Hoosiers

Forty years ago the movie Hoosiers came out. Starring Gene Hackman, it is thought of one of the better sports films in the United States. It is loosely based on  a 1954 Milan, Indiana High School basketball team who won the state championship. It is a story of grit and determination for the few members of the team. A new Hoosier film could be made today but not about the basketball team. Fifty years the Hoosier basketball team went undefeated and won the National Championship under coach Bob Knight, the last team to do so. The Indiana football team did the same feat this year.

The Play of the Game, 4th and 5, 12 yards from end zone,
QB draw for a TD

Congratulations to the Indiana Hoosier Football team. Under second year head coach Curt Cignetti the team won the National Championship, often referred to as the Natty. Why they have to create references like the Natty, I don't know but I while go with it since it is easy to type. If three years ago someone would have predicted that Indiana, the football bowl subdivision team with the most losses for that division, in history, I think everyone would have laughed at them. Indiana has been the doormat of the Big Ten for almost, well, forever. 

In another great sports movie, "Miracle", when selecting the 1980 US Olympic Hockey team, they have the committee complaining that they had no say in the selection for the team, and that some great players were left not selected. The coach, Herb Brooks, played by Kurt Russell, responded he was not looking for great players, but the right players. That is what Cignetti has done, taking two and maybe three star recruits and building them to a team where the chemistry worked. Cignetti built a team with the right players for his system. 

Curt Cignetti

For many years, the Big Ten needed a team like Indiana to make teams like Northwestern, Illinois, and (dare I say) Wisconsin look good. Before this season, Indiana had 528 wins to 719 losses. They were the first D1 team to reach 700 losses over their history. In 2022, the Hoosiers were 4-8 overall and 2-7 in the Big Ten. In 2023 it they were even worse, 3-9 overall and 1-8 in the Big Ten, good for last place in the East division and the worst record for the whole Big Ten.

At the end of the 2023 season they hired Cignetti away from James Madison. Cignetti became famous for a now viral statement at his introductory press conference when he said, "It's pretty simple, I win. Google me." He certainly does as in his first year his team went 8-1 in the Big Ten with the only loss to Ohio State (who would become National Champions) and they lost to Notre Dame in the playoffs. By any standards, that is a remarkable turn around.

Clever of Google, when searching Curt Cignetti (see circled area)

In its 16-0 run, it had five wins over teams that made or were in the playoffs (two against Oregon one regular season and one playoffs), none of those victories came at home. They could well be one of the best teams of all time. Its victory over Miami came at Miami's home field. Miami may have won at the line of scrimmage with several tackles for loss, but they lost the turnover battle, and the Hoosier block punt for a touchdown well takes out some of the tackles for loss. 

Of course, Paul, ESPN mouth piece for the Southeast Conference (SEC) Finebaum, has dissed Indiana and its coach. Yahoo Sports for example reported this snotty comment by the SEC mouthpiece: “'It will be a cute story, and it will get some attention on Tuesday morning map, but it really won’t get that much,' Finebaum stated on The Matt Barrie Show." He is not alone, former Alabama coach, Nick Saban said that unless they are paid no player from the south would want to play in the north. This is a dig at both the north and the Name, Image and Likeness deals for players. Others simply say, that the playing field is now level since the north can do what SEC teams have been doing for years, paying players.  Quite frankly, if I were a player in the north, why would I want to even go through Alabama? Finebaum and others have claimed the Indiana victory was luck. That is degrading to a team that has worked through the whole season. 

Heck, even this year, five SEC teams made the playoffs. Only one advanced to the semi-final, losing to Miami, who lost to Indiana. The SEC Commissioner said they should have had seven of their 16 teams in the Natty. The SEC and Paul are proud of the five teams that made the tournament. They went 4 and 10 in bowl games this season. Two of those wins came against another SEC team, one against second tier Tulane and the other against Michigan, whose coach had just been fired. Indiana played SEC powerhouse Alabama who lost to Indiana 38-3. Showing disrespect to other teams, four loss Alabama was, in the final rankings, ranked ninth. Alabama does not even have to show up to make the tournament or get ranked.

I have figured out why people are so enamored with the SEC. They play lower competition in non-conference games, four in 2025 (to move to 3 in 2026), where they generally play patsies. Hence, when they play each other many of the teams are ranked for beating lower level competition. When one loses to the other, they remained ranked, because they played a good team. What the ranking people do is to place a priority on the blueblood SEC teams, not realizing that, particularly with NIL, the stock market motto applies, past performance does not guarantee future results. But like stocks, they play up past results. The Big Ten teams played nine conference and three non-conference games.

Indiana had the SEC card with a generally weak nonconference schedule, but many teams are scheduled are made years in advance. Remember, the team was 3-9 overall in 2023. For some reason, this causes lack of respect to Indiana, but not to the blue-blood SEC teams. Indiana has one very prominent alumnus, Mark Cuban who is said to be worth $6 to 9.6 billion. He is said to be a major funder of NIL for Indiana. 

