Opinion - Times-Union Newspaper

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Chip Shots: Thank You Tiger Football

I hope each of you enjoyed a happy Thanksgiving.
The Penalty Box: Reliving The Roar Of A Dynasty

My friend, Matt, loves the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Chip Shots: Lessons Learned, An NFL Sunday Surprise

Recent Sundays have been very busy, but I decided to step on the brake, putz around the house with simple tasks, and watch some NFL football a little more closely than I have.
Can Connor Cover? The Mind-Boggling Annoyances Of Writer’s Block

There are few things that annoy me more than a bad case of writer’s block.
The Penalty Box: Cutting Yourself Is A Waste

Occasionally, a parent or grandparent will come ask me for my thoughts on the prospects for a family member in their sport.
Chip Shots: I Promised You….

I am keeping my word about the timeline for evaluating my preseason NFL picks.
Can Connor Cover? Some (Not So) Fun Facts To Pass The Time

In recent weeks, I’ve been writing the introduction to this column last, after I finish up all of my picks for the week.
The Penalty Box: Saying Goodbye To A Friend

Saturday night, I was sitting at my broadcast location at Norwell’s gym, getting ready to launch my 33rd season of girls basketball coverage on the radio here in Warsaw.
Chip Shots: Bouncing Around With Indian Summer Energy

I believe what we’re experiencing outdoors will be our Indian summer, and its welcome weather adds bounce to my step, boosting my energy.

Join me as I topic hop this morning.
Can Connor Cover? Winter (And Basketball) Is Coming

If you’re coming to this article after reading the front page of our sports section you’ll have seen that high school basketball is now underway, at least on the girls side.
We’ve Lost Our Imagination

I was watching the World Series, and for some reason I started to think back to the days of my youth.
Chip Shots: Lots Goin’ On, But...

I like discussing how the sausage is made, like it or not. With this said, consider the following:
Can Connor Cover? The Horrors Of Costumes, Scary Movies And Bad Beats

Halloween is probably my favorite holiday.
The Penalty Box: What I Want For Christmas

If you have listened to the radio or read this column for any length of time, you remember that I get visited in the week leading up to Christmas by a very famous plump guy from the North Pole.
Chip Shots: Recent Tiger Football Win A Program Victory

There have been some big wins among the previous four seasons since Bart Curtis took the reins of the Warsaw Tiger football program, so I could understand if someone asked me what my fuss is all about regarding last Friday’s 35-21 win over Northridge.
Can Connor Cover? The Wonderful Ways To Spend A Saturday

There is usually only one day a week I’m not at my office, not checking email and not doing anything work related. That day is Saturday, and I usually spend it the same way each week.
The Penalty Box: If I Were King Of Sports — Fall 2022 Edition

I was watching sports over the weekend (imagine that) and some things came to mind that, if I were universally in charge of all sports, I would change.
Chip Shots: Postmortem Of A High School Football Article

Accountants often say among themselves the nice thing about accounting is if something is incorrect, and caught in time, it can be reversed. It might take triple the time due to rework, but the mistakes identified are reversible, nonetheless.
Can Connor Cover? It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of Year

Trees are changing color, the air is getting colder and the days are getting shorter. It can only mean one thing: Fall is in full swing and our sports calendars are quickly filling up.
The Penalty Box: Football Teams Need To Practice

The old adage “practice makes perfect” was on my mind as I watched professional football games this weekend.
Chip Shots: A Great Saturday To Be A (Lady) Tiger

It’s a great weekend to be a Warsaw Tiger… specifically, a Warsaw Lady Tiger.
When Disaster Strikes, Homeland Security & FEMA Respond
Can Connor Cover? Deebo Is Still Running, I’m Still Struggling

We’re back to the drawing board once again.
The Penalty Box: The Best Laid Plans

I watched both football and baseball games this weekend, and there was a strange theme that seemed to be running through the middle of almost every game I stopped at—a head coach had a decision go horribly wrong.
Chip Shots: Dusting Off NLC Football, MLB Takes

I have the polish and rags out for cleaning dust off a recent take in Northern Lakes Conference (NLC) and a summer take on the potential of six 100-game winning teams in MLB.
Breaking Through Barriers To Innovation In Our Local Entrepreneurial Community
Can Connor Cover? The Machine, Depressing Football and an Epiphany

First off, a tip of my cap to Albert Pujols and his joining of the 700 home run club.
The Penalty Box: “W” Game Is A “W” For Everyone

It’s “W” Trophy Week.
Chip Shots: Beginning Of The End? All I Can Offer Is A Hug

The end begins now.
Can Connor Cover? A Lesson In Humility & The Legend Of Joe Flacco

I’m going to get a bit personal with you good people for a minute here, so I apologize in advance.
A New Vision For Ivy Tech Warsaw Includes Community Engagement
The Penalty Box: It’s Going To Be A Long Autumn

There was a moment Sunday night when I came to a hard determination—it’s going to be another rough autumn sports season around here.
Chip Shots: Let’s Talk About 8-Man Football, Whitko

What if Chip Coldiron began his September 1 conversation with Whitko athletic director Barry Singery with, “Barry, let’s talk about eight-man football…” before discussing his more immediate concerns?
Can Connor Cover? Minor Setbacks Lead To Major Comebacks (I Hope)

Woof. I’ll be the first to admit, that’s not how I pictured week one playing out.
The Penalty Box: Irish Looked Unready

There are things I think are true, and there are things I know to be true.
Chip Shots: And Then There Were Two. It’s Usually Just Two

I admire Roger Grossman’s ability to cover more than a handful of topics in The Penalty Box with smooth transitional flow and brevity. Sometimes I head down the road with five or six issues on my mind only to expend too much copy space on two of them.
Can Connor Cover? I Hope We’re Ready For Some Football!

