Author Archives: Kent Sterling

Paul Hornung dies – Louisville loses a friend, icon, and rogue

Paul Hornung just never looked right unless he was smiling.

Paul Hornung died today, and his hometown of Louisville became less fun.

ESPN will spend some time on Sportscenter eulogizing Hornung as Notre Dame’s Golden Boy and Vince Lombardi’s whipping boy. Louisvillians will mourn him differently.

Sure, he won NFL Championships with the Packers and the Heisman Trophy at Notre Dame, but he was the center of the Louisville social universe for decades. Muhammad Ali is undoubtedly the city’s most famous native, but Hornung was the most visible and longstanding.

If you knew where and how to have fun in Louisville over the last half-century, you ran into Paul Hornung frequently.

My family liked to play the horses when we lived in New Albany, Indiana – a town across the Ohio River from Louisville. Whether we were at Churchill Downs or Louisville Downs, I can’t recall a visit when he didn’t see Hornung. And if he was somewhere, it was impossible not to see him because no one looked like Hornung except for Hornung.

Everything about him was unique. His hair – long and blond and then white; posture – tilted back to counter the weight of his well-earned paunch; and confident stride – as though he owned whatever property he inhabited – gave him an irresistible glow. Hornung wasn’t simply charismatic. He was charisma.

Every conversation I had with Hornung made me feel like we were friends. He was comfortable with people – all people – and we were comfortable with him. I’m sure he never remembered any of our interactions, but they were unforgettable for me. Everyone with whom he spoke felt like they were his friend. Maybe because he spoke with so many people, he assumed everyone he came across had at one point or another been his friend.

During a media junket for the Kentucky Derby, the radio station where I worked broadcast from the Kentucky Derby Museum adjacent to Churchill Downs. Parking at the Museum was difficult. Instead of allowing us to park near the entrance to unload our equipment, the museum staff forced us to an area 200 yards away. The guard said we would be towed if we left the car there too long. Horning was one of the pre-arranged guests and he stopped by our table for almost an hour.

During the 12-minute news break at the bottom of the hour, Hornung and I had a chance to talk, and I asked him what it was like to be Paul Hornung. He laughed that Paul Hornung laugh, and said, “I enjoy it quite a bit.” We chatted, and I apologized for pestering him, assuming he would rather recharge during a little down time. He smiled and told me if he didn’t enjoy my company would would have left.

On our way out of the museum, there was a Lincoln Town Car parked haphazardly immediately outside the door to the museum. The license plate read “Hornung.”

That communicated exactly the relationship that existed between Hornung and his city. He took care of Louisville and Louisville took care of him. Towing Hornung’s car was unthinkable. He played by a different set of rules, and rightly so. Instead of being annoyed, his aura made these small trespasses part of his charm.

Paul Hornung was an old school social swashbuckler – a wild man while being considerate, congenial, and accommodated. He was the NFL’s Errol Flynn, and he was one of the few men I’ve come across worthy of distanced worship.

Louisville is a better city because of him, and it is less fun for his absence.

Indianapolis Colts – Wild ride of Philip Rivers continues to thrill and infuriate fans

Philip Rivers throwing motion is mocked when he throws picks and cheered when his receivers make the catch – just like everything else he does.

In 24 hours, Colts fans have gone from ready to listen to CBS Sports Jason La Canfora’s call for the Colts to bench quarterback Philip Rivers to campaigning for him as a possible NFL MVP.

That’s a severe flip – the kind of flip that serves as evidence of mental illness. It’s like someone wearing a MAGA hat to a Trump rally stopping to loot the Best Buy on his way home. And it’s not Colts fans’ fault for being so manic depressive about the Colts’ ability to win with Rivers at QB. Last night, Rivers was quite good as the Colts pounded the Titans. Five days earlier, he was terrible in the second half as they lost to the Ravens.

As usual, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Rivers as an MVP candidate is preposterous. He’s not even the MVP of his own team. Comparing him to Patrick Mahomes, Kyler Murray, Aaron Rodgers, and Russell Wilson is a conversation ender for NFL fans who know anything about the game, but it speaks to the competence Rivers shows when he plays clean.

