Author Archives: Kent Sterling

Coaches are always a three-game losing streak from the hot seat – the Colts have lost three straight!

These three leaders were never going to be happier together than on the day Frank Reich was hired.

The NFL season is three games old, and Indianapolis Colts fans don’t know what to do with their anger over the winless start.

Just like disgruntled customers at a restaurant, Colts fan want to talk to the manager.  The only question is whether that manager for the Colts is coach Frank Reich or general manager Chris Ballard.  One is paid to teach and scheme, and the other hires the employees that are not delivering a satisfactory result.

Coaches are judged by their losses and NFL GMs are vetted by the quality of their drafts.  Both can see their careers derailed by the failure to meet high expectations which are built through a lens distorted by recency bias.  Win some, and more wins are expected.  Get to the playoffs, and a Super Bowl needs to be next.

Reich led a Colts roster built by Ballard to the playoffs last year.  After coming within three points of upsetting the Bills on the road in the wild card round, this year fans assumed they would take a step in the right direction.  Owner Jim Irsay keeps mentioning the goal of this franchise is to win multiple championships, which has to make Reich and Ballard wince.  Fans bought in.

At 0-3, fans are now selling out, and Reich and Ballard are the people they are demanding pay the price.  Never mind that Reich led the Colts to the playoffs two out of the three full seasons and is now coaching a fourth starting quarterback in as many years.  Never mind that Ballard built the rosters that earned spots in the playoffs.  Anger demands a victim, and Reich and Ballard are as good as any.

When a play works, the players did it.  Fans say things like, “What a throw by Wentz!”  “Did you see Pittman grab that ball out of nowhere?”  “Buckner made the center and guard look silly!”  When a play fails, it’s always, “What the hell was Reich thinking?”  Forget that a block was missed or a run would have been idiotic against an eight-man front.  Reich should never have called what he did!

The only acceptable eventual answer for fans is a championship.  Once a coach gets a ring, he buys himself up to a year of grace before he fails to repeat which incurs the wrath of those for whom one championship is not enough.  That means everyone.

With a general manager, it’s similar.  Ballard drafted Jonathan Taylor, Darius Leonard, and Braden Smith in the second round.  Those guys aren’t just starters, but game-changing forces.  Fans give glancing credit to Ballard for those successes.  They say, “Who wouldn’t have taken those guys?  It was obvious they would succeed!”

Fans look at Ben Banogu, Quincy Wilson, and Parris Campbell, and say, “What kind of idiot is Ballard?  Those guys suck!”  Of course, Wilson’s sucking is past tense, and Banogu and Campbell may stop sucking soon, but it’s the misses that define a general manager.

In the backs of our minds, we understand that Reich didn’t suddenly get dumb and Ballard is hitting on picks more often than missing, but we still require someone to point at when the Colts fall short of expectations.  It happened to Chuck Pagano and Ryan Grigson too.  Hell, even Bill Polian was run out of town after the disastrous 2011 season as Peyton Manning recovered from a spate of neck surgeries.  Indy is not alone in demanding a head on a platter for falling short of perfection.  Bill Belichick was fired in Cleveland.  The Bulls allowed Phil Jackson to leave the Bulls after a second threepeat.  That had nothing to do with Bulls fans, but it was still ridiculous.

That’s the way professional sports work.  Win, it’s the players.  Lose, it’s the coaches and/or GM.  And when the losses get so thick a sacrifice is demanded, the coach and GM start to position themselves against each other because their survival instinct kicks in.  That’s stage three of systemic failure.  Colts aren’t there yet, and that’s a good thing.

Hopefully, the Colts work this out before an entry to stage three requires an intervention with Irsay – like the Pagano vs. Grigson standoff of 2016 that ended in that bizarre late night press conference with Smiling Chuck, Scowling Ryan, and oddly proud Jim.

The Colts must get a win this Sunday, or the downward spiral of fan anger and their demand for accountability will accelerate toward an abyss from which someone is not going to be able to climb.

Indianapolis Colts – Injuries mount – again! Pacers will improve! IU Basketball sets lofty goals!

Indianapolis Colts – Frank Reich’s words hollow and absurd! Indiana Pacers ready for Carlisle!

Indianapolis Colts – Good, Bad & Ugly of 3rd loss! Pacers Media Day – what’s coming? Ryder Cup GLORY

Indianapolis Colts – Carson Wentz practices, may start! Braden Smith out! Ivan the Idol’s 6-pack of picks!

Summer turns to fall and energy for Indiana Athletics turns again from football to basketball!

The transitive property of Indiana Athletics: If Tom Allen’s enthusiasm brought wins, Indiana fans would remain enthusiastic about Indiana Football.

