The tiltle of this post is a reference to ELO’s song from their album Eldorado.  The lyrics are telling.

So I have not made much of my return to North Harrison Cougar Football.  In part, I am still processing it.  But know that I am glad to be back in the fray again.

I am sick as I write these words.  The NHHS JV Football Team, a group I have grown quite fond of, will soon  be lining up against the Charelstown Pirates JV team without me.  Damn this Upper Respritory Infection!  This is the first game I have missed this season.

Last week’s JV game against Corydon was cancelled.

I am with them in spirit.

This is a picture I took as the Cougars were defeating Corydon Central 28-7.  Never deny good light!

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Action from Friday night’s Varsity game against Charlestown.  It was not a memorable effort.

Action in the victory against Corydon Central.

I am missing the JV game right now, I can tell you.  It was tough telling boys I would not be there tonight.  It is for the best.

A photo of the JV team taking the field under the Friday Night Lights for the first time last Friday.  Yes.  I know.  This means you are either way ahead or way behind.  Sad to say, North was behind.

But we weren’t behind against Corydon.  And the guy who was on the field wearing #56 for the Cougars in a victory in 1985 was given the honor to present the Big Cat Classic Trophy to the North Harrison Cougars in 2021.  This was better than kicking a field goal in that game all those years ago.

The brown hair is grey now.

It was worth it.

Speaking the rights…as I am wondering what gives in Charlestown tonight.

Danny Johnson

September 11. 

This week twenty years ago pushed the college football season to the first weekend in December.  Indiana did not finish the season with a Purdue victory in the sideways rain in Bloomington that day.  That season ended with a victory over Kentucky, in a game moved from that fateful week in September to the last game of the season on December 1st.  It would also be the last game as head coach for the Hoosiers’  Cam Cameron.

Sitting here listening to Bruce Springsteen’s “The Rising” album that was inspired by what happened on September 11, 2001.

My dear wife, Carrie, and I have been fortunate enough visit the 9/11 Memorial.  I am glad we went.  We learned so much.  Much of it was very difficult to learn.  I am haunted by the image of the lady in the green dress rubbing the name of an obvious loved one whose name is engraved in on of the two Reflecting Pools.  I felt guilty capturing such a personal image.  At the same time, it was a way to remember on a level most won’t experience.  A poigant moment worth sharing.  That is what I have decided.  I pray it has been a good decision.

College Football Week 2 is here.

Last week was a football disaster, if you are an Indiana University Football fan.  The team comes in ranked in the preseason for the first time I can remember in my 53 years.  The last time they were ranked in the preseason I was 5 months old.

Though I had seen the I-O-W-A flags run up and down Indiana’s Memorial Stadium many times, it was my first trip to Kinnick Stadium last weekend.  Made the trip with my friend Jerry Brown.  That made even the lousy performance by the Hoosiers a good time.

Indiana didn’t show up.  Jerry and I were more excited to be there than any player on the field I can tell you and they got their by plane.  That happens.  But like the old adage goes, THAT WAS A LONG WAY TO GO THE GET YOUR BUTT KICKED.  On the other hand, if you take away three plays.  Two of which were Santa inspired gifts from the boys in Red and White.  Those were two easy pick-six passes.  I felt for Michael Penix.  He played awful.  The other was a 59 yard run inspired by an IU brain fart on defense.  13-6  without those faux pas.  At least that is what I keep telling my optimistic self.  34-6 was the final.  No one expected that to happen.

The fans in Iowa were exceptionally nice all over town, save a couple middle finger waving guys in the second deck behind the endzone in front of us.  Perhaps some of that was a by-product of the fact that they were selling beer in Kinnick Stadium for the first time ever.  That still upsets me.  That college stadiums are selling alcohol is troublesome.  The players aren’t of age to buy it.  So you shouldn’t sell.  You should have to sneak it in, like Lewis Grizzard said was proper etiquette for college football games.

Last week we had 9 winners and 5 losers.

This week is cupcake week for many teams after a competetive first week.

Briefly…

Virginia beats Illinois…Illini won’t surprise again.

Minnesota beats Miami of Ohio…might be close.

Oregon beats Ohio State…Go Ducks Go!  I will be willing to lose a game a week picking against the Buckeyes.

Pitt beats Tennesse…The Johnny Majors Bowl III Pitt won in 1980 and 1983.  They will again today.

Penn State beats Ball State…Way too tempted to BSU upset.

NC State beat Mississippi State…Cowbells and Sword Swinging are at odds.

Texas beats Arkansas…So good to see these two playing again!

Indiana beats Idaho…Providing they find the stadium.  I think they will.  I still believe this team will go bowling again.

Kentucky beats Mizzou…QB in Blue had a nice start.

Ole Miss beats Austin Peay…Big crowd in Oxford.  Everyone will play tonight!

Marshall beats NC Central…Go Herd or Go home!

USC beats Stanford… Student body right?

