If I am going to see my beloved Ole Miss Rebels go down in defeat, it is easier to take against the best team in college football.

Thanks to Clemson’s fart against North Carolina and Tua’s 6 TD passes against a suspect Ole Miss secondary, the Tide is now the number one team in the country.  I doubt they will be supplanted, even in January.  This is a great team.

I have been to some great college football venues.  But Saturday was different.  Walking into Bryant-Denny Stadium on the campus of the University of Alabama, there was a nervous tension inside me that I was not expecting.  I knew it would be special.  I did not expect to be as overwhelmed as I was.  Maybe it was seeing the Crimson Tide in their Crimson jerseys for the first time.  I had seen the Tide play two times before in their whites.  I thought is was cool to see the Tide in the past.  Saturday was different.  It meant something.  Is it because I am older?  Is it because I never thought I would get to Bryant-Denny Stadium before Saturday?  I truly do not know.  But I sure thank my friend Tim Petty, the Roll Tide aficionado, for making it all it was.  Tailgating with with specter of the Stadium to the west.  It was all so special.  It reminded me of a line from a movie I first saw in 1988.  One character looked at another and ask, “What do you do when real life exceeds your dreams?”  The other character answered, “You keep it to yourself.”

I can’t do that.  Yes, the Rebs got beat 59-31.  Yes, it was hottest I have ever been in my life.  Yes, Carrie and I did not stay for all the game.  Yes, it was more than I ever dreamed it would be.

The following photos chronicle what I speak the rights about:

I would be remiss if I did not include the Cracker Barrel gang.  Carrie and me with Tim and Michelle Petty and Mr. and Mrs. Petty.  They are such a joy to hang with.  Great stories and just wonderful folk.  I am proud to know them.

Two weeks ago I got my picture taken with one football legend at Indiana, Anthony Thompson and this weekend outside the Bear Bryant Museum I got my picture take with Brother Tim Petty.  I must be living right.

Tailgating in style.

Carrie and I with Tim and Michelle and David and Jessica.  The two on the right brought a little culture to campus, even though our team got beat.

Denny Chimes on game day.  Wow.

Carrie and me outside the stadium.  Yes, it was hot.  Mom said the heat index was 101 at kickoff.  I thought it was more.

What a sight.  This was wonderful.  Sitting in the Ole Miss section, of course.

The Rebels before the game.

Bama about to score.

You didn’t think I could post about this game and not include a picture of the kicker did you?

I made a second trip to The Rose Bowl Stadium last year and saw a game at Bama this year.  Both made me appreciate and thank what this game has meant to me over the years.  It is amazing how I feel at home at these iconic stadiums.  That’s when you know it is right.  This past Saturday was one of those.  I am a blessed man.  I will keep saying that.  Thank you, Bother Tim.

Speaking the rights.

Danny Johnson

Oh my.  What a day.

Thank you, Tim Petty.  You got me here, literally.

Tomorrow I will witness a football game at Bryant-Denny Stadium on the campus of the University of Alabama.  The Crimson Tide will be the home team.  My beloved Ole Miss Rebels will be the visiting team.

I don’t think the Rebs will win.  I hate to pick against them.  Hopefully I will be the jinx.  I doubt it.

Today we walked into the Bear Bryant Museum.  I saw my life flash before my eyes.  I knew it was going to be a good time.  I didn’t know it would be a great time that would remind me of so many great moments.

I was humbled as I looked at this knowing I have stood on that field and kicked a couple footballs.

Coach Bryant’s office. Enough said.

One of many displays that need few words.

In 1985 Van Tiffin kicked a 52 yard field goal to beat Auburn.  I was a senior in high school and this was the shoe that made that kick true.  I was so impressed with this display.

Just to appreciate.

The tackle that won the Sugar Bowl and the National Championship in 1979.

Coach Bryant’s last game was the Liberty Bowl December 29, 1982.

