D's Notebook

Tag: NFL (Page 5 of 10)

Weekend Notes

September 12, 2022 /

The first full football weekend of the year. I have some notes.

Friday

We had the big 6A #3 Cathedral at 3A #1 Bishop Chatard game Friday. Or the girls did. S and I knew it was going to be an absolute shit show; BC has a tiny stadium in the middle of a packed neighborhood and it seemed like every Indianpolis Northside Catholic was going to go. So we went to dinner with friends while the girls enjoyed the game.

Although it wasn’t much of a game. I checked my phone at about 7:45 and CHS was up 21–0. They got it to 35–0 before half, had a running clock for the second half, and won 38–0. I watched the highlights Saturday, and pretty much every score was a long pass, or set up by a long pass. When you have four receivers who are 6’3”+ and your opponent is small, you have to take advantage.

Of course, Chatard has a better chance of winning state than Cathedral, so not sure the BC fans were smarting too much afterward.

I got home in time to watch the end of the Tiafoe-Alcaraz US Open semifinal. Frances gave it his all, but Carlos Alcaraz is just too damn good. We’ve been waiting for years for the next superstar to come along in mens tennis. Alcaraz might be that dude.

Saturday

Lots of sports.

Alabama-Texas was interesting, surprising, and entertaining. Not the game I expected at all, although I really didn’t think ‘Bama would blow them out.

I caught the end of the Marshall-Notre Dame game. What a disaster for the Irish! Marcus Freeman seems like a really good guy but he’s feeling the heat already about whether he was the right hire.

L had a basketball game Saturday evening. They played a team made up of lacrosse players. These girls were big, athletic, and had this really good offense that kept getting them open looks. But they were not basketball players. L’s team ran them off the floor, at least in terms of the score, winning 47–23.

L had six points on 3–7 shooting, including two sweet drives for layups. On one she got hammered and threw it up-and-in off the backboard as she tumbled to the ground. Her teammates went nuts and she came up with a look like “THAT WENT IN?!?!” Then she missed the free throw… Not sure what’s up with her at the line lately. Her jumpers look good but her free throw form is awful.

I was glad it was not a close game. The refs were ones who never call fouls unless they are hard fouls at the rim. And these lacrosse girls were mega-physical and handsy. Once L was leading the break and a girl was tugging on her off arm the entire time, slowing L down, and the refs didn’t call anything. Need to teach her how to flop.

AND HOW ABOUT THOSE JAYHAWKS!?!?!?! Two-and-oh! Highest scoring team in the country!

We listened to the beginning of the game on our way to basketball and I was regretting finding the Sirius broadcast when West Virginia scored on a 59 yard TD pass, KU had four penalties on their first possession, and then WVU scored again. I checked the score at halftime of L’s game and saw it was 21–7. I was glad I was watching hoops.

When we got back into the car it was 28-all and I was all-in. We heard KU take the lead as we drove home in an intense storm, and then watched the fourth quarter and overtime from home.

What a great win. This was a game pretty much every KU squad for the past decade would lose by 40+. But the Jayhawks settled down after the bad start, hung in there, and dominated for a long stretch. Then they not only won, but got the ultra-rare, double-digit overtime win thanks to Jacobee Bryant’s pick-six.

There was some whooping it up in our living room, and some questions from the girls upstairs about what the hell was going on.

It looks like after getting it wrong four-straight times, KU finally hired the right coach. It was bound to happen eventually. The Jayhawks are disciplined, more talented than in recent years, put that talent in the right spots, are prepared for their opponents, and don’t fall apart the moment they face adversity. A long way to go but things finally seem like they are trending up.

Naturally Nebraska lost about 30 minutes later, Scott Frost was fired Sunday, and Lance Leipold is reportedly high on the list of potential replacements.

I think that bloom will fade, as Nebraska is not going to hire a guy who goes 4–10 this year.

Unless KU wins eight, nine, ten games this year, right?

Sunday

The first NFL Sunday of the year. I missed most of the Colts game as L had to go do her team photographer duties for her CYO football classmates. It was pouring rain so I decided to sit in my car and read in case she wanted to bail early. She ended up staying the entire time so I read a ton and didn’t see much football.

I did listen on the radio long enough to hear the Colts go down 20–3 but then turned it off to focus on my book. We got home in time to see the Colts tie it, then blow a chance in win in overtime. This franchise just does not do opening day well. I believe this is nine-straight opening weeks without a win. So maybe a tie is progress?

Still a super-disappointing beginning to a season in which the Colts were, allegedly, poised to be a player in the AFC title race. At least no one else in the AFC South won. You figure there will be growing pains as Matt Ryan settles in, but he wasn’t the problem on Sunday. At least when I was watching.

I forgot about the US Open final until late and caught the last four games of Alcaraz’s win. The first of many, I would bet.

I half-watched much of the SNF Buccaneers-Cowboys game. That old fucker Brady can still sling it.

Super Bowl Notes

February 14, 2022 /

A pretty decent game, unless you live in Cincinnati. And even then, it was solid until the last five minutes or so. It had a game-winning score in the final 2:00, which always elevates a game. Only one traditionally spectacular play – Tee Higgins’ 75-yard touchdown catch to open the second half – and that came because of a pretty egregious officiating error. I think my generation still expects Super Bowls to be terrible because so many of them in the 80s and 90s were, so any time a game is close still feels like a win even if it wasn’t a classic game.

I was leaning Bengals for a variety of reasons, but fine with the Rams winning. It is easy to make fun of the Rams for having no real fan base, or LA fans in general for being the ultimate front-runners. But I have no real hate for the team itself.

I’m even ok with how the Rams won this title. They made an organization-wide decision to throw everything at winning a Super Bowl this year. They sacrificed pretty much every meaningful draft pick for the next 25 years (give-or-take) to load up their roster for this run. Isn’t that what a team is supposed to do, use whatever capital they have to maximize their championship odds? They made a decision and will pay a price down the road for it. Although it’s easier to turn a franchise around than it used to be – look at the Bengals – the Rams probably have a long stretch coming up quick where their fancy new stadium will be dominated by visiting fans because the home team is going 4–13. Flags fly forever.

One reason I was pro-Bengals was because of the KU connection. Hakeem Adeniji started. He got manhandled by Aaron Donald much of the night, so I was just glad it wasn’t him that gave up the game-clinching sack. Pooka Williams is on the practice squad. Darrin Simmons, who played for KU when I lived in Lawrence, has been a Bengals coach for nearly 20 years. And, of course, Ja’Marr Chase was committed to KU for five days, so I could him as a Jayhawk!

I’m sure Bengals fans are stewing about how the Rams last drive was aided by multiple penalties on the Bengals after a largely penalty-free game. I get it, but, come on. The Bengals took the lead because of a horrible missed call. You can’t complain too much. But it was disappointing that a game that was called differently than pretty much every other NFL game this year suddenly changed in the last 2:00. If you’re going to swallow the whistle all night, don’t suddenly start blowing it at the end.

The win cements the Rams move to get Matthew Stafford lat year, and provides a measure of redemption for him after spending his whole career in the pit of despair that is the Detroit Lions franchise. He was nails on the final possession. But I found it interesting that the Rams won largely because the Bengals defense took away the big play, and Stafford had to be patient and manage the game. That eliminated his propensity for making mistakes in big moments. His only interception was a flukey one. I kept waiting for him to throw a bad pick, but by taking away the deep ball, the Bengals also reduced the odds that Stafford would do something dumb to help them. The Bengals played really good defense the entire game. And in doing so they reduced the chances that their defense could help them win. Sports are strange.

Commercials. I didn’t do much tracking of them this year. I guess the Larry David crypto one was my favorite. I think celebs doing cryptocurrency ads is dumb; I guarantee most of the people in these commercials don’t understand the concept any better than the average person. David’s ad seemed like kind of a send-up of that concept. Plus his line about even letting “the stupid people” vote was brilliant.