Even with Mark Cuban helping their NIL bank, all but one talking head on ESPN, picked their opponent to win. Pat McAfee who lives in Indiana (played for the Colts) was the only one to pick Indiana in each of their three playoff games. Indiana is the only team who had a first round bye to win their first game. The ESPN (which is also a mouthpiece for the SEC) talking heads had 2 to 1 in favor of Alabama (who lost to Indiana 38-3); 5 to 1 against Oregon (56-22); and 3 to 1 in favor of Miami (who lost 27-21). It really makes one suspect of the talking heads and how they value program prestige over reality.

Indiana got the last laugh. They chose a coach who knows personnel and preaches the fundamentals of football. That is why a team with so few supposed five and four star recruits won. It reminds me of a comment my brother Steve, a long time high school coach who viewed a number of Wisconsin practices, said about Barry Alvarez, that he coached and emphasized fundamentals. Many teams in the NFL and many colleges forget about fundamentals. It is why the Packers lose games with poor tackling and poor angles, and penalties, it is why the Bears had so many drops, and a missed route, in the NFL divisional game. 

Fernando Mendoza, the QB for Indiana plays with smarts. And he found Cal (was going to attend Yale, but got called by California), and then Indiana after 130 schools told him no. He failed to get a walk-on at Miami, a school his parents attended and where his mother played on the tennis team, and his dad was a rower on their National Championship Crew team. The University is only a couple miles from where he grew up. Mendoza attempts to avoid turnovers, unlike Caleb Williams. He has been criticized as a "game manager" nor worthy of a pick in the NFL draft, much less a first round pick. This same thing was said about Sam Darnold when he was with the Vikings last season, and he now leads NFC #1 seed Seattle to the Super Bowl  (a feat Jordan Love has yet to even get close to).  There is a general consensus that his fourth and five QB draw for a twelve yard touchdown was a masterpiece, even if Fernando looks like a baby giraffe running away from a lion. Fernando made about $2.6 million in NIL including winning the Natty. The opposing QB, Carson Beck, made $4-6 million, depending how incentives are calculated. I saw last Thursday that overall Miami spent almost $19 million on NIL for the season compared to about $5.2 to 5.7 million for Indiana.

L: Carson Beck, Lower R, Fernando Mendoza

Fernando Mendoza is the wholesome All-American guy most every parent (I can't every, because I heard of someone who it seems would not want have wanted a daughter to date him.) wants their daughter to date, and Carson Beck is the guy every daughter wants to date--the bad boy. At the end of the game, shortly after the game sealing interception he threw, Carson ran off the field lacking sufficient sportsmanship to shake hands and congratulate his opponents. He had the temerity to say they would have won if had not thrown the interception. Well, he threw the interception. He is even worse than Ben Johnson. Although he may be better than his running back Mark Fletcher who congratulated Mendoza, but later (or before) tried to punch an Indiana player. He apparently was reacting to a comment made by the Indiana player about his father who died the previous year. Miami played dirty and was given the benefit of the doubt by the referees, who seemed to favor Miami. Maybe they tried to fix the game, but were unable to do so.

It is being said, and I tend to agree, that the run by Indiana for the football National Championship is the greatest and most improbable story for college football. I tend to agree with them. It is the first 16 and 0 run since Yale in 1894. Heck, even the favored SEC teams, and Miami had losses. So, there Paul Finebaum. There is a new champion in Hoosierville, and it is the once lowly football team.

A Tale of Two Coaches

It was a cold and windy this past Monday morning and while waiting the floors to dry after mopping them, I sat down at my laptop to see what was up in the world. Much to my surprise I read that the Buffalo Bills had fired their head coach, Sean McDermott. This was surprising, because while he failed to get the Bills to a Super Bowl, he did have better success than Matt LaFleur in Green Bay, who had just been resigned to a mega deal of $15 million or more annually and for what some have said is another four to five years. This tale of two coaches will provide a comparison into how organizations view the desire for a Super Bowl.

With the release of McDermott, Matt LaFleur now  becomes the longest tenured coach in the NFL to not have advanced his team to the Super Bowl. (He is now the fourth longest tenured coach in the NFL, behind Andy Reid (KC), Sean McVay (LA Rams), Kyle Shanahan (SF).) With his new contract, it seems the Packers are intent to extend that streak another four or five, or who knows how many years. The Packers were recently said to be somewhat of a mom and pop organization when it took a week for them to resign Mediocre Matt. Perhaps, if they were more mom and pop, they would be listening more to the fan base who seem to be sick and tired of the softness of the Packers which is now embedded in their culture. Instead of doing to other teams, they let other teams do unto them. One only need to look at the second half collapses the team has had this year, twice to the Bears, to perennial doormat Cleveland, to Carolina to Denver and then there was the tie in Dallas. High priced QB Jordan Love has failed to deliver and seems, in many games, to fade in the second half. After most every loss, Mediocre Matt takes the blame, but for years now has failed to fix the issue. His common complaint when they lose is that he failed to properly prepare the team. For example after the loss to Cleveland, this was part of his comments: "When you have 14 penalties in a game, that's going to be tough to overcome that. We have to do a much better job coaching the fundamentals, the details, and we have to lock in at a high level in regards to the controllable penalties." This begs the question of why they have not been doing a better job of coaching fundamentals? Well, if after several years, that is not fixed, it is time to look elsewhere. For a few years now I have said that Matt has reached his ceiling. I am sure he will say the same old, same old next year, and it is not just getting old, it is old.