And now the picks for the games this week with little commentary:

Michigan beats Rutgers…If not, Harbaugh rents a UHaul.

Oklahoma beats Texas Tech…Hurts looks good.

Clemson beats UNC…Hurts me.

Purdue beats Minnesota…Cos it is a home game.

Notre Dame beats Virginia…Might be a good one.

South Carolina beats Kentucky…Hurts me again.

UCLA beats Arizona…UCLA was the ship that found itself last week.

Iowa beats Middle Tennessee…Go Hawkeyes!

Boston College beats Wake Forest…I think.

Auburn beats Miss. State…War Eagle!

Indiana beats Michigan State...I still believe and I am a homer.

Georgia Tech beats Temple...Tech needs this one.

Southern Cal beats Washington…And many think I am crazy.

Bama beats Ole Miss…Hope I am bad wrong.

Have a good weekend all.  Enjoy the games and when you can…

Speak the Rights.

Danny Johnson

Am on the porch listening to the North Harrison Cougars take on the Brownstown Central Braves.  The game is being brought to us online from WJAA 96.3 in Seymour, Indiana.  This is my favorite radio station.  Robert Becker runs the station and he is the best.  When I ask him to play The Moody Blues he never lets me down.

Harv Brown and Jake Brown are bringing us the game and doing a fine job.

Harv in his Brownstown Central playing days.

Jake was a good quarterback.

Last week I attended the Indiana Hoosiers game against Ohio State.  I thought the Hoosiers would beat the Buckeyes.  I really did.  It was not to be.

Last week I picked 10 winners and 4 losers.  31-11 is the record so far.  I have to break out with a better week.  What can I say?  I’m greedy.

Y’all know I am a homer.  And the first game I pick is a Homer of a call.

Ole Miss beats California…Cal is ranked.  Ole Miss is at home and have the Tide next week in Tuscaloosa and I will be there.  Hotty Toddy!

LSU beats Vandy….in Nashville with a third of the folks they play in front of in Baton Rouge.

Michigan beats Swissconsin…Don’t like the Wolverines.  Hope the Badgers lose every game they play.

Alabama beats Southern Miss…Sorry Dad.  Your Eagles won’t fly in this one.

Indiana beats UConn…Cos they need this one badly.  My 8 win prediction needs this one.

Northwestern beats Michigan State…Was not impressed with Sparty’s effort against Arizona State.

North Carolina beats App State…Tar Heels rebound this week.

Florida State beats Louisville…The Cards are better than we expected.  But not ready to go to Tallahassee yet.

UCF beats Pitt…And this one may blow up on me.  Will be a very entertaining game.

Washington beats BYU…The Huskies go into Provo and take one back to Seattle.

NC State beats Ball State…Wolfpack should roll here.

Georgia beats Notre Dame…Game of the Week for sure.  This one could be fun.

Nebraska beats Illinois…The corn fed beef up front will push Illinois around all night.

Washington State beats UCLA…Love Coach Leach.  Will always roof for UCLA and things are tough all over in Pasadena.

Never give up.  Keep working at it.  Believe in yourself.  Have faith you can do better and prove it to yourself.

These are things I say often to those who need to hear it.  It is part of what I do.

My affinity for Indiana Hoosier Football has been a strange romance.

I grew up watching The Lee Corso Show on Channel 4.  He’d mark up a chalk board with plays and declare “THIS IS HOW IT WORKS!”  Coach Corso’s last year at IU was 1982.  Having moved from Brownstown to North Harrison in 1979, we lost a great deal of our Indiana-based news influence.  The local Louisville televison stations did not carry the Lee Corso Show.  In fact, by 1982, the University of Louisville football program was in doubt playing in antiquated old Cardinal Stadium.  The announced attendance of a U of L upset over Oklahoma State on September 25, 1982 was 21,202.  I doubt that many were there.

A guy name Howard Schnellenberger changed all that and he is the one to thank for Louisville being in the ACC these days, along with the former Pizza Shop they play in.