Oregon beats Michigan…And it won’t be pretty.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Speaking the rights…

Danny Johnson

Whoa Nelly!  I so miss Keith Jackson.  I miss him and his college football broadcasting more and more each year.

I so enjoyed calling high school football games on the radio.  That was fun.  Hanging out with my partner and good friend, Gus Stephenson, was the best part.  I will always have that.

This was the scoreboard last night at the North Harrison JV game against Scottsburg.  That was the final score in a weather shortened contest.  I can tell you I was delighted to have a meaningful role on the sidelines last night.

The last time I had a meaningful role in a JV game on this field was in 1993 when I was coaching the Corydon Panthers JV team.  We lost that night.  But we had fun.  We had a 67 yard TD drive and we ran the same play 13 times until we hit the endzone.  I hope Jon Conrad remembers toting the mail for all those carries.  I called him “The Condor”.  It was a great time.

I am so PROUD of the team effort the JV team put together last night.  They did not make mistakes.  They played responsibility football and it worked out in our favor.  It was nice to be a part of.  Thanks to Coach Mark Williamson for giving me this opportunity.

On to College Football!

This is the first full week of college football.  Whilst I DO NOT like what the Big Ten has done pitting so many conference foes against each other in Week 1, that is where we are.

This Saturday I will be in Iowa City to watch the Iowa Hawkeyes host the INDIANA HOOSIERS.  This is only the second time these teams have faced each other as “ranked” opponents.  I expect Kinnick Stadium to be a powder keg at kickoff.  My old friend, Jerry Brown, will be there with me to take it in.  I BELIEVE the Hoosiers will win.  I have to!  I am the man with hotel reservations in Indy for the Big Ten Championship Game and hotel reservations in Pasadena for the Rose Bowl.  Heck yes, I BELIEVE!

I know, I know.  Tuesday is early to be making the weekend’s predictions, but, know that there are games on Thursday that need attention and I have a busy couple of nights ahead!

Week One College Football Predictions

Minnesota beats Ohio State…Look OSU has a new QB and this team is constantly reminded of how wonderful they are.  Nick Saban ain’t coaching the Buckeyes.  If there was ever a time for an upset, it is when the stadium is full again in Minneapolis and Goldy QB Tanner Morgan has something to prove.  That, and I just hope Brutus gets roasted!

NC State beats USF…The Wolfpack will get this one at home.

North Carolina beats Virginia Tech…Coach Mack Brown has the boys from Chapel Hill in good shape.

Duke beats Charlotte…Go Coach Cut Go!!!!

Northwestern beats Michigan State…The boys from Evanston will be tough again.

Kentucky beats Louisiana Monroe…Though I wish Coach Terry Bowden an upset.

INDIANA beats Iowa… The Hoosiers need this one to keep pace on the national stage.

The greatest IU game I ever witnessed in person was the Iowa game in 1988.  IU 45 Iowa 34 was the final score. ABC was there.  Lights were on the stadium for the first time that year.  Oh my, it was fun.

AT ran for more than 180 yards that day!

Marshall beats Navy… I know I am a Homer.  Even though Doc Holliday got a raw deal and was run out of town, the folks in Huntington need the Herd.  Go Herd or Go Home!

Purdue beats Oregon State…Coach Brohm will have some tools at PU and they will work.

Georgia beats Clemson…It has to come to an end for an ACC school losing its Golden Boy QB.  Trevor Lawrence comes around once in a lifetime.  The SEC is a grind EVERY YEAR that the ACC can’t comprehend.  Georgia wins by 17.  Yes, the SEC is that good.

Florida beats Florida Atlantic…Of course.  This is my cupcake.

UCLA beats LSU…Wow.  Seeing the LSU Tigers in my Rose Bowl Stadium.  I have been there twice since they have been there.  Which leads me to ask, have they ever been there?  The Bruins will be JACKED-UP for this one.

Notre Dame beats Florida State…FSU is still finding its stride.  ND should be good.

Ole Miss beats Louisville…Man, am I looking forward to this!  Go Rebs!  Hotty Toddy!

This will be fun this weekend, won’t it?

Root for your team, have fun…and speak the rights!

Danny Johnson

I have said it many times.

There are things we never get over.  We work through.

This photo was taken on my wedding day, February 10, 1996.  This photo is on the wall to my right as I type these words.  Words that don’t get any easier.

On this day in 1997, my dear friend Malcolm Todd “Corner King” Lincoln Sr died suddenly.  This tragic time took a great deal of wind out of the old sail.

To this day I have a twinge of guilt.  I was so low in the doldrums that my dear wife, Carrie, insisted I do something about it.  She suggested guitar lessons.  I procured a guitar and away I went.  My musical journey began in the middle of October 1997.  It took this tragedy to extract what has always been in my head and that is music.  I can pick up a guitar and in twenty minutes find words and music that will mean a great deal to me and I will take them with me for the rest of my life.  Songwriting is not difficult for me.  I wish everything were this simple.

