Last week was a great time for College Football.    THe HERD beat the Irish.  I say the HERD beat the Irish.  App. State beat Texas A&M.  I say App. State beat Texas A&M.  We could stop there and be done with this.

The Indiana Hoosiers came to life in the second half of their rainwater fest against the Idaho Vandals.  The Hoosiers gave up a cheap touchdown at the end.  Still, they overcame an embarrassing 10-0 deficit at halftime to defeat the Tater Boys 35-22.

This week the Hoosiers entertain the boys from Bowling Green and that was a tussel last year down there at their place.

I think the Hoosier will be like that Rudyard Kipling story The Ship that Found Herself this week and they will end up rocking the Hilltoppers off the mound in large fashion.

After a 12-2 opening week, last week was 10-4 but worth a HERD bad pick.  Must say that Iowa disappointed last week in low scoring fashion.

This week’s picks…

Cincinnati beats Miami (OH)… this may be close.   EIther way, sets up a nice trip for IU to UC next weekend.

Georgia beats South Carolina…Dawgs will be hard to beat this year.

Oklahoma beats Nebraska…No more Frost on the Pumpkin for Nebraska.

Purdue beats Syracuse…Sure wish we could trade Syracuse for Rutgers.

Indiana beats Western Kentucky.…3-0 start after last year’s 2-10 disaster.

Kentucky beats Youngstown State…The Wildcats are for real.

UCLA beats South Alabama…The Bruins are losing the schedule wars but winning on the field.

Minnesota beats Colorado…Goldy should take care of Ralphie here.  This is a game I would watch.

Auburn beats Penn State…Even in the world of NIL and Cow Milking coaching salaries,  there still lives in the hearts and minds of many that good ole “it is our way of life against yours” feeling that spills over onto the football field.   Auburn and Penn State was made for this.  The game is at Auburn.

Ole Miss beats Georgia Tech…The Rebels will take care of the Wreck in high octane fashion.  Practice is over.  This is real and this will be fun.

Marshall beats Bowling Green…The Herd will not take a day off after beating the Irish in South Bend.  Just how good could this team be?

Mississippi State beats LSU…Welcome to the SEC, Coach Kelly.   Coach Mike Leach will dissect this team with a passing game that will take care of business.

Washington beats Michigan State… Give Sparty credit.  This is not a place most folks want to visit.  This is not a non-conference cupcake eating contest for either team.

USC beats Fresno State… We will get a good look at how the Offense of Lincoln Riley has progressed so far.  Fresno will be fired up to play the boys in the big town.

This will certainly be a great college football weekend.

Have a great time.  I think I may fire up the grill at some point this weekend.

Speaking the rights…

Danny Johnson

So much came together on this past Saturday.  The best thing to come together, for me, was meeting up with a couple guys that, on a hot  August day in 1979, sat down next to the new kid from Brownstown in Mrs. Lambert’s 6th grade classroom.

Yes, even as a 6th grader I knew a worthy artifact when I saw one. In 2015, when I came to work at North-the first time- I put this name plate back where I had artfully acquired it on the last day of school in 1980.

The door, the classroom, none of that remains.  The building is gone. The friendships forged in this room forty-three years ago are as strong as ever.  Experience and appreciation will do that to you.  To hang with these two for an afternoon and into the early morning was a cherished event.

I still marvel at the fact that these three, who met in 1979, would be playing on a high school football field together in 1985 and the guy in the blue shirt did the placekicking, the guy in the red shirt, Mick Rutherford, did the snapping, and the guy in the grey shirt, Kelly Samons, held the ball.  No NH battery has put one through the uprights as far we did.  Again, I fall back on the Van Zant line that “If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans.”

So this was my vantage point from the press box at Memorial Stadium.  This is where I learned the 8 PM kickoff had been moved to 8:35 due to weather delay.

As the Marching Hundred played INDIANA FIGHT, it was pouring.  At this point, being glad to be in the press box took on a whole new meaning.

My spot.

The Hoosiers ran onto the field in the pregame and this was about as good as it would get for Indiana before the third quarter started.

Look, Indiana played terrible in the first half.  The visiting Idaho Vandals seemed to be much more delighted to be inside the stadium than the Hoosiers did.  Be it poor blocking up front in the early going.  Be it not finding receivers on pass plays in the early going.  Be it whatever it was.  Yes, the Hoosiers were a week and a day off a victory like that had not seen since 2020.  A conference win.  There were none of those last year.  A victory over Illinois last week in dramatic fashion lingered.  A storybook drive of 75 yards, as all but the last minute and a half were remaining in the game lingered.  It was like quarterback Connor Bazelak had found Joe Namath’s “Magic Bean” for those of you old enough to know that reference.

The Idaho Vandal radio team of Chris King and Trent Cowan were LOVING the first half.  And may I say they were fun to listen in on.  Idaho was leading the Indiana Hoosiers 10-0 at halftime.  These two teams played each other last year in Bloomington and IU put 56 on them. Lesson learned.  Come out flat and you probably won’t be leading at halftime, whether you are playing the Idaho Tater Tots or the Michigan State Spartans.  It won’t work out well.

The Hoosiers deserved that first half.  When you are a BIG TEN team playing an FCS opponent and are getting beat down, you should not act like you are running for public office when you make a great play on defense.  I saw that too many times.  You don’t see Indiana offensive politicans because the Hoosiers run their offense at a fast pace.  This elimates that nonsense.  Don’t get me wrong!  Go up 20 on Michigan and take a bow!   Don’t take a bow when you are losing to Idaho.  Terrible look.  Terrible look.

