It was odd walking downstairs this morning. We put all the holiday decorations away Sunday, so this was the first time since Thanksgiving I was greeted by a dark main floor. C said our family room looked \u201cemo\u201d without the decorations yesterday. I\u2019m not sure if emo is the term I would pick, but it does always take a few days to get used to the tree, etc being packed away for another 11 months.<\/p>\n
It was also a strange morning because S is back in the office on Mondays for the first time in years. I\u2019ll share more about that in a future post.<\/p>\n
We had a very busy Saturday followed by a pretty lazy Sunday. Some notes\u2026<\/p>\n
L had games Saturday starting at noon. After her JV contest, S and M left the gym and headed to Cincinnati to drop M off for her second semester. Sunday was the normal move-in day, but she had a greek leadership meeting that began at 9:00 Sunday and needed to go back early. I forget if I mentioned last fall that she was elected as social chair for her house, thus her presence was required at this meeting. She\u2019s already working on planning their formal this spring. UC lovingly added $40 to our bill for her moving in 24 hours early.<\/p>\n
I guess move-in went well. Someone working in her dorm told S that Sunday was going to be crazy, so it might have been worth the $40 to avoid that rush.<\/p>\n
M ended up getting straight A\u2019s first semester, which was a terrific start. Right before she came home she added Marketing as a major. She figured that\u2019s a better path to a job right after graduation than psychology, which would likely require graduate work. She\u2019s debating whether to do a double major or shift psych to a minor.<\/p>\n
While she starts classes today, her sisters got to sleep in one last day. They begin their two-week J term tomorrow.<\/p>\n
We got our first real snow of the year Friday night\/Saturday morning. Probably 2\u201d of heavy, wet stuff at our house. I got up and pushed it aside just to make sure the driveway didn\u2019t turn into a sheet of ice. Our forecast this week looks miserable. Rain and\/or snow almost every day, and potentially a major storm next weekend.<\/p>\n
As a weather geek I love watching how the forecast changes this time of year. Last night one forecast predicted between 15\u201320\u201d of snow from Thursday night to Saturday morning. This morning it had switched to mostly rain and just 2\u20133\u201d of snow. I imagine it will change multiple times before the storm finally gets here.<\/p>\n
You\u2019re not going to believe this but I missed the first half of the KU-TCU game watching L play. It\u2019s uncanny how often that has happened this year. Fortunately I got home in time to see most of the second half.<\/p>\n
I guess that was fortunate? I might be getting too old to handle games like this, and I\u2019m afraid the entire Big 12 schedule this year is going to play out similar to Saturday\u2019s game. Almost every team plays really good defense. There don\u2019t seem to be many pushovers. The next two months are going to be brutal.<\/p>\n
It doesn\u2019t help that this KU team seems to be missing something. Not just the shooters that would open so much up for the offense. There\u2019s another mysterious \u201csomething\u201d that isn\u2019t there. It\u2019s far too hard for them to score, even with two first team All American caliber players and one of the best distributing point guards in the county. It\u2019s like the parts almost<\/em> fit perfectly, but grind against each other just enough to keep them from reaching their potential.<\/p>\n I mean, it would be cool if someone on this team could hit a few 3s every night. Even then I think something would be off, though.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s get this over with: the intentional foul called against Ernest Udeh when he elbowed Hunter Dickinson was 100% the right call. I wasn\u2019t sure in real time but watching replays it\u2019s clear Udeh threw his elbow with intent rather than as a function of trying to grab Kevin McCullar\u2019s truly horrific pass. That said, I\u2019m shocked it was called. There seemed just enough wiggle room for the refs to decide it was a play-on rather than foul since it hadn\u2019t been whistled immediately.<\/p>\n I have no issue with TCU people being pissed about it. I would be, no matter what the replay showed. But I\u2019m already done with Fran Fraschilla\u2019s interpretation of the play, knowing he is going to mention it 8000 times between now and the end of the season.[1]<\/a> God forbid KU wins the Big 12 by a game because he is going to talk about that single play incessantly. Props to Seth Davis, Seth Greenberg, and Jay Wright for countering Fraschilla\u2019s nonsense.<\/p>\n Fraschilla and the other haters didn\u2019t mention the awful foul called on KJ Adams with about 2:00 left that gave Emanuel Miller two free throws and TCU a two-point lead. I think the Hoops Gods made the call against Udeh to balance that shitty foul on KJ.<\/p>\n (OK, aside time. Fraschilla is truly a putz. For some reason about ten years ago he decided to become the voice for the anti-KU element of the Big 12. He holds onto borderline calls that go for KU like a psychopathic fan.