Author Archives: Kent Sterling

Exhaustively researched rankings of every Chicago Cubs manager from 1-to-60

60 – Vedie Himsl (10-21) – Himsl led the Cubs during three unsuccessful stints as the leader of the College of Coaches in 1961. What made him the worst of those guys who were forced to operate in an idiotic experiment? Nothing, but he’s the best known of the bunch because his name is fun to say.

59 – Rene Lachemann (0-1) – He had great hair, but a very brief stint bridging the gap between Don Baylor and Bruce Kimm in 2002.

58 – Joe Altobelli (0-1) – Poor Joe led the Cubs during the game separating Don Zimmer and Jim Essian. What the hell was he supposed to do – win that game?

57 – Roy Johnson (0-1) – The last of the three 0-1 guys, Johnson managed during 1944 as World War II raged. That gives him an edge over Altobelli and Lachemann.

56 – El Tappe (46-70) – Sounds like a cool nickname, but El was not Spanish for “The”, it was short for Elvin. Hard to blame anyone of the members of the College of Coaches, but he name was on the manager’s door for 116 games, and the buck stops there!

55 – Silver Flint (5-12) – His name sounds more like a super hero in a porn movie. He took over from Cap Anson at the end of the 1879 season. Anson led the same team to a 41-21 record, so I’m saying he sucks. Go ahead, argue with me!

54 – Jim Marshall (175-218) – At one point during his two-and-a-half seasons as a manager of the Cubs from 1974-1976, Marshall began wearing a toupee. I found that off-putting. The roster was better than the record with Bill Madlock, Andre Thornton, Rick Monday, and others.

53 – Dale Sveum (127-197) – The Cubs went full-on rebuild in 2013 and 2014. There was no way for Sveum to last more than two seasons, and he didn’t.

52 – Jimmie Wilson (213-258) – War time managers should get a pass, but someone needs to be ranked 52nd, right?

51 – Joey Amalfitano (66-115) – When Almafitano was hired, they said he would be boom or bust. Bust it was. His 1981 team was bereft of talent, but there is still no evidence to suggest he knew what the hell he was doing.

50 – Bruce Kimm (33-45) – A player for the Cubs briefly in 1979, Kimm took over for Don Baylor after fans and the front office soured on Don Baylor. He had one hit as a Cubs catcher. I had higher hopes for Kimm as a manager. He failed to meet those expectations. The next year, the Cubs came five outs away from going to the World Series. Maybe they learned something from Kimm. Maybe not. I was trying to write something nice.

49 – Frankie Frisch (141-196) – The Cubs were not good from 1949-1951, and that’s when Frisch was the manager. How much was his fault and how much was one of the worst starting rotations in Cubs history? Does it really matter?

48 – Harry Craft (7-9) – Another of the College of Coaches. Again, it’s not that they sucked as managers, although they might have. It’s the ludicrous concept that was the villain here. But they had three hall of famers in Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, and Ron Santo, so a little winning wasn’t out of the question, was it?

47 – Tom Loftus (118-161) – No relation to former Orioles pitcher Tom Phoebus, and why would you think that he is? He’s also not the originator of the punchline – “Loft us, damn near killed us!”

46 – Joe Tinker (67-86) – He was a hell of a shortstop – one of the greatest of the dead ball era, and the first name used in the famous poem. He was a better shortstop than manager, which seems to be a theme for the Cubs.

45 – 44 – 43 – Phil Cavaretta (169-213), Stan Hack (196-265), Bob Scheffing (208-254) – These three all played for the Cubs before becoming manager. Hack and Cavaretta were great in the 1930s and 1940s, and Scheffing was never great. Scheffing today would be nicknamed Bob “Effing” Scheffing. These guys managed back-to-back-to-back from 1951-1959, the only entire decade for the Cubs without hope, so these triplets of misery are lumped together.

42 – Lou Boudreau (54-83) – Flipping duties, Boudreau came out of the press box as a broadcaster into the dugout, and Grimm left as manager and became a broadcaster. That is sooooo Cubs.

41 – Charlie Metro (43-69) – Have you heard? The College of Coaches was idiotic. Metro was the sacrificial leader during much of the 1962 season. How did Metro not manage the Mets? He lived into his 90s, and was known to slap fans who referred to the 1962 season in any way during autograph shows (not really, but who could blame him).

40 – Rabbit Maranville (23-30) – Player-manager for the Cubs for part of 1925, so he ranks a little higher than he would otherwise. It has to be a little harder right. He was one of three managers that season, and all managed at least 26 games. That’s kind of odd. If this was a list ranking Cubs managers with animal nicknames, Maranville would be the only entry.

39 – Gene Michael (114-124) – Hired during the 1986 season and fired before the end of the 1987 season, Michael holds the Cubs record for games managed without completing a single season. I never recall him smiling, and given the Cubs luck during those two seasons, that dour disposition makes sense. He had a nice seat for 136 games of an MVP season for Andre Dawson, one of the greatest I’ve ever seen.

