This is another one of those weeks where there is just so much to talk about that I can’t focus on one thing. I’m not even going to bother trying.
Football players vs. Kickers. As a kid who went to a soccer-only high school, I always wondered what it would be like to be the kicker on a football team. When I went to Butler University to start college, I inquired on whether there was a chance of my trying out for the team, but practice had been going on for a few weeks already when I arrived on campus and they were set for kickers. I got into broadcasting and trying to interview young ladies to become Mrs. Grossman, and it never went anywhere.
Being a football kicker is a hard job. It’s unlike any other job I can think of in sports. Here is a guy who doesn’t block, doesn’t tackle, doesn’t carry the ball (ordinarily), and yet is absolutely critical to the success of the team as a whole.
All he does is kick, but that’s a lot. Notice that, outside of the punter, no one else can do what he does. No linebackers are ever the backup kicker, right?
Cody Parkey’s blocked kick that found the upright and crossbar and ended the Chicago Bear’ terrific season was followed up by the almost automatic Adam Vinatieri missing the shortest field goal of his career and an extra point in Kansas City the following week. If he makes those, the Indianapolis Colts are within a possession of another highway robbery of Kansas City.
That leads to fans doing what fans do – whining about something they know little or nothing about.
Vinatieri is going into the Hall of Fame, so of course the Colts should have him back.
But Parkey … well I wasn’t in favor of having him back, and his recent appearance on the Today show sealed that for me. Blocked or not, he had no business being there. Head coach Matt Nagy saw it as a move that was not team-oriented, and he is spot-on.
Rescheduled games are a huge headache. Winter finally came calling last weekend, and it looks like it’s making a return visit this coming weekend.
I feel bad for athletic departments in those moments. They know that if they pull the plug on a game, they will have to find a place to fit it into the schedule, find a new set of available referees, and hope (if it’s a home game) that they won’t lose too much money from the change. No matter how good your local media is about covering teams and informing the public of when postponed games are moved to, not as many people will go to the makeup date. It’s like church – when snow cancels church, people often don’t send their check in the mail during the week or drop two in the plate the next week.
Especially in mid-January, when the girls basketball season is wrapping up and conference games must be played.
I hope we all appreciate how tough that part of working in an athletic office is.
Walking on water. With the cold weather that has set in, we are about to start the ice fishing season. Hopefully you have some free time to be able to drill some holes and set up your ice house. If you do, please be careful. Make sure you check the ice first, make sure people know that you are going out and where you are going, and stay warm.
The Warsaw Elementary city basketball tournaments. We are on the verge of one of the great phenomenons of our area, and our state. In this basketball-crazy state, the elementary schools of the Warsaw Community School district (plus Sacred Heart and Warsaw Christian) will embark on a journey to determine city champions in boys and girls basketball.
Banners hang on the walls of the winners. They hold pep sessions at the winning schools to present the principal with the championship trophy. We broadcast the games from the Tiger Den on the radio on News Now Warsaw. And the lower level of the Tiger Den will be crammed with I-Pad and cell phone-toting humans who are capturing the moment for the children’s futures.
It’s pretty cool, and I hope we all appreciate what we have here and be good stewards of it.
