SATURDAY JAM: You feel the turning of the world, so soft and slow

An era will come to an end in my personal life this afternoon.

Now this isn’t some kind of life-altering change, more of an annual tradition that I would like to have kept going for several more years.

But when the Monon Bell Classic kicks off at Little Giant Stadium on the beautiful Wabash College campus at 1:07 p.m., I won’t be in attendance.

It’s a streak that began on Saturday, Nov. 11, 1999 and came to an end, apparently, on Saturday, Nov. 12, 2022.

That’s 23 straight games – would’ve been 24 straight if not for that pesky global pandemic a few years back.

Over that time, the Little Giants of my alma mater have a 15-8 record in the series, good enough to take them from a 48-48-9 all-time tie in the series to a 63-56-9 lead. (College football no longer has ties, so that last figure won’t be changing anytime soon.)

I’m not saying I have anything to do with the good run for Wabash. I most assuredly don’t, particularly when you consider that I’ve been living in enemy territory here in Greencastle since 2007.

In fact, over my time attending and loving the Monon Bell Classic, I’ve gone from naive freshman who would’ve gladly attended either school (but Wabash gave me better scholarships), to DePauw-loathing undergraduate, to recent grad who still hated DePauw, to Greencastle-based sports writer who wore his red under several layers of neutral colors, to essentially a neutral in the series who just really loves this game.

Because make no mistake about it, for all the grief I give my Old Gold friends with whom I exchange banter each year at the Greencastle Rotary meeting before the big game (Love you Vince, Jinsie and David, among others. Welcome to the fray, Wes!) I love this rivalry more than I love Wabash football or DePauw football.

I love it so much that in 2016, with Wabash riding a seven-game win streak that was threatening to take the vigor out of this rivalry, I was sitting in the Wabash stands quietly hoping DePauw would pull off the win.

That game, capped off by Matt Hunt finding brother Andy Hunt in the end zone for a 37-34 DePauw win, is the single greatest game I’ve witnessed in 23 years of the rivalry, no matter who won.

On the other hand, there was the 2001 game — The Catch. DePauw was riding a five-game win streak and the game was tied when Wabash folk hero Jake Knott let loose a prayer that was tipped by tight end Ryan Short around the five-yard line to find Kurt Casper in the end zone for a 27-21 Little Giant victory. Bedlam ensued on the Wabash sideline at Blackstock Stadium.

I like to joke that it was one of the top five moments in my life. Between my marriage and the birth of two children, there are still two spots left, right?

In between there have been some other classic games and moments — The Kick in 2007 (DePauw 24-21), the conversion that probably wasn’t in 2017 (Wabash 22-21) and Chase Andries to Gavin Ritter in 2019 (DePauw 17-10 and probably my favorite photo I’ve ever taken).

Today could be another classic. I’d love to be there. But I love other things more.

You see, my son is acting in a Greencastle High School production of “The Music Man,” with the final performance set as a matinee this afternoon. It would be impossible to be in Crawfordsville for a 1:07 kickoff and in Parker Auditorium for a 2 p.m. curtain.

And while there was potential for me to feel a little more torn, I already missed family night on Tuesday for the election and the performance last night for a Father Daughter Dance with my eight-year-old Hannah. I saw it on Thursday, but I want to see it again.

So there really is no debate. I’ll be in Greencastle enjoying the play, even if I already know how it’s going to end.

I can start another streak next year.

And for those of you who come here for music analysis, I’m sorry. I’ll leave you with a song that was inescapable back in November 1999 when my streak began.

In fact, “Smooth” by Santana and Rob Thomas spent 12 weeks at the top of the Billboard chart from Oct. 23, 1999 through Jan. 8, 2000.

Click on the video or don’t. If you were the right age in 1999, the whole thing is already playing in your head anyway. You're welcome.