018. They were poised to be one of the best teams in football for the next few years, battling the Patriots and Chiefs for AFC supremacy.

Now that’s all gone. They might still be a nice team with all those other parts. Jacoby Brissett, who did a serviceable job behind the worst offensive line in football in 2017, might be good enough to keep the Colts in the playoff mix behind a much improved line, with better running backs, and a stronger receiving corps. Sure, teams have won Super Bowls with pedestrian QBs. But those teams always had epic defenses to carry them. The Colts defense is not epic. You need an elite quarterback to elevate a team. With Luck gone, the Colts look like a team that’s best hope is to go into December with a chance to get a Wild Card spot rather than playing for a division title or home field.

The predicatable negative responses have been disappointing. The boos Luck received as he walked off the field after Saturday’s preseason game were embarrassing. The national talking heads who have called him a whiny millennial for wilting in the face of another rehab hard are embarrassments as well.

None of us know what Luck is going through. We have no idea how much pain he’s been in over the past five years. We have no idea how difficult his shoulder rehab really was. We have no idea what is going on with his leg right now. We have no idea what it is like to wake up in the morning in pain that refuses to cease, and under mental strain that just gets heavier each day. You can throw out stories about Ronnie Lott chopping part of a finger off to keep playing, Emmett Smith playing with a separated shoulder, etc and claim that Luck doesn’t measure up to them. But do any of us know that for sure? The guy played with a lacerated kidney, I think his toughness has been proven. Just because he is a huge human being doesn’t mean that his body can’t give out. Or even his mind can tell him that enough is enough.

As a Colts fan, I’m disappointed. He looked so good last year, both showing his physical ability was back and making changes in his game to protect himself. There was no reason not to believe he was just entering the prime of his career and would keep the Colts in contention as long as his body held up.

There’s also a part of me that hopes he takes a year off to heal away from the pressures of football, enjoys his first months as a father, and decides next summer he wants to give the game another shot. I have to think that’s a huge reason behind the Colts not attempting to reclaim over $24 million that they could try to take back from Luck.

But I totally respect his decision. He’s always been a little different than your typical NFL player. It’s not that your average player doesn’t think of the implications of the physical toll the game takes on them after they retire. I just think they are able to push those concerns aside and focus on the moment in front of them. Luck, though, made comments over the years that he was already thinking of how the injuries of today would affect the life he wanted to lead tomorrow.

I don’t know that he will ever share everything that has been going on with him. I kind of hope that he doesn’t. I hope he can fade into semi-abscurity living the life he wants to live, healthy and at peace, and we never know much about it beyond the occasional “Whatever happened to Andrew Luck?” piece.

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