I laughed a few times. I was confused a few times. But other than the QR code ad, not sure we’ll be talking about many of these six months from now.

The halftime performance? Really good. But it missed out on being great. For starters, neither Dre, Snoop, nor Mary J. Blige performed their best songs. There were radio versions of “Nuthin’ but a ‘G’ Thang,” “Who Am I? (What’s My Name?),” and “Gin and Juice” 30 years ago, so I know they could have been performed at the Super Bowl in 2022. And for Mary J not to sing “Real Love” was a travesty.

All-in-all, though, an entertaining performance. And as the first-ever, all hip hop halftime, it will go down in history. It wasn’t Prince, but I’m not sure anyone ever will be.

My question as I watched was will this be the last Super Bowl halftime show where the featured artists are all roughly my age? Dre is 56, Mary 51, Snoop 50, Fiddy is fiddy, and Eminem 49.

I was trying to think of artists either in their 50s or approaching 50 who have not done the halftime show yet and are still culturally relevant. Foo Fighters is the most obvious, and they were doing an alternate halftime show last night so they might be blacklisted by the NFL. Pearl Jam would be another big get, but as well-known as they are, they don’t really move the national needle anymore.

With the show being focused primarily on danceable pop music, and now moving into straight hip hop, the future focus will likely be on younger artists, and more shows like last night that feature a collection of acts to fill the 20 minutes rather than a single, greatest hits-style performance. Which means last night might have been Generation X’s last night as the featured act(s).

Weekend Sports Notes

January 31, 2022 /

Well, for most of my friends, this was a sports weekend to forget.

KU

I picked a very good night to have dinner plans that interfered with me watching the KU game. Thus I was able to not see a minute of KU getting whacked by Kentucky. We left right around tip off and by the time we got to our destination, the lead was already big enough that I was saved the awkwardness of checking my phone throughout dinner.

Without visual knowledge of what happened, I can’t really break it down. But I am concerned my little line last week, intended to be a throwaway, about Bill Self’s off-season transfer haul being a waste, seems more true than ever. Kentucky was a much more athletic team, and KU couldn’t hang. Remy Martin played 15 minutes, Joe Yesufu 5. Which means Self is basically running the same team out there that didn’t belong on the same court as USC last March.

There’s still a lot of basketball to be played, so it’s not worth worrying about March when we still have a day left in January. But a team that seemed like one of the best in the country six weeks ago, with plenty of room for growth, now seems like just another in a large group of decent teams with no real Final Four chances.

Fortunately KU gets a chance to bounce back by playing…(checks schedule)…at Iowa State, Baylor, and Texas over the next week. Oh damn!

NFL

I’ll tread lightly here, since I have a large Chiefs-fan contingent in my reader base. The AFC title game result was…surprising. I missed the early part of the game and was only half-watching as the Chiefs stretched the lead to 21–3. No need to watch the rest, I thought, as we straightened up after having some family guests over the weekend. Next time I walked by the TV the Bengals had the lead and I had no idea how.

From Twitter I gather the Chiefs defense did enough to win but, amazingly, it was the offense that let them down. That is also surprising.

My bigger takeaway is how this weekend might have officially turned the page for quarterback generations in the NFL. Peyton has been gone a few years. Brees left last year. Brady is leaving, maybe? If Rodgers continues to play he likely has just a brief time left in his career. Russell Wilson seems like he’s on the back-half of his career. In that group you have the quarterbacks who have dominated the game over the past 20 years.

On the other side of the generational divide, Patrick Mahomes has already ascended. Josh Allen sure seemed to this year. Joe Burrow is the swaggiest QB since Joe Namath and just got to the Super Bowl in his second year in the league, after blowing out his knee his rookie year. Those three play in different AFC divisions, meaning they will battle for a long time as long as they remain healthy. I would also add Lamar Jackson, who is doing things that no one thought possible for a quarterback in the NFL. Kyler Murray is just outside that group, but is such a unique talent that if he can learn to harness it for 20-some games he could easily move into that group. What a treat for football fans!

What is this bullshit rolling Michael Buffer out to “announce” the kickoff two-straight weeks? Is it 1997?

The Niners-Rams game wasn’t quite as fun as their last meeting, but still enjoyable as a neutral. So many just stupid plays that affected the result. So much over-coaching. I was hoping for a three-OT game as the teams traded stupid play after stupid play.

Props to Jimmy G for likely ending his career in the most Jimmy G manner possible. Carson Wentz probably shed a tear if he was watching, thinking Jimmy made a great play.

USMNT Soccer

During much of the Bengals-Chiefs game, I was actually watching more of the US-Canada men’s World Cup qualifier. Without diving into pay channels, it was only available on Telemundo, so in Spanish, in standard definition. Which was weird. Made weirder by being played in some glorified college stadium on a narrow, artificial turf field in Ontario.

I missed the opening Canada goal but watched with great frustration as the US mostly dominated the game, yet couldn’t put a tying goal in. They had a brilliant chance late in the first half when Weston McKennie had a beautiful header that the Canada goalie knocked away at the last possible moment. It was a brilliant save, made even more impressive since the goalie looked like some dude they randomly picked up before the game in a nearby park.

That was the story of the entire game: the US dominated possession but could not get good shots on goal. And when they managed a decent shot, the goalie was always there.

The game got nice and chippy late. Lots of pushing and mock, soccer player anger. The referee was great. He would come charging in from 30 yards away anytime there was a little dustup, blowing his whistle and waving his arms. The Canadian crowd was in a frenzy, as a win would both be Canada’s first over the US in a WC qualifier since 1980 and pretty much lock up their World Cup berth. They added a goal in the final minute of stoppage time as the US pressed forward and the place went nuts. If it wasn’t so annoying that the US had, once again, found a way to make getting to the World Cup entirely too difficult, it would have been awesome to watch.

I don’t follow the USMNT super closely. I do know they have their best crop of talent since those great teams of the early 2000s. They tend to play really well against Mexico, which is awesome. But they still throw too many duds up against teams they have way more talent than. For example, last week’s game against El Salvador. Played in freezing Columbus, OH, you would expect the US to win easily. They had to gut out a nervy 1–0 win. I watched most of the second half and they seemed so much better, but just can’t finish. I’m sure it is maddening to people that are really into the team.

They are still in a good spot to get to the World Cup next fall. But they could have wrapped up that spot by now and have only themselves to blame if it comes down to the last game or, worse, they have to go to a playoff to get in.

Weekend Sports Notes

January 24, 2022 /

Some weekend of televised sports action!

KU Hoops

For the first time all year, I bailed on a game. Well, partially. After a truly atrocious first half in Manhattan, which saw them trailing Kansas State by 16, I moved the KU game over to the laptop, sat it on the coffee table, and put the Bengals-Titans game on the TV.[1] I had zero interest in the football game, but I couldn’t stand watching KU continue to play the wretched basketball they played through the first 20 minutes. L’s team guards their opponents better than KU guarded K-State in the first half.

Lawrence Central high school’s Nigel Pack looked like Steph Curry, going insane for 22 points without trying very hard. Five-foot-one guard (OK, 5’8”) Markquis Nowell was blowing past KU’s guards like they were dribbling drill cones, and then throwing in circus shots that had about a 2% chance of going in when they left his hands. It was everything you expect from an upset: the favored team looked listless and confused, seemed to be doing five different things on defense, and even when they did something properly saw it somehow turn into a positive for the Wildcats. The home underdog was playing with massive confidence, making every hustle play, and was rewarded by hitting tough shot after tough shot.

Yep, I didn’t need to be all-in with this nonsense.

Long time readers probably already have a question in their minds. The answer is, no, I never fully reinvested. But I also didn’t go all Colts-Chiefs game, either.

I could see that KU sliced the deficit in half before the first TV timeout, but I kept the laptop on the coffee table. I knew K-State wasn’t going to keep shooting 800% from the floor (I checked the math, and that is indeed what they shot in the first half), but figured they would play good enough defense that making up 16 points (17 at one point) was going to be insanely tough.

