Bierman’s Six Pack: Issue #52

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. One Year, 52 Six Packs

About a year ago, we were boarding a plane in Denver to head home from a long family ski weekend. As I settled in for the flight and opened my laptop, I finally decided to take the plunge on something that had been rattling around in my head for a while but that I hadn’t actually started yet: writing this weekly Six Pack.

Since then, it’s become one of the most rewarding parts of my weekly routine. I’m sincerely grateful for the readers and for all the positive feedback along the way. It feels like something people genuinely enjoy, and as long as that’s the case, I’ll keep writing.

As I reflected on the past year, I figured I’d share a few quick stats from these columns. Including this one, there have been 52 Six Packs. Each column includes six segments, usually three sports-related and three more focused on general life observations. I keep a spreadsheet of every topic I write about to avoid repeating myself, and after going back and reviewing all of them, I think I’ve done a pretty solid job of bringing something new each week. 

If you’re curious how the topics have shaken out over the past year, here’s how I’d categorize them, along with the number of blurbs in each:

So, without further ado, let’s get into another year of Six Packs.

2. So Close, Again

I love playoff football, and this weekend had a little bit of everything. Caleb Williams’ play to force overtime was incredible, the New England–Houston game was borderline unwatchable with eight combined turnovers, and the Seattle Seahawks look very, very good.

But what I want to focus on here is the Bills-Broncos instant classic from Saturday afternoon. With my Bengals out, I have been rooting for Buffalo. In many ways, Buffalo and Cincinnati have plenty of similarities. Small-market towns, two major pro teams, passionate fan bases, and decades of sports heartbreak.

Unfortunately for Bills fans, that list of heartbreak just grew.

Like many others, I thought this might finally be the year Buffalo broke through. The AFC felt a little weaker than normal, and you’ve got Josh Allen under center. But then it all unraveled in the Mile High City. Allen finished with four turnovers, the Bills had five as a team, and while they showed resilience, clawing back from a 13-point deficit, they couldn’t finish it off, losing in overtime.

I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: I still don’t understand coaches choosing to take the ball second under these overtime rules. Yes, you get to see what the other team does, but you’re also potentially giving them an extra possession. Sure enough, Denver ended up with one more possession than Buffalo in overtime, and Will Lutz made it count with a walk-off field goal.

The Bills are now the only team in NFL history to win playoff games in six or more straight seasons without ever winning a Super Bowl. Every other team to do that won at least three titles in that span. And as good as Allen is, he is now 0-7 all-time in overtime games.

The window is still open in Buffalo, but it’s fair to wonder how many more chances they’ll get. At some point, bad luck stops feeling like bad luck. And for the Bills, that’s the part that’s getting harder to ignore.

3. Do You Still Believe in Miracles?

The Winter Olympics start in just over two weeks, and I’m getting excited. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve loved the Olympics and I’ll basically have it playing on the television for two straight weeks. While both are great, I think I prefer the Winter Games, mostly because… it’s winter. What else am I going to do? 

I’ll definitely write more about the Olympics in the coming weeks as more storylines unfold, but today I wanted to give some love to one of the most famous Olympic stories, and in my opinion, the greatest sports moment in American history: the Miracle on Ice.

Most of us have seen Miracle, which does an excellent job retelling the story, but as a quick refresher, here’s why it still matters 46 years later. A group of college kids and amateurs, coached by Herb Brooks, took down the Soviet Union, a professional powerhouse that had been steamrolling the hockey world for years, right in the middle of the Cold War.

The Soviets had won four straight Olympic gold medals and hadn’t lost an Olympic game since 1968 (let that sink in). They were overwhelming favorites to win gold and were expected to handle the U.S. easily. In fact, the Americans had played them in an exhibition at Madison Square Garden just weeks earlier and were crushed 10–3. So when the teams met again in Lake Placid, nobody outside the U.S. locker room thought it would be close.

And yet, the game is now etched in history. The U.S. trailed 3-2 after two periods, then scored twice in the third to take a 4-3 lead and was able to somehow hold on through what felt like the longest final minutes in sports history. And of course it all culminated with Al Michaels’ famous line,  “Do you believe in miracles? Yes!”

What often gets forgotten is that the Miracle game wasn’t even for the gold medal. The U.S. still had to beat Finland two days later to win it all. They did just that, rallying again to secure a 4-2 victory and complete the moment.

Another remarkable detail is just how young that team was. With an average age of 21, they were the youngest American hockey team ever to compete in the Olympics, and they beat a roster full of seasoned, world-class players who were basically professionals.

One other thing that really struck me as I was revisiting this story is how much time has passed since that night in Lake Placid. From what I could find, most of that team is still with us, which is pretty remarkable. But there have also been some sad losses. Coach Herb Brooks tragically died in a car accident in 2003, and in the last decade we’ve also lost Mark Pavelich, Mark Wells, and Bob Suter. Even with the passage of time and those losses, what that group accomplished has never faded.

Nearly five decades later, it all still holds up. Not just because of the upset, but because of what it represented: belief, chemistry, hard work, and the reminder that on the right night, with the right group, anything is possible.

That’s the magic of the Olympics, and it’s exactly why I can’t wait for them to start again.

4. Friday Night Date Nights

Last week, I shared a recommendation about setting up email accounts for your kids early and using them as a sort of time capsule. I got a lot of positive feedback on that which was cool.

