I can remember being in Ann Arbor back in 1976 during the undefeated season for an 80-74 road win. It was the first of three occasions where the two teams clashed that season, including the National Championship game. Crisler Center and its predecessors, have always been tough venues to play, with the Wolverines holding a 48-41 home advantage dating back to the 1917-18 series. The last time the Hoosiers won there was 2016.
When it wasn’t Purdue’s Zack “Big Maple” Edey stealing Trayce Jackson-Davis’ thunder, it was Michigan’s Hunter Dickinson. However, the Hoosiers were not to be denied on this trip to Ann Arbor. Although they struggled early, Trayce Jackson-Davis had 28 points and 11 rebounds, compared to Dickinson’s sixteen and seven performance. Jalen Hood-Schifino scored 21 points, after failing to convert during the first seven minutes, and No. 18 Indiana held on at the buzzer. I.U. played with only seven, as Race Thompson sat out for precautionary reasons. Geronimo started but at one point found himself on the bench nursing his leg with an ice pack. There was also a scary moment when Hood-Schifino hit the floor hard and came up in pain holding his elbow. It’s been that kind of season!
The Hoosiers couldn’t initially contain Jett Howard or Kobe Bufkin and ended the game with 13-turnovers. Late in the first half, Michigan led 32-21 on a Bufkin layup and Indiana looked to be roadkill. Hood-Schifino then went on a roll and scored eight straight points to bring Indiana within five at 34-29 at the half. A couple of errant layups could have evened the score.
In the second half race to the “Rule of 60,” Indiana finally grabbed the lead at 40-39 on a Jackson-Davis bucket, but the Wolverines responded with a 10-2 run and soon led 56-54, on the verge of defying the magic. With 5:19 to go, Michigan crossed 60 on a Hunter Dickinson jumper to lead 61-58 but never scored again, as I.U. survived for its 18th victory of the season and ninth in conference play. The win was good for sole possession of 2nd with a 9-5 record, if Purdue bests Northwestern as expected. This means the Boilers would take a commanding 3.5-game conference lead over the Hoosiers with 6-games left in the regular season.
Only six of the seven Hoosiers who played put points on the board, since Tamar Bates was held scoreless during the 17-minutes he was on the court. To make matters worse, Reneau only had 2, Kopp 3, and Galloway 4. As a result, 79% of the offensive production came from Jackson-Davis and Hood-Schifino. The other oddity in this performance, was that we lost the race to sixty but won the game!
Since losing to Penn State and giving up 85-points, the Hoosier defense has held nine opponents to an impressive 64-point average. It’s resulted in eight wins with the sole loss in that stretch to Maryland, whose stingy D held I.U. to only 55-points. By comparison, in the first three losses of 2023, the Indiana defensive average was a pitiful 86.67. This was after starting the BIG campaign at 1-1, managing only 48-points against Rutgers in a 63-48 loss before topping Nebraska 81-65. Defense is clearly the key to winning, especially when the offense then produces over 60-points.
While the men have been on a roll, the #2 ranked Hoosier women knocked off arch-rival Purdue 69-46 and then beat #5 Iowa 87-78, in front of record crowds, taking another big step to the conference championship. The Hawkeye’s all-world player Caitlyn Clark had 35 points, but her teammates were shut down, while Grace Berger and Mackenzie Holmes combined for fifty-points. The Lady Hoosiers are now 23-1 overall and 13-1 in the BIG league.
We were unable to get to a movie theater this past week but continue to wade through the many seasons of ABC’s Lost. Each T.V. episode seems to factor in another hard to believe coincidence that has us scratching our heads. I think we’re only about halfway through. Tonight is I.U. basketball and tomorrow evening is the Super Bowl. It’s good to stay close to home for a few days, after 800 miles of local travel this past week. Hoosier company is coming these next few weeks, so we should have a full month of home brew before heading to Las Vegas and Disney World.