Every so often I would pick up the laptop and watch a play or two closely, but that never seemed to work. Thus it stayed on the coffee table until the final moments of the game. It was indeed in my lap when Ochai Agbaji hit what became the game-winner, although it nearly tumbled to the floor as I screamed and yelled.

Since I didn’t watch the game super closely I can’t say much about the game’s details. Obviously K-State is really solid, and the fact they are scoring more easily makes them a legit tournament team. I love ripping Bruce Webber because of all his weirdness and public insecurities, but he is also a really good coach, especially when he gets the right mix of players. Which he seems to have this year.

A gutty performance by KU, especially by Ochai, Jalen Wilson, and David McCormack. They played their asses off in the second half. If the team, as a whole, had shown even half the effort in the first half they showed in the first half, that’s a relatively comfortable win. Instead it became a momentary classic.

That’s a new term I just coined. I like it. Everyone wants to call any exciting game an “Instant Classic.” All-too-often these games are forgotten a week or two later when some other game equals/exceeds it. Not every game can be a classic, folks. So how about Momentary Classic? KU fans are going to buzz about it for awhile. It was good highlight/discussion material for national media outlets for a day or so. I’m sure workplaces that have KU and KSU people mixed together are interesting this morning. The highlights will be fun to look back on for years to come. But odds are this game will be a footnote when we get to April and look back on this season as a whole.

Big 12 Refs

One thing Big 12 fans can agree on are that the referees that do conference games have a lot of issues. We can disagree about what those issues are – well, I’m sure we all think they call too many charges – but we would agree they make glaring errors every game.

I tend to think these errors balance out, and a fan who is pissed about a call in one game will likely see his team benefit from a crappy call in the next game.

Listen, I think the refs flat-out screwed up the call when a K-State player fouled Ochai Agbaji while shooting a three-pointer late. They called the foul, but only gave Agbaji two shots, saying it was not a shooting foul.

Big 12 director of officiating told the Kansas City Star that the call was correct because Agbaji had landed before he got hit in the legs. Which is absolutely ridiculous because every replay showed Agbaji was still in the air when he got hit.

I’m less upset about the call – KU won! – than about the explanation. How hard is it to say, “We messed up. We made this call thinking he had landed, but the replays clearly showed he was in the air and it should have been three free throws. Our bad.” But, no, the league has to “protect” the refs by providing an explanation that is clearly false.

And why isn’t this reviewable? They review whether a toe is on the line on a three all the time. Anytime someone gets accidentally hit in the face it turns into a 10-minute review that the refs often turn into a wrong call. But this isn’t reviewable? Maddening.

ESPN+

Man, ESPN+ sucks. The production values are always at about a C. The crowd audio is always terrible; it often sounds like you’re watching through an old telephone connection. Are there 8000 people in the gym, or 80? The graphics package is always glitching or lacking information. I swear, every single game I’ve watched this year they’ve had the score wrong at least once. Saturday they gave a KU basket to K-State then had the score wrong three times as they tried to correct their error.

And the announcers are just the worst. I think Saturday was the third time KU has had the combo of Bryndon Manzer and Ted Emrich. They suck.

Well, Manzer isn’t terrible. He understands hoops and often does a good job of explaining things. He just takes awhile to get there. And his style is so understated that he can get lost in what else is going on. He also tends to rely on “When I played…” examples too often. I give him a solid B.

Emrich is what really pulls them down. As understated as Manzer is, Emrich is the opposite. Over-the-top about the smallest plays, acting like a short jumper midway through the first half that turns a two-point lead into a four-point lead is Jordan dunking from the free throw line. He has that overly affected, modern sports broadcaster voice that sounds like 58 other people, all of whom sound like they’re trying too hard. Nothing sounds genuine about the way he broadcasts a game. Too many announcers like him fail to understand that the people watching at home understand what plays are important. We get those cues from the crowd and the players and the situation. Not every moment in a 40-minute game needs to be treated like the game-winning play.

Because of them, I watched the first half with the volume turned down about as low as I could and still hear the crowd and whistle. Which, as I said, wasn’t easy since ESPN+ apparently uses one crowd mic. And I kept the laptop muted until after Ochai’s game winner.

Sadly, since the Big 12 and ESPN LOVE to put KU on ESPN+, this won’t be the last time I have to deal with them.

NFL Playoffs

Greatest playoff weekend ever, right? Every game was mega-interesting. Every game went down to the final play. Every game held huge significance for the future of the league. I didn’t watch every minute of every game, but I was greatly entertained.

While I had Cincinnati-Tennessee on the TV Saturday, I wasn’t really watching very much. Tennessee always felt like a false #1 seed since they hadn’t been at full-strength since November, so I was not super surprised that the Bengals got the win. Not saying I would have picked them, since this was Cincy’s first-ever road playoff win. But still not surprised.

I still don’t understand how Green Bay lost to San Francisco. They destroyed the Niners on the first drive of the game, and never sniffed the end zone again. The Niners had guys hobbling off the field the entire day, yet somehow kept making plays. Jimmy Garappolo tried his hardest to piss the game away and the Packers refused to take advantage.

I have to think there was some kind of weird karma at play here, and has been for awhile. As Robbie Gould’s game winning field goal sailed through the uprights, I was trying to think who legendary quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ career should be compared to. He won a Super Bowl, so he can’t be Dan Marino or Dan Fouts. I’m leaning towards John Elway, since both were ridiculously physically talented quarterbacks who constantly made jaw dropping plays. But Elway not only won two Super Bowls, he went to three others. Rodgers has a long history of losing to lower seeded teams in the playoffs at home. I guess that makes Rodgers unique, which suits him and his personality just fine. We’ll see where he ends up next year.

I saw the first and final thirds of the Rams-Bucs game. It seemed like the wackiest, most mood-swinging game in recent memory, for about three hours. The fourth quarter was just nuts. So many plays that made no sense at all. It was all set up for Tom Brady to do some Tom Brady shit. And he damn-near almost pulled it off. Until, for some reason, the Bucs decided to let Cooper Kupp run right down the middle of their defense and catch a long ball. For the second time in the game!

The Rams are a wild ride, so I love that they are still playing. I don’t care if they win or lose, I just enjoy the craziness that comes with watching them for 60 seconds. Now we get to see what happens with Brady going forward.

And, of course, the nightcap Sunday, which has to be one of the best playoff games ever played. Forget my Momentary Classic comment above: this was most definitely an Instant Classic. There will be NFL Films shows about this game. It will be a constant call-back for any crazy, back-and-forth game.

All the ridiculousness of the LA-Tampa game got amped up about 50 times in this one. I didn’t care who won – well, I was leaning Buffalo but I don’t really have any love for the Bills – and was screaming as both teams traded punches in the fourth quarter. So many massive plays by both teams. So many tiny things that could have changed the outcome without it getting to the overtime coin flip. Just a magnificent game to watch, unless you’re from western New York. Even then it was pretty great for about 59:47. Mahomes-Allen is turning into the new Brady-Manning.

Pretty good weekend for my KU-Chiefs people.

NFL Overtime Rules

Here we go, the instant complaining about NFL overtime rules. Which I get, because these rules suck. A winner-take-all game should not be determined by the vagaries of a coin flip. But the NFL seems wed to these rules. They’ve only very slightly tweaked them in, what, 60 years? The NFL being an uber-conservative organization isn’t going to throw out the rules tomorrow because of the game yesterday.

Going to college rules would be silly. Because the college rules, as entertaining as they are, are no way to decide a playoff/championship game.

I’d lean towards just playing a 10-minute quarter in full. I get the concerns about turning an NFL game into a five-hour marathon if no one has the lead after 70 minutes. I strongly believe both teams should have a chance to score, though.

I’m intrigued about the idea of one team picking the spot on the field where the ball will be placed and the other team getting choose whether to play offense or defense. But that seems gimmicky and weird and I’d have to see it in action to form a full opinion on it.

