Ben Smith
LightNews LightNews
thatbenguy.bsky.social
Ben Smith
@thatbenguy.bsky.social
46 followers 33 following 570 posts
Retired sports columnist for the Fort Wayne (In.) Journal Gazette. Former marketing writer at Manchester University. Civil war/history nerd. Crabby old fart.
Posts Replies Media Videos
thatbenguy.bsky.social
Of All-Stars tryin', stock cars flyin' and ice skaters sighin'. andonethingmore.blogspot.com/2026/02/a-br...
A brief pause for poimes
... or, in the proper vernacular, "poems." Yes, it's Valentine's Day again, and you know what that means: It's time once more for all real ...
andonethingmore.blogspot.com
February 14, 2026 at 2:38 PM
thatbenguy.bsky.social
Jerome Tang lets it fly. andonethingmore.blogspot.com/2026/02/an-h...
An HOF rant
It's been a few days now since Kansas State basketball coach Jerome Tang went Full Mike Gundy on his own team, but the nation's ears are st...
andonethingmore.blogspot.com
February 13, 2026 at 3:21 PM
thatbenguy.bsky.social
Olympic skating scandals? Tanking in the NBA? Say it ain't so. andonethingmore.blogspot.com/2026/02/toda...
February 13, 2026 at 2:28 PM
thatbenguy.bsky.social
The Olympics, the Veep and America. andonethingmore.blogspot.com/2026/02/just...
Just not getting it
"You're not there to pop off about politics.  You're there to play a sport. You're there to represent your country and hopefully win a med...
andonethingmore.blogspot.com
February 12, 2026 at 3:01 PM
thatbenguy.bsky.social
Today in fearful ski jumpers and blabbermouth biathletes. andonethingmore.blogspot.com/2026/02/more...
More Olympian feats
You can have your U.S. women's hockey team -- swatted nemesis Canada 5-0 yesterday, yes, the ladies did -- and your latest American figure ...
andonethingmore.blogspot.com
February 11, 2026 at 1:00 PM
thatbenguy.bsky.social
Of Lindsey, Breezy and King Joffrey. andonethingmore.blogspot.com/2026/02/olym...
Olympian questions
Hanging out in my neighborhood hang yesterday, watching Sam Darnold and Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III tour Disneyland (and wondering if ...
andonethingmore.blogspot.com
February 10, 2026 at 1:28 PM
thatbenguy.bsky.social
Well ... it was definitely a football game. andonethingmore.blogspot.com/2026/02/that...
That game
So, then: Seattle 29, New England 13. Drake Maye 3 turnovers; Sam Darnold 0. Patriots 79 yards rushing; Kenneth Walker III 135. Patriots 1 ...
andonethingmore.blogspot.com
February 9, 2026 at 1:52 PM
thatbenguy.bsky.social
Could be Patriots. Should be Seahawks. andonethingmore.blogspot.com/2026/02/and-...
And your winner is ...
OK, OK, O- kay . Guess I've put this off as long as I can. You want to know who's gonna win the Big Roman Numeral today, right? "Nah, nah, ...
andonethingmore.blogspot.com
February 8, 2026 at 1:04 PM
thatbenguy.bsky.social
Of Sonny Jurgensen, and the tellers of his tale. andonethingmore.blogspot.com/2026/02/the-...
The great vacancy
So Sonny Jurgensen is dead now, and who is left, I ask? Who is left to throw the deep out, the flag and the post, the home run ball to Char...
andonethingmore.blogspot.com
February 7, 2026 at 1:40 PM
thatbenguy.bsky.social
America's Game. Triple Salchows. What a weekend. andonethingmore.blogspot.com/2026/02/a-wi...
A wintry mix
It's snowing again outside as I write this, winter doing what winter does some years in these northern climes. This year in particular what...
andonethingmore.blogspot.com
February 6, 2026 at 2:00 PM
thatbenguy.bsky.social
RIP to a baseball icon, but not to associations. andonethingmore.blogspot.com/2026/02/mick...
Mickey Lolich, and a son's tale
So word comes down now that Mickey Lolich has died, and again I think of my father. This is the grand American construct, of course, father...
andonethingmore.blogspot.com
February 5, 2026 at 2:03 PM
thatbenguy.bsky.social
Of Fido and football (sort of). andonethingmore.blogspot.com/2026/02/this...
This just in ...
Because the Blob is your First Source For News You Can Use (or something like that), we present to you this morning a couple of breaking (o...
andonethingmore.blogspot.com
February 4, 2026 at 1:08 PM
thatbenguy.bsky.social
Super Bowl Opening Night? It's still wack. andonethingmore.blogspot.com/2026/02/the-...