Matt, 2020 photo
With his new contract he has even more money to spend on his hair

I think the Bills felt the same way about Sean McDermott, and hence the reason for his being released. Anyway, let us compare the two coaches, and from this comparison one can judge which organization is looking forward and which one is looking to continued mediocrity.

McDermott has coached the Bills for nine full seasons, going 98-50 for a .666 winning percentage. He has won five AFC East titles, which means competing with the Patriots, placed second in the division three times, and third one time. He had five consecutive AFC East titles, from 2020 through 2024. He has made the playoffs in all but one year as a coach and overall posted a record of 8-8 in the playoffs for a .500 winning percentage. In the AFC he has had to face the normal power house Kansas City Chiefs, and they lost to the Chiefs twice in the AFC Championship game and twice in the divisional round. 

Sean McDermott, 2019

Now, let us look at Matt LaFailure. Matt has coached the Packers for seven seasons, going 76-40-1 for a winning percentage of .654. He has won three NFC North titles, where few teams posed a threat in the first few seasons, when the team was QB'd by Aaron Rodgers. All three first place finishes came in his first three years. After the first three years, he has placed second twice and third twice. He has made the playoff for six of his seven seasons. He reached the NFC Championship game twice (first two years) and both years the team had late collapses due to poor play calling and dumb decisions by coaches and players, a trend that has continued. The next two years he lost in the Divisional round, and the last two years in the Wildcard round. 

In other words, Mediocre Matt is trending down and flat. Some blame it on loss of key players to injury this season, but the last Packer Super Bowl team had a number of injuries to key players too. By this point in the season all teams deal with injuries. 

Looking at the last five years you can see that Matt has come into his own in regard to mediocrity. Starting in 2023 Jordan Love took over and the team's mediocrity has allowed the organization to stall. McDermott, over those five years had a regular season winning percentage of .714, whereas the Packer head coach's winning percentage was .588. For playoff games Matt even fails in his mediocre moniker, as he is 1-4 thus a winning percentage of .2, compared to McDermott who was 6-5 with a winning percentage of .545. 

Comparison of Two Coaches, last five seasons

When at the YMCA in Madison using the exercise bikes, they have two of like five televisions tuned to sports, one has ESPN (otherwise known as the Mouthpiece of the SEC), and the other I don't know the channel but when there it plays a Good Morning Football broadcast. Anyway, it is amazing that last week Thursday the talking heads were whining about Matt not yet getting resigned at GB and wondered if they were looking at John Harbaugh. Pretty much, they all thought Matt should be resigned. This past Tuesday (1/20), I did not see the reaction to the McDermott firing on the GMF broadcast, but did see the ESPN and most of the talking heads thought McDermott should be fired for wasting Josh Allen and not getting the team to the Super Bowl. Stephen A complained that they did not have enough around Josh. Same complaints we heard about Aaron Rodgers with the Packers. So, if as Brainless and the Packers feel, Jordan Love is a top tier QB, are they wasting his years, too? I wonder why the double standard, is it because they feel that Allen is a much better QB and they are wasting his talent?  One could say that Green Bay is where, due to poor leadership, talent goes to die.

The problem with the Packers is, in my opinion, is one thing. The organization has been controlled by two persons with little vesting in Wisconsin. First, was Mark Murphy, who was more concerned about being a real estate developer in the Titletown District than about bringing titles to Titletown. Second, Mark Murphy hired the Brainless Gutekunst as GM who would not know good talent to draft if it fell in his lap. The team is now controlled by Ed Policy, who is in his first eight months of running the team, and whose father ran the 49ers for a number of years. Neither are Wisconsinites, and were only transplants for jobs with the team. They seem to think of the team as their little sandbox and as long as fans are in the stands, and they make money, they do not care about titles. With the two of them the Packer moniker will need to change to "Titlelesstown" Quite the opposite of the Bills organization. Ed has found the coach he wants, just good enough to get to the playoffs, and lose in the Wildcard, but no more. Mark was happy to make a lot of money off the Packers to buy a golf course in Door County.