Geography and media shifts could not sway my affection for the Hoosiers.  After Coach Corso left Indiana, Sam Wyche came in for one year.  Indiana was 3-8 that season.  He bolted to return to the NFL where he did quite well.

Enter Coach Bill Mallory.  From 1984 to 1996 Coach Mallory lifted Hoosier football to new heights.  Six winning seasons seasons and six bowl games.  He was amazing.

Everything changed on Halloween Day 1996.  Indiana fired Coach Mallory. The school has had one winning season since.  For me it was the day Hoosier Football died.  I never wished ill on the players.  But I will report to you like I told Bill Mallory’s successor one day when we were standing face to face pulling up the ground, I had enough.  No offense, coach, but I am done.  Coach Cameron said he understood.  Our conversation led to a form of commiseration.  We found out we both had Dad’s who were high school coaches that were asked to turn in their keys to the stadium at some point in their careers.  It wasn’t enough.

Coaches came and coaches went.  We lost one to brain cancer.  Coach Hep gave me some hope. He was quite a presence in a room with media types.  I liked Bill Lynch.  I expected Coach Kevin Wilson would be a disaster.  And along comes Coach Tom Allen.  He’s the first Hoosier head football coach who is younger than I am.  But I still have faith.  I still believe he will continue to do good things at Indiana.

I won’t apologize for picking the Hoosiers to beat the Buckeyes this past Saturday.  I will say I expected more effort.  I will say a no call on a pass interference along the Hoosier sideline deflated some air too.  It was butt-ugly all around.

Before the game I ran into Mr. Hoosier Football, Anthony Thompson.

I asked if he had any eligibility left, and he said no.  He also said he didn’t want any.  After that game I think I know why!

I am not giving up on this team.  I think they will be playing in a bowl game.

I BELIEVE!

The best part of football season for me is this.  My dear wife, Carrie, loves going to football games with me.  I am a blessed man.

Speaking the rights.

Danny Johnson

So I have been asked about photo of a ball game ticket I put on social media recently.

I quit collecting baseball cards and football cards decades ago.  They aren’t important to me anymore.  I don’t follow the players anymore.  I will sheepishly admit I don’t have an Eli Manning football card and he has been my favorite football player since I saw him on the Ole Miss Rebels Team Walk into Vaught-Hemmingway Stadium on a cool autumn night in Oxford, Mississppi in 1999 when Eli was a red shirt freshman before a close 20-17 loss to Georgia.  I was there Aunt Barbara and Jarrett.  We had a ball.

But I have kept my ticket stubs.  When I order still want a good old fashion ticket, even if I have to pay a few extra bucks to get.  No getting into the game with a cell phone for this old boy.  Forget about it.

I have the ticket stub from when I saw Ken Anderson’s last start in Riverfront Stadium in 1985.  $15.50 and they were very good green seats, for those of you who remember those.

I have ticket stubs from every Moody Blues concert I attended from 1986 to 2017 and there are over fifty of them.  As they fade a little I notice the faded ones have much lower prices.  I wrote all about that a few posts ago, and I was not giving The Moodies the business.  I was giving the business the business.

I have ticket stubs the say Rose Bowl Stadium on them.  Taking my Dad there was more than a bucket list item.  Together we got to see our dreams before us.  That is what it was like.

I have been so many places.  The Rose Bowl Stadium was my favorite before I got to stand inside the middle of it and breathe in and out with my dear wife, Carrie.  That was almost more than I could handle.

I hope to see the Indiana Hoosiers playing there one day.  I believe I will.

So I was asked about that old Indiana Hoosiers football ticket that was on display earlier.  Well, it was more special to me than any Moody Blues concert ticket stub.  That is saying something.

In 1988 the Indiana Hooisers defeated the Ohio State Buckeyes 41-7.  The great Keith Jackson was calling the game on ABC television.  That was validation before the game started.  It ended with emphatic validation.  And over the years I looked at that ticket stub and smiled.  It was important.  And I think it may have had a life of its own and continues to hang in there.

