First Week of October 2026. 14 (Fourteen) Undefeated Teams Left. My Two (three) among Them.

    IU crushes Rutgers in Piscataway. 5-0. Nebraska next, in their place of worship. Cornie Huskerers.

    Brigham Young holds on to beat the Christian Horned Frogs Who knew those funny amphibians professed a religion? Cougars are obvious Latter-day Saints: Book of Mormon is all about Western Hemisphere wildcats and felines of prey!

    Who else? The Catholics of South Bend, of our Lady of the Immaculate Conception of her mother Anne. Jesus came later. True story, true believers.

    Then there is the Bible Bashing south. Texas, Georgia, Alabama. Even Missouri. James Madison, North Dakota State... 

    Ummm... Miami. Nebraska, next up for the Hoosiers. All the rest of the Big Ten is undefeated. USC, Oregon, and Ohio State have one loss each. Ha! Penn State and MEECHAGUN have two each! Ha! Ha! HAHHHHHH!

    Wow, the world is upside down. We love it.

    Who else is among the 14 left? Not to say the others, like one-loss LSU cannot get to the 12 part CFP. Likely not Oklahoma State. 

    Oh, I had one. Texas Tech. Anyone else?

    I had to re-read the above, (or imagine it), and take a leak (pardon, relieve myself in the powder room) and think of:

    Pittsburgh! Very lucky to remain lossless as poor Virginia Tech blew the 36 yard field goal. When I fell asleep last Friday or Thursday night. In Blacksburg! Oh, enter light, exit light. Indeed. 

    Did I get them all? Hawai'i is racked with losses. Sorry, sports magazine as I consider going out to the local grocery store to get the basketball magazine. Not too late...

    See ya!

    

    

Pale Hose! We Got This! Counting my Chickens: Yankees or Rays?

Da White Sox rally to win 4-3 over hometown homies Guardians. Yay! I watched much of the game! Yay! I had not seen them visually most or much of the season. They look compact and good. Even though, despite their hitters who barely are hitting .200 plus. Even one below the Mendoza line... One of the Montgomerys... I think the short stop. Forgivable with great defense and clutch hitting and running.

    Poor Padres. Blew it last night to the Brewers, now trailing 2-0 out of five.Oh, well. Brew crew are all right, my fourth favorite hope. Or fifth? 1. White Sox, two: Padres. Three Rays. Four Brewers. Okay.

    I hope we play the Rays. That way, and "we" are the White Sox, a never-been will have a chance. Best case, Padres versus the... Braves. Tired of the Braves and Dodgers. Yeesh. Yankees last won in 2009, but too much of them, too.

    Blog it.

Poetry of the IU Football Champions

    Many of us long suffering Hoosier fans are older than me

    They saw many more seasons, of futility, embarrassment.

    None of the 1945 champion fans or players are living to talk about that team anymore, right?

    Maybe someone born in 1930 or 1938 remembers them, still alive.

    I hope so. In the Hoosier heartland, or perhaps transferred to California or Florida. Or even Georgia.

    Hoosier fans. A rarer breed back in the day. 

    I was one, proudly, by 1980, at least.

    

    After the 1979 crazy Corso bowl win agains the up and coming BYU Cougars. 

    Another team to wax poetic about. For another verse.

    I am a Hoosier fan! (Sorry, Tom Bell. Former Cougar lineman.)

    They are my home and secular love. 

    Was it 1983 that I really started to track them? By radio and newspaper.

    The signal emissions on my transistor at home, my long beloved clock radion, or from whichever car that I found myself in... 

    Returning home from a campout with the Scouts.

    Maybe later that day on the way to dinner with my family.

    The occasional televised game. 

    ESPN opened up the channels ever more. Beyond the ubiquitous NBC, CBS, ABC.

    Then later Fox.

    Over time the love, the attention, the nostalgia and lore grew.

    Mallory. Cameron. Lynch. Who else? Oh yeah, Wilson! Then Allen, who lead to:

    THE. CURT. CIGNETTI. We must love Italy and Italian-Americans.

    We have Googled him.

    He is the champion of champs.

    Wow. Quite the guy.

    A legend of epic proportions, building up over his decades of lifetime into the last two years.

    Indiana is a power.

    Sold out games. Expensive tickets.

    

    Is this poetry? I am not Billy Collins.

    Even AI me from my online footprints is not good enough to capture it, it seems.

    Now we sport our national champion shirts. Hats, caps, tooks or beanies. 

    Oh, and why not candy striped pants or overalls? 