My Running Streak continues at 5,158 days. It’s a daily grind with a couple of shorter runs this past week to accommodate the local travel but a nice 5k around Anna Marie Island to break up the monotony. The Margaritaville lifestyle was appealing but the cost of beach property and related maintenance is salty. Million-dollar shanties were prevalent. Wind and water levels would be a constant worry for me, but obviously worth it to many.
Yesterday afternoon, we were dining on the Palmetto waterfront at the Riverhouse. It was my second LIN-TV reunion this week. This one was with our WISH-TV-Indianapolis colleagues, including an executive assistant, receptionist, and chief engineer. Last weekend, it was fellow GMs and a Local Sales Manager. Each interaction brought back lots of memories and forgotten names as we reflected on our years together. Retirement is only possible because of the pensions that we earned working there, so each of us is grateful to get a monthly check. Many media companies did not offer this benefit.
My wife will dig out her Longi’s pizza bread recipe for our traditional Super Bowl feast tomorrow. We first enjoyed this treat on Maui in January of 2005. Three years later, we went back for more with friends as part of the Maui Classic. We also typically have chicken wings on this special football occasion, where once again the ads will be more appealing than the game. It’s an annual reminder of when we were responsible for selling the local ads for this event that commanded the highest rates of the year. It was a huge revenue boost for the network affiliate lucky enough to carry it each year and serious competition, earning bragging rights, for outperforming the previous year’s spot rates. Super Bowl, Super Food, Super Weekend!
I’ve done a lot of driving this past week, and my State Farm Safe Driver app doesn’t like the results, dropping my score below 90% for traveling too fast. What it fails to take into account is that if you go slower than 80 mph on Florida’s I-75, you will get run over. If they raised the speed limit, the pace would grow exponentially. Plus, if you get off on a side road, it gets even crazier. Yesterday, I watched a truck pass four cars in a no passing zone, push oncoming traffic off to the side, suddenly duck into traffic, and swerve after catching its wheels in the dirt shoulder. We are all lucky to be alive today.
In the last five days, I’ve driven to two golf courses near Bradenton, up to Anna Marie Island, down to my granddaughter’s pre-school in Port Charlotte, over to Leesburg to visit my sister, and this afternoon to a luncheon in Palmetto. I don’t enjoy driving anymore, so it’s always a hassle to leave the safety of my neighborhood. I’ve also now been relegated to childcare duties on Mondays and shuttle service on Thursdays. As a result, out goes “Matinee Monday,” and writing time, while I’m now setting an alarm to get up earlier to run.
In the long run, I may not even have time for a part time job with the weeks passing by quicker, as my alone time lessens. The only way to escape all of this is to travel and that doesn’t happen for another month. Plus, being away from home continues to get more and more expensive. We probably should have stayed in Portland, miles away from family responsibilities. Admittedly, I was getting a bit bored with my daily routine, but now I’m starting to feel like I’m no longer retired.
As an I.U. fan, it’s been frustrating to watch this team struggle with inconsistency. They’ve overcome injuries, but every time a player hits the floor, I wonder if they will get up again. Geronimo and Duncomb are out again, while Thompson is a step slow, and X has yet to return. Yet, they’ve won four straight, but Maryland has also been hot, winning three of the last four after being edged by Purdue. Plus, they’ve yet to lose a conference game at home.
Unfortunately, this streak continued for the Terps as Indiana shot just 38 percent from the field with only three made 3-pointers on 11 attempts. Maryland was even less effective at 34 percent, but with five 3-pointers on 22 attempts. IU allowed 22 mostly uncontested shots from beyond the arc. With just under five minutes to go in the first half and in a span of one minute and 36 seconds, the Hoosiers turned the ball over three times and gave up five points. Entering halftime, they trailed 37-29.
