This is a blog about my passions, including (but not limited to) music, writing, Vegas, poker, my homeland Indiana (mostly sports), and any little thing that strikes my fancy. I publish new posts at 11:20 (Central) on Tuesdays and Thursdays with an occasional Saturday post. I do, however, reserve the right to add a big story as it happens.
Look, I’ve been there, too. Once upon a time, I dated someone with the sole purpose to make another girl jealous. If she saw me with someone else, she’d realize that we were perfect for each other. It took a couple of broken hearts before I realized that this is the same logic a teenager has when he thinks “if I wreck the car, my dad will be forced to buy me a new one.”
We’re both guys, so you can admit it. Come on! I won’t tell anyone. You don’t really want Nebraska, do you? This is really about Notre Dame.
I don’t blame you. You and Notre Dame are perfect for each other. It has a lot of tradition, a chance to build some really intense rivalries, great programs that go beyond football and basketball, and its athletes tend to stay out of jail. For years, it’s been an independent in football and has played other sports with the coastal thugs in the Big East. They deserve better than Syracuse.
Remember, we went through something like this 20 years ago; when Penn State made it the Big 11. They didn’t have more to offer than football and women’s volleyball (which really is all that Nebraska has). Even I have a hard time remembering that they are a Big Ten School. For a second, when I see that IU is playing Penn State, I wonder why the Hoosiers are playing the Nittany Lions so late in the season.
Penn State was a rebound when Notre Dame turned you down. I don’t think that anyone can argue that. You’ve had some good times with Penn State since, but really after January 3, PSU is just a huge weight around your neck.
Now with Nebraska coming to the Big Ten, you have broken up the Big 12. Missouri is on the outside looking in, Colorado is headed to the Pac 10 (yes that great west coast state, Colorado) along with the Texas schools, and there's talk of you raiding the Big East. You have created a logistically impractical Nebraska-Penn State home and home women’s softball series every year (yes, there are other sports apart from football), and you have effectively killed the BCS (OK…maybe that’s not such a bad thing).
All of this, just to get Notre Dame.
The irony is that Notre Dame’s interest may be tempered if the Texas schools join the league. Do they really want to go from being an independent to swimming in a 16 school conference? With all the revenue being shared? I hardly think so.
Suppose you land Notre Dame. You will have used Nebraska and played home-wrecker to a fine (albeit overrated) conference. Would it have been worth it? I love the Fighting Irish too, but is it really worth destroying college sports?
Look, if you want to be the Uther Pendragon of college football, I guess I can’t stop you. But if you really expect me to accept a Rutgers-Missouri game as a Big Ten match-up, then you have bigger problems than wooing the regents in South Bend.
Best of luck in the courtship of the Irish. Go Hoosiers.
Mark Knopfler wrote “Romeo and Juliet”, Dire Straits’ first release of the ‘80s, after his breakup with Holly Vincent, lead singer of Holly and the Italians. The song’s narrator, “Romeo”, goes to visit his Juliet and calls out her name from a street light. Juliet responds by telling him that her boyfriend is there and not to come by unannounced. Romeo laments that he is still in love with Juliet and, in spite of how he has been treated, he’d still “Do the stars” with her anytime.
Romeo claims that he and his star crossed lover couldn’t get it together because “the timing was wrong,” although Juliet’s cold remarks about her Romeo tend to suggest otherwise. She tends to regard him as a small footnote in the book of her love life with the line “Romeo, yeah I used to have a scene with him.” (This is a reference to an interview Vincent gave, stating that she had a scene with Knopfler, and he couldn’t handle it.) The song has been covered by The Indigo Girls and The Killers since.
I honestly had no intention of writing about this song on this blog, as I have plans for it down the road. However, I did a 180 when I heard Matt Nathanson’s cover version of it on Pandora last week. I also realized what time of year it was. As much as I wanted to save this song for a long form essay to be featured in the future Anthology book, I feel that the time is right to post this now.