Overtime rules are strange in most sports. Basketball and (playoff) baseball stick closest to their normal rules, but fouls and number of players left on the bench can throw both of those into nutty territory. But at least they’re playing the same game, with both teams having an equal chance to win what was an even game at the end of regulation.

It feels like football is destined to be flawed no matter what system us used.

  1. I also switched seats.  ↩

Weekend Sports Notes

January 17, 2022 /

A lot of sports notes from the weekend. I should probably split this into a couple different posts. But it is a holiday and we all have a little extra time. So one extra-large post it is!

Kid Hoops

L played in her first-ever AAU tournament over the weekend. Or rather it was a “shootout”: a one-day, round-robin event focused more on getting teams games than declaring a champion.

Her coach told us that this was just a chance to get the girls together for the first time and get a feel for the roster. Seven of the ten girls played together last year. The girls haven’t had a proper practice together, just some light work at the end of their program’s twice-monthly, age-group training sessions.[1] Making it even more fun, L’s team is a 7th grade B team and this was an 8th grade A shootout. The coach stressed not to worry about the results, this was just about getting the girls on the court.

L had been really impressed with her teammates after their training sessions. After the most recent one she came home raving that all the girls were good and, most importantly, all of them knew how to run the offense. It drives her nuts that half the girls on her other team – let’s call them Jr T’s to differentiate – don’t run the plays correctly. We had a talk about playing time last week. She claimed she was fine not playing as many minutes for a chance to play with better players. I was glad that was her mental state. I told her if she doesn’t start and/or play much, that will give her the motivation to work harder to improve.

Her squad had three games Saturday. First game we played a team that was at least mixed with seventh and eighth graders. But their eighth graders were big. BIG. L had played against some of these girls in CYO ball before and I’m pretty sure they smoked us then.

We had eight of our players for game one. L’s St P’s buddy started, as she is our tallest player, but L was on the bench. The game started ugly. The other team pressed the hell out of our girls and we could not break it. We were down 8–0 or 10–0 before we even got a shot up. L checked in and didn’t help much, mostly because she didn’t get the ball. Another girl played lead guard spot and was not used to looking at L for help.

L played one shift without doing much. She came back in with about 5:00 to play and we were down 15–0. She got the ball in the deep corner, went baseline, and threw up a little floater than she has gone about 1–50 on this academic year. This time she swished it and we were on the board. She had a little grin on her face as she ran up cord.

A few moments later she got ahead of the break, received a great pass, and laid it in. In the last minute of the half, she got open on the wing from about 15 feet and drilled the J. It was 21–8 at half and L had six of the points, going 3–3 from the field.

She started the second half. She wasn’t as lucky this time, missing a tough layup, having a short jumper blocked, and badly bricking two free throws. She seemed to be meshing with her teammates more, though. We lost 43–20 but, again, expectations were low. She was pleased after the game.

Following an hour break and quick trip to Chipotle, it was back on the court against and all–8th grade team from Terre Haute. These girls were even bigger, and better. Everyone knew where to be on every play. They would get an offensive rebound, whip it to an open girl behind the arc, and she would drain the 3. Or the girl with the ball would draw the defense and then hit a cutter with no one on her. We lost this game 62–11 and it really wasn’t that close.

L started and again scored six points on a layup, a jumper, and two free throws. She also rebounded pretty well despite their size, made a couple nice passes, and even blocked the shot of one of their biggest girls.

Another hour off before the last game, against another big, all 8th grade squad. These girls looked super impressive warming up. Just as big as the previous team but more athletic and with a couple fast, small guards.

That team did not play to its ability. Or our girls just figured something out. We only had seven players for this game and they looked gassed at times. But they played hard, never trailed by more than 15, and closed strong to only lose 46–37. L started and scored seven this time, including a nice and-one that she cashed the free throw for. She also missed the front end of a one-and-one in the final minute putting her at 3–6 from the line for the day. She rebounded her ass off, probably her best rebounding game ever.

Her St P’s buddy – her name also begins with L so I need to come up with a way to identify her – had a nice basket at the hoop that she converted despite getting mugged. After the ref called the foul, L ran over and shoved her buddy, and sent her right into the girl that fouled her. That girl was not as excited about the play as our girls were. Fortunately L started laughing so there was no drama.

So a pretty good first day with the new team. L went from sitting the bench to starting five-straight halves. I’m not sure how good the two girls we were missing are. One of the other dads told me the coach had told him whoever started the third game would be his starters going forward. Who knows how that will work and when this team will play again, but I was proud of L for at least putting her name in the mix.

She struggled a bit in the half court sets. But, to be fair, most of the team did, even the returning girls. There was a lot of two girls standing in one spot or someone away from the ball bringing their defender to the ball instead of away. That will get worked out in time. When we got home I showed her videos of Kansas and Golden State running their weave offenses so she could understand how to pass in those sets. She kept bounce passing rather than tossing or handing off since she had never seen that kind of motion offense before.[2]

She proved to her teammates and coach that she deserves minutes. In fact, this was probably the best she’s played this school year. By my math she scored 28% of their points for the day. On the way home she noted, “It’s kind of weird I played better against 8th grade teams than I have against 7th grade teams.”

I’m hoping she can take that confidence and apply it to her Jr T’s team, which is all seventh graders from several Catholic schools. She was super frustrated about her play after their game last week. They play again tonight so we shall see.

Her AAU team may not play again for awhile. Most of the girls are on some kind of school team at the moment. They’ll have skill sessions and light practices every two weeks. The coach said they won’t really dive into things hard as a team until March and most of their play will come over the summer.

There was also a sixth grade boys shootout going on, and they played on the other courts and between L’s game. Those games are nuts. It’s all pressing and running flat out and chucking threes. Some of those kids are insanely talented, light years beyond what anyone I ever played with or against in sixth grade could do. I’m usually pro fast-paced offense in all sports (see below), but this was a little much. And those games are sooooo sloppy. Most of the coaches are psycho. Another check in the Better to Have Girls Than Boys column.

Orthodonture

L got her top braces put on last week, so these were her first games with them in. I asked her orthodontist if she should wear any kind of protection. Neither of her sisters played a contact sport when they had their braces so I never worried about it. He said you can get special guards, but he didn’t think it was worth it. At her games Saturday I noticed more than half her team had braces, and no one was wearing a guard. OK, then. I broke my glasses multiple times, and had to get stitches once when the frames sliced my eyebrow open, playing middle school ball. Teeth were never my issue.

KU

I missed the KU-West Virginia game while sitting through all the AAU ball. I did get the nervous texts from friends about the Twitter rumors that Remy Martin was out for the year. Wouldn’t be a college sports season without some kind of off-the-court drama.

I won’t get into the Remy stuff for now since it seems confusing and a little over-the-top at the moment.

I followed the score and then watched the recording on Sunday morning. That was a great performance by KU, likely their best of the season. It was, I think, the first time all year three players have balled-out at the same time. Who would have guessed that David McCormack and Jalen Wilson would be two of those?!?! I don’t think West Virginia is as good as their 13–2 second coming in indicated. Still, to hammer any Big 12 team by nearly 30 this year deserves a few minutes of satisfaction.

And on a day when Baylor lost their second-straight conference game, and Texas Tech also lost. A week ago it looked like Baylor would run away with the league. They might still do that; when healthy they are probably the most complete team in the conference. But, as Kansas State beating Tech and Iowa State being a couple shots away from being undefeated show, the Big 12 is going to be an absolute meat grinder this year.

I like that the conference is good, but I hate the way it is good: with seven or eight teams playing insane defense. That turns games into ugly slogs that are hard to watch. I guess that’s a good thing for the tournament, as playing non-conference teams will seem like a breeze after getting worked over by Big 12 teams for nearly three months. I certainly won’t complain if KU somehow comes out of this with another conference title, since that almost guarantees a one or two seed in the NCAA’s. I do reserve the right to complain about the aesthetics along the way. Especially if KU turns into a pumpkin in four or five of these games.