The Hoosiers never got to 60 and watched Maryland cross that threshold at 3:01 with a nine-point lead. 66-55 was the final, after the home team went 25-29 from the charity stripe and Jahmir Young led all scorers with 20. TJD countered with 19 and Race totaled 11, but it wasn’t enough, as IU fell another game behind Purdue in the standings. The #1 Boilermakers were headed to Bloomington with a 9-game winning streak.
The good news for the Hoosier faithful was that Mackenzie Holmes delivered 28 points with four blocks while Sydney Parrish contributed 23 points, five steals and eight boards to help the No. 4 Indiana women soundly defeat Minnesota 77-54.
At last, despite the road loss to Maryland, the Hoosier men were back in the Top 25. It was time for Hoosier fans to raise the roof at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, also referred to as “Ass Hall” by my Boiler buddies. It turned out to be a classic rivalry battle to the 60-mark that saw IU take down it’s first #1ranked opponent in a decade. The Hoosiers jumped out to a 15-point halftime bulge, scoring a masterful 50 at the mid-point buzzer.
It was Edey vs. TJD, battling for Player of the Year in the country, if not certainly for the BIG individual crown. In the end, Zach had 33 with 18-rebounds while Trayce managed 25 and only seven. Purdue was dominant on the boards 38-22 but I.U. won the game 79-75. In the process, the Cream & Crimson also won the race to 60 at 12:46 on a Schifino jumper. Jalen was also the biggest scoring factor down the stretch. The rivalry would continue in three weeks, but first a visit from the #24 Scarlet Knights.
It only seemed appropriate that Trayce Jackson-Davis finally won a series game against Rutgers and in the process became the 6th player in Hoosier history to exceed the 2,000-point achievement. The victory also moved I.U. into a 2nd place conference tie after prevailing in seven of their last eight games.
I’m back from a Florida weekend of hacking up two golf courses. Our group played 36-holes, but I gave up on half of them. I landed in just about every pond possible, hit the roof of a house, nearly took out a member of our foursome sitting in his golf cart, and somehow managed to strike two narrow 150-yard marker poles that couldn’t have been done intentionally in a million tries. I tried my best to patch the divots and keep my sanity. There was one moment of glory when I reached the green in two on a par-four and barely missed the birdie putt.
I also drank too much whiskey and got too little sleep. My roommate was wearing a monitor for his daughter’s diabetes that failed to wake him up but seemed to torture me every time I was ready to drift off to sleep. We acted like we were teenagers, with the youngest 59 and the oldest 75. Each of us was once responsible for millions of dollars in television advertising revenue on our respective stations in Ft. Wayne, Terre Haute, Decatur, and Lafayette. Only one of us was still employed. It was a great weekend of off-color jokes and treasured memories.
We were staying in a 1.2-million-dollar-man-cave about a block from the Gulf of Mexico on one side with the bay close by out the opposite window. It was decorated with lots of signs that announced things like, “if you’re not barefoot you’re over dressed,” and “Live the Salt Life.” A hammock was strung between trees next to the hot tub and I was tempted to sleep in either for some peace and quiet. Despite heavy eyelids and a hangover each morning, I still managed to get my miles in to keep “The Streak” alive before our daily tee time.
There were two I.U. fans, one for Purdue, and the fourth betting on the Hoosiers to blow their 15-point halftime lead. We were in two cars acting like the four stooges, our GPS systems sending us to two separate Gecko Restaurants before finally hooking up in front of the same T.V. This was even while all of us were still relatively sober since two were involved in serious match-play all afternoon. I was simply comic relief, with the end result being sore muscles and a chiropractor adjustment that I had wisely scheduled in advance for the way home on Monday.
Our farewell Sunday-night dinner after golf was at Bonefish Grill, because most of the island locals were closed. We had earlier met a fifth LIN TV associate to break bread (toast) at Another Broken Egg, a Dick Vitale breakfast haunt. It was unlikely that we would see him at breakfast where he often makes an appearance since “Dicky-V” was honored at halftime of the IU-PU game. He resides in Sarasota, near the Legends course, designed by Arnold Palmer, that we played. Arnie would have been horrified at how I tore up his beautiful creation but pleased that at least three of us were good golfers, enjoying competitive match play.
