5 Comments

Agreed! To see if wise graybeards knew any better, I did a session with Michael Mandelbaum and Dick Betts two weeks ago, and had Jack Snyder come into my class last week. Confirmed nobody knows nothing (at least definitively). Told the students it’s a great time to enter the field! 😂

Expand full comment

I'm taking this as confirmation that I'm doing as well as Mandelbaum, Betts (!), and Snyder, lol

Expand full comment

In a world where nothing seems to make sense anymore, perhaps there’s a pattern waiting to be uncovered. Regarding IU football-I think I’ve stumbled upon the reason.

Earlier this fall, I found myself in an end zone hospitality suite during the IU–Western Illinois game, seated next to President Whitten. Behind me, a tall, charismatic, middle-aged man was offering an absolutely masterful commentary on the game. Every player, every coach (including OC, QB coach, etc) every play—he dissected it all with encyclopedic precision and decades of historical context.

The man? Mr. Whitten. Yes, President Whitten’s husband. Clearly, the true puppet master of IU football. Not Dolson, not Cignetti, not President Whitten herself. No, it’s someone with her ear, a profound love for the game, and a relentless determination to see IU rise above its usual mediocrity. I mean who the hell with an unmatched passion and knowledge for football wants their spouse leading a prominent university with a shit football team, right?!

If this can explain IU football’s uncharacteristic greatness this year, then maybe, just maybe, Professor Musgrave can uncover the reasons behind the other baffling events shaping our world. After all, if IU football can make sense, anything can.

Expand full comment

Oh my god!!!!!!!!!

Expand full comment

There must have been much time to talk during that 77-3 blowout. I wonder whether Mr. Whitten had much to say about the close to half-million fee IU paid WIU for the opportunity to feast on its ineptitude. (Money well spent -- athletics donations started rolling in after well coordinated NIL fundraising allowed IU to import such a talented team to Bloomington.)

Expand full comment