As for benching Rivers, he ranks fifth all-time in passing yardage. Granted, he’s never played in a Super Bowl, but he is still a quarterback who is not going to be cast aside for Jacoby Brissett or Jacob Eason.

Rivers’ avoidance of errors is a big reason for Colts wins, and his propensity for errors is the primary reason they lose. His wild swings from good Phil to bad Phil have caused Colts fans to argue with themselves – a condition from which they will likely continue to suffer.

As Colts fans, we are not good at massive week-to-week fluctuations in quality of play. Bears fans are subject to that kind of emotional upheaval, not Colts fans. During seasons like 2008 and 2018, there were slow starts followed by furious finishes. In 1997, 1998, and 2011, the Colts were terrible. In between, there was a lot of excellence and some mediocrity, but in most cases the level of play was predictable. In 2020, there has been dominance and accommodation in almost equal measure separated by just a few days.

There is nothing more telling about the Colts successes and failures than turnovers. When the Colts have turned it over twice, they are 0-3. With one or none, they are 6-0. As it should be, Rivers is blamed when throwing picks and credited when he doesn’t. Fans are alternately furious and thrilled depending upon which version of Rivers shows up.

And there are another seven games left in this wacky season for fans and media to overreact to. In nine days, Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers visit Lucas Oil Stadium. There is no telling which Rivers will come out to play that day. The only sure thing is that witnesses will either embrace or reject him as a result – until the following Sunday when the same Titans team the Colts kicked the hell out of try to exact their revenge and the flip will flop or flop will flip.

Buckle your seatbelts – this ride up and down these Rivers is going to be bumpy.

Beginning tonight in Nashville, Colts and Philip Rivers have eight games to prove themselves worthy

Whatever Philip Rivers has left in the tank, he needs to show it for eight weeks if the Colts are going to bring him back in 2021.

Halfway through the 2020 season, the Indianapolis Colts are 5-3. A tough test against the Titans tonight in Nashville will kick off the second half of a season that could still break in any direction. What you believe about the Colts will either be proven or debunked – depending upon how they play and what you believe.

The Colts are either a mediocre team that benefitted from a relatively poor first seven opponents, or a good team that has positioned itself to take flight against some of the NFL’s best.

It’s possible that the team catches fire and runs off a series of wins to establish themselves as a tough out come January. Or, they may play to their current rankings, and struggle against a gauntlet of tough teams jockeying for their own postseason runs.

That’s the great thing about football – at the end of 16 games, you will be what your record and numbers say you are. The numbers for Rivers through eight games are neither surprising nor exceptional. They reflect the level of play he showed with the Chargers over his last six seasons there.

Rivers is currently ranked #19 among starting quarterbacks in both QBR and by Pro Football Focus. You might ask how the Colts are 5-3 with a quarterback ranking outside the top half in the NFL. Well, it’s helped that QBR rankings of his opposing QBs have been even worse than his, averaging a ranking of 23.25 with none inside the top 14.

That will change tonight when the Colts begin games against a run of six opposing quarterbacks who are statistically superior to Rivers in many ways. Add to that the superior records of those teams (four-games over .500 as opposed to 15-under for their first eight opponents), and the challenge is clear – to improve enough in the second half to finish with the same 5-3 record they cobbled together during the first half. At 10-6, a trip to the playoffs is not assured, but likely.

It’s hard in the NFL to outplay your quarterback, and the Colts with Rivers at the helm of the offense has not exactly been dynamic. That’s especially true when you check the stats Rivers has cobbled together while throwing to wide receivers. Granted, the Colts aren’t brimming with electric options, but completing 92 of 145 targets for 1,127 yards, 2 TDs, and 5 INTs belies a lack of ability to stretch the field. In today’s NFL. it’s hard to win when averaging less than eight yards per pass attempt to wide receivers.

In a post yesterday, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports called for the Colts to bench Rivers “before it’s too late.” I’m not going that far because the alternatives are not likely to be an upgrade, but if Rivers is an elite quarterback as Frank Reich continues to suggest, tonight would be a great time for him to show it.