NFL Playoffs

The only game I watched much of was the Niners-Cowboys game, which was awesome as a neutral. The final, what, 18 minutes, were just tremendously stupid and entertaining.

Long-time readers will recall that I grew up a Cowboys fan, but have deserted them a couple times in my life. It’s been 12–14 years so I fully abandoned them because of Jerry Jones’ nonsense. But two of my college buddies I constantly text are Cowboys fans so at least watch their games these days so I can keep up with the conversation. I do enjoy watching the Fighting Jerrys lose, though. Especially in painful manner.

That was about the most painful loss possible. Get down big, early, at home. Get a break or two that allows you back in the game. Do some dumb stuff along the way. Then have your final shot to attempt to win the game taken away in a truly unique way. Running a quarterback draw with 14 seconds left and no timeouts, then watching the clock run out while the referee sets the ball has to be one of the five dumbest ways to lose an NFL game.

As I said above, I’m generally pro-offense, and enjoy all these wide-open offenses that make football so entertaining. But do we have to label all these coordinators and coaches as geniuses when they are constantly getting in their own way by trying to be too clever? Dallas converts a fake punt and then keeps the punt team on the field to try to confuse San Fransisco and ends up with a delay of game penalty that means their next fourth down is too far to go for it. And the Niners send a tackle in motion on a fourth and inches, which caused an illegal motion penalty and forced them to punt and give Dallas one final chance to win. Neither play was remotely necessary, and just examples of coaches thinking “Hey! I’ve got this great look no one has ever thought of before!” And using it in a high-stress situation that it has never been practiced under. Just dumb all around. And terribly fun to watch since I did not care who won.

I’m no expert, but the Bills-Chiefs game seems like it could be pretty good.

  1. We didn’t put a ton of research into picking a travel hoops program. We just asked a parent we knew where his two girls played and signed up there. But L’s program just had their first “graduate” commit to a D1 program. And it was a doozy. A high school junior who is ranked in the top five in the country committed to UConn two weeks ago. Girl must be a badass if she’s committing as a junior. I’m expecting nothing less than a full-ride for L now.  ↩
  2. I even sent her a GIF of KU running it and told her to watch it five times a day.  ↩

D’s Notes

December 23, 2021 /

KU Hoops

Well, I was hoping to post another Jayhawk Talk entry this week. I was looking forward to seeing how KU played three days after struggling to put away a Stephen F. Austin team that exposed some of their deficiencies. Alas, Colorado had some players test positive, the game got wiped from the schedule, and the Christmas break begins early for the Jayhawks.

Which leaves the big KU hoops news of the week the announcement that KU will play Indiana the next two years. It took 19 years but it’s finally happening: the Jayhawks vs. the Hoosiers on campus!1 What timing, too. KU will come to Bloomington in December 2023, when I just might have a freshman on campus. Wacky, wild stuff!

The 1990s series between the schools was great. Well, for KU fans it was, since the Jayhawks went 5–1 against the Hoosiers, including two wins in the NCAA tournament. The game in Lawrence in December 1993 – the Jacque Vaughn game – was the best game I’ve ever attended.

Covid and Sports

All sports leagues are struggling at the moment, as both the protection offered by vaccines begins to waver for those who got their shots last spring and the Omicron variant takes hold. Once again we are seeing how well-meaning policies and guidance have often been short-sighted. Protocols that were put in place over the summer now seem hopelessly outdated and ineffective because, to go back to a favorite phrase from the spring of 2020, the situation is fluid. Leagues, rightly, are reluctant to move too quickly in making adjustments as they wait on advice from government and health officials and a better idea of exactly how dangerous Omicron is.

I’m not sure what the right answer is. Allowing fully vaccinated players who test positive but show no symptoms to continue to compete seems like the right move at first consideration. But aren’t those players still able to spread the virus even if they have avoided its worst effects? So do we start limiting crowds again? Or only letting in fully-vaccinated fans to prevent the spread if we let those players on the court?

Or should leagues hit the pause button, as the NHL has done? Would stopping games for 10–14 days allow this rapidly spreading wave to subside a bit, give officials a better idea of exactly what we’re facing, and perhaps prevent a longer delay after the holidays pass?

While their policies may be frustrating, at least professional sports are controlled by a central body that keeps everyone on the same set of rules. In college sports it’s totally different, with each conference having slightly different standards. College sports, subject to the political whims of all 50 states and the various priorities of dozens of different conferences, are a mess. The NCAA has provided all kinds of guidance, and is working closely with the CDC to adjust that guidance as needed. But the fact remains that an organization that is quick to jump in and control what schools/conferences do when there is money to be made (and take their large cut in the process) is largely toothless when it comes to protecting players, coaches, and fans.

BTW, S and I are boosted. M gets her third shot next week. We did have a scare in the house a couple weeks back, but the Covid test was negative and we think the kid in question had either the regular flu or just a terrible cold. Fortunately it never hit the rest of us.

Tiger

We had a fairly busy weekend so I wasn’t able to watch any of the PNC Father/Son golf tournament. Which bummed me out because my Twitter feed was electric about Tiger and Charlie Woods putting on a show all weekend. I don’t know what people were more amazed by: the fact that Tiger was upright and playing good golf, or how freaking good his kid is.

Who knows how healthy Tiger actually is and if his efforts are repeatable. He rode in a cart all week; doing so in a regular tour event will require approval from the PGA. I imagine they would jump at giving him one, ironic given how hard they fought to keep Casey Martin out of one 20-some years ago. Whether Tiger’s body can hold up to 72 holes of high-level golf is another matter. Regardless of his future, it is stunning that he had been able to recover to this level.

Pacers

The Pacers are kind of a mess. Which is unusual. Aside from the mid–2000s, post-Brawl era, the franchise is usually pretty boring and steady. They are always solid, occasionally great. They never get a high lottery draft pick. They don’t make much news that draws attention nationally.

This year has been different. There seems to be a lot of discontent in the locker room. There are players who don’t like their roles, some who are frustrated by not winning, and others who have issues with the front office.

It reached the point where owner Herb Simon had to meet with select media last week to ensure them he loved this team and that he thought they were fully capable of getting their shit together and winning some games. This came just as there were reports that he might finally relent from his long-held policy of refusing to tank for a high draft pick. He has said he would rather be mediocre and sell as many tickets as possible than tell the fans the team is going to suck for a few years and deal with a huge attendance loss.

The chatter is he may be wavering because the Pacers’ attendance this year has been near the bottom of the entire league. I think there’s also finally some acceptance that while they have a lot of nice players, they have the wrong mix of nice players. Too many guys who do the same thing and no true stars. There’s no Jermaine O’Neal, Danny Granger, or Paul George on this roster: a young, talented player who can blossom into a top 20 player if the team is patient enough.

The Colts are the far more important franchise around town these days, and have been since Peyton arrived. But I’ve talked to a few guys who have been big Pacers fans their entire lives who are pissed about where the team is. When you have such a small, loyal fan base and they begin to turn on the team, it seems like ownership has to do something drastic to keep their interest and to have any hopes of grabbing the attention of the rest of the city.

NFL

My attention given to the Colts this year has been waaaaay less than last year. I’m not sure why. I’ve watched way less of the NFL in general this year. Again, I’m not sure why.

The Colts seem to be rolling, though. And my limited viewing tells me that this may be the widest open playoffs in recent memory. So perhaps the Colts can overcome that brutal opening stretch of the season and make some noise in the playoffs.

Ha! Very funny! You can’t trust Carson Wentz in the playoffs!

Forget Covid and who may/may not be available: is there a single team you really trust to win 3–4 games in January? I would assume the Chiefs are, once again, the favorite as they’ve righted the ship from their mid-season swoon. But each time a team seems poised to stake a claim as the clear best team in the league, they lay a big fat egg. So maybe that means the Chiefs play a Wild Card in both the AFC title game and Super Bowl? I don’t know; I haven’t watched enough to have any idea what to expect.