I have ended up in a room making music with the likes of Tim Krekel, Jeff Guernsey, Rod Wurtele, Barry King, John Burgard, John Hayes, Gene Wickliffe, Dan Trisko and I could on.  With my dear friend and musical partner, Jeff Carpenter on the board, we have created some nice tunes together.

The Corner King and I were great together.  I dug sports and literature.  He dug cars and chrome!  We both dug into a can of SKOAL often and we both dug the music of The Moody Blues.  We saw The Moodies five times together.  In June of 1997, a Moodies concert in Ft. Wayne was our last road trip together.  Did we ever have fun.

On my first CD that I recorded in 2001, I wrote a song for Corner King.  In 2019 we revisited it and gave it some new treatment on my third CD.

I am 53.  I was 29 when the Corner King passed.  There are days when I can certainly relate to the lyrics of Bob Dylan in a song I enjoy hearing The Byrds sing.  The song is My Back Pages.

I can relate when Dylan writes:

I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now.

That is how I feel some days when I look back on my time with the Corner King.  We thought we would enjoy a cruise in old age.  We talked about driving to Montana some day, just because.

The song I wrote for Corner King Lincoln was this…

Don’t Miss The Last Dance

There were so many thing that I wanted to say

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

And 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 ceking at night when you knew you had a chance at romance?

One day the phone was ringing.  I picked it up and you’d gone away

There’s a force of nature that science just 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 they help to pull us through

And we’ve got our hopes and dreams where there’s still a little piece left 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?

Take the hand of someone you love tonight, while you still have a chance

And don’t miss the last dance

Don’t miss the last dance

Don’t miss the last dance

I so love this song.  I so miss the Corner King.  We never had a cross word.   We just enjoyed each other’s company to the end.  I can’t wait to see him again.  I know I will.

Speaking the sad rights…

Danny Johnson

So I have been asked how my new teaching gig is going at North Harrison High School.

In earnest, I have not taught an English class since 2015.  I have not taught English full time in many more years than that. Guess what?  That old adage about riding a bike is true.  I hit my stride in no time at all.  And guess what, again?  This old dog is learning some new tricks!  I am using this thing called Google Classroom.  I am making video recordings that summarize the daily lessons and it is a great thing.   If a student is not present, he or she can still get caught up on what went on in class that day.

Room 104 is where I reside now.  It is so much bigger than an office I can tell you.

I feel so blessed to have the chance to build positive relationships with the students I see in class 6 periods a day.  It is a wonderful thing.

Every day we have a “Quote of the Day” on the board.  Yesterday, I just left this one up there and did not address it in any formal manner.  It was August 24, 1984 when Paul Haub said this on a team bus heading to Brownstown.  We defeated the Braves that night 59-0.  It is still the worst defeat for BCHS at Blevins Stadium and I am so glad I was a part of it.

Being in the classroom is great. Watching that “dink” of a lightbulb over a student’s head as he or she formulates some critical thinking and “gets it” is a thing of wonder.  It is why we are there.  I never tire seeing students make progress and I ache when they do not care.

We press onward.  That is one of my mantras.  That and this one that is on display in the room:

I sincerely believe this.

And yes, this old North Harrison Cougar is back in the fray of helping the football team along in a season that brings crowds and some normalcy back.  No, I never thought I would be here again in this capacity.  But I am.  I am so thankful.

Last Friday I saw this moon coming up over the trees and harkened back to a day so many years ago in October when I saw the same scene.  It was dark that night.  It was October and not August. The harvest moon was a bit larger.  Ronald Reagan was in the White House I am sure.  Still, this stirred a great deal in me when I saw it this past Friday.

I left North in March 2020 and went to work at another school.  I didn’t expect to be back.  I am.  And I am having a wonderful time helping students learn to use the English language to their benefit.  Like I tell them often, it is all about being better communicators.

Yes, we lost the first varsity game against Salem.  One game does not a season make.

This Friday the Cougars play at Scottsburg.  It should be a good one!

Speaking the thankful rights.

Danny Johnson

ARE YOU READY?

It is 9:30 AM EDT.  I am on the porch of our Southern Indiana home and the temperature is not getting any cooler with a single key I mash on this board.  The trees are stone still and the best I can get in the form of moving air is an ancient “floor fan” that looks like it could double as a foot stool.  How it keeps running I will never know.  It was here long before I was.

Here we are.  Looking forward, cautiously nonetheless, to full stadiums on college campuses.  We’ll make our way to TV sets and watch intently.  When opportunity presents itself, we will file into our favorite football cathedrals and hear the roar of the crowd unlike we have heard it before.   My apologies to the SEC.  This roar will mean more.

Look out.  This is going to be fun!

The last college football game I attended was Michigan at Indiana on November 23, 2019.  It seems like a decade ago.

There we were.  Me, the old guy, and my dear friend Adam Disque.

There was snow flying on occasion that night.   I can hear Keith Jackson now, “Looks like the Maize and Blue brought a little weather down with’em.”