    Penn State fans and followers (as I have seen them at all games everyhwere), the magnificent former victors of national acclaim, squirm and cower when we mention

    the catch  (the Catch!) in the end zone by an inch to preserve the unblemished wonder that was last season, 2025.

    2025. Maybe two huge wins more in January of 2026. 

    We know of Oklahoma, Army, Notre Dame, Michigan, Ohio State, Alabama, Georgia, Clemson.

    Even Brigham Young, from the auspicious year of the Orwellian 1984.

    And yes, the the Florida schools, all the big three.

    We are little old southern Indiana hick IU, with the little stadium simply named Memorial, with the howitzers or some type of World War II cannons ensconced on the west side. 

    We won that war, and we win on the grid iron of the pig skin. After well over a hundred years of losing and laughter, mocking directed at us. Even by the Purdue fans! Or, especially them.

    Ha! He who laughs first...

    Hang the banners in the rafters, from roof tops, from bumper stickers and placards.

    Wear the championship status with pride!

    Indiana Hoosiers. 

    We are the best.

    We have been the worst.

    Google it.

IU Comes out of Piscataway with 100 yard Earners, Uninjured, We Hope

    Indiana scored quickly and well, up 30-0 at halftime. The weather was pleasant and the atmosphere was cool. By the end of the game the Scarlet Knights scores a couple touchdowns. I think the Knights had seven or so injury breaks. Indiana? None. Beebe and Richard ran for a lot, Marshall and Becker caught for a lot, and I think we are better prepped for Nebraska next week. They are undefeated? Should be interesting.

    Michigan lost again! Ha! Go Gophers! Haha, former BYU grad and player Whittingham who dissed the Cougars too many years while the Ute coach.

    Ahh, my memories do not allow me forget the passed offenses against my Provo alma mater.

    Washington lost to USC. No total loss; that guy Rick at Camp Marmal can eat crow, or pie, or his own lordship against my Cougars.

    What else? BYU held on to rival TCU in Dallas.

    Hmmm...

    Missouri might be good. Florida might not be that good. Alabama could be good again. The SEC might be great again. But Texas... Oh yeah, SEC now. The world has changed, ever bit slightly.

    Meanwhile, I felt at home surrounded by hundreds of Hoosiers with their colors and championship shirts.

    Craziness. 800,000 plus IU almumni bopping around the world.

    Indiana with some 21 wins in a row.

    See you next Saturday, Cornhuskers. Maybe not personally, but it may just work out.

Indiana In Piscataway - Hoosiers Come from Near and Far

    The year after Curt Cignetti led to the Indiana Hurry'n Football Hoosiers to one of the most remarkable seasons of all time, the Hoosiers are not as strong. Four games in, there are chinks in the armor, along with real injuries. The running backs are the most dinged up. Turbo Richard, number one, was hurt last week against Northwestern on a cheap hit. But he should be back tonight. Dinged up.

    Lee Beebe, the number two running back, as of last night is out! His two hundred yards against the Wildcats perhaps took a toll. Number three tail back, Khobie Martin, has been out all year. He may come back the middle of this October, the middle of the twelve game regular season.

    Number four, by the name of Cuouno, is apparently out. I think he is a true frosh. The number five is another true freshman, and he might be the main runner.

    Not great. But, there may be some walk-ons that could get their schwerve on.

    With Cignetti you never know.

    Rutgers is down, so...

    IU by at least 21. Maybe, hopefully more.

    Go IU. Fight and recover. Let's prepare for tonight and the weeks to come.

 Flushed to the Pages of History

    Like in the books of Bible, this Edward, alias Eduardo, aka a few other things,

    Begat J, and M.  And E. and K. And finally B.

    They lived on and propered, and had their own kingdoms and principalities.

    He lived mostly happy with some travails.

    He worked, paid taxes, drove and somewhat managed vehicles.

    He liked some sports teams, and players,

    Got wrapped up in them, sometimes albeit unneccessarily.

    He was a Boy Scout, in his youth, in that uniform a few times.

    Later he donned other uniforms, even that of clergy.

    He lived and bounced among some languages.

    Wrote things privately, publicly, and withing official channels.

    Part I. Some of him.

 Saturn has 293 Moons. And other Randomalia

    There are about 200 sovereign nations across the earth.

    Palestine is not one of them.

    Nor is Puntland or Somaliland.

    Titan is substantially bigger than our moon.

    My wife thinks it is wrong that our moon does not have a proper name.

    Things in and our world can be wrong.

    Global warming appears to be wrong. Meaning, it is happening, but this is not right to let happen.