Rivers and the Colts have eight weeks to punch their ticket to the playoffs, or the quarterback carousal in Indianapolis should continue to spin.

Tony La Russa’s DUI is forgivable, but his unbridled arrogance with police is a different matter

People can forgive a DUI, but being an arrogant jerk to a cop? That’s a little harder to rinse off.

“Do you see my ring? I’m a Hall of Famer baseball person. I’m legit. I’m a Hall of Famer, brother. You’re trying to embarrass me.” Tony La Russa, February 24, 2020

Driving drunk is stupid and irresponsible, but big-timing a police officer is loathsome for a guy like Chicago White Sox manager Tony La Russa. The police keep society safe, while baseball managers tell cap-wearing grown men when to bunt. That is a difference that La Russa clearly did not grasp as he was being arrested for DUI in Arizona nine months ago.

I read a story about actor Gregory Peck waiting 45 minutes for a table at a New York restaurant. His companion asked why he didn’t tell the maître d’ who he is. The Oscar winning actor responded, “If you have to tell them who you are, you aren’t.” That story illustrates the class possessed by those like Peck – and lacked by those like La Russa.

What is it with drunk celebrities in the back of a police car that turns them into idiots who feel the need to tell cops why they need special treatment? The obvious argument is that if they weren’t idiots, they wouldn’t have exhibited the behavior that landed them in custody in the first place. That immutable truth is beside the point.

To this point, the White Sox have not responded to La Russa being charged. Undoubtedly, they are trying to figure out whether the story will die a natural death before public furor demands action. A DUI is often judged by the result. If no one is hurt, employers tend to be willing to forgive the first offense. This one is different because of La Russa’s arrogance – and because his first DUI was in 2007.

It’s easy for most baseball fans to empathize with a guy who gets behind the wheel of a car after drinking. Most have made that potentially catastrophic error once or twice themselves. But forgiving and forgetting a jerk who believes laws do not apply to him is more difficult. La Russa revealed himself as that jerk during his arrest.

Whether La Russa needs help in putting alcohol behind him at the age of 76 is a personal decision, but given his comments to the Phoenix cop it is clear he needs to take a hard and long look in the mirror to accurately view his position in society. Being the world’s best at knowing when to go to your bullpen does not make a man impervious to the enforcement of laws.

Maybe the White Sox help La Russa learn embrace that lesson, or their forgiveness will engrain it.

Toward the end of La Russa’s plea to the policeman who arrested him, he said, “You’re trying to embarrass me.” Nope. La Russa didn’t need a bullpen to get that done.

Colts AFC South hopes – and Chris Ballard’s vision – on the line Thursday in Nashville

It’s one thing to smile in a war room. It’s another entirely to smile after winning a huge game in Nashville. Let’s hope Chris Ballard gets to do that.

Thursday night is it for the Colts.

The importance of games in mid-November is sometimes overestimated, but not this one. When the Colts match up against the Titans in Nashville Thursday night, the season will be on the line – and so will the rebuilding effort of GM Chris Ballard.

It’s been enjoyable to watch the drafts, free agent signings, coaching changes, and internal development of the Colts over Ballard’s four offseasons. The roster and leadership improved bit by bit. But now it’s time for those upgrades to produce a critical win.

Click here for your copy of “Oops – the Art of Learning from Mistakes and Adventures” by Kent Sterling

Ballard has been honest, driven, and confident that the path he follows will lead the franchise back to consistent success. His acquisitions have put a premium on quality people who embrace a team-first mentality as well as dynamic speed. Head coach Frank Reich leads in the way Ballard endorses.

Yet the Colts appears to be nestled in mediocrity. They struggle against the better teams in the NFL while beating lesser opponents, which translates to winning against teams with lesser quarterback play. There is no more important position in football, and without a quarterback the ranks in the top 15, it’s very hard to earn a spot in the postseason. Rivers QBR of 62.7 is ranked 19th of 32 NFL starters.