I miss Keith Jackson just like I missed college football in all of its glory and pagentry and fellowship and you fill your own precious blanks.  So long 2020.  You did not live up to much vision at all.

THE STAGE IS SET

I make no apologies for being an Indiana University Football fan.  There are many old die-hard Hoosier fans thinking much like the old song I Was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool.  Well, old Hoosier fans, you’re cool now!  It was worth the wait.

My turning of the back in 1996 when Indiana fired Bill Mallory is well documented on past pages here.  So is my peacemaking session with Cam Cameron.  Things didn’t get much better.  For me, the low point of Hoosier Football was when IU hosted a #24 ranked Minnesota team in October of 2004 on Homecoming.  Very few came home.  There were more than 30,000 empty seats for a Homecoming conference game.  So long Coach DiNardo.  Cue the entrance of Coach Terry Hoeppner in 2005.  Had his life not been taken from us due to brain cancer, he would have made believers of some folks.  He was well on his way.  Coach Bill Lynch took over and did not get the support he needed.  Next man up was Kevin Wilson.  I cringed when he was hired.  At Yankee Stadium’s  Pinstripe Bowl press conference alongside opposing coach, David Cutcliffe, when you need to act like you are glad to be there, Wilson made a remark about not being much of a baseball fan.  I don’t remember the exact quote.  I wish I could forget that game.  I am a Coach Cut fan too.  The outcome of the game did not hurt me.

When Indiana hired Coach Tom Allen, I knew things would get better and figured I would live to see it happen.  I had never felt this way about Indiana Football before.

I BELIEVE.  I believed long before most, I think.  That doesn’t matter.  That won’t make a tackle or knock down a pass.  Still, there is some satisfaction in seeing the success in the distance before it presented itself on the field.  Sometimes you just know.

Last season ended with a big Hoosier disrespectapalooza.  If you remember, the Big Ten changed its own rule on determining a team’s eligibility to play in the Big Ten Championship Game.  Let Ohio State play, even though they did not participate in as many games as we said they would need to qualify.  They have a chance to play for a National Championship and those dollars are more important than our rules.  What a wonderful message sent from The Big Ten (Fourteen).

To make matters worse, The Hoosiers, a one loss team during the regular season, were made to play a team with a losing record in the Outback Bowl.  That team was Ole Miss.  The Ole Miss Rebels had the Hoosiers’ number that day.

I hated every minute of it.  From the time the game was announced to the final horn.  Yes, I was certainly for INDIANA.  A few of my Mississippi kinfolk were disappointed in me.  Some were not.  I had rooted for Ole Miss each time they played and have attended many of their games over the years.  No fun at all.

Be it the first game of the season or the last game of the season, a loss brings  with it plenty to improve on.  I think these Hoosiers are much improved.

How much more?  Let’s just say I have hotel reservations in Indy for the Big Ten Championship game and hotel reservations in Pasadena for the Grandaddy of them all.

The Hoosiers must beat Iowa to get to Pasadena.  That is the first game of the season in Iowa City.  I plan on being there too.  I want to see the start of this run and then the end of it.

NATIONAL NOTES

It is still Alabama’s crown to lose, isn’t it?  It has to be that way.  There is a mindset that starts with Coach Nick Saban and ends with the most unrealistic and unreasonable demanding fans that I have ever seen or heard in Alabama.  If they can pull it off year after year, I tip my new Ole Miss cap to them.

Look, I witnessed this.

After a game in which Tua Tagovailoa threw a school record six touchdowns over Ole Miss, my dear wife, Carrie, and I were hanging out near a scorched grass parking lot near Bryant-Denny Stadium with Brother Tim and Michelle Petty and some other good Tide faithful.  Carrie and I were the Ole Miss loners.   I heard this exchange nearby:

“Tua threw six TDs today.”

Another fellow turned his head sideways and said, “Yeah, but there were some balls he left out there too.  He missed some throws for sure.”

Listening to this, I thought I was going to fall backwards out of my bag chair.  And I couldn’t help but to say to myself the Southern version of the question “What are you talking about?”  I said to myself, “Do what?”

It was just more football education that day.  And I was DELIGHTED to take a picture of the scoreboard when the Ole Miss Rebels were ahead of the Alabama Crimson Tide 10-7.

Clemson is there too.  To much cream in that orange soda to discount.  Hats off to Dabo Swinney.

Ohio State is going to be a task for any team.  They have one of the most favorable schedules in all of the Big Ten.  That does matter, like it or not.  It may help a team playing them too.  We’ve seen it before.  Remember when Purdue put a licking on them in 2018?  The Buckeyes were full of themselves heading into Ross-Ade Stadium and got more gold paint on their helmets by game’s end than they expected.  Purdue 49 Ohio State 20.

For some reason I keep circling one date on my calendar over and over again.  That would be October 23rd.

Georgia will be tough.