What would possess me to go to my ticket stub diary and pluck this out for good measure, as Carrie and I were heading out the door to attend Coach Bill Mallory’s Celebration of Life Service at Memorial Stadium on June 2, 2018?  I didn’t know.  It just felt like the right thing to do.

During the memorial service one of Coach Mallory’s players, Mark Hagen, got up and said a few words about his coach.  Hagen is a defensive coach at Indiana University right now.  Mark Hagen was in uniform when the Hoosiers beat the Buckeyes that day and he spoke from the heart.  And as he spoke I looked at that ticket stub and rubbed it a little bit.  It felt like the right thing to do.

After the service Carrie and I were heading to our exit tunnel out of the stadium.  At that point I spotted Mark Hagen’s wife and family.  There was a lump in my throat when I spoke up and offered that ticket stub to Mark Hagen’s wife.  “This belongs to someone else.  I know it will be in good hands, please take it.”  Mrs. Hagen was obviously touched.  She asked my name.  I told it did not matter and that my first name is Danny.  “Thank you, Danny” she said.  It felt like the right thing to do.

That is not why I believe the Indiana Hoosiers will beat the Ohio State Buckeyes.  I think the Hooisers are that good.  I do.  Depth, turnovers, missed tackles, missed assignments, all of that matters. I know.  But I also know that when the time is right, those things will work out.  IU has been close many times.  I was hopeful.  I was not optimistic.  This time, however, I BELIEVE.

Week # 3 College Football Predictions   Season records 21 good 7 bad.

Indiana beats Ohio State…and I will do my best Keith Jackson when they march into the end zone again and I will say the Marching Hundred is going to be tuckered out this after this one from playing the school song so much.

Washington State beats Houston…Battle of the Cougars.  And some fun football to watch.

Georgia beats Arkansas State…Silver Britches and Lewis Grizzard.  Make me want to get on all fours and bark a little.

Tennessee beats Chattanooga…They dern well better.

NC State beats West Virginia…Trip to Morgantown may be tough.  I’d stay in Raleigh.

North Carolina beats Wake Forest…At Wake?  But Coach Mack is on a roll.

Penn State beats Pitt…The back yard brawl is back as it should be.  Classic matchup.

Alabama beats South Carolina…Why do I even put this here?

Northwestern beats UNLV…I am rooting for the Rebels.

Ole Miss beats Southeastern Louisiana…Rebs need another victory after beating the Hogs.

Clemson beats Syracuse…See the Alabama comment.

Marshall beats Ohio…Great rival game here too.  Herd is not bad.  Ohio always pesky.

Purdue beats TCU…Defensive woes for PU may stink the place up?

Oklahoma beats UCLA…Struggling at UCLA.  Hate to see that.

Stay cool if you can.  This unseasonable heat is not good for football.

Celebrate and we’ll be back with picks next week as we…

Speak the rights.

Danny Johnson

Well, I don’t have much to say.

I am still thinking about the high school football game I witnessed tonight.

The North Harrison Cougars came from two scores behind to defeat the Corydon Panthers 33-27.  It was indeed a Big Cat Classic.

I doubt we have a worse college football weekend than this one.  There are many garbage games this week.  Teams have two bye weeks in FBS this year.  More games on TV is my guess to be the reason.

So…briefly…last week I picked ten winners and four losers.  Let’s see how things go this week.

Indiana beats Eastern Illinois

Ole Miss beats Arkansas

Kentucky beats Eastern Michigan

Louisville beats Eastern Kentucky

Standford beats USC

LSU beats Texas

Nebraska beats Colorado

Iowa beats Rutgers

Ohio State beats Cincinnati

Louisiana Tech beats Grambling

Fresno State beats Minnesota

Mississippi State beats USM

Purdue beats Vandy

Clemson beats Texas A&M

Georgia beats Murray State

Speaking the rights…

Danny Johnson

The Indiana Football Hoosiers 34-24 season opening victory over Ball State in a cavernous Lucas Oil Stadium looked about the license plate on the front of 2008 Ford Edge.

