A partial day's drive

We left Bartlett at about 1:00pm or so - intentionally - and first went by the knitting store in Elgin because Ellen wanted more yarn of the same color she had bought there earlier. But they had run out. She got the name of the color -  maybe she can get it back home at Webs. Then we headed for I-90 East, got caught in traffic, missed a turn and got dumped in downtown Chicago. Siri - our iPhone GPS - helped us find our way back to I-90 and the Chicago Skyway, which got us out of the heavy traffic because it is a toll road. We worked our way down to US 6 and took it East to Bowling Green, OH. Problem -- heavy rain, poor visibility, and a section of highway where Ellen could hardly see where the road was. I had made a motel reservation in Bowling Green, but we began to wonder if we could get there. But when we crossed into Ohio, US 6 improved with better lines and reflectors and much better visibility.  It was still challenging but doable, and we made it to BG by 9pm (8pm our time because we had passed into the Eastern Time Zone and lost an hour). But in our attempt to find the Days Inn where our room was. our iPhone GPS led us into a maze of apartment houses and when we dead-ended in a parking lot, it announced "Arrived!" No way!  So we were on our own and eventually found the Days Inn  but it wasn't easy. The room is spartan - e.g., no carpet  - but fine, and the price is reasonable - $48 incl. tax and bfst. We hope to sleep well.

Our  room at Days Inn

So, the plan is to get within 2-3 hours of home tomorrow (Sunday), spend the night maybe near Albany, and then arrive home late Monday morning so we can build a fire, turn on the heat, go shopping and get the place warm - especially the bedroom - by the time we have to go to bed. then we'll have Tuesday to get ready for River Singers Tuesday night.

Oh yes - the "Heels played Florida State today. I had hoped to stream a radio broadcast of the game through the iPhone, but never succeeded. But I did get a live stream of a play-by-play,  so I followed the game at least, and UNC again won easily over a very "hot" team and ended FS's  8-game winning streak. Wins over two very good teams in 3 days.

The cloud over all this is the fallout from the Duke game - where Zion Williamson's shoe exploded. That incident put a microscope on the practice Nike has of "buying" college teams to get exclusive use of their equipment, including shoes. We don't know what Nike paid Duke for this exclusive contract, because Duke is private and is not obligated to disclose financial information. But UNC is public and is obligated. Last year Nike paid UNC $10 million, and Coach Roy WIlliams got $300,000 from them. That's on top of a huge salary.  Undoubtedly  the payment to Duke and Coach K is similar if not more. But the student athlete gets nothing, except the shoes. Zion Williamson got an injury because he had to wear a defective Nike, and he gets no compensation for that - which could conceivably end his career - while Duke and Coach K make out like crazy. Doesn't seem fair. Plus, an NBA rule against a high school grad going directly into the NBA - he has to go to college for at least a year - makes it even more unfair. Some commentators are saying Zion Williamson would be well-advised to drop out of Duke, cut the risk of further injury, and prepare for the NBA draft where he is expected to be a #1 pick. It's all sort of obscene. But I still enjoy watching these "boys" play their hearts out. I'm sure there are ways it could be made fairer for the so-called "student athlete."

Zion Williamson and Coach K