Just so you know, I can’t stay quiet about IU Football any longer.  I made it through five weeks, sifting patiently with optimism as the first three wins came in.  I was concerned with the closeness of their first two victories against Eastern Kentucky and Western Michigan at home, but talked myself into the fact that wins are wins.  They followed those up with a convincing road win against Akron and my wins are wins mantra became clearer.  This seemed to be a team with great leaders, young talent, and was really building momentum in Bloomington.  Wins have a way of making the previous attributes stand out; even if it does inflate them a little bit. 

Up next was a road game at Michigan.  With a 3-0 start my expectations probably couldn’t be any lower heading into their ballgame at the Big House.  Sure, I was happy with that start, but I learned a hard lesson in the Fall of 2000 when it comes to IU-Michigan.  That year, IU headed to the Big House 2-3, coming off a loss to Northwestern.  With Antwaan Randle-El and Levron Williams, though, you felt confident as a fan that they could play with anybody (If anything as an offensive unit).  I had plotted out 3 and a half hours to do nothing but sit in my dorm room and drink cokes, eat popcorn, and watch the Hoosiers battle Michigan.  Before the popcorn was even done in the microwave, the Hoosiers were down 35-0.  They ended up losing 58-0, but I had flipped it to that month’s 8th showing of “Happy Gilmore” on the dorm movie channel well before that. 

I didn’t just write that last paragraph to re-live my Forest dormitory days (although I did space out with good thoughts for about 15 minutes).  I wrote it to say that I never get my hopes up when IU plays either Michigan, Ohio State, or Penn State on the road.  By getting my hopes up, I mean I don’t expect them to play within three touchdowns.  Does that make me a bad fan?  Probably.  Is that line of thinking the reason Indiana football has never been better than mediocre since I’ve followed them?  Most likely.

As the Michigan game moved along, IU was not only playing with Michigan, they were beating them.  They had more energy than the Wolverines and for most of the game looked like the better team.  The fact that they couldn’t punch it in the endzone from the redzone on four occasions may dispel that they were better, but they gave me hope.  In year’s past, I may have been pleased with this performance.  Don’t get me wrong, I was happy to be able to watch the entire four quarters with the legit chance to win the ballgame.  I just wasn’t pleased.  The loss ate at me, as I felt it could have been a program changing type of win.

As the scheduling fell, Ohio State came to Bloomington a week later for the unveiling of the renovated Memorial Stadium.  I kept my expectations for the game at bay and planned on watching the game for what it was.  It ended up being a beatdown, but we had a very competitive elimination game of Flippy Cup going on in the garage to help take my mind off of it.  Shout out to LR for dominating that action by the way.

As they prepped for Virginia this past Saturday, it seemed like a game that they just needed to win.  At 3-2, a win against an ACC team on the road could instill confidence in a team as the season moves along back into Big Ten play.  It would have put them 2 wins away from being bowl eligible with a very friendly bowl eligible schedule ahead of them.  If you saw my pre-season Big Ten predictions, I penciled in the Hoosiers for 4 wins; at Virginia was not one of them. 

Once the season got underway, Virginia looked beatable, even if I were Indiana State and I had them on the schedule.  They bounced back a week before by beating North Carolina, which made it seem like they were turning things around mid-season.  Some teams do that.  However, if the Hoosiers were any good at all, it was a game they should win. 

In hindsight, we were fortunate that the game was on ESPN360.  The only time I tried to watch a game on there, it was like I was loading an internet page in 1998 with dial-up.  I wasn’t as disappointed with the loss, as I was truly disappointed with the way it sounded like IU competed (or better yet, didn’t compete).  As the Pitt-UConn game was on the tube, I resorted to watching the bottom line for score updates.  Virginia’s score went up by a touchdown everytime it went across the screen.  It was like standing behind someone who’s getting hot at the slot machine (minus the annoying sounds and person’s oxygen tank).  By the time I left for a birthday party, it was 30-0 Virginia. 

By the time I wiped out an amazing dinner, IU had lost 47-7.  I couldn’t help but think to myself, “Same old story”.  They go out of conference to play another BCS conference school (If you wanna call the ACC that) and absolutely get it handed to them.  Again, it’s not just the loss.  It’s the lack of execution and competitiveness that drive me crazy. 