Because of its unique status in the NFL the team needs to be run by a person more invested in Green Bay or Wisconsin. In the situation of Green Bay, they need more mom and pop in the operation because the outsiders who come in are not fully vested with the community and its team. They need someone who knows and feels the pain of the fanbase. The outsiders, like Murphy and Policy are not embedded in the Wisconsin culture. If they were, they would know how the recent decision to continue with Mediocre Matt LaFailure is met with disdain by much of the fan base. Where are the Board of Directors on all of this? Matt LaFailure got the better of Ed Policy, but getting the long-term contract which some say is four years (five with a year remaining) and others say five year extension (six?).  This long-term extension is a pricey bet, as Dairyland Express wrote this week. If, and it is certainly not a big IF, Matt continues with his mediocrity when will the Packers make a move for a new head coach? Wait to his contract is almost up, so years more of mediocrity? Or will they have to eat say $30-$45 million or more for his contract and then also the pay for the new coach? In a sense, it may well be, and if so is unfortunate, that the lack of one owner is working against the Packer organization. 

Packer fans like to say "The Bears suck." But, the Packers have collapsed in two games to the Bears in a matter of weeks. If the Bears suck, what does that make the Packers?

With the NFL being rigged to a certain degree, there perhaps is not much they can do. The NFL favors large market teams, or those with star power. The Chargers and Rams have trouble filling a stadium, not to mention Jacksonville, but the Roger Goddell likes Tinseltown. Think  also of Taylor Swift, the biggest star, and the KC Chiefs. The color of the referee jersey's in KC games was not black and white, but red and white. Clearly calls were or were not made to benefit the Chiefs. This has been attributed to Patrick Mahomes and later the pop singer Taylor Swift who was dating, and now is engaged, to Chief's tight end Travis Kelce.

Meme on referee's favoring Kansas City

My prediction is Matt will continue with his mediocrity, not able to get players to perform, to have regular collapses in the second half, not clean up special teams, not to mention the many dumb penalties that result in stalled drives. After all, how often does a team get a delay of game penalty AFTER having used a time out? The definition of incompetence in professional football is not the Raiders, but the Jordan Love, and the Packer coaching staff. Reporting on the contract extension, nfl.com reported: "Lost leads characterized LaFleur's seventh season in Green Bay. The Packers became the first team since the 1970 merger to lose three tilts when leading by 10-plus points in the final five minutes of the game, including playoffs -- Week 3 to Cleveland, Week 16 and Wild Card Round to Chicago." Matt has a good record of the Packers getting records, just the wrong ones. Leave it to the poorly coached Packers to do that (Wildcard game in Chicago). Brainless Gutekunst will continue to over pay certain players leading to poor performance (think Jordan Love who fails when he is needed to succeed). This then leaves little for other players that matter. Gutekunst has a habit of forgetting about the O-line. And, his top defensive backs leave much to be desired. Gutekunst and coaches wasted Aaron Rodgers, and perhaps Jordan Love (if he is as good as they think he is to make him one of the top five QB's in the NFL). The Bills do not wish to do the same for Josh Allen, who is truly regarded as one of the best. As Green Bay found out with Aaron Rodgers, the QB cannot do it alone, and for twenty years, until 2025 never used a first round pick on a wide receiver. Which may be well given Gutekunst's inability to properly realize talent out of college. Gutekunst has lacked a strong record of success. 

When LaFailure continues his lack of success for the next few years, I believe it time for a revolt of Packer fans to force wholesale changes first in the Board of Directors, and second in the whole management and coaching staff of the organization. Ttitletown is but a long ago memory, and it is time the organization takes its self-imposed moniker seriously. Sixty years later they are still living off Vince Lombardi. Unfortunately, with a tale of  two coaches we see what team takes getting to a Super Bowl seriously, and it is not the Packers. LaFleur and this organization from the chair of Board of Directors on down is no Dominic Olejnicczak and Vince Lombardi (Lombardi was 9-1 in the post season). Of course, we cannot expect outsider Policy, who is the de facto chair, to remove himself, it will have to come from the bottom up. The organization, like the coach on the field, is not willing to make the right call at the right moment, instead it revels in a melodious mediocrity.

Wolf

My wife was doing some downsizing and came across my Wolf Cub Scout handbook (1965 printing). Cub scouting has five different levels, and can start in kindergarten as a Lion, then first grade is a Tiger, and second grade is Wolf.  Bear and Webelo round out the ranks to fourth grade. A bobcat badge, is the one of the first earned badges and can be earned in one meeting. While she is perturbed that I do not join her in her downsizing journey, I have not decided whether or not to keep the handbook. Both of our sons were in cub and boy scouts, both became Eagle Scouts, and they now each have a son.

Maybe Howie and Simon will get into scouting, maybe not. But, if they do it would be interesting to compare their requirements to what I was required to do when I was in second grade for the Wolf rank. The requirements from 60 years ago today have changed, maybe they will change again in the next several years. They may be able to see how much more successful they were than grandpa was when I was their age, and what I chose to do verse what they choose to undertake.

