I can hear the great Ronald Reagan.  I hear him.  Can you hear him?

“Well…here we go again…”

Where are you now Ronald Reagan?

Our current president, you know the one, is at it again.  But then, when hasn’t he been at it…dividing the country that is.  Had the old boy spent time trying to pull folks together, you know, trying to galvanize some help for Puerto Rico, instead of calling out the NFL at one of his self-serving pep rallies, there would have never been so many NFL players hit their knees during the playing of the National Anthem this past weekend.  We have the president to thank for this National Rhubarb of knees hitting the ground.

The National Anthem before the game is a time honored tradition.  I always get peeved when folks are milling around, trying to get to their seats, or heading for the concession stand during the playing or singing of this song.  I myself have sung this song before high school basketball games…once at the big arena in Indianapolis.  Talk about honored. Remember too that my dear wife, Carrie, and I had a son hanging out the door of Blackhawk helicopter with a very large machine gun between his legs as he once flew over the skies of Iraq and Afghanistan.  I can’t overstate how much this song means to me.

Do I hate the fact that these NFL players are taking a knee while the National Anthem is being played?  Yes I do.  But guess what.  I hate the fact that a guy that occupies the office of the presidency of this country is bringing this kind of disparagement of the flag to the field.  Translation:  If the president doesn’t open his careless mouth and allow stupidity and divisive rhetoric to pour out we don’t have such a problem.

Guess what.  As of now it is still a free country.  I hate it when someone is walking to their seat during the playing of the National Anthem.  Just like I hate it when a country freely elects a president set on dividing the country even more than it already was.

Don’t let the fact that once upon a time the NFL owners kept Donald Trump the business man out of the league after he imploded the USFL as he was trying to get his foot inside the NFL door.  It didn’t happen. They wouldn’t have him.  This sour grapevine is still there for the old boy, I have no doubt.

I have said before and I will say it again, I miss the Republican Party I once depended on and related to.  One day we will get her back.  And when we do, we’ll talk about helping folks out  and working on doing the right things.  And the memory of this president will be a marker to steer clear of.

Speaking the rights…

Danny Johnson

Thank you to all out there that have asked about, prayed for, sent cards, texted me, sent messages or called my Dad while he has gone through his hip replacement surgery.  In the dictionary under “hard head” you may find a picture of him.  If the dictionary is true, you will.  But I am delighted that he is making progress and I know one day he will be out on the golf course again blaming his new hip for a missed putt or a short chip.  But at least he will be there having a good time.  I thank you all.

Last night the North Harrison Cougars overcame a sluggish start and finally got in gear to cruise past the Eastern Musketeers by a score of 40-14.  The Cougars are now 6-0 and will play a homecoming match-up against the Silver Creek Dragons who are also 6-0.  This will be a first.  Two 6-0 teams meeting in Ramsey. I must be dreaming.

On Friday night the hill will be packed.  The corn will be shelled and I, for one, look forward to a great game.  I am very greedy.  When it comes to the Cougars I want to see more wins and more wins and I would also like to see a field goal soar through the uprights that travels longer than 38 yards.  I know that ultimately the game situation will have to dictate whether this happens or not for the good of the cause. I also know I had a good view of the one that went over the goalpost from that distance.  I want one to go farther!  I want someone else in a Cougar jersey to know what that feels like.  Don’t get me wrong.  The kick that beat the Braves last week will always be “the kick” to me.  How does it get better?  Do it again in the sectional?  Perhaps.  Let’s just not get ahead of ourselves.  One game at a time and all that good coach speak.

Three walnuts just fell from the tree behind me in the backyard.  It is a sign that I need to move on to my college football picks.  This morning is the only chance to breathe easy out of doors today so I am out here with my coffee and my picks before the heat and insensitive air take control out here.

Oh, a shout out to my friends in Brownstown.  I know that beating Seymour last night just got their season rebooted after losing to the Cougars last week.  Jackson County is an interesting place.  They call the game there The Jackson Bowl.  No offense to the one who came up with that nomenclature…but it is not very good name for a football game.  The Watermelon Bowl makes much more sense in the realm of historic context games that are associated with fruit.  That and the fact that greater watermelons you will not find outside Jackson County… plus T-shirts they print for the game every year could take on a much better theme. The Jackson Bowl?  Phooey.  Give me Watermelon or give me….a candy bar!

On the the picks….

Last week I was 8-4.  For the season, 27 winners and 9 losers so far.  It could get worse.  It has before.  I am not going to touch Iowa and Penn State tonight.  There is not a game I look forward to more this weekend.  I can’t pick against the Hawkeyes.  I don’t have it in me.  I am leading with my heart on at least one other pick and that will be that.

Louisville beats Kent State….Lou Holtz couldn’t help the Golden Flashes.  U of L still washing the multiple stains out of their pants from last week’s Clemson debacle.

Florida State beats NC State…The Seminoles are ready to play again.  Well rested and ready to score.

Alabama beats Vandy...Of course they do.  Vandy is improved.  Translation:  30 point loss instead of 40 point loss.  The Tide Rolls on.

Duke beats North Carolina…No this is not my sentimental pick.  I really do believe Duke will win.  Have you seen them this year?  They play good defense.

Indiana beats Georgia Southern…They will beat them…but it may not be by much.  Emotion high for both teams coming in to this one.

USC beats Cal...The USC-Texas game last week was a September classic.  Might be mid-November before we see a game that good again this season.

Clemson beats Boston College…Not exactly Puddin’ State, but BC is no match for the speed Clemson possesses on both sides of the ball.

Georgia beats Miss. State…I pass my heart to old Silverbritches.  UGA needs to come through for the betterment of college football.

Florida beats Kentucky…Chris Doering won’t be suiting up for the Gators but his memory will.  24 years ago he caught a TD pass with 2 seconds left to secure the Top Ten Gators from being embarrassed even more in Lexington.  24-20 the Gators won.  The Gators have won 30 straight over UK.  Make it 31.  My apologies to Mikey Mike Raymond.

