Ben Smith
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thatbenguy.bsky.social
Ben Smith
@thatbenguy.bsky.social
45 followers 33 following 510 posts
Retired sports columnist for the Fort Wayne (In.) Journal Gazette. Former marketing writer at Manchester University. Civil war/history nerd. Crabby old fart.
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thatbenguy.bsky.social
When is history not history? andonethingmore.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-...
The Eighth-Rate Bowl. Or not.
Your Minnesota Golden Gophers won the Rate Bowl last night on a walk-off touchdown pass in overtime, but that's not what we're going to tal...
andonethingmore.blogspot.com
December 27, 2025 at 3:12 PM
thatbenguy.bsky.social
Playing out the string in the En Eff Ell. andonethingmore.blogspot.com/2025/12/sitd...
Sitdown season
Watched some dude named Max Brosmer knock the back-to-being-the-Detroit-Lions out of the playoffs on Christmas Day, and it reminded me why ...
andonethingmore.blogspot.com
December 27, 2025 at 2:06 PM
thatbenguy.bsky.social
Komet Hockey on strike? Strange times. andonethingmore.blogspot.com/2025/12/sile...
Silent night
Still unsure if the Fort Wayne Komets will be playing hockey tonight, but if they don't it will be an odd feeling indeed. Sort of like show...
andonethingmore.blogspot.com
December 26, 2025 at 2:06 PM
thatbenguy.bsky.social
Joy and light and all good things to you and yours. andonethingmore.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-...
The annual message
( Re-posted from last year. And the year before that. And, I don't know, every year ) It's Christmas season again, and you know what that m...
andonethingmore.blogspot.com
December 24, 2025 at 12:29 PM
thatbenguy.bsky.social
DK Metcalf vs. fandumb. andonethingmore.blogspot.com/2025/12/a-le...
A lesson in engagement
Pittsburgh wideout DK Metcalf spread his own particular brand of Christmas cheer in Detroit Sunday, and now he'll get a two-game sitdown fo...
andonethingmore.blogspot.com
December 23, 2025 at 2:16 PM
thatbenguy.bsky.social
Winners. Losers. Old guys. Christmas, merry and otherwise. andonethingmore.blogspot.com/2025/12/a-fe...
A few brief thoughts on NFL Week 16
And now a special day-before-the-day-before Christmas edition of The NFL In So Many Words, the holly-jolly Blob feature of which critics ha...
andonethingmore.blogspot.com
December 23, 2025 at 1:23 PM
thatbenguy.bsky.social
A strange-doings weekend. andonethingmore.blogspot.com/2025/12/wait...
Wait ... what?
Some odd stuff happened over the weekend in Sportsball World, and personally, given that it's the holiday season, I think it's because some...
andonethingmore.blogspot.com
December 22, 2025 at 1:16 PM
thatbenguy.bsky.social
What's in a picture? A lot. andonethingmore.blogspot.com/2025/12/time...
Time warp
Idly scrolling through a few social media sites the other day (because "idly" is the only way I scroll), and I came across this photo on som...
andonethingmore.blogspot.com
December 21, 2025 at 2:19 PM
thatbenguy.bsky.social
Tulane? JMU? How about Illinois State? andonethingmore.blogspot.com/2025/12/cind...
The real Cinderella
Goodness gracious. All this time, and Cinderella was hiding out somewhere else. No, not in the College Football Playoff, where yesterday Tu...
andonethingmore.blogspot.com
December 21, 2025 at 1:24 PM
thatbenguy.bsky.social
Alabama. Indiana. Here we go. andonethingmore.blogspot.com/2025/12/crim...
Crimson all over
Well, alrighty, then. Alabama it is. Alabama, which erased a 17-0 deficit to Oklahoma in Norman last night, outscoring the Sooners 34-7 the...
andonethingmore.blogspot.com
December 20, 2025 at 1:53 PM
thatbenguy.bsky.social
Reality decks Jake Paul. andonethingmore.blogspot.com/2025/12/infl...
Influencer paddling
So, Jake Paul at last found out where the other half lives, and -- surprise, surprise -- it was at the intersection of Right Fist Boulevard...
andonethingmore.blogspot.com
December 20, 2025 at 1:18 PM
thatbenguy.bsky.social
Greg Biffle and a brutal legacy. andonethingmore.blogspot.com/2025/12/echo...
Echoing tragedy
Awful things happen to good people in this world, which is why every human with a working soul occasionally shakes his or her fist at the h...
andonethingmore.blogspot.com
December 19, 2025 at 2:48 PM
thatbenguy.bsky.social
An object lesson falls on deaf ears. andonethingmore.blogspot.com/2025/12/atte...
