Welcome to this week’s Six Pack! Each week, I’ll share a mix of thoughts (some sports-related, some not) and I’d love for you to jump in with your reactions, ideas, or recommendations in the comments. Here’s what’s on my mind this week.
1. Better Than 6-7
We had a nice but very quiet Halloween evening in our neighborhood. I bet we had only 25 to 30 kids all night, which was very surprising. We live in a large, busy neighborhood, and while we do live on a cul-de-sac, this is by far the lowest attendance we’ve ever had. The weather was nice, so it just makes me wonder why?
On the positive side, my wife convinced me to buy a cheap firepit for the driveway, and it turned out to be a great call. My 23-year old daughter Mackenzie and a couple of her friends were over too, so we set it up out front, had the fire going, listened to music, enjoyed a few adult beverages, handed out candy when the rare group came by, and just had a really fun, relaxing night.
My son Cooper, who’s 12, had seven friends spend the night and they went all over the neighborhood. They came back with a big haul, but honestly the most impressive thing was the pumpkins he and Jamie carved the night before. They went with a “6-7” design that got a ton of love from people walking by, and at least four or five people stopped to take pictures.
I’ll be honest, until Thursday I had no idea what 6-7 even meant and had to Google it (yes, I’m old). Well, for those like me who also had no clue, it turns out it’s kind of intentionally vague and doesn’t really mean anything. It basically means “so-so” or “maybe this, maybe that.” But it has definitely become a popular meme and was even just named the 2025 Word of the Year. That’s a thing?
Either way, it was a really nice, uneventful Halloween at the Bierman house, and we enjoyed it. Calm, cozy, and anything but 6-7. Much closer to a solid 9-10 for sure.
2. Don’t Sleep On November Hoops
We’re deep into football season and that’s where most fans’ attention is these days, rightfully so. But I did want to call attention to the college hoops season tipping off. And while I get that March Madness is when that sport really gets people pumped up, I always enjoy the early season battles, whether they’re in some warm weather tournament, a neutral site, or just a solid nonconference matchup.
Outside of the deeper rounds of the NCAA Tournament, we rarely get to see top teams from different conferences go toe to toe, which is why I love November basketball. There are always a lot of good games between those blue blood and elite programs.
Here’s my ranking of the five best matchups this November and the ones I’ll definitely be watching, even if football is on a split screen too. And come March, I’m hoping my brackets are glad I started scouting early.
1. Florida vs. Arizona (Nov. 3, Hall of Fame Series, Las Vegas)
Defending champion and preseason No. 3 Florida begins its quest to become only the fourth team in the past 52 years to win back-to-back titles (joining Duke in 1991–92, Florida in 2006–07, and UConn in 2023–24). The Gators open against a talented No. 13 Arizona squad that returns four starters from last year’s Sweet 16 team. Under the bright lights of Las Vegas, this is a perfect way to tip off the new season.
2. Kentucky vs. Louisville (Nov. 11, Louisville)
One of the most underrated rivalries in college basketball, these two cities are less than 80 miles apart, and these fanbases do not like each other. Add in two top-11 ranked teams, and this one is going to feel more like a Final Four matchup than an early November game.
3. St. John’s vs. Alabama (Nov. 8, New York)
Coming off their best season in forty years, Rick Pitino has the Johnnies ranked fifth in the preseason. They lose top scorer and Big East Player of the Year RJ Luis Jr. to the NBA but return plenty of talent. An early-season battle against 15th-ranked Alabama at Madison Square Garden will be a great test and a fun watch.
4. Kansas vs. Duke (Nov. 18, Champions Classic, New York)
Two of the biggest brands in the sport, Kansas and Duke have only faced each other 15 times in history, with Duke holding an 8-7 edge. Both programs lost key pieces from last season, but I have a sneaky suspicion both will once again be right in the mix come March. This one should be a terrific early-season measuring stick for both.
5. Houston vs. Tennessee (Nov. 25, Players Era Festival, Las Vegas)
Houston came oh-so-close last season to winning its first ever basketball national championship, losing by two to Florida in the title game. They return three starters, are loaded again, and open the year ranked No. 2. They’ll face Rick Barnes and No. 18 Tennessee, a team coming off back-to-back Elite Eight runs but retooling with some new faces.
3. Good Comedy, Good Company, Good Choice
I’m a big concert and sporting event guy and love going to live shows, but for some reason, I never think of comedians. I enjoy them and always laugh when I go, but it just never seems to pop in my head as something to buy tickets for, even the big names.
Thankfully, our close friends noticed that Nate Bargatze was coming to Cincinnati for two shows last weekend and suggested we buy tickets. And I’m really glad we did.
I’ve seen some of his stuff, and always found him funny, but can’t say I knew a ton of his material or would have called myself a big fan. I certainly am now. Like most great comedians, his material is fantastic of course, but it’s his delivery that sets him apart. He’s a master storyteller who just knows how to land it.
As great as he was, I also have to give some love to the other comedians who opened for him. All four were funny, as you’d expect, but two in particular stood out. Julian McCullough was the emcee and was downright hilarious. The best opener, though, was probably Greg Warren, a former Procter & Gamble employee who used to sell Jif peanut butter. That guy definitely knows how to tell a story, and he had the crowd laughing nonstop.
What made the whole night even better was that through all five comedians, not one swear word was uttered. No inappropriate jokes, no politics, nothing polarizing. It was just clean, clever humor built around everyday life and family and was really the kind of stuff everyone can relate to.
I had a great time, and we already grabbed tickets to see Greg Warren again when he headlines at the Funny Bone near us in December. If you haven’t seen Nate Bargatze before and enjoy good, clean humor, I highly recommend it.