The shoes in my golf bag were so old that they had deteriorated. The plastic around the cleats had crumbled into pieces and the leather tops were rotten. I’ll have to rely on tennis shoes when I play this weekend. A few aging balls found in the bottom of the bag will certainly be lost on the course, and I’ll be forced to buy more. I still have plenty of wooden tees thanks to the Beat The Pro promotion. The clubs are at least 30-years old, bought new back in Indianapolis at Dick’s Sporting Goods. They honestly haven’t got that much use through the years, but the head of the driver is miniscule compared to the oversized modern choices.
At one of the LIN-TV golf outings, I was given a travel bag for my clubs, after my boss won it for the longest drive. He apparently did not need another accessory that would do nothing but sit in the garage. Now, it sits in my garage, unzipped like an ancient mummy just a few days ago in anticipation of weekend. I found two crumpled up golf towels, one with the I.U. logo and the other Purdue. They will be appropriate for Saturday’s rivalry game that we will watch in a bar. I have ties to both schools, but the Hoosiers are my Alma-mater and have the stronger championship history. The Boilermakers have been dominant in recent years, but I stubbornly remain loyal. Chances are good that #1 Purdue will prevail at what my Boiler buddies call “Ass Hall,” where I.U. typically holds court. I’m prepared for the worst.
At least I won’t have to get up early to play either day. Our tee times are around noon, so any hangover symptoms will have somewhat subsided by then. There will be a lot of reminiscing about our LIN Television days and its illustrious leader Gary Chapman. He wasn’t really much of a cheerleader, but liked to use the words, “Go Get ‘Em.” In fact, that’s the extent of the conversation exchange that most of us ever had with him.
Over beers and golf, we’ll talk about our annual gatherings at Cape Cod and late-night excursions into P-Town for karaoke at Colonel Bradford’s. I’ll certainly share some of these stories when I do my recap of our gathering. Other meetings, as I recall, were held at TV station sites like Dayton, Providence, and Indianapolis where we also typically did a community service project. The guys I’m with this weekend ran the LIN properties in Fort Wayne and Terre Haute. We then met twice a year with our rep firm in New York City for “Entitlement,” that was often an ugly session evaluating performance. It took all the fun out visits to Yankee Stadium for UTZ Potato Chips, the New York Athletic Club, and the lighting of Rockefeller Center’s Christmas Tree. UTZ will undoubtedly make an appearance on the golf course.
February is always filled with emotion, as both of my deceased parent’s birthdays kick off the month. My wife was watching the movie Groundhog Day this afternoon, as Punxsutawney Phil called for 6 more weeks of winter. Sadly, our Austin friends are already trying to thaw themselves out of a recent ice storm, something we don’t worry much about down here in Florida. However, we too have had our share of weather-related emergencies.
My mom and dad would have both been celebrating 102 years this week, born just hours apart in 1921. They’ve been gone for nine years now, passing within weeks of each other in 2014. Dad had Alzheimer’s and mom tired from trying to care for him. I’ve been busy of late updating blog stories I’ve written about this amazing couple for my autobiography in Storyworth, at the expense of preparing new material for this site.
My wife and I have lots of local travel planned over these next few weeks, but also some rare time apart. First, I’m playing golf with three former LIN TV executives near Anna Marie Island. I’ll spend two nights there and two afternoons on the Waterlefe and Lakewood Ranch Legacy courses. Before I take the car and leave her with only a golf cart, she’s in charge of a “Hello February” neighborhood bash tomorrow night. I’m still getting over a hangover from last night’s martini social with neighborhood friends. I’m sure the drinks will also be flowing during the upcoming golf battles and the televised I.U. vs. Purdue basketball rivalry that we will probably watch in a bar.