It was nothing pretty.

But, in the truest of football parlance, “a win is a win and we will take it”.

I have already been ridiculed over my prognostication that the Indiana Hoosiers will finish with a good season.  I have predicted at least eight regular season wins.  Guess what?  I still BELIEVE.

Saturday’s game was as ugly as a bowling shoe.  Get past the glitz of the big stadium…that was mostly empty.  The Hoosiers won’t have another road game with a football atmosphere that was as close to a flat line as this one was.  I for one can’t wait to get to Bloomington to hear a few bars of “INDIANA FIGHT”, my personal favorite, from the IU Marching Hundred.

The Ball State athletic director can be proud that his team’s name we planted in both end zones.  Good for them.  That is nice.

But know that the appetizer is over and it is time for the big dogs to eat.

Indiana made too many farts Saturday to compete with a Big Ten opponent.

Catch the ball!  Don’t make a fool of yourself with silly personal foul penalties.  Know where thou is standing when it is time for a fair catch.  Run the correct route. When tackling, keep thy head up and wrap up!

Those things can be remedied and they will be.  Eastern Illinois  better be ready.

We saw some great flashes on offense.  Penix can sling it for sure.  The defense showed it can hold’em.  Stevie Scott will get his yards and he will find five guys keying on him at times and that will help the pass.

We saw pure greatness out of Logan Justus the IU field goal kicker.  He knocked in four field goals, three of them 48, 49, and 50 yards.  You would have to blow dust off the annuals to find three distances like that in one game from an IU kicker, wouldn’t you?

The pieces are there.  The rust is off and if this team stays healthy look out!

There is plenty of game film to splice that would worry the best of them when looking at the Indiana team.

Go Hoosiers!

If Notre Dame beats Louisville tonight, it will be a 10-4 opening week picking winners straight up for fun.  I am like the Hoosiers, I can do better.

Speaking the rights.

Danny Johnson

I can’t wait.

I did something today I so rarely do.  I made a bet.  Fish sandwich and fries.  What can I say, when I believe, I BELIEVE.

Made a bet with an old crony today.  I told him Indiana University will win at least 8 games.  That is regular season.  We are talking 8-4 AT THE LEAST!  That is what I am selling because   I do indeed BELIEVE!

My crony is a non-believer.  Shame on him!  Bring in the fish!

Look, it’s a long season.  Much can go wrong.  BUT, much can right also.  I am so looking forward to this 2019 College Football Season.  Have Mercy!

2018 was good to me.  Before the Bowl Season I picked 143 winners to 50 losers.  I’ll take that.  The Bowl Season was even better, especially in the early going when I started 22-8.  Did I say I love college football?

2018 was good to me.  I hate to brag, but I am blessed.  I thought one day this summer as I was contemplating a few things.  How many folks can say they have kissed the Yard of Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway AND split the uprights in the Rose Bowl?  I doubt there are many of us.

By the way, that was the same end that the Indiana kicker made his field goal in the 1968 Rose Bowl.  This was a portent of good things to come for the Hoosiers!

And so it goes.  The 2019 College Football season will be one for the ages!

UCLA beats Cincinnati…Coach Kelly brings them to Nippert ready to play!

Purdue beats Nevada…Who got this favor as an opener?  Somebody lost a bet.

Colorado beats Colorado State…Great early rivalry.  Buffs will be ready.

Indiana beats Ball State…Testicle Tech can’t keep up with the Hoosiers.

NC State beats East Carolina….At least NC State will play ECU…hint Ole Miss.  When you play Southern Miss I will be there!  Meet them in Jackson!

Ole Miss beats Memphis…Rebs need the first one to get to a bowl game.  They will do it. Funny they play Memphis but won’t touch Southern Miss? C’mon Reb!