The Trophy commemorating the 1967 Indiana Hoosier’s lone Rose Bowl appearance never gets old.

To see these old representatives of The Big Ten that actually played in The Rose Bowl is awe-inspiring to me.  A couple years ago I featured Dave Kornowa on these pages.  A defensive back and kicker from Toledo, Dave scored the Hoosiers 3 points with a square-toed shoe.  Be still my beating heart.

In the second half, the Hoosiers got off the pot and played like a Big Ten Football Team.  They scored 23 unanswered points in the 3rd quarter.

This team is going to be fun to watch moving forward.  Shaun Shivers is a bowling ball at running back.  If he can find a crease, he can go.  The receiving corps is better than I expected.  AJ Barner is the real deal at tight end.  D.J. Matthews and Cam Camper on the outsides are special also.  Connor Bazelak is a welcome addition from Missouri at quarterback.  The o-line is large and will improve I think.  Luke Haggard, Mike Katic, Zach Carpenter, Tim Weaver, Parker Hanna.  They all push more than 3-bills.    I don’t want to mention Donaven McCulley.  Still, I must.  Secret weapon for sure is what McCulley is.

If the defense can keep Cam Jones upright, he’ll help them like no other.  This linebacker is all over the field.  Tiawan Mullen at corner, Noah Pierre at “Husky”.  The D has potential.  That means it has potential to give up a big play also (wink).

Look, football at Indiana University is in the best place it has been in a long time.  I thank former AD Fred Glass, current AD Scott Dolson, and Head Coach Tom Allen for bringing football back to Indiana.  Not since Ralph Floyd was Athletic Director and brought on Bill Mallory has Indiana been serious about football.   Times change.  Even in Indiana.

Speaking the rights…

Danny Johnson

First things first. 

Today as I walked, I felt an urge to listen to a tune by The Bee Gees.  No.   This is not a common urge. But there was one song that I felt I needed to listen to.  Had not heard it in years.  One of those things you don’t ask why you just do.  The song is titled For Whom the Bell Tolls.  This has been a tough week for some that have been or still are in my inner sanctum.  Loss is a tough thing to deal with.  Calendars turn to days of months we still can’t make sense of be it five or twenty-five years later.  It hurts.  And recently one of those realities happened again this week.  I don’t try to understand.  I never will.  Time is a mysterious thing for sure.  It creeps on days we wish it would fly.  Time flies on days we wish it would creep.  Time is a mystery.

On to this week’s picks.  

12-2 start last week and that included a defiant pick of Notre Dame over Ohio State.  Some folks out there in speaktherights land try to take my Ohio State and Swissconsin picks seriously.  I consider it a Cream and Crimson Badge of Courage each time I pick against Ohio State and Swissconsin, even out of pure spite and disdain for these nasty programs and the fans who follow them.  Nasty.  Nasty bunch.  The Louisville pick?  Never imagined they would turn the Carrier Dome into a Syracuse chicken coop laying one egg after another.  But, guess what?  I am giving them on more shot this week.

Louisville beats UCF…I don’t care if John Rhys Plumlee is quarterbacking the Knights.  I saw him in Tuscaloosa in 2019 and quickly snapped a photo of the scoreboard with the Rebs ahead.

Alabama beats Texas…Do we need to say more?  Roll Tide for Brother Tim!

Northwestern beats Duke…In the SAT/ACT Bowl!  Lord these kids are smart.

Notre Dame beats Marshall…If I were not going to be in the press box at Indiana tomorrow night I would be in South Bend.  If there was EVER a game I would hope I am wrong about THIS IS IT!!!

Pitt beats Tennessee…Pitt is good.  UT?  Not sure.  Johnny Majors Bowl for sure.  Some of you may need to look that up.

Iowa beat Iowa State….OFFENSE…OFFENSE…OFFENSE.  That was the Hawkeye battle cry in practice this week.  Iowa will come through.

Illinois beats Virginia…If for no other reason, they let the Indiana game slip through their fingers and I AM DELIGHTED THEY DID.

UCLA beats Alabama State…Who schedules this?

USC beats Stanford…Those wondering about the PAC-12 motivation toward USC and UCLA.

Ole Miss beats Central Arkansas…Practice game.

Mississippi State beats Arizona….Is there a better interview than Mike Leach?

Indiana beats Idaho…2-0 looks pretty good after 2-10.  Does it EVER.

UK beats Florida…I have sources telling me that the UK reason for holding out players for this game deals with NIL deals?  I don’t know.  I do know that Will Levis may be the best quarterback Florida faces and the interior lines for UK make the interior lines of the Gators opponents last week, Utah, look like shredded wheat.  If UK loses, it will be on them.

Wake Forest beats Vandy…Much like Northwestern vs. Duke, admissions counselors are proud of these teams!

Okay.  A North Harrison note. 

The Cougars are getting NO LOVE from the voters of the polls ranking the teams.  The North Harrison Cougars are not mentioned in the AP poll.  They are not mentioned in the Indiana Football Coaches Association Poll.  This, though they sport a 3-0 record and have scored 40 or more points in their first three games.  Corydon Central, while not a grand team record wise, had more success against teams with 2-1 records than they did against North Harrison.

There are a couple “phrases” I abhorred in recent years when referenced during football games on television and we rarely hear them today.  “In Space” was one of them.  Neil Armstrong would not approve.  “Statement Game” was the other.  Every game is a statement game.  But, tomorrow, as North lines up against Charlestown, a team that historically has had North’s number, a statement will be made.  I BELIEVE the Cougars will take care of business.

