A month ago I wrote on these pages that I hoped Tom Allen and Indiana University would hammer out a treaty to end his tenure.  Guess what?  They did that today.  Coach Allen, the class act he is, leaves with a settlement that is less than what he was ultimately owed.

I hate it.  I hate it all.  No one wanted Tom Allen to succeed more than I did.  I so like the man.

We move on.  And I mean move on.

I have made no secret of my disdain for all the conference realignment.  Stanford and Cal members of the Atlantic Coast Conference?  Please.  USC and UCLA in The Big Ten? Pardon me while I throw up.

“You can’t pass through life without becoming acquainted with tradition, with legacy, and with a feeling of history, and The Rose Bowl does all of that.”                    – Keith Jackson

Keith Jackson was not talking about a stadium.  He was talking about their way of life against ours.  He was talking about USC v. Ohio State.  He was talking about UCLA v. Michigan.  He was talking about relying on a New Year’s Day tradition of The Big Ten versus the PAC-8/ PAC-10/PAC-12.  That was the tradition.  That has been ruined.

When I took this picture at The Rose Bowl in 2018 it was because I appreciated the history of the stadium and The PAC-12.  I never imagined it would one day be changed to The Big 10.  I don’t like it.  Makes no practical sense.  Money is not practical.

Where do I go from here?

I think I am heading North.  I was always partial to the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League.  They have since been rebranded as the Edmonton Elks.  There are players in the Canadian Football League that make less money than I do.  One guy on a CFL team is a firefighter during the week and a kicker on game day.  I appreciate that.

When a college football player makes more money than a physics professor, I draw a line.

I’ve been to more college stadiums and seen more college teams and more college games than anyone I know.

I watched the UCLA-Cal game in The Rose Bowl last night on ESPN.  It was the last PAC-12 game.  I sat there in stunned silence.  There was no regard for the respect of the history of the college game when UCLA and USC and Washington and Oregon headed to The Big Ten.  Didn’t they have enough money?  Did they need that much more?  Will the other sports of PAC-12 teams flying all over the place agree?   I doubt it.  Geography was once the cornerstone of rivalry.  That goes by the wayside when you sign a TV contract with FOX at noon, CBS at 3:30, and NBC in primetime.

I told my dear wife, Carrie, the most fun I had watching football this year was the CFL.  Montreal upset Winnipeg in the 110th Grey Cup last weekend. I watched every play.

One last Indiana Football note.  Jason Candle at Toledo.  If they can talk him into coming to Bloomington, they need to sign him in a hurry.  I don’t know that I will be paying as close attention as I have.  My current focus is more on Toledo Rockets of days gone by than today.  What does that mean?  We’ll see.  I have an idea or two.

Coach Tom Allen, I will always be a fan.  Forrest Gump said it best, “Sometimes there are just not enough rocks.”

Speaking the rights.

Danny Johnson

This is the last week of the 2023 College Football regular season.  If you are an Indiana fan, you might be very thankful this Thanksgiving weekend.  This painful season is almost over.

Last week I experienced two Indiana Hoosier firsts for me.  It all started on Thursday, November 16th.  My dear wife, Carrie, and I made our way to Bloomington to watch the Indiana Hoosiers take on the Wright State Raiders in…wait for it…a men’s basketball game in Assembly Hall.  This was the first men’s college basketball game I have ever been to.  We had a great time.  Indiana won 89-80.

This looked like a circus during a timeout.  It was good.

I think the basketball Hoosiers have some great ingredients.  If they get the recipe right, look out.

Two days later, my brother, Darrell, and I took in the last home game of the Indiana Football season (thankfully).  Michigan State beat Indiana 24-21 in another game that just plain got away.  The one that got away is no longer a theme with Hoosier Football; it is the norm.  My optimism and my hope for Hoosier football has waned.  Looking out on the horizon of today’s wild wild east and west of college football, I don’t see things getting better for many teams.  Indiana is in that number.

Being there with my brother was awesome.  The last college game we saw together was the 1993 Independence Bowl when the Hoosiers were bested by the Virginia Tech Hokies in Shreveport. He was ten years old then.  The crowd for the game last week was pitiful.  Those stands behind us were during the second half of game that stayed close until the end.

This photo was taken in the first half.

The Hoosiers play for the Old Oaken Bucket at Purdue today.  Have you seen what that trophy looks like?  It looks like it belongs in Bloomington.

Last week’s picks were not good.

8 winners  6 losers.  I picked IU, Kentucky, Duke, and a few others who let me down.

Season total:  123 winners  45 losers

Today we see the last Saturday of the regular season for  2023 college football.  Man did it go fast.

Here goes…

Indiana beats Purdue…  I have to.

Louisville beats Kentucky… UK will give them something.  But I see U of L still kicking themselves over the loss to Pitt and being sky high at home working toward the ACC Title Game with Florida State.  Now that is exciting!