In an earlier post (“Good Luck, Goodbye”) I wrote about my short time with “The First Bobby Jean”. I had also made mention that she was one of only two women to make a mix CD for me. The live version of “Romeo and Juliet” from On The Night was one of the first tracks on the second side. She said that she put it on the tape because it was one of her favorites. The song, however, was a thinly veiled hint that our time together was not going to be a long lasting one. She said goodbye, and left Bloomington 13 years ago this week. I always find myself listening to this song a lot in the first part of May.
Was it that the timing was wrong? At first, I believed that it was. However, over time I’ve come to realize that the timing was right. Had we met at any other time with different circumstances, things may have turned ugly; making it difficult for us to remain friends over the years. We got the most out of that time, and frankly I wouldn’t change a thing. I still think very fondly of her, and I am happy that she has found the right man for her, as I have found the perfect woman for me.
The other day, I saw someone wearing a Syracuse sweatshirt (It’s still a little cool here in Minnesota).
“I hate to tell you this,” I said. “I grew up down the road from Butler University.”
This isn’t exactly true, unless you consider a three hour drive to Evansville “down the road.” That’s how much I've been caught up in the recent “Butler Fever” that is sweeping the country. People are going nuts over the Bulldogs, and for good reason. For as many “fans” who buy Duke and Michigan State t-shirts, there are just as many people who love the underdog.
However, the ones who are getting carried away more than anyone is a small portion of Butler diehards who have made a variation of this comment in the Indianapolis Star.
“Butler has now surpassed IU as the best basketball program in the state of Indiana.”
*Deep breath. Sigh.*
So this is now my open letter to the few Butler fans who are, shall we say, a little over excited.
Dear Bulldog Extremists:
First off, congratulations on a truly extraordinary season. There is much to celebrate with your team’s success. As with many people who are from Indiana, we are hoping that you take care of Michigan State, and dispatch either Duke of West Virginia in the NCAA Championship game. You have come a long way from being the easy win for the University of Evansville back in their MCC days.
I know that some of you think that Butler is now the top program in Indiana. While it is true that Butler has certainly been the best team in Indiana in the last five years, it’s a long drive to be Indiana’s best.
Making the National Semis is a very impressive thing to do, and not many schools can make that claim. But remember, you’ve made one Final Four. So has Notre Dame. So has Purdue. Hell, even Indiana State did it. While it looks great on the résumé, it’s not the end all be all.
As a younger sibling, I know how important it is to step out of the shadow of a larger than life big brother. It’s true that the last time Indiana won the National Championship, none of the Butler players were born, and Coach Brad Stevens was in swaddling clothes. However, Indiana is one of only five schools to make the Final Four in the 70s, 80s, 90s, and 00s (the others are Kansas, Duke, UNC and UCLA).
Indiana’s efforts to return to its former glory isn’t a rebuilding project, it’s major reconstruction. The Cream and Crimson will be down for the next couple of years, but they will be back.
A five to 10 year run doesn’t make a program. Ask Oklahoma. Ask DePaul. Ask Seton Hall. Glory can vanish in a heartbeat.
I don’t want to take anything away from the wonderful accomplishment that BU has earned, but let’s exercise a little perspective. It takes a long time to build a top flight program, and Butler just isn’t there yet. I hope that one day they are held with the same reverence as UK, Duke, Kansas, and UNC. Until then, enjoy the Final Four and hopefully a National Championship.
Article 6, Paragraph 2 of the Mix CD Axiom states that it is not advisable to use a cornerstone song in multiple Mix CDs. However, I have broken my own rule only once for Bruce Springsteen's "Bobby Jean". In my defense, the sentiment held true both times, and the fact that it was recycled didn't diminish the feeling behind it.
The common misconception about the song is that it's written for ex-girlfriend. It makes sense if you read the lyric sheet. In the novel High Fidelity by Nick Hornby, Rob Gordon refers to the song by name as a send off to an ex-girlfriend. However, in the movie version, Rob mentions his quest to see all of his former lovers was like a generic Springsteen song. The Boss even has a cameo for the film. I have a hunch that the name of the song was removed from the script because Springsteen told director Stephen Frears "you know Bobby Jean's a guy, right?"
