Monday, October 29, 2007

 

It's probably just me ...

In January, the Colts won the Super Bowl. This year, I haven't quite got with the program. The 7-0 start is great and all, but my level of enthusiasm isn't quite the same. I'd hate to think I'm that easily jaded, but...

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The evil New England Patriots are coming to town . The hype machines are in full spin and though I know that this will go a long way toward determining home field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs, I have a hard time getting all that worked up over a regular season game.


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While watching my Red Sox, It occurred to me that I am not nearly as excited about their Series win in '07 as I was in '04, maybe because it had been so long waiting and hoping for the first win.



I am emphatically NOT a bandwagon fan - my allegiance to the Sox goes back to the early 60's. My son is named for Yaz, although spelled with a "K." I had no local team to root for back then. There was some talk of an MLB team for Indy way back when, but the franchises in Chicago and Cincinnati were against the idea due to a loss of fan base.


To this day I detest all things Chicago and actively root against their sports teams. The White Sox and Cubs for obvious reasons and the Bears just because. Same for Cincy, although my antipathy toward Cincy doesn't rise to anywhere near the level I reserve for Chicago.


Although dropping the series to the Reds in '75 was more than a little annoying...


Anyway -


The Red Sox are world champs!

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BTW, my affinity for the Sox doesn't mean I am any less desirous of a pasting of the Patriots by my Colts. I'm going out on a limb and predicting Colts by a touchdown over New England.

Go Blue!


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It's been a long time since I felt good about the Indiana Pacers. When I was a kid and the Pacers were in their old ABA glory years I loved the team. Now, I would love to see them do well, but as a product I find the NBA to be less than compelling. I would love to see the NBA adopt international rules.


The regular season is nearly meaningless. Oh well.


The Pacers are about to open their season. They aren't expected to do much, so I won't be too disappointed if they don't set the league on fire, but I hope they give me a reason to cheer.

I also hope they cut out the extra-curricular crap that has given the franchise and the city a black eye over the past few seasons.

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Monday, October 22, 2007

 

Two posts in two weeks...

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Now 5-3, my Hoosiers still aren't bowl eligible. The Penn State game was a heckuva game to watch, but losing by 5 when Kellen Lewis fumbled away our last chance was hard to take. C'est la vie. I've been a Hoosier fan a long time. One gets used to it.

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I was unable to take advantage of probably the last really good riding weekend of the year. I took my daughter to the game Saturday and my bike really isn't much good for two riders over a distance of 300 miles. In fact, you couldn't pay me to ride on the back of the bike for 20 miles, much less 300.

I went to church Sunday with the missus and spent the rest of the day entertaining grandkids, so the bike spent the entire weekend in the garage.

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It's raining and the temperature is falling. We're getting into seasonable late October weather. The riding gets much chillier from here on out. Tomorrow (Tuesday) looks like a washout, but the rest of the week should be decent riding weather.

The Iceman cometh. You'd think all this global warming would be good for something.

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Wednesday, October 10, 2007

 

Busy, busy, busy...

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Here it is October and the heat wave is officially over - 90 one day and 45 the next will certainly shock the system. As a motorcyclist, I find that I am keenly aware of weather changes. This one was a real awakening.

My knit cap blew off on the road south this morning and on the return trip my noggin was thoroughly chilled. The leather jacket and gloves did the trick, but I'm going to have to break down and have Omar make me some chaps. Two cowhides oughtta do the trick...

I've spent the last six weekends actually doing something for a change. Labor Day was spent on the beach and dunes at Ludington State Park - my favorite vacation spot. Hiking, camping and swimming in Lake Michigan is about as close to heaven as you can get here in the Midwest.

Three home games at Indiana University in Bloomington - possibly the best campus in the country to watch a football game. The scenery on the ride down is spectacular and the setting for the stadium is gorgeous. IU is 5-1 on the season so far - Go Hoosiers!

The wife's birthday was September 17th. We didn't do anything special; I just got her a card and had flowers delivered to her office and made plans for the following weekend. Come Saturday, we attended the IU-Illinois game at noon, then left for some shopping at St. Meinrad and finally dinner in Jasper at our favorite restaurant, Schnitzelbank for beer and schnitzel and goulash and brats and knocks and sauerbraten...the sampler plate is to die for. Almost literally. I didn't think I was going to make it up the hill to our parking spot.

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I splurged and bought a YMCA membership for me and the missus. Now I spend an hour a day in the pool swimming laps. I love it. Swimming is more relaxing than any other exercise, and since harpoons aren't generally allowed in indoor pools, I feel safer than at the beach. Of course, I also get to spend an hour on the bike going to and from the Y...

Life is good.

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