UCLA beats Stanford…Josh Rosen bounces back in their own time zone.

Auburn beats Mizzou…Tigers v. Tigers

Purdue beats Michigan…That is my upset and I am sticking to it.  Michigan has not been that impressive.  Purdue has.  Purdue looks like a workhorse and Michigan looks like a show pony that has to be awakened to perform.  The workhorse is going to come up with a crucial special teams play or a turnover or two to make the difference.  I have been wrong before.

Have great weekend everyone!

Speaking the rights…

Danny Johnson

Not long ago I was in a high school classroom having speaks with students about the ins and outs, merits and realities of something called the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test commonly referred to as the PSAT.

At one point early in my presentation, a young lad in the back of the room threw his hand up.  He did not have a question about the PSAT.  He asked if I used to be a kicker for the high school team where I am now presently employed.

The young man had a smile on his face.  He knew the answer.  He was being kind.  My answer?  I told him that ancient history was taught on the second floor of the school building in the social studies department.  He knew what I meant.  He also knew I was there to talk scholastic testing and not football acumen.  There is a time and place for both.

Last Friday at Brownstown Central High School, the North Harrison Cougars defeated the Brownstown Central Braves 17-14 in a classic of a high school football game.  North had a 14-0 halftime lead.  My friends on Braves Radio were perplexed and wondered when the last time the high octane offense of the BCHS team had spent a first half with a zero on the scoreboard.

There was an interesting symmetry to the scoring made by the Cougars.  The opening kickoff was taken by in by Jake Harley and he did not get touched as he ran up the middle of a perfectly blocked kickoff return effort where all eleven guys did their job.  First play of the first half…touchdown Cougars.  Last play of the the first half…a touchdown pass from Avery Blocker to Skyler Wetzel for the Cougars.  Well, BC had one second left to do very little with.

BCHS came out with a little more determination and fire in the second half.  They still had no idea they could be beaten at home, even when they were down 14 to zip at halftime.  That is one of the qualities of their football program.  They possess an arrogance and a confidence that knows no equal.  That is why I saw so many dumbfounded looks and a few tears among BC players and parents and other supporters after it was over.  They couldn’t get beat by North Harrison at home.  That doesn’t happen. The last time that had happened when the Cougars came calling to Blevins Stadium President Bush was in the White House.  The Dad, not the son.  It was 1992.

The Braves tied it up 14-14.  With 9:43 left in the 4th quarter, NHHS went on a drive that would make John Elway proud.  22 plays later, including three third down conversions and two fourth down conversions, Ben Waynescott connected on a 24 yard field goal to win the game on the last play of the contest.  North won 17-14 in what I will confidently call the greatest victory ever for the football program.

Watching that ball fly over the goalpost that I had kicked balls over in years past was very special to me.  But here is…the rest of the story.

Over that same goalpost placed in the South endzone of the field a different kick has haunted me like no other.  I think about it each time I walk on that field.  I rarely talk about it.  I don’t think I have ever written about it here.

In 1980 North Harrison visited Blevins Memorial Stadium on a cool night in mid-October.  Having grown up a Brownstown Central Brave as a kid, I was making my first appearance at Blevins Stadium in blue.  That game was a classic too.  A defensive struggle beyond imagination went on that night.  When the 4th quarter had ended, the score was 6-6.  To make a painful long story short, Randy Forgey kicked a field goal over that same goalpost in overtime that sent the fans in red and black into a frenzy.  BCHS 9  NHHS 6. Dressed in blue, I was crushed.  I still remember being hunched over with my hands on my bent knees  at the twenty yard line looking like a Lou Holtz wanna be as that ball was snapped to the holder that 1980 night.  When the kick went up, I knew it was good.  I hit the ground.

Last Friday I kept my feet as Ben’s kick was true.  But I do have a confession to make.  I looked at the recording of the game and saw where I was standing all alone in turn two of the track as the kick was being made.  I couldn’t believe it.  I thought I was on the twenty yard line when Ben kicked it.  I wasn’t.  For a split moment I think I found the time travel that Richard Collier was seeking in “Somewhere in Time”.  I don’t know if I was on the twenty or turn two…37 years and two kicks can do some strange things.  I do know it was Ben’s kick and not Randy’s that I will now remember as being “the kick” on that field for me.  And…it was Good!

My Dad was not able to make it to the game on Friday night.  He is having hip replacement surgery at the moment I type these very words.  Wifi never meant more.  Thanks goes to my Braves Radio hero and dear old friend, Harv Brown, for giving Dad a couple shout-outs and well wishes during the game Friday night.  Mom liked hearing her name too.

The Brownstown game is over.  Time to move on.

Speaking the field goal rights…

Danny Johnson

Week three of the College Football season is upon us and I am ready to either stop picking college games or test fate another week and see what happens.  Last week the speaktherights.com picks featured 11 winners and one loser.  19-5 after two weeks.  I’ll take it.

A few out there will think I am pushing the envelope a little to close to the edge this week.  Why not?  Better to pick an upset or a close one than declare something like Auburn over Coastal Carolina.

Know that I am disappointed that the Hoosiers are not playing FIU this week.  My desire to sit in Memorial Stadium with my dear wife, Carrie, is nothing of significance compared to the disaster that we see a thimble full of when we look at the Hurricane Irma tragedy.  Our prayers are most certainly for the folks in trouble and those helping the troubled.  Amen.

Here goes:

UCLA beats Memphis…The Bruins make a rare stop at Beale Street.  Josh Rosen carves up the Tiger D.

Ole Miss beats Cal…This is as close as the Rebs will go bowling before and after the Egg Bowl.  This is a big one for Oxford.

UK beats South Carolina…Call me crazy.  I could be 0-3 after this one.  I just think that toe stubbing against EKU will help bring the Cats together.  I have been wrong before.

