Baby Across America Tour: Nightmare Road

Third in a multi-part series of taking a 7-month-old baby and two dogs halfway across America in a minivan. Read earlier parts here.

Daddy’s Log: Day 4, St. Louis metro 

Go big or go home

Finally, I made the call with a threatening sky looming in the west: Back that van up! Annnd we juuuust barely made it. After driving about 2 miles, the unseasonably chilly July day set up another delay: The tires needed more air.

With rain falling again, I ditched the idea of having anything on my feet at all. The good folks of St. Louis County can just be happy I was trying to get moving, because a whole lot more may have come off had I not been trying to make up lost time.

Except for steady rain, the first hour passed with little trouble. As we headed into rural Missouri on I-70, the rain became much heavier, and the outside temperature gauge read 62. In Missouri. In July.

What's wrong with the 2014 Northwestern Wildcats?

NOTE: Trying out a different feature, with the "too long, didn't read" Brainless Summary for anyone reading who has been brainwashed by the ESPN-ification of sports and can't handle analysis with anything deeper than "That quarterback is good because he wins." Maybe you'll enjoy it?

TL;DR Brainless Summary: (Start chant) Francis Peay, all the way! In 2015! (end chant)

So, wow. Where does one start with a football question as troubled as what's wrong with the 2014 Northwestern Wildcats?

After watching the first two games, the simple answer: A lot. But a decent amount of it is fixable. This season, even. Seriously.