House Call

I won’t do this often, and haven’t done it yet, but I have to start off with a few house notes. Saying that makes it sound important … “house notes.”

First off, thanks to anyone who is actually reading this, coming back, commenting and all that good stuff. I would appreciate, particularly for the ButDogs crew of people, passing around the link if you feel it’s worth a damn to read. And yes, I request that in a selfish way. So what? I say that mostly because between pretty much now and the end of March, The Fun Car will be featuring pretty much a ButDogs love fest. Not much else going on.

Second, I will be going to a Monday-Thursday schedule for columns … simply because without football, well, just not as much that people care about. And frankly, considering I have about a dozen readers (I hope), twice a week seems about right.

(Side note: The other reason is that personally, I have to figure out what I’m doing with my life. Suggestions are welcome, and encouraged. At this point I’d consider many options, including babysitting or being a nanny.)

Parents Weekend

So the Christmas gift I gave to my parents turned out to be a pretty solid idea, if I do say so myself. I mention that because usually I’m not this good with gifts. Mom and dad came to Indy to witness Butler’s utter pounding of UW-Milwaukee on Saturday – supposedly the second or third “best” team in the Horizon League.

There’s a few things to talk about regarding the game, but first a few more important musings. I’ll start with suggesting catching a game at Hinkle in Section 29, Row AA. That’s front row of the east side balcony, pretty much right behind the hoop … solid vantage point, and considering the score, it was a great perk to listen to Brad Stevens do his thing on the sidelines. I vote his first-half technical to be the highlight of the season, thus far.

Even though there was a game going on, about half the time, mom was reaching into her purse to get the camera phone cranking. The worst moment? When she leaned over to my dad to make some comment – pretty standard – right when Gordo threw down the alley-oop from his buddy Shelvin. So much disappointment when the crowd blew up and they had no idea what happened, but I told them it’s OK … they’ll be doing that for the next four years, so just get used to it. I'll do my best to not go on and on about my boy Gordo again, but I'll just say that he could very well be the best all-around defender I have ever seen on a college b-ball court in my short lifetime.

A few more serious thoughts about the performance by the ButDogs. One, don’t get too excited about the performances by Shawn Vanzant and Grant Leiendecker. Just put the brakes on that one. It was kind of fun to see, in a strange way, but personally I know I don’t really want to see that again. Unless, of course, they’re up 25 in the second half. I’ll put it this way: My old man had never seen Vanzant play in person before, maybe once or twice on TV, and his direct quote to me in the middle of the game was, “He’s kind of spazzy, out of control the way he moves all the time.” Well said, dad. But I admit the depth was good to see in a pretty non-important kind of way.

Another thought, it has been brought up a few other places (most recently by ESPN’s Andy Katz) that the ButDogs now have to worry about complacency. That’s the type of stupid comment you make when you’re a national writer and don’t know much about the team, coach, players or program. It’s the type of comment you make when you’re writing a “Saturday Wrap-Up” column and you just need to find something short and “meaningful” to say about Butler. Gimme a break. Has that ever been a problem in the past? Even if they lose one or two games in the conference, will that matter? No. And no again. Butler’s success or failure will not come down to complacency. Please.

That will about wrap it up for another cheerful Monday. Tune on on Thursday for a Super Bowl Extravaganza and feel free to comment or email me at thefuncarblog@yahoo.com with anything useless or somewhat funny. Cheers.