Author Archives: Kent Sterling

NBA Officiating Primer – Understand How and Why Calls Are Made

by Kent Sterling

How does Joey Crawford call a game? (Insert joke here) A bit of understanding I gleaned this week is below.

The NBA is hard to watch for people who like consistent officiating. My issue has always been that the same act can be a foul at one moment, but not in the next.

I sat and listened to an outstanding explanation of officiating this week, and would like to share the wisdom I received.

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The first bit explained the source of my frustration, and provided me with enough wisdom to move beyond it.

Calls are not made because of the act, but because of the result. It isn’t a foul or violation if the result of the foul does not provide an advantage. Whether or not you agree with that philosophy or not isn’t important – it’s what causes the whistle to blow, and if you want it different, the NBA is going to drive you batty.

For example, if a player is in the open court and dribbles by putting his hand under the ball but does not hesitate to change direction, that is not a violation. If the player hesitates to change direction with his hand under the ball – violation.

Here’s another clarification that will bring understanding – a hand of the defender on the offensive attacker is not a violation. If the hand impedes the progress of the attacker, that is a violation.

There is gray area everywhere, and intent is weighed by the referees in every situation. That makes officiating as much about psychology as physics, so people who want all motorists traveling faster than 55 mph on I-465 to get a ticket will go crazy watching an NBA game.

Here are some other pieces of information that will help clear the fog of misunderstanding about NBA officiating:

Illegal screens involve one of three elements – sliding the hip to create contact and thus additional space, setting the feet wider than the shoulders resulting in the defensive player tripping (if the defensive player does not trip, the screen is legal), and extending arms in a way that creates contact and slows the progress of the defender.
Flagrant fouls are all about intent. If a player engages in what is believe to be a non-basketball violent act, it’s a flagrant foul.
Underneath the foul line extended, defending with the forearm is okay. Causing a player to slow or change direction because of defending with a forearm above the foul line is a foul.
Charge/block clarification This is a tough call for everyone to make, and worse for kooks like us to understand. For a charge to be called, the defender must be directly in the path of the offensive attacker at the time upward motion begins – not when contact is made, and not when the attacker leaves the floor.
The rule of verticality is relatively logical. The defensive player has the right to go straight up with his arms raised straight up to defend his space. Any deviation from straight up is inferred as creating contact.

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Here are two new rules and one new request:

Offensive players without the ball cannot camp out of bounds. In the past, clever players would stand for or five feet behind the baseline to create additional space for the ball handler. This season, anyone leaving the court for any reason must immediately return.
Delay of game will be called when a player on the scoring team takes the ball out of the basket and gives it to a referee. It corrupts the flow of play – which is the point of the player doing it in the first place.
This is not a rule with a penalty, but officials are asking players not to touch a free throw that is missed or made when another will be forthcoming. The grabbing of the ball slows the game.

Here’s one area where despite the explanation, I have no idea what the rule is – use of replay to confirm, overturn, and make calls. I am against replay in all its forms, so I tuned out as a childish response to the answers to those questions.

Indianapolis Colts – Pregame Tribute to Manning Should Never Have Been Planned

by Kent Sterling

Peyton Manning doesn’t wear this jersey anymore, and a tribute honoring his work here should wait until he doesn’t wear any jersey.

The horse last left the barn, and there is no way to unring this bell, but the Indianapolis Colts should never have given serious thought to providing Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning with a video tribute, or any other measure of honor prior to Sunday night’s game at Lucas Oil Stadium.

After all, he is the opposing quarterback.

It’s not fair to Andrew Luck, the Colts defense, Peyton Manning, or Colts fans.

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Following in the footsteps of a legend like Manning is tough enough, but forcing Luck to watch a video tribute and listen to the ovation of a crowd who pays to watch the current Colts – a team for which he hopes to play as long as Manning did – is cruel. Luck is a grown man, and he’ll be just fine, but it’s an unnecessary slap in the face to a guy who so far has done everything the right way to moderate the separation anxiety of a fanbase that still foolishly debates whether Luck or Manning would make the Colts better.

The Colts defense is supposed to attack with ferocity the Manning led offense – one of the most prolific in NFL history through six games – after watching a video that is reportedly poignant enough to make people cry? Maybe the defense can look at the video, and turn their response toward rage. Chicago Bears legendary linebacker Dick Butkus used to watch game film and contrive reasons to hate his counterparts. The defense might be seething by the time the thing ends and the crowd stops chanting “Pey-ton Man-ning! Pey-ton Man-ning!”

How is Manning supposed to compartmentalize his emotions about his homecoming – difficult enough already – after being honored. Manning isn’t some old man beyond his prime taking a validictory lap, like Edgerrin James was with the Seahawks when he returned to Indy. This is the 2013 season’s MVP after six weeks, hoping to taking the release handed to him by the Colts and ram it straight up Jim Irsay’s ass. To make Manning sit still for this tribute is cruel and self-indulgent.

