College Football Week 2 Puts Mid-Majors in Spotlight

A little tardy, but here are the college football games I will be following today. I welcome your comments.

UMass v. Boston College

Maine at Toledo

Arkansas State at Auburn

ISU at Northwestern

Virginia at Oregon
 
Idaho State at Colorado

South Carolina at Miss. State

Old Dominion at App State

Wyoming at Nebraska

Indiana at Minn

NIU at USF

Texas Tech at Arizona State

North Carolina State at East Carolina

Arkansas at TCU

Virginia Tech at Tenn

Penn State at Pitt

A few thoughts about Week 1 in college football

The first weekend of the 2016 college football season offered several intense contests and a lot of food for thought. I had time to watch several of the televised games. Here are a few of my observations.
 

• We learned again the preseason rankings are predictions, and we know predictions are frequently wrong. Unranked Wisconsin defeated No. 5 LSU, 16-10, No. 3 Oklahoma fell to No. 15 Houston, 33-23, unranked Texas A&M defeated No. 16 UCLA, 31-24, unranked Texas beat No. 10 Notre Dame, 50-47, and at the time of this writing No. 11 Ole Miss was leading No. 4 Florida State 21-6

• The Texas-Notre Dame game is my pick for the best game of the weekend. The Longhorns topped Notre Dame double overtime. Texas needed to make a statement with the game, and accomplished the task. While Notre Dame fans no doubt were disappointed with the outcome, there is much to be cheerful about, including the fact the Irish scored in each quarter and found a away to keep themselves in the game. Notre Dame will host Nevada Sept. 10, and Texas will host UTEP.

• Toledo proved again it is a football program to be reckoned with. The Rockets traveled to Arkansas State and went home with a 31-10 victory. Toledo shows up prepared to play football; it’s a simple as that. The Rockets will host Maine Sept. 10. The Black Bears (0-1) lost to UConn 24-21, but gave the Huskies a serious challenge. Arkansas State travels to Auburn to play the Tigers Sept. 10.

• Appalachian State is another mid-major football program you don’t want to take for granted. The Mountaineers fell to No. 9 Tennessee, 20-13, but gave the Vols a fight and even led the game at halftime, 13-3.  The Mountaineers will host Old Dominion Sept. 10.

• Western Michigan defeated Northwestern, 22-21, and Broncos coach PJ Fleck demonstrated again he can bring out the best in his players, making Western Michigan a force to be reckoned in the Mid-American Conference. Western Michigan will host North Carolina Central Sept. 10.
  

Check back later this week for the games I will be following in Week 2 of the college football season.

A map that inspires admiration and memories

One of the most rewarding aspects about working at Batavia High School is the opportunity to learn what the graduating seniors plan to do with the next chapter of their lives.

In the days leading up to the seniors final day at the high school, staffers tape a large map of the United States to the wall outside the gym. The simple map is decorated with the logos of every university and college the seniors plan to attend in the upcoming fall semester. Something like 98 percent of Batavia’s graduating seniors go on to attend college, according to public records, so a surprisingly large number of school logos appear on the map.

 I was fascinated with the map and impressed by the wide array of schools that appeared on it. The list of schools included large state schools and small, private colleges. The schools are located near and the far. Some are in the east, many are in the south, and a few are located in the west.

A large block of Batavia’s graduating seniors will attend in-state schools, and a slightly smaller contingent will attend schools in neighboring states. A few students will travel overseas to pursue their formal educations.

I found the map exciting and inspirational. Sheets of paper taped near the map listed the names of students and the schools they will attend in August. I felt a sense of pride in seeing so many Batavia students associated with some of the most prestigious schools in the country. 

I noted a sense of admiration for the students and the new adventures they will begin in a short time. I graduated high school in 1979, a proud Cardinal from Arlington High School in Arlington Heights. I attended community college before transferring to NIU, where I subsequently earned a BA.

I enjoyed my college career. I established friendships with young men and women who, like me, are now much older than they were then. Time has thinned are ranks a bit, but most are here and remain good and decent individuals.

As I studied the map on the school wall I reflected on those friendships and the days so many years ago, when I arrived on campus as a raggedly and uneasy freshman. The path ahead seemed so bright and full of promise.