The air in the Indiana Football balloon escaped at halftime of the 38-24 loss to Cincinnati.  IU still led 14-10, but anyone who has been around the Hoosiers knew what was about to happen.

Memorial Stadium, earlier packed to the corners for the only time in 30 years for a game not against Ohio State, became sparsely populated again as fans chose to seek an environment they could control.  As Indiana fans know better than anyone, there are no losers at a tailgate party or Nick’s.

Immediately after the game and parties ended, my mind wandered to basketball.  That may seem unfair to the football program coming off a 6-2 season, but old habits are hard to break.  Fans can only be disappointed so many times before developing protective mechanisms against future misery.

Indiana fans are used to watching football without significant emotional investment.  That’s what happens when you tether your hopes to America’s losingest program.  We’ve learned.  We’ve adapted.  Nine days to Hoosier Hysteria.

“Can Michael Penix stay healthy” has become “Can Trayce Jackson-Davis dominate the Big 10?”  That’s Indiana.  I’ve even caught myself asking whether Ali Patberg can lead IU’s women’s basketball program to the Final Four.  That’s an unprecedented level of abandonment for football in my decades as an Indiana fan.  I suspected the 6-2 mark was Covid aided, so pivoting back to this familiar territory was inevitable.

It’s comfortable to get excited about Indiana Basketball in a way that doesn’t happen with football.  Despite IU not going to a Final Four since 2002 and not cutting down the nets at the NCAA Tournament in 34 years, the program has shown occasional signs of life never apparent across the parking lot at Memorial Stadium.

Mike Woodson returning to Bloomington to try to get things straight has given fans a legitimate reason to believe brighter days are finally possible.  There is rational reason for hope as the first Bob Knight disciple has returned to the big chair at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall since 2008.  That’s when Dan Dakich briefly followed Kelvin Sampson’s moronic malfeasance with accountability and consequences.

Still, even with Woodson coming home, three games is a little early to pull the plug on the excitement for a season that had IU ranked 17th before being throttled by Iowa in the opener.  That excitement just never felt reasonable.  IU fans kept trying to talk themselves into believing this season might be different.

The hope for Indiana Football was fleetingly tied to an uptick in recruiting and the “Love Each Other” credo proffered by hyper-enthusiastic coach Tom Allen.  Hard core boosters dipped their toes in the water of buying in, but have since resumed skepticism.

I spoke with one of these guys at a party last Saturday after Cincinnati turned a 14-point deficit at IU into a 14-point win.  We briefly discussed Indiana Football – and I am certain this conversation was repeated tens of thousands of times Saturday afternoon  Here is the transcript of our conversation that features a moment of enlightenment for the booster/Indianapolis physician:

  • Him: What was the goal of the program before the season started?
  • Me: Playing in the Big 10 Championship Game in December.
  • Him: And that is still in Indiana’s control, right?
  • Me: You sound like an insane person.
  • Him: (as the hopeful sparkle vanished from his eyes and he dejectedly took another sip of beer) I know.

Our talk immediately turned to Jackson-Davis, Tamar Bates, and Race Thompson.  “Do you think Woody can get IU to defend and make free throws?  It’s been a long time since Indiana looked like Indiana!”

The sparkle returned – for now.

 

Ben Simmons threatens holdout – he’s as wayward in imaging as he is at shooting a basketball

Ben Simmons is as poor at maintaining his public image as he is shooting threes.

The NBA has an image problem as safe harbor for self-immersed fools, and Philadelphia 76ers point guard Ben Simmons didn’t change it today.

It is being reported that Simmons has told the team he will not report to training camp and will never wear a 76ers jersey again.  He is under contract with the Sixers for another four years and a grand total of $147 million.

That’s right, Simmons has been so egregiously insulted by the Sixers that he will put at risk that staggering amount of cash to avoid playing basketball 82 times this season for a team and city where he doesn’t feel appreciated.

Oh the humanity!

As the country battles a virus, businesses close, and people default on mortgages, Simmons cannot muster the will to play basketball for roughly $37 million per year.

Did I mention Simmons can’t shoot?  It’s true.  This 25-year-old reluctant superstar has made all of five of his 34 three-point shots in his four years in the NBA.  His career free throw percentage hovers just above 60%.  Yet he feels aggrieved enough to forego a reported $227,613 every game he skips.

Simmons should hit his knees each night to thank whatever deity he worships for living in a world where he can earn absurd wealth while being terrible at the most important thing in the game he plays.  He’s among the luckiest people on Earth, but refuses to acknowledge that – oranything but the minor insults that cause his dismay.

And if I’m Sixers general manager Daryl Morey, I allow Simmons to sit.  At some point, the leader of a business must communicate clearly that there is a level of greed-fueled idiocy he can not abide.  Simmons has launched a shot from that line that has finally hit nothing but net.