Not all of what the Colts have become falls on Ballard’s shoulders. Andrew Luck’s retirement caused a tectonic shift in the roster and organization. Without an elite level quarterback, winning in the NFL is virtually impossible. Finding an elite level quarterback is almost as difficult as winning without one. But excuses don’t play well in the NFL. Teams are what their record says they are – and the Colts are 5-3 with a game in Nashville that will go a long way toward determining who wins the AFC South.

With a win, the Colts pull into a 6-3 tie with the Titans atop the division. They would also own the tie-breaker because of that head-to-head advantage. If they lose, Tennessee goes to 7-2 while the Colts fall to 5-4. That two-game deficit would be made more problematic by the head-to-head loss. A loss would make the return game against the Titans on November 29th an absolute must-win.

Making things more problematic is the opponent snuggled in between the two Titans tilts – the Green Bay Packers. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers is having in MVP caliber season with a stratospheric NFL leading QBR of 87.6. He has thrown 24 touchdown passes and only two interceptions, which were both against Tampa. As a counterpoint, Colts QB Philip Rivers has a QBR 25 points south of Rodgers, and has thrown 10 TD passes, and seven picks.

The problem is not that Rivers stinks. He doesn’t. But Rodgers is great, enjoying one of his best seasons as a first ballot Hall of Famer. Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill is also a significant issue twice over the next three games with 19 TD passes, three picks, and a QBR of 78.3. He isn’t the dynamic force Rodgers is, but he’s inside the top 10 – a status Rivers has not earned in the last seven seasons.

Quarterback is the most important position on the field, and the fact remains that despite Rivers being an upgrade over Jacoby Brissett, his limitations cause a competitive disadvantage with teams featuring top 10 quarterbarbacks. That’s not to crap on Rivers – he has performed as expected.

Through a scheduling quirk, the Colts have yet to face a quarterback whose QBR is ranked in the top 14. Over the next eight weeks, they will compete against top 14 QBs six times.

If the Colts are going to be taken seriously in 2021 without a serious upgrade at the quarterback position, they need to find a way to elevate Rivers through scheme, protection, and explosive yards after catch abilities, while eliminating their opponents’ apparent advantage a the most important position in football.

Otherwise, all those draft picks and cultural changes don’t mean a thing in terms of the only criteria that matters – wins and losses.

This season hangs in the balance on Thursday night in Nashville. The Colts will either rise up and validate Ballard’s vision and Reich’s leadership or they won’t. At some point, despite Luck’s retirement, accountability belongs to them.

Colts loss showed they are a 5-3 team that needs perfection to squeak into the playoffs

Philip Rivers is worthy of adulation as a human being, but he’s not taking the Colts to a Super Bowl.

If you’re a Colts fan, get over the disappointment yesterday’s loss generated.

Take a deep breath, understand the limitations of this team’s offense, and stop the depressing din of doomsaying. Teams among the NFL’s best are going to beat the Colts, and lesser teams will lose to them.

That’s just what the Colts are – an OK team capable of winning and losing in equal measure.

Click here for your copy of “Oops – the Art of Learning from Mistakes and Adventures” by Kent Sterling

Did fans believe the Colts would run the table through this November stretch of upper echelon teams? Have the Colts shown the potential to get to the Super Bowl by beating the Vikings, Jets, Bears, Browns, and Bengals? Was it likely that a quarterback who was sub-.500 in his last decade in San Diego and Los Angeles suddenly morphed into an elite gunslinger?

The answers are no, no, and no!

The good news is that yesterday’s loss against the Ravens showed the Colts can at least compete against the best teams in the AFC. If not for the turnovers, the Colts might have won. That’s a good thing – kind of. The negative aspect is that they need to play almost perfect football in order to beat teams like the Ravens – which means teams with superior quarterbacks.

Now I love Philip Rivers, and hate pulling back the curtain to show what he actually is. Rivers is a father of nine and a wonderful human being, by all accounts. He is relentlessly positive with teammates, and expansive and accommodating with the media. People who spend time with him are better for the experience. Those attributes are far more important in the grand scheme of life than passer rating and QBR. But as a quarterback, Rivers is not dynamic enough to overcome errors. When he throws a pick, it’s big trouble for the Colts.