Speaking the RIghts…

Danny Johnson

Gads.

Not sure what to do?    Just enjoy it all I suppose.

The North Harrison Cougars Football team hit a serious milestone this week.  For the first time in school history, the team scored 40 points or more in the first three games of the season.  This is after a dismantling of Corydon Central in the 2022 Big Cat Classic by the score of 49-26.  These are good times to be a Cougar fan.  How good?  The Cougars are 3-0 for only the 8th time in school history.  We have Coach Williamson to thank for six of these.  Varsity football came to North Harrison in 1978.

So far the 2022 NH team’s point total in the first three games is 131.  This is also a school best.  The next two seasons that come remotely close to this number were in 2015 with 130 points and 1982 when the team scored 129 in the first three games.  So, yes, we are having a good time.  There is a sign in my classroom that says “WE ARE NOT HERE TO HAVE A BAD TIME”.

On Saturday morning I was able to hang out with many of the NH players at a team function in Depauw.  We ate a fine breakfast at Satterfields and a good time was had by all.  Good things are on the horizon for this team.  I know it.

Now and again I am asked how I know this historical stuff.  I was there.  I don’t know what else to say.  I was there.  And I just happened to keep up with it when others did not.  There is nothing precise about time and being there.  What we do is what we do. The photo above is from the Scottsburg game in week two.

On Saturday, the NH JV team took care of the Corydon Central Panthers at the Field with No Name in Ramsey.  24-6 was the final.  The game was abruptly halted in the fourth quarter.  A Corydon player was injured.  It took the wind out of the sail of the game.

On Friday night I was not at The Big Cat Classic.  I was at the first IU football game to kick off on a Friday night in the history of Memorial Stadium.  It was a good one.  The Hoosiers needed a win and they got one.

There was a great crowd that was quite lively.

Coming off a 2-10 season, this 23-20 win, with new QB Conner Bazelak at the helm, was more than enough.  To see nearly 45,000 there after a disaster of a season last year was great.  My dear wife, Carrie, and I were in Bowling Green for the last W of 2021 against Western Kentucky and I am delighted that we were there for the first of many wins in 2022.  Go Hoosiers! 

This Friday the North Harrison Cougars take on the Charlestown Pirates in a tilt that will go a long way in deciding the Champion of the Mid-Southern Conference.  And I have no doubt the Cougars can take care of business.

This Saturday the Indiana Hoosiers play host to the Idaho Vandals.  I have never seen Idaho.  I am looking forward to it.   It will be a speaktherights.com honor to be able to cover the game from the field and press box at Memorial Stadium next Saturday night and attend Coach Tom Allen’s post-game presser.  It will be another late night.  Kickoff is set for 8 PM against the Vandals.  They will be the 73rd FBS team I have had the pleasure to see play in person in this great football lifetime.  

At the heart of it all, the Cougars playing Charlestown means a little more than anything else that will play out this weekend.

Go Cougars!  I Believe you will take care of business.

Speaking the winning weekend rights…

Danny Johnson

Written while listening to this song that came out today on streaming services.  You can find it on youtube also.  Dreams still come true, regardless of what the horizon looks like.

Oh my, here we go!   The college football week on schedule is a good one.

Tennessee beats Ball State…Will UT they have those gawdy “smoky” jerseys on?  Either way the tuba player will have his fill of Rocky Top by the end of the second quarter.

Penn State beats Purdue…And I do hope I am wrong.  Just can’t imagine a “blackout” atmosphere at Ross-Ade to mean anything to the “whiteout” bunch from Happy Valley.

Pitt beats West Virginia…What a starter for these two?  This will be fun.

Michigan State  beats Western Michigan…Sparty looks to continue where he left off.

Indiana beats Illinois…My dear wife, Carrie, and I will be at this one.  Don’t like that it is on a Friday Night.  Be it friday, Saturday, or Tuesday, the Hoosiers need this one.

NC State beats East Carolina…Give the Pack credit.  Going to Greenville is a noble pursuit.

North Carolina beats App State…Give the Heels and Mack Brown credit.  Going to Boone and finding 100 flat yards in tough.  Respect for state schools on display here too.

UCLA beats Bowling Green…The Falcons playing in The Rose Bowl.  These kids will talk about this forever.  UCLA nonconf schedule is a joke from way back this year.  Go Bruins!

Arkansas beats Cincinnati…The Hogs will push the Bearcats all over the field.

Georgia beats Oregon…The Bulldogs start the season in Atlanta in a Made for TV extravaganza.

Ole Miss beats Troy…Rebs first game is a warm-up to what we will be a great season.

Notre Dame beats Ohio State…The Buckeye Windbag section has been blowing all week.  Brian Kelly bolts from ND for LSU and the Irish are out to prove a thing or three.

Louisville beats Syracuse…Playing the first two on the road will either be good for the Cards or otherewise.  I say they blow past the Orange in this one.

Kentucky beats Miami (OH)…The Cats, provided they stay healthy, will be fun to watch.

Good luck to the North Harrison Cougars in the BIG CAT CLASSIC  against the Corydon Central Panthers.  I sure hate to miss this one.  Many good memories in the this rivalry.  The Cougars make another one on Friday Night.

Have a safe Labor Day Weekend, y’all!

Speaking the Rights.

Danny Johnson

Oh my goodness.  And the best thing is the team won the game.