Duke beats Baylor…Do I hear 0-4?  Maybe.  Maybe not.  The Dukies have been impressive so far.  Their defense is better.  They will always have a QB with Coach Cut in town.

Minnesota beats Middle Tennesse….Goldy needs this one.

Purdue beats Mizzou…This should be a Big Ten match-up.  No one asked me when realignment season was in full flower.  Someone should have.

Marshall beats Kent State…Back home after a worthy showing in Raleigh, the Herd will be on.

USC beats Texas…Beware the Fighting Darnolds.  Dream QB season in SoCal with Sam and Josh.

LSU beats Mississippi State…All together now…say something bad about State!

Notre Dame beats Boston College…And I said I wasn’t going to pick up any cupcake games.

Florida beats Tennessee…I could lose this one too.  With the Great Pumpkin season coming on you just never know.

Louisville beats Clemson….You know that play to your competition adage…you can do that and win with Lamar Jackson every time.  You can…but you might not.

Look, I am no great fan of U of L.  I am delighted the place was there while I was furthering my education there.  It has helped a great deal.  But, I just think the Cards could do something special this season.

Speaking of something special…

Tomorrow night the North Harrison Cougars head North to take on the Brownstown Central Braves in a new incarnation of Blevins Memorial Stadium that will be rededicated at 6:40 before kickoff tomorrow night.  It is also Senior Night I am told.  Not sure what that means.  If so, and it may not be so, I am really not all that sure, but if so, that is some fine flattery for the North Harrison Cougars to behold.  You know how teams want to schedule a foe they are certain they can beat for homecoming so everyone can just sit back and have a good time?  This is the photo negative of that ideology.  This is the pile it on attitude to make the players play a little harder against a most formidable foe in the North Harrison Cougars.

Nary a Brave player wants to lose on the night they rededicate the Stadium.  I know what I am talking about. James T. Blevins was a friend of my Dad’s.  My Dad was the head football coach at Brownstown Central when the first game was played at the stadium named for Mr. Blevins.  I wrote about a great deal of this on the visit I made last May when they were about to tear the old place down.

Nary a Cougar wants to give the Braves the satisfaction of winning for any reason, stadium or no stadium.

The series between these two is one-sided.  Easy for me to say without much pain, given the two years I was in high school when we visited Blevins Stadium, 1982 and 1984, we rode home on a happy bus.

The Braves and the Cougars have played 37 times.  The game in 2006, one I was set to announce on radio and still believe North was going to win, was cancelled due a storm that made the field a quagmire before it had a chance to start.  In 2008 Hurricane Ike blew the west goalpost sideways on North Harrison’s field.  Nature won that battle too.  No game at Brownstown that year.

In the 37 times these two have played BCHS has won 30 and NHHS has won 7.  Five of those seven Cougar wins have been at Brownstown, strangely enough.  Personally, I find it quite fitting.  I was there the first time they played in 1978.  I was wearing Brownstown Central red.

This year both teams are undefeated at 4-0 going into the long awaited match-up.

Tomorrow night I will be with the Blue team all the way.  As in all the way home happily back down Indiana 135.  Go Cougars!  Go shell the corn.

Speaking the rights…

Danny Johnson

Last week, thanks to Josh Rosen’s arm and toughness, I finished 8-4 instead of 7-5.  There is a difference and it was a good way to start the season.

I don’t know why I am here writing this right now.  I suppose it is just what I do.  At this moment I am so removed from what I am sitting here doing that it feels like an out of body experience.  I don’t like it.

For this week’s picks I will be brief and without game commentary:

Purdue beats Ohio

Indiana beats Virginia

UK beats EKU

Louisville beats North Carolina

Ole Miss beats UT Martin

Iowa beats Iowa State

Penn State beats Pitt

Georgia beats Notre Dame

Auburn beats Clemson

USC beats Stanford

Oklahoma beats Ohio State

Minnesota beats Oregon State

Enough football.

I got a call Tuesday morning from my dear friend Kelly in Seymour.  He found a way to tell me that the youngest of his four children, Nathaniel, had died.  Tino, we called him, was 21.  Kelly had seen and talked to him before going to bed at 10 PM Monday night.

I say it again, Nathaniel was the youngest of four children.  An older brother and two older twin sisters are hurting right now, as are his parents and so many more of us.

In an email today to my own siblings I lamented this has taught me that I still have a great deal to learn.  Over the years I have seen so many friends come and go.  I have been subjected to more death than most, I suppose.  It is never easy.  This time, though, it is much different.  He was one of our kids.

I just finished sitting here with my arms folded looking intently at this page wondering what to type next.

I’m sure I’ll get to it eventually.

First things first.  Last night the North Harrison Cougars defeated the Corydon Central Panthers in the 40th Big Cat Classic.  In addition to the rain and wind, which this series has seen before, there was an awkward sense in the wind and rain last night.  The Harrison County rivals were playing in Floyd County.  The final score was NH 28 CC 0.  For the second season in a row the Cougars held the Panthers scoreless.  It was NH’s 7th shutout in the the series that now stands, during the regular season, 23 wins for NH 17 for CC.  The Cougars are also 3 wins and 0 defeats against the Panthers in Sectional play over the years.  But who’s counting?  I am!  It was a great game last night, given the conditions.

The 2017 North Harrison Cougars have given up just 14 points in three games.  The school record for fewest points given up in a season is 104…10.4 per game…in 1980. The 1982 team gave up 10.9 points per game.  I hope that number goes down this year.  But…a W is a W and you take them how you can get them.  I’m greedy for these Cougars.  I can’t help it.  The Cougars are 20-4 in their last 24 games.  Great job by Coach Williamson and his staff and players not afraid to put forth the effort to get there.