38 – Charlie Fox (17-22) – Fox was a sacrificial lamb in 1983 after taking over for Lee Elia toward the end of the 1983 season. Elia pulled Fergie Jenkins with one out in the top of the 9th of a 3-0 game with the Cubs 10 1/2 back. This was clearly Jenkins last season, and it would have been nice if Fergie could have finished the game for his final shutout. One crazed fan stormed to the back of the visitor’s dugout and screamed at Elia, “That it, you incompetent turd! Go ahead and pull him, jackass! Rob Fergie and the fans of their last chance for a moment of joy. You’re fired, or you will be soon! Fired! Do you hear me!” I’m not saying just who that fan was.

37 – Lou Klein (17-23) – The final member of the College of Coaches, the strangest fraternity in all of baseball, Klein rode the ship to the bottom of Lake Michigan in 1965, and was replaced by Leo Durocher.

36 – Preston Gomez (38-52) – Gomez was known as one of the great sign stealers in baseball history. That clearly was not enough to help a 1980 team that lacked, well, everything.

35 – Jim Essian (59-63) – When Essian was promoted from Triple A Iowa midway through 1992 to take over for Don Zimmer, players thought he was insane. His energy was contagious, but his material skill couldn’t overcome a fat Jerome Walton and a starting rotation that ran two-deep..

34 – Lee Elia (127-158) – Beloved, even by Cubs fans, for his rant about the fans at Wrigley Field, Elia was expected to be a little bit better than this when he was hired by Dallas Green. While his teams weren’t great, he is a great example for managers and coaches who want to keep their jobs as they deal with the media. It said in part – “Eighty-five percent of the $%#@! world is working. The other fifteen come out here. A $%#@!’ playground for the %&*#suckers.”

33 – 32 – 31 – Tom Trebelhorn (49-64), Jim Riggleman (374-419), Don Baylor (187-220) – These were all the same manager to me. The Cubs made the playoffs once during this period, winning a play-in game against the Giants in 1998. Other than that, the 1994-2002 era sucked for Cubs fans. In all fairness, the 1994 starting rotation was Steve Trachsel, Willie Banks, Anthony Young, Kevin Foster, and Mike Morgan. If there was ever a Cubs season in need of being strike-shortened, 1994 was it.

30 – Bob Ferguson (30-30) – Where the hell else am I going to rank a guy with a 30-30 record. Ferguson’s wife Bernice would cook an apple pie for Cubs who hit home runs for Ferguson’s 1878 team, which was prompted the saying, “as American as baseball and apple pie.” Ferguson is also remembered as baseball’s first entirely hairless manager.

29 – John Vukovich (1-1) – Vuke split his two games that split the regimes of Jim Frey and Gene Michaels. He always seemed like a very nice guy deserving of a chance to manage. He barely got it here. Hard to rank a guy with a 1-1 record 29th, but this is the Cubs. We ranked based upon what he did not do as much as what he did.

28 – Mike Quade (95-104) – He was bald. Totally bald.

27 – George Gibson (12-14) – Noted for two things – preceded Joe McCarthy as manager, and was inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in 1958.

26 – Rick Renteria (73-89) – I thought Renteria was a decent manager, and so did Theo Epstein, who said Renteria would return for the 2015 season. That was until Joe Maddon became available as a Tampa Bay Rays expatriate. Hello, Joe! So long Ricky! Renteria landed on his feet for the rebuilding White Sox.

25 – Bob Kennedy (182-198) – The most successful of the College of Coaches, which is like being the tallest midget in the room. Kennedy is best known by Cubs fans for serving as the GM of the Cubs from 1977-1981.

24 – Whitey Lockman (157-162) – Taking over for Leo Durocher can’t be easy, and it wasn’t for Lockman. He seemed like a breath of fresh air before it became clear that he wasn’t. The Cubs were in full-on sell mode while Lockman lost, so their mediocrity was driven by roster moves more than managerial malfeasance.

23 – Frank Selee (280-213) – Pretty good record to be ranked #31, but Selee’s teams from 1902-1905 were good enough that I could have managed them to the World Series, and Selee never got there. Selee was well known for his hairy back, which prompted players to hang the nickname “Grizzly” on him.

22 – Jim Lefebvre (162-162) – Another perfectly mediocre manager. Despite living six blocks from Wrigley during his two-year reign, I have no memory of either liking or disliking him – which kind of makes sense.

21 – Hank O’Day (78-76) – Won a World Series for the Cubs, but not as a manager. O’Day was the umpire of the famous Merkle’s Boner game against the NY Giants. O’Day was the ump who called Merkle out at second, and the Cubs won the pennant as a result.

20 – Rogers Hornsby (141-116) – Great hitter, OK manager for some very good Cubs teams who underachieved. When Hornsby was replaced by Charlie Grimm in 1932, the Cubs got hotter than hell and won the National League pennant. They were swept in the subsequent World Series in part due to Babe Ruth’s called shot at Wrigley Field.

19 – Bill Killefer (300-293) – The early 1920s are not a memorable or well-chronicled time in the history of the Cubs franchise. As a result, this former catcher is neither well-regarded or poorly recalled.

