Bowling Green 70 Chicago State 41

Men's Basketball

Home Team: BGSU Falcons

Visiting Team: Chicago State Cougars

Venue: Stroh Center (Bowling Green, Ohio)

Game Time: 7 p.m.

Fellow Attendees: None

Game Story | Box Score

It was something of a happy accident that I was able to attend this game. I knew I was due for an overnight Toledo trip for work at some point this week, and as I was starting to make arrangements, I saw this game on the calendar. Basketball season already? I thought. Hm. Home opener? First game under a new coach? I'm...going to make this happen.

Which really wasn't much of an undertaking. I've been in this job and working remotely for a long time, and I'm trusted to make my own schedule. Of course, my department does have a team-building outing scheduled for Wednesday, so I'm sure setting my trip for Tuesday-Wednesday or Wednesday-Thursday would have been the politic move. But Monday-Tuesday made more sense for actual work objectives, and with the ability to attend this game thrown in, it wasn't a tough choice.

I really liked what I saw from the Falcons tonight. I'm not sure how much more I have to say about this game, really. There's so much roster turnover from one season to the next in college basketball nowadays, and then you throw a new coach into the mix, and there were only two Falcon players I was familiar with still on the roster. Now, I did think those two players (Rashaun Agee and Sam Towns) were pretty good for BG last year, so I'm glad they stuck around. But I was definitely looking at the roster a lot tonight and trying to put names with faces and numbers.

I think it was pretty obvious that these guys were still getting used to playing together and trying to figure out their roles. I'm sure that was exacerbated by presumed starting point guard Trey Thomas, a Vanderbilt transfer, being out with an injury. But you know what? Everybody looked competent, and like they belonged. At least until the bench was emptied toward the end of the game, I wasn't looking at anyone and wondering what they were doing on the floor, to say nothing of the roster. That in itself is an improvement over some of BG's previous coaches. The new guy, Coach Todd Simon, wants to play a fast-paced style and score a lot of points. There were some flashes of that tonight; it's pretty clearly a work in progress.

Troy 42 Lima Senior 15

High School Football

Division II Region 8 Playoffs
Home Team: Troy Trojans
Visiting Team: Lima Senior Spartans
Venue: Troy Memorial Stadium
Game Time: 7:00 p.m.
Fellow Attendees: None

Twenty-seven years later...well, it doesn't erase old scars. But it was a pretty sweet win nonetheless.

Troy has played Lima Senior twice before in the playoffs, both losses for the Trojans. The first, in 1989, was before my fandom began. The second, though...the second time was in 1996, at the height of my interest. That year's Troy team was the best I've seen—AP poll champions for Division I in Ohio, and nationally ranked by USA Today. It's unfortunate that they shared a region with Lima Senior; I truly believe the actual state championship game took place in the second round at Dayton's Welcome Stadium. Unfortunately, the Spartans pulled that one out 13-10 and went on to win the state championship, and the Trojans went home. My devastation was immeasurable.

The two teams haven't met in the meantime. So when the playoffs started this year, I saw this as a likely second-round matchup and circled it as a game I wanted to attend if both teams advanced. Of course, when the day of the game finally rolled around, I felt a little wishy-washy about going. This is normal for me. Of course I wanted to be at the game, but making the drive from Columbus to Troy, and then the return trip after the game...I just wasn't sure I wanted to give up my whole Friday evening, especially since I could still watch the game from the comfort of my own living room if I stayed home.

But in the end I decided to go. Win or lose, this would be the final home game for the Trojans this year (since games move to neutral sites after round two). And if all goes to plan, this was the last game at Troy Memorial Stadium with a natural grass surface. The weather was perfect for a November game, and I really wanted to see them take another shot at Lima Senior. Basically I had more reasons to go than excuses to stay home. So I bought my ticket online and hit the road, and I was in the familiar confines of the home-side stands about 35 minutes before kickoff.