On the College Football…

It feels like late October on the back porch this first Saturday morning in September.  Damp and cool, temps in the 50s here.  College Football is heating up.  The season begins in earnest and today is the day to speak the rights about it!

Let’s get it over with…drum roll…

Alabama beats Florida State…Until the crown is knocked off the noggin, can’t call against the Tide…not yet.  Brother Tim will be a happy man tonight.

Marshall beats Miami (OH)…Won’t be at The Joan tonight…I’ll be somewhere else “Nine Tonight”…some of you will get that…The Herd needs a W at home.  If they don’t win tonight a long season could be had again.  This is a program on the edge.

UCLA beats Texas A&M…Bruin qb Rosen made headlines with his mouth in summer…now his arm does.

Middle Tenn. beats Vandy…Hats off to teams like Boston College and Vandy and UK for going to the home of little brothers for a game.  Vandy on the road will not win this one.

Ole Miss beats South Alabama…How bad is it in Oxford?  We’ll see.  It doesn’t look good.  For four hours tonight all is forgotten and Joey Jones’ bunch see why.  Coach Luke, go get’em.

USC beats Western Michigan…The Trojans may be the team this year.  Nice trip for the MAC boys.

Kentucky beats Southern Miss…Won’t blow a 25 point lead this year against USM this year.  Hattiesburg is a tough place to visit.  UK wins.

Louisville beats Purdue…I don’t believe in statement games.  Every game matters.  But I do think Lamar Jackson can ring the bell at the fair tonight and start a new buzz for him and the Cards.

Texas beats Maryland…Coach Herman has his shot.  Austin is full of experts.  Good luck with that.

North Carolina beats Cal….Long trip for Cal.  Enjoy the pines around Keenan Stadium, it will be a nicer site than the scoreboard which will favor UNC and their basketball wearing uniforms.

NC State beats South Carolina...Playing in Charlotte.  Hope no one steals anything at The Belk Store.

Iowa beats Wyoming...I know I picked Wyoming to win the Mountain West.  They might start today with a good game.  I just think the Hawkeyes have too much home fire.  I want to go to Kinnick Stadium one day.  See just how big that water tower really is.

Feels odd to make these predictions when I won’t be watching college football in a stadium or looking at it on TV tonight while Bama beats the Seminoles.  Few things could get me away from that.  The right music is one of them.  My dear wife, Carrie, and I are going to see Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band tonight in Noblesville.  I won’t call it the venue by it’s given name I am too stubborn.  The place will always be Deer Creek to me.  That is where I saw my first Moody Blues with an orchestra show.

The chance to dance with Carrie and sing along to “Old Time Rock and Roll” is not to be wasted if opportunity and good fortune allows one to do such.

Have a good and safe Labor Day Weekend everyone…and if you get the chance…

Speak the Rights.

Danny Johnson

One Friday I witnessed a couple of significant milestones.

The first one occurred on the 4th hole at Hickory Hills Golf Course in Brownstown, Indiana.  For the first time in two years, we surmised, I played golf there with my old friend Darrell Persinger.  When I worked at Medora we played there together much more often.  Darrell lives in Medora and is a school board member at Medora Schools.

If you have ever played golf at Hickory Hills you know that if you survive the first four holes, you can breathe easier and remember why you love to come out to the course and play golf again.  The first hole is a par 4…a long one…and should be a Par 4 and a half.  The second hole is an uphill tee shot and a down the hill green.  It is a challenge.  I can report that I parred the hole once with a chip below the hole that gave me no sight of the pin.  Darrell wasn’t watching.  After I hit the ball we looked on around the hole six yards deep trying to find the ball.  I walked over to the cup.  I motioned to Darrell to come closer…but he knew.  We still talk about that shot.

The third hole is a par 5.  Hit it down into the valley and bring it back up the hill to a green that resembles the old Batman TV show, you know, when the picture was running downhill.

That brings us to number 4.  The tee box allows many placements as it is long and narrow.  For some reason on Friday the white tee markers where placed as far as they could be placed…140 yards.  You have to squint to see the green…it is tiny.  What stands out much more as you are squinting is the 50 yards of water in front of the wall that separates the water from the green.  You always reach for a water ball, one you don’t mind losing, if you don’t make it over.  Well, Friday, Darrell went first.  He hit a lovely towering shot that just made it over the wall into the sand trap that comes first beyond the wall on the safe side before you make it to the postage stamp of a green.  I congratulated him.  I then put my water ball on the tee and proceeded to strike.  I was true.  I made it over the water.  I too was in the sand, but I could not be more elated.  This hole has given me nightmares.  Nothing else about golf can claim that.

We went on to the rest of our nine hole round with ease.  I did not play badly considering I have not played since last May.  Don’t ask what my score was.  I do know I was between bogey and made a few 3 overs on a few holes.  We did not lose a ball.  We were winners.

After the golf match that ended at 7:12, I hurried over to Scottsburg to watch the North Harrison Cougars take on the Scottsburg Warriors in a Mid-Southern Conference football game.  Well…I did not know the Warriors, playing varsity ball for the first time since 1983, were now playing their home games at a newly minted field located at the Scottsburg Middle School.  I drove to the high school to find no one.  After a couple of stops to inquire, because I do not have a phone that is smarter than I am, I finally found the place with 3 minutes and 43 seconds left in the third quarter.  I did not feel to smart.  The Cougars made up for that.  47 to 7.  Cougars win.  Good times.  We play Corydon Central at home this upcoming Friday and I can’t wait.

Today, as my dear wife, Carrie, and I were socializing with folks following the service at the Corydon Presbyterian Church, I had to walk over to a place in the room that is important to me.  Many years ago there was a stage where I was standing this morning.  There was a stage and there were lights pointed in the direction of that stage.  I was standing on it playing and singing songs that I had written, a guy there this morning remembered.  It was at least 15 years ago I would say.  But I do still remember.  I remember looking out the door to the left of the stage as I was singing and saw a large red Jeep drive by.  For me it was what I needed to see.

