Don’t worry so much, I tell myself.  What they don’t know they won’t miss.

Still, I struggle with something I know that the kids I teach in English class don’t know.  Literary and grammar pursuits notwithstanding, there are days when I am frustrated with the plight of thoughtful journalism.  Translation:  I miss the paper.  I miss the  newspaper I once knew.

Over the weekend I was ruminating over the state of many forms of media in 2023.  There are some I just don’t recognize all that well anymore.  Listening to some of the bombastic comments on ESPN’s Gameday before the noon kickoffs of college football, I began wondering if Keith Jackson would have a seat at the table if he were alive today.  Unfortunately, I doubt it.  Sure doesn’t feel like it.

For me, though, it all goes back to the paper.  I have written about this before and it is still the greatest example of ‘what was’ for me.  In 1979, a sportswriter by the name of Jim Plump was covering the Holiday Bowl between Indiana and BYU.  This was no early kickoff in the eastern time zone.  My mother was working a 3 PM to 11 PM shift as an RN at Floyd Memorial Hospital in New Albany and then drove 23 miles home.  When she made it home that night, the Hoosiers were still playing.  Indiana won the game 38-37.  Plump was covering the game for The Columbus Republic.  His account of the game made it into the next morning’s paper front and center with a photo.

Today The Columbus Republic only prints on a bi-weekly schedule.  And they sure as heck would not fly a sportswriter to San Diego to cover a college football bowl game.

At the heart of my angst is knowing kids at North Harrison and their grandparents don’t get to see their names in stories and in box scores like the ones that used to run in Louisville’s Courier-Journal for every game played in Southern Indiana.

Your old Uncle Dan can remember two of those being printed.  The Courier-Journal was the morning paper and The Louisville Times was the afternoon paper.  I have articles from both with my name in both in old scrapbooks.

My thoughts about all this soon drifted to a great high school sportswriter I had the pleasure to sit next to in a few press boxes as he was writing about the football game and I was talking about it.  He was Dave Koerner, writing for the Courier-Journal.  I was calling the North Harrison football games on WKLO with my partner Gus Stephenson.  Each time I met up with Dave Koerner it was a pleasant experience.  We always had a chat.

Dave Koerner was a nice guy.  His writing was firm and flowing.  He took his craft serious.  Maybe there was one unpleasant experience between us.  Maybe, nothing.  There was and it was all my fault.  After a game in Corydon, when we had finished up the coach’s post-game interview and sign-off, I was playing kick the field goal with a empty plastic pop bottle and a trash can.  I did this as Dave was writing up his story.  He’d had enough of my noise.  “Would you please stop that?!”  It sounded more like a command than a question.  I begged forgiveness.

Before a Perry Central-North Harrison game in Ramsey, I made a comment that went something like.. “to the west there is a peach colored sky”.  He said he liked that.  He asked if he could borrow it.  He may have used it, had that sky not quickly turned into a thunderstorm delaying the game’s start and then a deluge of rain until the 4th quarter.  That was August 26, 2005.

More than a year earlier, at my behest, Dave was delighted to write a story about the Medora Lady Hornets Basketball Team winning their first-ever sectional game.  That was fun.  Dave told me he enjoyed that story.  For a guy who did more writing than talking, I was delighted that the Medora story meant something to him.  My dear friend Brad McCammon, the girls’ coach, appreciated Dave’s treatment too. I love the headline.

The ending is sad.  After more than 30 years of writing for the Courier-Journal, taking a buy-out of course, Dave Koerner settled down in Blue Ridge, Georgia and wrote locally there for The News Observer.  A little more than a year after I was sharing a press box with him, Dave Koerner died in that paper’s newsroom sitting at his desk.  He had a massive heart attack.  He was 57.  And just like the paper, Dave Koerner is missed.

Speaking the Rights.

Danny Johnson

Last week I flippantly referred to this picture, taken nine minutes before the kickoff at Memorial Stadium for the Indiana-Rutgers game.

I called Memorial Stadium in Bloomington the SAFEST PLACE IN AMERICA!

The Indiana Hoosiers were beaten by Rutgers 31-14.  When the Rutgers quarterback runs for an 81 yard touchdown and the Rutgers offense only has 39 yards passing you know the game was much worse than the score indicated.

Rutgers kicking an extra point.

Thankfully it was a nice day.  This was taken at the beginning of the 4th quarter.  The score at that point was 24-14.  It felt like 44-14.