The song was actually inspired by the departure of Steve Van Zandt from the E Street band in 1984. Van Zandt had not only been an original E Streeter, but had played in some of Springsteen's earlier bands. Now that E Street has reunited, they frequently play this song, with the jumbotron camera squarely trained on "Little Stevie".
In the song, Bobby Jean is leaving town without telling anyone. Springsteen tells the tale of the history of the friendship with great sentiment. The best part of the song is the conclusion of the tune. The Boss notes that his thoughts are always with Bobby Jean.
Maybe you'll be out there on that road somewhere
In some bus or train traveling along
In some motel room there'll be a radio playing
And you'll hear me sing this song
Well if you do you'll know I'm thinking of you and all the miles in between
And I'm just calling one last time not to change your mind
But just to say I miss you baby, good luck goodbye, Bobby Jean
When you live in a college town and you're not a student, the cast of characters change frequently enough, you start to think that you're on Law and Order. Bloomington, Indiana is nothing more than a way station for women of great potential, and the sooner you realize it, the better off you are.
I met the first Bobby Jean in the winter of 1997 during a remote broadcast from IU. I was working at the top 40 station, and she was in charge of the event we were promoting that day. My first impression was that she was very charming and very cute, and it stopped there. I was in a relationship, and I figured that even if I wasn't, I would probably only see her again for the final remote, and that would be the end of it. However, we started talked more and more, and before you knew it, we were starting something. I don't know what, but it was something.
On paper, we didn't really have anything in common. She came from a well established family in the south, and I was the son of a middle class family in Evansville. She was a little country, I was a little Rock N' Roll. But when you're 23, all you really need is a certain level of what my friend Trace called "serious heat and electricity". There was no indication that our tryst would have nothing more than a very short shelf life, but I dove into that pool head first. By the time we did get together, we only had a couple of months before she uprooted and moved back home.
The first Bobby Jean will hold the distinction as the first girl (and one of only two) who ever made me a mix. On the mix I made for her, Bobby Jean was the closing track. Although I wished more than anything that we could have had a real shot, I knew that she wouldn't come back to me. All I could do was say I miss you, baby. Good luck, goodbye.
Several years later, I was hitting an all time low. Within a month, I was temporarily moved off of nights at WTTS, had my job threatened every day, my parents had just split up, and I had just been dumped. But the good thing about a losing streak is that it allows one to have a personal renaissance. This is when I started to hang out with the second Bobby Jean.
It only takes an average of eight seconds for any heterosexual man to fall in love with this girl. She is very smart, very funny, very charming, oh yeah—and rather attractive. She has this gift of making people feel like that they are the most important person in the world. It's not flirting or teasing, it's genuine interest and a love of life. I swear to God, she should be in politics. This is the kind of person you need in your life when you hit rock bottom.
The second Bobby Jean and I never dated, and there is a large part of me that thinks that it was the best thing that could have happened. For as intoxicating as it is to be in her presence, I would have been crushed when she left (a lesson I learned from the first Bobby Jean). I once told her that if the situation were different, I'd be chasing after her at full speed.
"If the situation were different, you wouldn't have to," she responded.
It didn't matter if she told the truth or not. I felt like such a man.
She was also the driving force behind Radio Radio. I honestly believe that if I didn't know her, I never would have finished the first draft of the book. On the first Mix CD I made for her, I decided to use the Springsteen song again. More than any other, this song conveyed what I was feeling (with the possible exception of the first track, "Crimson and Clover"). I wouldn't try to change her mind, but just miss her terribly.
I never lost contact with the second Bobby Jean. She was living in Chicago, then moved to LA, and then back to Chi-town. On a trip to the region to do some last minute planning for the wedding, D and I met up with her for dinner on the north side. A few months later, she attended my wedding. She sat at the table with my friends from Minnesota, charming the socks off of everyone with whom she broke bread.
