TheWatShot

Michael Penix is Cincinnati's MVP of the first half.

Bench Penix.

You've got to be sh*tting me with that penalty. I left the room thinking we were getting the ball back, came back a couple minutes later and our D is still on the field. What bulls*t.

Just get points this time. Something, anything, just don't come away with nothing again.

Might be time to think about benching Penix. 2 red zone trips with 0 points.

Penix just doesn't look like he should be out there. Took the snap and immediately got stood up. Just doesn't have the physical strength he had a year ago.

Ugh, huge wasted opportunity there. Huge.

I believe he visited Wisconsin a few weeks ago. I saw a picture on Twitter of him in a Wisconsin uniform and instantly knew that's where he'd be going. He just looks like a guy who will play basketball at Wisconsin for 5 or 6 years, set a bunch of moving screens and knock down 5-6 threes in a game just for fun.

Hard to see the Reds making the playoffs at this rate. They just don't seem to have the hunger you'd expect from a team that has a playoff bid in its grasp. A playoff-caliber team would be making quick work of a team like the Pirates this time of year. Can't believe how badly the Padres have collapsed. I distinctly remember talk of the NL West possibly producing three 100-win teams. They might finish with a losing record. AL East might be the toughest, most competitive division I've ever seen.

8th grade science.

Ok, I wasn't going to comment any further, but this post made me feel it was necessary. The teacher is NOT gay. She's straight and has two children. She's not "promoting a sexual lifestyle". She had the flag in her classroom to show that she is accepting of others, regardless of how they identify, and those students will always be welcome there, no matter what anyone else tells them. She was one of my favorite teachers growing up, and I don't remember ever hearing anyone complain about her. She always encouraged discussion and debate in her lessons, and always reminded everyone it was ok to disagree, as long as you could support your stance. The flag came to the school board's attention when a student's parents complained about it. The student was actually defending the flag because a few other students thought it was stupid. This student was then teased for supporting it, shared that with mom and dad, and here we are. Mom and dad said the flag was the reason their child was bullied, not the kids actually doing the bullying. Bluffton has always been a homophobic community with a bullying problem that's only getting worse. And it's probably going to get worse before it gets better, because this teacher has now decided to call it a career. So that's why I'm shaking my head at the world. It's 2021 and a rainbow-colored piece of fabric is the scapegoat for a bullying problem. Rather than confront the issue of bullying and what needs to be done about it, the school board is predictably doing what it's more comfortable doing and blaming a flag, rather than doing what's right and seriously trying to figure out what the hell is wrong with some of these kids and how they got to be this way.

They don't allow religious or political displays in the classroom. They do allow prayer during classes, and they also allow youth pastors to visit during lunch time and encourage students to attend their church programs.

Not to mention, if it got hot enough for the glaciers to completely melt, Mexico and California would hardly be the only places needing drought relief.

A middle school teacher in my hometown was forced to take down a gay pride flag in her classroom because the school board deemed it "controversial."

They needed an impact player when they had the #6 pick a few years ago. An offensive lineman isn't an impact player, no matter how much the Colts try to talk up Nelson. I'm sure they would have tried to make a bigger splash with that pick if they knew Luck was going to pull the rug out from under them about 16 months later. The Colts' roster is basically a collection of high floor, low-ceiling players. Good enough to possibly win the division if everyone else pulls up lame, not good enough to play deep into January against more talented teams with better skill players.

Probably has more to do with the Colts usually being terrible in season openers. Defense looking sloppy and confused as they often have for years now in Week 1.

The sky is always the first thing I notice when I see the pictures. I think it resonates with me because the sky was every bit as blue here in Indiana. I remember looking out the window during school that day, completely unaware of what was going on, and thinking that I couldn't wait to go outside and play that afternoon (I was 12 at the time). It's almost like the sky was trying to say it was too good to be true.

I like how when they were talking about how the other Big Ten teams looked today, they mentioned nearly all of the games, stopped to think, mentioned another, paused again, and never mentioned Purdue.

This ref really doesn't like players who take their helmets off. I should find out where he lives and go walk on his lawn.

The broadcasters are once again talking about how this game would be closer if not for our special teams plays. I hate it when people undermine that part of the game. Special teams are very important.

Well it shouldn't be. Punish the player by making him sit for a play or a few. A penalty results in yards lost because it gave the offending team an unfair advantage. I'm not sure how a dude running with his helmet off contributed to that run.

That was a cute rule the official just made up to wipe out yet another great special teams return.

I'm not sure there's a bigger buzzkill in football than a big special teams return getting wiped out by a holding call.

One of the more under appreciated pleasures of my sports fanhood is seeing OSU fans try to cope with the existential crisis of losing a football game, especially early in the season. I hope some of them are late for work Monday morning because they had to wait for a line of ducks to cross the road in front of them.

Oregon is going to blow this.