And I'm really glad I went, even though it took even more of my evening than I expected. With Troy being such a run-heavy team and putting a running clock on so many of their opponents this year, I kind of forgot that sometimes high school football games do run long. Lima Senior runs a pass-heavy offense, which really slows the game down. Add in a group of officials determined to put on a Ref Show, plus one lengthy injury delay, the game went a full three hours, keeping me from getting back to my living room until nearly 11:45 p.m.

But it was worth it. I didn't have any idea how this game would go, but the Trojans really impressed me. Lima Senior, as I mentioned before, runs a pass-heavy offense (they only had 14 rushing attempts in this game [which I think includes the two sacks by the Troy defense] compared to 47 passes), and I think defending the pass is really hard in high school. But Troy was up to the task. The Spartans' 15 points were the most Troy has given up this season, but their two touchdowns included a spectacular diving catch in the endzone of a pass I thought was way overthrown, and a very short field after a Trojan fumble inside the 10. The defense pitched a shutout for the final 27 minutes of the game, as it went from a 15-all tie to more or less a Trojan rout.

And the offense? Well, Troy's prime threat, fullback Jahari Ward, has been out with an injury since early in the Week 9 game against Fairborn. In his absence, a more varied (but still ground-heavy) attack is still putting points up on the board. In this one, they found a plan of attack that Lima Senior just could not stop, and they ran it over and over.

So the Trojans improve to 11-1 on the season and advance to the Region 8 semifinals, where the road gets even tougher. They'll face the Withrow Tigers (also 11-1) out of Cincinnati, I'd guess at Welcome Stadium in Dayton. I won't be able to make it, but I'll be there in spirit, and I'm hoping to stream it if it's available.

Troy 49 Fairborn 14

High School Football
Home Team: Fairborn Skyhawks
Visiting Team: Troy Trojans
Venue: Fairborn Memorial Stadium/Buschemeyer Field
Game Time: 7:00 p.m.
Fellow Attendees: None

As I tend to do, I waffled for a while about whether I was going to go to this game or not. There was rain in the forecast—for later in the evening, it's true, but I wasn't sure I wanted to chance getting soaked to watch a game the Trojans were likely to win going away. But then I found out that this was going to be the last game played at Fairborn Memorial Stadium before the Skyhawks move into a new home next year, and that seemed like a pretty cool thing to be a part of, and so I decided to risk the rain.

Weather-wise, it turned out I had nothing to worry about. I had a poncho just in case, but the rain held off through the game and for my drive back to Columbus. The game, at least at the start, looked like it might be a Friday the 13th horror story. A number of unforced errors, including silly penalties and a turnover, gave Fairborn a 7-0 lead with under four minutes left in the first quarter, and it looked like the Trojans hadn't come to play at all. A fired-up Coach Everhart brought the whole team into a huddle on the sideline after the TD and gave a quick, very animated speech to all of them.

It worked. Following the kickoff, star fullback Jahari Ward went 61 yards to the house to the the score. From there, it was all Trojans—despite one last piece of bad luck. As the first quarter was winding down, after another long run, Ward had to be helped off the field with a leg injury and did not return to the game. In his stead, the Trojans turned to a stable of other backs, who, despite limited chances so far this season, turned out to be pretty capable.

I have no doubt that Fairborn's new stadium will be much nicer than this one. I can't speak to the home side, but the visitors' stands are small and cramped. I sat in the top row and still couldn't see about 1/3 of the field over the players on the sideline. That said, I liked coming here, the handful of times I did so. The lighting, always a crapshoot at high school stadiums in my experience, was great, and I'm a sucker for a neighborhood setting. The new place probably won't have that, but if it's easier to see the game, it's probably a fair trade. I look forward to seeing it when the Trojans play there in two years.