I suppose folks stop learning because they choose to.  Looking around, one doesn’t have to see that this is not a rare phenomena.  I was nearly run off of country roads in Harrison County this week on four occasions. Two of these incidents were repeat offenders.  Tunnell Hill Road certainly feels like it at times.  Someone’s villan is going to be someone’s hero too.  I have learned that.  Just wish this truth was not so blantant at times.

North Harrison High School’s Football Field with No Name was a great place to be last night if you are a Cougar fan.  I am.  But it would still be great if the place had a name.  Any name.  Well, not any name.  Cougar Field in the interim?  I mean when calling a game on the radio it was always great say, “Good evening everyone and welcome to the broadcast.  Gus and I are high atop Cook Field tonight as the Cougars from North Harrison take on the homestanding Paoli Rams.  It should be a good one.”

If North can’t name something on that campus after Keith Oppel, shame be.  The road leading behind the school to the athletic facilities.  Keith Oppel Way?

The Scottsburg Warriors learned a lesson in a hurry last night.  The North Harrison Cougars will runneth over you and soon.  Large chunks of yardage were to be had in between powering runs up the gut that were led by an offensive line that did another great job this week.  May the 50s, 60s, and 70s take a bow.  The eyes are not on you near enough.

Knees bent.  Shoulders moving forward.  Good contact.  Be still my beating heart.

As the sun went down on game two for the North Harrison Cougars and this old Cougar, I smiled knowing I learned something that I had been chewing on.  You can’t be two places at once.  That includes where you are standing.  Just do the best you can.  Last night the field with no name was just a nice place to be.

I won’t make it to all the games.  But everyday high school football Friday, I still get a little tug of attention and by 5 PM that has built into tension. No one will enjoy this North Harrison Cougar Football season more than I will, regardless of where I am standing.  That is something I have learned.

Speaking the rights.

Danny Johnson

There is no way I would have planned this.  I just wouldn’t.

I have said it many times on these pages, if you want to make God laugh tell him what your plans are.

Today I am taking my guitar to school.  This is always a good thing.  Yesterday my 9th grade English class collectively worked on a song.  We were studying poetry.  Add music and you have a song.  So we worked out two verses and a chorus.  The consensus was to write a Christmas themed song.  Why not? This is a great way to teach stanza form and rhyme scheme I can tell you.

There we were on my wedding day.  My dear friend, Malcolm Todd “Corner King” Lincoln, Sr and me.  Looking toward Hancock Chapel United Methodist Church where my dear wife, Carrie, and I would be married on February 10, 1996 on a sixty degree day.   It was wonderful.   I look at this picture every single day.  It is front of me on the wall as I type these words.

Corner King Lincoln has been gone twenty-five years today.  Without that happening, I don’t think kids write a song in my class.  I could be wrong.  But I doubt it.

August 26, 1997 changed me.  I went downhill in a hurry.  Corner King and I enjoyed listening to The Moody Blues on humongous JVC speakers pointed out of windows toward a long side yard where we would hit baseballs to each other and play burn-out in hopes of hitting each other where the “leather is the least” as we used to say.

When Todd died I lost the music, one of the most important facets of my life for as long as I can remember.  With apologies to Mannfred Mann, I heard a Roaring Silence for a while.

My dear Carrie knew it.  She bought me a guitar.  A month and a half after Todd died, I was playing it.  In less than ten months, I was playing and singing songs in church that I had written.  In the years since, I have made three CDs of original tunes.  I have been fotunate enough to play with guys who enjoyed my music and got it.  Tim Krekel, Jim Baugher, Rod Wurtele, Jeff Guernsey, John Burgard, Gene Wickliffe, Barry King, Jason Sturgill, John Hayes, Dan Trisko, Millard Dunn, Robbie Bartlett, Lynn Benson, Dan Goins, Laura Goins, Mike Alger, Janis Pruitt, and of course my partner in music, engineer, boardmaster, and great friend Jeff Carpenter.  That is some kind of talent to spend time in a room with.

This wonderful musical journey has taken me many places to play and share.  I was on a TV show singing once and have heard my tunes on two different radio stations.   I didn’t ask for it.  It was given, albeit late in life, as a wonderful and much needed gift.  And there are days I feel guilty for the price that got me here.

I tell kids today that had I found out at age 14, instead of age 30, that I can take a guitar and piece of paper into a room and come out a half an hour later with something that will be with me for the rest of my life I never would have looked at a football.  There would not have been time.  But that’s okay.  Had that happened, the Corner King and I would not have played pitch in the yard with The Moody Blues cranked up.  We would not have attended The Moodies concerts we went to, which, ironically, was the last thing we did together.

I still think of this music as something that just got here for me.  Still fresh.  Still waiting to be discovered again.  Still painful at times.  But when you can go into a classroom with the energy that I can find just opening up a guitar case you know something good is going to happen.  The ninth graders are excited.  Let it be.  Let it be.  Words of wisdom that I cherish.

Speaking the rights.

Danny Johnson

Disclaimer:  This week I told my students about my desire to throw the nearest inanimate object I can find in disgust when I discover a typo on these pages.  I do not have a spell check mechanism on this page, by choice.  Just walked more than five miles and am in a hurry to write this.  I apologize if there is a blatant faux pas.  

Twenty-three years ago today, my dear wife, Carrie, and I had a dilema.  Well, I had a dilema.  And we settled on Merle.  You can tell by the purchase date on the tickets.

Imagine, on the same day, Merle Haggard is playing at The Ryman Auditorium in Nashville and The Moody Blues are playing at Freedom Hall during the Kenucky State Fair.  We had tickets to see Merle when much later we learn of The Moodies’ Louisville date.

