Maedhros

Checking in from Gainbridge. Go Hoosiers.

Ugh, apparently the Pacers have their own Ticketmaster, completely separate from main Ticketmaster or from IU Ticketmaster (which I've had to use for IU Auditorium shows). Why all your tickets don't all show up under the same Ticketmaster app is beyond me.

Anyone receive their tickets from IU yet? I received an email from IU Ticket Office saying my tickets have been added to my Ticketmaster/Indiana Pacers account associated with my email address. So I logged in to Ticketmaster and don't see tickets there. I logged into my IU Athletics account and nothing there yet either.

I got a car wash today, and discovered that I have some permanent damage from bird poop. Two spots on the hood. Anyone know how I can treat that?

Which Wich was great when it first showed up here on the north side of Indy. I love a good sandwich place, but what set Which Wich apart for me was the ability to fully customize. I could add mushrooms or buffalo sauce to anything, even a breakfast sandwich. Then they got rid of the breakfast sandwich. Then they got rid of the ability to customize. I went a few times and the Ultimate BLT was really good, but there was no one in the place. Now two of the three Indy locations have closed. It's sad because Which Wich used to have a thing, then they got away from the thing, and it hasn't worked out.

Absolutely no reason to pick Indiana as the team that won't live up to its ranking when Creighton is sitting up there in the top ten.

Exactly right. It feels silly at times to invest so much emotion in the outcome of a sports game. But it's in the moment, and the shared experience of watching, that makes sports so wonderful. I don't imagine Phillies fans will ever forget that Bryce Harper home run, and now that they've won and advanced to the World Series they have the opportunity to create even more memories just like that one. I'm pulling for you, BGleas.

Third different NL East team to make the World Series in the past three full seasons (lolMets). All three played the Astros, too. I'll be pulling for the Phillies. If you're going to be knocked out early at least I can say it was to the eventual champs. And I get to root for Schwarber, back in the World Series again.

I'm not sure I get it either. They were 50th in KenPom last season, with a top 20 defense and an offense ranked outside the top 100. They were never once ranked in the AP Top 25. Not a very different profile from us. But unlike us they lose two starters off a team that only played six or seven, two key pieces who used 87% and 81% of available minutes. Three of the other six guys are rising sophomores, Top 75 recruits who could make a leap this season. They also grabbed a top transfer Baylor Sheierman, though he'll be playing up from South Dakota St in the Summit League. I'm skeptical that's enough to get from top 50 to top 10. My guess is Creighton is getting overvalued because of how they closed the season (again, arguably not very different from us). In the Big East tournament they whipped a ranked Providence team, then gave Villanova a close game. They also played Kansas close in the second round of last year's Tournament. That was all without their point guard Ryan Nembhard, who is returning from a broken wrist. So just a ton of projection baked into that top ten ranking.

That's surprising there's nothing on the secondary markets yet. Since you haven't been, I will say Gainbridge is an excellent venue, and there isn't a bad seat in the house. I found this pick someone posted from Section 224, row 8, and there are still two tickets available in row 4 for $54 each directly from Ticketmaster:

Staying in the Big Ten, which is a weird thing every time I remember it.

Those first two lines are why I have Indiana at 3-4, rather than first. It's great for our floor that we return a lot. We have fewer open questions than most teams, and that's why we're being picked first by a majority of voters. But having an answer and liking that answer are two different things. Sometimes bringing back a lot of guys just means you have the same problems as last season. Some of that will get solved by being in the second year of Woodson's system, yes, but we'll need someone who didn't contribute last season to step up, just like a lot of teams in the Big Ten. Given that, I'd almost rather be an Illinois or a Michigan heading into the season. Lots of new pieces, but lots of opportunities for someone to break out. Like Brendan's reason for picking Skyy Clark as freshman of the year, we know he's going to have the ball in his hands. Jalen Hood-Schifino might be the better player, but at best he'll be playing alongside arguably the best point guard in the Big Ten. We have a lot of veterans on this team, especially in the starting lineup, and that's going to make it harder for a Bates or JHS to break out. Guys need minutes to develop, and I don't know that we're going to roll the dice with them enough for that to happen. The variance of the other rosters in the Big Ten means I don't know who will eventually win the conference. But the limited variance on our own roster is why I don't think it will be us. Hoping for a Bates or a JHS to prove me wrong.

Dylan Burkhardt of UMHoops voted, and explains his ballot here: https://umhoops.com/2022/10/10/michigan-picked-third-in-official-unofficial-big-ten-poll-and-a-breakdown-of-my-ballot/ He picks Indiana fourth: "Indiana hasn’t had a winning record in the conference since Tom Crean was in charge. Last year’s group had an even efficiency margin in league play, only making the NCAA Tournament because of a Michigan collapse, and finished 48th in KenPom. If that Michigan game doesn’t go sideways and the Hoosiers lose 8 of their last 10 games of the regular season are they still pegged as league favorites? It’s fair to expect this group to take another step. That means that this should be an NCAA Tournament team that competes in the top third of the league, but pegging the Hoosiers as Big Ten favorites is too far for me to go right now. IU’s defense was terrific in Mike Woodson’s first year, and the foundation returns. A talented incoming class adds some upside, but I haven’t seen enough from Woodson’s offensive scheme or the starting frontcourt combination of Trayce Jackson-Davis and Race Thompson to expect a title-caliber offense from this group."