The first Bobby Jean disappeared for many years. I had tried on several occasions to find her online, to no avail. About a year ago, I spotted her on Facebook. She's married now, and has two beautiful daughters. I'm really happy that she found what she was looking for, and wish her the best.
I still think fondly of both of them when I hear that song. It's interesting that I only knew these women for short amount of time. They both had a tremendous impact on my life, and I thank them for that, and note that they both have a very special place in my heart. And now with the magic of the internet, I can leave out the "goodbye" part. Just the good luck part only applies, and I get the added bonus of catching up with my old friends online.
Although in the past, I've played the game of what if, I'm happy that things turned out the way they did. I have a wonderful wife who is very supportive, and very understanding. She's the one, but that's another Springsteen song for a future post.
The Kentucky Wildcats should be congratulated on their 90-73 victory over a tenacious Indiana University squad looking for their 5th win. Kentucky and Indiana are two teams at different stages. Kentucky is playing at a championship level with the ability to make huge runs. They look a lot like the UNC team that took home the national championship in April, and is my early choice to run everyone they face out of the bracket this spring. They have a chance to make a run at Indiana's undefeated mark (unless my old friend Bruce Pearl has anything to say about it).
Indiana is in year two of Extreme Makeover: College Basketball Edition. It's not so much a rebuilding year, but more of a reconstruction effort so massive, it may qualify for stimulus money. The Hoosiers had some early missteps this year, including an embarrassing loss to my wife's alma mater, Boston University (which she has not let me forget). They did get a huge road win over Pitt earlier in the week. It's not like taking down UNC or Michigan State, but it's a win over a really good team. Indiana has a great freshman in Mo Creek (play on Mo Cheeks), and junior transfer Jeremiah Rivers plays with an energy level that the Hoosier Nation hasn't seen since a young A.J. Moye donned number 2. Plus, Indiana has the energetic young coach it's been looking for since they jettisoned Robert Montgomery Knight.
Next year, Indiana will contend for a Big Ten title. Next year, Kentucky may be under the microscope.
So this part of the post is to the Kentucky faithful. Look, I know that we haven't always gotten along. Actually we really don't like each other all that much, but I beg of you…boot John Calipari as soon as possible.
Please.
I know what you're thinking. I'm a bitter, jealous Indiana apologist who wants to taint the victory with unfounded accusations of wrong doing by bringing in ringers and ineligible rent-a-players.
Calipari is a bad guy.
Really.
His résumé says that Coach Cal has made two Final Fours. In reality, he has had team scrimmage in two "Final Threes". His first star Marcus Camby took $20,000, bling, and prostitutes from an agent (Sidebar: Really, you needed prostitutes…you went to UMass. You couldn't find a cadre of college women who were willing to throw themselves at you…at the same time? You're Marcus Camby, Dammit!). Neither the school nor Calipari were implicated in the scandal. However, the NCAA declared Camby ineligible, each game was vacated, and Calipari bolted to New Jersey. No further investigation was warranted.
Coach Cal found his way to Memphis after failing in the NBA. He started to build up a Tiger program that needed a renaissance. Memphis slowly started to build the dominate program in Conference USA (which isn't saying much. Oooo you beat the crap out of DePaul).Then Calipari recruited a Chicago guy named Derrick Rose. He wasn't too bright, so somebody else took the SAT for him. Oddly enough, the NCAA thought that it sounded like academic fraud. Once again, Calipari was not implicated, but Memphis lost their second Final Four (1985 was vacated as well). There was no further investigation, because Rose left the school to go to the NBA, and Calipari left for Kentucky.
This year at Kentucky, Cal has John Wall. He's an almost definite rent-a-player who will declare himself eligible for the NBA Draft that will either land him in Minnesota or New Jersey (which would be ironic). Calipari says that he's a real student with a 3.something suspect GPA. It's hard to believe him considering Cal's previous educational standards. How do we know that he's been doing his own work? I don't really like making an accusation like that, but if you look at Cal's body of work, it's easy to assume the worst. It wouldn't be that hard to pull off. Just ask Clem Haskins.