18 – Johnny Evers (129-120) – Evers managed the Cubs for in 1913 and 1921 – one season successfully, and the other not so much.

17 – Herman Franks (238-241) – There was a hell of a half summer in 1977 as Franks led the Cubs to a 47-22 record. This was quite unexpected, as the Cubs were not predicted to contend, much less dominate the NL East. The Cubs were just as bad in the second half as they were good in the first, finishing with a .500 record. Franks gets graded up on this list for two reasons, he enjoyed his job, and absolutely went berserk when arguing calls. His tirades were among the best baseball has ever seen.

16 – Roger Bresnahan (73-80) – It’s hard to gauge the true quality of a manager during the brief time the Federal League signed some of the very best players in baseball, so we give Bresnahan the benefit of the doubt by ranking him this high.

15 – Dusty Baker (322-326) – 2003 was a Steve Bartman miscue away from potentially being incredible. They came so close to a first World Series since 1945! After that it was all downhill for an injury plagued pitching staff – and Baker, who many say hastened the spate of injuries. The Cubs finally bottomed out in 2006, Baker’s last season as they finished with a horrifying 66-96 record.

14 – Gabby Hartnett (203-167) – The hall of fame backstop won himself a pennant as a player-manager when he called on himself to pinch hit. He drove the “Homer in the Gloamin'” into the left field bleachers in the next to last game of the 1938 regular season. The reward was another World Series sweep at the hands of the New York Yankees.

13 – Tommy Burns (160-138) – As a manager, Ol’ Burnsy was known for his sunny disposition. After the 1899 season, Burns developed schizophrenia, resigned as manager, and dedicated the rest of his life to assassinating President William McKinley. Incredibly, on the day prior to his planned attack, anarchist Leon Czolgosz killed McKinley at a rally in Buffalo, New York. Despondent, Burns swore vengeance upon all men named Leon Czolgosz. Unable to locate any others, Burns spent his final days writing country songs that were found in the attic of a barn in the Smoky Mountains by Dolly Parton’s husband Carl Dean. One of those songs became one of Dolly’s greatest hits, “I Will Always Love You”.

12 – Jim Frey (196-182) – Frey got done what no one else had since Charlie Grimm in 1945 – qualify for postseason baseball. I would love to grade Frey down because the Cubs blew a commanding 2-0 NLCS lead over the San Diego Padres with three straight losses. The following year was a mess as the entire starting rotation landed on the disabled list simultaneously. Frey was fired during the 1986, and then returned as the GM in 1988. Among his silly moves – Lee Smith for Calvin Schiraldi and Al Nipper, Rafael Palmeiro and Jamie Moyer for Mitch Williams, Paul Kilgus, Steve Wilson, Curtis Wilkerson, and two minor leaguers. Yikes!

11 – Fred Mitchell (308-269) – Mitchell is known as the Cubs “War Manager” as he served the Cubs during and immediately after World War I. The Cubs won the pennant in 1918, but lost to the Boston Red Sox in that team’s last World Championship until they finally overcame the Curse of the Bambino 15 years ago.

10 – Don Zimmer (265-258) – Zim had some magic in 1989 – his second season at the helm. His hit and run with the bases loaded is the only time I’ve ever seen that. The Cubs won the NL East before losing to the Giants 4-1 in the NLCS. By 1991, the bloom was off the rose, and Popeye morphed into Wimpy.

9 – Lou Piniella (316-293) – Sweet Lou was the toast of Chicago in 2007 and 2008 as the Cubs made it to the postseason in his first two seasons. The Cubs were 0-6 in the two playoff series, and then Lou’s magic drained. He was fired during the 2010 season, which began a five-year streak of fifth place finishes.

8 – Hank O’Day (78-76) – Not too great a record for a top 10 guy, right? Well, O’Day won the 1908 World Series for the Cubs, but not as their manager. O’Day was the umpire of the famous Merkle’s Boner game against the NY Giants. O’Day was the ump who called Merkle out at second, and the Cubs won the pennant as a result. Without O’Day’s call, the Cubs would be down 1/3 of their world championships.

7 – Cap Anson (1,283-932) – He falls a bit on this list for two reasons – he was the best player of his era as manager which gave him a huge advantage over other managers, and he was reportedly a virulent racist. Anson’s era pre-dated 1900. No Cubs manager will ever catch his record for wins as a manager. If Joe Maddon might not make it to a sixth season, what are the odds for anyone getting to the minimum of 14-15 years to get to Anson’s 1,283.

6 – Leo Durocher (535-526) – Durocher’s overall record suffers because of a terrible 1966 (59-103) in his first season. From 1967-1972, the Cubs put together the first six season run of winning seasons since 1939. Leo the Lip was irascible, but he brought a winning swagger to a franchise sorely in need of one.

5 – Joe Maddon (451-318) – This might seem low for a guy whose teams have never failed to win 90 games, and who won the franchise’s first World Series since 1908, but I just watched the Cubs gak up a 5-1 lead to the Phillies in the bottom of the ninth, and I’m salty about it. The guy burns out a bullpen like no manager I’ve ever seen.