And how about the fans? This is like attending the funeral for a loved one who springs from the grave to knee you in the nuts. Fans have loyalty toward Luck that will make them feel a little dirty for cheering Manning. They want the Colts to win, but hate to see Manning fail. The video will force them into an unnecessary discomfort.

The video and series of tributes could have waited 10 years, and been wonderful. Marvin Harrison, Dallas Clark, Edge, Jeff Saturday, Dwight Freeney, Robert Mathis, and Gary Brackett could have saluted him during his induction into the Ring of Honor. Maybe the starting 11 from the Super Bowl Championship team can stand in formation in their jerseys, and Manning could throw one more touchdown pass to Harrison. That would be great in 2023.

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There is plenty of time for the Colts to honor Manning, indisputably the most important sports figure in the history of the city or state. Lucas Oil Stadium wouldn’t exist without the ignition of football fans in Indiana during Manning’s incredible run of excellence. The Colts would likely have moved to Los Angeles. No Super Bowl Championship, no host the Super Bowl, no convention center expansion, no NCAA Final Four, and none of the downtown growth that those events have spawned. Over the past 15 years, the talent pool of college football recruits Indianapolis has exploded. Why have kids who would have played basketball chosen to play football instead? Manning isn’t the only reason, but he was the lever that tipped the scale.

Manning hasn’t been the only person who put Indiana on the national sports radar, but he has been the most visible. This weekend, he will bring the national media spotlight back to town, and make Indianapolis look like a great place to live one more time.

The Colts, City of Indianapolis, State of Indiana, and everyone who lives within 100 miles of Lucas Oil Stadium owes a financial and emotional debt to Manning. The time to begin paying it off with cheers and tears is several years down the road.

Advice for Chicago Cubs Managerial Candidate Dave Martinez – Refuse the Job

by Kent Sterling

Baseball-reference.com rates Jim Piersall as the most similar player to Dave Martinez. He would need to be equally crazy to take the Cubs Manager gig.

Someone is going to accept the position as manager of the Chicago Cubs because team president Theo Epstein is going to offer enough money to make it difficult to refuse, but that person should know walking through the door that a promising career as a big league manager will end two years from now when the Cubs feel they are ready to compete. It should not be former Cubs outfielder Dave Martinez.

Rich Renteria, Manny Acta, Dave Martinez, and A.J. Hinch have emerged as the four finalists, and barring an 11th hour entrant, one of those four will accept an addition to his resume’ that will forever poison his candidacy for all other similar positions.

There is no chance at all for the Cubs to win anytime soon – even by their own admission. They continue to look at 2016 as a year when contention is possible, but even that is a longshot given the youth and farm system of the St. Louis Cardinals.

The first question candidates need to ask both themselves and management as they are interviewed is what Sveum could possibly have done to save his job. With an outfield with Ryan Sweeney, Nate Schierholtz, and Junior Lake, and a rotation of Travis Wood, Jeff Samardzija, Edwin Jackson, Jake Arrieta, and someone else, winning is inconceivable in 2014, and next year’s roster is expected to be less talented than the opening day 2013 group.

The Cubs are coming off the worst three-year run in franchise history, and the Cubs are a team that has known its share of miserable stretches.

The backslide of supposed future stars Starlin Castro and Anthony Rizzo was a supposedly a major factor in the decision to replace Sveum, but it’s unclear whether Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer accepted responsibility for the malaise that engulfed the clubhouse after they dealt virtually every valuable piece on the team.

With each deal for farm system filler, the Cubs removed a sliver of enthusiasm from the remaining players. There was no expectation of winning, and so the young players learned to accept losing. Is there a better recipe for a mediocre effort?

Season ticket holders have had enough, so the front office has fortified its ticket sales staff with the same philosophy it’s building depth in the farm system – more bodies equals a better result. That the phone sales staff is trying to compel whomever answers the phone to write a substantial check (third highest average ticket price in baseball in 2013) to watch a team that admits its immediate future is dismal seals its fate as surely as the team itself.

The hire of a manager will be positioned to inspire hope – the kind of hope that will be communicated during those uniformly unpleasant phone calls – and in two years when that hope will be seen as a foolish emotional investment, he will be dispatched to the same scrap heap that holds the wreckage of so many others.

A successful career path as a manager/coach is as much about timing as talent, and the timing for accepting this job could not be worse. For Martinez is particular, who is the bench coach for Tampa Bay Rays leader Joe Maddon, the Cubs job is a third rail not to be touched.

As for the response of the season ticket waiting list yo-yos who are being hounded as current season ticket holders forfeit their right to overspend to watch a triple A team, it should mirror what Martinez should tell the Cubs brass during his interview today – “No thanks.”

Indianapolis Colts – Five Keys to Beating Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos

by Kent Sterling

On Sunday night, the Denver Broncos and Indianapolis Colts will actually play some football. The hyperbole and weirdness of this strange week will be over, and football skills will finally trump verbal clumsiness Bill Polian/Jim Irsay) or brilliance (Peyton Manning/Andrew Luck).