It’s been awhile.
The Penalty Box: What It’s Like To Score A Touchdown

There is one thing that is constant through all levels of all sports: people love to score.
Chip Shots: Dr. Seuss Trees, NLCs, NFTs, Bees...

I’ll share my view of my Sunday morning composition of this column (last Sunday, again? guilty). Did you notice Dr. Seuss-looking trunks two of my evergreens (thanks to the fine work of the home’s original owners)? I’ll also share my view of the 2022 high school football polls.
The Penalty Box: Disrespect Card Is Overplayed

There are a few basic facts we know about successful people.

They are driven to success.
Chip Shots: Thanks Nespresso

I’ve thrown caution to the wind this week, completing my column prematurely with reckless disregard for what possible breaking sports news has since surfaced, and what my take would have been.
Clearly Kosciusko Communitywide Brand Tells A Story Of Unity
The Penalty Box: NIL Has Run Amuck

One of my favorite sayings is “don’t bother closin’ the gate ‘cause the horses are already running down the road”.

The NCAA and its member schools are reaching for the gate, but the dust from the college athletes is visible on the horizon.
Chip Shots: When Watching The Game Isn’t Enough

There are a few places to put your finger on the pulse on what’s going on in high school sports if watching the game isn’t enough to feed your football need. I’ll take the time to inform more than opine this morning.
The Penalty Box: Sports Shorts

With the fall sports season officially launching this past weekend and football at all levels popping up on our radars, it’s way too busy a time to focus on just one thing.
Chip Shots: It’s A (Column)… About Nothing

Seinfeld, one of the five best TV sitcoms, was explained by its writers and producers while touring the press and talk show circuits as a “show about nothing.”

This week I’m sharing a column about nothing.
Chip Shots: From Hell To Heaven, I’m Already Ready

I moved from Gahanna, Ohio to Goshen, Indiana on my 32nd birthday in 1996. Another trip around the sun concludes this coming Wednesday. My outlook was filled with ambivalence.
Growing Workforce Housing Remains A Priority For City Of Warsaw
The Penalty Box: If I Were King Of Sports—Silly Edition

From time-to-time, I swerve off the normal path of this space and wonder what would happen if I were the king of sports.

What would happen if I were simultaneously named the commissioner of the four major American professional sports leagues, the NCAA and Indiana High School sports?
Chip Shots: Football, Futbol, Football

I’m sprinkling the Saturday morning discussion among the institution of college football, Warsaw girls’ futbol, and Warsaw Tiger football.
Chip Shots: Watching Golf – Time Unexpectedly Well Spent

Last weekend’s British Open hit home for me although 1) I don’t watch much golf, and 2) I haven’t played a round of golf since 2008.
The Penalty Box: College Conference Movement Is Telling

In April of 1889, about 2 million acres of land in the middle of the United States of America was up for grabs.

Covered wagons filled with an estimated 50,000 families and their belongings lined up side-by-side at the border to what we know as Oklahoma.

At noon on April 22 of that year, the signal was given and those wagons took off as future landowners went racing across the plains to claim the 160 acres of former “Indian Territory” they were each allowed to settle on.
Chip Shots: Coach Krebs Takes Us In A Refreshingly Different Direction

I’ve used my Saturday columns to give you my worldview on NBA schedule length, and prognosticating IHSAA Class 6A football sectional alignment. Recently, however, Warsaw Tigers girls’ head basketball coach Lenny Krebs shared his valuable time with me to discuss what he would do if he were IHSAA commissioner for a day.
The Penalty Box: Why I Am Not A Coach

If you read my weekly ramblings at all, you know that coaching and leadership come up a lot.

And, so, a couple of you have posed the question of why I don’t coach.

That’s totally a fair question and I would love to explain it.
Chip Shots: Thank USC, UCLA This Morning, Faithful Readers

This was the week I was going to share “what I did during the IHSAA moratorium week.” I would have waffled sports, my vocation, and the non-sports segments of my life together to… you know where I would have taken us.
The Penalty Box: Catching Big Fish Vs Little Fish

I wrote a little bit about fishing last week, but with us in the heart of the summer fishing season I wanted to spend more time this week talking about a question that fishermen passing at the dock will ask: “what you fishin’ for?”
Chip Shots: Dead Spot In Sports? Time For Mid-Year Resolutions!

