Baylor Again, and Big Stan's Nail Gets Dusted
Cleveland State56
Baylor31
- Game
- 2032 Week 5
- Site
- Home
- Result
- Win
- Record
- 5-0
Vikings 56, Baylor 31, at home. Five and oh.
Twenty-five points of daylight, our fifth straight win over the Bears. Same margin as last week. Same thirty-one points allowed. Folks, this team has a rhythm, and the rhythm right now is “score fifty-six, let the other guys score some, go home.”
I’m not complaining. I’m noticing.
Big Stan has started a new ritual. Every Monday, before he opens, he climbs his ladder, takes a soft cloth and dusts the nail. The nail on the back wall, next to the two scoreboard frames and the brass plate that says TWICE. The nail with nothing on it. He told me he’s been doing it since the day he put it up. I said, “Stan, it’s a nail. Nails don’t get dusty.” He said, “This one does, Mick. This one’s waiting.” Then he climbed down and turned on the slicer, and Gerald sat down without being told, which is now just who Gerald is.
The counter council’s weekly vote this Monday was “Is the defense okay?” It was four to two, “okay.” Walt voted no. Chester abstained, then shook his head very slightly, which in Chester is a speech.
Four pierogi.
A twenty-five-point home win over Baylor. Five and oh. And the same thirty-one points allowed for the third time in four weeks, which, at this point, is not a coincidence. It’s a fingerprint.
I’ll be specific without citing season totals, which we save for the end: the Vikings have allowed thirty-one points to Toledo, BYU and Baylor. Those are good teams, not great ones. The Vikings have a schedule with great ones on it later. Ohio, in Athens. Miami (OH). Utah. A defense that gives up thirty-one to good teams can give up a lot more to great ones.
I’ve noticed I’m the only one worried. That used to be my job. It still is. It just feels lonelier now that I’m happy.
Teresa says I’m “allowed to be happy and worried at the same time.” She says she does it every shift in the ER. She says it’s called “being an adult.” I said, “I don’t like it.” She said, “Nobody does, Kenny. That’s how you know you’re doing it right.”
Back and forth
Stan dusts the nail every Monday.
That’s either faith or a cleaning disorder. With Stan, they’re the same thing.
You’re worried about the defense?
Thirty-one, thirty-one, thirty-one. I’m not worried. I’m noticing. Loudly.
Five and oh with a fingerprint on the defense, a nail dusted every Monday for something bigger, and Ken learning to be happy and worried at the same time.
Split Decision is fiction. Mickey Bridges, Ken Hogmanes and The Lakefront Ledger are invented; the games and scores are not.