I completed 1, 3 and 5

The Cub Scout promise I had at age 8, seems similar to when I was a den leader when my kids were in scouting. My second to last line was "To be Square" and do not recall that being used when my boys were young. I have to say, sixty years later, that to be square part still fits. I am about as square as one can get. I do not fit well in a round hole. When my wife bought a couple new swim suits for me, I told to her not to get anything to flashy, because, well, that is not me. She got flashy swimsuits, due to what she said the pickings in November are slim. Oddly, my sister-in-law did not think the suits flashy at all. 

The first thing that struck me in this sixty year old book is in feats of skill section where I had to complete three of five skill sets. One skill, which I did, was to climb 12 feet up a tree. Looking on-line, this no longer seems to be a requirement, or even an elective. This is hard to fathom. Really they do not wish to allow a boy to climb a tree and possibly fall out and break their arm, leg, or get a concussion. Happy to say, I, so far, have never broken a bone (cartilage yes, bone no), so I was not the cause of the Boy Scouts of America dumbing out this requirement. Today, I look back at this and realize that even then my middle name was "Careful." Perhaps tree climbing is out of vogue today. I do not recall which tree I climbed, but think it must of been the willow tree we had near the garage which fast growing enough to get big enough for a young boy to climb, I doubt it was the box elder in the far corner as that lacked limbs to use, and its trunk was way too big to get my little arms around.

Another task for feat of skill I completed was doing three rolls. Front, back and a falling-forward rolls. I would probably hurt myself if I tried any of those today. My body is not just as limber as it once was. I asked my wife what she thought if I tried, and she had her expected response: "No, I do not think you should try that." That evening, when I was doing my evening stretches, I got into a position to to the forward roll, and at that point realized I probably should not do it. The final task completed involved walking on the edge of a 12' 2x4 (down and back) forward, reverse and side to side. I am thinking, at 68, that my core strength is not quite as good today as then. My mom signed off on my feats of skill. I biked outside yesterday, and not once did I try to bike without hands to test my core strength. When I mentioned this to the wife, she said no one should be riding a bike without hands on the handle bars.

Another thing I did was to whittle, and that was signed off by my dad. I think today they have to be in third grade to earn the whittle chip. This makes me wonder what happened to my old pocket knife. 

Then there was the elective to dress up as an Indian, yes dress up as an American Indian. This may seem odd, but many of the skills for scouting are tied to Native American tribes, and their culture. Think about it, use of knives, climbing trees, lashing, way-finding, respecting the outdoors all derive from the Nation's indigenous peoples. Even the way they are referred to is much different and more respectful, Indigenous Peoples, Native Americans, or the specific tribe name, as compared to Indians which was in use many years ago. In Canada, First Nations is the preferred term.  

My wife may be quite surprised that one elective I completed was to cook breakfast, and it involved more than simply cereal, as the requirements stipulate "Fix your own breakfast with at least one hot dish and clean and put away the dishes."  Five options for the cooking arrow point were available, earning me one point for each option completed. I completed #1 (hot breakfast) and #3 which was "Help make an orangeade, lemonade, or hot chocolate drink for the whole family. We had a machine that would grind oranges for fresh orange juice, and it was fun to use. I completed these tasks in the fall of 1966.

Another task I completed was to float for two minutes without touching bottom and remaining still. Remaining still would be the difficult part of the task. I am sure the wife would also be surprised that I could remain still for two minutes. One time, as the assistant scout leader I took a week of vacation to lead the troop, that was not at Philmont, to summer camp. Most of the time it was me and another male leader (Robin Roberts), but near the end of the week several other dads showed up. Unbeknownst to me Robin had placed a bet with the other dads as we were sitting around the campfire at night, telling them I would not be able to sit for more than five minutes as I would find a reason to get up and do something. Robin won the bet. I did not know it until coming back when I saw a dad handing over some cash to Robin. Kudos to him for what he realized during the week, something of which the idea that I did this never occurred to me that I was getting up so often. The wife has tended to look at this event as one of my defining characteristics. I should never have told her the story.

Safety First

Scouting challenges grow as the boy (and now girl) grow. They become more complex and require greater skill, as if floating for two minutes without touching bottom with minimal movement did not take a great deal of patience and tenacity to complete. One thing we had to learn was fire safety. If John O'Leary (whose life the Netflix show "Soul on Fire" is based) was in cub scouts he would never have been burned over his whole body, and burned the family house down and been the subject of such a documentary. So, yes scouting has many upsides, and perhaps it is good if for no other reason than it gets children away from their electronic devices. Although, I suppose the Wolf handbook is now online. 