1. The only time the schools have played since I moved to Indy was in Hawaii in November 2016 with the Hoosiers winning in overtime.

Super Bowl Notes

February 8, 2021 /

Some thoughts on Sunday’s Big Game

The Game

I was certainly surprised by the result. Even though I had watched Tampa’s defense stifle Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers, I never expected them to do the same to Patrick Mahomes and all of his weapons. That was a ferocious, courageous performance by the Bucs’ D. They got consistent pressure to Mahomes, something every other team the Chiefs played this year struggled to do, while still bottling up Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce. They kept the Chiefs from ever getting a consistent running attack going. In the fourth quarter, when you expect the team the Chiefs have been carving up through the first 45 minutes start to wilt, it was KC that looked gassed and Tampa that looked energized.

To me that was the key to the game. But obviously a lot of credit is due to Tom Brady. Once again he made many of us look dumb. If you told me that Tampa’s D would play that well, I could understand him having a workman-like, late Peyton Manning performance and guiding the Bucs to the win. But he was fantastic. It’s really mind-boggling how he can continue to do this, ESPECIALLY in his first year on a new team, in a new system, with new teammates. He sure picked the right demon to sell his soul to.

The biggest question to me this morning is how do we begin to separate Brady from Bill Belichick. It’s impossible to say that Belichick deserves no credit for coaching Brady to his first six Super Bowl wins. But last night’s result sure shifts the balance of power in that relationship.

Brady has been firmly established as the GOAT QB for a few years now. Last night he put the bar so far out into the stratosphere it’s difficult to imagine anyone catching him, at least in terms of Super Bowl wins.

The GOAT QB debate is such a tough one. Tom Brady is not the most gifted man to ever play his position. He’s not the most physically impressive. He’s not the most complete. He doesn’t possess the biggest arm. For much of his career Peyton Manning and Drew Brees were better than him. Mahomes and Aaron Rodgers are better than him today. But the fucker has seven Super Bowl titles and there is no amount of arguing that can dethrone him from the top of the quarterback mountain.

As it became more apparent that the Bucs would win, I started thinking about what this meant for Mahomes and the Chiefs. At first glance, this is a blip. In fact, I’m going on record to say, as long as he is healthy next year, Mahomes is going to go medieval on the NFL, break just about every single season QB record, and lead the Chiefs to a 16–0 regular season. The great ones harvest more anger from losing than happiness from winning, and I think he’s going to destroy everything in his path next year.

However, this is another missed opportunity in whatever window the Chiefs have to surround Mahomes with top tier talent. Anyone who has watched the Chiefs the last three years understands that the Chiefs will be Super Bowl contenders as long as Mahomes is healthy. The question is how long can the Chiefs keep top-tier talent around him?

I’m not familiar enough with the Chiefs roster to know who is set to become a free agent either this spring or next, but these windows of opportunity can close faster than expected. NFL careers tend to go from peak to mediocre quickly. Mahomes should be great for another decade-plus. Will the parts around him last as long?

The Chiefs have an excellent front office, so they seem well situated to draft smartly to replace outgoing, expensive talent with younger, cheaper players. Mahomes elevates those around him, which is a huge bonus. But it is insanely tough to hit in the draft over-and-over.

Maybe I’m an idiot and the Chiefs are going to manage the roster around Mahomes just fine, keeping the o-line stout, keeping the offense stocked with explosive backs and receivers, and fielding a defense that can prevent games from turning into stressful 48–45 track meets every week.

I expect Mahomes to win at least one more Super Bowl in Kansas City. Which, when you look at the history of the franchise, is pretty freaking great.

Losing last night, along with two years ago in the AFC title game, could be the difference between Mahomes getting a chance to challenge Brady’s Super Bowl record, and topping out somewhere in the Manning(s), Elway, Montana range. Which is still rarified air, but would, unfairly, feel like a bit of a letdown.

I was neutral last night. I was actually rooting for both teams to lose. But, holy crap did the Chiefs get a bad whistle, especially in the first half. It’s not that every call against the Chiefs was awful; upon review almost all were legit. It’s that they always came in huge moments and there weren’t corresponding calls against the Bucs. Yet it still felt like the Chiefs were very much in the game until late in the fourth quarter.

Upset of the night: Andy Reid making dumb clock decisions. It was hilarious seeing my Twitter feed fill up with Eagles fan reliving stupid time management moments from his years in Philly. Seriously, he’s one of the best offensive coaches ever, but still hasn’t figured out how to make the most basic decisions about time.

One more legacy note. Maybe I’m having a moment of selective memory, but I don’t think people hated Joe Montana the way they do Brady. Montana had an Aaron Rodgers quality to him: he was everyone’s second favorite QB. Even if he beat your team there was something cool about him that made you admire him.

But maybe that’s just because 30 years have passed since Joe played and I’m forgetting how people were sick of him, too.

How sadly ironic it was for the same league that blackballed Colin Kaepernick to display “criminal justice reform” banners at their championship game.

Finally, what the fuck kind of sports jacket was Peyton Manning wearing? Some shit you can only get away with if you’re super rich and from the south. Or was this a hint that he’s going into the Hall of Fame as a Bronco? That will cause a ruckus around here if it happens.

Commercials!

Will Ferrell’s GM commercial was my favorite. The Michael B. Jordan Alexa commercial was outstanding, too. The Jason Alexander hoodie ad for Tide rounded out my top three.

Springsteen in Kansas was pretty fresh.

I generally do not like the light beer seltzer fad, and think people who drink them are horrible human beings. But the lemons to lemonade ad by Bud Light seltzer was appropriate for the moment.

Worst commercial of the night: the oat milk guy singing in his oat field.

And I did not get why Vince Lombardi, who has been dead longer than I’ve been alive, needs to be re-animated to talk about the state of the world.

Halftime show

I thought The Weeknd was an odd choice. Sure, you couldn’t go 90 seconds without hearing “Blinding Lights” over the past year, and it never got old, which is a sign of a genius song. But he’s not like a universally beloved artist with a huge swath of hits everyone knows. At least Bruno Mars had a handful of songs that you either knew or sounded like songs you knew. Plus, The Weeknd might be a little too artsy for the Super Bowl audience.

I thought his performance was fine. Not great, not terrible, and definitely not memorable. The audio being awful didn’t help.

I was explaining to the girls how who performs gets selected, and how sometimes artists are asked and decline. We all agreed that Ariana Grande is the most obvious youngish artist who should be on stage next. Bieber is probably on that list. I’m sure Pearl Jam has been asked and declined multiple times. There seems to be building momentum for Foo Fighters to get a turn. Maybe we can re-animate Prince and try him again.

Super Bowl Memories

February 7, 2021 /

There’s been a discussion in my Twitter feed today about whether Super Bowl Sunday is an overrated sports day. I’m 100% on board with this take.

The actual sports side of Super Bowl Sunday kind of sucks, as the game is always secondary to all the other things that surround it. The parties, the pregame show, the halftime show, the commercials. Unless your team is playing, the football is kind of a letdown. And even then the game’s cadence is so unlike any other NFL game, that it can make you crazy if you care who wins.

Within that discussion were some folks sharing their memories of Super Bowls past. My kids are all either working or babysitting, the wife is traveling back from a weekend away, and I refuse to watch any of the early, early pregame stuff. So, here are my Super Bowl memories.

Super Bowl XII, Jan 15, 1978. Cowboys beat the Broncos.
A transformative moment in my life. For years I faced the question, “Why are you a Cowboys fan?” This is the game that explains it. Six-year-old me watched my first Super Bowl and thought it was cool both teams were from cities that started with D’s. The Cowboys won, and I became a Cowboys fan until Jerry Jones pissed me off.

SB XIII, Jan 21, 1979. This was a doozy for kids of the 70s, the second meeting between the Steelers and Cowboys. Jackie Smith dropped a sure touchdown, the Cowboys lost by four, and I cried.