We decided on Merle.  Who can turn down Merle Haggard at The Ryman?  Maybe me.

Still, it was the right thing to do.  Carrie was really wanting to hear him and so was I.  Less than two weeks before the concert, we got word that Merle’s show had been cancelled.  Our money was refunded.  I did have a chance to eventually see Merle with my dear friend Kelly Samons at the Little Nashville Opry in Nashville, Indiana.  Merle was as great as I expected.  He’d turn around yell out a song title to his band, hit a chord on that Telecaster, and we were transcended to another place, another story, another dimension that only those rare legends can take you.

As fate would have it, when we purchased tickets for The Moody Blues’ show at Freedom Hall eleven days before it was scheduled, we found ourselves sitting on the fourth row at center stage.  Oh those good old state fair concerts that were $20 bucks.

The Moodies’ return to Freedom Hall was twenty-six years in the making.  They had last played there in 1973.  My friend Dan Goins was there.  I was not.  I was five.

The day of concert 1999, were from three days removed from the release of The Moody Blues’ new album Strange Times.  At the time, The Moodies were on a tour that featured them playing with orchestras at nearly all the venues they were to visit.  Not so for the Freedom Hall show.  There was no orchestra constraint that night.  They turned loose and rocked the house.

Though it is raining as I type these words, I did get in more than five miles on a hearty walk earlier today.

I am convinced there is a humidity on a lane between two soybean fields that can only be realized if you walking there.  There is a sensation that includes feeling like the back of one’s neck is being grabbed.  Something like that.

BIG SHOUT OUT TO THE NORTH HARRISON COUGAR FOOTBALL TEAM for defeating the Salem Lions last night 40-7.  When the rain subsides, I am heading over to show the game footage to my Dad.  He will love the way the offensive line of North pushed around the boys on Homer Street.

Next week the Cougars will be hosting Scottsburg.  It should be a good one.

I don’t usually quote someone withour permission.  I suppose Barry Hall, pictured with my Dad above on what was one of the last days old Blevins Memorial Stadium was standing at Brownstown Central, can chew me later.

Barry sent me text this morning.  I will paraphrase.  Barry was at a funeral home in Brownstown where Tom Weaver’s death arrangements were being handled.  Tom Weaver was a good guy.  Ironically, the last time my Dad and I saw him was at the funeral of Barry’s mother.  At the funeral home recently, Barry ran into another old player from the early to mid-seventies.  He name is Grant.  Grant told Barry stories about my Dad and his teammate, Tom.  Barry wanted me to know how Grant appreciated my Dad coaching him.  Barry said their is still a great deal of love and respect out there for my Dad.

Thank you, Barry Hall.  I know you guys had a good time at BC in those days.  I am just glad I was able to watch and learn as a youngster.  I watched you guys with great interest and admiration.  Never dreamed we would be here talking about it now.

Not a bad way or place to spend a childhood.

Speaking the rights…

Danny Johnson

In 2008 the supergroup, Asia, release the album titled Phoenix.

The original line-up of John Wetton, Carl Palmer, Geoff Downes, and Steve Howe were at it again.  Sounding just as forward as they did with their debut record in 1982 that featured the hit Heat of the Moment, Phoenix was indeed a rising up again.

Downes, one of the greatest technical key players on earth.  Wetton from King Crimson.  Palmer from Emerson, Lake, and Palmer.  Howe a veteran of Yes.  Together they are one of the tighest group I have ever heard and I just plain like their sound.

John Wetton’s voice may be my favorite in all of rock and roll.  There is just a smooth, ‘come along as I tell this tale’ in his voice. Wetton’s voice is a straightforward instrument with inflections that most singers only dream of locating.  For him, it just came out.  John Wetton passed away in 2017 at age 67 after a battle with cancer.  I never heard him sing in person.

I rediscovered this album this weekend and listened to it as I walked four miles and change.  When it came out in 2008, I listened to it on Friday nights on the back porch with my grilling buddy, Luther.

I listened and I walked.

One last trip up the hill toward the house and then on to the soybean fields behind the house.

I walked and I listened.

The beans look good.

I am blessed to have peaceful roads and a bean field to walk next to.

NIL deals notwithstanding, thanks to the IU Athletic Department for parting with a couple schedule posters.  They didn’t need to explain anything to me.  I still look at that end zone and see pictures ini black and white.  Some of you remember.  There was a raised up piece of turf and a simple scoreboard.  The only pictures were the ones we saw on the field with our own eyes.

The 1988 Indiana University Football Media Guide tells us that in the nine year tenure of Head Football Coach Lee Corso, the Hoosiers only appeared on televison seven times in the nine years he was head coach.  Look at that list.  Heading into the 1988 season, Indiana had only played five nationally televised games in school history.  Times have changed slightly.

These days I can see it both, like this photo of Coach Bill Mallory. If I choose to see the pictures that were only on that field, they are still with me and this ironclad memory of mine.  If I choose to do otherwise, Youtube is a good source.  I watched the Iowa game from 1988 not long ago.  Gary Bender and Dick Vermeil were there calling the game for ABC.  That is still my favorite game.  IU beat Iowa 45-34.  The game lasted forever.  Chuck Hartleib was 44-60 for 551 yards for the Hawkeyes.  Anthony Thompson carried the call 47 times for Indiana.  It was wonderful.

Head Coach Tom Allen is driving the team bus now.  I believed in him the day Indiana hired him.  I still believe.

