With the NIT Final Four locations for the next two years now set, our job as NIT fans is clear:
Step 1: Try not to think about how the new logo looks like someone got caught in the act of making an NIT logo out of stained glass and ran away (we’ll come around on it—just takes some getting used to).
Step 2: Build the hype.
It’s easy to do this, and it works best if you do it in pairs. Go out, find people, and corner them into 2-on-1 conversations. Be cool for a while (this is vital—they need to think we’re cool). Once they’re comfortable? Hit ‘em with the business. Bring up, matter-of-factly, the fact you’ll each be going to Las Vegas in late March of 2023 and Indianapolis in early April of 2024. When they ask why, say, “Oh, the NIT Final Four’s there,” and when they laugh, react with confusion. Why wouldn’t somebody take a week off of work to attend the NIT Final Four in Las Vegas or Indianapolis? They’re the weird one here. Not the two of you. Their inner self-doubt will begin creeping, and the next thing you know? They’ve got a reservation at a Hampton Inn in Fishers. Just in case.
Unconvinced that this will work? Well, let’s see how history’s other greatest movement started:
“After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.’”
And who was the Lord, in this case? Jesus. If He could get millions to (rightly, imho) believe he was the son of God by sending 72 of his friends out to spread the word, surely we can fill up Orleans Arena and Hinkle Fieldhouse for a cumulative total of six basketball games these next two years (or eight basketball games—the third-place game situation remains TBA/TBD).
Still No Word on Joe Kelly’s Head
Joe Kelly didn’t pitch over the weekend after exiting Thursday’s outing with lightheadedness. Since then, I at least haven’t seen any news, but he isn’t on the IL. If there’s news, we haven’t gotten it. If there’s no news, we’re just waiting to see him come out throwing gas against…
The Houston Astros.
That’s right. It’s Kelly v. Astros this week. Three nights in Chicago. Is a moment on its way?
Texas Is Back…
…with the drama. After prize transfer pickup Agiye Hall was arrested late last week for fighting a parking boot (honestly, good for him), rumors started circulating that Isaiah Neyor and Junior Angilau each suffered severe knee injuries this weekend. Neyor, a transfer from Wyoming, was expected to start, and Angilau has mostly started for all three of his non-redshirt seasons in Austin, one of the few positive notes on Texas’s offensive line. His likeliest replacement, Cole Hutson, is one of those well-hyped offensive line freshman UT’s brought in, but he was only a four-star recruit, so starting as a true freshman feels a little bit like a stretch.
Preseason injuries are all over the place, so this isn’t dooming stuff, but…yeah, the vibes are bad. Texas’s vibes are bad right now, and we’re headed for a lot of hype should Quinn Ewers be named the starter soon, which is kind of like when you pump a lot of hot air into a mass of cold air, resulting in the cold air undercutting it, the warm air sliding on top, and the resulting warm front leading to a lot of precipitation, for better or worse. We’ll find out which, but I’m guessing it’s worse. That’s usually the safe bet around this program.
The Bears!
The Roquan Smith situation, since we last spoke about it, has gotten sillier. First, the Bears said they weren’t going to trade the guy, which is what you say but also invariably turns up the temperature on the reaction mill. Now, someone is evidently calling other teams, claiming to represent Roquan Smith, and asking about trade offers. I hope it’s just a fan. I hope the person doesn’t know Smith at all. I hope it’s some guy calling teams and saying, “Hey, what would you give for Roquan Smith?” And not even to stir up trouble. Just doing it because he wants to know. Big Trade Machine guy for NBA stuff.
Bubba Wallace Got Extended
Without much from NASCAR yesterday (Kyle Busch is mad at Ross Chastain now, too, but we’re at the point of diminishing returns on that since everyone else already was mad at him and we aren’t close enough to the playoffs yet for the payback to be imminent), the biggest story remains Friday’s announcement that Bubba Wallace has been extended at 23XI. Wallace wasn’t set to be a free agent until after 2023, and it would have been surprising had he not been extended (he won a race last year and he’s having a fine season this year despite a lot of team-driven foibles), but the announcement came pretty early, and as is the growing case, 23XI is a compelling team. Wallace and Tyler Reddick and possibly also Kurt Busch? Pretty fun crew, and some of the more original guys on the circuit, which NASCAR needs more of. Wonder what marketability benefits there are for a team with that, and what the balance is between marketability and winning (they clearly drive each other, with more in the marketability-to-winning direction in NASCAR than in other sports, where marketability helps determine how many resources a driver has access to).
Burnley Lost
Burnley lost on Friday to Watford, but it was really just one lapse that caused it, and the lads had plenty of chances of their own. It seems a little bad that Josh Brownhill is the only dude sending the ball at the net, but at least they have one guy doing that? I don’t know. I’m over my head on this whole “soccer” thing. I wasn’t even one hundred percent sure there was no VAR in the championship until Watford got away with a handball on Friday (I understand it wouldn’t have been called without VAR, which really makes me wonder what soccer’s intended rules are, but again, over my head). Darko Churlinov is the latest new acquisition, expected to be signed soon from a German team. Macedonian winger. 22 years old.
**
Viewing schedule for the evening:
7:05 PM EDT: Cubs @ Nationals (MLB TV)
Love the impotence of the Cubs’ August schedule so far. Tailormade to make me think these guys are better than they are heading into next year.
8:10 PM EDT: Astros @ White Sox (MLB TV, second screen)
Joe Kelly vs. Houston. The greatest rivalry in sports.
