The RedHawks Come to Cleveland, and Ken Pours Again
Cleveland State31
Miami (OH)59
- Game
- 2035 Week 12
- Site
- Home
- Result
- Loss
- Record
- 11-1
Miami (OH) 59, Vikings 31. At home.
Twenty-eight points. The defending national champions came to our house undefeated and left undefeated, and I’m going to tell you the truth, folks: they’re the best team I’ve ever seen. Their quarterback has a name I can’t print without giggling. I’m told it’s his real name. He’s very good. That’s all I’ll say.
Eleven and one. No Big 12 title game for us; the RedHawks have the top spot, and we finished behind them. We wait for the committee. We’ve waited before.
Donna sat with Nadia. At our house. In our section. Nadia wore red. Donna wore the cape, folded on her lap, not on her shoulders. When I asked why, Donna said, “Michael, the cape is for road games. This was a home game. I brought it for company.” I’ve stopped asking Donna about the cape. The cape has its own rules. They’re older than me.
Thanksgiving was at our house. Leo’s last before college. He gave the grace. He thanked God for “Coach Mickey, who taught me to watch, and Mr. Ken, who taught me to doubt, and my sister, who taught me to watch better than both of them.” Sofia rolled her eyes and then hugged him.
Zero pierogi. One for Leo, who earned it.
A twenty-eight-point home loss to undefeated Miami (OH). Eleven and one.
The bet. On Tuesday, I walked behind the bar, pulled Nadia a beer and said, “Your team is better than mine.” Third time in twelve years. The bar applauded, as is tradition. Nadia raised the glass. Then she said, quietly, “Ken, if we meet again in January, I’m not going to want to win.” I asked what she meant. She said, “I’m going to want to. But I’m not going to want you to lose. Both.” I said, “That’s how I’ve felt about Ohio for eleven years.” She said, “Then you know.”
The analysis: the RedHawks are the best team in the country. The Vikings are among the best four. The committee will put the Vikings in the field, probably without a bye, and the road to the title will likely run through both of the teams that have hurt them most. I’ve stopped calling this a coincidence. I’ve started calling it the schedule of a great program in a great era.
Leo’s grace mentioned me. “Mr. Ken, who taught me to doubt.” I’d like the record to show I’m proud of that, and that Leo has, at seventeen, a healthy amount of it.
Back and forth
Leo thanked you in the grace.
For teaching him to doubt. Highest honor I’ve ever received.
Nadia doesn’t want us to lose.
She wants to win. She doesn’t want us to lose. I know the feeling. Most of this column has been that feeling.
The undefeated RedHawks take Cleveland by twenty-eight, Ken pours for the third time in twelve years, the cape comes along for company, and Leo’s grace thanks the believer and the doubter both.
Split Decision is fiction. Mickey Bridges, Ken Hogmanes and The Lakefront Ledger are invented; the games and scores are not.