Kentucky beats Toledo…The Rockets won’t find warp speed against the Cats.  UK won’t be bad this year.

Oregon beats Auburn…These games in Jerry’s World are cheesy.  Play at home!

Georgia beats Vandy…The Dawgs will run up the score in this points driven age.

Iowa beats Miami of Ohio…The Hawkeyes will be a handful!  I like them!

Washington State beats New Mexico State…Wish Coach Mumme and QB Chase Holbrook were still with the Aggies.  That would really be fun.

USC beats Fresno State…Coach Helton better have a strong start if he wants to see November.

Marshall beats VMI….GO HERD or go home!

Notre Dame beats Louisville…God Bless Coach Satterfield.  From App. State to Prime Time against the Notre Dollar (NBC)?  This would be the upset of all time…NOT!

Can you tell I am ready?

Go Hoosiers!  I BELIEVE!  I will be in Indy to see it this weekend!

Go Rebels!  I will see you in September!

Go Herd!  I will see you in October!

2019.  This will be one to remember!

Speaking the college football prognosticating rights!

Danny Johnson

Twenty-two years ago.

I was twenty-nine.

He was thirty.

My favorite singer, I have quoted him before, likes to say something about holding on to the music of our youth.  That is one of the things I like to fall back on when I think about how many times over the years I have gone to see The Moody Blues.  There’s more to it than that.

On this day in 1997 one of the most unique friendships ever forged suddenly unraveled.  Malcolm T. Lincoln, Sr. died suddenly.  He went.  I stayed.

Corner King Lincoln is what I called him.  He sat up at the four way in New Salisbury keeping a watchful eye on the blinking light and tending to traffic in all four directions.  On warm summer nights others would join him.  We sat in the parking lot of the Gulf turned BP gas station.  The station owner thought it nice to have someone like Todd there.  He knew things would never get out of hand with Todd around.  Our only vice came out of a fine cut wintergreen SKOAL can.  There was plenty of that to go around.

Corner King and I were roommates on two occasions.  His work schedule and my school and work schedule assured we would rarely see each other.  When we did have that one night a week to hang out together we made the most of it.  Todd loved cars and chrome and knew vehicles inside and out.  I knew they were made to drive.  He taught me how not to abuse them.  I was a man of sports,writing and studying and I had a pure love of my music collection.  Outside the laughter at funny movies and the sharing of the SKOAL can, the one thing that brought us together in the most was music.  The last thing we did together in 1997 was go to a Moody Blues concert.

Graeme Edge takes the mic for a change.

I introduced Corner King to The Moodies music and he genuinely enjoyed it.  It was our thing.  When The Moody Blues recorded their concert in September of 1992 at Red Rocks near Denver,  it was rebroadcast in March of 1993 on PBS television.  That was the first we saw of it and we were intrigued.  Todd’s mother, Carolyn, recorded it via VHS tape.  At 11:30 we were at her house picking it up and we took it home and watched it three times through into the wee hours of the morning.  Three months later Todd and I were at Deer Creek outside of Indy listening to The Moodies play live with an orchestra.  It was a dream come true.  Most fans never saw that coming.  I was fortunate enough to see several orchestra shows between 1993 and 1999.  In June of 1997 in Fort Wayne I saw that concert with Todd and it really was our last hurrah, if you will. His favorite Moody was Graeme Edge the drummer.

At his funeral we piped in the Red Rocks version of the beautifully Justin Hayward penned New Horizons. It was the right thing to do.  I was greedy.  I needed it.

The story has been told many times.  It was a month and half after Todd’s death that I picked up a guitar at the behest of my dear wife, Carrie, for if nothing else cathartic purposes.  We did not know I was about to roll a wonderful snowball of music down a hill.

Since then music has been wonderful to me.  Writing songs, recording songs, performing songs, listening to my songs on the radio, and making more sweet friendships along the way.