The Cincinnati Bearcats will be good.  They will sneak up on no one.  The Bearcats were 9-0 in the regular season last year and played Georgia tough as nails in the Peach Bowl.  I was for UC in that game.  Let’s us not forget that 7 of their 9 games before the Peach Bowl were at home and they struggled in a few of those.  Can’t wait to see this team and its Top Ten ranking come calling to Bloomington on September 18th.

I think Notre Dame will be a little down this year. They lost a ton offense, with potentially only two offensive starters returning.  ND gets the love nomatter what.  Some traditions hold on.

Looking forward to seeing Sam Howell play quarterback for the North Carolina Tarheels.  The boy can sling it.  I hope the Tarheels are strong this year.

THE BIG TEN

I look to the sky at the start of each Big Ten College Football season and am thankful that we are rid of the old names that were to distinct the two divisions of the conference.

The Leaders Division and The Legends Divison

Does it get anymore ostentatious than that?  No wonder folks in the SEC have such disdain for the Big Ten.  Who could blame them?

The Leaders and the Legends are no more.  We have an East and a West to comptemplate.

BIG TEN EAST

1.  Ohio State…They are still on top of the mountain.  Hope to see them fall sideways.  You can’t argue with this kind of success and how they have made Michigan men look not so much like Michigan men.

2.  INDIANA…This is a Hoosier team loaded like I have never seen in my lifetime.  It is as simple as that.  What Coach Tom Allen has stirred up in Bloomington is a secret sauce that IU fans have never wondered about before.  Look for USC transfer Stephen Carr to do good things in the backfield.  Just typing that a USC running back wants to come to Indiana should tell the college football world something.  Michael Penix at QB needs to stay healthy.  That has not been the case so far in his career.   Special teams look strong.  The defensive is as solid as ever. I thought Tiawan Mullen at cornerback was the best DB we have seen at IU since Mike Dumas.  Michah McFadden?  He’ll put a lick on you.  What impresses me most is team speed.  The defense looks like it can cover the field from sideline to sideline like it could not before.  Offensively, Hoosier teams of old looked like they had a protractor and a T-square in the huddle.  Those days are gone.  It was a matter of Coach Tom Allen’s special sauce, his LEO mantra, and players starting to BELIEVE.

Dave Kornowa, Indiana Rose Bowl participant.  1967 season.

3.  Penn State….The offense is loaded in Happy Valley.  Beaver Stadium will be ready for a White-Out and some bulbs on the scoreboard needing to be changed because they will be burning out against some teams. Nonconference against Villanova must have all the Nittany Lions fired up.  Everybody plays!  A home game against Auburn in week three looks to tell us something.

4.  Michigan….Michigan scares no one anymore.  The Hoosiers look to go there in November to bring home the first victory in Ann Arbor since the 1967 Rose Bowl team. Hope Michigan can upset the Buckeyes and get something started again.

5.  Maryland…They have recruited better and this team should be improved.  How things work out up front will help tell the tale.  That and stay away from injuries.

6.  Michigan State…Coach Tucker has his work cut out for him.  That was not a mean green defense last year.  My apologies to Mean Joe Green.  When you are 2-5 and one of those victories is against Michigan, that does not bode well for the state.  Sparty does expect many returning starters and that could move them up the list here.  But it also may be a case of what one old basketball coach told me.  “We have a graduation problem.  I wish this bunch of seniors had headed out the door with last year’s.”

7.  Rutgers…Rutgers indeed.  Hope the NY market is working for you, Big Fourteen.

BIG TEN WEST

1. Iowa…Coach Kirk Ferentz has dodged some stuff hasn’t he?  He is the longest tenured coach in the Big Ten.  The Hawkeyes should be a tough bunch again.  Am I the only one who enjoys seeing the quarterback line up under center?  I doubt it.  The Hawkeyes’ grinding, hard-working style is fun to watch.  Spencer Petras should do well at quarterback.  Looks like seven may potentially be back as defensive starters.  You can always count on a couple of Iowa conference games to look like two mules fighting over a turnip and it is a good time!

2.  Northwestern…Why not?  I don’t like Swissconsin.  Meaning I do not like Swissconsin or their annoying fans.  The job Coach Fitz has done in Evanston is remarkable.  QB transfer, Hillinski, we help a depleted offense.

3.  Minnesota…Goldy has to improve and this is the chance for Coach Fleck.  The boat sprang a leak last year.  A boat load of offense returns.  The defense should have a solid pass rush.

4.  Purdue…Boiler Pete needs a few wins.  He’ll still have a goofy look on his face nomatter what.  Kind of like Buddy Bat, the mascot of AAA Louisville Bats baseball team.  Buddy always has a smile on his face.  The Bats could be down 10 runs and he is still smiling.  Where is a Nuke LaLoosh pitch to the mascot when you need one?

5.  Nebraska…I am tempted to put Illinois here.  Nebraska reminds me of a photo negative of a good old fashion couching burning win in West Virginia.  Things are bad in Lincoln.  Bet those fans miss the old league.  Nevermind, the old league is breaking up yet again.

