I am trying to get a grip on society right now. I’m sitting here in my kitchen and I am trying to figure out what the hell is going on in our world. I’d feel accomplished if I even knew what was going on in our own county community.

Over the past four years our local communities have been hit with a streak of teen suicides and that number grew on Sunday as Plymouth junior David Bacon took his own life. I am unsure as to what the total of local teen suicides now stands at, to be honest I’d probably be sick if I saw the number.

There seems to be a very prevalent culture of death, or just an obvious lack of respect for the sanctity of human life among teenagers right now. Why is death the answer? What led these kids to that result? I ask these questions honestly because I certainly do not have the answer to them.

I’m praying for the local communities that have been victims of this heartache over the past few years because they deserve better.

It seems to be a popular belief, right or wrong, that people end their own lives thinking that the world will be a better place without them. I can personally attest to that belief being incorrect.

Nearly four years ago I sat in the gymnasium at Wawasee High School during a varsity basketball game as news crept around the venue that WHS student KC Ochs had taken his own life. The level of pain and darkness that was felt in that gym was something that I hope to never experience again. The world was not a better place without KC that night, nor is it any better now.

My classmate Jacob Haneline took his own life not six months after we had graduated. The feeling of being at his funeral was something I cannot forget. Jacob was one of the funniest people I had ever known, that’s a fact that holds true today. He had a way about him that drew people in, he was everybody’s friend, and for good reason. The world is not a better place without Jacob.

I did not know David Bacon. I did not know his family. I barely know much of the Plymouth community. But I do know that just from seeing the grief and sadness that has swept over that school in the past few days, the world is not a better place without David.

I cannot explain suicide or why it is so commonly chosen as the solution to problems. I hope that any person reading this values their life more than to have it end in such a horrible fashion.

If, for some reason, those thoughts ever do creep into your head. Talk to someone, anyone, because there is always a better answer. Email, social media, text, phone call. There are more than enough ways to get a hold of someone. I’ll talk to you, I don’t have to know you to understand that your life has meaning and that the world is better with you in it.

Last Week: 7-3
Overall: 30-11

High School Football 9/25

Triton (1-4, 1-3) at Winamac (3-2, 3-2), 7 p.m.
The Scoop: The good news for Triton: Winamac is not nearly as good as it was last year.
The bad news for Triton: Winamac is still pretty darn good.
The Trojans are struggling to get any rhythm on offense as they average just over nine points per game. Winamac’s defense is far from stout, but it has only given up more than 16 points in its two losses to LaVille and Pioneer. This is a game that will require the Trojans to get things going early if they want to win. If Winamac comes out and sets the tone then Triton will be in for another long night on the gridiron.
Nick’s Pick: Winamac 34, Triton 13.

Manchester (0-5, 0-3) at Tippecanoe Valley (1-4, 0-3), 7 p.m.
The Scoop: Valley kept shooting itself in the foot last week at Whitko. The Vikings never found a rhythm and it showed. Manchester seems to have struggled to find any rhythm on the field at all since its season debut at Mississinewa. The Squires lost that contest 27-20 but have since been beaten 41-20, 42-0, 34-21 and 65-6. Valley has at least remained competitive in its games outside of 59-7 loss at the hands of undefeated Northfield (for the record, Northfield is the team that hung 65 on Manchester).
I think the Vikings find that rhythm they missed last week in this contest with the Squires and pick up a comfortable victory.
Nick’s Pick: Tippecanoe Valley 36, Manchester 16.

No. 1 Plymouth (5-0, 3-0) at Wawasee (2-3, 0-3), 7 p.m.
The Scoop: I picked the Warriors last week and that turned out to be very foolish as Wawasee had a poor showing at NorthWood. In years past Wawasee has played spoiler to the Rockies at the most surprising of times which is why I was leaning on picking the Warriors in this game, just for shock value, up until last week. The team that I saw play Saturday night in Nappanee needs to go away and never come back. If that team shows up tonight against Plymouth, this game will get ugly. Now, if those kinks are worked out then this could be an entertaining game between two teams that love to run the football. The problem I’m having is that I don’t know which Wawasee team will show up. It’s Homecoming in Syracuse so don’t rule anything out of the equation.
Nick’s Pick: Plymouth 35, Wawasee 14.