This guy is dirty. Sure, he wasn't implicated either time, but these things seem to happen on his watch. For as much as I hate Kentucky, I would really hate to see a program I respect tarnished again. When the Eddie Sutton scandal rained hell on Lexington, I thought that it was sad. Kentucky was a great adversary, and watching that team gutted because someone was unscrupulous was hard to. It watered down a great rivalry.
Look, I know what I am talking about. Indiana hired a guy that smelled of scandal several years ago, and they knew he was a bad guy. They did it anyway. Kelvin Sampson single handedly destroyed a storied tradition, and besmirched a program that prided itself on being clean. Indiana is starting over again. Please, Kentucky, don't do the same thing.
I feel like the guy telling a female friend that the guy she's dating is dangerous, and she's screaming back. "You just don't know him." Then I would say, "Sweetie, I know his kind."
Before the Michigan/Indiana game, there was a lot of buzz around Indiana that this would be the weekend that they would snap their 42 year winless streak at Ann Arbor. Why not, even though it was a road game against a ranked Big Ten (11) opponent, Michigan hasn't really been the world beaters that we expect them to be. A win at the Big House didn't seem to be that impossible. Minnesota did it. Hell, Appalachian State has done it. No biggie. Why not IU?
At the end of the Michigan's 36-33 win over the Indiana Hoosiers Saturday, I feel that there are a lot of things that I have learned about the Indiana Hoosiers.
Indiana is better than I thought. They gave Michigan everything that they wanted, and gave a nationally televised audience a great game.
Kellen Lewis would not have done well in the "Pistol" offense. But I would have paid a lot of money to watch him run the triple option against this Michigan defense.
Indiana at its almost best can't beat Michigan at their almost worst.
Now, that last one may not seem fair. IU dominated Michigan in the second half. They kept Michigan in check for the first three series of the last 24, and made the Wolverines look a bit like a MAC team. Michigan's two true freshmen quarterbacks looked like freshman quarterbacks, and the second string playing showed why they aren't first string. It started to look like Indiana might have pulled it off.
But Michigan showed that great teams with a good effort will usually beat a good team with a great effort. Michigan pulled together a game winning drive and (allegedly) picked off Ben Chappell's first attempt in Indiana's "two minute drill".
But don't kid yourself; the controversial interception didn't do in the Hoosiers. Indiana failed to convert four red zone trips into touchdowns and didn't take advantage of Michigan's obvious weakness in the middle of the offensive line. The Hoosiers gave it their best, but it just wasn't good enough.
Now Indiana has to take on the Ohio State University at home. Maybe the Hoosiers can make a game of this one too, but it's going to take a better effort than they showed today. They have to be perfect.
I went to firebilllynch.com today, to see if anyone had started the inevitable site. To my dismay, I didn’t see anything. Shocking, I know. Almost as shocking as losing to the second MAC team this year.
I was really hoping that Indiana (3-6, 1-4 Big Ten, 0-2 MAC) would build off of its bowl bid from last year. I was thinking that the Hoosiers were finally back. A new tradition was building. But it’s painfully obvious that the fire that was building in Memorial Stadium died the exact moment Terry Hoepner passed away. Last year’s seven win season was the coasting of a promising legacy cut tragically short by the death of a passionate talented coach. That legacy was trusted to the man who ran Ball State's football team into the ground. Indiana lost to Central Michigan. And not only did they lose to the Chippewas, they lost to their back up quarterback. At home. Against a MAC team. Again.
As much as I want to see Hoep’s dream of “defending the rock” at every home game continue with his assistant, it’s time to think about a new tradition, or at least a new direction.
I am an author and freelance writer. I have published a novel titled Radio Radio, written a full length screenplay, four short films and a pilot for a television show. I am a two time Script Frenzy winner and the music columnist for Praxis Magazine. In between cheering for my beloved Indianapolis Colts and playing in online poker tournaments (as IndianaShane on PokerStars), I’m working on my second novel and screenplay (they are the same story). I live in Minneapolis with my very beautiful and extremely cool wife, DeAnna, our two dogs and pet rat.