The Dream is Over.  No one has supported Coach Tom Allen with more vigor than I have.  I believe that.  I believed he was going to turn things around.  I no longer believe that.  And it hurts.  I attended Saturday’s game alone.  I sat there and listened to Ohio State vs. Penn State while I was watching the Hoosiers.  Why?  I wanted something in my ears to take me away from the disgruntled Hoosier fans casting aspersion on Coach Allen.  I hate that part.  I don’t handle it well.  It makes me sad.  This Saturday the Indiana Hoosiers travel to Penn State.  That will make me sad.  I was happy when I found out the next home game, against Swissconsin, will kick off at 12 noon.  Not exactly a Big Noon Kickoff.  I was glad because it means I can come home and watch LSU-Alabama that night.

There is a time to move on.  I hope Indiana and Tom Allen can hammer out a treaty at the end of the season that allows him to ride off quietly.  It will save us from seeing even worse crowds next year and a root canal of a season that sees Washington, Oregon, USC, and UCLA join the Big Ten (18).  Big Ten?  That is oxymoronic.  And just plain moronic.

I can’t believe I am writing these words.  The Dream is Over.  I speak the rights.

The season, however, goes on.  On to this week’s picks.

Last week was another 9 winners and 5 losers dose like last week.

Season Total  86 winners and 26 losers.  I’ll take it.

Here we go again…

Florida State beats Wake Forest… The Seminoles may win it all.

Maryland beats Northwestern… Is there a better story in college football than the way the resilient Wildcats have comported themselves at Northwestern?

Oklahoma beats Kansas…The Sooners roll like it is 1982.

Clemson beats North Carolina State…Clemson has too much speed for the boys in Raleigh.

Texas beats BYU… At Texas.  Enough said.

Louisville beats Duke… Jeff Brohm still has to fix the malady of beating a giant one week and losing to a peon the next week.  Ask the folks in West Lafayette about that.

Georgia beats Florida…  How cool would it be if Florida shows up and gets the breaks?

Minnesota beats Michigan State… Goldy comes off a big one against Iowa.  Sparty comes off a big disaster against Michigan.

Notre Dame beats Pitt…  And bad.  Making U of L’s loss to Pitt worse.

Kentucky beats Tennessee… Yes, I know. That QB for UK can throw better than anything Bama threw last week.  5 TD passes for the Wildcats.

Washington beats Stanford… Michael Penix, Jr. puts on a show.

UCLA beats Colorado… Game of the Day!

Ohio State beats Swissconsin… And Bucky will be mad as heck going to Indiana next week.

Ole Miss beats Vanderbilt… The Rebs roll at home.  Big offensive numbers.

And so it goes.

Last Friday night I saw Justin Hayward playing a Gibson 335 for the first time since 2018. That alone was worth driving to Columbus, Ohio for.  And this concert was a whole lot better than any college football game I have attended this year.  Thank you, Jus.

Speaking the rights.

Danny Johnson

How can this be?  Week 8 of the College Football Season is here already?  November is coming close to knock on the door.  Unreal.

Last week I had 9 winners and 5 losers.  The evening games certainly let me down.  I certainly thought Louisville would beat Pitt.  I was sure UK would beat Mizzou.  Both teams should have won.  Both teams played uninspired football.

The season tally:  77 winners  21 losers.  

I am a little anxious to see what kind of attendance we have in Bloomington on Saturday.  Rutgers comes calling.  Not the greatest Big Ten attraction, Rutgers.  Neither are the Hoosiers. I certainly hope things take a turn for the best for Indiana this week.  What has transpired this season is extremely disappointing. The last thing I want to do is show up and listen to folks give Coach Allen a hard time.  When your Dad was a coach, that is never an easy thing to deal with.

The Ole Miss Rebels are back in action this week after being idle last week.  Do they still say that?  Idle?  There was a time when not all teams took a week off.  Yes, I know.  No one cares about leather helmet days now.  I just hope the Rebs give a better offensive showing against Auburn.  Hugh Freeze coaching against his old team is a story line for sure.  Coach Freeze will surely have his team ready for this one.

On to this week’s picks.

Penn State beats Ohio State…This is a noon home game in Columbus.  What makes me think the Nittany Lions will be more prepared for this one?

Arkansas beats Mississippi State…The Hogs are the best 2-5 team in the history of college football.  Look at their scores if you get a chance.

Oklahoma beats UCF…The Sooners are rolling.

Iowa beats Minnesota… Iowa the last of what football used to look like.

Nebraska beats Northwestern…The Huskers give the Wildcats a hard time.