I have been fortunate to record music and play with some very great and talented people. It wasn’t always that way.  In 1997, after my dear friend Malcolm “Corner King” Lincoln (he drove a big red Jeep) died, I was in a bad place.  Carrie suggested I take guitar lessons.  I was always walking around the house playing my air guitar.  Led by much Higher Power, I did that.  It has worked out.  I still think of the Corner King when I place a guitar strap over my head.  He died August 26, 1997.  I was looking for that Jeep this morning.

I wrote a song for the Corner King and recorded it, first in 2001 and then again in 2016.

Don’t Miss The Last Dance

There were so many things that I wanted to say

There were so many times we both had to go our separate ways

But one day the phone was ringing

I picked it up and you’d gone away

Did you ever leave a party without dancing the last dance?

Have you ever stared at the ceiling at night when you knew you had a chance at romance?

There’s a force of nature that science can’t explain and the Lord leaves us to wonder why some go and some remain.

But we’ve got our memories and believe it or not that they see us through

And we got our hopes and dreams where there is still a little piece of me and you

There’s a force of nature that science can’t explain and the Lord leaves us to wonder why some go and some remain.

Did you ever leave a party without dancing the last dance?  Well take the hand of someone you love tonight while you still have a chance…and don’t miss the last…don’t miss the last dance.

This is a photo of me and the Corner King that hangs in my office.  It was taken on February 10, 1996 the day I married my dear Carrie.  That we are looking off in the distance is fitting.  I know we will have speaks again some day.

On October 20, 2017 I will gather with my friends Mick Rutherford, Kelly Samons, and Gus Stephenson, and we will play the 18th annual Corner King Classic Golf Tournament.  We have  1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place trophies and we just pass them back and forth.  It is a day to laugh, a day to remember the Corner King, and a day to…

Speak the Rights…

Danny Johnson

It is August 24, 2017 in Southern Indiana, good people, and there is a cool breeze under this table I am typing on at 6:55 PM and it feels unreal.  The sky is clear and the humidity is nowhere to be found.  Can I get an Amen?  Amen!

I cherish these moments.  Look, my pipes don’t belong in Southern Indiana.  I know I have made mention of that before.  When my dear wife, Carrie, and I go to the Northeast in the summer, and to the North Carolina shore we frequent multiple times a year, I am a happy man to find a different climate.  Don’t talk to me about Colorado.  Want some clean, thin air?  Air found places in my lungs that I didn’t know existed in the two trips I have made to Denver.  So yes, I cherish this weather.  And I hope and pray the hurricane brewing in the Texas Gulf does not bring the rain totals I heard some chap quoting on the  TV-news a while ago. 30 inches?  I hope he misread his teleprompter.  I have read one.  It would not be hard to do.

The North Harrison Cougars head to Scottsburg tomorrow night.  Though I will not make kickoff, I do plan on getting there.  The last time the Cougars played the Warriors in Scottsburg was 1982.  I was there too.  NH has a solid team.  They are a well disciplined team.  The Lee Corso mantra of team discipline in the 1970s when he was coaching Indiana was to not beat yourself.  No penalties.  No turnovers.  Keep the field position.  NH is doing a good job of these things.  Before I get to the game tomorrow night, I hope I can roll in a few putts.

My dear wife, Carrie, is learning.  She just came in from grocery shopping and told me she had a present for me.  She held up a package of four steaks that had been marked down and needed to be sold.  I know what I will be doing on Saturday…grilling.  Amen again.

Pastor Duke.  My good friend Pastor Duke Lackey got reassigned from Faith Harbor United Methodist Church in Surf City, North Carolina  to the North Raleigh United Methodist Church in, well, Raleigh, North Carolina.  Pastor Duke and I went back and forth via email today.  When Carrie and I were at the service at Faith Harbor in March during Spring Break, we did not know it would be one of his last messages there.  I love the man.

Today I thought about him long and hard.  He is such a wonderful speaker and a great guy.  I sent him a message.  We have gone back and forth with each other for many years.  Carrie and I attend Faith Harbor every time we are in town.  We will be there in October.

Here is what Pastor Duke sent me today:

I sit here on the back porch this morning ready to celebrate some more.  I am still enjoying the fact that the North Harrison Cougars last night beat the Salem Lions for the fourth time in a row, a feat never accomplished before. I have my sturdy cup of coffee in a beat up mug that declares “New Hampshire Runs on Dunkin”.  I wish I could run to New Hampshire at this very moment.  I wish I could run to Wilmington, North Carolina.  For no other reason than to look at the newspapers of the day.

No, I am not wanting to get off my porch.  I want to read a newspaper that has real actual stories and capsules of high school football games that were played last night.  It is Saturday morning in Southern Indiana where we are relegated to taking the largest daily that comes from another state, one that does not know if a football is filled with air or stuffed with feathers, one that does not allow one to enjoy the fruits of Friday Night High School Football, one that used to be called “One Great Newspaper”.  I call it the “Once Great Newspaper”.

It got the “One Great…” moniker after the evening addition of the paper went dark.  This was a very long time ago.  But, not so long that I can’t remember going off on a Saturday to find the evening addition to see what else it had to say about the game I played in the night before when I was in high school.  This was before the internet.  This was before folks had a news center in the palms of their hands.  It was possible that on the same piece of newsprint I could read about a game I played in or my friends at other schools played in and our names would appear on the same page as someone really important in football like Doug Flutie or Bo Jackson.  I digress.

I just know that when I called high school football games on the radio, my partner Gus and I tried to get every name called out that we could. There is still a grandma and grandpa out there thrilled at the prospects of seeing their grandchild’s name in print.