4 – Charlie Grimm (946-782) – Grimm had three stints as manager, and led the Cubs to three NL pennants. His teams were 0-3 in the World Series that followed. His nickname “Jolly Cholly” is among baseball’s best.

3 – A.G. Spalding (78-47) – Spalding managed and was a part-owner of the Cubs for those two seasons. He also notched 47 wins as a pitcher in 1876. Maybe he doesn’t belong this high on the list of managers, but he also founded Spalding Sporting Goods, so he was a hell of an entrepreneur.

2 – Frank Chance (768-389) – In seven seasons running the show, Chance led the Cubs to four pennants, and two of the team’s three world championships. He was a great player and leader, who along with Johnny Evers and Joe Tinker made up the most famous double play combination in baseball history. They didn’t write a poem about Concepcion, Morgan, and Perez, did they?

1 – Joe McCarthy (442-321) – In 24 seasons as a manager, McCarthy never led a team to a losing record. He was fired by the Cubs near the end of the 1930 season. He then led the Yankees through a decade and a half of excellence, including two World Series sweeps of the Cubs. He might not be the best manager of the Cubs ever, but he is the best manager to lead the Cubs.

Obviously, the entry for Tommy Burns is nonsense. If you believed any of it, thank you for reading that far.

Romeo never played for a Nike team, so IU fans don’t need to worry about Avenatti accusations

The allegations by Michael Avenatti that Nike authorized payments to Zion Williamson and Romeo Langford are not damning toward IU.

Romeo didn’t do it – at least not with Nike.

Court documents filed on behalf of America’s worst person Michael Avenatti allege Nike approved payments of $35,000 or more to Zion Williamson and $20,000 to Romeo Langford.

That sent up a bright red flag when I read it early this morning on ESPN.com.

Then I remembered Romeo never played for a Nike sponsored team. Indiana is an Adidas school. New Albany High School was an Adidas school. Romeo’s summer teams were sponsored by Adidas and Under Armour.

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Romeo’s final three schools were Indiana, Kansas (Adidas), and Vanderbilt (Nike). Whatever cash Nike authorized, it obviously didn’t cause Romeo to change his mind about where he was going to college for one year.

It’s entirely possible if not likely that Romeo chose IU because Adidas offered his father Tim more money than Nike or Under Armour to run the summer basketball program that Romeo played for. Whether that’s right or wrong, you can decide. Whether it’s legal, that’s for the NCAA – and they say it’s within the rules.

For now, the only red flag flying above Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall has an IU logo on it.

As for Duke – a Nike school – things are a little different. While the authorization alleged by Avenatti is not proof a payment was made, connecting the dots between that authorization and cash into Zion’s pocket (or that of a family member) is not a challenge.

That’s a long way from the NCAA making any kind of a case against Duke, but it might serve as a test to see just how serious the NCAA is about cleaning up college basketball.

Going after a small fish like DePaul for an incoming freshman living with a staff member is one thing.

Investigating the program built by St. K is big game, and the NCAA might need a bigger boat to catch it.

Stealing signs is what baseball is all about – good for Rhode Island, my new favorite team #LLWS

Stealing signs is as American as baseball. In fact, it IS baseball.

New Hampshire’s Little League team is upset about Rhode Island’s team stealing signs during its regional game earlier this month.

It seems Rhode Island runners at second base may have been stealing signs from the catcher and flashing them to the batter. Can you imagine!

Sign stealing has been a part of baseball since signs were invented. It’s how baseball is played. Signs are designed to hide strategies – like pitches, bunting, hit and runs, steals, and all kinds of other stuff.

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At some point, the big brain adults at Little League Baseball decided sign stealing should be made illegal. Why? Great question. Maybe coming up with a set of signs that was tough to steal was too difficult for coaches. Maybe players enjoyed stealing signs as much as I did when I was a kid.

There was nothing better when I was 10 than figuring out an opponent’s signs. It felt like we had cracked a safe containing the secrets of the world. The key was then to respond in a way that didn’t let the other team know we had them.

Baseball is not just a game of hitting, catching, and throwing a ball. It’s much deeper than that. Baseball is about planning, strategy, subterfuge, and secrecy. That’s what makes it fun. That’s why kids and adults love it.

For a 12-year old to stand at second, see a catcher’s sign, and communicate it to the hitter without tipping that he knows the signs is the most purely baseball activity a kid can enjoy on a baseball field.

At the Major League level, the guys in the dugout are constantly trying to figure out signs as they are relayed from the manager to third base coach to runners and the hitter. Runners on second stare into the catcher’s nether regions each pitch to see if he can figure out which sequence of hand movements mean fastball, cutter, curve, slider, and the location of the pitch.

Stealing signals is a purely American act that goes back to the “Ride of Paul Revere”, and the signs used to communicate whether the British were coming by land of by sea. If the British has cracked our one if by land and two if by sea, who knows how the Revolutionary War would have ended?

