We just don’t always get around to having speaks of Thanksgiving that we need to.

I don’t know how else to put it.  I am always glad when I hear from my Mom that she has sent someone a card or a short letter.  I know what that means.  I try to live up to that too.  A trip to the mailbox was testament to that earlier today and I hope the chap I desire to liven up a day for finds the spirit of the intent.  It is not a difficult thing to do.

But, days turn into months and months turn into years and you look around and you realize that this is where you are now at this moment and, yes, there are many things that you could have done differently.  That is where I am today as I type these words.

Darryl Kidd and I were always friendly.  I liked him.  I liked him a great deal.   Darryl was in a room with me at the Medora Community School Corporation Administrative Office in 2002 and it was a day that changed my life for the better.  I never told him that.  I wish I had.  I’d like to believe that was a given.  But I would have liked to of looked him in the eye, man to man, and said thank you again.

Jim Stewart called me and asked that I come back to work at Medora Schools in 2002.  He was the principal and needed a school counselor and he wanted me to be the one to do it.  I told Chief, I called him Chief, that I did not have a counseling license.  Chief told me I would get one.  He was persuasive that way.  And so it was.  On a day in early August I met with then school superintendent Drew Day and school board member Darryl Kidd.  I was familiar with both of these guys.  I taught one of Darryl’s sons.

These two looked at me and told me they wanted me to come back to Medora to help the students there.  I was there for two-plus years from March 1998 till the end of 2000.  Let me just say when I was asked back, I told Jim Stewart I will be there the next day if need be.  We settled on the next school year, 2002-2003, for starters.

What I was given by these gentlemen is a chance that does not come around very often in the education business.  They let me work toward, and slowly pay for as I went, my master’s degree in school counseling from the University of Louisville.  I started in the fall of 2002 and finished in the spring of 2007.  At the end of the tunnel I had my degree and paid for it along the way.  Some of those tuition bills were hard swallows nonetheless.  It would have never worked out this way had U of L and IUS not hammered out recent, at the time, reciprocity agreements. Graduate hours are not cheap.

Needless to say, Darryl Kidd was very instrumental is putting me in a position to succeed.  I did just that.  All told I was fortunate to be employed by Medora Schools for more than fifteen years.  Being an old Jackson County boy, it was not as long of a drive as some believe it was.  I left Medora at the right time at the end of the 2015 school year.  It worked out fine, thanks in part to folks like Darryl Kidd.

Darryl Kidd died this past Thursday, December 10th at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Indy after a prolonged illness.  At Medora, Darryl would just show up at my office unannounced, help himself to a seat and always ask modestly, “Is everything going okay, Dan?”  He was there to help me.  I knew it then.  But it means more now, given I have a few more years and more experience to weigh it all.  I have been blessed in this business.  I have been surrounded by good folk at every stop.

Darryl Kidd is on the far left in this photo at a Medora Prom in 1999 is my guess.  There are some legends here for sure.

My thoughts and prayers to Darryl Kidd’s family and all who knew and loved him.

Yesterday I took a good walk for the first time in a long time.  I have been under the weather.  I always say better under the weather than under the ground.  A touch of bronchitis and a sinus infection.  I’m still here.  And yesterday I found some helpful light before the winds came in and the afternoon temperatures betrayed us.

I’m not going to say that Darryl Kidd was in that sunshine that felt so good.  And I am not going to say that he wasn’t!  But yesterday, for a while, everything was indeed going okay for Dan.

Speaking the rights…

Danny Johnson

Was walking into the kitchen and saw this down the hill from the backyard.  Walk outside and had to take this.  It was a nice repose from a day that needed it.

So this week the Big Ten changes the rules to appease the blue bloods and the dollar signs.  Before this season of covid challenge began an edict went out to all Big Ten participating members.  Though shalt play in at least six conference games to earn the right to play in the Big Ten title game was how we understood it.  When the rule was written they forgot to add an addendum that said unless you are Ohio State.

I know this is not the normal season.  Hence the rule was put in by the Big Ten.  Why not?  I mean, how can you not expect some tweaks to a football season that is not the norm?  Had Ohio State been ranked #4 and only played 3 games would we still be here?  How could we know?  It will go down in history as the Indiana Rule.  How will we ever forget this season?  The rule stands unless Indiana is in the way.  Then we change it.  Indiana is 6-1.  Ohio State is 5-0.  Indiana played the number of games that were expected to participate in the Big Ten Championship Game.  Ohio State did not.  That is why the Big Ten had to change the rule.  The Indiana Rule.

