It's Gone

Goodbye, Hoosier Dome. Thanks for helping bring an NFL team and several Final Fours here.

Dude, I Thought You Said No More Journey Psyche-Outs

BEHOLD...THE POWER OF THE STEVE PERRY PSYCHE-OUT!!!

For the past three plus years, when opposing kickers would line up for a field goal attempt, high up in the upper deck of the Hoosier RCA Dome, you could hear this bunch of geeks chanting, "Steve Perry...Steve Perry...Steve Perry...You shoulda been goonnneee!" While this may sound moronic or childish to some, especially Mrs. Bembledack, there was a method to our madness. The Steve Perry psyche-out did have an effect on opposing kickers. Really! Look at the statistics below.

Colts Opposing Kickers Stats
2007: 15 made-20 attempted - 75% (League Average = 82.8%)
2006: 24-35 - 68.6% (81.4%)
2005: 19-27 -70.4% (81.0%)

As you can see, the opposing teams' kickers had a much lower average than the league average. While the Colts played in the RCA Dome, the Steve Perry psyche-out (SPPO) ruled! Not to mention it was fun and we enjoyed the odd looks we got from the other fans who did not get the reference.

But has a good thing come to an end?

It seems the SPPO mystique may get imploded with the old Dome. Since moving to the new confines of Lucas Oil Stadium, the SPPO has not had the effect of old. Opposing kickers this year are making field goals at the whopping rate of 87.5%. So now we come to the ultimate question...is it time to bury the SPPO in favor for a new psyche out?

It might not be a coincidence that Journey now has a new Filipino singer named Arnel Pineda, who started earlier this year. (Coincidence?) Arnel Pineda does not have the same ring as Steve Perry, but could the psyche-out power be linked to Journey?

Lom commented earlier tht maybe we should convert to Kevin Cronin, the lead singer of REO Speedwagon. Another possibility is Paul Rodgers, former front man for Bad Company and now the lead singer for Queen. At this point, any 80's singer might work.

So I will put it to the group - what should our new psyche-out be?

A) Stick with Steve Perry
B) Arnel Pineda
C) Kevin Cronin
D) Paul Rodgers
E) The ever-popular "Player to be named later"

If you are not part of our group, please email one of us with your choice and we'll tally the results and give it a try. We may also test out some of the choices and let you know how they work out.

Should Steve Perry go the way of the do-do, I will say there is nothing funnier than getting my two-year old daughter to say "Steve Perry" and then having the psyche-out work. Hence, Mrs. Bembledack's dislike for our chant.

Hungry Hungry HIPAAs

I love a good play on words, especially when it takes a federal law regarding personal health care privacy and relates it to a silly game involving marbles. Fun!

Why am I doing such a thing? Because of the good people on tonight's Chicago Tribune Live broadcast on Comcast SportsNet. Our participants: host David Kaplan and his three "panelists:" writers Fred Mitchell and Phil Rogers of the Tribune, and John Crist, publisher of Bear Report Magazine (the football team, not the large woodland animal).

Anyway, the panel was discussing the recent injuries to Cubs' pitchers Carlos Zambrano and Rich Harden and the apparent secrecy and lack of disclosure to the media. Kaplan made the point that the sports media don't trust the Cubs because of their handling of Mark Prior's injury a few years ago. Then, this exchange:

Kaplan: "Baseball is less forthcoming with injury info. Some of it is the federal government and HIPAA, but generally, they've come to think that's their business and why should they talk about it?"

Crist: "This is not exclusive to baseball...this is an epidemic across sports. These teams act like they are protecting government trade secrets, and that's just not the case." (emphasis mine)

I like how Kaplan mentions HIPAA, and the panel just dismisses it like it's a minor inconvenience. An "epidemic across sports"??? HIPAA is a federal law protecting patients from having their health care information shared without their consent. Is MLB--or in this case, the Cubs--doing something wrong by not disclosing injury information about two players? Or, are they merely upholding a federal law??

Crist's statement is especially dumb. Johnny, they're not "protecting government trade secrets;" they are following a federal government law. Just because you think you're Richard Thornburg and that the public has a right to know everything, it doesn't mean a team is above federal law.

Look, I get that fans want to know the status of important players on their favorite teams. But you can't fault the teams for doing the right thing, even if you think the teams are merely doing it to be secretive. It doesn't matter--it's the law.

****BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!!!****

On the same show, the panel decided to preview Sunday's Bears/Colts game. The discussion turned to the new stadium, and how Lucas Oil Stadium will be different than the RCA Dome during the game:

Rogers: "What do you think about Lucas Oil Stadium? Are they (the Colts) giving up an advantage that they had playing in that dome, where they would pipe in the noise and do some goofy stuff?" (again, emphasis mine)

Pipe in the noise.

Pipe in the noise.

Pipe in the noise.

People still think this.

Pipe in the noise.

Fucktards.