If Rhode Island cracked New Hampshire’s signs, that’s on New Hampshire, and they should own it rather than appealing to some panel. Seems that one team taught kids how to win, and the other is teaching its players how to whine.

Shame on Little League Baseball for outlawing sign stealing, and shame on New Hampshire for valuing rules over gamesmanship.

After watching one IU Football practice, I’m not as hopeful as I would like – and I’m an optimist

If I had to pick a starting QB for IU, it would be Michael Penix because in thew unknown, there is hope.

There is this feeling in my gut that criticizing Indiana University’s football program is unfair. Indiana fans have nothing but hope to keep them coming back to Memorial Stadium – well, hope and beer.

It hurts to write a post that doesn’t help IU fans hope.

Hope in IU Football has almost always poorly invested as the horrifying reality becomes apparent soon enough. It’s just enough to get fans through September’s beautiful Saturdays before the fall overcast skies, chills, and Big 10 opponents ruin the fun.

I went to an IU Football practice yesterday in search of some justification for hope. I want to believe in IU Football, so I watched practice looking for positives.

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Before I go any further, it’s important to understand I have gone to a total of that one single practice, and that practice was held 18 days before the season opener at Lucas Oil Stadium against Ball State. To go to one practice and believe you have all the answers about a football team is arrogant and stupid.

When I left, my only reasons for hope are that I saw the Hoosiers on the wrong day, my sample size was too small, and I don’t know enough about football to accurate appraise a team in two hours of paying attention to them.

I’m usually pretty good at talking myself into believing in a team. I am to sports teams as the guy at the end of the bar at closing time is to women finishing their last drinks. They are all good looking enough to squint and see the good.

I squinted like hell yesterday. I turned my head sideways. I spun in a circle to make myself dizzy. But I couldn’t find a reason to believe IU can find a way to go to win three games against Big 10 teams.

There is a saying in football that if you have two starting quarterbacks, you don’t have any starting quarterbacks. I can’t find a saying about having three starting QBs, but that is what coach Tom Allen insists he has.

Peyton Ramsey, Michael Penix, and Jack Tuttle are competing for the top spot, just as Peyton Ramsey, Michael Penix, and Brandon Dawkins were neck and neck and neck last year.

Ramsey won the job for 2018 and started all 12 games. Clearly, his work wasn’t enough to earn him the job for 2019 or Allen would already have named him the starter. Penix has fully recovered from a torn ACL and is quite mobile. Tuttle transferred to IU from Utah.

Ramsey is the known quantity – low risk, low reward. Penix is the athletic wild card – high risk, high reward. Tuttle appears to be at least a year away despite a good arm.

The defense looked good, but it should given the uncertainty at quarterback and a great familiarity of IU’s offensive schemes.

Allen encouraged and barked into a megaphone in equal measure. He was not nearly as frenetic during practice as during games, but still seemed much more comfortable coaching kids than delegating authority to his coordinators and position coaches.

I would love to write that I believe Indiana is going bowling in December, but I can’t. I’ll still be down there for the six home game Saturdays this fall, but it looks like the beer and laughs will be the big reason – again – for my attendance. Hope I’m wrong about that.

Here are 10 irrefutable truths about Andrew Luck’s ankle and the Indianapolis Colts

Andrew Luck might be smiling, but he is not a fan of sharing the truth with media.

Colts quarterback Andrew Luck loves football, but he is not a fan of the fame that comes with it. That much is clear.

He’s never told us that, but it’s communicated in his weekly media availabilities as he effusively communicates very little. Luck clearly believes that his health is a private matter, and he is not eager to share the details of his various diagnoses and treatments.

Coach Frank Reich defers to Luck when discussing health, but owner Jim Irsay says all kinds of things when quizzed about Luck being on the shelf. Whether his comments are driven by a desire to open fans’ wallets or simply please them, who knows? But he is always incredibly optimistic.

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GM Chris Ballard probably came the closest to telling the truth yesterday in discussing a change in the diagnosis from Irsay’s claim of a bone problem to a condition with his high ankle. Ballard released the tension by relating that Luck was not likely to play in the final three preseason games. That bought Luck a couple of weeks to rehab in peace and quiet.

Fame can be a difficult companion for those who want to maintain a private life, but transparency is always best. A craving for privacy brings the appearance of secrecy, and secrecy activates the media’s desire to investigate. The truth satisfies the media, and ironically deflates the public curiosity that drives famous people crazy.

We are big fans of the truth, so here are 10 truths about the Colts and Luck’s ankle/calf:

No one knows when the pain will go away..
Everyone wants to know when Luck will be pain free, and Luck is at the top of that list.
This story is exhausting for everyone – Luck, the Colts, fans, and media.
Jacoby Brissett may be a nice guy and talented back-up, but he’s not Andrew Luck.
The Colts can win a Super Bowl with Luck at QB, but may not make the playoffs with Brissett as the starter.
Luck hates being famous.
Ballard is an honest man with a track record of telling the truth.
Jim Irsay should be encouraged to avoid interviews.
As long as Luck has an aversion to telling the complete truth, the rantings of conspiracy theorists will be plausible.
The Colts will finish the season with a better record than the Chicago Bears whether or not Luck plays this season.