I am not with it.  Go ahead and tell me.  A colleague yesterday looked at my cell phone, an Alexander Graham Bell model, and  I was told I need to get  an upgrade for I have nowhere to downgrade.  Still, I like my antique cell phone.  It is handy and not unwieldy.  I don’t need a TV in my pocket.  I have no malice, though, to anyone carrying one around.  Good for them.  I know I will be there one day.  I am just trying to stave that day off.

Money, I suppose, is behind the lack of print coverage.  I don’t know how else to explain it. It must cost the paper more than it is willing to pay to put a story in print about a game played the night before.  YOU CAN, however, find the coverage ONLINE at the paper’s website.  I don’t want to do that.  Why do I get a daily paper delivered to me?  So I can read about where I can find the news?

Your old Uncle Dan can remember when there were multiple stories with pictures and capsules (short paragraph narratives) about the other games not being covered by live reporters.  These capsules were the result of coaches of the home team calling in and giving their best unbiased account of what happened.  Highlights were included even if they were made by the other team.  And get this, a guy at the paper was talking to a coach after the game and transcribing the speaks from the coach.  I bet all that was not very cost efficient.  You know, paying people to work past nine o’clock so your paper means something the next day.

Last night as my Dad and I were sitting on the hill at The University of Ramsey, along with Stevarino Hawkins, Brother Darrell, sister-in-law Emily, and of course my dear wife, Carrie, and hundreds of others, Dad and I were talking about North Harrison making a trip to Scottsburg to take on the Warriors next week.  The last time we played at Scottsburg, Dad was the head coach and I was a 9th grader that did not make the travelling squad.  This was 1982.  Scottsburg has not played varsity ball since 1983 and are trying it again.

Only one freshman did make the travel squad and that was Old Porter, Mick Rutherford.  It was the only travel game I did not dress for when I played.  But I was in the locker room that night at the half  and I reminded Dad last night  of how he was ripping them a new one even though we were ahead 14-0 at the half.  We won 38-0.  Point taken.

I have an archive account of the same daily I loath.  I just peeked at what that paper looked like the Saturday after the opening game of the 1982 high school football season.  This is what I found:

There was a feature story with photos on the Floyd Central-Clarksville game. Floyd won 20 -0.

There was a feature story with photos on the Jeff-Providence game.  Jeff 21-0.

There was a feature story on Charlestown-Paoli.  Pirates 40 Rams 6.

There were capsules and/or line scores that featured score by quarter and who did the scoring on the following:

Perry Central-Corydon                          North Harrison-Scottsburg

Salem-West Washington                      Columbus East- Bloomington North

Jasper- Southridge                              Bloomington South- Indianapolis Washington (in Indy)

Martinsville-Bedford  N.  Lawrence     North Daviees- North Central

And somewhere I hope Madison’s Deron Rucker is still talking about the interception he made and ran back for a touchdown against Seymour that night in the third quarter.  Final score was Madison 7  Seymour 0.

Our ways and means of communication are endless these days.  And today’s local metropolitan daily indicated in print that the games ended too late to appear in print.  That my friends is lousy stuff.

Let me take this time to reflect on and thank from the bottom of my last syllable the work that is put in and the effort that comes out of the work done by my friends at our county weekly paper, The Corydon Democrat.  We still have sportswriters.  Thank God we still have them.  They still know how to fill pages with action and meaning in photos and in verse that makes me want to read them over and over again.

I salute you:  Brian Smith, Wade Bell, and Ross Schultz.  Keep up the good work.  Grandmas and Grandpas are out there counting on you.

Speaking the rights…

Danny Johnson

We’re almost there, kids.  A few more miles and we’ll be able to see College Football in all of its glory.  And someone will also point out a few of its flatulent tendencies as well.  Let us get a couple of these out of the way right now.

OLE MISS

Hugh Freeze, the recently made former head football coach of the Ole Miss Rebels is now the former coach because of some poor personal behavior choices.  I have been a fan of Ole Miss Football for a very long time.  I hope to see them play in person in Lexington in November.  If I get there, I will root like I always do.  A few folks I know have made issue of the demise of Coach Freeze with an added vigor of sarcasm.  They have made fun of my being an Ole Miss fan.  So be it.

Press onward is what I say to the Rebels.  Matt Luke is now the head coach of the Rebels and when they line up eleven on eleven with poor field position on third down, there comes a moment when instinct takes over and all else is forgotten.  This is that special place a player finds and wants to keep finding.  Once he has found it, there is a love for it that never goes away, even after he has been a long distance from it.

To the Ole Miss Faithful, I sing “Hotty Toddy!”  Enjoy the time in The Grove.  Enjoy what college football means to you, come hell or high water or coaching change.  There is one head coach.  There are over 60,000 seats in Vaught-Hemmingway Stadium.  You win.

JOSH ROSEN

You will hear the name Josh Rosen more often in the future than you will in this season.  He is the quarterback at UCLA.  His is a gifted quarterback.  You will hear about him in the future based on one of two connotations.  He will be a great quarterback…or he will be one of those guys that gets kicked around for not living up to their potential.  Tom Brady v. Ryan Leaf.  Peyton Manning v. Jeff George.  You may get the picture.

This past week as the impetus of College Football is building and excitement of game day is boiling, Josh Rosen came out with a statement about how playing college football and going to school don’t go together.  Boo hoo hoo.  Take your ball and go home, Josh.  I don’t know what we have here.  A kid that likes the sound of his own voice more than the whistle of a ball on a crossing pattern or another guy with foot in mouth disease.  Is this easier to take from a kid whose parents are wealthy, as Rosen’s are.  Or would this come easier from a gifted kid whose family never had a member attend college let alone play football on TV or graduate?

The finger, be it index or middle, usually points to the pot of money created by College Football buoyed by the shoulder pads of its participants.  I have long been fearful that the amount of money paid to SOME college football coaches and the beans raked in by the college athletic programs will one day come back to haunt first and then wreak havoc later.  One day there will be a revolt and decisions will have to be made.  What the schools will have to tell the donors putting up the huge simoleons is a good question?  Regardless, it won’t be easy.  It could be ugly.