So this week, I’ll share another piece of advice that was given to Jamie and me right before we got married. It’s not groundbreaking, and plenty of couples try to do some version of this, but it’s been a really important part of our marriage: weekly date nights.

Jamie and I will celebrate 15 years of marriage in May. I know that probably pales in comparison to many of you reading this, but it still feels like a meaningful milestone to me. Both of us had been married before, and when we got married, I already had two kids who were 7 and 10 at the time. Cooper joined us a few years later, but even with kids in the picture, we made a pact early on to protect one night a week for just the two of us.

When we were younger, money was tight. Going out to eat every Friday and paying a babysitter wasn’t realistic. So date night often meant putting the kids to bed, pouring a glass of wine, sitting on the couch or by the fireplace, putting on a movie, playing a board game, or just talking. 

As the years went on, we were able to go out more often. Now we usually try a new restaurant or bar each week, which has been a lot of fun too. And of course, there are weeks we miss it because of other stuff going on. But we don’t miss many and thankfully it has just become part of our routine. 

And definitely my favorite night of each week, so thanks sweetie, love you!

5. Gridiron Ramblings

Last week, I shared a few random thoughts that had been rattling around in my head about life in general. This week, I’ve got a handful of things from around the football world that I need to get off my chest. Quick hits, Six Pack style.

• Let’s start with the Cowboys, who were recently named the NFL’s most valuable franchise at an estimated $13 billion. They may have plenty of money, but this franchise should be embarrassed over their performance the past 30 years. Dallas hasn’t been to an NFC Championship Game since 1995 and has won just five playoff games in that span. And this is presumably “America’s Team”? Laughable.

• Right there with them are the New York Jets, and this one honestly stunned me. The Jets just became the first team in NFL history to finish a season without a single interception. An entire season, seventeen games, and not one. How is that even possible?

• If you listened to last week’s podcast, you heard me be extremely critical of the NFL as it relates to their ticket resale policies, but I do have to give them credit for one thing they have definitely gotten right. NFL halftimes are 12 minutes for every single game (not counting the Super Bowl). It’s clean, efficient, gives me just enough time to hit the restroom and grab another beer, and I absolutely love it.

Then there’s college football, where the standard halftime length is 20 minutes in the regular season, but always seems to become inflated in the postseason and for the biggest games.  It just isn’t necessary, it breaks up the flow, and for games so many already complain about being too long, that seems like a very easy fix.

• While we’re on college football, the helmet rule still makes no sense to me. If a guy loses his helmet through no fault of his own and has to miss a play, that is not player safety, it just seems arbitrary. It certainly can affect a game and is honestly one of the dumbest rules in the sport.

• If you’ve listened to the pod or read this space before, you know I absolutely cannot stand Gus Johnson. In my opinion, he’s one of the most overrated announcers in the game, and it has gotten to the point where I actually have to mute the volume to watch one of his games.

But in this spot, I’ll actually give some love to my favorite college football announcer, and that is Sean McDonough. There’s plenty I like, but in my opinion he is the best play-by-play guy working right now. He’s prepared, he’s smooth, he never makes the broadcast about himself, and his voice is just fricking awesome.

So I want to take a minute to congratulate him as he was recently named the National Sports Media Association’s 2025 National Sportscaster of the Year.

Congrats, and very well deserved sir. 

6. Miss You, Chris

I’m going to end this week with something a little heavier than usual.

I had a close friend named Chris. We were roommates. He was in my first wedding, and I was in his. He was there for my kids’ baptisms. For a long stretch of my life, he was one of my closest friends.

As life tends to do, things changed. He went through some really hard times, and we drifted. We still saw each other a couple times a year, but not like before. 

Chris was incredibly close with his dad. When his father passed away, it broke him in a way he never really recovered from. He went to a dark place and couldn’t find his way back.

A couple years ago, Chris took his own life.

When I heard the news, I went numb. And like a lot of people in that moment, my mind immediately went to the same questions. Should I have called more? Should I have texted him more? Should I have asked him to grab a beer or watch a game one more time? I don’t know the answers to any of that. I just know I wish I had checked in more during those last few months. I knew losing his dad was hard on him. I didn’t realize how hard.

Here’s why this has been on my mind lately. Chris was a huge sports fan, and he loved the Bengals, the Reds, and the Buckeyes. But his team, the one that meant the most to him, was Indiana. That was where he graduated from and he was a diehard fan.

So as Indiana has put together this incredible run, I’ve found myself thinking about him a lot. Especially this morning as the national championship game will be played in just a few hours. I keep picturing him decked out in crimson and cream, cheering and screaming over every possession. I know sports don’t fix everything. A big season doesn’t erase grief or loneliness, I get it.

But, I really wish he was still here to enjoy this one.

If there’s anything to take from this, it’s simple. If you’re struggling, please let someone know. And if there’s someone in your life you haven’t checked in on in a while, maybe send that text. None of us are as alone as we sometimes think, even when it feels that way.

I’m looking forward to watching the game today, and I’m genuinely excited for what Indiana has become. It’s been a special run, and it’s fun in all the ways college sports are supposed to be about.

But I’ll also be watching it with a little bit of heaviness, wishing my buddy was sitting next to me on a barstool somewhere, cheering on his Hoosiers.

I miss you, Chris. I love you, buddy, and I always will.

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. And don't forget to sign up for the  The Sandman Ticket, our free, weekly newsletter with picks, insights, and a little bit of everything we love about sports.