A Gift from the Past

As I was digging in my sock drawer the other day (unsuccessfully I might add, I never found the black sock with the blue spots) I found a gift I had purchased for my uncle Randy about 15 years ago. It was a set of brass golf ball markers with an Indiana University logo on them, but the what is not nearly as important as the why. My family is great, both sides, we've been close all my life. My grandparents who are as good as it gets have taught me and loved me unconditionally (although my grandma does generally tell me how much I need to lose weight). My mother's mother has passed away but she was terrific, I called her mom-mom, she was better to me than I probably deserved. Grandma's are cool in the way they are totally okay with telling you where you could do better (hence mamaw telling me to shed the pounds), but let someone else talk bad about you and they will pinch their heads off. I'm rambling when I should be making the point I intended to - my family is cool. My parents are better than I could have asked for, and my extended family just rounds out the picture of a guy who had a great upbringing. We have our faults, I won't list them here out of respect for the fam, but all in all a good group.


So you ask what this has to do with my sock drawer, my dad's little brother, and ball markers? It just this, I remember one day about 15 years ago walking through the mall and stopping at a golf kiosk, I didn't like golf at the time but my uncle did so I bought them. Ten bucks! To a 15 year old that is major dough, at least in the late 1900's it was. My uncle had spent time with me, played catch with me, helped me learn to ride my bike, and watched ball games with me. Probably not a big deal to him, but to a kid when an adult takes time out of there life to spend with 'em it's valuable. So when I saw the ball markers, sorry Randy if you read this I never gave them to you I sort of misplaced them for a decade and a half, I thought what makes a teenager spend money on an uncle when it's not required? Time,time,time - we give our kids all kinds of stuff but are we, am I, forgetting the best gift of all.

My kids birthdays are coming up, my girls want Coach purses, Ipods, High Heels, and cell phones. I want to get them these things, but I don't want to neglect to give the gift that will outlast all the others. My time.

So for every time my Aunt Christie or Aunt Diane let me hang out at there place and watch movies or talk about stuff, or when my uncle Randy helped me ride Mike's old yellow bike, or for the times my uncle Mike Robertson had to climb up a tree to get me down, or for all the ball games my uncle Mike Watkins played with me, for every time my gradnma let me sit on her lap after I was way to big to do so, quite simply to my family who helped make me who I am; thanks.

To my folks who have done more for me as a child and even as an adult, for the camping trips, the baseball games, and the church services - thanks.

To every adult who has taken extra time to spend with a child remember it's not time wasted, it is an investment. An investment that you both will appreciate. To every parent or grandparent who reads this remember they aren't nuisances or bothers, they are the future. Do you best to spend some extra time with the little people and you never know you might get a set of IU ball markers for you trouble.

A few reasons why the Colts stink

I am an avid Colts fan, I have followed them most of my life, and I will always be a Colts fan. I was there in the years where we were in all reality aweful, dreadful - horrible games, bad drafts ( see Steve Entman, Quinton Coreyott, Trev Alberts, oh and lets not forget Jeff George)and the whole gamut of bad descisions. Then along came Bill Polian and the new Colts regime. They drafted Marvin Harrison, Peyton Manning, Edgerin James, Dallas Clark, Reggie Wayne, Dwight Freeney, Bob Sanders, and Joseph Addia. Bill snagged Gary Brackett, Jeff Saturday, and Dominick Rhodes as college free agents (un drafted rookies) and built a perennial Super bowl contender. 5 seasons of 12 wins or more has never been eclipsed in the League, but this year the wheels fell off, let me tell you why:
1. The stupid Tampa Two Defense - Never blitz, give 8 yards of cushion to outside receivers and bend but don't break. The problem with the T2 is if you don't get a pass rush from the edges and up the middle in this one gap system then a smart veteran QB will hit his back foot on a 5 step drop and hit a receiver for 6 yards. It doesn't take many 6 yards to move the chains and keep the offense on the sidelines. I realize the zone scheme helps in ways, but lets blitz 4 or 5 times a game and man up on the outside receivers on obvious passing downs. IF you can't get people off the field on 3rd and 8 then your a going to loose a lot of games. The reason our T2 isn't working this year is in point #2
2 . Get a defensive take bigger than my son (he's 4, not really D-tackle material yet). I realize the Corey Simon experiment went badly, and Booger got hurt, and the kids from Penn State got high and kicked off the team, and 22 year old Quinn Pitcock retired, and John McCargo failed his physical but do something - get someone - exert some pressure up the middle on occasion. If you can't, bring a backer, or a saftey, or some pepper spray, but do something. The belly of the Colts Defense is as soft as mine. If we have to commit all 3 linebackers and a sfatey to the LOS to stop the run then we get the 6 to 8 yard passes referenced above. The corners stay too deep to stop that ball with out committing a LB underneath. If the LB is filling a gap left open by a teeny tiny D tackle then the underneath coverage is not there. This must be addressed in the draft, the plus is we should get a fairly high pick this year.
3. Coaching - Dungy is a great guy and a serious under achiever. I could have coached the Colts to at least one super bowl in this era. How hard is it to say "Hey Peyton throw it to Marvin or Reggie or Joseph or Gonzo or Dallas or Stokely (04 - 06)" or say "Hey Bob tackle everybody please". Tony makes seriously bad decisions in big games, gets conservative to easy, and fails to motivate his players. They never seem fired up or ready to play. It is just going to be more of the same with Jim Caldwell.
4. The offense - we can't run it, and we can't throw it. That doesn't leave a whole lot of options. Peyton has been off all year, and the receivers have seriously lost a step. Marvin is old and tired and will be gone after this season, Reggie is getting closer to old age as well and Gonzo is not a #1 receiver. Our running game is staggered at the loss of J Addia, but he has struggled this year as well. There are no holes to run through and the scheme seems off by miles. We have not clicked all year. The Baltimore game is an exception or you might say aberration.

It has been a good 7 years, but it is time to reload or rebuild or something because I can't take much more of this. If I wanted to see this kind of football I would watch reruns of the late 80's - where is Jeff George when you need him. RLR

Where do old TV's go when they die

This is not what I do at work all day, but it does comprise to most interesting part of my day. I have the privlidge of working with a flaming liberal artist named Geoff Hicks,who has become a very good friend of mine - he is the mastermind behind all of the destruction and meyham that happens in our shop - I am innocent of all wrong doing. These are videos of old CRT's with a 10lb transformer from an old reciever dropped on them from a 20 foot high roof. It does not get much better than this. For his next project we may light one on fire.






gravitation, part three from geoffrey hicks on Vimeo.


gravitation, part four from geoffrey hicks on Vimeo.