Alabama beats Tennessee… It’s Sweet Home Alabama vs. Rock Top.  Roll Tide.

North Carolina beats Virginia…Funny how no one mentions UNC as a playoff candidate.

Ole Miss beats Auburn…The Rebs run wild in a night game.

Florida State beats Duke…The Seminoles all the way.

Michigan beats Michigan State…The Wolverines take care of Sparty with ease.

Clemson beats Miami… A couple teams on the brink of something.

USC beats Utah…I say this because it is in The Coliseum.

Washington beats Arizona State… The Penix, Jr. Heisman Tour continues.

UCLA beats Stanford…Stanford is still tired from their game against the Buffs.

Enjoy the games this weekend.

Speaking the Rights…

Danny Johnson

Wow.  It is Saturday morning.  We are a little more than an hour from the Big Noon Kickoff in the eastern time zone.

Speaking of east, my dear wife, Carrie, and I had a great time of it in New England this past week?  Do people still say that outside of speaking of the Patriots Football Team?  New York, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire we drove across three of those and made The Berkshires in Western Mass. home base.  The Boston papers are ready to gut the New England team including Coach Belichik.  Mac Jones is frying like a hot hamburger right now.  Anyway.  Driving through western New York is a treat.  Bills fans may be the best in the NFL for my money.  The area itself is so far removed from anything you have been conditioned to think when you hear the words New York.  There is little urban about it.  Little towns are dotted with Bills flags.  Two high schools had Go Bills! featured on their electronic signs.  I doubt I will get there, but I would love to attend a game in the old Orchard Park Stadium before the new one is built.  We pass the exit for the place each time we go through there.  At that point, we still 291 miles from Albany.  That and one more hour will get us to Hancock, Mass.

That is where I find newspaper heaven still exists.  

You can go into a grocery store in these parts and decide which or all of no less than seven newspapers you want to read.  AND THEY ARE STILL WORTH READING. 

We didn’t come here for a newspaper dissertation.  On to the FOOTBALL!

Last week        12 winners      2 losers

Season total      68 winners   16 losers

I will say it again.  As good as this is, I will make up for it during the bowl season when you really don’t know what kind of team will show up.

I know.  This is not a college football picture.  Last night I looked at two high school football games in person.  One was North Harrison at Providence.  That was a disaster.  North lost 35-0 in a game that was called to injury at halftime.  That was a first for me.  So I moseyed over to Clarksville and watched Crawford County and the Clarksville Generals.  Both teams were 0-8 coming in.  I was worn out, having driving east of Cleveland to Depauw earlier in the day.  I left at halftime of that one.  Clarksville won 48-34.

The photo?  I just miss kickers.

Alabama beats Arkansas…The Tide Rolls at home.

Georgia beats Vandy… The Bulldogs should score 40 before the half.

Rutgers beats Michigan State… It is in Piscataway.  A place named perfectly.

Florida beats South Carolina…This may be a stretch in Columbia.

Maryland beats Illinois…The Terps rebound this week after the loss in Columbus.

Washington beats Oregon…And the Michael Penix, Jr. legend continues.  Get  that grip ready for the Heisman, Michael.  You’ll be the first Hoosier to ever win it.

Tennessee beats Texas A&M…in Knoxville and those Vols are FIRED UP!

Iowa beats Swissconsin… I will take a loss before I pick the Bucky Badgers.

Louisville beats Pitt… At Pitt.  Doesn’t matter.  Not this year.  The magic of college football is still real.

LSU beats Auburn… I think it was in this game in the late 80s when Tommy Hodson threw a TD pass for the Bayou Bengals and the ruckus in Death Valley set off the seismographs in the LSU Geology Department.  Look it up.

Marshall beats Georgia State…Go Herd!

North Carolina beats Miami…The Tar Heels are working on a dream.

Kentucky beats Mizzou…Playing at UK.  Mark Stoops gets grilled for speaking the rights this week.  And Paul Finebaum in turn started talking like it was 1975 and Bo, Bear, and Woody were still here.  In the Southern Parlance, “Do What, Paul?”

USC beats Notre Dame… A game that lives in lore that I make every effort to watch each year.

Enjoy the games and take care of each other.

Speaking the rights.

Danny Johnson

Editorial Note:  Written in Fairport Harbor, Ohio about 30 miles east of Cleveland.