SB XVI, Jan 24, 1982. I was still bitter after the 49ers beat the Cowboys in the NFC title game. My aunt and uncle hosted a party and one of my good friends was with me, along with another kid our age we did not know. When the national anthem played, this other kid stood, put his hand over his heart, and sang along. My buddy and I about shit ourselves.

SB XXIV, Jan 28, 1990. I watched this in the lobby of my dorm. One of the most perfect games ever played, done by the Niners at their absolute peak.

SB XXVII, Jan 31, 1993. My Cowboys finally made it back. I had to work and missed the first half. My roommates all messed with me when I got home at halftime, claiming the Bills were shellacking Dallas. Boy the look on my face when the second half started and I saw the score! Also, Leon Lett.

SB XXX, Jan 28, 1996. The Cowboys finally beat the Steelers. My bigger memory of the day is that KU played at Colorado before the Super Bowl. This was Chauncey Billups’ single year in Boulder, so it was a solid Buffs team, but KU got the W.

SB XXXII, Jan 25, 1998. Jewel sang the national anthem. This was right when she was busting out as one of the brightest stars in music. With her rise came the story of how she lived in her car for a stretch in her starving artist days. I was at a party, and folks were correctly solemn during her performance. Responding to her attire, which accentuated her curves, I said, “Wow, hard to believe she was ever homeless,” a little too loud after she was done. There was a moment of silence before everyone lost it. I felt a little sheepish about my statement, but was thankful the room was with me and I was not asked to leave.

SB XXXV, Jan 28, 2001. I remember S and I getting into an argument on the way to the game and us not talking the entire game. Fortunately we were at a party and could avoid each other, but I did wonder if she was going to break up with me on the way home. We didn’t talk for a few days before she sent me an email saying she was sorry. Dating a pediatric resident who got short-tempered when she didn’t get much sleep was a delight.

SB XXXVI, Feb 3, 2002. Another doozy with the ghost of 9/11 looming large. A great game. The beginning of the Patriots dynasty, when we all thought Tom Brady was a plucky underdog and Belichick’s team over individual stuff wasn’t sociopathic. Adam Vinatieri’s first kick into legend. U2 at halftime. And going to a party where I ran into an old college friend and offended him by loudly greeting him with his college nickname, which he did not want his adult-life friends to know about. A couple other college buddies and I still laugh about that a few times a year.

SB XXXVII, Jan 26, 2003. I won like $220 in the square game. My biggest sports gambling win ever!

SB XXXIII, Feb 1, 2004. Wardrobe malfunction!

SB XLI, Feb 4, 2007. The Colts win, but Prince’s greatest ever halftime show overshadowed the game. It was also so cold here in Indy that a man literally froze to death a couple miles from our house.

SB XLIV, Feb 7, 2010. The Colts lose a game they should have won, mostly because Peyton played terribly and Dwight Freeney had blown up his ankle late in the AFC title game. When Peyton threw a pick six, I, after having several drinks, said, “Well, fuck!” in a room filled with kids under the age of six. I was just saying what all the other parents were thinking.

SB XLVI, Feb 5, 2012. Indianapolis’ Super Bowl came off without any hitches, weather or otherwise. Seriously, it was a miracle it wasn’t 10 below all week. Our girls thought it was great that Peyton’s brother was the quarterback for the Giants and made Eli masks at school.

SB LI, Feb 5, 2017. Furiously texting with friends as the Falcons jumped out to a huge lead over the Patriots. Then furiously texting later wondering “They’re going to blow this, aren’t they?”

SB LIV, Feb 2, 2020. Two weeks of me explaining to people that (and why) I’m not a Chiefs fan.

Weekend Sports Notes

January 25, 2021 /

Some sports notes while waiting on an ice storm to arrive.

NFL

So the Super Bowl is Chiefs vs Buccaneers, just like we all thought.

Seriously, I’m questioning a lot of what I’ve thought about football the last 20 years this morning. I was not alone when I believed, back when the regular season began, that Tom Brady would struggle in Tampa while the Patriots would continue to win with Cam Newton at quarterback. Then the exact opposite happened…

Obviously the outcomes aren’t solely tied to how Brady and Newton performed. And quarterbacks always get too much credit and/or blame for their team’s success. But the seamlessness with which Brady took over in Tampa and the struggles that Newton had in a very mediocre season for the Pats shakes me deep down.

What if the Pats’ success the past 20 years was primarily because of Brady and not because of some Bill Belichick magic? What if Tom Brady is legitimately a witch or sold his soul to the devil or holds some other mystic power over the NFL and that traveled with him from Boston to Tampa last summer? What if Belichick is just an average coach who got lucky with the greatest quarterback of all time who glossed over some fortunate personnel choices?

Yeah, I know that’s not a realistic take. But it is in my head this morning.

It sure felt like this was finally Green Bay’s year again, and Brady just destroyed that. He didn’t even have to play super great – he threw three picks for crying out loud! Yet it was the Packers who made a couple terrible decisions, both by the players and coaches, that led them to coming up short.

If the Bucs pull off the upset in the Super Bowl, I might start re-evaluating some of Brady’s nutrition choices that I’ve made fun of in the past.

I’m not sure how you pick against the Chiefs. I don’t watch them enough to know how well they are playing, but they look pretty much unstoppable to my eyes. Tampa has a very good defense, one that can bring a lot of pressure. But with both of their safeties injured as of last night, can they pressure Patrick Mahomes and still cover the Chiefs receivers well enough to take away his escape valves? I’m guessing not, and I would say Chiefs –8 right now. In the midst of the pandemic I reserve the right to adjust that line before kickoff.

Aaron Rodgers dropped a little bit of a bomb last night when he suggested there was a chance he would not be the Packers quarterback next year. I think that was just the frustration of another NFL title game loss and his issues with some of the play calls talking. But, still, it’s out there, and in a year when the quarterback market could be as hot as it has ever been, it has the potential to be a neutron bomb of a development if it does not get resolved soon.

Reports also surfaced over the weekend that the Detroit Lions and Matthew Stafford have agreed to part ways. The Colts immediately because one of the most likely landing places for him. As I wrote last week, he is probably the best case scenario for the Colts. With him apparently available, I think the Colts have to go hard after him.

But, what if Aaron Rodgers actually does force an exit from Green Bay? The Colts, Saints, and any other team close to winning that needs a quarterback will have to do everything they can do to get him, right?

There is a part of me that wonders if that would, in fact, not be a great move. Rodgers has become notably more prickly has he has gotten deeper into his career. He often plays with a joyless scowl and glares at anyone who does not perform to his expectations. Would he be willing and able to go to a new team with a new system and new teammates and be patient enough to work through the inevitable growing pains that come with a transition? Tom Brady’s easy adjustment to Tampa makes me think this is probably a dumb area of concern and Rodgers is still option A1 if the unthinkable happens and he becomes available.

The realistic odds of Rodgers leaving Green Bay this offseason are very, very low. If you think Stafford is the answer, you go get him now rather than waiting to see what happens with Rodgers and risking losing Stafford to another suitor.

A quick note about coaching decisions. I know I’ve made this point many times in the nearly 18 years I’ve been writing here, but coaches, at any level and in every sport, are inherently conservative. It’s easier to answer questions about losing when you played the game by the book and made cautious choices than when you are super aggressive and go against conventional wisdom. It doesn’t matter that conventional wisdom might be crap; if you decide to go counter to it, the howling will always be louder than if you ran power sweep right or whatever 27 times and lost a dull, boring game. That’s why almost every fall college basketball coaches make comments like “I think we’re going to try to press more this year,” and after they give up three layups to a crap team in November they scrap it. They’d rather lose with bad half court defense that at least makes the opponent work than by giving up open layups when no one is back to stop them.

I still do not understand how coaches refuse to adjust their mindset based on time, score, and opponent. If you’re playing the Chiefs, in Kansas City, in the playoffs, you have to be super aggressive the entire 60 minutes. You can’t pick your spots here and there, balancing aggression with caution. Unless you’re playing in the midst of an ice storm, you are not going to beat Patrick Mahomes with field goals and an effective punt game. Likewise, you can not give Tom Brady the ball back with 2:00 left needing a touchdown to win.