And so it is, this wonderful friendship is never reaching an end.  And I do know that Todd would have loved this picture:

I think one reason I have chased listening to these guys sing live so many times is that it reminds me of Todd, along with other great reasons.

In late October, Carrie and I are going to hear Justin Hayward at the City Winery in Nashville. And you must know that I will indeed be thinking of my old friend and how we found the best of ground listening to our music The Moody Blues.

Speaking the rights….

Danny Johnson

Have mercy.  I will never forget it.  Sixteen years and six days ago my son, Cody, and I were about to enter a very hot Vanderbilt Stadium to watch the Ole Miss Rebels take on the Vanderbilt Commodores in Nashville.  It was so hot that day.

The 12:35 EDT kickoff was to accommodate the telecast of the Jefferson-Pilot SEC Game of the Week on WAVE Channel 3 locally.  I remember seeing Dave Rowe in the concourse before the game started.  He was commentating for JP that day.

The Rebels were going to have a good season.  Eli Manning was back for his senior year.  They won 24-21 thanks to a 54 yard field goal with less than four minutes to play.  I saw two  Ole Miss games that year.  The 24-21 win in Nashville and the 43-40 victory in Oxford against the South Carolina Gamecocks.  Both games seemed more like escape tricks than convincing victories.  But, as the old adage goes “we’ll take it!”  And we gladly did.

Before that game in Nashville, an Oxford icon for sure, old as dirt and dressed in a red suit and tie, walked sideways toward me and Cody.  I was looking around for Julius Caesar because this guy was looking like a Soothsayer.  His eyes were wild and he grabbed me by one arm and Cody by one arm and shook us both a little, saying the following with those wild eyes,  “TELL’EM!  TELL’EM! TELL’EM…TELL’EM… ELI’S COMING!”  And he walked away.

Cody and I looked at each other and he spoke up before I did, “What the heck was that all about?”  Cody was thirteen at the time.  I was dumbfounded.  One of those things you never forget.

Today I find myself wanting to put on a blue suit and tie.  I want to drive two and half hours North and walk around Lucas Oil Stadium for a little while and find someone to grab by the arm and tell’em….and tell’em!  “ELI’S COMING!”

Oh, a man can dream can’t he?

How cool would it be for Eli to come to the house big brother built and wind down a stellar career.  Talk about a sweet ending.

I wrote about it here earlier.  Daniel Jones is breathing garlic down the shirts of the NY Giants brass for picking him 6th overall.  The NYC media and fan base are like no other.  How seldom they forget.  They see Daniel Jones running for a first down and not throwing the ball away as much.  Regardless of how well things are working out for Eli in the preseason, the first time he throws one to the feet of his receiver four yards behind the line of scrimmage, BOOS will cascade from Giants Stadium over the Hudson and into Manhattan.  Folks on the Brooklyn Bridge are going to hear this going on.

I’m greedy.  I want Eli to be spared this nonsense.  I also want him in Colts blue.  I never thought it possible until now.  I never thought it possibly possible.

I think it could happen.  It needs to be soon.  The season is almost here.

Don’t get me wrong.  In a perfect world I would much rather see Eli lead the New York Football Giants to another Super Bowl victory before even thinking about looking for property in Hamilton County, Indiana.  That is what I would much rather see.  But I just don’t see it.

I also didn’t see the criticism for Andrew Luck coming down like it has.  One of two things are prompting such NYC-like bemoaning.  One, putting folks down is a little more fashionable than it used to be.  Look at Washington and you’ll find that answer.  Two, the folks whining about Andrew Luck leaving have probably never had a helmet on and had their “BELL RUNG” as we used to say.  This game is much more difficult than it looks.  We just watch it.

Right now, I hope I watch Eli Manning run out of the next tunnel with a horseshoe on the side of his helmet.  That would be quite ironic for this football fan who has gone everywhere but Indianapolis to watch him play.

Speaking the rights.

Danny Johnson