Two days.  Two great times.  From here on, when I think about attending Justin Hayward concerts, I can reference the one about going to Walden Pond the next day.  That’s what happens when you are in Nashua, New Hampshire for a concert and Walden Pond just happens to be about 30 miles down the road outside Concord, Massachusetts.  There’s no way my dear wife, Carrie, and I are not going to walk the 1.7 mile trail around that hallowed pond if we are in the neighborhood.

Henry David Thoreau is a long time favorite of mine.  For my money, Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson were the first hippies.  When I read a line about one of them nodding to a tree and the tree nodding back, I am sold on that.  Save your breath.

This was the fifth time I have visited Walden Pond.  The last time was June of 2022.  On that day I wrote some words that I included in a 190,000 word work that is still looking for a home.  I am always going to want to come back to this place.

Long before there was a concert scheduled, Carrie and I booked a stay in a place we frequent in The Berkshires during our school’s fall break.  The ride to Nashua was one we had made many times visiting friends living there.  Riding through Vermont and New Hampshire in October is not a difficult thing to do.

The store I go to in the mornings to pick up five newspapers that are not owned by Gannett (they’re good).  

So what about the concert?  Yeah, that Justin Hayward fellow.  Well, believe it or not, every time I hear this guy sing something or someone interesting happens.  Before the show in the newly minted Nashua Center for the Arts, a lady behind my asked someone she was attending the show with, “Is this Haywood fellow local?  Is it Haywood or Hayward?  Is he local?  Is he from Boston or somewhere?”

I just sat there and grinned.  Lady, I thought, you are in for a treat and you need it.

In earnest, the place is new and the locals are trying to support it.  The place was sold out.  Now, understand, MOST in attendance knew it was HAYWARD.  And yes, they knew what they were in for.  That is exactly why they, and, well, Carrie and I were there.  Justin Hayward just flat puts on a great performance with a consistency that is envious of any performer of any genre of entertainment.

I tell my students in order to be successful it certainly helps to surround yourself with good people.  Justin Hayward understands this.  The ladies and gentleman on stage with him could not be any better.  They complement each other with musical knowhow and an obvious dedication to the songs.  My old musical mentor, Tim Krekel, always said you have to do what is right by the song.  I’ve seen this bunch play a few times.  Julie Ragins on vocals and keyboards and kitchen sink.  She can do it all.  Karmen Gould playing flute, percussion, and backing vocals is a talented player.  Mike Dawes.  Between you and me, Mike Dawes is the best guitar player I have ever seen.  The dude obviously enjoys playing these songs.  He could certainly have other options with the talent he has.  Personally, I appreciate the fact that he is there and he knows a good gig when he has it.

And Justin Hayward?  Well, to me Justin is more affable on stage than he has ever been.  There is a graciousness about him that tells us in no uncertain terms that he is glad to be there.  He handles everyone on stage with a respect and dignity that is rare in someone of such stature.  He’s the lead singer.  They are his songs.  He still plays in the band.

Sunday night when I was witnessing Justin’s kind treatment of his guitar tech he called “Josh”, I thought about a night in Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium in October of 2005.  There were some bluegrass pickers and singers paying tribute to The Moody Blues in a Moody Bluegrass Concert.  With an all-star “house band”,  different lead vocalists would come on and sing a different Moodies tune.  Harley Allen, John Cowan, Tim O’Brien and others. There, standing off stage right waiting in the wings as it were, was Justin Hayward greeting every performer with a handshake or a pat on the back as they were exiting the stage.  I remember thinking to myself, Justin is hearing this stuff for the first time.  It’s very different from playing.  I got that.  I also appreciated a kind gesture that some of those guys and gals are talking or thinking about every time they hear Justin’s voice singing.

Indulge me.  I have heard Justin Hayward alluding to, as he did Sunday night,  hanging on to the music of one’s youth.  You who’ve read these lines have heard it before and I will reiterate:  I picked the right music or the right music picked me.  Either way, I hang on to it dearly.

No, when I began making music I didn’t sound anything like Justin Hayward or anyone else (though John Mellencamp and I spent our childhood ten miles from each other…so…).  When they’re your songs, it is your sound.  If I told you Justin Hayward has influenced my songwriting I would be telling a lie.  When I pull that guitar strap over my head and I demo a song it is all me.  When the dust of a session or a writing binge goes away, I reach for Forever Autumn or The Western Sky or more recently Hayward’s newest song Living for Love.  That tune had my students in a trance.  I didn’t see that coming.  But I sure enjoyed their reaction.  There’s that youth thing again. Yes, it matters.

When I was a high school senior the song Your Wildest Dreams made me look pretty smart.  I heard this question many times:  Isn’t that the group you listen to?   Yes.  And I still do.  The music of my youth means more than ever to me.