I envied the recent graduates for their youth and the experiences they have yet to create. I admired their accomplishments and all that awaits them in the days ahead.

And suddenly I felt at peace with the natural passing of time. I enjoyed the wave of nostalgia that washed over me as I examined the map and thought about my college days. A lot of fine memories jumped back to life, and it was a pleasant moment. But it was also nice to put those memories aside and focus on the days still ahead of me.

I thought you would like to know that.

Honoring a simple tradition at the start of baseball season

Regular readers of this blog are familiar with my “tradition” of watching a selection from a short list of films to commemorate the start of baseball season, and I recently received a few queries about which film I selected to mark the start of the 2016 MLB season.

In years past, I announced my selection a week or two before the start of the season, but I didn't this year. I got caught up in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament and put off selecting a film until just before the first pitch was thrown. Opening Day came and went without an announcement, and the emails followed. One writer asked if I had given up the tradition. Another asked if I had simply grown lazy. Neither, I was just distracted.

I selected "Field of Dreams”, the classic tale from 1989 about an Iowa farmer who plows under a large section of his corn field and replaces it with a baseball field, after a voice in the wind whispers to him, "If you build it, he will come."

I have a theory that most good movies about baseball tell us stories about life and only use baseball as a background for the larger tale. “Field of Dreams” proves my point, I think. 

My theory applies to most good movies about sports, whether its basketball (“Hoosiers”), football (“Remember the Titans”), or even hockey (“Slap Shot”. Yes, laughter should be a big part of every life). 

However, films about baseball seem to excel at emphasizing fundamental life values.

My tradition dates to November 1988, when my dad and I watched “Hoosiers” one Saturday morning while we waited for a college basketball game to air on TV later that afternoon. Dad played basketball in high school and college and was a devoted fan of the game throughout life. He followed the NBA until mid-1980s, when he concluded the league had given up on playing skilled defense.

He particularly enjoyed college basketball, so we developed the habit of starting each season with a screening of “Hoosiers”. I think it became his favorite sports movie, and I know he enjoyed listening to composer James Horner’s musical soundtrack for the film nearly as much as he enjoyed viewing the movie. He kept a copy of the soundtrack in his collections of CDs.

I expanded my viewing tradition to include baseball movies and later ones about football. I have a collection of reliable favorites, but friends frequently offer suggestions, and some tell me they have adopted similar viewing traditions of their own.

It seems the films I turn to most frequently are the ones with powerful soundtracks — “Hoosiers”, “The Natural,” “Moneyball”, and “Field of Dreams”.

I think a strong soundtrack, like a strong supporting cast, can make a good movie a great film. Again, “Field of Dreams” proves my point.

Horner also composed the score for “Field of Dreams” and his music is a perfect match to the film’s screenplay. Parts are sentimental and syrupy, others are haunting, and others uplifting.

Perhaps it’s the sentimental charm that attracts me to the “Field of Dreams” soundtrack, much in the same way Dad connected with the music for “Hoosiers”. 
 
Dad passed away in February of 1995, but I continue to watch “Hoosiers” at the outset of each basketball season, and a few days ago commemorated the start of baseball season with “Field of Dreams”. Afterward, I remembered how much I enjoyed those afternoons when Dad and I would sit down for our annual viewing of a movie we’d seen so many times we could almost recite the lines from each scene. 

And I reflected on the much older memories I hold of having “a catch” with him with in our backyard in Arlington Heights. I suppose that is why I believe really good baseball movies are more than just stories about baseball. They reflect experiences common to Americans, and they remind us of the individuals who touched and shaped our lives. That’s why I continue my viewing tradition.

I thought you’d like to know that.

— Kevin Botterman can be reached at kbotterman@gmail.com

Patty, thanks for the memories

Actress Patty Duke died March 29 at age 69, and her passing offered me a reminder about the way TV influences our culture and contributes to our memories.

Duke appeared in many TV shows and movies during a professional acting career that began in 1954 and spanned more than 60 years. Duke is probably best known as the star of "The Patty Duke Show", a popular TV show originally produced from 1963 to 1966, and for her Oscar-winning performance as Helen Keller in 1962’s “The Miracle Worker”.

I still think her performance as the booze and pill abusing Neely O’Hara in 1967’s “Valley of the Dolls” is a gem and makes an otherwise weak movie worth watching more than once.