There will be those who say that the toughest part of Manning’s night will be in finding the visitors locker room at Lucas Oil Stadium, and they are likely right.

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If the Colts couldn’t get past a very mediocre offensive line to rattle Phillip Rivers Monday Night in San Diego, how in the hell are they going to knock Manning around?

When trying to figure out how to attack the Denver offense, which is Manning and his toys, there are some unfortunate facts to consider:

The Broncos have failed to score a touchdown in only four of 24 quarters.
Worse, the Broncos have scored in double digits in 16 of 24 quarters – a minimum of two quarters in every game.
The Broncos have average 25.2 points scored in the second half.
Through six games, Manning leads the NFL in attempts (240), completions (178), passer rating (128.8), passing yards (2,179), passing TDs (22), yards per attempt (9.1), yards passing per game (363.2), adjusted yards per attempt (10.54 – the highest of all-time if maintained for the entire season), completion percentage (74.2% – again, the best of all-time over a full season), passing TD percentage (9.2%), and sack percentage (2.04%).
If you remove his rookie year with the Colts, Manning’s record as a starter in the regular season is a stunning 157-57. If the Broncos finish this season 14-2, Manning will have averaged an incredible 11.8 wins per season during that span.

As much as football is normally an 11 on 11 game requiring a minimum level of competence at all 11 spots for an offense or defense to flourish, the truth about the Broncos is that as long as Manning is upright, their opponent is at an enormous disadvantage.

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On defense, the Colts will try to confuse Manning, as does everyone. Few succeed.

On offense, the Colts need to score on at least 50% of their possessions because Manning is likely to.

Here are the five keys to the Colts winning on Sunday night:

Manning shows up to Lucas Oil Stadium in a state of emotional upheaval. Colts fans know that Manning’s record in the postseason is a very mediocre 9-11. That’s pertially because as Manning has chosen to win games with his arm in the regular season, he his deferred to the defense in the playoffs. Third-and-two late in a playoff game, Manning is likely to call a running play, avoid a potential turnover, and put the game in his defense’s hands. Colts fans need to hope that the massive amount of attention leading up to this game tricks Manning’s psyche into believing this game in being played in the middle of January, and Knowshon Moreno gets a bunch of big third down carries.

Colts receivers are over their case of the yips. In the last two games, Colts receivers have dropped eight of Luck’s passes. Through the first four, they dropped four. The Colts can’t afford to execute plays well in every other facet, and then drop accurate passes.

Run with success. When the Colts have won games, they have been able to pound the ball a little but. The Broncos have been very successful at stopping the run with the second best defensive yards per attempt average in the league (3.2). The Colts are seventh in offensive yards per attempt at 4.7. Something has to give, and it better be the Broncos.

Play mistake free football. The Colts have been penalized for less yards than any other team in the NFL (175). Denver has been dinged for almost twice that yardage. Denver is even steven in turnovers, and the Colts are +5. The Colts must make the Broncos earn every yard, first down, and point. If they could force a couple of turnovers, that would be a big help (as you would guess).

Do not blitz – EVER. While Manning has put up very good numbers when not blitzed 141-189 for 1,690 yards, 14 TDs, two picks, and five sacks. When blitzed, he’s 37-51 for 489 yards, eight TDs, and no sacks or picks. The biggest number is TD percentage. When not blitzed, Manning completes 7.4% of his passes for touchdowns. When defenses blitz, the number more than doubles to 15.7%. His quarterback rating when blitzed is a crazy 142.1. When not blitzed, it drops to an only excellent 121.8. As fans saw in Indianapolis for 13 years, blitzing Manning is the strategic equivalent to hitting a 17 in blackjack.

The Colts could put Reggie Wayne at cornerback, and hope that out of habit Manning throws it to a favorite all-time target, but other than that, Manning is virtually impossible to stop, and the Colts offense hasn’t exactly been a juggernaut that looks ready to engage in a shootout.

I’m usually not a big proponent of the crowd’s effect on a game, but this week, I think an rowdy and loud crowd could be disruptive. The only way to beat Manning is to make him focus on something else, and deafening noise and virulent invective might help. Cheering him is certainly appropriate before the game, but as soon as kickoff comes, fans need to cease the aid and comfort of #18.

Prediction – Broncos are favored by 6 1/2. I’ll take Broncos 37-16

Indianapolis Colts – Peyton Manning Might Not Be Agitated by Irsay, But Bill Polian Sure Is

by Kent Sterling

This is the happy and relaxed Bill Polian. He was nowhere to be found today during his ESPN appearances.

Note to self – if you ever fire Bill Polian, give him a chace to vent in the office, so he doesn’t puke bile all over ESPN asked about previous managers.

There is one thing that people in indianapolis learned from 1998 thru 2011 about Bill Polian – it does not take much to turn him defensive. When God handed out the emotional callouses that keep most of us from lashing out each time someone – anyone – takes a potshot at us, or every time we infer an attack that doesn’t actually exist, Polian was waiting in the line for a second helping of ability to assess physical potential on the gridiron.