When the Colts turn it over twice, they might as well turn out the lights.

Add a lack of anything resembling a #1 receiver for Rivers to throw to, and the Colts defense is going to have to carry a disproportionate amount of the weight in earning wins against any team. The defense has been somewhere between solid and superb in every game this season, but that isn’t good enough against teams with elite level quarterback play.

The rest of November is critical for the Colts in their quest to win the AFC South, which is still a possibility. If the Colts can beat the Titans twice, they have a shot at the crown. Happily, the Titans are not among the AFC’s best teams despite their 6-2 record. Ryan Tannehill is not elite. He has been the best version of himself since joining Tennessee, but there are more similarities than differences between Tannehill and Rivers. The Titans have Derrick Henry, which is a significant upgrade over the Colts three-headed backfield monster.

The positive difference for the Colts is on the defensive side of the ball. The Colts defense is good enough to make the Titans struggle to score, and if they can force a turnover or two, winning twice in the next three weeks against them is a possibility. Had the Colts defense of the 2000s been this dynamic, Peyton Manning would have won at least another two Super Bowls. We can’t blame Rivers for not being Manning.

Colts fans need to understand the flaws of this offense are absolutely fatal against superior teams. It’s hard to shake off a generation long belief that your team is championship caliber, but if you insist upon buying into the possibility that the Colts could miraculously find their way to as February game in Tampa, you are inviting certain disappointment.

This season may be a step toward a Super Bowl, but it is not a season that can end with one. Rivers is a competent upgrade over Jacoby Brissett on the way toward a franchise quarterback capable of banner-hanging magic.

Maybe that guy is Jacob Eason, and maybe not, but the quarterback who will take the Colts all the way to February was not on the active roster yesterday.

That may be an unpleasant truth, but most sports truths are.

Indiana Football – 18 historical events that have occurred since last time IU Football ranked in the top 10!

It’s been a long time since the Indiana Hoosiers were ranked in college football’s top 10 – a really long time – even longer than since the last time prior to Saturday IU beat Michigan (1987).

Last night, the latest AP Top 25 showed the 3-0 Hoosiers at #10.

Here are some of the events that have transpired since the IU last scaled this mythological mountain that recognizes excellence:

IU coach Tom Allen is born.
The trial of the Chicago Eight begins.
Five burglars break into the offices of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate Building in Washington DC.
Ohio State wins or shares in 25 Big 10 football titles.
All in the Family premieres on CBS.
Bob Knight hired (and fired) as Indiana’s basketball coach.
The Vietnam War ends.
Email is invented.
Lee Corso is hired (and fired) as IU’s football coach.
The Miracle Mets beat the Baltimore Orioles to win the World Series.
A disgraced Richard Nixon resigns as President of the United States.
The Colts move to Indianapolis and the Pacers join the NBA after the ABA folded.
Francis Ford Coppola’s masterpiece The Godfather premieres
Indiana Basketball’s all-time leading scorer Calbert Cheaney is born in Evansville, Indiana.
Disc jockeys at radio stations around the world celebrate the release of Don McLean’s American Pie. Finally, clocking an epic 8:33, they have a song to play that allows them enough time to use the restroom during their shift.
Apple Computers is founded.
Indiana Football notches 39 losing seasons.
Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her Silver, Golden, Diamond, and Sapphire jubilees!

Keeping T.J. McConnell should be the easiest decision the Pacers make this offseason

T.J. McConnell is a force for good in Indiana, so why pay him to play somewhere else?

Here is the question the Indiana Pacers need to answer as they weigh whether to keep back-up point guard T.J. McConnell or push him out the door – would you rather pay him $3.5 million to help you win, or pay him $1 million to help another team win?

It’s just that simple, and it makes keeping McConnell the easiest decision facing the Pacers front office during what will likely be a manic offseason, once the agreement to start the season on December 22 is finalized.

McConnell’s contract calls for him to earn the $3.5M for the 2020-2021 season unless the Pacers waive him, which would come with a $1M price tag. There are a variety of pieces that the Pacers could shift via trade, and a tough decision to re-sign or part ways with free agent Justin Holiday needs to be made. But McConnell’s productivity, popularity, and cost makes keeping a no-brainer.