While we are at it, this season was the best example yet that is testament to the need to eliminate preseason polls.  Let us get to week 5 before we decide who belongs there instead of counting on pedigree.  No offense to Bama or Clemson or Notre Dame or fill in the blue blood blank.  Let’s get down the road a piece before we decide a team that has yet to play a game is number 1 or 3 or 7 or 18.  We  know the usual cast of characters.  They are embedded in our college football landscapes.  But if ESPN is going to pay more than 5 times what CBS is paying for the right to broadcast the SEC football game of the week, well, lets just start making divisions and playoffs in every semi-pro region.  That is ridiculous.

And so it goes.  

Glad I had that nice picture to take this afternoon.

This week’s picks:

Bama beats Arkansas…Won’t be close.

Georgia beats Mizzou…Bulldogs are still playing for something.

Northwestern beats Illinois…And just like that the Wildcats become my favorite team this week.

Minnesota beats Nebraska…This might be the other way around.

Wake Forest beats Louisville….Might miss this one too.  Just have a feeling for the boys from Winston-Salem.

North Carolina beats Miami…The Tar Heels have a good team.

Army beats Navy…Jarrett was in the Army.  Can’t root for Navy.

Iowa beats Swissconsin…And I hope it is not even close.  Go Hawkeyes!

Tennessee beats Vandy...Poor old Vandy.

Florida beats LSU…LSU has had a time.  No better this week.

Auburn beats Mississippi State….Hope I miss this one.  Enjoy watching a Mike Leach team.

UCLA beats USC…Hate to miss this one in The Rose Bowl.  Been to the last two there between these teams.

2020 has given me a chance to count my blessings.  You look back at bit when you can’t look around like you want to.  Looking ahead seems like a tempt of fate in some regard.  Going to college football games has been that way for me.

I picked 12 games this week.  Looking at the teams, the only ones I have not seen in person in my lifetime are:  Navy, Florida, and believe it or not, Mississippi State.  The other 21 I have seen at one time or another.  I am blessed.  

I hope we all have a healthy weekend.  I have heard many a sad story involving poor health and loss within some folks I know.  Been a tough week.

Get some rest this weekend and if you need to, speak the rights!

Danny Johnson

How’s it going, group?

Hope all are doing well and everyone is healthy.  These are tough and strange times.  My best to you and your families.

Remember that Andy Griffith episode “Man in a Hurry”.  That would be me today.  The noon games kick off in less than forty minutes and I need to get this in…now!

Been on a good run the last few weeks and I hope my string holds together in week #12.

Marshall cooks Rice…The Herd is looking to stay undefeated and will do so.

Purdue beats Nebraska…Boiler up will find some trickeration today.  Regular season college football in December was made for the depths of the playbook!

Ohio State beats Michigan State…I hope Sparty can shut some folk up today.  Go Green!

Penn State defeats Rutgers…Happy Valley has been anything but this year.

Notre Dame beats Syracuse…by 40 or more if they choose to.  The playoff is looming.  I say they choose to.

Boston College beats Virginia…The Eagles are flying steady.

Indiana beats Swissconsin…No team do have more disdain for in The Big (14) TEN.  I believe in the Hoosiers and new qb Tuttle.

Arkansas beats Missouri…Pig Soooie has improved for sure.  Border war for that odd appendage in the SEC.

UK beats South Carolina….How out of it am I?  Aunt Barbara had to tell me Coach Muschamp got the old heave-ho at Cockyville.  I didn’t know.  Might have something to do with the Louisville paper and how it listed our Indiana-Wisconsin viewing option as being WRTV 6 in Indianapolis?  The Once Great Newspaper.

Bama beats LSU…Gimme of the week.

BYU beats Coastal Carolina…Who’d a thunk it?  BYU and Coastal Carolina being a made for TV match-up.  2020 for you.

UCLA beats Arizona State…Go Bruins.

Got’em in!

Have a good week all and speak the rights!

Danny Johnson

Am sitting on the couch as I type.

Went for a five mile walk earlier today and got caught up with my Mom and my Aunt Barbara.  My dear wife, Carrie, acquired headphones for me that work with my cell phone and I just walk and talk away.  It’s quite nice.

The Blue River below near the house where my walks start. Took this as I wrapped up my steps today.