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Today, ESPN got a dose of Polian’s righteous indignation toward Jim Irsay when he was asked to comment on the Colts owner’s comments about the strategy that led to Peyton Manning’s release:

ESPN: Bill, you worked really closely with Irsay for years – do you think his initial comments, you know, as he alluded to, were not meant the way they have been taken?

Polian “Well, I never had an exit interview, so I can’t tell you what he meant or didn’t mean by that. Let me deal with some facts, okay? I’ll give you some names – Dwight Freeney, Robert Mathis, Kelvin Hayden, Gary Brackett, David Thornton, I could go on and on. Adam Vinatieri, Pat Angerer, Bob Sanders, Elvin, uh, Bethea, I can go on and on. Antoine Bethea.

“By the way, there was a salary cap, and when he talks about this model that he wants to build, which I’ve said a hundred times is perfectly okay. He’s the owner and he can do what he wants. When he has to pay Andrew Luck as one of the top paid quarterbacks, if not the top paid quarterback in the league two years from now, he’ll be back in the same boat we were in for all the years that we had Peyton.

“So, we did our best and if that wasn’t good enough, that’s fine. I don’t have any problem with it, but I will tell you this, and I’m sure I speak for most of my teammates and colleagues, are very proud of what we did. Our record is there for all to see. It’s up to this new group of Colts and this new model to meet or exceed what we did.”

I saw the exchange live, and the interesting part that brought back memories was the beginning of the live shot. When ESPN cut to a shot of Polian before he spoke, his eyes had that look – the dead-eyed angry guy look that signaled Polian’s thin skin had been scratched.

There was no holding it in. Polian didn’t say whether he feels that Manning had been slandered, but he damn sure felt slighted himself by Irsay’s implication that the construct of the roster during the Manning/Polian era in Indy had cost the Colts multiple championships.

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Polian was a significant part of the team that made the Colts one of the best franchises in all professional sports from 1999-2010, but his self-indulgent ill-temper and strange defensive posturing (talking about emotions, not three technique) when questioned by uninformed fans and media made him difficult to deal with.

Later in the interview, Polian quoted Marv Levy, “Your actions are so loud that I can’t hear what you are saying.” That means that there is no point in defending yourself verbally – that the results of your past are the legacy to which people pay attention. I thought it odd for Polian to use that quote when he had just spent the previous two minutes credentialing himself, which violated the spirit of the very quote he cited.

All that said, I always enjoyed dealing with Polian. He’s a good guy, and someone that I have always admired. I wish that he could enjoy his success a little bit more, but for many high achievers, the same drive that causes them to strive so long and hard for success also prompts them to occasionally act like petulant children.

That was Polian today, and while the sting of being fired never really evaporates completely, it should dull over time. Today, Polian acted as though he was told to pack his things yesterday. Even if it continues to hurt, Polian should keep it to himself. He will rightly be a hall of famer eventually, and behaving as he did today belies an insecurity unbecoming someone who was one of the NFL’s all-time best at what he did for three teams over a quarter century.

Indianapolis Colts Owner Jim Irsay Never Implied Peyton Manning Was a Choke Artist

by Kent Sterling

There is a challenge inherent in listening to or reading comments made by Colts owner Jim Irsay. He can make the mistake of assuming everyone knows what he’s talking about. That’s one of the consequences of being an owner – no one stops you to get clarification for the fear of insulting him.

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Irsay gets a lot of “Yes sirs!” in his life as a guy who owns and runs a business valued at $1.2 billion (according to Forbes), and so he tends to tell the media things in a vague and circular way that allows for people to misconstrue both intent and meaning. Such was the case with Irsay’s comments to the USA Today yesterday that continue to draw so much attention on ESPN.

Here’s what he said:

“We’ve changed our model a little bit, because we wanted more than one of these,” Irsay says, flicking up his right hand to show his Super Bowl XLI championship ring.

“(Tom) Brady never had consistent numbers, but he has three of these,” Irsay adds. “Pittsburgh had two, the Giants had two, Baltimore had two and we had one. That leaves you frustrated.

“You make the playoffs 11 times, and you’re out in the first round seven out of 11 times. You love to have the Star Wars numbers from Peyton and Marvin (Harrison) and Reggie (Wayne). Mostly, you love this.” Irsay points again to his ring.

That’s what Broncos coach Jon Fox referred to a “cheap shot.” The media tends to share the quote that can be inferred to contain inflammatory rhetoric, while omitting the stuff that gives the quote context.

Here’s the part of what Irsay shared that makes clear the meaning of the above comment:

“I think it’s perfect,” Irsay says. “What’s happened is what Peyton and I hoped would happen. The desire was for him to get well and get to a team that has a chance to win another Super Bowl before his career ended. And our desire was to be able to transition to Andrew. To be so good so soon is stunning.”

And there was this clarification, “Circumstances created this decision,” Irsay says. “You have to understand there’s no way this occurs if he’s in Indy. It’s just impossible, where our salary cap was. Having him stay at the type of number that he expected and deserved to earn and all those things.”