Images from 1965 Wolf Cub Scout Book

Agricultural Congruence in the Old World, part 2

My second great Hovel line grandparents and their eight children (born over a 20 year span, 1847-1867) emigrated to the United States arriving in July 1868. The family members, upon arriving in the US, would experience not only a new home and different customs, living and farming, but also see the ushering in of greater technology and the Gilded age. They would also live through downturns in the economy such as the great recession of the 1870's. What is evident is that life on the farm for them in the old country in 1867 was more like their ancestors than what my grandfather would experience as tractors and mechanized equipment made the ability to expand farm operations. The family experienced congruence with agricultural and societal trends common to where they lived. At times, there was some dissonance, or curves as thrown, but congruence was more common and more essential.

This will be the fourth and final post on agricultural congruence and the Havel family. (Other posts were published on Nov 26, Dec 3, and Dec 17.) I have generally been going back in time from most recent to long past. In the old country, as far back as I have been able to go the family were peasant serfs and until my second great grandfather, all were likely illiterate. Most of my knowledge of the family covers the time frame known as the second serfdom. Serfdom were peasants under the control of a domain and undertook work for such domain . Serfdom was known for its heavy handed manner. The second serfdom began in the mid 1500's and ran until the late 18th century, although as we have seen in prior posts many aspects of serfdom continued until the serfs were freed in 1848. This post will focus on the Havel family and congruence with certain aspects of the second serfdom, much of which involved agriculture.

Stabile Cadastre Map of Ratiborova Lhota, c 1826
Then known by German name Melhutka

Some rulers of the Hapsburg Empire, of which Bohemia was apart, attempted to reform the peasant system and free the serfs from the heavy hand of the domain under which they served. Some reforms carried through others did not do as well. Of the rulers, Maria Theresa and her son Joseph II were the most active and engaged. While they had a desire to loosen the grip on the serfs, it was in part due to the circumstances of the peasant, but also due to the need for obtaining higher economic value out of their labor. This would have the other effect of increasing revenues--an important characteristic in the 16th to 19th centuries as today.

1585 Urbaria Record showing payments required of
Jan Wolff (aka Bolffa), my 10th Great Grandfather

The Havel family ancestors had tenant rights to the Ratiborova Lhota farm since before 1585. An Urbaria record for that year mentions my tenth great grandfather, Jan Bolffa. (The Havel surname seems to come from Jan's son whose first name was Havel and most particularly Havel's son Jakob who was known as Jakob, son of Havel, and later Jakob Havel.) The holding likely goes back to before 1550, but names are not used in the scant records of that era. It was a bi-centennial farm as the family had rights to the holding for over 200 years. The main claim to the property, or course, was held by the domain, but the family had a tenancy right, like a long-term lease. They could lose the property, and their livelihood, for poor performance. 

Frantisek my 3rd Great Grandfather, to Georg, my 7th Great Grandfather

The Havel farm in Ratiborova was the seventh in area of the nine main farms in the village, but eighth in tax owed. This placed the family at what was known as between a 1/4 and 1/2 farm. With 20  arable acres, the family farm was just over what one commentator said was the minimum to support a typical family--15 tillable acres. However, they farmed, for conservation purposes in a system of three, in which one-third of the property was fallow for one year. Crops were also rotated. Hence, every year six to seven acres were out of production. 

Georg to Jan Bolffa

Ratiborva Lhota is in an area so rural that little change is noticed between current air photos and the Stabile Cadastre mapping of the early 19th century, circa 1826 for this village. The Stabile Cadastre maps provide a good view of the mapping of the long narrow parcels which my ancestors farmed. At times the parcels are said to be that way due to the difficulty of turning a wood plow. However, a similar parcel condition exists for meadows and wood lots. I tend to agree with the other theory that when the land was divided that method was thought to be the most equitable. For many generations, such land was prohibited from being further divided. This makes sense, as such division would only reduce the viability as a parcel for farming.

Portion of Indication Sketches of Ratiborova Lhota, c 1826

Of all of the items dealing a heavy hand to the serfs, robot, or free labor was perhaps the  most egregious. We saw in a prior post that a notation in the Dolni Chrastany land register indicated that Josef Havel was released from 156 days of robot labor, which is half the work days a year (Mon -Sat, exclude Sundays). An Urbarium record from the 17770's records the robot labor of Josef's grandfather, Mathias (Junior). A 1775 patent, or decree, by the Hapsburgs limited robot labor based on taxation level, or the customary amount, whichever was less. It is hard to believe, but the patent limited draft (two horses or four oxen) robot labor for Mathias, based on his tax liability, to three days a week. But, he also had a non-draft labor of one day a week. In 1778 his draft labor remained the same but the individual labor was reduced to 13 days a year, by "royal authority decree." The patents did not allow Sunday or holiday labor, shifting work to the other days of the week. It is a wonder they were ever able to get work done on their farm, when one considers how weather may have hampered them. 