Watching North Carolina and Notre Dame as I type.  I hope UNC beats the Irish.  A week ago I made a stop along I-40 and picked up the Ragieh News-Observer and The Durham Herald-Sun.  We were not far from Chapel Hill.

Go Tar Heels Go!  It is 7 to 7 right now.  Make that UNC 14-7!  Sam Howell is something.

Two photos from my and Carrie’s secluded trip to North Carolina last week.

To the South in the evening.

Sun about to come up the next day.

The shrimp and the flounder Carrie cooked was worth the drive.  The last time we had traveled was last December to visit relatives in Mississippi.  Wish we could have seen them yesterday.

1978 Hines Family reunion football game huddle.  That is me on the far right.  These were the best games of my life.  I am so THANKFUL.

Earlier this afternoon Texas was playing Iowa State.  The Longhorns were ahead 20-16.  They had 3rd and a few around the fifteen yard line.  That turned into 4th and a long one.  Kick it, I thought.  Do that and take a 7 point lead.  Makes football sense, especially to a mind whose math brain thinks seven first, other numbers later.  Well, Texas brought on the kicker alright, ON THE LAST PLAY OF THEM GAME!!!!  They went for it on the aforementioned 4th down and did not get it.  I could have told what was going to happen.  Iowa State scored and made it….wait for it….23-20.  Had a chance to kick it and take a 7 point lead.  Got greedy instead.  They asked your kicker to hit a 57 yarder on the last play?  Not good.  Texas’ players did not deserve to lose this game.

Reminds me of a place in time when a dear friend of mine’s son was kicking for a high school team that didn’t have sense enough to kick a field goal.  I wanted to take Styrofoam cups and place them in the baseball fence adjacent to the football field in clear sight of the sideline that needed to see it.  3>0.  Three is greater than zero.  Oh well.  My  school record of kicking the longest field goal during the Reagan administration still stands for a reason, albeit a sad reason.

This weeks picks!

Ohio beats Bowling Green…The Bobcats get it done.

Florida beats Kentucky….I hope I jinx the Gators and ole smarty, Coach Mullen.

Indiana beats Maryland…The Hoosiers are at home and the season of a seasons continues.  BELIEVE IT.

NC State beats Syracuse…I picked the Pack to beat Liberty last week ad they came through.

Michigan beats Penn State…And I think I may have this one BAD WRONG.  Can Penn State really go 0-6?  I don’t think so. And I still can’t pick them.

Alabama beats Auburn….Roll Tide.  Brother Tim, I will be for your boys tomorrow!

Northwestern beats Michigan State…Is it fun or what?  Watching Indiana and Northwestern winning in the same season is nice.

Pitt beats Clemson….I said it.  Just wait.

Boston College beats Louisville…I can watch this and get wistful.  Thirty years ago on the cat-walk above old Cardinal Stadium, I stood next to Gerard Phelan and watched him call the BC game against U of L  on NESN and chatted with him during commercials.  Phelan caught Doug Flutie’s Hail Mary against Miami in 1984.  I shook one of hands who caught THE PASS.  U of L won that game, the last of season and then went out and plastered BAMA in the Fiesta Bowl 34-7 to finish 10-1-1.

Ole Miss beats Mississippi State…My phone missed a call from Starkville.  It may have been Coach Leach asking if I have any eligibility left.  The Rebs have too much O power.  Look for them to win by 20 or more.

UCLA beats Arizona…The Bruins need this one.

Virginia beats Florida State…FSU is just bad this year.

Have a great weekend all and if you get the chance, speak the rights!

Danny Johnson

Okay kids.  I am going to do it.  You know I am and I am because I BELIEVE!

The Hoosiers are going to beat the Buckeyes.

It has been a good week hanging out with my dear wife, Carrie.

I enjoyed writing about the Indiana Hoosiers 1968 Rose Bowl trip on my last post.  One day we will be there again.

So I did not post my picks last week.  I thought it was futile given I would do it after games had been played.  That and I was 10 and 2 two weeks ago and I was still enjoying that.

This week I have some doozies.  We shall see.

Clemson beats Florida State...And to think they ushered Coach Bowden out for Jimbo Fisher.

Florida beats Vandy…Of course they do.

Nebraska beats Illinois…Kind of feel sorry for the Illini.

Indiana beats Ohio State…No one else will.  I am saying it here and now.

Iowa beats Penn State…The Nittany Lions are hurting and Coach Franklin will be elsewhere next season.

UCF beats Cincy…I know.  You think I am just trying to set up the Hooisers for a higher rank.  Not so.  UCF is at home and that will make a difference.