Troy 14 Piqua 0

High School Football
Home Team: Troy Trojans
Visiting Team: Piqua High School
Venue: Troy Memorial Stadium
Game Time: 7:00 p.m.
Fellow Attendees: None

67-66-6

Troy 16 Vandalia Butler 7

High School Football
Home Team: Troy Trojans
Visiting Team: Vandalia Butler Aviators
Venue: Troy Memorial Stadium
Game Time: 7:00 p.m.
Fellow Attendees: None

Reds 9 Diamondbacks 6

Major League Baseball
Home Team: Cincinnati Reds (Ben Lively)
Visiting Team: Arizona Diamondbacks (Tommy Henry)
Venue: Great American Ball Park
Game Time: 7:10 p.m.
Fellow Attendees: Brandi

Box Score

After being away from Great American Ball Park for six years, here I am attending two consecutive games. I worked from the hotel room during the day, and Brandi had the last part of her conference in the morning, and then we made our way over the bridge. We had plenty of time, so we stopped into Fishbowl at the Banks for a drink on the way.

On Thursday, Reds rookies (Abbott and De La Cruz) carried the day on the pitching and defensive side. Tonight, it was two different rookies (Matt McLain and Spencer Steer) doing it on offense. Steer went 2-5 with a double and 3 RBI; McLain hit a fifth-inning grand slam that put the game out of reach. And while the pitching was a totally different story from the day before, it was cool to see Alexis Diaz come in and dominate the ninth for the save.

And after being there by myself the day before, it was a lot of fun to be at this one with Brandi. We really enjoyed the postgame fireworks show, and then we went over to catch the end of the postgame show with Brian Giesenschlag and Sam LeCure. Then we headed back out to the Banks and had a quick beer while we wandered around and checked out everything that was going on. It definitely won't be six years before we make it back again.

Reds 5 Giants 1

Major League Baseball
Home Team: Cincinnati Reds (Andrew Abbott)
Visiting Team: San Francisco Giants (Alex Cobb)
Venue: Great American Ball Park
Game Time: 12:35 p.m.
Fellow Attendees: None

Box Score

My first Business Day Special! I've long been fascinated by these weekday afternoon games, but I had never been to one before. So a few weeks ago, when Brandi said she would be going to Cincinnati for a conference, I checked the Reds schedule and decided the time was right to finally make it happen. I drove down to Covington in the morning and then walked across the Roebling Bridge back into Ohio and arrived at the stadium right around the time the gates opened.

In the days leading up to the game, my main concern was the weather. That was valid, but not in the way I expected. There was a good possibility of storms, but that did not come to pass. Instead, it was just hot, and while there were some clouds, a good portion of the game took place in the blazing sunlight. I had sunscreen, but by the time I reapplied I think I was too sweaty for it to really help, and I definitely waited too long to get water. No harm done, other than a light sunburn on my face and neck, but I definitely learned (or at least remembered) some lessons for future afternoon games I may attend.

Reds starting pitcher Andrew Abbott was so, so good today, even with plate umpire Dan Iassogna (my least favorite MLB ump since 2000), um...not doing him any favors. He only gave up one hit and two walks in eight innings. I was really hoping to see him come back out to pitch the ninth--seeing a complete game shutout would have been awesome--but taking him out was probably the right move. I still had hopes for the shutout, but a solo home run with two outs of the ninth meant I had to settle for just the win.

And the one hit Abbott allowed led to a pretty cool moment. He had walked Wilmer Flores, and Luis Matos drilled the ball to left center for a double. Will Benson fielded the ball and threw it to shortstop Elly De La Cruz, who unleashed a laser to the plate to erase Flores as he tried to score--99.8 mph, the hardest-thrown infield assist recorded to date. It was pretty impressive to see it in person.

Leaving the game, I could tell how much the heat had taken out of me. I ducked into the team shop for a few minutes of air conditioning, and also in hopes of picking up a new City Connect hat. Alas, I didn't like the band on the adjustable version, and I learned I have an awkwardly sized head for a fitted one; the 7 1/2 was too small and the 7 5/8 was too big. I looked for a 7 9/16, but they didn't seem to have any. So, no new hat for me, which is fine; I already have a bunch of Reds hats (and to be completely honest, I'll probably eventually suck it up and grab the adjustable one anyway). From there, I went into the Filson for a couple of beers (and three glasses of water) before heading back over the bridge to Kentucky.