Ohio State beats Michigan… Marvin Harrison, Jr.  Say no more.  Can Michigan really keep this up in another episode of As the Wolverine Turns?  I don’t think so.

Duke beats Pitt… Will bring Duke to 7-5.  We’d take 7-5 at a basketball school.

LSU beats Texas A&M… Daniels at QB for LSU is the most fun to watch since Johnny Manziel was looking like a computer game at Kyle Field.

Troy beats Southern Miss… Southern is at home.  Troy is better.

Alabama beats Auburn… I picked the Tide to win it all this year.  They are still in the hunt.  The problem is that Bama has been so good for so long that no other program is penalized more by one loss than the Tide.

Maryland beats Rutgers…Look for the Terps to put up some points.

Illinois beats Northwestern… Illini are at home and these teams are pretty even.

Minnesota beats Wisconsin… Goldy is at home and he needs this one for bowl contention.

Washington beats Washington State…The Apple Cup no longer runneth over.  It is running dry.  Another rivalry in jeopardy due to conference migration.  While the Huskies count their money, the Cougars will remember when.

Florida State beats Florida… Could the Gators really pull this off with the Seminoles playing a second-string quarterback?  Nah, I don’t think so either.

Georgia beats Georgia Tech…The Engineers will ask for a running clock in the 3rd quarter.

UCLA beats Cal… Late kick in The Rose Bowl.  Kind of appropriate as this one is where the sun will go down on the PAC-12.  I will watch this until the end.

Lastly, being there for a friend is an important thing.  I wish I could have done a better job of that last week.  Adam Disque’s dad passed away after a lengthy illness and I was not able to make it up to Jackson County early in the week.  Going to see Indiana play a basketball game two days later didn’t make me question my priorities.  It did hold some regret that I was tied up on Tuesday a little too tight than I wish I had been.  I haven’t had the courage to tell Adam about my visit to Assembly Hall. That’s life.

I am looking out on this college football day with melancholy.  I don’t want to see the PAC-12 end.  I don’t want to see the SEC with Texas and Oklahoma.  Lewis Grizzard once said he was glad his father didn’t live long to see him get his hair cut in a beauty parlor.  I feel the same way when I think about the greatest voice in college football history Keith Jackson.  He predicted this nonsense on January 1, 2017, when he said the problem with college football was “oversaturation, meaning too much coverage.”  Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit were standing on each side of Keith in The Rose Bowl’s Keith Jackson Broadcast Center that day.  Chris and Kirk looked sheepish standing next to The Voice.

Today is the day the music dies for college football as we knew it.

On a good note, UCLA beat USC last week.  Now it is time for me to hit publish and go put my UCLA jersey on for this college football Saturday which is the last of its kind.

Speaking the Rights.

Danny Johnson

Indiana at Illinois on this date in 1989.  It was a cold day in Champaign.  The game was telecasted by ABC.  Gary Bender and Dick Vermeil were on the call.  I watched it again when I got home that night or morning or whatever it was.  Indiana lost.  Jeff George threw Illini darts.  Anthony Thompson scored his last touchdown.

I am picking the Hoosiers to win today.

Last week 10 winners and 4 four losers.

Season total  115 winners  39 losers

Indiana beats Michigan State… Let’s end this on a positive note at home.

Ole Miss beats Louisiana Monroe…Practice before the Egg Bowl.

Louisville beats Miami…This game means more to the Cards.  Ask their coach.

Michigan beats Maryland…Another episode of As the Wolverine Turns.

Duke beats Virginia… Mike Elko will have a new address next season.

Illinois beats Iowa… Something has to give points-wise with this Iowa D some day.  That is today.

Georgia beats Tennessee… I hope the VOLS win.

UNC beat Clemson… Coach Mack says he is back for next year.

UCLA beats USC… Tommy Trojan QB Caleb Williams has two towels at the ready.  One to dry his hands.  The other for crying.

Ohio State beats Minnesota…. Come on Goldy!

Auburn beats New Mexico State…. Most of the work in the coaching box will be tape of Bama for next week.

Kentucky beats South Carolina...The Cats are ready to break out with offense.

Washington beats Oregon State… Penix Jr still has Heisman shot.

Wisconsin beats Nebraska at home…I suspect.

Today is special.  Today I attend a college football game with my brother for the first time in 30 years.  The last college game we saw together was the 1993 Independence Bowl in Shreveport.  Indiana lost to Virginia Tech in that one.  We’re due.

Speak the rights.

Danny Johnson

Last week I failed to put my picks on.  There was a great deal going on.  Wearing a heart monitor for 24 hours will change your attitude in a hurry.  Fortunately, all is well after a little attention getting.

The picks last week were the worst of the season.

8 winners and 6 losers.