The Unofficial Big Ten Media Poll has been released by Brendan Quinn: https://theathletic.com/3664020/2022/10/10/big-ten-basketball-indiana-illinois/ (first-place votes in parenthesis) Indiana, 43 (19) Illinois, 81 (6) Michigan, 92 (1) Michigan State, 139 Purdue, 141 (1) Ohio State, 167 Iowa, 185 (1) Rutgers, 218 Wisconsin, 229 Maryland, 267 Penn State, 304 Minnesota, 334 Northwestern, 362 Nebraska, 378 Hunter Dickinson is preseason Player of the Year, by one vote over Trayce Jackson-Davis. Jalen Hood-Schifino is the Freshman of the Year, garnering a majority of the vote. Trayce is First Team All-Big Ten. Xavier is Second Team. Brendan himself had Indiana third: "Yes, IU is widely considered the league favorite. It’s also essentially the same team that finished 48th in KenPom’s efficiency ratings last year. It’s the same team that needed an epic collapse from Michigan to reach the NCAA Tournament. It’s the same team that shot under 32 percent on 3s. There’s talent, though, led by Jackson-Davis, and the league’s best returning defense."

As a fan of one of this year's elite teams, the sooner we can be free of Cardinals Devil Magic, the better I'll feel. 😬

Oh definitely not. The reason should be obvious. A team could sign a roster of guys off HSN for next season, and we'd have no problem losing 100+ games. Much tougher to build a team that could win 100+. Overall there have been 116 instances of 100+ win seasons. There have been 160 seasons of losing 100+ games, so it's about 38% more common. But it's the Yankees, the most storied franchise in the sport, than even gets it that close. The Yankees have 21 seasons of 100+ wins, to just two of 100+ losses. Only the As and Dodgers even have ten such winning seasons. Excluding the Yankees, 100+ losing seasons are about 66% more common. The Reds have four 100+ win seasons. Three of those four they won the World Series. Despite their recent struggles, the Reds do actually have a better history than most franchises. Teams like the Blue Jays, Rangers, National, Marlins, Brewers and Padres have never won 100 games. The White Sox, Rays, Royals, and Diamondbacks have only done it once each. Meanwhile, franchises that have been around forever like the Pirates, Phillies, Braves, Athletics and Orioles have all lost 100+ games ten or more times.

Cincinnati announced the hire of Drew Adams as Associate AD. Guessing this puts them firmly in the driver's see for Bidunga, if they weren't already. I'll be interested to see our level of involvement going forward.

Thanks for the tip about it being mostly a to go eatery. Indiana City has a taproom right down the block so now I'm thinking I'll take my pizza there and wash it down with some Wicked Reaper.

Detroit style is my favorite. I love the combination of fluffy pan crust with that crunchy frico along the edges. Jet's introduced me to the concept, when I used to live in an apartment complex behind one of their stores, and it's still my favorite chain to order. I'll get an 8 Corner whenever I want to treat myself with greasy, cheesy goodness. Noble Roman's Craft Pizza & Pub does something similar they call a Sicilian, which is apparently what this style was called early on when some thought "Detroit" had too many negative connotations. It's not as big as Jet's, but they put the sauce on the top, which I like. I think brings out the flavor more than when it's buried under a layer of cheese. I recently made the trip up to Fairmount IN to visit Bad Dad Brewing. I'd heard great things about their pizza, and saw they had Detroit-style on the menu. We made the mistake of visiting during their annual James Dean festival, though, and maybe the ensuing rush is why they didn't have any available? We waited about 40 minutes for the Neapolitan pizza we did order, but it was worth it; quality ingredients on a crispy doughy crust, and we got to enjoy some good beer during our wait. There's a Detroit-style place in downtown Indy I want to try called Futuro. Not as far to drive as Bad Dad, but still more than I would normally drive for pizza. So I'm waiting for an opportunity. If anyone has been, let me know how it was. Futuro is next on my list.

The maximum number is just three. Only the World Series and the LCS go seven games. The Wild Card round is just a best of three, which is why you absolutely want to avoid it. There's far too much variance in any one baseball game to let things be decided by just two wins.

When I was ten or so, my best friend was a kid a little older than me who had moved to Indy from Atlanta. I knew so little about baseball myself that I remember asking him why he was always wearing a California Angels hat. So I adopted his fandom. It was a great choice, because this was right at the start of that 90s run. I don't quite remember '92 and Sid Bream, but I was following closely by '93, when they traded for Fred McGriff and went on that great run to catch Bonds and the Giants. Greg Maddux is my favorite player of all time. I was a smart kid who around this time had just learned he would have to wear glasses. Back then every kid with glasses in the movies was nerdy and got bullied. I can remember crying in the theater during the movie Beethoven, of all things, because I'd just had enough. So it was awesome to watch a pitcher on my favorite team who wore black wire-framed glasses, was nicknamed The Professor, and got people out through smarts and accuracy instead of overpowering stuff. I mean look at this guy! That's who I wanted to be.

It's still technically the regular season, but playoff baseball arrive over the weekend. That Braves-Mets series was an absolute blast. There's nothing like high stakes baseball, when the entire game can change with every pitch. It's been a year since I felt that feeling, and it was so great to have it back. Getting the sweep felt pretty good, too. 😁

Committed to Illinois, so he's staying in the Big Ten.

Thanks! Bought some tickets for second row of the balcony, center court. Trash opponent, but it's my best chance to see the team.

I once knew a Class of 2024 recruiting prospect named Liam McNeeley. I wonder whatever happened to that kid, I should look him up sometime.