Attention not paid
I wouldn't know Rex Elliott if he worked for 1-800-555-HURT, but I do know he has the attention span of a gnat. The reason I know is this w...
andonethingmore.blogspot.com
December 19, 2025 at 1:30 PM
thatbenguy.bsky.social
The 2025 Hater’s Guide To The Williams-Sonoma Catalog - defector.com/the-2025-hat...
The 2025 Hater’s Guide To The Williams-Sonoma Catalog | Defector
[Opens front door while holding a toy corgi in one arm] Merry Christmas! Oh my God, you made it! I thought you might be stuck at the airport for weeks! Well, because it’s such madness out there. Piper...
defector.com
December 18, 2025 at 6:06 PM
thatbenguy.bsky.social
The Bears in Indiana? Perish the thought. andonethingmore.blogspot.com/2025/12/stea...
Stealin' Chicago
Somewhere today George Halas is running laps in his grave, or perhaps he's making Nagurski do it. Dick Butkus is fixin' to clothesline some...
andonethingmore.blogspot.com
December 18, 2025 at 1:42 PM
thatbenguy.bsky.social
Diego Pavia's big screwup. andonethingmore.blogspot.com/2025/12/an-l...
An A-list fumble
I don't know what Diego Pavia is majoring in at Vanderbilt University, other than NFL Prep with a minor in Show Me The NIL Money. But I do ...
andonethingmore.blogspot.com
December 17, 2025 at 1:54 PM
thatbenguy.bsky.social
In the NBA, a New York minute. andonethingmore.blogspot.com/2025/12/a-kn...
A Knick, in time
You may have missed in all the hoo-ha surrounding the IS4S Salute to Veterans Bowl (just kidding, although congratulations, Jacksonville St...
andonethingmore.blogspot.com
December 17, 2025 at 12:56 PM
thatbenguy.bsky.social
Old guys rule. J.J. McCarthy lives, sort of. Shedeur Sanders ... doesn't. andonethingmore.blogspot.com/2025/12/a-fe...
A few brief thoughts on NFL Week 15
And now this week's edition of The NFL In So Many Words, the redemptive, not-dead-yet Blob feature of which critics have said, "From the sm...
andonethingmore.blogspot.com
December 16, 2025 at 1:32 PM
thatbenguy.bsky.social
As goes Mahomes, so go the Chiefs: Down and out. andonethingmore.blogspot.com/2025/12/chie...
Chiefs sunset
It ended perhaps the only way it could have, with the face of the franchise rolling around on the ground, clutching his faithless left knee...
andonethingmore.blogspot.com
December 15, 2025 at 2:35 PM
thatbenguy.bsky.social
Colts fall, but the Old Man sticks the landing. andonethingmore.blogspot.com/2025/12/a-ri...
A Rivers Runs Through It, Part Deux*
(*Not a play this time) And now the Blob alert you've all been eagerly awaiting, the Fat Old Guy Update, in which the Indianapolis Colts ex...
andonethingmore.blogspot.com
December 15, 2025 at 1:30 PM
thatbenguy.bsky.social
Mendoza wins Heisman. Basketball loses to Kentucky. The worm turns. andonethingmore.blogspot.com/2025/12/a-wh...
A WHAT school?
Two things happened in Bloomington, In., yesterday that, if not a sea change, was at least the latest evidence in Bizarre-oville vs. Normal...
andonethingmore.blogspot.com
December 14, 2025 at 2:56 PM
thatbenguy.bsky.social
Moore's story just gets sadder. andonethingmore.blogspot.com/2025/12/a-ve...
A very bad day, Part Deux
I know what I'm supposed to say now, with the full extent of Sherrone Moore's unraveling becoming clearer. It's right here in my Officially...
andonethingmore.blogspot.com
December 12, 2025 at 1:48 PM
thatbenguy.bsky.social
ND, the ACC and the Bottom Line Bowl. andonethingmore.blogspot.com/2025/12/iris...
Irish 'byes, Part Deux
Four days along now and everyone's still on Notre Dame's case, partly because some folks live to jump on Notre Dame's case and partly becau...
andonethingmore.blogspot.com
December 11, 2025 at 3:11 PM
thatbenguy.bsky.social
Wednesday comes crashing down on Sherrone Moore. andonethingmore.blogspot.com/2025/12/a-ve...
A very bad day
There have been other Wednesdays in Sherrone Moore's life, a lot of them,  but yesterday had to be an all-timer. And not in a Best-Actor-Os...
andonethingmore.blogspot.com
December 11, 2025 at 1:02 PM
thatbenguy.bsky.social
The continuing adventures of Grandpa Phil. andonethingmore.blogspot.com/2025/12/a-ri...
A Rivers Runs Through It*
(*A play in one act) Morning. The head coach's office at the Indianapolis Colts complex. In a panicked frenzy, Shane Steichen is tearing op...
andonethingmore.blogspot.com
December 10, 2025 at 1:42 PM