Indianapolis #Colts – Willis, Ya-Sin, Fountain, Cain, & Autry dazzle, but without Luck, it doesn’t matter

The Colts will be a 53-man team, but if #12 can’t go, the other 52 won’t matter.

What we saw at Colts practice today was pretty good, but what we didn’t see – again – was troubling.

There are a lot of good-looking and explosive Indianapolis Colts players continuing to prepare at Grand Park for the 2019 regular season opener, but unless Andrew Luck’s calf gets back to 100% within the next 27 days, it won’t matter much.

It’s hard to recall the number of consecutive training camps where Luck’s health has has a gnawing issue, but it’s driving fans, media, and coaches nuts – again.

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When Frank Reich spoke to the media today about Luck, he confirmed that Luck would not practice against the Browns Wednesday or Thursday – which means he won’t play Saturday in the second preseason game. That takes us to August 19th at the earliest for Luck to get live practice reps. That is 20 days before the regular season begins in Los Angeles.

Back-up Jacoby Brissett is a nice guy and good quarterback, but the ceiling for the Colts will be entirely determined by Luck’s ability to play at 100%. With Luck, the Colts have the potential to win a Super Bowl. Without him, all the brilliant late round draft picks by Chris Ballard won’t be able to help Brissett win enough games to make the playoffs.

Safety Khari Willis has looked much better than a fourth round pick in practice and during the preseason opener in Buffalo, and cornerback Rock Ya-Sin had another sweet pick in today’s practice.

Daurice Fountain and Deon Cain have been playmakers no matter who plays quarterback in 11-on-11 or seven-on-seven work. They’re playing so well that people are starting to ask whether the always good, but never great Chester Rogers is a lock to make the roster.

But it may not make any difference.

Defensive lineman Denico Autry has been as good as any Colts player in training camp, and cornerback Quincy Wilson appears to be rolling toward reaching his tremendous potential.

But it just doesn’t matter if Luck can’t get his calf back to 100%.

And what the hell is going on with this balky calf anyway? We all want to know what the future holds for Luck, and at this point we are not entirely sure whether we are being told the truth about the injury and its prognosis.

We want answers, but injuries are tough beasts to predict. Last summer, we had no idea whether Luck’s shoulder would allow him to play again – ever. But Luck had no idea himself. Neither did Reich or Ballard.

If we are talking about whether Brissett or Chad Kelly are a better back-up (potential starter if Luck cannot go) next week, this season where all is possible could evolve into one where mediocrity is all but assured.

Making the case for Anthony Leal going to Indiana – and to Stanford

Which will Anthony Leal choose? We’ll find out tonight. (Credit – Yann Edits)

Anthony Leal is a senior at Bloomington South High School with a hell of a decision to make. He can study and play basketball at either Indiana or Stanford for free.

This is a little like being forced to choose which winning lottery ticket to cash..

There are great reasons to choose both programs, and that’s what makes the decision so tough. It’s not like he’s choosing between North Dakota State and Stanford or Texas Southern and Indiana. Both are stellar universities (Stanford with an edge) that have solid basketball programs (Indiana with an edge).

Indiana is very familiar to Leal. His parents work at the school, he’s knows the players, and he’s friends with Trey Galloway – another 2020 recruit who committed to IU a couple of weeks ago. Familiarity can help a young man transition to college with fewer bumps and bruises.

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Stanford is one of the finest academic institutions on the planet. The athletic department doesn’t not stand in the way of athletes seeking their academic potential. It’s basketball heyday is in its rearview mirror, but basketball isn’t forever and eventually the lessons learned at a place like Stanford will inform a life well-lived.

See. Tough choice.

Go to Indiana, and Anthony will never be without a job. Hoosiers are well taken care of by companies run by Indiana fans, or by potential customers with IU ties.

As for Stanford, there are not many – if any – unemployed Stanford grads.

From a basketball perspective, Indiana has a clear edge. That’s surprising given that IU has not played in the NCAA Tournament since 2016, and has barely been a .500 team during Archie Miller’s first two seasons, but Stanford has been a sub-mediocre Pac-12 team for more than a decade.

Stanford’s woes began in 2008 when coach Trent Johnson left The Cardinal to take over the program at LSU. Since then, Stanford has “enjoyed” three winning conference seasons and played in only one NCAA Tourney. The program’s total Pac-12 record during those 11 seasons is 91-107.

What’s that mean to a kid choosing a school? Who the hell knows? Maybe Anthony believes he can help turn things around in Palo Alto.

There are a variety of factors that drive a family’s decision when choosing a school for an athlete being recruited. Facilities, relationships, academics, ability to win, path to a professional career, proximity, and more. Every kid orders his priorities a little differently, so who knows what Anthony will do.

Smart guys in the recruiting analysis business predict he’ll pledge Indiana tonight, but the mind of a high school senior can change quickly and often.

