Ten thoughts for the price of one:
1. We are currently in charge of our Indianapolis granddaughters’ guinea pig, Harry, during what could be an extended stay. It seems the other pets in their house were threatening to wreak havoc on poor Harry, forcing him to seek shelter in his little green plastic house on a 24-7 basis.
I will have to say that Harry eats healthier than I do. He gorges himself on cucumbers, tomatoes and carrots with a strawberry for a treat here and there. Unfortunately, the little protein granules he also chomps on look pretty much the same going in as they do coming out.
He’s seems to be warming up to me. But I haven’t pulled out the toenail clippers yet. My wife and I are going to have to flip a coin to see who has to do the cutting of his overly long nails and who tries to hold him.
It could get a little hairy with Harry.
2. I’m happy and excited for Notre Dame’s new head football coach, Marcus Freeman. The players love him and he seemed to do a great job as what’s-his-name’s defensive coordinator this year.
I wish him great success. I’m also relieved he doesn’t have to take his Irish into a college football playoff game against a team like Alabama. I’m also a little uncomfortable that he has to start next fall against his alma mater, Ohio State.
OK, I have to do a little bit of devil’s advocate work here: Notre Dame is 0-4-1 when hiring an individual who had no earlier head coaching experience in the college ranks. (I’ll call the hiring of Terry Brennan — only 25 when he took the job in 1954 — a tie.)
Ara Parseghian once said that he had 13 years of head coaching experience (including an 0-9 season at Northwestern with Bo Schembechler and Alex Agase on his staff) before coming to Notre Dame and that he needed every one of those 13 seasons to be prepared for the Irish job.
3. And only I would point out that Freeman’s first “rodeo” is against the (Oklahoma State) Cowboys.
4. As I’ve mentioned before, I do some part-time work at Roseland Garden Center during the spring and early summer. Sometimes, I sell mums in the fall. And Saturday, the owner — who I knew during our I.U. days — called me in to help with the Christmas trees.
Seriously, can there be a better one-day gig than selling Christmas trees to families on a beautiful, sunny day? Everybody seems happy and hopeful.
It was great, just as long as I wasn’t the guy responsible for tying a 10-foot tree on top of a car. I don’t want that responsibility. Yeah, the owner “needles’ me a little about that.
5. Congratulations to Mike Hoffman, the longtime meteorologist at WNDU-TV, on his retirement. He was a regular in our living room while we ate supper and watched the news.
Mike did a great job keeping us informed about the weather — although he liked snow a little more than I preferred. He also was a beloved by many in our area for his outgoing and down-to-earth personality and he was obviously a favorite at WNDU with the accolades they piled on him during his final shows.
Enjoy retirement, Mike. May all the white stuff be in your yard.
6. Is this anything like your household? Usually once a day, I have to call my wife’s cell phone so she can locate it — that is, if I can find mine.
7. Did anyone else think that the sheriff in the Dr. Pepper’s recent “Fansville” commercials was Kurt Russell? Nope, not him. He’s actually Brian Bosworth, the former Oklahoma all-American linebacker, questionable fashion plate and an always, shall we say, “interesting” sports figure during his playing days. “The Boz.” He still looks good in uniform.
And while I’m on commercials, those four pretty women in the Walter E. Smithe furniture ads really are sisters and part of the fourth generation in the business based. All four work in the family firm started by their great grandfather and are close enough in age to have all been in high school at the same time.
Yeah, I’ve had some free time on my hands.
And from the readers:
8. John Leavitt, a Notre Dame fan, nevertheless wanted to point out that Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh is foregoing his earned bonuses — in the millions — so that money can be used to make up the pay cuts other athletic department personnel suffered because of Covid.
John also said he and his wife Jane had once been on a flight out of Indianapolis when they saw Harbaugh, then the Colts’ quarterback, in first class. “We had no sooner left the ground when the seatbelt light went out and two little boys headed up to first class for autographs, followed shortly by a couple more. Harbaugh went all the way to the back of the plane and worked his way forward, signing autographs and posing for pictures with anyone that wanted either, or both.
“He finished just in time to sit in his first class seat for the landing! I just thought that was an incredibly classy move. Instead of griping to the stewardesses about being bothered, he took it upon himself to be really kind and accommodating.”
Makes both John and I want to say “Go Blue!” during the playoffs.
9. Judith Overmyer wonders if St. Vincent dePaul recently acquired a bunch of Notre Dame clothing dumped by an exiting family — including the kind of gear that would fit a shorter, stout person. A lot of “Kelly” green, if you get her drift.
10. Carter Wolf says he will continue referring to the Chicago Cubs as the cubs — lower case c — until they return to big-league status. Sounds reasonable.