Lighting can do some strange things.  These photos, taken Sunday night, are reminiscent of A-HA’s Take On Me video in my eyes.  I took them straight “photo” with a cell phone that is old by industry standards.  I think they are cool.  How could they not be?

Speaking the rights.

Danny Johnson

A little while ago I was walking up and down some of the most challenging hills I have been on.

In the past, I walked these hills and thought I was doing something impractical.  Is this the way a man is supposed to die?  That is a question I asked myself in the past, as my lungs were seemingly betraying me and feeling as if they were going to cave in while my legs burned.

Today as I walked these hills, I was singing along with Justin Hayward singing I Know You’re Out There Somewhere as I climbed the last incline.  I looked around and wondered: is that it?

Look, my dear wife, Carrie, and I are in The Berkshires in Western Massachusetts for a few days.  I have been looking forward to walking up these hills.  I wanted to know if what I have been thinking about the last few months was going to be accurate.  I was convinced I would walk these hills for the first time with relative ease.  Check that box.

I have a trio of doctors and their staffs to thank for helping me heal.  Breathing issues that plagued me all of my life have been mitigated.  An anemia problem has been addressed and that is working out too.  Translation:  I can breathe and oxygen is moving to places in my body where it is supposed to.  Yes, I have lost a great deal of weight along the way also.  That is nice too.  But being able to breathe freely in and out is a blessing.

I wrote about this at the end of May here.  That post was called Running Scared.  I was feeling so good I was convinced I was living on borrowed time.  That the breathing problem was bound to find me again and soon.  So far I have been able to hide.

Exercise has always been a large part of my day to day.  The difference now is that I am finally reaping some larger benefits from it.  I don’t know how else to explain it.

Don’t give up.  If you think you are on a road that seems it will never lead you out of a weary wilderness, don’t give up.  As long as we are here there is hope.  I truly believe that. I didn’t see this good health turn coming.  I couldn’t even imagine it.  But I am very thankful and I know.  I knew something had to be wrong.  Fortunately we found it. Don’t give up.

Speaking the Rights.

Danny Johnson

Loved seeing this Utica High School Football helmet on the top o the juice dispenser at a cafe in Utica.  New York not Clark County, Indiana.

On the road and in a hurry to pick 14 games before they kick off.

I would have picked Texas to beat Oklahoma.

Last Week  14 winners  0 losers

Season Total  56 winners   14 losers

Don’t worry, come bowl season I will screw that up for sure.

Colorado beats Arizona State…Buffs roll.

Northern Iowa beats Indiana State…Sycamores can’t catch a break.

Georgia beats Kentucky….Hope I miss this one.

South Dakota State beats Illinois State…SDS usually tough.

Ole Miss beats Arkansas…Rebs need to keep it going.

Michigan beats Minnesota…Goldy won’t give them a game.

Louisville beats Notre Dame…It is going to happen.

Wyoming beats Fresno State…In Laramie.  Bulldogs might prove me wrong.

Miami beats Georgia Tech…Won’t be close.

Boise State beats San Jose State…On the blue turf.

Iowa State beats TCU…Cyclones are at home.

Baylor beats Texas Tech…Granny would tell not to pick against those Baptist boys.

Oregon State beats Cal…The Beavs are tough.

USC beats Arizona…In the Coliseum the Trojans roll at night.

That’s all folks.  Speak the rights.

Danny Johnson

“The University of Louisville is on a collision course with the National Championship. The only variable is time.” – Coach Howard Schnellenberger

I never heard anyone laugh the day Howard Schnellenberger first uttered those words. If you laughed, I didn’t hear you. Eyebrows were raised.  Heads turned sideways.  Then it was watch and wait time.  The legend continues.

Not long before Coach Howard Schnellenberger took over as the Head Football Coach at the University of Louisville in 1985 many folks were laughing.  In the few years before Coach Pipe took over, Coach Bob Weber was dealing with waning support.  Tickets could be purchased at Convenient Food Marts for $3.  Not many were. Some say there was serious talk of shuttering the football program that was relegated to playing in an ancient minor league baseball stadium.   These days, as you look to the west just south of the U of L campus as you are driving on Interstate 65 in Louisville, you see an L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium.  This is the home of the Louisville Cardinals Football Team.  This is The House that Howard Built.  