Mathias Havel Yield Calculations

We are fortunate to have yield calculations for Mathias Jr which were accomplished to figure out taxation purposes in order to decide a fair payment for the Domains as a share of taxes, in lieu of labor provided by the serfs. Simply, the crown would provide a portion of the tax to the domain to offset the loss of the free labor. The farmers, all basically illiterate, had to announce the yields in front of the neighbors and headsman and other officials. I guess the idea was to have someone squeal if they announced to low a yield. Because of the system of three, and crop rotation, the calculations were accomplished over a three year period. Accomplished in the 1780's, Mathias' yield, converted to bushels shows about 214 of rye, 23 of barley, and 216 of oats. Barley produced only 3 bu/acre, while rye was at 10.13 bu/ac and oats at 10.71 bu/ac. Yield varied by field, showing soil differences of soil, and some fields had a sow rate lower than the yield. This showed the at-edge farming in the foothills of the mountains the family had to contend with. Sometimes, the sow rate was greater than the yield, showing the difficulty of farming in the foothills of the mountains.

                                    Table 1 Bushels reported pre acre

This table shows bu/ac for Mathias in 1788 Lhota, Josef in 1880 Jefferson Co
and 2022 yields for the state as a whole. Josef's oats was much higher,
but his rye yield was only 1.5 bu/ac greater

Serfs had to provide their own equipment, and animals. It is said that they seldom had horses, because good horses would be appropriated by the domain, without compensation. We see from the records that oxen were the chosen beast of burden for the family. The records, over the years, only mentions a horse in two occasions. For haulage, the family hauled firewood to Netolice, about six miles, but also hauled varied products to Cesky Krumlov, mainly fish, but also barley for beer, which was a twenty mile journey one way, meaning it would have been a difficult trip to make to and home in one day. 

Tax calculations based on tilled, meadow and wood yield

Living on the edge, as the Havel family did, they often took on a secondary occupation to supplement income. To do this, they were required to have the approval of their domain. We know from varied records that the trade for the Havel family this trade was weaving, and some are specific as to weaving linen. Funny thing is the main fields did not grow flax, the grain commonly used to make flax from which linen was weaved. We have records noting this craft for Mathias, Jr (born in 1740) who started to learn the craft at about age 13 all the way back to his great grandfather, Georg. While we lack birth records for great grandpa Georg (or his son Simon) birth, a 1641 land record has Georg at age 3 say born 1638, although another record places his age for birth as early as 1635. (This points to the fact that time and age were not as relevant to our ancestors as to us today, their days melded into each other.)  In 1656 Georg is learning the weaver trade, in 1657 is a weaver, and in 1658 is identified as a linen weaver. At the time of his marriage on 8 Jul 1703, my 6th great grandfather, Simon, is identified as a lodger and a weaver. He is at his father's house, but upon marriage and not "owning" a farm is considered a lodger. He and his wife lived on the holding with his parents, and siblings, perhaps in the accessory dwelling, which was often the retirement dwelling.

Rent, in-kind contributions, and robot labor Mathias (Jr) owed to the domain
As if all that free labor was not enough. No wonder they approved the linen weaver trade, the family had an obligation to spin medium tow fiber yarn

Besides the demand of free labor and control over trades, the domains also exercised control over marriage. A 1770 patent removed the ability for a domain to charge fees for a trade or for marriage. A patent in 1785 further affected some aspects of serfdom from the strong arm of the domain. Serfs could freely chose their  partner, pursue careers choices and move between estates. Hence, when Frantisek married Teresia Jiral in 1796 he neither was required to obtain the approval of his domain (Krumlov) or she her domain (Netolice) and Frantisek was not required to obtain approval from the Krumlov Estate to move to Dolni Chrastany and take over the Jiral farm which was in the Netolice dominion. This patent did not affect financial dues, or the robot labor owed to the domain, which remained in effect until 1848. Seignorial Registers, which began as orphan registers and later to record all serfs (generally annually), one can see permission that have been granted. 

1755 Seignorial Register, Mathias (Jr) is an apprentice in the
weaver trade with consent (of the domain)

1774 Mathias (Jr) brother an apprentice journeyman weaver
with consent from 1769

At times young men were required to provide labor to the estate, which generally seemed like a thee year period of time. This took part of the able-bodied family labor pool from their own holding away from the mother and father and passed it to the domain.

1652 Seignorial Register
Georg is in Brzi with an important official

The value of the farm generally remained the same. The property valuation took a hit with Havel, likely due to the farm having been vacant for a number of years, per a land register entry in 1623. Why was the farm vacant? I can think of two explanations, the Thirty Years War, or illness.

Valuation 1607 to 1640

The vacancy of the farm is congruous with the first several years of one of the major conflicts in Bohemia, and this could have affected the Havel family in Lhota. The Thirty Years War began in 1618 and ended in 1648. The domains were largely under control of Protestants, and they did not like it when a pro-Counter Reformation advocate was appointed King of the Hapsburg Empire. The King stopped construction of Protestant Chapels on Royal land holdings, which may have precipitated the revolt. The representatives asked to confer with a superior and give them an answer in a day or two, but the Protestants demanded an immediate answer and when it was not forthcoming, they threw, yes literally threw, the representatives of the King out a window. 