This IU team certainly improved from week to week, starting with Eastern Kentucky and ending with Michigan.  Since that Michigan loss, they haven’t looked the same (although Ohio State has a way of doing that to teams).  Just like fans, it looks on the outside as if the players were satisfied with the Michigan loss and thought they had made it to the bigtime (Bigtime for IU is top 7 in the Big Ten).  Much like me, they acted mad, but deep down inside were content with the way they performed. 

Now, at 3-3, you really find out what these guys are made of.  They’ve got a winnable game against an Illinois team that looks like its quit on its coach by putting the appropriate two week’s notice in (It’s actually more like a 5 week notice if you start at the Missouri game).  It’s also an Illinois team that has a lot more talent than IU.  I witnessed it last season when Womack and I traveled to Champaign to watch first-hand as the Illini pounded the Hoosiers 55-13.  The talent difference was clear in that one, and that was a 5-7 Illinois team! 

The players have got to get this thing turned around.  I read this Matt Mayberry quote in the Chicago Tribune and didn’t like the first part:

“The intensity level has been declining for whatever reason.  We’ve got to come out to practice and the energy, I think you can feel it picking up.  We (the players) are the ones who have to go out there and get the intensity back at practice that we had the first three weeks.”

If you’re an IU player, you have to reign this thing in.  Like I wrote above, complacency really seemed to creep in after the Michigan loss.  The Virginia game was a big test for me as a fan and the Hoosiers failed miserably.  Fortunately for them, the teacher has authorized a test retake for this Saturday.  I can’t handle uttering “same old story” to myself next Saturday night, so I’ve gotta have the Hoosiers prove me wrong.  This week is the ultimate gut-check test (right above a trip with me to La Hacienda).  Players have to make plays and come out with a passing grade.

Otherwise, it’s on to basketball season for the majority of the fanbase as Hoosier Hysteria is this Friday night. 

Ah, who am I kidding?  Most of the fanbase is already on to basketball.

I wrote about shows that I’m watching in last week’s blog.  As earth shattering as I’m sure that was, I realized last night that I’m giving way too much time to non-sports programming.  There were two sports-related programs/games that I planned on watching last night:  The Twins-Tigers game and the new ESPN documentary series “30 for 30″.  Being that I have DVR, I figured that I could watch the Twins-Tigers live and record the documentary “The King’s Ransom” on the Wayne Gretzky trade from Edmonton to L.A.

In an ideal world, all baseball games would start at 5pm like the game did yesterday.  One of the great things about the fall is these play-in games and division series that start early in the afternoon.  I get home from work, settle in, and then basically put the game on in the background until it gets down to crunchtime (7th inning on).  As a background feature, it beats the heck out of the yuletide log feature that I rolled with last year. 

Last night was a little bit different as the game was being played in the Metrodome.  For me, it’s like watching a basketball game at the Meadowlands or a tennis match with no lights at midnight.  You might as well just set your contrast and brightness of the screen at -84.  In true playoff fashion, it was 0-0 when I turned it off in the 3rd inning.

I resumed play in the 7th and witnessed Orlando Cabrera’s 2-run home run to put the Twins ahead 4-3.  Joe Mauer followed up the jack with a single, and I confidently turned the channel, ate some dinner, and finally settled in to “The Biggest Loser” at 8pm.  I was sure that the Twins would pull it out.  If I were to look at it glass half full, I was right; the Twins did win.

As I was watching obese people have their kitchen locked up and be forced to order dinner out, I missed one of the truly great baseball games of the season.  While the group was ordering plain salads at a Mexican restaurant and skipping the chips & salsa (Oh the nerve of those people!), the Twins and Tigers were matching every great play with a dumb play and going 12 innings. 

The game should have been over by about 8:15, so I didn’t even bother to flip back to TBS during the commercials.  The Biggest Loser is that good.  In all of this, I also forgot to record the Wayne Gretzky documentary, which put a huge damper on my late-night TV schedule. 

For some reason, I couldn’t get fully invested in a Twins-Tigers matchup, but had no problem watching a Tracey-Shay matchup.  When I heard how good the ballgame was, I was disappointed in my actions.  After I thought about it, I explained it to myself as being well-rounded by expanding my television horizons.

Whatever it takes to make me feel like less of a loser.  My actions last night would have me voted off in a heartbeat.  But like a fat guy encountering a cupcake, I’d do it every time!