On a much better note…

INDIANA IS BACK

Words fail me when I think of the Halloween Massacre of 1996.  Like I remember where I was standing the day Elvis died, I remember where I was standing the day I got wind that Coach Bill Mallory had been fired as the Indiana University Head Football Coach on October 31st.  After the season, his thirteenth at Indiana where they went to six bowl games and  won a couple of them, Coach Mal was the former head coach.  It should not have worked out that way.  He should have been given carte blanche to the day he  turned in his keys.

 How did it work out?  In the twenty years after Coach Mallory the Hoosiers have made it to three bowl games.  The good news, two of them have been the last two years.  The bad news, the Hoosiers, who were 69-77-3 under Coach Mallory have been 80-155 since and the only winning season was in 2007 which sported a 7 win- 6 loss campaign.

At IU game last year with Brother Tim and Michelle.

Enter 2017 with new Head Coach Tom Allen.  Things are looking up.  You wait and watch.  Good things are going to happen under Coach Allen’s system

 There is a mysterious line between fear and respect when it comes to coaches and players.  If you are the head coach at Alabama or Texas or Ohio State or Michigan you have luxuries that other coaches can’t fathom.  The latest former coach at Indiana had a hard time deciphering that, I think.  The aforementioned schools all have a next man up luxury like Indiana University will probably never know. But good for Indiana.  They are in place to have an “us against the world” scenario with a team full of players the big boys most likely passed on.  With this I reiterate they will find that special place and time where things will come together…where this team will come together and do great things.  I have heard enough coach speak over the years…I have been ready to be uninspired  by Indiana’s football coach choices due to the taste of sour grapes.  In January 2016 in a speaktherights.com post,  I wrote the following…

I am also dumbfounded that Indiana University gave its head football coach, Kevin Wilson, with his 20-41 record, a six year extension that includes so much “geat” that it will be hard to impossible to pay him off until 2020.  All I can say is “Wow”.  I knew the folks in Bloomington were a little touched…but this?  This being a coach who made a bowl game with a team that finished with a losing record getting a million dollar-plus raise per season.  Kind of makes 80s music seem a little more legitimate, doesn’t it?

I don’t know Kevin Wilson, the Hoosiers gridiron coach.  I  met Bill Mallory.  I met Terry Hoeppner.  They were great for Indiana Football. So was Bill Lynch.  All I can say is that I believe Kevin Wilson was lucky enough to get into a bowl game the same season the Hoosiers had a great Big Ten home schedule and a great many fans showed up to watch…many from Ohio, Michigan, and Iowa.  We’ll take their money…no matter where they are from.  Now it belongs to Coach Wilson.  Good for your family!  Not so good, I am afraid, for IU Nation…however thin or thick it may be.  I am not saying Coach Wilson is not a good person.  In fact, I hope I eat every syllable I type unfavorably about him.  I just feel like I have seen this movie before and it doesn’t work out very well.

Sorry coach.  I hope you prove me wrong.  I hope to make it to the Rose Bowl one day.

Well, Coach Wilson is now the Offensive Coordinator at Ohio State and that should suit him very well.

Bring on Coach Tom Allen.  I am sold.  It took over twenty years.  I am finally excited about going to watch the Hoosiers play again.  I have been to a game or two year in and year out for the most part during these troubling Hoosier Football times.  My attendance has been largely out of a sense of obligation.  I didn’t want to give up…but I was usually glad when I could get to the radio on the way home to find a game to listen to.

No more.  I am fired up about the Hoosiers.

Not lost on me is also my affinity for The Marshall Thundering Herd.  They have held the interest that waned from the Indiana Hoosiers.  I will still root for the Herd.  Going to the Joan C Edward Stadium is one of the most unique experiences in College Football.  This is truly a special place. I look forward to being there this year.

So is this… a special place.

As was reported, Dad and I went to the USC-UCLA game in The Rose Bowl last year.  It was the most magnificent football watching trip one could ask for.

This one wasn’t bad either!

Sun going down over my head at Neyland Stadium for the annual Third Saturday in October.  What does that mean to those of you not SEC worthy?  It means The Vols against The Tide.

Brother Tim was pleased with the outcome of last year’s game.

This old boy above me was not.  He was just plain nasty.

A special thanks to Bob and Davis for bringing us along to the land of the Great Pumpkin.

It was a sight to behold.

With a nod to The Monkees’ 1986 hit, that was then and this is now.

On to the picks.

THE ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE

There is a great deal of improvement ahead of the University of Louisville Cardinals.  They seemed to get a bit full of themselves last year.  The Heisman winner and a bad finish to the season.  They got beat by Kentucky!  I know.  I know.  UK is better.  Not that much better.

Atlantic Divison

1.  Louisville…I think they can do it.  Bobby Petrino, like him or not, will find a way.
2. Florida State….After Bama in the opener, U of L, Florida, and Miami cos concern.
3. Clemson….Deshaun Watson is gone.
4. NC State…Building off a 7-6 campaign last year including a win over Notre Dame
5. Boston College…Football and a quality lobster roll…wow.
6. Wake Forest….Deacon Hill will be more sociable than ever.
7. Syracuse…First three softer than the next nine…watch out for Middle Tenn.

Coastal Division

1. Miami…Coach Richt has them rolling again.
2. Pitt… They are not the pitts.  Beat Clemson last year.
3. UNC…Wish they didn’t have a basketball player on their apparel.
4. Virginia Tech…Five back on offense.  Question marks.
5. Duke…Breaks my heart to put Duke here. Hope I am wrong.
6. Ga. Tech…At least The Varsity is close by.
7. Virginia…Hoosiers come calling and give Cavs a taste of the rest.