This photo was taken on October 1, 2011.  Two former Miami high school quarterbacks, Teddy Bridgewater of U of L and Rakeem Cato of Marshall, squared off.  The Herd won that day 17-13.  Since then, the end zone in this picture has been added with more seats.  There was a time when the sight of a stadium like this wasn’t even yet a pipe dream.

Your old Uncle Dan can tell you about what happened 40 years ago.  The Homecoming Game of 1983 at the old baseball stadium didn’t bring very many people back home.  The attendance that day was 17,064.  That was a day that saw the Louisville Cardinals  defeated by the Southern Miss Golden Eagles 27-3.  I was probably there.

My Dad graduated from Southern Miss.  When the Golden Eagles and the Cards got together in Louisville in the late 70s and early 80s, my Dad was usually in attendance.  So was I.  I wish I could remember more.  Two of these contests do stand out vividly in my mind, like a file cabinet drawer opened up with a Cardinal Red folder sticking out of it.

The 1979 game between U of L and USM, both Independents in the world of college football at the time, ended in a 10-10 tie.  I remember a Southern defender intercepting a last minute pass to seal the tie.  What can I say?  You can’t expect much for a three dollar ticket.  Attendance that day was 13,085.

Two years later on November 21, 1981, history was made in old Cardinal Stadium for the game against Southern Miss.  There were television cameras strategically placed around the grounds.  Below the cameras on tripods in the stands and placed on each side of the stadium and end zones were banners that had ABC SPORTS on them.  For the first time in the history of University of Louisville Football, ABC was in town for a regionally televised game primarily meant to be seen in the south.  Why?  In the previous two weeks Southern Miss had beaten #15 Mississippi State 7-6 and #20 Florida State 58-14.  Southern Miss was waltzing into Cardinal Stadium ranked #9 in the land.  Their record was 8-0-1.  In the fifth game of the season USM tied #7 Alabama 13-13.

A trip to Louisville was going to be a piece of cardinal pie for the Golden Eagles, right?  Not exactly.  After playing in 71 degree weather the week before in Tallahassee, Southern Miss ran out of the dug out onto old Cardinal Stadium and the temperature was 31 degrees.  Snow flakes were flying along the third base line.  Some of you remember that if you were along the first base line on offense you were happy.  You were in the end zone.

Southern Miss had a running game a team can only dream about these days.  Reggie Collier was the quarterback and Sammy Winder and Ricky Floyd were behind him.  They were all great.  Except on this day they were not.  Louisville upset Southern Miss 13-10.  The boys from Hattiesburg never got started good.  They were too cold.

The hearty U of L crowd that day of 12,940 made more noise than that place had heard in a while.  Maybe that was the genesis of the Crunch Zone?  I can only believe so.

Look, for someone who was there when this program was nearing life-support to witnessing the hiring of a legend in Coach Howard Schnellenberger to seeing a science fiction looking stadium rising from the ground to watching one of Howard’s boys take over the reigns as Head Football Coach in former U of L QB Jeff Brohm and absolutely shell the corn to a 5-0 record moving into October this season is a script I could not make up.  But I am glad I can write about it.  I am glad I was there for it.  Like being there on the cold November day in 1990 when a freshman named Jeff Brohm had to replace injured starter Browning Nagle and help the Cards defeat Boston College 17-10 in old Cardinal Stadium (thanks in large part to LB Mark Sander and a defense that picked off five of Glenn Foley’s passes).  Attendance that day?  37,636…about as many as you could pack into that old relic.  The 1990 Cards finished 10-1-1 after a 34-7 victory over Alabama in The Fiesta Bowl on New Year’s Day.

Now?  Why not?  Yes.  I think the Louisville Cardinals will beat the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Saturday.  Look, the Duke Blue Devils played Notre Dame to the last minute losing 21-14.  Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham is not exactly the most frightening place to play a road game.  There are guys in that crowd afraid they’re going to get something on their tie.  Louisville’s home crowd has been waiting for a game like this for a long time and some of them will be half-naked and half-baked.  One guy will be holding up a large capital D and another piece of cardboard meant to resemble a FENCE.  That’s goofy crazy this many years on.

This is U of L’s time.  This coming from a man with a master’s degree from the school and little desire to root for the Cards outside the fact that I enjoy football and want to see our local teams do well.

Still.  I will be glued to a screen somewhere far away from Kentuckiana when the Cards take on Notre Dame Saturday night.  I doubt many in Massachusetts will know what I am yelling about.  I refuse to chant out the spelling of the name of any mascot with only one vowel in it.  But I will say this.  Go Cards!

Speaking the rights.

Danny Johnson