For me, an old disgruntled Mallory fan who walked away at one time, Indiana is finally easy to root for again.  The coaches and the AD are a breath of fresh air, as was Fred Glass, the Athletic Director who preceeded current AD Scott Dolson.  They are easy to root for.  I know.  I know.  I was there.  I was in Bowling Green for the last Hoosier football victory and left glad we were playing quarters and not fifths.  Yes, it has been a while.  And yes, the schedule is brutal.  Things will be better this season.

Me, I will always been torn between the seasonal green fields in my mind, the seasonal green fields before me now, and the ones I walk next to that bring me closer to the earth and reasons to keep walking and listening.

Speaking the Rights…

Danny Johnson

May the youngsters tossing a football outside Indiana’s Memorial Stadium have much to cheer about this season.  Believe me kids, things at IU can only get better this season for the Hoosiers.   I plan on seeing most of this year’s games at Memorial Stadium.  Late in October there is a plan to go back to Huntington to check on the Herd when they play host to Coastal Carolina.  That is one of the FBS teams I have not seen play in live action.  I have seen most of them.

Where do we start?  Do we have the time?  What a crazy offseason.  Or is there such a thing anymore in college athletics including football.

The Athletic Department of a major college or university has to deal with two major facets these days:

1.  Show Business          2.  Athletics

With players getting remuneration in the world of NIL, the glitzameter is higher than ever trying to promote programs and attract not only athletes but perhaps the ones out there that can help to pay them.  ADs, you have my sympathy.

Did anyone catch the Notre Dame infomercial where new Head Football Coach Marcus Freeman has a couple of his players running around Las Vegas in some fancy car in hopes that they can find out what kind of uniform they will be wearing in Vegas when they face BYU?  What in the name of Brigham Young and Knute Rockne is going on here?  Lights Camera  Action!  In the irony department, Notre Dame has never scheduled an FCS opponent until making a date with Tennesse State in 2023.  Perhaps they will be playing on a makeshift field on Broadway in Nashville.

There’s still hope us old football purist.  There will still be a 4th down and 3 yards to go at the opponent’s 7 yard line when the team with the ball is down by 5 with less than a minute to play.  Your eleven against our eleven and none of the show business bluster can save a team when a situation like this is on the line.  Football is still football, however it has evolved.  You may be like me and miss seeing the Power-I.  Or the likes of Thomas Lott playing keep away for Oklahoma in the wishbone.  Talk about a worn out defense after a day of that.  Yes, it is still football.  Some poor kid is going to we wide left on a field goal with the game on the line and it will haunt him forever.  Just like there will be an unlikely hero that will intercept a pass subbing for an injured All-American linebacker and this kid will find himself in the end zone looking at the ball wondering what just happened.  Yes, it is still football.  We can’t turn away from it.  Even in all its dirty laundry.  That is nothing new.

The great Keith Jackson was rather prophetic in his last appearance on a nationally televised game.

Keith Jackson showed up at The Rose Bowl one last time in 2017.  The game was between Penn State and USC.  I saw both of those teams play that year.  USC against UCLA in November and in December I saw Penn State defeat Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship game.  I watched with great anticipation.  This game too was a classic.  The final score was 52-49.  USC scored 17 unanswered points in the 4th quarter to put it away.

I still think about the exchange Keith Jackson had with ABC game announcers Kirk Herbstreit and Chris Fowler.  Keith Jackson had been invited into the booth and the once strong tenor was a voice much softer and weaker.  Deliberate in speech, Keith Jackson gave a final commentary on the state of the game of college football on January 1, 2017 and a portent of what we see today.

The smiles all around the booth at this point went away rather quickly when Keith Jackson spoke his mind.

The exchange went like this:

Keith Jackson:  One thing that bothers me a little bit and an old timer down in Texas who coached a lot of football games…about the future…and what may be the next major problem and he said very quietly and firmly “Too much coverage”…meaning saturation.

At this point Chris Fowler is relegated to some defense mechanism laughter…and Kirk Herbstreit, who is obviously very respectful of Keith Jackson says, “Yeah…yeah.”

Keith Jackson: I think he (the old coach) may be right as I see it evolving.

Kirk Herbstriet: Yeah.  That’s a good point.

Chris Fowler:  Many would probably not argue.  On that note we’ll say thank you once again not only for joining us but for what you’ve done over the years, what you’ve meant, and your continued good health at age 88 and Happy New Year to you Keith Jackson, we appreciate it.

Keith Jackson: Thank you very much.  I appreciate that.

I will give Herbstreit credit.  He looked like he knew who he was talking to.

If you don’t miss Keith Jackson, I’m afraid you either got here a little late or you really missed out.

2022 is out there!  Let’s take a look.

New Coaches Galore.  Here’s a few.

Southern Cal stuck in a thumb and picked out a plumb in Lincoln Riley.

Miami, FL convinced Mario Crisobal to come back home.

The Florida faithful better give Billy Napier a chance.  Gator fans are incorrigible.

Washington picked an apple from the Indiana Coaching Tree in Kalen DeBoer.  They paid the last coach as much to pack his bags as DeBoer will earn working for three years.  Hope it works out for him.

LSU hired Brian Kelly away from Notre Dame.  Nothing lasts forever.  But, Brian Kelly at LSU?  Nothing lasts forever.  This is a place that can’t hang on to National Championship winning coaches.  The Red Stick seems to whiff from time to time.

A couple guys I hated to see go were Skip Holtz and David Cutcliffe.  Holtz had a great run at Louisiana Tech.  Nothing lasts forever.  The folks in Ruston will be missing him soon after all.  Coach Cut brought Duke out of the bowels of lethargy, my apologies to Reno Hightower, and they won some games.  Have you been to Durham lately?  That place is as football hungry as Iona.  Coach Cut worked a miracle.