[2]<\/a> He often parrots lines that clearly come from other Big 12 coaches. Any time there\u2019s a close call in Allen Fieldhouse, you can hear his energy level rise and the eagerness in his voice, like a Jan. Sixer talking about how the election was stolen.[3]<\/a><\/p>\n His comments Saturday were even more bizarre since he casually threw in his opinion that Dickinson traveled on his game-winning basket, as if that was another egregious miss by the officials that the entire world saw. It was such a strange observation that CBS\u2019 Seth Davis tweeted back with a clip of the play, showing Dickinson clearly taking a dribble as he shuffled his feet before tossing the shot in.<\/p>\n I\u2019m not sure if Fraschilla has cracked after years of being yelled at by KU fans, if Bill Self pissed him off\/froze him out at some point, or just because he is famously close with a couple current\/former Big 12 coaches, but it is clear his emotions affect his analysis. At least when KU is involved. Which is fine if you\u2019re a middle-aged blogger. It\u2019s not when you are the main color commentator for an entire conference.)<\/p>\n Anyway, KU is 13\u20131 but I don\u2019t think many KU fans are feeling great about the team. We were extremely fortunate to beat TCU. There are about 18 tough-ass games ahead of us just to get through the conference season. To be clear, I don\u2019t feel bad about the team. They just aren\u2019t as good as we hoped and the path to reaching the pre-season goals of Final Four caliber team seems pretty daunting.<\/p>\n What a terrible ending to an unexpectedly inspiring season by our local football eleven. Actually that\u2019s what our soccer team is called so I should not be cute and just say Colts.<\/p>\n This was supposed to be a rebuilding year, a season in which rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson took his lumps and got acclimated to the NFL, with the idea of competing for a playoff spot again next year.<\/p>\n Richardson was surprisingly good, until he got hurt multiple times and ended up needing season-ending surgery. Gardner Minshew shook off some early rough games and often found ways to make just enough plays to win. After a lengthy hold-out and a brief injury absence, Jonathan Taylor returned to anchor the offense. The defense improved as the season progressed.<\/p>\n The Colts won a couple games they shouldn\u2019t have. They lost a few they shouldn\u2019t have. They benefited from playing in the thoroughly meh AFC South.<\/p>\n It was perfect their season came down to a de facto playoff game against Houston, at home, on Saturday night.<\/p>\n The result felt appropriate for the season, too. A couple dumb coaching decisions by Shane Streichen, who seems like a solid coach but like so many \u201cinnovative\u201d coaches, occasionally tries too hard to be cute. A couple meltdowns by the defensive backfield. And then the inevitable Minshew mistake. This time is wasn\u2019t a brutal interception on a potential scoring drive, but rather missing a wide-open back on fourth-and-one in the red zone with less than two minutes remaining.<\/p>\n There\u2019s been a lot of debate about the play that did the Colts in, with a decent contingent of folks trying their hardest to say it wasn\u2019t Minshew\u2019s fault. I\u2019m sorry: that was a TERRIBLE throw. He wasn\u2019t pressured. Tyler Goodson was wide open with blockers ahead of him. At minimum it was an easy first down. The way it was set up there was a decent chance Goodson was going to tie the game and give the Colts the chance to take the lead on the PAT.<\/p>\n It was a perfect play call and 10 Colts did their job. It was Minshew who choked.<\/p>\n Now it\u2019s on to 2024 with, hopefully, a healthy Richardson and Taylor behind him to start the season. The Colts weren\u2019t a good team this year, so there are a lot of areas that need improvement if the want to be legitimate contenders next season. Regardless, the 2024 cycle begins with some genuine optimism about what is to come.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve been saying all year how weird the NFL is. One week you think a team is dominant, the next they lose a stupid game against a weaker team.<\/p>\n So how do you pick the playoffs this year? The Niners and Ravens seem to have separated themselves in each conference. But do you trust Brock Purdy? Lamar Jackson\u2019s shit hasn\u2019t worked in the playoffs so far in his career, is this the year that changes? I think the Cowboys might actually be the favorite at this point. I\u2019m going to need a few days to ponder on all of it, though.