6.  Illinois…Bret…Bret…Bret…Coach Bret Bielema is back where he belongs.  After stubbing his toe as the Arkansas Razorback’s head coach, he spent three years in the NFL.  Now the former Iowa Hawkeye player and Wisconsin coach is back in the Big Ten coaching Illinois.  Welcome Back.

7.  Swissconsin…Well, a man can dream!

THE SEC

Always the most entertaining college football conference year in and year out, the SEC is going to be a good time again in 2021.  Talk about some loud stadiums.  If we can keep them packed, have mercy!  I’d hate to be on the ball side of 4th and 6 with the game on the line in Tiger Stadium.

We have already established that Alabama is the team to beat.  I will still be rooting for the Ole Miss Rebels.

SEC WEST

1.  Alabama…The Tide should win the National Championship.

2.  Texas A & M….Teams from the East on the schedule are not Georgia and Florida.  They are Mizzou and South Carolina.  That helps.

3.  Ole Miss…I know.  I’m a homer.  But the offense will be potent and how could the defense not improve a little?  Put 8 players out there, maybe.  But there will be 11 out there and they will throw up their fins above their helmets more often than they did last year, no matter how corny that gesture looks for a team closer to the delta than the coast.

4.  LSU…Toss-up here with Auburn for me.  Things in the Red Stick have not been going too well.

4b. Auburn…Looks like they will have ample starters returning and better QB play from Bo Nix will improve things.  We’ll see what Coach Harsin has in week three at Penn State.

6.  Mississippi State…Coach Mike Leach always has something entertaining going on.  In this case, given State’s position (stuck in the SEC West for now), most of the entertainment will coming from his press conferences.

7.  Arkansas…Plenty of starters coming back.  Problem is they were 3-7 last year.  Yes it was all SEC play.  And they did upset a lethargic Ole Miss team looking like it wished it had stayed in Oxford that weekend.  Can’t really fault them for that.   I hope Coach Pittman proves me wrong!

SEC EAST

1.  Georgia…Is there another logical choice?

2.  Florida…Should be a solid 2nd.  They will entertain, however, the non-conference schedule is not a good look for an SEC East team wanting to impress.

3.  Kentucky….The Wildcats are not mildcats.  I have a feeling the quarterback will be a bonafide leader.  Afterall, the old boy eats bananas without peeling them first.  That’s a man, now!  Coach Stoops’ work at Basketball State should not be lost on folks.  They have a strong fanbase, partly because there is not a great deal to do in Kentucky after the Derby is over.

4.  South Carolina…They too have a new coach in Shane Beamer.  Shane is the son of famed Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer.  Will we see Beamerball 2.0 in Columbia, with punts and placekicks being blocked by the score?

5.  Mizzou…I started to give them 4.  After a 5-5 season, they look to have plenty of guys back on both sides of the ball.

6.  Tennessee…Can’t believe I am putting UT here.  Feels awkward.  The SEC is better when UT is in the East hunt.  There is an energy in Knoxville that, when created and recreated, can move Rocky Top.

Nothing like getting your earwax melted by an overzealoused guy in an orange polo with a capital T on it.  They were playing Bama and I had the only Ole Miss shirt on in Neyland Stadium.

7.  Vandy…In the vernacular of Lewis Grizzard, “Bless their hearts.”  You know how Notre Dame is an ACC member in everything but football?  Could we give Vandy football that same grace and let them play as an independent in football?  Of course not!  They’d have to talk PBS into showing all their home games!  I love you, Nashville!

THE ACC

The local school, The University of Louisville, just a half hour’s drive to the East and over a bridge getting repaired right now opens the season against Ole Miss in Atlanta.  Who makes these schedules up any way?  Wish the Rebs were playing in Louisville.  I have either had to travel to Lexington or Nashville to do it all in one day.

I still like the hire of Coach Scott Satterfield at Louisville.  I think he is a good coach and a good guy.  Perhaps that Louisville is rather foreign to that combination in its 2 major men’s athletic teams is an uphill battle for him.  I hope it improves.  It’s amazing what a few interceptions and missed field goals can do to turn a season around.

Coach Bowden.  We recently lost Coach Bobby Bowden the aw-shucks, dadgum, you-know-it legend of a coach.  Florida State will be his team for many years to come.  The Seminoles are still trying to find their way since they decided Coach Bowden couldn’t do it anymore.  Had Florida State let Coach Bowden go out on his own terms, they would probably be ranked in the preseason Top 25 instead thinking about the 14 year run that saw the Seminoles, under Coach Bowden, finish in the Top 5.