I ran the photo above in last year’s college football preview because I was so looking forward to the Indiana Hoosiers and the Ole Miss Rebels continuing their progress.  Yes, these two met in a January 1 Outback Bowl after the 2020 Covid-stricken season.  I hated that game.  Had to root against the Rebs for the first time ever.  Ugly time.  Ugly time.  Well, 2021 was kind to the Rebs.  They won ten games.  2021 was unkind to the Hoosiers.  They lost ten games.

The Big Ten

I am a child of this conference.  Been watching Hoosiers games in Bloomington all my life.  I have told the story many times of how in 1975 I remember Hoosier kicker Frank Stavroff knocking one through from 52 yards away.  That, though I eventually kicked points that changed a scoreboard, was not what impressed me the most that day.  Seeing the Utah helmets on the players.  It gave me tangible proof that Utah existed beyond a map in an elementary school classroom.  Utah was suddenly real for me.

Dave Kornowa.  The only Hoosier to score in the Rose Bowl.  In November of 2020, Dave and I spoke on the phone for more than an hour as I was looking at the Atlantic Ocean on Topsail Island, North Carolia.  A boy from Toledo told his folks he wanted to play for Indiana because they could get to the Rose Bowl.  The family laughed.  Dave scored on a 27 yard FG in The Rose Bowl.  My heart was full looking at this photo.  When Dave and I spoke, he told me about Coach Pont and so many of his teammates.  I was able to relive a Hoosier season that got here four months before I did.  And I am so grateful.

Overused as it is, to know that Dave Kornowa and I were true fifty years apart still makes me smile. His kick meant more.

BIG TEN (14) PREDICTIONS

The Big Ten East

1.  Michigan…Why?  I despise Ohio State!  JIm Harbaugh may be more apt to negotiate success than most others in the The BIG TEN (14) (16).
2. Penn State…If grandpa Sean Clifford is coming back for a 34th season, he knows something we don’t.
3. Ohio State…(Can’t say anything good so…)
4. Indiana…Ya know, had McFadden not been tossed from the Cincy game on a phantom targeting call, the Hoosiers don’t go 2-10 last year. Don’t get me started.

An IU kickoff in Bowling Green against WKU last September.  This was win #2 in an 0-9 Big Ten season.  Connor Bazelak at QB will help.  Tiawan Mullen on defense will elevate some games.  Coach Tom Allen hasn’t misplaced the secret sauce like so many pundits think.  The Hoosiers have a brutal schedule.  But such is life in the Big Ten East.

5. Michigan State...I know. I know.  I agree, Mel Tucker has done a great job.  But history is not on Sparty’s side. Peyton Thorne is a good one.  The lost some key guys on the O-line.

6. Maryland…With Tualia Tagovailoa at QB there is offense potential.  Good WRs.  Defense is a question mark and health is a must.

7. Rutgers…Yes I know they pasted the Hoosiers in Bloomington last year in the safest place in America.  By the fourth quarter you could hear anyone in Memorial Stadium sneeze.

Don’t look for much more than New York market dollars for the Big Ten out of Piscataway.

The Big Ten West

1.  Iowa…Look, when UCLA gets here, the Hawkeyes will have to be my third favorite Big Ten team.  A QB under center.  A team that understands what I preached on high school radio broadcasts that field position and turnovers are the key.  Iowa is my conduit to the past.  I love these guys.  QB and receivers are true which means the running game will be there.  Ronnie Harmon will be proud.
2. Nebraska…Yes, I know what their record was.  They lost each game by single digits.  That is hard to do.  And this is still Nebraska.  No team will work harder with no one paying attention.  If they win the West, I will not be shocked.  The  O-Line will be improved, in the name of Steinkulher and Rimington, you read it here.
3. Purdue…Aidan Connell is back for a sixth or seventh year.  Jeff Brohm is for real.  He did not leave PU for Louisville and that was a smart move.
4. Minnesota…Row the Boat or however that goes.  Line play on both sides will be improved and Goldy will be bowling again.
5. Northwestern…Pat FItzgerald knows a good gig.  And he works like a dog to keep Evanston relative and that is not an easy thing.  History has not been on their side.  Most of that time was without Coach Fitz at the helm.  A QB will rise in purple.
6. Illinois…The Illini open the Big Ten against the Hoosiers in Bloomington on a Friday Night.  Friday Night Lights in a Big Ten opener in Bloomington.  TV is in more dire straits than I thought.  But, I will be there!
7. Swissconsin…This is the sorriest bunch in the conference.  Don’t let all that “Sure Sure and Don’t Ya Know” fool you.  Hope they finish 0-12.  Now and forever.  Nasty folks.

Speaking of nasty, I was dismayed beyond belief with some of the behavior in Indiana’s Memorial Stadium during games last year.  When the UC Bearcats came calling last year, my wife went to find a place to cool off.  A lady from Cincinnati had the same idea.  They met.  My dear wife, Carrie, was upset at what she heard from the Bearcat lady.  She thanked Carrie for being kind to her.  She said many a Hoosier football fan had been rather vile toward her.  Carrie was very hurt.  I told her Hoosier football fans are trying to learn how to act after two January bowls in a row.  So much for that.  2-10 gets you the toilet bowl.  I hope Hoosier fans come back to Memorial Stadium and fill the place up.

And I hope the fans at IU games act like they have been there before!  Some of us have.

Go Hoosiers!