Alabama beats Kentucky…The Bear Bowl?  That just sounds awful.  Sorry Brother Tim.  But Bear did coach at UK too.

Auburn beats Tennessee…Too much orange for me.  Won’t be looking at this one.

NC State beats Liberty….And the Hugh Freeze sweepstakes begins.

Michigan beats Rutgers….Coach Harbaugh needs this one.

Oklahoma beats OK State…I’m a man!  I’m 52!

Georgia beats Mississippi State….The Bulldogs win!  Does State have any players left?

Have a great weekend all!

Go Hoosiers and speak the rights!

Danny Johnson

“I told my folks I wanted to play for the Indiana Hoosiers because they had a chance to play in the Rose Bowl bowl.  My folks laughed at me and told me if I was planning on playing in the Rose Bowl I better try to get on at Michigan or Ohio State.” 

Dave Kornowa, defensive back and kicker for the 1967 Indiana University Football team.  To date, they are the only IU team to ever play in The Rose Bowl.

As the Indiana University football team is gearing up to play the Ohio State Buckeyes this Saturday, I knew I had to stop and look around.  How did we get here, I wondered?  If you want to sit down and have a chat with me about it we can debate on my belief that former Athletic Director Fred Glass wanted football to be a priority like it had not been in some time at Indiana University if ever.  Mr. Glass is a smart man.  Have you seen Memorial Stadium lately?  Those of us who remember the set of East and West stands and the scoreboard that sat on a knoll that many old folks couldn’t read prior to a newer scoreboard in 1989 know what has happened at 17th Street in Bloomington.

How did we get here?  I asked myself.   But more than that, I recently had the pleasure of holding forth with a guy I have thought about on and off for just more than two years now.

Those of you who read this stuff I muse about from time to time know I was fortunate enough to put a couple balls through the uprights in The Rose Bowl in Pasadena.  While on the field at The Rose Bowl, I took a moment or two and wondered what it would be like to see the Indiana Hooisers running out of the same tunnel I just walked through on to the field myself.

Growing up a football fan in the Midwest, you know what The Rose Bowl means.  In fact, it is the one Big Ten cultural universal that has not left us in the wake of Legends and Leaders and East and West and a Big 10 with fourteen teams.  The Rose Bowl has been that constant in all the new-fangled mess we have been subjected to.

Walking on The Rose Bowl field with my dear wife, Carrie, I wondered what it must have been like for the Indiana Hoosier Football faithful during that January 1, 1968 day in the sun.  Finding myself there doing what I was doing was enough to give anyone faith in getting there.

Into the North end zone of The Rose Bowl behind me and Carrie in this photo, is where Dave Kornowa kicked a 27 yard field for the Indiana Hoosiers against the Southern Cal Trojans in the 1968 Rose Bowl.  The Trojans defeated the Hoosiers 14-3.  The Indiana Hoosiers have yet to make it back to The Rose Bowl.  The USC Trojans have been back nineteen times.

Dave Kornowa played defensive back and kicked for those Indiana Hoosiers.

Yesterday I had speaks with Mr. Kornowa.  We covered a great deal of ground and I told him my Rose Bowl odyssey was complete.  I got to kick there and I was talking to the only Indiana Hoosier to ever score a Hoosier point in the Rose Bowl with a field goal that made the score 7-3 at halftime.

Dave Kornowa is originally from Toledo and played high school football for Toledo Woodward High.  As a senior, in 1963, Dave was named Honorable Mention All-State at quarterback.  In addition to playing quarterback, Dave kicked a few extra points his senior year.  “We usually went for two”, he told me.  I asked if he had been recruited by the Toledo Rockets and their head coach, Frank Lauterbur?  Dave said he did not talk to Coach Lauterbur.  But someone connected to the program did talk to him about being a Toledo Rocket.  The guy told Dave he better sign with the Rockets because his prospects weren’t too good elsewhere.  Ironically, I did meet Coach Lauterbur.  In 1990 Coach Lauterbur was an NFL scout and the coach and I piled into my 1966 Mustang along with a bag of balls and found the practice field at Louisville Manual high school.  Coach Lauterbur, with a stopwatch in hand, watched me punt about 20 balls until he had seen enough.  He complimented me and told me what I needed to improve on.  Then we went back to his hotel room and he told story after story and I was grateful.