<\/p>\n It was odd walking downstairs this morning. We put all the holiday decorations away Sunday, so this was the first time since Thanksgiving I was greeted by a dark main floor. C said our family room looked \u201cemo\u201d without the decorations yesterday. I\u2019m not sure if emo is the term I would pick, but it does always take a few days to get used to the tree, etc being packed away for another 11 months. It was also a strange morning because S is back in the office on Mondays for the first time in years. I\u2019ll share more about that in a future post. We had a very busy Saturday followed by a pretty lazy Sunday. Some notes\u2026 Back to School L had games Saturday starting at noon. After her JV contest, S and M left the gym and headed to Cincinnati to drop M off for her second semester. Sunday was the normal move-in day, but she had a greek leadership meeting that began at 9:00 Sunday and needed to go back early. I forget if I mentioned last fall that she was elected as social chair for her house, thus her presence was required at this meeting. She\u2019s already working on planning their formal this spring. UC lovingly added $40 to our bill for her moving in 24 hours early. I guess move-in went well. Someone working in her dorm told S that Sunday was going to be crazy, so it might have been worth the $40 to avoid that rush. M ended up getting straight A\u2019s first semester, which was a terrific start. Right before she came home she added Marketing as a major. She figured that\u2019s a better path to a job right after graduation than psychology, which would likely require graduate work. She\u2019s debating whether to do a double major or shift psych to a minor. While she starts classes today, her sisters got to sleep in one last day. They begin their two-week J term tomorrow. Snow We got our first real snow of the year Friday night\/Saturday morning. Probably 2\u201d of heavy, wet stuff at our house. I got up and pushed it aside just to make sure the driveway didn\u2019t turn into a sheet of ice. Our forecast this week looks miserable. Rain and\/or snow almost every day, and potentially a major storm next weekend. As a weather geek I love watching how the forecast changes this time of year. Last night one forecast predicted between 15\u201320\u201d of snow from Thursday night to Saturday morning. This morning it had switched to mostly rain and just 2\u20133\u201d of snow. I imagine it will change multiple times before the storm finally gets here. Jayhawk Talk You\u2019re not going to believe this but I missed the first half of the KU-TCU game watching L play. It\u2019s uncanny how often that has happened this year. Fortunately I got home in time to see most of the second half. I guess that was fortunate? I might be getting too old to handle games like this, and I\u2019m afraid the entire Big 12 schedule this year is going to play out similar to Saturday\u2019s game. Almost every team plays really good defense. There don\u2019t seem to be many pushovers. The next two months are going to be brutal. It doesn\u2019t help that this KU team seems to be missing something. Not just the shooters that would open so much up for the offense. There\u2019s another mysterious \u201csomething\u201d that isn\u2019t there. It\u2019s far too hard for them to score, even with two first team All American caliber players and one of the best distributing point guards in the county. It\u2019s like the parts almost fit perfectly, but grind against each other just enough to keep them from reaching their potential. I mean, it would be cool if someone on this team could hit a few 3s every night. Even then I think something would be off, though. Let\u2019s get this over with: the intentional foul called against Ernest Udeh when he elbowed Hunter Dickinson was 100% the right call. I wasn\u2019t sure in real time but watching replays it\u2019s clear Udeh threw his elbow with intent rather than as a function of trying to grab Kevin McCullar\u2019s truly horrific pass. That said, I\u2019m shocked it was called. There seemed just enough wiggle room for the refs to decide it was a play-on rather than foul since it hadn\u2019t been whistled immediately. I have no issue with TCU people being pissed about it. I would be, no matter what the replay showed. But I\u2019m already done with Fran Fraschilla\u2019s interpretation of the play, knowing he is going to mention it 8000 times between now and the end of the season.[1] God forbid KU wins the Big 12 by a game because he is going to talk about that single play incessantly. Props to Seth Davis, Seth Greenberg, and Jay Wright for countering Fraschilla\u2019s nonsense. Fraschilla and the other haters didn\u2019t mention the awful foul called on KJ Adams with about 2:00 left that gave Emanuel Miller two free throws and TCU a two-point lead. I think the Hoops Gods made the call against Udeh to balance that shitty foul on KJ. (OK, aside time. Fraschilla is truly a putz. For some reason about ten years ago he decided to become the voice for the anti-KU element of the Big 12. He holds onto borderline calls that go for KU like a psychopathic fan.[2] He often parrots lines that clearly come from other Big 12 coaches. Any time there\u2019s a close call in Allen Fieldhouse, you can hear his energy level rise and the eagerness in his voice, like a Jan. Sixer talking about how the election was stolen.