I don’t get to claim I’m a die hard Indians fan. I watch the Major League Baseball standings through the season, but that’s about the extent of my involvement. I only watch the Indians if they make the playoffs. So, I am hardly the equal of those who follow the team closely season-in and season-out, good times and bad. I have several friends of this variety which is why I make this disclosure.

That out of the way, how about those Indians? Last night’s victory over the Yankees was practically Biblical. After 7 mostly frustrating innings where the Indians left a small reservation stranded on base, the midges of Lake Erie descended on Jacobs Field like some kind of plague. They disrupted the formidable Yankee pitcher, Joba Chamberlain, enough that Grady Sizemore was able to score after Chamberlain threw a wild pitch.

The midges crawling around on Chamberlain’s neck gave me the creepy-crawlies. *Shudder.* But, if that’s what it takes for an Indians win, I’ll take it.

Indiana Pacer, Shawne Williams, is being held on marijuana charges. I can’t get too worked up about a pro basketball player having marijuana, but this is just another brick in the Pacers’ Wall O’ Crap. I wasn’t much of a pro basketball fan until the early/mid 90s when Reggie and the boys started making an annual run in the playoffs. I remember summers in law school going to Kilroys Sports Bar in Bloomington and putting down pints of Killians while watching the Pacers in the playoffs. But I digress.

The team went flat during the Isiah Thomas years and then surged again under Larry Legend. Rick Carlisle had a pretty solid run until Artest and The Brawl. Since then, the team has spiraled into oblivion; looking like a mediocre bunch of thugs. I just hope the Pacers can get their act together before the Colts fade too far.

The Colts just demolished the Saints in the second half. Last year, New Orleans was one of the offensive juggernauts in the league. Tonight, the Saints’ offense has been ineffective. They’ve scored a field goal. The Saints remaining points were from a defensive turnover resulting in a touchdown. It took about a half for the Colts’ offense to shake off a bit of rust, but in the second half they looked awfully sharp. And, for all of Al Michaels and John Madden talking about how the Colts didn’t have a legitimate backup to Addai, Kenton Keith looks like he’s moving the ball pretty well when given the chance – 32 yards on 5 carries, six yards fewer than media favorite Reggie Bush got with 12 carries. And, what can we say about poor Jason David, the cornerback who left the Colts to play for the Saints. He was the guy who returned the fumble for a touchdown, but he also got burned for at least 3 touchdowns – 2 by Reggie Wayne and 1 by Marvin Harrison.

Anyway, these night games always wreck me for the next day. But it’s good to see him back.

Update Stampede Blue has a good wrap up – my favorite bit:

Dallas had himself a game. I’m now convinced he can do anything. Why have Sorgi back-up Manning. Let Dallas throw the ball. Why not? HE CAN DO ANYTHING! Block, catch, run, jump, swim, climb, limbo, breakdance, bungie jump… you name it. Clark can do it all. I mean, how many TEs do you see run a reverse like that?

Just a reminder that the Colts have their season opener tonight against the New Orleans Saints, headed by former Purdue standout Drew Brees. Also a reminder that the best Colts blog around is Stampede Blue.

The Lafayette Journal & Courier features a pissing match between Comcast and the Big Ten Network over carrying the BTN on Lafayette area cable. The main story is here. Comcast’s spin his here. And, the Big Ten Network’s spin is here. And, a final bit of commentary from Mike Carmin here.

The jist is that Purdue games won’t be available on television unless it’s a big game picked up by networks or larger cable outlets; you get DirecTV; or you subscribe to the expanded sports package on Comcast. Comcast claims that the BTN is too expensive versus its overall appeal to carry on its basic passage. BTN claims that Comcast is dissembling about the true cost and, anyway, Comcast manages to carry its own sports networks on its basic offerings. Personally, I’m not prepared to believe either corporate spokesperson about the numbers they use. But, what I’d like to know is why the cable companies haven’t figured out a la carte pricing for their channels. It’d be really nice if I wanted to get the Big Ten Network — which I don’t, really — and could simply pay the price for that channel rather than being forced to buy a bunch of other channels in which I have no interest. The bundling is annoying.

My suspicion is that there is no great technological hurdle, but it’s in Comcast’s financial interest not to figure out how to do a la carte pricing. Kind of like it was, until recently, in the music publishing’s industry’s interest to figure out how to sell individual songs. The Internet and related technologies finally gave consumers what they wanted in this respect — most folks seem quite happy to forego piracy if they can download an individual song for a buck. I wonder if something similar will happen in television that will force the gatekeepers to be a little more responsive to consumers.

For lovers of Indiana University athletics, check out The Hoosier Report. It’s written by “John M” who I suspect is the same John M who sometimes comments here and on a number of other Indiana blogs. I hadn’t seen it before, but his blog has apparently been in business since February 27 and seems well done. So, just a heads up for everyone.