Things That Make You Say - What The.....?

Well as part of my travels, I often pass by the new Monroe Hospital on Highway 37 just south of town. I have been travelling this way since long before the hospital was a thought in the founders minds. The intersection of Fullerton Pike and Indiana 37 has always been a point of controversy. There have been accidents there often as far back as I can recall. When I was a teenager, I traversed the intersection every day on my way to school (after turning 16 and getting my drivers license) and saw my share of accidents at that intersection. At that time it was as it should have been, no stop lights on the highway, only stop signs for the cross traffic.
Some said it was a danger to people pulling out onto or crossing the highway. There were some fatalities and eventually it was decided (wrongly IMO) that a stop light was needed on the Highway. Now bear in mind that you could see on coming traffic 1/2 mile or so in both directions, so any accidents were (IMO) a product of impatient drivers 'forcing' their way across the highway. The stop light wasn't necessarily a bad thing, I could definitely agree that it made traffic crossings easier and maybe even safer by building stop lights at that intersection. HOWEVER, the idiots responsible for the decision didn't bother to add turn lights on and off of the highway. This did absolutely NOTHING for safety at that intersection. If anything it gives a false sense of safety because crossing traffic now 'assumes' that highway traffic will be stopping for the Red Light when in fact often times it results in those drivers impatiently speeding up to run through the red light or even worse the lack of a turn light for the highway traffic results in the same impatient drivers continuing to force their way across the on coming traffic resulting in more accidents.
This all being said, the addition of the Hospital at this intersection demands the highway to have a stop light and now it is very necessary for traffic to be controlled at that crossing. However since the ignorance of the planners still hasn't allowed them to add the necessary turn lights, accidents are only going to increase at tragic increments. On my way through the other day, I came upon the aftermath of one of these accidents. There was no report that I saw in the newspaper, and I did not witness the crash just the scene afterwards so I don't now what happened for sure. Given the intersections history and the placement of the wreckage though, I would speculate someone was trying turn across the highway and managed a head on collision with a north bound traveller. Had the traffic planners had their heads outside their body cavities, they may have foreseen this and added the necessary turn lights for the intersection.
Now that the hospital has opened, traffic has increased significantly. This ignorant stop light configuration is causing more problems than it solved. What needs to happen, and happen immediately is the installation of the much needed turn arrows. If we are going to have a stop light at this intersection (which now I firmly believe is a necessity) we MUST get the proper turn lights installed to allow safe crossings of the north and south bound lanes. It always fails to amaze me at the serious lack of foresight that the planners of Bloomington and Monroe County have in regards to domestic growth and expansion. We only can hope that the madness ends soon and someone realizes that things are not being done as they should be. If not, I fear there are going to be some tragic consequences.

Colts Win, Colts Win!

Well its official, Peyton Manning has gotten the monkey off his back. Trailing 34-31 and forced to punt the ball away following a horrendous 3 downs with just over 3 minutes or so to play. The Indianapolis Colts defense came through and forced a Patriots punt. Manning took over with just over 2 minutes remaining at their own 20 yard line. Manning marched down the field quickly and efficiently with pass after pass completed.
With 2:01 remaining Manning completed a short pass across the middle to Reggie Wayne for 14 yards but a roughing the passer (blow to the helmet) tacked on to the end of the play. A couple of Joseph Addai runs up the middle left the Colts with 3rd and 2 from the New England Patriots 3 yard line, a perfect time for the Colts signature play action pass to the end zone. That apparently is what the New England Patriots defense was thinking also, because they appeared completely surprised when Addai took his third straight hand-off right up the middle for the go ahead score. Follow the extra point, the Colt's prepared to kick off leading 38-34 with exactly 1:00 minute remaining.
Tom Brady took over with :54 seconds remaining and looked poised to march down the field for another of his miraculous last minute game winning drives. The Patriots marched quickly to mid-field and just were crossing into Colts territory with just over :20 seconds remaining. Brady lined up in the shot-gun formation and looked to Troy Brown over the middle to put them within striking distance for 4 plays into the end zone for the win. The often under estimated Colts defense stepped up, and Marlin Jackson picked off the pass to Brown ending the Patriots run at another Super Bowl appearance.
There were many big plays by many players on the Colts team on Sunday. Perhaps overlooked by the performances of Manning and Addai on the last drive were the plays throughout the day by the offensive line and Dominick Rhodes the Colts second running back. Rhodes carried the ball 14 times for 69 yards and caught 4 Manning passes for another 38 yards. Addai cleaned up the last possession, but Rhodes ball control kept the Colts moving and in the game throughout the day. Rhodes one slip up was a fumble at the goal line, which ended up in offensive center Jeff Saturday's hands for a Colts touch down. If we were giving out the game balls, Saturday and Rhodes would have shared it.
Congratulations go out to Coach Dungy and the Colts on a great AFC Championship! Thanks for a great season and an exciting championship game. Now just 'shuffle' the Bears out of Miami and bring that Lombardi Trophy home to Indianapolis.

Local Soldier's Family Homeless After House Fire

A local family has lost its home and most of their belongings after a fire destroyed their Bloomington home. National Guardsman Kenneth Caincross is stationed in Iraq, and at the time of this blog may not even be aware of the fire. Caincross' wife (Anita) and two children were home at the time the fire broke out, fortunately Anita Caincross was able to rescue both children and the family's dogs from the fire and everyone is safe. The cabin the family called home, apparently wasn't so lucky. It was a completely destroyed, taking most of the family possessions with it. Fortunately the cabin was insured, but that isn't much consolation right now to a family without a roof over their heads.

According to the radio station Hoosier Country 105 this am, Anita Caincross spent most of her December organizing care packages for our hero's over sea's. Bad things shouldn't happen to good people, and everyone is encouraged to give back to the family who has done so much for our fighting men and women overseas but contributing whatever they can to aide them in getting back on their feet.

Anyone willing to help can do so by contacting the Monroe County Red Cross at 812-332-7292 and making a donation.

Bob Knight Breaks All Time Win Record

Well like him or hate him, Bob Knight is now the all time winningest coach in NCAA history. Knight surpassed the great North Carolina Coach Dean Smith with 880 career wins when his Texas Tech Red Raiders defeated New Mexico 70-68 on Monday. His fans and supporters tout this accomplishment as the pinnacle of a Hall of Fame career and his detractors say its just another game won by a bully who hasn't won a game of importance in 15 years. The administrators of the Btown Address stand somewhere in the middle. We have the greatest respect for Coach Knight and appreciate everything he has done for College Basketball and for the student athletes he has coached over the years. Even though he has stated many times records and accomplishments are meaningless to him, we congratulate Coach Knight and thank him for his contributions to College basketball.

Update: AJ Ratliff

Updating an earlier rumour that Hoosier A.J. Ratliff was leaving the team, his appearance and participation in the Hoosiers defeat of Ball State over the weekend solidified the concept of 'Don't believe what you hear and only half of what you read'. Ratliff released a statement that a missed practice was at the stem of the rumour although it was just a scheduling miss-communication.