Tonight we’ll all find out together whether Miller will continue his impressive streak of earning commitments from in-state talent, or whether Stanford coach Jerod Haase will get a smart and athletic kid who can shoot.

That’s soon enough. And whatever he decides, let’s not get too excited or agitated. He’s an 18-year old kid.

Preseason football makes no sense, but we can’t not watch it! #Colts

Among the many things Colts fans would like to unsee from last night’s preseason opener was Jacoby Brissett holding on to the football too long.

Watching preseason football is a total waste of time. Maybe the players and coaches get something out of it, but for fans and media, it’s a non-event we can’t stop watching.

I sat in front of the TV last night for three hours trying to figure out what was going on as the Colts and Bills played. If the point is to win, why did the Colts sit as many starters as they played. If the whole deal is to only evaluate players, why use a replay challenge or call timeouts.

None of it makes any sense.

The big story this morning is that Chad Kelly outplayed Phillip Walker as the battle for the third QB spot heats up. What? Neither of these guys should be in a position to take a meaningful snap in the regular season. EVER! If they do, the Colts have no chance to win a game.

I’m as guilty as anyone. At Colts practices, I spend an inordinate amount of time watching Kelly and Walker throw. In the moment, it’s interesting. Afterward, I feel like an idiot. The Kelly vs. Walker battle is an empty calorie question. It’s utterly irrelevant to the Colts hopes to win a Super Bowl.

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As for the roster decisions Frank Reich and Chris Ballard need to make with wide receivers, what can we figure out by watching Reece Fountain and Deon Cain catch balls thrown by quarterbacks not named Andrew Luck against defensive backs who won’t make the Bills roster? It’s like trying to determine the best driver as they sit in cars without wheels.

The Colts defense looked off, but it should with Darius Leonard, Kenny Moore II, and others not playing. What the hell are they supposed to look like?

The four preseason games are at least two too many for NFL teams to figure out who to keep and who to cut. Preparing to play in the regular season has already been cut to two games. Many starters sit in weeks one and four, so what the hell is the point?

Meaningless football is a waste of our time. We know it, but we stare blankly at the TV trying to make sense of our interest in a thoroughly tedious and insignificant event. Announcers try to keep players wearing the same number straight. Coaches hope only to leave the field with a squad as healthy as they were when his team arrived. Fans bitch and moan about wasting their time – as they waste their time.

Media hope only for a quick game so they aren’t up against deadline and can get a couple of hours sleep before flying home the next morning.

Everyone just wants real football to start. What happens prior is nonsense that no one has the stones or discipline to stop watching, playing, televising, or hosting.

Someone, please, put an end to four game preseason football schedules, so that I can stop feeling like a moron for watching it.

Can former Colts punter Pat McAfee host a successful national radio show?

Pat McAfee is smart as hell, engaging as hell, and restless as hell. That gives him a hell of a shot at being a successful sports talk radio host.

As a standalone gig, a daily radio show is a lot of work. Coupled with his roster of responsibilities as an analyst for ESPN’s Thursday night college football package, Friday contributor to Get Up, and performer on DAZN, Pat is going to be a very busy former punter.

Let me tell you a few secrets about sportstalk radio that we don’t discuss much outside the fraternity of those who work in it. The first is that hosting a radio show is hard work. It isn’t laying bricks or digging a ditch, but the relentlessness of hosting a daily show can be withering.

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We always say it’s the easiest and best job in the world because listeners don’t want to hear about how hard it is to sit in front of a microphone and talking about sports. The truth is that being interesting and entertaining on command whether interviewing a guest, sharing perspective, or taking calls every segment of every show can be daunting.

Pat is going to learn some things about himself and radio during the first few months of the show that will determine whether it succeeds. Here are a few of them:

The worst segment of each day’s show, not the best, will define the quality of the show for listeners. Blowing off a segment is not an option if the show is going to succeed. Listeners perpetually evaluate the product, and another station is easy to find.
Authenticity is the key to connecting with listeners. Trust is everything on the radio, and that trust is built slowly and surely through a host being himself. It’s a one-on-one relationship for listeners, even if the host is sitting alone in a barren studio.
Serious profanity has a consequence beyond offending a couple of puritans. The FCC is very serious about “protecting” listeners from obscenity, and as the host of a network show Pat will be responsible for protecting the broadcast licenses of his affiliates. Those stations will almost all be unmanned during his show, which means someone in Pat’s studio better damn well be ready to hit the delay button to keep Pat’s occasional f-bombs from blaring out of car speakers.
Eighty-percent of listeners will tune in for the “what” of the show, and 20% for the “who”. That means 20% will listen to Pat talk about anything, but 80% will listen because of what Pat talks about. The luminescence of Pat’s personality will not be enough to carry the show – the content has to be compelling too.
Former WIBC Sportstalk host Kevin Lee once told me, “Anyone can do one good show. That’s easy.” He was right. Doing one good show every day for months and then years is insanely difficult and requires enormous discipline. Despite his well-earned reputation as a very smart kook, Pat knows discipline, and he will need it.
Radio can be magical, but that magic cannot be planned. It only happens organically. Somehow, I don’t think Pat will be tempted to overplan. The diligent planning and production raises the floor for each segment, the ability to follow the magic as it happens will raise the ceiling.
Bruce Gilbert knows what he’s doing. This is a little inside radio, but Bruce is Pat’s boss and one of the smartest and most dedicated guys in radio management. Pat should listen to every word from Bruce as though it was etched on a tablet from on high. Bruce will be an enormous asset in Pat’s evolution from a compelling and funny former punter into a competent radio host who is compelling and funny.