ACC ATLANTIC

1. Clemson…Duh!

2.  Boston College…The boys in Chesnut Hill will shock some folk.

3.  NC State…The Wolfpack is steady and that is a win in Raleigh.

4.  Louisville… The Cards need to stay out of their own way and they will win some games.

5.  Wake Forest… I will be chided by some of my brethren in Winston-Salem for making this call.

6.  Florida State…Win one for anyone.

7.  Syracuse…The Orange will struggle.  Theme is consistent here.  1-10 last year and most of the team is back.

ACC COASTAL

1. North Carolina…Tarheels with Sam Howell making Coach Mack Brown look brilliant.  Remember Vince Young?

2.  Miami…If injuries don’t derail this team, they will be strong and will contend for the divison.

3.  Pitt…The Panthers were 6-5 last year and should have finished stronger.  They will right the ship.

4.  Georgia Tech…Look for the wreck to resemble one at times and then be back on the rails.  Hang on to the football!

5.  Virginia Tech…The Hokies may surprise me and make me seem foolish here.

6.  Duke…I would never call for a Coach David Cutcliffe team to finish last in a division.  Consider this similarly to my placement of Swissconsin in the Big Ten.

7.  Virginia…They won a few they should not have last year.  I suppose the uncertainty of last year makes most of these picks crapshoots moving forward.

THE PAC 12

Champ:  USC

THE BIG 12

Champ:  Oklahoma

AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

Champ: Cincinnati 

See ya September 18th!

MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE

Champ: Ball State

CONFERENCE USA

Champ:  Marshall

I must say that I regret that Coach Doc Holliday was given his walking papers after last season.  The politics of being are always at work in this game, for better or worse.  I still love The Herd.  A coach gets named Conference Coach of the Year and gets canned.  Wow.  What a shame.

MOUNTAIN WEST

Champ: Boise State

Who else?

SUN BELT

Champ: Louisiana

The Ragin’ Cajuns are holding steady.

Next weekend there will be a handful of college games including Nebraska vs. Illinois and Hawaii playing in the Rose Bowl against the UCLA Bruins.  Always nice to see Pasadena.  On Labor Day Weekend, the 2021 NCAA College Football season begins in earnest.

Let it begin.   Stay safe and enjoy it.

We’ll be back before Labor Day Weekend with the first installment of weekly speaktherights.com College Football Predictions.

Take care and speak the rights!

Danny Johnson

And so it begins.  The 2021 High School football season.  I am glad to be back around the game.  Thanks to Coach Williamson for saying, “Come on!”

I get to practice when I can.  I have no title.  I just want to help kids swing their legs when I can and be whatever sounding board I can be.  Other than that, I just keep my mouth shut and soak it all in.

Most of what can be done with kickers in mind is similar to the mentality of the free throw shooter.  It is called repitition.  And for a kicker the best time to work on that is in the summer on a lonely field with a bag of balls and a great deal of repetition.

I still get a shiver up the spine when we line up to kick a point or a field goal in practice. And I hope I can one night carry a North Harrison kicker off the field when he connects on a field goal that is longer than 38 yards.  I had the best view of that one in 1985.

No, I did not expect to be in this position.  I have said it before and I say it again, if you want to make God laugh, tell him what your plans are.  But it is a good time.  The days are a little long, especially when I come home and record a video lesson to be sent out to students that are quarantined due to this pesky Covid.  It is awful.

Games will be cancelled, I am afraid.  I know of some junior high games that have already been.  That is sad.

In the meantime, we will enjoy what we are given of Friday Night Lights.

Go Cougars!

Speaking the rights…

Danny Johnson

Oh my, I guess I ahould be watching the NFL Hall of Fame inductions right now.  I’m not.  I am writing here.  No great piece of prose, just a few things rattling the cage.

Peyton Manning will give a speech tonight.  I heard him say it will be brief.  I don’t doubt that.  He was economical as a player.  Did his job.  Didn’t act like he was running for public office after he made a good throw.  He was looking for the next set of downs.  A first ballot Hall of Famer, Peyton’s Dad, Archie, is introducing him.

I have said it so many times.  Peyton made football in Indiana.  He changed it all.  Basketball is still King and that is fine.  But, things have changed.  When the head football coach at Indiana gets a competitive salary, you know things have changed.

My dear wife, Carrie, and I have many times driven by Canton, Ohio many times on the way to the Northeast.  Canton is the location of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.  I have no desire to visit the place as long as my hero, Ken Anderson, former Bengals’ quaterback, is not in the Hall.  I was the same way with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.  When they FINALLY put The Moody Blues there, we were there to see their exhibit a few months later.  Canton and Cleveland are not far apart at all.

SO THIS OLD BOY IS BACK IN THE CLASSROOM

Oh my, again. We don’t have the time or the word count here to let you know how much I am glad to be back at North Harrison.

I have not taught full time for a few years.

I am reminded of the Van Zant Brothers song, I think it is, when they say “If you want to make God laugh, tell him what your plans are.”

Had kids in the class three days last week and they were great days.  Looking forward to seeing them tomorrow.  I was very impressed with their attention and overall comportment last week.  I think we are going to have a good time of it.  I am blessed to be in their presence.

Fortunately, I have found myself back on the football practice field.  Thanks to Coach Williamson for letting me be there to help the kickers and punters swing their legs and be whatever sounding board I can be.  That and I don’t mind hauling equipment when need be.  I am so proud of this school and this coaching staff.  I remember when the some of our worst opponents were in our midst.  Thankfully, those days are behind us.