Manning’s cap number in Denver is $17.5 million, while Luck’s is just over $5 million. That difference allowed the Colts to build a defense that until the Chargers game had been pretty good at stopping teams.

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Irsay wasn’t dogging out Manning as a choker in the postseason; he was saying that the Colts couldn’t be a championship team while having a quarterback, no matter how great, count for over 15% of their cap number.

Every Colts fan knows that the regular season record for the Colts was an incredible 138-54 from 1999-2010 with 11 trips to the playoffs. Some incorrectly assign blame for the team’s 9-10 playoff record during those years to Manning, and many are inferring the same thing from Irsay’s comments.

The truth is that Manning’s only culpability for those losses was in counting too much against the salary cap for the Colts to address the needs of the defense. Irsay knows that better than anyone. Sure, there were games that saw a less than perfect Manning in the postseason, like the four pick day he struggled through in the 2003 AFC Championship, but he also had a quarterback rating of over 90 in four of the 10 losses.

While comparisons between Manning and Andrew Luck will be a very popular sidebar this week, and just as in the evaluation of Irsay’s comments, it’s imperative to factor the salary cap picture into the equation.

Irsay and general manager Ryan Grigson didn’t have the luxury of viewing Manning and Luck in the vacuum of how they would compare as quarterbacks in 2012 and 2013 in making the decision to release Manning. They needed to be circumspect, and that is how the media should interpret Irsay’s comments.

Being logical makes the quotes and story less inflammatory, but to do anything less is unfair to the Colts and Irsay.

School Officials Behave Like Greedy Oafs in Suspending Athlete for Trying to Help Drunk Friend

by Kent Sterling

Erin Cox is an honor student and athlete whose leadership role has been stripped because she acted like a leader.

Zero tolerance is an idiotic dodge, and for every time it’s applied rationally, there are a dozen examples of poor implementation. Black and white rules work for school administrators because the rules remove responsibility for their use, and administrators, like all managers, hate the thought of being blamed for anything.

People are fired, not rules, so adherence to the rules is a must-use premise for continued payroll check delivery.

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So here’s the short story of what happened to Erin Cox, a volleyball player at North Andover (Mass.) High School. She’s home relaxing when she gets a text. A teammate is too drunk to drive home from a party, and needs a ride. Cox, a senior captain, heads to the party to provide a safe way home. Cox walks through the party, finds her friend, but before they leave, the cops show up to end the madness. They arrest some for illegal possession of alcohol. They issue summons to others for illegal consumption. Cox was one of those summoned, despite a police officer vouching for Cox’s story and sobriety.

The school suspended Cox for five matches and stripped her captaincy. This wasn’t even guilty until proven innocent. This was penalty before any due process whatsoever.

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Makes plenty of sense. Is it any wonder why teenagers look at adults and wonder at what point the dumbass gene kicks in? A girl tries to help a friend and teammate avoid potential tragedy, and is told she is no longer a worthy leader.

Parents get upset about incidents of stupidity robbing opportunity from their kids, so Cox’s parents sued the school to reverse the punishment. I’m no fan of silly lawsuits, but parents need to back their kids, and if not through the courts, then how? My Dad threatened an assistant principal with a beating. Today, Homeland Security would have been called to repel my Dad’s empty threat. The courts are a better, if less direct path to justice.

The attorney for the school told the media of the school’s desire “to take a very serious and principled stand regarding alcohol.” How about a serious and principled stand regarding leadership, and the need to mold the character of it’s students? How about rewarding someone who sacrifices to keep a friend and teammate from making a potentially tragic mistake?

This all assumes that the media reports and mother’s statements about her daughter’s behavior are accurate, but from what we know about school districts, churches, and businesses, job #1 is lawsuit aversion. Being sued gets people fired, and zero tolerance erases the possibility for a judgment call that might cause a lawsuit over an issue a hell of a lot more serious than a five-game rip and stripped of captain’s stripes.

It’s a shame that high schools have positioned themselves as the teachers of a lesson that should be saved for a time when students have already become part of this societal problem – that fair and unfair is determined by what can and can’t be litigated. For the most part, adults are fear-based morons whose desire to pay their mortgage and keep their kids in private school outweighs doing the right thing for those who deserve it.

Most kids believe that life is a meritocracy when that couldn’t be less true. Life is about satisfying greed, and if an 18 year-old who tried to do the right thing gets in the way of a self-centered adult, that doesn’t even warrant a discussion. Decisions mean responsibility, and responsibility puts at risk position, power, and income. Forty-year-old school administrators and middle managers in $500,000 homes will fire, suspend, or otherwise make miserable those in their charge to perpetuate their lifestyle, regardless of what they deserve.

Over the two weeks since the party, Cox and her classmates have learned a lesson that will strip them of all hope for an adulthood filled with capitulation to doing the convenient thing for reasons governed by chiselers and thieves whose business is done in plain sight under the protection of rules and principles crafted to perpetuate wealth.