I remain a big fan of “The Patty Duke Show”, which still airs in reruns on a few cable-TV channels. The show featured Duke in a dual-role, portraying a pair of cousins from diverse backgrounds and attending high school in comfortable Brooklyn Heights in the 1960s. It was a situation comedy produced during a time when TV programming was called “wholesome.” Most considered it reliable entertainment, a program that depicted an America that is long gone, if it ever really exited.

I have two distinct memories involving Patty Duke’s work. Both are from my days growing up in the 1960s, and they involve my sisters, Mary Jo and Katie. I think they offer some insight about my enduring appreciation for Duke’s work.

The memory involving Mary Jo (Jo to her siblings and close friends) is one of my oldest involving a TV show. I remember watching Jo standing a few feet from the family TV set, completely engaged in an episode of the “The Patty Duke Show”. I was only slightly familiar with the show, but even at that young age, I could how absorbed my sister was with it, how thoroughly it commanded her attention. I can recall telling myself the show must be pretty special if it could be so special to my sister. 

My second memory involves my sister Katie and the movie “Billie”, a low-budget, 1965 production aimed at a teen audience and designed to capitalize on the popularity of Duke’s TV show. Duke played the title character, a high school student who tries out for the boys’ track team and excels because she paces her running to a musical tune she hears in her head. (Don’t spend too much time trying to make sense of the plot, the screenwriters certainly didn’t, and it’s just not that important.)

Most viewers consider “Billie” a largely forgettable production, but it remains memorable to me, because Katie enjoyed it as a child and always invited me to watch it with her whenever it aired on TV. Years later, Katie became a competitive sprinter on her high school track team, and I frequently attended her track meets. The movie “Billie” always came to mind whenever I saw Katie run in an event, and I always wondered what tune was playing in her head as she sprinted along the track.

These memories are uncomplicated, I admit, but I cherish them because they involve my sisters and the simple entertainment Patty Duke provided us on TV so many years ago.

I reflected on those memories when I learned of Duke’s passing yesterday, and then I offered a silent prayer, thanking Duke for sharing her talent with me and my sisters, and for creating some special memories for me.

I thought you’d like to know that.

Learning to see ourselves as others do

Every now and then we are reminded the world doesn’t always see us as we see ourselves. 

It is a hard lesson for me to grasp. My most recent encounter with it came the other day, when I was assisting at an indoor track meet at the high school where I work. I was standing near a barrier used to keep visitors off the track during races and yelled a word of encouragement to one of the runners as she ran passed me. 

A man standing nearby asked, “Is that your granddaughter?” 

“What?” I said after a long silence, stunned that anyone would think I was old enough to be a grandfather. After all, grandfathers are old people.

Noticing my shock, the man modified his question. “I mean, you know, is that your daughter?”

No, I said, just a student I work with here.

I walked away thinking the man was a fool, but also started a quick inventory of the possible clues that led him to ask his question.

I am 54, partly bald, with plenty of gray in the hair that remains on my head. And yes, my midsection is ample and my footwear is selected for comfort, rather than fashion, but all of these elements do not a grandfather make, I reasoned.

The guy’s question remained with me throughout the day. When at home later, I examined my image in the mirror and identified other factors contributing to a grandfatherly image — the thick lenses in my eyeglasses, the double chin, the sweatshirt and khaki pants (sensible for early March weather, but far from fashionable).  All the features combined helped me to see how the man at the track meet reached his conclusion.

So I started crafting a sturdy rationalization.

Once upon a time a little extra weight indicated wealth and comfortable living, I told myself. Why, there are far worse things than being a grandfather, I acknowledged. After all, I am the father of a 20-year-old daughter, and I do hope to be a grandfather one day, many years from now. 

Rationalizations typically work for me, but this time they came up short.

It was then I remembered the people around me, friends and strangers alike, don’t always see me as I see myself. I think that’s a lesson some of us learn more than once before it really takes root in our minds. Some learn it from a stranger at the grocery store. Others learn it while talking with friends at a party. I learned it (again) at a track meet, and I think now I finally see the value in the lesson.

I just wasn’t ready for a stranger to see me so clearly.

— Send email to kbotterman@gmail.com