One man’s resolve can go a long way.  Between his parents laughing at him when he mentioned The Rose Bowl as a possibility for him at Indiana and having a Toledo Rocket booster (I had to) tell him he wasn’t good enough for the big time, there was something to prove.  Dave Kornowa proved it all.  That is him in that picture kicking in the Rose Bowl when it mattered.

In 1967 there was a three way tie for first place in the Big Ten.  Indiana, Minnesota, and Purdue were all 6-1 in conference play.

The Hoosiers lost one game in the regular season.  It was a 33-7 lopsided defeat to the Minnesota Golden Gophers.  With that being the only defeat, the last game of the season had everything on the line as the Purdue Boilermakers came to Bloomington for all the marbles.  It was a close one.  Purdue had handled the conference all season, including a 42-17 win over Minnesota and a 41-6 victory over Ohio State, not to mention a 28-21 win over the then # 1 ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the second game of the season.

The Hoosiers beat Purdue 19-14.  “I missed the second extra point just a shade to the left and then we went for two after the third touchdown and we didn’t get,” Dave told me.  He also said there was a tense moment when Purdue running back Leroy Keyes got behind Dave on a pass pattern.  “Keyes beat me deep and he had a touchdown.  But he had bruised ribs early in the game and he could barely raise his arms.  I thought I was going to have a heart attack when I saw that pass heading toward him.  He dropped it and I patted him on the butt on his way back to the huddle.”

So a choice had to be made by The Big Ten.  Which team do we send to Pasadena.  Dave Kornowa told me he didn’t expect they would get the call after their defeat to Minnesota being so lopsided.  But, Purdue did beat the number one team in the land earlier in the year and Purdue had their way with the rest of The Big Ten.  Indiana earned it by beating the best on the biggest stage the conference had that year.  They were both top ten teams going in.  The Hoosiers won and they deserved that call.

“We were in a daze, surprised that we were picked to go being in a three-way tie with Minnesota and Purdue.  We did our best which ended up being enough,” Dave said.  There was still some relief in his voice this many years on.  At least that is what I heard.

Dave Kornowa said walking into the Rose Bowl Stadium was a thrill and the best part of the trip was going to Disneyland.  And then he had to bring up knocking O.J. Simpson out of the game.  Why not?  “Two guys had him held up and I had a fifteen yard run on him. I hit him with my helmet.  Would have been a penalty today.  I would have been thrown out of every game.”

At 5’11 and 185 pounds, Dave Kornowa was not a speed burner.  He modestly told me ran a 5.2  forty yard dash.  But as we spoke I heard a scrappy player.  One who gave it his all with a determination that was a constant work in progress.  From being ridiculed for wanting to be a Hoosier to having a Toledo man tell him he wasn’t good enough to working to keep up with the Big Ten talent.  He did it.  When he told me of his athletic hard-hitting nature, I told him it sounded to me like he was spring-loaded when he hit guys on the other team.  He handled it all and came out a Big Ten Champion who played in The Rose Bowl.

Dave was complimentary of his teammates.  Too many to mention cos I would certainly leave some out.

As for Coach John Pont?  “He was a fiery little guy.  He was a good coach.  He gave a good pregame speech that would fire you up and you were ready to play.”

They did.  They played in The Rose Bowl.

The Block I on the helmet and that square-toed kicking shoe.  Be still my beating heart.  To know that I had to chance to trod that same turf is an honor now more than ever, thank you, Dave.

And yes, we had to talk about today’s Hoosiers as they embark on the biggest game of the season against Ohio State Saturday.  What did Dave say? “Ohio State puts on their pants one leg at a time just like Indiana does.  The problem is Ohio State’s pants have been a couple sizes bigger.”

I know what Dave means.  I was in Bloomington the last time the Hoosiers beat the Buckeyes in 1988.  They beat them in Columbus the year before.

It’s time.  I do BELIEVE it is time.

Speaking The Rose Bowl kicking rights…

Danny Johnson

The photos of the day:

Seems quite appropriate given I am listening to Roger Waters’ US + THEM live CD that just came out recently.  I actually bought a physical copy to remind me of days gone by.

This photo off the home office porch.  Taken this evening, it has a great deal going on doesn’t it?

It was cold last year in Bloomington for the Michigan game.  I attended with old chum Adam Disque.  That we have know each other as long as we have is not right.  It doesn’t seem like that long.  Adam to me is what John Lodge of The Moody Blues referred to as an old mate.  You meet up however long after the last time and take up straight away where you left off.  If you have a mate or two in your life, you are fortunate.  Me, I have more old mates than I deserve.