Click here for your copy of “Oops – the Art of Learning from Mistakes and Adventures” by Kent Sterling

There are a litany of reasons to keep McConnell. Here are six:

Great court vision. There are few back-up point guards who see the floor as McConnell does. If a teammate makes a smart cut, he is rewarded with the ball in the spot where he can score it. McConnell averaged five assists in just over 18 minutes last year. He had an assist to turnover ratio of almost four-to-one. Those are gaudy numbers for a back-up point guard.
Sneaky scorer. While shooting from deep is not a strength, McConnell is a competent driver of the basketball, and relatively productive midrange scorer (10-16 feet). He averaged 12.6 points per 36 minutes last season, and that’s relatively productive compared to Aaron Holiday (14 points/36 minutes).
Coach on the floor and bench. McConnell is very generous with guidance. I’m not certain the level at which McConnell’s counsel is received because I’m not on the bench, but there is rarely a timeout when McConnell doesn’t pull a teammate aside for a few words of encouragement or wisdom.
Enthusiasm for the game. This is not a trait for which people should earn millions, or NBA teams would hire fans to sit on the end of the bench, but McConnell is relentlessly upbeat at practice and during games. That helps make the long NBA schedule a little more fun for teammates.
New coach who has never done it. Nate Bjorkgren needs allies and emissaries during his first foray as an NBA head coach. According to those who have spent time around Bjorkgren in Toronto, he is an excellent communicator, but communication requires reception and interpretation. Having a guy like McConnell around to advise and consent might be an asset for Bjorkgren.
Fans love him. Again, not a reason to pay a basketball player millions of dollars, but McConnell’s vibe and style connects with Pacers fans, and this franchise needs players that energizes the crowds at Bankers Life Fieldhouse – assuming they are allowed at any point this season.

So, again, the question is – should the Simons write McConnell a check for $3.5M to bring all that to the team, or a check for 1M to take it somewhere else?

Keeping McConnell is a no-brainer.

Indiana Football coach Tom Allen teaches players LEO – “Love Each Other” – and now he deserves fans’ love

Tom Allen keeps giving Indiana Football fans reasons to clap and smile as much as he does.

LEO!

Love each other! Nice life philosophy, although enough people have talked that talk without walking the walk that viewing those who proffer it are often viewed with suspicion.

LEO is what Indiana University football coach Tom Allen says – a lot. When he took over from Kevin Wilson, Allen spoke passionately about love among those within the program. Wilson was a more traditional coach who did not talk about love nearly as much as toughness and respect.

Click here for your copy of “Oops – the Art of Learning from Mistakes and Adventures” by Kent Sterling

Former Indiana athletic director Fred Glass told me he believed Allen to be THE right guy at THE right time to lead the Hoosiers from laughing stock to regular bowl participant and then to a Big 10 power. Again, this is the kind of talk Indiana fans and media have heard from ADs for time immemorial. We heard it about everyone who followed Bill Mallory.

“Cam Cameron is the guy!”

“Gerry DiNardo is the guy!”

“Terry Hoeppner is the guy!”

“Bill Lynch is the guy!”

“Kevin Wilson is …”

Suffice it to say I was suspicious of Glass, Allen, and the prospect that Indiana University could ever land “The Guy.”

Well, what do you know. Maybe Glass was right, and maybe Allen is not some hypocritical preacher who extolls the power of love in a venue of wanton violence. Maybe he’s a guy whose rhetoric cuts through the typical coach speak to resonate with recruits and parents who are looking for a home; not just a weight room and pedigree of success.

Last year, Allen’s Hoosiers won eight games and went to a bowl in Florida. Bragging about a season like that will get SEC and some Big 12 coaches fired, but at Indiana it causes mopes behind keyboards to rethink their long-standing positions as IU Football cynics.

Follow that up with two wins – one at home in overtime against #8 Penn State and the second on the road against Rutgers – and a long walk of reflection ensues. This kind of walk is not for pseudo-exercise, but to ruminate on the possibility that I was wrong about Allen’s fitness for this job.