Indianapolis Colts – Minus Andrew Luck, Current Roster Is Picture of Mediocrity

by Kent Sterling

Colts linebacker was just a little too slow to catch Phillip Rivers last night, just as the Colts were not good enough to beat a mediocre team on the road.

The week after the Colts beat the Seattle Seahawks, the media went on a hysteric crusade to anoint them as a potential Super Bowl team. That was as absurd last week as those who watched last night’s mess and feel today that the Colts aren’t a playoff team.

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Like all teams in the NFL, the Colts are dealing with injuries. Running backs Vick Ballard and Ahmad Bradshaw are out for the season, as is tight end Dwayne Allen. Safety LaRon Landry has played in two games, the last against the Dolphins one month ago. All are playmakers, and would have had a profound effect on the level of play for the Colts.

Last night, was misery to watch, and I’m certain that coaching it was worse. Whatever the decision, nothing worked after the game opening flea flicker. Return specialist David Reid takes a knee, the ball comes out to the 20; he brings it out and the Colts are lucky if he advances it to the 20.

Go for it on fourth down in the fourth quarter, and they likely lose. Punt and they likely lose. Run the ball, get stopped. Throw, the pass is dropped. Send four at Phillip Rivers, and he waits for a receiver to break clear of Greg Toler’s coverage. Blitz, and Rivers quickly finds Danny Woodhead singled on a linebacker.

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There was no beating the Chargers because the talent on the field was not good enough to win the game. The construction of the Colts on both sides of the ball has shown a clever ability to plug in players that fit the Colts system, but lacks the overall talent to compete and win every game.

Then, there is quarterback Andrew Luck. He is the best young quarterback in the game, and at his disposal is Reggie Wayne who will be the second most prolific wide receiver in NFL history when his incredible gifts recede and he finally retires. Beyond that, the Colts are good enough to beat most teams they should, but not great enough to beat all.

Great, lucky, or a combination of the two wins Super Bowls, and to win a Super Bowl, the Colts are going to have to be lucky. The Browns didn’t trade running back Trent Richardson for a 2014 first round pick likely to be in the 20s because Michael Lombardi believes T Rich is the next Jim Brown. Linebacker Jerrell Freeman didn’t go undrafted and ignored for three years by the NFL because he’s Mike Singletary Jr. These are two of 50 role players, all of whom must be consistent B players if the Colts are going to win.

That’s not to disparage either Freeman or Richardson. Every team needs players would are capable and competent. The Colts have a lot of those guys right now – too many of them to be considered a Super Bowl contender. They are not a great team. They are a good team with a soon-to-be great quarterback.

Most picked the Colts to go 10-6 prior to the season starting, and that means that there are going to be six weeks that follow a loss that are going to be miserable, and ten weeks that will be filled with joy. They will earn a spot in the playoffs, and they will be eliminated unless ordained by a higher power (as was the case with the Ravens last year) to be worthy of finding a way to MetLife Stadium.

As a fan of the Colts, I was furious at the four or five dropped passes and ambivalent work by some members of the defense. The Colts were outworked and outplayed last night because that happens to a good team on the road. They don’t make the plays necessary to win. That they stayed close enough the battle was a testimony to Luck’s leadership because the result was not in doubt for a single minute of the second half.

The 6-0 Broncos are next, and while a win last night would have allowed the hype for Peyton Manning’s homecoming to mushroom, it’s still going to be fascinating to see how the Colts and their fans respond to the Babe Ruth of this franchise coming back to the building his excellence built.

The Broncos will be asked to answer the same challenge that overwhelmed the Colts last night. Can a good team with a great quarterback find a way to win in a hostile environment?

Steve Bartman’s Horrifying Moment Changed the Cubs and His Life

by Kent Sterling

It’s time for Cubs fans to apologize to Steve Bartman, and for us to hear his story.

When a player makes a game changing mistake, he faces the nedia after talking with his agent and the media relations staff of his team. They counsel him on the best course of action to minimize exposure and in what ways the story might quickly fade from memory.

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When Steve Bartman tried to catch a foul ball that likely would have fallen into Cubs left fielder Moises Alou’s mitt for the second out of the top of the eighth inning with the Cubs holding a 3-0 lead in a game that could have sent them to their first World Series in 58 years, he had no advisors, friends, or public relations experts to guide his actions and words.

Fans threw drinks on him, and security escorted him into an office until Wrigley Field emptied and then gave him a ride to the apartment of a Cubs employee while the wait for calm continued.

Bartman was utterly alone, crushed by the thought that his action may have altered the history of a franchise that he loved. Fans reach for foul balls dozens of times every game. It happens occasionally to those in the front row, and now and again the game is affected by their desire to grab a souvenir.

Over 39,000 people showed up for that game 10 years ago, and all hoped they would witness would had been previously thought impossible – that the Cubs would win a fourth game in the National League Championship Series and qualify for the Fall Classic.