The ACC is an interesting place.  My dear wife, Carrie, and I have adopted North Carolina as our second home.  The folks there have a grip on their sports that doesn’t seem to cut off any circulation.  The far reaching Louisville starts to tighten up just a bit….bit that is because it is so far from the ocean.

The BIG TEN

Firstly, thank the Lord this institution adopted an East and West format for its divisions.  Have you ever heard of anything more pretentious than Leaders and Legends?  No joke, that is what this conference, with 14 members by the way, used to call its divisions.

There is one Big Ten member school I have never seen in person and that is Rutgers.  I plan on being in Bloomington to see the Scarlet Knights visit the Hoosiers.  Rutgers and Maryland in the Big Ten still hurts a bit.  I wanted Missouri.  I still do.  I will try to get over it as the Big Ten Network counts its New York market dollars… Rutgers indeed.

Carrie and I went to he Big Ten Championship game last year.  It was our first trip to the House that Peyton built.  I am glad Penn State won.  There were nasty fans from Wisconsin whom apparently spend too much time allowing their brains to freeze while they are ice fishing in February.  Some of the things they were saying about Penn State, in reference to the scandal that rocked the place a few years ago was pure misery from folks I would call downright evil.  I don’t know how else to put it.  I hope Bucky Badger loses every game from here on out.

East Divison

1. Penn State…The Rose Bowl OT loss to USC meant one more sprint for the team.
2. Ohio State…8 back on Offense  7 back on D and new ones probably better.
3. Michigan…Coach H is not dull.  Lack of experience may make them 4 or 5 here.
4. Indiana…First three conf. games?  See list above.  Conspiracy theory?  GO IU!
5. Michigan State…Hard time in East Lansing last year.  11th year for Coach D’Antonio.
6. Rutgers….Cos I have to put’em here.
7. Maryland…See explanation to #6

West Division

1.  Northwestern….He who avoids Mich and OSU has West lead.
2.  Wisconsin…Stub thy toe!
3.  Iowa…19 years for Coach Ferentz and a new QB and new OC…slow or go?
4.  Nebraska…We’ll get good gauge after early trip to Oregon.
5.  Minnesota…Goldy has a new Coach ready to row the boat.  Hope they tackle.
6.  Purdue…Jeff Brohm  will make the Boilers better…then much better.
7.  Illinois…I didn’t know they still had a team…uniforms and everything?

The Southeastern Conference…THE SEC

Like it or not, this is still the bread with the most butter on it.  I kind of like it that way.  They take their football serious in the South.  It is a matter of pride more than anything…I think.  That “we want to be better than you” attitude is stronger in the South.  The North is fraught with more “we think we are better than you”.  That is how I see it, anyway.  It’s all good fun.

The Alabama Crimson Tide is the team to beat again.  So, what is new?  I just hope they have mercy when Mercer shows up in Tuscaloosa on November 18th for the annual practice game before the Iron Bowl on November 25th.  Amazing how that schedule works out.

Anyway, here it goes…

East Division

1.  UGA…The Bulldogs will shine for Lewis Grizzard one more time.
2.  Florida…Good team.  Two SEC champ trips in a row. Frosh QB?
3.  UT…The Vols need to do well.  Coach Jones needs the Vols to win 9 or 10.  Tuff folks.
4.  Kentucky…yes, Kentucky.  Finally going to win 8 or more in regular season.
5.  South Carolina…Got a bad feeling even though many come back.  Injuries?  Hope not.
6.  Mizzou…The Columbiaites used to visit IU.  I miss those days and bet they do too.
7.  Vanderbilt…Been to Nashville lately?  Keep the kids off Broadway.  Go watch football.

West Division

1.  Alabama…Brother Tim will be happy again.  The Tide won’t turn…it will ROLL.
2.  LSU…They have a great deal to prove in Tiger Town…Coach O will do it this time.
3.  Auburn…A great deal returning on both sides of the ball.
4.  Ole Miss…This team will play like a bowl is on the line every week.  All they have left.
5.  Arkansas…Coach Bielema had better get moving up the gut to find more O balance.
6.  Texas A&M…UCLA game in opener will get’em going or get’em packing.
7.  Mississippi State…I am obligated to place the Bulldogs here.  I’d put’em 9th if I could.

Other Conference Champs…

PAC 12

USC….Will meet Alabama in the Championship Game in Atlanta and The Tide wins.

American Athletic Conference

South Florida…Charlie Strong enjoys recruiting in Florida full time again.

THE MAC

Ohio…I would never pick against Coach Frank Solich…but beware the Miami Red Hawks.

SUN BELT

Ark. State…Red Wolves come off the likes of Miami and Nebraska ready to play their own.

BIG 12 (With ten members at least they have room to grow)

Oklahoma… Coach Stoops leaves cupboard stocked…Baker Mayfield leads offense.

Conference USA

Louisiana Tech…Rooting for the Herd, of course, but Coach Holtz has boys in Ruston doing good things.

Mountain West

Wyoming…I am picking an upset.  Coach Bohl continues his winning ways.  Pokes go.

So there.  The table is set and the meal starts in two weeks.

I am looking forward to the season.  My North Harrison Cougars start high school action in earnest next week against the Salem Lions.  Scottsburg is back to playing football and that gives us nine conference schools playing for the first time ever.  This is a good thing…though scheduling has been rather problematic.  We go to Brownstown again this year.  The odd years were always at North before.

I still root for Eli Manning and the Giants.  I have said it here before.  When it comes to pro teams I root for player first and team second.  I have always been that way.  When Ken Anderson retired from the Bengals after the 1986 season so did I.  I was a free agent until Peyton came along.  I rooted for the Colts.  When Eli came it was Giants first and Colts second…and so on.

I hope your teams win for you (unless you root Wisconsin and Mississippi State…but even more so if you root for Wisconsin).  But, most of all, I hope you enjoy the season.  Hang out with family and friends and take it all in.  I certainly plan on doing exactly that.

Speaking the football rights…

Danny Johnson