Next week, we’ll accept delivery of a new living room chair, drive to Leesburg with Tally in tow to see my sister, take another auto excursion to Bradenton for lunch with more former LIN co-workers, and return to enjoy the Alter Eagles concert at our Islandwalk community center. Next, comes the Superbowl, more I.U. games, and the monthly Borrego Boys luncheon, followed by a three-day visit from my sister/brother-in-laws, then friends from Ft. Wayne for at least one night. My son’s new job at Chili’s will certainly add more babysitting duties to our already busy social calendar.
At the start of this week, I was looking forward to some good basketball, with BIG games on the horizon. The Golden Gophers were without leading scorer Dawson Garcia and backup forward Pharrel Payne when the Hoosiers came calling at “The Barn.” Regardless, the Hoosiers still couldn’t “hit the proverbial side,” shooting 41.1% from the field 4-14 from behind the arc, and 11-18 from the line. The home team was even worse at 34.4%, 5-25, and 8-14, but I.U. had twice as many turnovers, half of those in the first eight minutes of the game. It may have been one of the ugliest games I’ve ever witnessed.
The ”Rule of 60” was working against us at traditionally unfriendly Williams Arena as Minnesota took a 57-54 lead with 3:20 go in the game after Jamison Battle hit a contested 3-pointer and Taurus Samuels sank two free throws. The savior was once again Trayce Jackson-Davis with 25 points, and 21 rebounds, including a game winning tip-in off a free-throw miss my Race Thompson with 43-seconds remaining. It prevented Minnesota from reaching 60 first with the score tied at 57-57. You also have to credit the IU defense as Indiana would dominate the final 3:20 of the game, allowing no points while scoring seven of their own. The final score was 61-57 after a pair of Trey Galloway free throws with 8-seconds to go, getting the Hoosiers over that magical hump. Ta’Lon Cooper missed a 3-pointer on the next Minnesota possession and Miller Kopp grabbed a loose ball and called timeout with just over 20 seconds to go.
Regardless of the circumstances, a big, BIG road win was the result, in a setting that has never been kind to the Hoosiers. It was their fourth straight conference win, tying them with Illinois and Michigan State at 5-4. They are a half-game behind Michigan and Northwestern, one game behind Rutgers, and three behind Purdue. Mike Woodson did not travel with the team since he was recovering from Covid, so Associate head coach, Yasir Rosemond took the reins. Next up, Ohio State at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
With an 86-70 win over the Buckeyes, it meant five straight conference wins for the HOT Hoosiers for the first time since the 2015-2016 season. Two nights earlier, the IU Women’s team conquered the #2 ranked Ohio State ladies on the same floor. Both Hoosier teams used huge runs to breakaway to comfortable victories.
Freshman sensation Jalen Hood-Schifino had 17 of Indiana’s first 21 points, and finished the first half with 20, including 6- treys for a 46-30 Hoosier edge. In the end, JHS scored a game-high 24 points. Trayce Jackson-Davis continued his recent dominance with another double-double. He had 18 points and 10 rebounds in the victory while Malik Reneau, showing signs of shedding his freshman slump, added 15-points and 8 boards. Turnovers still seem to plague this team with nine compared to 8 for the visitors, but the Hoosiers shot 50% from field and 50% from three.
I.U. now sits at 15-6 and 6-4 in conference play, after a 1-4 start. The “magical moment” was a TJD dunk at 13:30, making it 60-43. Hopefully, this momentum will continue when they play at Maryland on Tuesday night, before hosting Purdue on Saturday. The Boilers have already won 21-games after revenging their only loss to Michigan State and claiming 4-straight since. The BIG Showdown is coming next weekend.