The Southeastern Conference

The SEC West has been the strongest division in football for a long time, that includes the NFL.

I hope Lane Kiffin and the Ole Miss Rebels will do well again.  The Rebs were 10-2 last year before losing 21-7 to a strong Baylor team in The Sugar Bowl.

Everyone knows I love the Rebels.  My mother and father were both born in Mississippi.  Many of my kinfolk “finished” at Ole Miss.  My mother had sixteen siblings.  Hotty Toddy means something.

I have said it before and I will say it again, after watching Tua throw for six TDs for the Tide against the Rebels in 2019, which was a school record, I heard a Tide fan say, “Tua left a few balls out there today.  Could have been better.”  That is when I knew Tuscaloosa was the set of the football “Twilight Zone.”  That is not right.

THE SEC EAST

1. Georgia…Stetson Bennett is back and so is Kirby Smart.  They will find a way.
2. Kentucky...Delighted to say so.  I live in the Louisville television market.  The longer we can talk football, basketball is not so prevalent.  Wait your turn.  HEALTH IS A MUST.
3. Florida…Not because I am rooting for Billy Napier.  I just think they will get some breaks.
4. South Carolina…Look out for Shane Beamer.  Those folks in South Carolina love their football too.
5. Tennessee…Yes, most have UT higher.  I don’t see it.  The offense is there.  The defense is suspect.  Look for a frestrating loss or four ala Nebraska last year.
6. Mizzou…Bless their hearts.  The misplaced Big Ten School.  They may shock someone.  The nonconference is kind.  Defense returns some real players.
7.  Vandy…Vandy is going to have their troubles and the new college football horizon looks stormy from Music Row.

THE SEC WEST

1. Alabama…Remount and reload with more consultants than most places have coaches.  This is a football factory.  Saban rules.
2. Ole Miss…Yes.  I do have faith in Lane Kiffin.  He will keep you guessing and I think his analytics might give way to three more punts this year.  Jaxson Dart should be a good one at QB.  In less than a month, the Rebs have Auburn, LSU, Texas A&M, and Alabama.  Ice pack, please!
3. Texas A&M…A good defense will be Jimbo Fisher’s calling card again.
4. Mississippi State…If you fall asleep on Mike Leach, he will take a sword to you.  Look for that to happen at least three times as he brings Starkville a nice season.
5. Arkansas…Sam Pitman has the Hogs in place to make me look foolish here.  They are a wildcard indeed.  Jefferson at QB.  If he stayes healthy, look out.
6.  LSU…How dare I!  I will believe Brian Kelly’s SEC metal when I see it.  Till then, no dice.  This ain’t Notre Dame.
7.  Auburn…My friend Brother Tim Petty, Tide Fan from way back, will like this pick.  All is not happy on the plains.

Othe Conference Predictions:

The AAC:  Cincinnati– I don’t like this bunch and I hope Indiana can go to Nippert and grab one.  Great place to watch a game for sure.

The ACC:  Yes, I know, I used to give this conference more space and detail here.  This would be a moratorium in honor of former Duke Coach David Cutcliffe.  I was allowed into a closed scrimmage at Vaught-Hemmingway Stadium during spring practice while he was the Head Coach at Ole Miss in 2003.  Eli Manning was a senior.  The grass turf was still there in March.  The season was played on an artificial surface.  Great memory.  Shout out to Walker Jones for helping me out then too.

With that said….NC State– This is going to be your year.  Not a case of Clemson hate at all.  All Things Must Pass.

Louisville…providing Malik Cunningham stays healty, will be improved.  Look for 7 or 8 wins.  Seems Scott Satterfield has taken a heap in his tenure from U of L fans.  The school is finding itself with a new AD and leadership at the top.  Many wanted Tom Jurich back iin town.  Hang in there, Coach Satterfield.

The Big 12: …Look for Brent Venables to make I’m a Man, I’m 40 unhinged.  Translation: The Oklahoma Sooners make it happen in a Big 12 with 10 members.  You gotta love college football.

The MAC:  Chuck Martin left Notre Dame as their OC in 2014 to coach the Miami, OH Redhawks and he has stayed the course.  2022 will be kind to him.  I hope his team does well.

The Mountain West:  Do you want to pick against Jeff Tedford?  Heck no!  Did Kalen DeBoer leave Fresno for Washington with an empty cupboard?  Heck no!  Fresno State wins the Mountain West.

The PAC 12:  I feel under-dressed here.  When UCLA gets to The Big Ten, they will supplant Iowa as my 2nd favorite Big Ten team!  BUT…my faithometer in Lincoln Riley and the trove of transfers he is bringing to the men of Troy and USC will leave Westwood and Utah and Oregon and (fill in the blank) wondering what hit them.  Hope I eat these words and UCLA wins every game!

The Sun Belt:  Marshall.  Yes.  This is a sentimental pick.  But I think the Sun Belt will be a good fit for The Herd.  Outside of the Indiana Hoosiers, I have not seen a team play more times in person in the last fifteen years than the Marshall Thundering Herd.  Losing Grant Wells will hurt at QB.  That pesky tranfer portal.

The C-USA:  Western Kentucky.  Not the popular choice.  Coach Tyson Helton has done a great job.  Jarrett Doege, a transfer from WVU,  will lead at QB.

Here’s to a great 2022 College Football Season!

We could use it.

Have fun and take care of each other!

YES, I WILL SAY IT AGAIN!  GO HOOSIERS!

Can’t wait to hear the Marching Hundred play “INDIANA FIGHT!”

Speaking the Rights…

Danny Johnson