It was a cold night last November 23rd.  The weather will be much better in Bloomington and the Hoosiers will beat Michigan for the first time since 1987 when they beat Michigan 14-10 in the rain at Memorial Stadium.  A blocked punt helped out that day.

Last week’s picks were better 9 winners and 3 losers.  Much better.  Let’s see what I can screw up this week!

Indiana beats Michigan…It is time and I BELIEVE!

USC beats Arizona State…They kick it off at 9 AM local time.  PAC 12 is back.

Iowa beats Michigan State…Go Hawkeyes!

Boston College beats Syracuse…BC has a good team.

Georgia beats Florida…In 2020 this game loses its party but at least we are playing.

Penn State beats Maryland…The Nittany Lions will be looking to rebound with many points.

Minnesota beats Illinois…Goldy is collecting nuts and will crack some Illini.

Mississippi State beats Vandy…Will this passing attack of Coach Leach come to life in Music City?  I think it will.

Texas A & M beats South Carolina…A &M needs this one.

Pitt beats Florida State…I know.  I never learn.

North Carolina beats Duke…Sometimes I learn.  Love Duke.  UNC scores and scores.

Notre Dame beats Clemson…Walk right in, Alabama.  Send ND a Christmas card.

Have a peaceful weekend, y’all.  Lord knows the nation needs it!

Speaking the rights…

Danny Johnson

Week 7 of the College Football season?  No way.  Yes, I suppose so.  Everything is moving around with an awkward sensibility in this Covid age.  I hate it.  How crazy is it?  Next weekend the PAC 12 kicks off their season with USC hosting Arizona at 9 AM local time.  I don’t think I have ever seen a noon kickoff in the Eastern time zone for a game in LA.  Awkward indeed.

The past 10 days I participated in a facebook challege.  Jon Robison, an old friend from Brownstown, challenged me to post pictures of mu favorite 10 athletes of all time.

I posted the following:

Day 1

Jim Brown, Brownstown Central HS  1975  Jim was a workhorse at each and every athletic endeavor he put his mind to.  His piercing look of determination.  His determination defined him for me.  Had others had his “look” Lord only knows what they could have done.  They ain’t on this page.  Jim is.

Day 2

My favorite Red.  Saw him plant on in the Red seats one night along with George Jackson, Tim Thompson, Gregg Greathouse, and a few others.  Jon Reinbold was there, I think.  We went to see the Bengals practice at Wilmington and stopped at Riverfront on the way home.  It was a simpler time.

Day 3

Sweetness.  When watching NFL footage, no one makes me more wistful or gets my attention faster than this guy from Jackson State.

Day 4

My kicking hero.  Mark Moseley.  No need to say more.  Just look at the shoe.

Day 5

Ronald Reagan. Hero.  Hard to imagine some folks blocking or tackling their shadow.

Day 6

\

Not me.  The guy on the left.  Anthony Thompson.  Can’t imagine how much he was grinning Saturday as the Indiana Hoosiers got a W over a Top Ten team for the first time since he was toting the mail.  Two 1986 High School grads in this picture.  I remember seeing his and Jeff George’s names in the state stats back in the day.  Thank you, AT.  You were the best.

Day 7

Ken Anderson.  My favorite football player of all time.  I never followed a player closer than I did Ken Anderson.  He is a Hall of Famer in my book and in many books I respect.  Ahead of his time. The rest never caught up.  That was his problem…and theirs.

Day 8

This guy made football in Indiana.  He defined the sport in Indiana.  He made high school football more popular because he was popular.  Folks wanted to see the game Peyton plays.  He meant and still means that much.  Thank you, Peyton.

Day 9

I was fortunate enough to see Eli Manning in Oxford in 1999 as a red shirt freshman, in 2000 entering the game against Vandy and playing in the Music City Bowl later that year, playing at Kentucky in 2001, and playing against Vandy in Nashville and South Carolina in Oxford his senior year in 2003.  I was with Aunt Barbara and son Jarrett at Oxford in 1999.  Aunt Barbara came up to the Kentucky game in 2001, and she and I went to 2003 game in Oxford.  We knew what we were doing.  Eli was as cool as the other side of the pillow. I miss watching him play.  The NFL is not much fun this year for me.  I will say it again.  College ball, I root for the team.  Pro ball, I root for the player.  Eli was my favorite player.  I hope another favorite player comes along.