Warsaw (2-3, 1-2) at Goshen (4-1, 2-1), 7 p.m.
The Scoop: Concord finally proved that Goshen is not immortal with a 24-20 win last week. But what is more impressive is that Goshen played Concord that tough in what was the Redskins first true challenge. After hearing that final score I had all but assumed to pick Goshen in this game but then I watched the Tigers pull together for an impressive win against Northridge, even if the Raiders did have some injury issues.
Warsaw’s defense was a lot of fun to watch last week. Those boys were getting after it and setting up camp in Northridge’s backfield. If the Tigers can find a way to do that again against the Redskins, then I have no doubt that Michael Jensen and the offense will take care of business. I surprised people by picking the Tigers last week, will twice be as nice?
Nick’s Pick: Warsaw 24, Goshen 23.

Whitko (2-3, 1-2) at Southwood (2-3, 2-1), 7 p.m.
The Scoop: Whitko picked up its first conference win last week with a 12-0 shutout over Valley. The folks in South Whiltey and I are both hoping that the start of a turn around to the season. Southwood presents a very winnable matchup for the Wildcats, but far from a guaranteed win. Both offenses average around 19 points per game which tells me this game will come down to which defense can make the adjustments and come up with big stops. I liked what I saw from the Wildcats defense last weekend and I look for that unit to come up big again this week in another low-scoring contest.
Nick’s Pick: Whitko 16, Southwood 7.

College Football 9/26

Bowling Green (1-2) at Purdue (1-2), 12 p.m.
The Scoop: Judging by past performances from Purdue, this game is not a guaranteed win. Thankfully the Boilers can still lean on future NFL backup QB Austin Appleby in this contest. Oh wait, no they can’t. Appleby was benched this week in favor of redshirt freshman David Blough. Don’t be alarmed, Boiler fans, Darrell Hazell knows what he is doing. He certainly won’t end up trashing the career of this poor kid like he did with Danny Etling and, apparently now, Appleby. I’m sure this will end happily for all parties involved.
Nick’s (reluctant) Pick: Purdue 35, Bowling Green 17.

Indiana (3-0) at Wake Forrest (2-1), 12:30 p.m.
The Scoop: The hashtag #iufb4gameday is the hottest thing to happen to Indiana football since Bill Mallory and the Hoosiers upset No. 9 Ohio State in the Horseshoe in 1987. The hashtag is the center of a movement to get ESPN’s College GameDay program to Bloomington next Saturday for Indiana-Ohio State. It’s a long shot, but the movement has received national attention and the game has at least made the list of potential spots for the program to visit on Oct. 3. Here’s the thing, IU has to make it to 4-0 or this pipe dream goes down the tubes. But this game is bigger than getting ESPN on campus, IU is looking to go 4-0 for the first time since 1990. That year the Hoosiers made it to the Peach Bowl. Getting that fourth win would suddenly open IU up to a nearly guaranteed bowl bid given some of the teams remaining on the schedule. This has already been dubbed by some Hoosier bloggers “the biggest game in program history”, even though it’s not.
I have been an IU fan since 2003 for reasons that I cannot fully explain so I have been waiting for a nice 4-0 start, a GameDay visit and the potential dream of an 8-win season so this moment is huge for me, for the program and for AMERICA. Which means only one thing will happen…
Nick’s Pick: Wake Forrest 31, Indiana 27.

UMass (0-2) at No. 8 Notre Dame (3-0), 3:30 p.m.
The Scoop: IU needs UMass to win so ND-Clemson doesn’t steal GameDay next week, I’m not optimistic.

…I have nothing else to add, it’s frickin’ UMass.
Nick’s Pick: Notre Dame 42, UMass 13.

Ball State (2-1) at No. 17 Northwestern (3-0), 8 p.m.
The Scoop: Primetime is Cardinal Time! Okay, it’s really not.
Maybe Ball State will keep it close but I doubt it.
Nick’s Pick: Northwestern 48, Ball State 17.

NFL 9/27

Indianapolis (0-2) at Tennessee (1-1), 1 p.m.
The Scoop: The Colts look bad, really bad. The offensive line is garbage and the inside linebackers are just as bad. Andrew Luck will be fine, I think he’ll bounce back this week or next week, but he has to have better play from his line. I’m not optimistic about this game because I think Titans D-coordinator Dick LeBeau will coach the heck out of his unit and that will cause issues for Colts O-coordinator Pep “child gloves” Hamilton.
I can’t believe I’m doing this and I’ll probably regret it…
Nick’s Pick: Titans 27, Colts 24.

Chicago (0-2) at Seattle (0-2), 4:25 p.m.
The Scoop: Yes, both teams are 0-2 but how they got there are very different stories. The Bears are a mess right now and Seattle get Kam Chancellor back, this game has all the makings of getting ugly.
Nick’s Pick: Seahawks 38, Bears 17.