Yes, sometimes being aggressive backfires, and can backfire big time. But does it really matter if you lose by 28 instead of 14?

Finally, the worst play of the weekend had to be the touchdown Tampa scored just before halftime. For someone who wanted to see Rodgers get back to the Super Bowl and keep Brady from doing the same, that was an absolute gut punch moment. I’m sure it was 1000 times worse for actual Packers fans. There was pretty much no doubt what the final outcome would be after that play. Green Bay played far from a clean game, but that moment…that moment was pretty awful.

KU Hoops

Narrative is always a weird thing in sports. A week ago KU had a game against Iowa State cancelled because of Covid issues within the ISU program. The Cyclones are not good this year, and KU would have likely been a big favorite. Let’s assume KU wins that game. Suddenly instead of a three-game losing streak, they have only lost three of four. That is not a huge difference. But a three-game losing streak sure sounds worse, especially since you can throw up stats like “this hasn’t happened in eight years.”

Saturday just highlighted the issues that have plagued KU all year. They actually played decent on the offensive end, getting tons of good looks both at the rim and beyond the arc. They just shot like shit. They missed at least five, totally open 3-point attempts, all by their best shooters. They missed so many shots near the rim, including a wide-open dunk. While things broke down in the closing minutes, when KU was frantically trying to score, overall their offense looked decent. Some tweaks can be made, for sure, but I don’t think they look at the film and get super disappointed about what created those shots.

On defense, though, yeesh. They just are not good on defense. They remind me of L’s team: lots of guys playing straight up instead of getting into a defensive stance, not moving their feet, lunging for steals and leaving open driving lanes. Everyone thought this would be a good defensive team, and the guys on TV who are paid to know these things keep repeating that line. But over halfway through the season I think we know who they are, and that is a team filled with guys with poor defensive instincts who struggle to play team defense, and which lacks a shot blocker to make up for mistakes on the perimeter. I’m not sure that’s something that you can fix within a season.

The good news is that the back half of the Big 12 schedule is a little easier. Even if KU can take advantage of that, they’re likely looking at 11–7 as a best case record. Which is only “bad” if you are a spoiled KU fan who can’t accept results that don’t match those of the past 20 years.

Youth Hoops

A tough damn game this week for L’s team.

While we were waiting for it to start we watched a game on the next court and laughed that it was 9–9 late in the second half. A huge cheer went up when a girl hit a free throw to give her team a 10–9 win.

We should have kept our mouths shut.

Our game was a sloppy, defense-dominated contest. When I say defense-dominated I mean there were a lot of horrible passes, dribbling the ball out of bounds, kicking the ball around, etc. There was plenty of frenetic pressure forcing these errors, but it’s not like either team was playing good, fundamental D.

We got lucky and had a little 4–0 run early in the second half to go up 8–2. L hit a nice jumper deep in the second half to put us up 10–6. But then we had to hang on for our lives to pull out a 12–10 win. The girls all looked like they were in third grade again, with no idea how to play. At the end of the game parents from both teams were looking at each other laughing at how ugly the game was.

L’s other highlight came on an inbounds play under our own basket. She broke away and started making strange noises like she was possessed. The defenders all looked at her and froze, our big broke to the bucket, got a pass, and laid it in. Our girls laughed all the way up the court on D. She kept doing it on every inbound play but it never worked again. I guess it’s a once a game thing.

Sports Notes

January 19, 2021 /

Some notes from the sporting world.

KU Hoops

First back-to-back losses in Big 12 play in eight years, first Big Monday loss in 18 games.

Neither of those are a surprise. Against both Oklahoma State and Baylor KU looked utterly overmatched early. Overmatched for sure in the athletic sense, KU looking slow and bound to the floor where their opponents raced up and down the court and flew for dunks and blocks.

What was a bigger concern was how they looked overmatched in being prepared to play. Defense was supposed to be a strength for this squad, with so many similarly-sized pieces that made switching easy. For whatever reason this team seems to start every game extremely slowly on the defensive end, struggling to communicate and cover the right spots on the court. Against OSU it took switching to gimmick defenses for the Jayhawks to find a way to guard the Cowboys. They switched briefly against Baylor Monday, but I think Baylor’s lull was as much about the Bears losing interest as KU doing anything to slow them down.

In each game KU fought back. Hell, they probably should have won the OSU game but played stupid for the final minute to blow it. I guess that’s where KU hoops is right now: finding solace in nearly erasing huge deficits to get conference road wins.

In each game KU had one or two guys play well, but they could never get more than that rolling. KU’s good players aren’t good enough to go out and score 30 and carry the team alone. They need multiple guys being effective every night to have a chance against the top half of the conference.

That said, point guard is the big, glaring weakness that just can’t be corrected. Eventually Jalen Wilson is going to get hot again. There are going to be nights when all of KU’s shooters are hitting and they look good. Against the right matchups David McCormack can be effective. But point guard is a mess with no answer. Marcus Garrett either dribbles too much on the perimeter or goes barreling into traffic to throw up a horrible shot (that usually gets blocked), toss some blind pass out to space, or flat turns the ball over. DaJuan Harris has much better instincts, but looks utterly overmatched physically right now.

For the rest of the Big 12, it’s time to get used to your new overlords in Waco. Until Bill Self can convince a legit point guard to come to Lawrence – and he has yet to do that for next fall’s incoming class – the Jayhawks have no chance to win the Big 12.

NFL

After a highly entertaining Super Wildcard weekend, the Divisional weekend was a bit of a letdown. A couple of the games – Baltimore-Buffalo and Tampa-New Orleans – were close until late, but still not super exciting. The only nail-biter of the weekend was, surprisingly, in Kansas City. Maybe Chiefs fans were nervous and Browns fans excited, but my pulse never jumped a few notches at the prospect of an upset. The Browns were still the Browns until they took the lead, and they never got close to that.

Hopefully the conference championship games will be more fun to watch.

Kid Hoops

I don’t think I’ve written about L’s winter league basketball team yet. She’s playing on a team with girls from four different schools. They were supposed to play in one local travel league, but after that league postponed games until February they jumped to a different league that plays at private facilities in one county, rather than public gyms in multiple counties, thus had more predictable Covid rules.

They first played two weeks ago and got beaten pretty handily. L told us before the game that they weren’t ready to play – they had not had all 10 players together at any one practice – and it showed. They got down big early and had to play hard in the second half to only lose by 9. It was sobering to learn that the team they played was made up of girls that play club soccer together and play basketball to stay in shape in the winter.

Week two’s game was cancelled when their opponents went into quarantine.

The league they are in currently limits fans to one per player, but the gyms all have high-level cameras so families can stream games at home. These videos are also archived for later viewing. At last Friday’s practice, L’s coaches pulled up their next opponent’s most recent game and watched to get some ideas. L came home from practice all pumped up, “Dad, their guards are not good. I’m going to try to steal it every time.” I chuckled at her confidence. I get on her for playing too upright on defense and not being aggressive in going for the ball. “We’ll see,” I thought to myself.

Saturday she went out and had six steals in the first half. She added eight points and four or five assists before the break. She and her teammates played really well. They started the game on a 16–0 run and lead 28–4 at half.

But, I have to be honest: the team they played was awful. Just brutally bad. L’s team was missing four girls, including one of their best players, and still won by 31 points. L ended up with 12 points and eight steals. She said she tried not to steal in the second half, but the other guards were so bad sometimes they would just kind of hand her the ball and she had to take it.

I liked that she was aggressive on offense. She was looking for her shot early and often. She did not shoot well – I’m guessing she went something like 6–20+ from the field – but she was unlucky on several jumpers that spun out. She is still brutal trying to make a layup on a fast break. I think she’s something like 3–30 on those this academic year. She just can’t find the right angle/speed to keep the ball from hitting the backboard way too hard.

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