Day 10

Mike Eruzione.  USA Olympic Hockey Gold Medal Winner.  I could have put ten members of that team on this list and been satisfied.  That was the greatest team in sports history.  All the Super Bowls, World Series, College Games, nothing compares to USA!  USA! USA! in Lake Placid in 1980.  I am glad I was alive and proud to say I stood, just Carrie and me,  in the arena where they won it a few summers ago.  That 4-3 win over the USSR was the greatest moment in American sports.

On to this week’s College Football Picks!  I was 8-4 last week.  Let’s see how we can do this week.

Clemson beats Boston College…Softball pick.  I need to pad my stats too!

Georgia beats Kentucky…UGA disappointed me against BAMA.  Look out Wildcats.  But know I hope UK wins!

Michigan State beats Michigan…Not padding stats here.  There will be a nutty one and this will be it.

Purdue beats Illinois…Hope Coach Jeff  Brohm is gaining ground!

Wake Forest beats Syracuse…I have made fun of Wake for the last time this season.

Indiana beats Rutgers…Look for the Hoosiers O to be unstoppable.  They still have something to prove.  I BELIEVE in this team.

Ole Miss beats Vandy…Wish I was in Nashville this weekend.  Hotty Toddy!

Louisville beats Virginia Tech…The Cards found the secret sauce and the bottle is still full!

Duke beats Charlotte…Charlotte’s Web?  Might as well be.  Don’t let me down, Dukies!

Alabama beats Mississippi State…Hard to believe I am for the Tide here, but I am.

North Carolina beats UVA…This should be a tussle. Looking forward to this one.

Penn State beats Ohio State…In Happy Valley?  After the IU upset?  Looks like a recipe for some good ice cream at the Penn State Creamery.  Been there.  Quite the place.

Marshall’s game at FIU on Friday was postponed this week.  Doubtful it will be made up.

It has been that kind of a season.  But still a good season to speak the rights!

Lastly, a note of good luck to the Paoli Rams taking on Triton Central in the second round of the sectional this Friday!  Go Rams!

Danny Johnson

It was a simpler time.

I was a junior in high school when I best got to know Mr. Harvey Trowbridge.  He was one of the most informed, intelligent guys I ever met.  His soft demeanor and kind word was a comfort to those who knew him.  It was a particularly good thing for students in his classes that were rather intimidating, given the subject matter.

He demanded work.  But he was never unreasonable about it.

I’m ahead of myself.  When I write about this kind of subject matter, I have a difficult time reigning myself in.

Let’s start here.  I learned this past week that Mr. T died.  I heard he had a heart attack.  My heart ached when I heard this news.  The last time I saw him was at the pharmacy in New Salisbury pre-mask this year.  We greeted each other with reminiscent vigor.

When my Dad was coaching football at North Harrison, Mr. Trowbridge filmed the games.  It was 8 mm or 16 mm film.  All I know was Mr. T would film the games and Ron Synder, one of the coaches, would take what Mr. T filmed that Friday night and take it to someone in Louisville to process it.  My Dad and I would pick it up on Sunday afternoon on Virginia Avenue in Louisville.  That is what I remember.  I wish I still had some of those reels.  We didn’t think like that back then.  Pictures were few.  Video was not yet.  I can still very vividly, though 38 years ago, remember some of the film of football games Mr. Trowbridge produced.  I’m sure whatever he was being paid to do the filming barely covered his gas to get to an away game.  He was glad to do it, as he was the one who could better than anyone else.

In 1984 I was in Mr. T’s first period Computer Programming class.  In that classroom was a bunch of unwieldy large Radio Shack computers that took floppy disks the size of a medium pizza box and the computers made grunting sounds we had never knew existed before then, and those sounds are around no longer.  The room looked like a training ground for NASA scientists compared to what we type words on today.

It was a simpler time.

Mr. T was a whiz with those things compared to the rest of us.  Where he got that kind of training I don’t know.  It was quite specialized then and North Harrison was very fortunate to have him around.  He worked at North for a long time and retired from there.

Mr. T and I had a few moments of disagreement for sure.  But we always got over it and found a better common ground.

As I said, he filmed our games.  By 1984 we had graduated to video.  Of course Mr. Trowbridge was there with tripod in hand ready to record our games with no trip to Louisville to process film needed.

We were playing Mitchell and I kicked an extra point that solidly hit the cross bar and seemingly was return fire toward the line of scrimmage and about 18 players from both teams hit the ground trying to be spared from this scorching pigskin that was making a return trip West toward me.  Needless to say, there was never so much laughter before or since in the stands at a North Harrison High School football game.