Just over 68 years ago, manager Charlie Grimm made the decision to start Hank Borowy on two days rest in Game Seven of the 1945 World Series. The Tigers scored five runs in the top of the first, and that was that. The 1908 would remain the last taste of championship baseball for the Cubs. 2003 appeared to be the year that allowed the Cubs as a punch line to fade.

The various curses and silly folklore might have been consigned to the dustbin of history had Bartman been astute enough to clear the airspace between the Luis Castillo pop foul and Alou’s mitt, but what has happened to Bartman during the intervening decade since his historic moment as the focus of the wrath of Cubs fans is even more pathetic.

Bartman’s life has been changed forever, and he has made no attempt to mitigate the negativity, and maybe that’s for the best. There are nuts out there who might be compelled to do the guy physical or emotional harm. Bartman is now the living and breathing embodiment of every negative moment that defines America’s lovable losers.

That’s wrong. That’s crazy.

All Bartman did was reach into the crisp night air to catch a foul ball. That’s what baseball fans do.

I’m sure most of the emotional upheaval that has been a part of the last 10 years for Bartman is a part of his past. He’s smart enough to know that he’s not responsible for the Cubs losing that night. Might the result have been different had he moved away from the ball? Maybe, but eight stinking runs didn’t score in that inning because a foul ball wasn’t an out.

There was a period when I blamed Bartman a bit for 2003. I laughed at the halloween costumes that mocked him, and pointed to Boston fans during the 2003 ALCS who stepped back from a ball that Trot Nixon was allowed catch over the railing of Pesky’s porch as evidence that some people get it and some don’t. Time has moderated those feelings, and what I want more than anything now is for an opportunity to understand and apologize to Steve Bartman.

Cubs fans should embrace this man who has stayed silent for a full decade, hoping that the attention would dim. Bartman needs to know that it won’t fade – it will never fade – until there is closure to his narrative. Until we hear from him, and get a chance to say a loud collective “I’m sorry!” there will be no rest in our relentless need to hear from him.

The Cubs should take the lead by honoring Bartman at a ceremony prior to a game. Bartman should take the next step by allowing a respected reporter to interview him about that night, the subsequent weirdness, and current state of his life. I would recommend Rick Telender, who seems to be one of the few adults working in Chicago media these days.

There is no need to capitalize on his infamy, but allowing closure for himself and the fans who are genuinely sorry that one night a decade ago, a young fan walked into Wrigley Field to witness magic, and left a pariah.

Tonight Is Tenth Anniversary of Worst Night in Chicago Cubs History

by Kent Sterling

The only noise on the field after the final out of the Cubs 2003 season was made by the 25 men in Florida Marlins uniforms.

No, it wasn’t the Bartman Game, the worst night in Chicago Cubs history was the night following Bartman’s infamous blunder, the night of the Game Seven loss to the Marlins; the night that hope died at Wrigley Field – finally and forever.

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Dealing with a well-meaning nebbish who stuck his hand in the way of the second out of an inning that could have ended painlessly the night before isn’t tough. Steve Bartman was the wrong guy in the wrong place at the wrong time, like so many more before him – Leon Durham, Don Young, Charlie Grimm, Charlie Root (for both being the pitcher who started the 10-run seventh inning of Game Four of the 1929 World Series and for throwing Babe Ruth’s called shot in the top of the first inning of Game Three of the 1932 Fall Classic), and so many others who relentlessly shattered dreams of their own and millions who follow the Cubs.

The next day was worse than Bartman’s five outs to go miscue. It started well enough though.

Just after 2p on the day of Game Seven, my office phone rang. “Hi, this is Kent,” I said assuming it was a marketing person who would pitch me a lame guest ready to blather about the efficiency of high speed rail, the prescience of buying precious metal, or the doom and gloom of the coming global warming. I was the assistant program director of WIBC Radio, and a good portion of my day was spent telling people politely that their stories were of no interest to radio listeners In Indiana.

“If you don’t get your ass in the car right now, you don’t have a single hair on your balls,” said Paulie Balst on the other end of the phone. “I have a ticket for you and a ticket for Dan Dakich for tonight’s Cubs – Marlins game.”

I said, “See you in three hours!” and walked straight out of the Emmis Building on Monument Circle to my car. I called my boss and my wife from the road northbound on I-65.

Being in Indianapolis, the drive to Wrigley Field was doable in three hours without traffic, and as it was only 1p in Chicago, I would have no trouble getting to the corner of Clark and Addison in plenty of time for some dinner with Paulie and Dan, who was already in Chicago for a coaches clinic. The entire drive I thought about what I would see that night – either something magical or something horrendous. Either way, being at Wrigley Field in person to witness it was a moral imperative.

Dan and Paulie beat me to the Billy Goat on Clark Street, and as I walked in, a member of the Sianis Family – the family that had owned the Billy Goat forever was parading around a live Billy Goat. Cubs fans know all about the curse of the Billy Goat. Old Man Sianis used to take his goat to games, and tried to get him into one of the games of the 1945 World Series between the Cubs and Detroit Tigers. He had a ticket for the seat that the goat would occupy, but was told to leave because the goat’s odor bothered fans. As Sianis walked away, he put a whammy on the Cubs, and they have not been to the World Series since.