The lunacy lives
In world of bizarre flights of fancy from our national "leaders", plus a general free-floating insanity from same, it's comforting to know ...
andonethingmore.blogspot.com
February 3, 2026 at 1:26 PM
thatbenguy.bsky.social
Let the bacchanal begin. andonethingmore.blogspot.com/2026/02/welc...
Welcome to Super Roman Numeral Week
I don't know if the groundhog or porcupine or whatever it is saw his shadow this morning, but I do know what today ushers in. It's Super Ro...
andonethingmore.blogspot.com
February 2, 2026 at 2:31 PM
thatbenguy.bsky.social
Bomb cyclone craters the Clash. andonethingmore.blogspot.com/2026/02/moth...
Mother Unnatural, Part Deux
So remember yesterday, when the Blob talked about Nelly Korda and the LPGA and the bomb cyclone that hit Orlando and the rest of Florida be...
andonethingmore.blogspot.com
February 2, 2026 at 1:00 PM
thatbenguy.bsky.social
Frozen birdies on the menu in Orlando. andonethingmore.blogspot.com/2026/02/moth...
Mother Unnatural
Happy February, everyone, that benighted month in which "winter wonderland" becomes an epithet and everyone thanks the calendar gods that i...
andonethingmore.blogspot.com
February 1, 2026 at 1:59 PM
thatbenguy.bsky.social
Novak Djokovic, modern miracle. andonethingmore.blogspot.com/2026/01/the-...
The immortal one
Look, I don't know what keeps Novak Djokovic going. Carrot juice, perhaps. Kale smoothies. Peanut M&Ms. All I know is, yesterday down in Au...
andonethingmore.blogspot.com
January 31, 2026 at 2:22 PM
thatbenguy.bsky.social
And now ... "Melania"! andonethingmore.blogspot.com/2026/01/movi...
Movie time!
(In which the Blob once again escapes the Sportsball compound to maraud freely through the landscape of America, pillaging small villages an...
andonethingmore.blogspot.com
January 31, 2026 at 1:32 PM
thatbenguy.bsky.social
The Blob's mentor introduces some reason. andonethingmore.blogspot.com/2026/01/and-...
And now, the Non-Grump Factor
The Blob had some tongue-in-cheek yesterday at the expense of its four-decade profession -- "stupid sportswriters" was the unifying theme -...
andonethingmore.blogspot.com
January 30, 2026 at 1:45 PM
thatbenguy.bsky.social
The cult of no personality sinks Bill Belichick. andonethingmore.blogspot.com/2026/01/the-...
The Grump Factor
Couple of days now since Bill Belichick got the big snub from the Pro Football Hall of Fame voters, and the prevailing zeitgeist has boiled...
andonethingmore.blogspot.com
January 29, 2026 at 1:35 PM
thatbenguy.bsky.social
In bonkers Assembly Hall, football magic rubs off on basketball. andonethingmore.blogspot.com/2026/01/tran...
Transferrable
Coach Cig and some of the boys were in the house, and they brought their shiny new hardware with them. So straightaway the mojo was right. ...
andonethingmore.blogspot.com
January 28, 2026 at 1:45 PM
thatbenguy.bsky.social
The Post surrenders the sports field. Apparently. andonethingmore.blogspot.com/2026/01/disa...
Disappearing act
Cruising through my socials today, and I came across a couple of posts from a Facethingy bro that made me sigh and shake my head. (This is ...
andonethingmore.blogspot.com
January 27, 2026 at 10:46 PM
thatbenguy.bsky.social
Shedeur Sanders on the Pro Bowl? Big whoop. andonethingmore.blogspot.com/2026/01/the-...
The Who Cares Bowl
Lots of people ... OK, some people ... OK, a few people ... have been caterwauling lately about Shedeur Sanders being named to the Pro Bowl...
andonethingmore.blogspot.com
January 27, 2026 at 1:36 PM
thatbenguy.bsky.social
New faces and old school for Supe 60. andonethingmore.blogspot.com/2026/01/welc...
Welcome to the big city
So, OK, then: Patriots vs. Seahawks in the 60th Super Bowl. Two head coaches who've never been to the Big Supe as head coaches. Two quarterb...
andonethingmore.blogspot.com
January 26, 2026 at 1:31 PM
thatbenguy.bsky.social
Remembering John Brodie. andonethingmore.blogspot.com/2026/01/anot...
Another one gone
Little by little these days, my childhood disappears. This will happen when you ascend to the first class section of codgerdom, which I can...
andonethingmore.blogspot.com
January 24, 2026 at 2:02 PM