This, from the yearbook, shows a ball on a mighty low trajectory and this might of been the one.

We beat Mitchell 33-0.  I missed two extra points.

Now, when I walked into Mr. T’s classroom on Monday morning he was ready.

“Well, if it isn’t the old cross bar kid!” he exclaimed, with a large grin on his face.

I failed to grasp as much humor as he did.  I walked up to his desk and said something I won’t repeat here.  It was not very nice.  I thought he was going to choke on his tie.  He didn’t.  Nor did he send me to the office.  He could have.  But, we had an understanding.  That is what I so liked about Mr. T.  He could dish it out.  He could also take it.  And he knew me well enough to know when I was being serious and not.  Whatever mutual respect we had for each other before that day, well, it grew as great deal.

I suppose that is why a few months later that year, in December, it was my turn.

The night before I had gone coon huntin’, remember that “coon huntin'”, with Mick Rutherford and Marc Gayheart.  It was December.  Gets dark early.  Figured we’d be back home before 10 PM.  Marc had a new dog, Dan.  He was eager to see if Dan would tree.  Dan’s treeing ability did not show itself that night.  His ability to run off to the point where we had “lost” him did show.  Long story short.  My head hit the pillow about 3 AM and I was going to walk into Mr. Trowbridge’s room in a few short hours.

I walked in, I sat right in front of him on the first row, and plopped down in my desk chair.  Wearing my traditional blue flannel shirt, this time a button was uneven and I looked a tired part.

“My, don’t we look rather disheveled this morning,” he said.

“Yeah, me and Mick and Marc went coon huntin’ last night.  We lost a dog and it was early this morning before I got to sleep.”

I can still hear it….

“Your parents allowed you to go coon hunTING on a school night!?”

I looked at him and said not exactly.  “We didn’t go coon hunTING, Mr. Trowbridge.  No one we know goes coon hunTING.  We don’t plan on going coon hunTING.  I said….we went coon huntin’ last night.”

He just looked at me and laughed and said, “Danny, as early as it is, that was a good one.”

I smiled and told him thank you.

It was a simpler time.  Want proof?

Another yearbook picture. One might go to jail for this now on school property.  So much for SKOAL Bandits.

Thank you for being you, Mr. T.  You were one of the good guys.  I won’t forget you.  How could I?

Speaking the rights…

Danny Johnson

Look, if I have found out anything this fall so far it is that I can’t pick ballgames correctly I can walk and take decent pictures.

Makes me want to pick SMU.

These three were very cooperative.

Go RAMS!  Worst pic on the post, but someone asked if I was really taking these.

What I would have given if this was an Eagle and not a buzzard.  Not offense, Great Brittan, AKA Uwe, old dear and kind friend.  Do you remember me calling you Buzzard?

I never planned on knowing this trail so well.  It has become an old friend during these crazy times.

I was 3 winners and 7 losers last week.  Yes, it has to get better.  Since the Big Ten is coming on this weekend, I am going to pick 12 games.  When the PAC 12 gets here, it will be back to the old fashioned baker’s dozen.  SO what gives for this week?  You think I know?  Let’s give it a try.

Auburn beats Ole Miss…If I do this, Ole Miss may win.  Worth a shot.

Louisville beats Florida State…Held Notre Dame to 12 points last week did the Cards.

Ohio State beats Nebraska…And so it goes.  My disdain for the Buckeyes knows no end.

North Carolina beats NC State…The Heels cut one last game.  Need this one.

Michigan State beats Rutgers….I know I know.  But I need to pick a few winners, right?

Clemson beats Syracuse…Same as the last game.

Marshall beats Florida Atlantic…In Huntington?  Herd is not going to lose this one.

Liberty beats Southern Miss…After the game, Hugh Freeze looks for property in Hattiesburg.

Alabama beats Tennessee…Think the UK game was bead Rocky Top?

Iowa beats Purdue…No team is looking more forward to the field than the Hawkeyes.

Penn State beats Indiana...The Hoosiers are better.  The will still find a way to lose this one.  Hope I am BAD wrong.

Kentucky beats Mizzou…Go Cats.  Wildcats, that is.

Have a good weekend, and if you haven’t yet, get out and vote!  Need to get this settled as soon as possible!

Regardless, we can keep speaking the rights.

Danny Johnson