We are approaching one of the slowest handful of weeks in sports. The NBA Finals and the men’s College World Series are behind us. The downshift will continue this Monday, Independence Day, with a hot dog eating contest, then we’ll fight sleep watching green balls volley their way to the Wimbledon finals the same day the IHSAA moratorium week ends (July 10).
Kosciusko County Is A Summer Hot Spot For Fairs And Festivals
Planning And Environmental Linkages Study For U.S. 30 Starts Soon
Chip Shots: Planting A Seed On Seeding

Class 6A football is comprised of 32 schools among 8 sectionals. Due to the growth of schools in and around Indianapolis, and the population shift from the Northern part of the state, the only schools in Class 6A truly geographical North are:

Lafayette Jefferson, Lake Central, Crown Point, Portage, Penn, Elkhart, Warsaw, Carroll, and Homestead.
The Penalty Box: Taking The Bus To Wrigley

On July 15th, I will be leading a group of about 50 people to the corner of Clark and Addison to one of the most beautiful blocks of real estate on God’s Earth—Wrigley Field.
Chip Shots: It’s Summer. Relax?

My approach toward my avocations can be a blessing and a curse. I’m probably more proactive among my avocations than the average bear, but some of that proactivity is more of a compulsion than an effective habit.
The Penalty Box: Valley Is Just Fine Where They Are

A few years back, conference realignment in high school athletics became a big deal.
Chip Shots: Ambitious (?) Summer Plans

I take a different television viewing path as high school sports draws to a close, and the NBA finals roll through the first half of June.
The Penalty Box: Why We Like Steph More Than LeBron

As I was watching the Golden State Warriors clinch the Western Conference Championship last week, a thought occurred to me that I want to share with you.
Chip Shots: Oh Henry! Your Commitment Was Amazing!

Roger Grossman paid a wonderful tribute to Warsaw Community High School’s sports public address announcer, Ron Henry, in last Wednesday’s “Penalty Box.” I’m compelled to touch on some additional points folks don’t think about when an inimitable figure ends a 40-year span among multiple sports, let alone a single sport.
Diving Deep Into Kosciusko County’s 100-Plus Lakes
The Penalty Box: Echo Of Henry’s Voice Rings Forever

It rained last Saturday.

To be accurate, a pretty fierce storm rolled through here Saturday morning.

It rained hard enough that the Warsaw baseball team had to cancel their four-way tournament at Tiger Field.

As news of the cancellation spread throughout town, the realization that more than just baseball games being called off due to weather was happening.

It was the end of an era.
Chip Shots: A Summer Assignment For High School-Aged Broadcasters

I joined Toastmaster’s International (TI) in the fall of 1989. The first ten speeches required to reach Advanced Toastmaster level are a well-thought, very logical path of training and development for public speaking and thinking on your feet.
Chip Shots: Will A GOAT Be A Welcome NFL Broadcast Attraction?

Fox Sports put the final piece of the puzzle together along with its competing NFL lead broadcast teams when they announced Tampa Bay Bucs quarterback Tom Brady would join Kevin Burkhardt in Fox’s NFL broadcast booth immediately following his eventual retirement.
The Penalty Box: To Mentor Or Not To Mentor

Last week, a sports debate broke out that wasn’t as much about sports as it was about human beings begin human beings.

The player at the center of it drew immediate criticism from some, and was immediately defended by others.

That player is Ryan Tannehill, the starting quarterback for the Tennessee Titans.
Chip Shots: I’m Very Class-y This Morning

The IHSAA released the sectional alignments this past Tuesday, and there are several “wrongs” in my Class 6A football guesses. You could say I safely qualified my forecast, though, with the following quote from February when I made a second round of predictions.
The Penalty Box: My Secret Wish

I am not a hunter.

I am a fisherman at my core. I come from a long line of people who chose fishing over hunting, and I married into a family that loves fishing too.

A lot of people like to both hunt and fish. The Indiana DNR has had a combination hunting-fishing license for just such folks.
Chip Shots: Old TV Shows And Movies – Rewatch Or Toss?

I’ve had sports on the brain all through the completion of last night’s Max Truex Invitational. Now, about one hour before print deadline, I’m tired of thinking and writing about sports.
The Penalty Box: To Shift Or Not To Shift

I was watching baseball Sunday, mainly because rain and storms chased us inside.

The common theme throughout the two broadcasts I watched could be summarized by the phrase that starts “after the league bans shifting next season.”
Chip Shots: April Showers Bring May…

…showers * heavy sigh.* At least they do here in Northern Indiana. I’ve managed my expectations, so I’m neither shocked nor disappointed. I’m just prepared for lots of schedule changes. I gain solace, however, from the NBA playoffs, whose television ratings were the highest in eleven years.
The Penalty Box: Officials Shortage Becoming Real

Social media was all abuzz at the headline on Twitter which announced that spring sporting events in Indiana were being cancelled.

Why?

Hint: It wasn’t the weather.
Chip Shots: Energy Helped Prune My Sports Tree

It’s time for me to locate and remove cheater branches and prune other branches among the trees in my yard. I also pruned my sports media tree at the end of last January.
The Penalty Box

Sometimes this column is about you.

Sometimes it’s about your kids and grandkids.

Sometimes it’s about other people.

Today, it’s about me.