[3] His comments Saturday were even more bizarre since he casually threw in his opinion that Dickinson traveled on his game-winning basket, as if that was another egregious miss by the officials that the entire world saw. It was such a strange observation that CBS\u2019 Seth Davis tweeted back with a clip of the play, showing Dickinson clearly taking a dribble as he shuffled his feet before tossing the shot in. I\u2019m not sure if Fraschilla has cracked after years of being yelled at by KU fans, if Bill Self pissed him off\/froze him out at some point, or just because he is famously close with a couple current\/former Big 12 coaches, but it is clear his emotions affect his analysis. At least when KU is involved. Which is fine if you\u2019re a middle-aged blogger. It\u2019s not when you are the main color commentator for an entire conference.) Anyway, KU is 13\u20131 but I don\u2019t think many KU fans are feeling great about the team. We were extremely fortunate to beat TCU. There are about 18 tough-ass games ahead of us just to get through the conference season. To be clear, I don\u2019t feel bad about the team. They just aren\u2019t as good as we hoped and the path to reaching the pre-season goals of Final Four caliber team seems pretty daunting. Colts What a terrible ending to an unexpectedly inspiring season by our local football eleven. Actually that\u2019s what our soccer team is called so I should not be cute and just say Colts. This was supposed to be a rebuilding year, a season in which rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson took his lumps and got acclimated to the NFL, with the idea of competing for a playoff spot again next year. Richardson was surprisingly good, until he got hurt multiple times and ended up needing season-ending surgery. Gardner Minshew shook off some early rough games and often found ways to make just enough plays to win. After a lengthy hold-out and a brief injury absence, Jonathan Taylor returned to anchor the offense. The defense improved as the season progressed. The Colts won a couple games they shouldn\u2019t have. They lost a few they shouldn\u2019t have. They benefited from playing in the thoroughly meh AFC South. It was perfect their season came down to a de facto playoff game against Houston, at home, on Saturday night. The result felt appropriate for the season, too. A couple dumb coaching decisions by Shane Streichen, who seems like a solid coach but like so many \u201cinnovative\u201d coaches, occasionally tries too hard to be cute. A couple meltdowns by the defensive backfield. And then the inevitable Minshew mistake. This time is wasn\u2019t a brutal interception on a potential scoring drive, but rather missing a wide-open back on fourth-and-one in the red zone with less than two minutes remaining. There\u2019s been a lot of debate about the play that did the Colts in, with a decent contingent of folks trying their hardest to say it wasn\u2019t Minshew\u2019s fault. I\u2019m sorry: that was a TERRIBLE throw. He wasn\u2019t pressured. Tyler Goodson was wide open with blockers ahead of him. At minimum it was an easy first down. The way it was set up there was a decent chance Goodson was going to tie the game and give the Colts the chance to take the lead on the PAT. It was a perfect play call and 10 Colts did their job. It was Minshew who choked. Now it\u2019s on to 2024 with, hopefully, a healthy Richardson and Taylor behind him to start the season. The Colts weren\u2019t a good team this year, so there are a lot of areas that need improvement if the want to be legitimate contenders next season. Regardless, the 2024 cycle begins with some genuine optimism about what is to come. NFL I\u2019ve been saying all year how weird the NFL is. One week you think a team is dominant, the next they lose a stupid game against a weaker team. So how do you pick the playoffs this year? The Niners and Ravens seem to have separated themselves in each conference. But do you trust Brock Purdy? Lamar Jackson\u2019s shit hasn\u2019t worked in the playoffs so far in his career, is this the year that changes? I think the Cowboys might actually be the favorite at this point. I\u2019m going to need a few days to ponder on all of it, though. I think it started when Kelly Oubre wasn\u2019t called for pushing off on an offensive rebound in 2015. It came against Oklahoma, where Fraschilla\u2019s son was playing at the time, and I think something in his brain snapped that night. That game was in mid-January and, I swear, Fraschilla mentioned it every time he did a KU or OU game the rest of the season. \u00a0\u21a9 Ahem. I know. You don\u2019t need to mention pots and kettles, men in the mirror, etc. \u00a0\u21a9 Pretty sure Fran subscribes to that conspiracy, too, based on some of his Tweets, so it all fits together perfectly. \u00a0\u21a9<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[31,52,67,70,58,66,63,15],"class_list":["post-12438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-basketball","tag-college-sports","tag-football","tag-indianapolis-colts","tag-kansas-jayhawks","tag-nfl","tag-school","tag-weather"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12438"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12438\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12440,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12438\/revisions\/12440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nColts<\/h3>\n
\nNFL<\/h3>\n
\n\n