It’s been so long since a head coach felt like the right guy that I didn’t recognize it when it happened. I liked Allen a lot as the defensive coordinator. His enthusiasm during our first conversation was infectious. I felt like running through a wall – or at least through the breakfast buffet (again) on that National Signing Day celebration in 2014 at Memorial Stadium. When he replaced Wilson, I thought about my affinity for Wilson and the longstanding truism about coaching – that the 18-inches between the head coach and assistant is the longest foot-and-a-half in sports.

I saw Allen jumping up and down in celebration, berating officials, and exhibiting other living-in-the-moment behavior, and thought he was in over his head. Solid coaches are always thinking about what’s next, not what’s been. I may have underestimated Allen’s ability to multitask!

There is no arguing against eight wins followed by a 2-0 Big 10 start without sounding like some kind of loon. It’s time to acknowledge that at the very minimum Indiana continues its evolution from laughing stock to proud program regularly playing a 13th game somewhere warm.

Speaking of the number 13, the Hoosiers are now the 13th ranked team in the country. That’s something they have done once in more than a half century – in the halcyon days of 1987. In the past 30 years, as soon as Indiana achieved something like this, fans assumed the light at the end of the tunnel was an oncoming train. This time it might be different. One significant reason for that difference is Allen’s belief in his team, and the infectious way he communicates it.

Before the Penn State game, players were convinced they would be able to beat the Nittany Lions. Faith isn’t all that’s needed to beat a top 10 team, but it’s one of several required components. Talent is another, and Allen has done a great job of finding fast Floridians capable of running, hitting, and executing with contending Big 10 teams.

I’m sorry, Tom. I didn’t see it coming. I should have trusted you. I was wrong. That kind of admission from me is called for just about as often as Indiana is ranked #13.

Allen believes it. Players believe it. And now we believe it.

LEO!

Cubs Jon Lester’s gesture exactly the right amount of thanks for Chicagoans

Jon Lester buying the Chicagoans one beer each was a perfect tip of the cap to his adopted hometown.

Cubs pitcher Jon Lester made a lot of news this past weekend by picking up the tab for the first Miller Lite ordered by fans at a variety of Division Street bars. It was a nice gesture to thank fans of the team that employed him for the past six seasons.

During that 2015-2020 period, Lester cashed checks totaling $145 million, and he will get another $10 million as a buyout of his contract so the Cubs won’t be on the hook for $25 million in 2021.

Click here for your copy of “Oops – the Art of Learning from Mistakes and Adventures” by Kent Sterling

Now, I love Lester. He was a key piece of the puzzle to get the Cubs over the hump to win their first world championship since 1908. He was worth every penny of Ricketts Family wealth he could extract, but the $47K he dropped on beers works out to $282 for a person earning $60,000.

While the proportionality reduces the gesture to a less than beneficent tip of the cap to fans for making Lester and his family feel at home in the Windy City, there weren’t a lot of options to up the ante.

Here are some terrible ideas that Lester was right to reject:

Car giveaway! Buying every Cubs fan a car in some kind insane Oprah style prize-a-thon would piss off everyone who didn’t win.
Cover a full night of beers on Division Street! Popping for beers all night long, instead of just the first, would have turned Chicago into chaos.
Cash Drop! Emptying a bushel basket of $100 bills from a hot air balloon as a hovered over the intersection of Clark and Addison might result in wanton violence. It would certainly be responsible for a decided lack of social distancing. Lester doesn’t want to be responsible for a super-spreader event!
Promise to never waste 0-2, 1-2, or 2-2 pitches low and away again. Oh sure, as he pitches elsewhere, Lester finally decides to get batters out inside the strike zone and shave an hour from the games he starts. That would be thumbing his nose at Cubs fans rather than rewarding them.

In the end, Lester did exactly the right thing, and by the way, $282 is a nothing to sneeze at for normal folks. When was the last time any of us bought a round for the house in a lightly traveled bar? Maybe I should drop $282 before whining about Lester spending $47K!