The week before 11 winners and 3 losers.

Notre Dame, Nebraska, Oklahoma, UCLA…they all let me down.

Guess who didn’t let me down after I had given up on them?  INDIANA!

Anyone whose read many of these football words over the years knows I abhor the Wisconsin Badgers.  

Last week there were more folks at Memorial Stadium in the 4th quarter than we have seen in a while.

This was the celebratory crowd as the Hoosiers celebrated the first home win against Bucky in over 20 years.

This one was special.  I was so glad for Coach Tom Allen.

The season total:

105 winners and 35 losers after picking 140 games in 10 weeks.

On to this week’s picks.

Alabama beats Kentucky… I picked the Tide to win it all.  I still believe that.

Clemson beats Georgia Tech… The Tigers are at home.

Michigan beats Penn State… Michigan is living on borrowed time.  Look for them to make Drew Allar eat turf.

NC State beats Wake Forest…The Raleigh boys have found something.

Minnesota beats Purdue… I want to pick Purdue.  But Goldy is fired up after losing last week.

Pitt beats Syracuse… I just don’t see the Orange pulling this one out outdoors.

Iowa beats Rutgers… The Hawkeyes are 7-2 and they fire their OC.  Something smells funny in Iowa City.

Tennessee beats Mizzou… I know it is at Mizzou.  They are fired up.  Maybe too much.  They have been in the SEC since lunch.

Washington beats Utah…In Husky Stadium.  Look for Penix, Jr. to throw for more than 400.

Marshall beats Georgia Southern… The Herd plays well in The Joan.

Ole Miss beats Georgia… The Bulldogs can’t keep this up.  Why not the Rebs?

Oklahoma beats West Virginia… The Sooners are not a happy bunch and the boys from Morgantown are going to know it.

LSU beats Florida… Is this the beginning of the middle of the end for Coach Billy Napier at Florida.  I hope not.  Give the guy another year, at least.

Oregon beats USC… The Ducks muddy the water even more for the CFP standings.

Enjoy the weekend and watch the sun go down early.

Speaking the rights.

Danny Johnson

Talking to Mom on the phone this evening, my location or destination was never mentioned.  She didn’t ask.  I didn’t divulge.  She would have chewed me.  It would have gone something like this: “Danny Johnson, you are not a teenager anymore.  Quit trying to act like one.  You’re going to hurt yourself!”

She’s partly right.  I will hurt in the morning.  Fortunately, I made it home and all is well.

I emptied the ball bag tonight.  Sure, I had to air them up the night before.  We had not seen each other in a while.  How and why these balls all got turned with no laces to be seen I will never know.  They fell that way.  I took the picture.  There was nothing rehearsed.  When I sit here and look at this picture now, I see these balls telling me goodbye.  I don’t kick the laces.

Yes.  Tonight I went over to Crawford County High School and kicked on a field that resembles the one I used to kick on at North Harrison.  Crawford has not graduated to the likes of a nice Bermuda grass field.  This field is just plain grass.   The kind I kicked on 38 and 39 years ago on high school fields from Brownstown to Clarksville to North Daviess.

This field felt like home.  Though I wanted to make one from 38 yards, the best I could do was 33 yards.  It was amazing how far away that goalpost looked from 38 yards.  There was time I looked at the 50 yard line feeling I was almost safe kicking it 60 yards.  When I was a kid at North my longest on that field was from the opposite 48.  62 yards.  This was just me, a ball, a tee, and a goalpost.  With the help of a breeze and a sweet kick, I watched one fly over from 70 in Shreve Stadium in Shreveport in the summer of 1986.  That alone tells me this was a good time to turn in my shoe.

I hit the last three I attempted from 25 yards away.

Truly amazing how much pop the leg can loose in eight years.

I was nailing 40 yarders that day in 2015.

Today I didn’t smile so much.  Today was the end for this old kicker.

All this was really brought on recently when a friend of mine at another school asked if I was coaching football.  I told him I was not.  He asked if I wanted to.  I told him the situation would have to be right.  He told me their staff was re-tooling and I was the first person he thought of.  He said the route trees I was drawing up in 1985 looked like what he was looking at on Saturdays and Sundays in 2023.  He told me he figured long ago that I would have the kids at North Harrison averaging 500 yards of passing a game.  I told him that was not to be.  But it sure was nice to hear that.  I told him I interviewed for the head coaching job at North Harrison on two occasions.  I was turned away both times. That is news to many.  I never made a thing of it.  Both of those instances happened a long time ago.  That is just the way it goes.

My friend got my football wheels turning again.  I decided to end that tonight.

Look, when you get to kick in The Rose Bowl and you don’t miss, what’s left?

That’s why these balls were turned the way they were today.

More than anything, I will miss staring down a goalpost.

Speaking the rights.

Danny Johnson