Whether this show works will be entirely driven by Pat’s ability to see each segment as a crucial opportunity to connect with listeners. In a two-hour show, Pat will have eight segments per day that require focus, discipline, energy, and authenticity. It’s going to have to be as fun and challenging for him on day 186 as it is on day one.

Whatever happens, I’ll be fascinated to hear it at 10 a.m., September 9th, on CBS Sports 1430 in Indianapolis.

As Anthony Leal ponders decision, here are reasons why Archie Miller is locking down Indiana

” “How many Indiana kids want to play at IU? Let’s see some hands!”

What’s so special about basketball players from Indiana?”

“Do you really think basketball is different inside Indiana’s borders?”

“Why should Indiana University value a kid from Indiana over an identical kid from New York or Texas?”

If you are from Indiana, you would be surprised how often I’m asked these questions. If you aren’t from Indiana, you might be a person who’s asked them. When I talk about how pleased I am that IU’s Archie Miller and his staff are working hard to recruit their home state, people either get it or they don’t.

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They say times have changed – the candy stripes don’t mean anything. I agree that garment colors and designs are valueless to recruits, and that players want more from their experience at IU than wearing funny pants in from of 17,000 people at Assembly Hall as cheerleaders run in a figure-eight carrying flags as the pep band plays the William Tell Overture.

I get what recruits want – a path to the NBA and a chance to win championships. I also understand some things about basketball in Indiana that gives a program a significant advantage when they are able to gather players from this state in bulk.

There are plenty of reasons for this:

The best athletes in Indiana tend to play basketball exclusively. Playing summer basketball makes competing in fall and spring sports very difficult. In states like Texas and Florida, football is king. Baseball and football are huge in California. If Mike Conley and Gary Harris grew up in Florida, today they would be defensive backs or wide receivers in the NFL.
Because Indiana kids play a lot of basketball, they reach the 10,000 hours threshold of deliberate practice needed to gain Malcolm Gladwell’s standard to become world-class. They also play against each other, which brings a legit use of the well-worn Chuck Pagano axiom, “Iron sharpens iron”. There are also world class facilities in Indianapolis like the Basketball Factory, 100% Hoops, Excellence Academy, and The Incrediplex with some of the best basketball training in the world.
High school and summer basketball coaching in Indiana is superior to other states. We’ve discussed this before, and there is no objective measurement for coaching superiority, but watch a game somewhere else, and then watch a game in Indiana. Believe your eyes.
Look at the lineage of Indiana high school players over the last 15 years – Josh McRoberts, Greg Oden, Conley, Harris, Trey Lyles, Zak Irvin, Yogi Ferrell, Eric Gordon, the Zellers, the Plumlees, JuJuan Johnson, Jeff Teague, Gordon Hayward, Matt Howard, Caleb Swanigan, Branden Dawson, Luke Harangody, George Hill, E’Twaun Moore, Robbie Hummel, Courtney Lee, Romeo Langford, and Glenn Robinson III. Think a college team could hang a couple of banners with those 26 guys? Only four went to IU. Seventeen went either to other schools in Indiana or programs in states that border Indiana.
If Miller can’t recruit Indiana kids to Indiana, what is he going to have to do to secure the talents of talented kids in New York, Texas, Virginia, or Massachusetts? Kids who can’t point to Indiana on a map are going to require the type of incentives in which Indiana does not want to indulge. In 49 states, cheating to win is the price of a championship, but this is Indiana.

If Leal commits to Indiana Friday, that will give Miller two native Hoosiers so far in his 2020 class. The 2019 class included Trayce Jackson-Davis, Armaan Franklin, and grad-transfer Joey Brunk – all from Indiana. In 2018, Miller netted Langford, Rob Phinisee, and Damezi Anderson from Indiana, Jerome Hunter from Ohio, Jake Forrester from Pennsylvania, and grad transfer Evan Fitzner from California. Forrester transferred a few months ago and Fitzner exhausted his eligibility, leaving Miller with a bunch of Indiana kids, and one from a neighboring state.

I have no problem with Miller recruiting Illinois and Ohio once the brand of Indiana Basketball is re-established as nationally meaningful, but right now the buzz about IU is strongest within the borders.

With a Leal commitment, followed by Kristian Lander, Caleb Furst, and Trey Kaufman in the class of 2021, Indiana the program has a chance to reflect the basketball excellence of Indiana the state.