Maybe the Lunar New Year party we threw is beginning to bring us good fortune? Up until this morning I was bemoaning a pretty sizable income tax payment in April. I found it hard to believe that we had not better managed our IRA withdrawals, especially after last year’s massive payout to the IRS. Granted, we needed considerable funds in 2021 to complete our home sale transaction and make the necessary upgrades. However, 2022 was simply home improvements like an outdoor kitchen, storage shelves, landscaping, lighting fixtures, and driveway expansion. When I loaded everything into Turbotax at the end of the year, we were still looking at writing a hefty check to the government.
We have lots of travel plans for 2023 and 2024, some of which we’ve already paid for in advance. We’re going to Vegas in March and recklessly added a couple of days with the grandkids at pricey Disney World, since we were already flying out of Orlando. There are two weddings to attend in both Indianapolis and Oceanside, Oregon, plus a bridal shower for her niece that my wife is attending. In addition, we’re also doing a Nile River Viking cruise in May to see the Egyptian pyramids, an extension in Petra, and a 5-day layover in London on the flight back. We’ve been spending a lot more than we’re taking in and the pending tax burden seemed to be the straw that broke the camel’s back.
As a result, we put off some projects at home, delayed making our flight plans into Portland & Indy, scrimped on the upcoming Vegas arrangements, stopped using our charge cards, and seriously considered some part-time work. It’s hardly worth looking for sympathy since most of these expenses are frivolous in nature and most of us are just trying to keep up with inflation. It’s been difficult for us to curb spending after all those years of having two large paychecks every two weeks. We saved our money to travel in retirement and although Covid certainly curbed some spending, it also brought on an urgency to see the world while we still can and build the home of our dreams in the process.
I admit to getting a bit carried away. With a pension and two Social Security checks, things are getting tight. Warranties seem to be a budgeting factor that i didn’t properly estimate. Appliance contracts, termite concerns, heating & air conditioning service agreements, all coupled with storm damage assessments, paver sealing, repairs, and higher than expected healthcare insurance have taken a chunk out of our travel budget. We needed some unexpected good fortune and perhaps I found it this morning. We got a 1099 in the mail that I had estimated incorrectly in projecting our taxes. Fortunately, we’re now getting a good refund, that naturally I want to spend frivolously, especially after a few sleepless nights of trying to figure out how to stop the financial bleeding. I see this as a turn for the better, hope it continues, and sincerely wish that this good fortune spreads to others.
I was really confused on what day of the week it was today after a busy week. Our Sunday night Lunar New Year Party went well with 34 guests, but it seemed like more of a Friday or Saturday night affair. Confucious or Confusion? Monday was a traditional “Matinee” day, but we went to the movie “Plane” a bit earlier to get home for another party of neighbors planning a cruise, so dinner wasn’t even “Meatless.” Tuesday, I went to my first chair yoga class and stretched a few rarely used muscles. Temperatures have been cold, and therefore swimming has been more sporadic than normal, disrupting that routine. We had also strayed from the habit of having the kids over for Tuesday Eve dinner, getting that family tradition back on track.
Wednesday night, I watched I.U. men’s basketball barely edge Minnesota, but usually they play mid-week Thursdays, so that threw me off a bit. I was also up late for the game, fueled by adrenaline after a late tip-off. My wife and I ended up going chair shopping in Sarasota yesterday, our second visit there in the past week. We also gorged ourselves on Amish cooking at Der Dutchman and had no need for dinner, another unusual twist to the week. The night ended with an I.U. women’s basketball victory over #2 Ohio State.
In the middle of my run today, I suddenly realized it was Friday already. Jogging has at least been a consistent habit for me. That hasn’t changed in the last fourteen years, as “The Streak” now stands at 5,143 consecutive days. I also did not vary from my 3.1-mile course and was not rushed into a shorter distance. In addition, I’ve done a lot of writing this week, adding to the chapters in my Storyworth ramblings. Nothing much is planned for the weekend when traditional partying is done. We got it out of the way early this week, and that was the beginning of my retirement confusion.