I told Coach I could offer what I could.  I owe my dear wife, Carrie, a college football season and a fall break.  Outside that, I am all in.  I have never felt as comfortable on a practice field as I did last week.

OLE MISS REBELS!

Did I hear this right?  I was told Coach Lane Kiffin had all of his players vaccinated for Covid-19.  Wow!  I hope that is speaking the rights.  I hope that is true.

I try not to make facebook trouble.  I will not attack someone individually.  But, I could not help myself this evening.

I posted this….

It truly amazes me that some folks are more content buying 100 dollars worth of toilet paper and staying home vs. getting a free shot that will save lives.  Cue John Mellencamp…we have found those Pink Houses!

Speaking the rights,

Danny Johnson

Oh my, how times have changed.

Thirty years ago The Moody Blues released the album “Keys of the Kingdom.”

I am finally listening to this album today on vinyl.  I aquired it via Ebay for a great price.  Perhaps my last Moodies puzzle piece, I saw this album at the old Ear-X-Tacy store in 1991 for 14.99.  I didn’t have fifteen bucks that day.  Thankfully, today I do.  This copy came from Germany at a comparable price.

I so enjoyed this album.  At the time I was working at Sears in Clarksville, Indiana and attending class at Indiana University Southeast trying to find my way in the world.  In a couple months, when I met Dr. Millard Dunn for G208, my life would never be the same.  This was a good thing.

The Moodies always toured.  When I knew they would be playing at the Timberwolf Ampitheater at Kings Island on August 13, 1991, I knew I would be there.

I did not know that a moment for me would be greater than the concert ever was.  I took a young lady with me that day (this was my pre-Carrie love of my life days).  We rode all the rides and had a great time.  I admit it for the first time in nearly thirty years, that this young lady wanted to ride on the front car of the ride called the “VORTEX”.  I swallowed hard and told her it was great.  And it was.  Would not trade it for the world.

Neither would I trade the moment when we were at a booth where you could win  prize by throwing a football through a VERY small hoop.

Look.  Confidence with a football in my hands was never a problem.  My Dad coached football.  I never had a football far from arm’s reach my whole life!

I stepped up to that booth and its confines.  I laughed.  I look at the guy running the booth.  “This is too easy,” I said.

He told me to GO FOR IT.

I did.

I took a bonafide Ken Anderson five step drop and drilled that ball and all that ball hit was the back of the tent that held the game.  Folks around the game actually cheered.

The guy in charge of the game shook my hand.  He told me I could have any prize I wanted.   I looked to my lady friend and told her to pick one out.

All I remember is that it was HUGE and we had to take that pink bear back to the car before the Moodies’ concert.

Does she still have that bear?  I hope not.  Those things don’t have a great shelf life!

Had I not threaded the needle we would not be talking about this today.

The Moodies concert?  My lady friend looked at me and said, “These guys should be playing RIVERFRONT STADIUM instead of this this 10,000 seat venue.”

I knew then and I know now, she was a smart young lady.

Speaking the rights….

Danny Johnson

Written whilst listening to the Soundtrack of the 1980 movie Somewhere In Time.  No words.  Beautiful music.

Am I blue?

I am.  It has been a summer like no other.  I remember last summer.  Carrie and I were feeling bad because we were relagated to sitting in the front yard in lawn chairs reading good books wishing we could hit the road.  We couldn’t hit the road.  Covid saw to that.  What I would give to have that summer back.

In the space of 19 days, our boys, Jarrett and Cody lost their Dad, Barry Beckett, as he was diving in Key West on June 15 and then Jarrett’s long time girfriend, Sarah Danielle Hutchinson, was killed in a boating accident in West Virginia on the 4th of July soon after Jarrett told her and her old IU college buddies to have a good time.

Sarah was a shining light in our lives.  I miss that light.

This is a picture of Sarah playing soccer back in the day.  She was a determined young lady.  About to finish a second master’s degree and attain her status as a Physician’s Assistant, she was a driven young lady.  I have no doubt she kicked a few shins.

I have not posted anything original here since June 22.  I have not felt like it.  Not at all.

Life happens.

And as we keep moving forward, as we keep pressing onward, some good things happen too.

I am back at North Harrison High School.  No, I am not in this counseling office; I am across the hall in Room 104.  And I am so glad to be there.  I will once again be back where it all started for me.  Teaching English is a passion.  Helping students to manipulate the English language to their benefit for the rest of their lives is my ultimate goal as an English teacher.  We’re going to have a good time.

I wore this T shirt on the field at The Rose Bowl when I got to swing my leg there in 2018.  Each time I see that shirt on that field, it makes me smile.  Given I landed here in Northland during the Carter Administration, I know what it means.

My classroom is ready.  And I am so excited to meet my new students.

It is going to be a good time.  Lord knows we could all use it!

Speaking the rights,

Danny Johnson  Room 104