4. The Forgotten Priest
Travis Kelce tied the all-time Chiefs record for touchdowns last week with 83. If you’ve read my stuff or listened to the podcast, you know I don’t love Kelce. I think he acts like a crybaby when things don’t go his way, and I just don’t care for how he carries himself most of the time. That said, he’s one of the greatest tight ends of this era and deserves credit for what he’s done on the field.
But let’s take a closer look at who he’s tied with. It’s not Tyreek Hill or Tony Gonzalez. It’s Priest Holmes, the running back who quietly put together one of the best five-year runs in NFL history.
Holmes played from 1997 to 2007, starting his career with the Ravens, where he won a Super Bowl as Jamal Lewis’ backup. In 2001, he signed with Kansas City, and everything changed.
From 2001 to 2006, Holmes was nearly unstoppable. In just five full seasons with the Chiefs, he racked up 83 touchdowns, was named NFL Offensive Player of the Year in 2002, and earned three straight First-Team All-Pro selections and three Pro Bowls (2001–2003). He also led the league in rushing yards in 2001, rushing touchdowns in 2002 and 2003, and total scoring in 2002.
When he retired, Holmes didn’t just have the franchise touchdown record, he also left as the Chiefs’ all-time leading rusher, a mark later passed by Jamaal Charles. His run was short, but it was spectacular and just proves how brutal the running back position can be. His health eventually gave out, but for those five years, few players in football were better.
While Holmes is on the Hall of Fame nominee list, it is unlikely he ever makes it to Canton because his peak just wasn’t long enough. Thankfully, he’s rightly enshrined in the Chiefs Hall of Fame.
So congrats to Travis Kelce on tying the record and likely breaking it soon. But let’s not forget what Priest Holmes accomplished. He did it in less than half the time, with a weaker supporting cast, and with a level of dominance you rarely see in today’s NFL.
5. An Instant Classic In Toronto
I’ve said it here before, but there is not much better in sports than a Game 7. Add in overtime or extra innings to a winner-take-all, and that’s about as good as it gets. And that’s exactly what we got Saturday night between the Dodgers and Blue Jays.
In only the sixth World Series Game 7 ever to reach extra innings, these two teams gave us an absolute, late-night beauty. It took 11 innings to settle, and when it was finally over, the Dodgers escaped Toronto with a 5-4 win and their second straight championship, becoming the first MLB team to repeat since the 1998-2000 Yankees.
I was definitely rooting for the Blue Jays, and they deserve a ton of credit, but I’ve got to give it up to a few of the Dodgers who delivered huge moments. Yoshinobu Yamamoto was ridiculous. A day after throwing six innings in Game 6, he came out of the bullpen in Game 7 and finished the job, throwing two and two-thirds innings to close it out. He became just the ninth pitcher ever to pitch the day after going at least six, joining legends like Randy Johnson and Orel Hershiser. He also became the first pitcher ever to win three road games in a single World Series and the first to win both Games 6 and 7 on the road. Wow.
Then there was Miguel Rojas, who stepped up in the ninth with a game-tying home run, becoming only the second player in World Series history with a game-tying or go-ahead home run in the ninth inning of a winner-take-all game, joining Bill Mazeroski’s famous walk-off homer in 1960.
And finally, there is Will Smith. In the eleventh, he hit the go-ahead homer, the first extra-inning home run in a World Series Game 7 (that surprised me!). He also caught every inning of the series, seventy-three in total, breaking a record that had stood for more than a century.
This was the 2,477th game of the 2025 season, the longest year in baseball history, and it ended exactly the way it should have: tense, dramatic, and unforgettable. The Dodgers became just the ninth team to win Games 6 and 7 of a World Series on the road and the only one to come from behind in the ninth inning of a Game 7 away from home.
As much as I was pulling for Toronto, the Dodgers certainly earned this one. Yamamoto, Rojas, and Smith gave us an incredible night and reminded us that the unscripted, unpredictable nature of sports is what makes it so special, and a Game 7 only makes it that much better.
6. Thanks Doc
As mentioned earlier, Cooper is twelve, and his choice of Halloween costume surprised me in a great way. In a year when some of the most popular kids’ costumes included Ghostface, Squid Game characters, and Art the Clown (from the horror Terrifier series), Coop decided to be The Lorax. He absolutely nailed it, wearing it all day at school and again that night trick-or-treating. It made me so happy to see the innocence, the creativity, and the commitment. And it got me thinking about the man behind the mustache, the one and only Dr. Seuss. So here’s a brief tribute to one of the most influential children’s authors of all time.
Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, wrote and illustrated more than 60 books that have sold over 600 million copies and been translated into more than 20 languages. His stories, like The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, Horton Hears a Who, and The Lorax, have been read aloud by parents to their kids for generations. But they’ve also done more than entertain. They’ve sparked conversations about kindness, fairness, imagination, and caring for others. From the simple rhymes that helped kids learn to read to the deeper messages in stories like The Sneetches or The Butter Battle Book, his words helped shape how many of us think about empathy, equality, and creativity.
Seuss’s legacy only grew after his death in 1991. His work has inspired countless movies, TV specials, and even a Broadway musical. His birthday, March 2, is now celebrated as Read Across America Day, an awesome reminder of how much joy and learning his books have brought to families everywhere.
And in case you’re wondering, my all-time favorite? Gotta go with How The Grinch Stole Christmas. What can I say, every time his “small heart grew three sizes that day,” mine seems to as well.
Thanks for checking out this week’s Six Pack, Sandman Nation! I’d love to hear your thoughts: what resonated with you, what you disagree with, or your own takes on these topics. Drop your comments and let’s keep the conversation going.
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