This was a night that could change that, and this member of the Sianis clan had removed the whammy with some kind of crazy incantation. My thoughts ran to what I might be able to do myself to reverse the curse, and while holding a fork, it came to me.

I would plunge the prongs into the brain stem of the beast. It would be over for the goat in a flash, and the Cubs would be free of both the curse and the maudlin theatrics of the curse’s removal during what was more a commercial for the Billy Goat Restaurants on the local news than a bonafide de-whammying.

Never getting the fork over my shoulder, I thought about the consequence of a Cubs loss. If the goat is dead, and the Cubs gak up another loss to the Marlins, the only thing I would accomplish would be getting Bartman off the hook. Trying to catch a foul ball is excusably exuberant. Murdering a bearded mammal in the name of potential Cubs success would not so easily be forgiven – by Cubs fans or the ASPCA. I would be vilified.

No, I would have to trust the Cubs without causing mayhem in the Greek restaurant. In hindsight, I’m relatively sure it was the right call.

We walked into the main gate at Wrigley Field behind home plate, and there was what I believed to be an exciting buzz throughout the ballpark. As we walked to our seats, about 30 rows up in the lower concourse not far toward third base from the line the first base line would create if it continued past home plate into the grandstand.

But the buzz wasn’t happy. It was sheer terror. The fans were all discussing how the deal would go down tonight. It was a foregone conclusion that the Cubs would lose, but the guess work being done by fans was imaginative and miserable. They had either been down this road before, or heard about the hopelessness of victory being snatched from fans so many times that the Cubs losing seemed like one of Sir Isaac Newton’s rules of physics rather than the random result of a leather ball striking a wooden stick toward eight men with cow hide gloves.

The awful feelings of the 39,574 in attendance that night were validated as speedy outfielder and Marlins leadoff man Juan Pierre tripled on an 0-2 pitch by Cubs ace Kerry Wood. Next up was another speedster, Luis Castillo, who flew to shallow left field for the first out. Then, the whole night unraveled.

I’ve told this story 100 times, but it shows the brilliance of Dan Dakich and bears repeating another 100 times. With Pierre on third and one out, Dan looked at Balst and me, “Boys, I don’t know the arts and I don’t know music. I know sports, and Kerry Wood should drill Pudge Rodriguez with the first pitch.”

Even though Rodriquez had been hotter than hell through the series, I thought this was a bold strategy that demanded further investigation. “Why in the hell would the Cubs do that?” I probed.

“Because Pudge is gonna get on anyway, and seeing him take a 98 mile and hour fastball to the ribs will get Miguel Cabrera’s attention. He’s 20. This is Game Seven. And he’ll crap himself,” Dan explained.

I looked at Dan like he was crazy (for the last time), and watched Wood and Pudge battle through a nine pitch plate appearance that ended in a walk. Dan looked at me, but said nothing.

Cabrera launched a 1-2 pitch into the night for a three-run homer, and Dan repeated, “Boys, I don’t know the arts and I don’t know music. I know sports.” Yes, he did. Yes, he does.

I thought about that damn goat being led around the restaurant, and how casting it into the nether regions of goat heaven would have been a terrible move, but could it have changed the mojo? Did I think I was some Haitian priest?

A two-run home run by Wood in the second and another by Moises Alou in the third gave the Cubs a 5-3 lead, but even from the stands it was obvious that Wood was not the same pitcher he had been in the regular season. He was exhausted, and looked it.

Every Marlins out felt like a stay of execution, but everyone knew the game was over. The Cubs were 25 dead men walking.

The Marlins re-took the lead in the fifth, and never looked back. They won 9-6, advanced to the World Series to play the Yankees, and won that series in six games.

After Paul Bako made the last out, on the way out of Wrigley Field that night, the scene was surreal. No one said a word. I mean no one. The only sound was the shuffling of feet. If you were directing a movie and demanded 39,574 people you employed stay absolutely silent as they walked out of a stadium, it would not have been this quiet. As we exited, there were dozens of Chicago cops on horseback to control a crowd that was doing a great job of policing itself. There would be no riots on this night.

The Cubs have yet to win another playoff game, currently sporting a nine-game losing streak. When a baseball man like Theo Epstein rides his mythical white steed to the feet of the Ernie Banks statue outside Wrigley Field, and declares the Cubs are going to build a team the right way – from the bottom up – his intentions are pure, but he knows not the misery the Cubs bring to all who adore them.

Losing has infested the DNA of the Cubs franchise, and no amount of logic can undo it. It’s a nefarious curse that has nothing to do with a goat, black cat, or walkman clad fan from the northern suburbs. It’s about everyone in Wrigley Field understanding who they are and what happens there. It’s about the blue cloak of anguish and heartache that can never be shed regardless of the names of the players, coaches, managers, or members of the front office staff..

Ten years ago tomorrow night, hope finally ran out.