Oldest known record, 1585, of the Havel line, Jan Wolff, my 10th
great grandfather. Havel became the surname with his grandson Jakob,
whose father's first name was Havel.
The record shows ground rent, grain tithes and tax assessment.

For the Havel family we see the following entry in a 1623 land register when Jakob is taking over the #15 Ratiborova Lhota holding from his deceased father Jakob:

Consequently, at the bequest of the governor of the dominion, the headman and his jurors have duly valued said farm which has stood vacant for some years, with arable fields, meadowland, and remaining belongings and furnishings left by the soldiers in the sum of 110ſß Meissen, and which is released in the same purchase price to Jakub, orphan of the late Havel, who is obligated to settle the noted debts and inheritance portions commencing Georgi 1624 with annual installments of 4ſß until the purchase price has been settled in full.   (1623 Land Register entry)

From this we can see the two possible explanations. We see that the farm stood vacant for "some years." There is not an explanation of why. We do know that Havel made a payment in 1618, but did not make any additional payments. The next recorded payment was from his son in 1624, a year later, as he took on the farm on "St Georgi's Day" (Apr 23) and his first payment was that same day a year later.  We do know that the record identifies Havel's children and the youngest is reported as two years of age. Second is "belongings and furnishings left by soldiers" who may have been quartered in the house so the family may have had to share or vacate the house for a period of time as the soldiers took over the home. We lack a specific reason, and I can only speculate that the Havel house was occupied by soldiers who left material items behind. Since it corresponded with the early part of the Thirty Years War this makes a great deal of sense. 

Second, we also know Havel was "ill for some years", but we do not know for how long. Given the last payment he may made was in 1618 he may have taken ill after that, before dying sometime in 1623 or before. He did have a child identified as two years of age in 1623, so possibly born 1621, but we also know such entries are circumspect. 1618 was also the first year of the Thirty Years War. I have yet to locate a source dealing with Ratiborova Lhota, a small backwater place, and how it may have been affected by the Thirty Years War.

In a different set of circumstances, the family may well have lost the farm, but the Thirty Years war was a cataclysm for Bohemia. The war led to an estimated 40 percent reduction in the population due to famine, disease, and wide spread destruction of villages by the armies. The Krumlov domain may well have appreciated that there were still family members available to farm the holding, and also provide free labor to the domain.

For a portion of the time the family had the holding,  the domain was under the Hapsburg Crown. This occurred from 1602 to 1622. In 1622 it was gifted to Hans Ulrich Von Eggenberg as a reward for services to the crown. Prior the the Crown it was under the Rosenberg family for 300 years (1302-1602). The Eggenberg line died out and the property passed to the Schwarzenberg family who had control until 1947 when Communism took over and the state control of the property set in. In 1992 Cesky Krumlov became a UNESCO World Heritage site. The village of Cesky Krumlov was founded in 1250 and was controlled by Krumlov family, Wok of Krumlov being the last head of the domain and he died in 1302 and the family line ended.

Farming in Cesky Krumlov Region
Source: HISTORY OF FARMING IN THE ČESKÝ KRUMLOVREGION

Family lines are kept going by couples having a child. In the old country, families often had several children, but death was a constant visitor by disease, mayhem, or simply accidents. The common visitor, death, is shown in the below image where two of the five orphans of Jakob Havel are deceased. An orphan was an child who had a deceased father, or perhaps mother, and of course, both. To marry, up until 1785, a couple was required to obtain the permission of their domain. Before 1770, some domains charged a fee for a couple to marry. The approval of marriage shows up in varied records, sometimes the baptismal record, often the Seigniorial Register. Marriages were also, at times, noted in the Land Register if it was relevant. For example, a sibling receiving a payment from the new farm owner (likely brother or brother-in-law) may say the recipient married so and so and is domiciled in x place. Marriages may often be recorded in the Seigniorial Register, as noted in the image below.

Seignorial Registers 1655-1657
Dorothea, sister of Georg in 1655 is married with consent and discharged
likely to a different domain that is unnamed. 1656 Georg is learning the linen weaver trade
In 1657 Georg is identified as A weaver and age 17
Note that by 1655 two of Georg's siblings have died.
The first death notation for Greger and Mathes is in the 1648 Seigniorial Register.

The Havel family was impacted by a variety of issues during their time in the old world. The end of serfdom in 1848, the loosening of serf conditions in the late 18th century only to see many undone. Compulsory education which was slow to come to Southwest Bohemia. They were congruent with many of these items, from obtaining domain approval to learn the weaving trade, to get married leave the domain, and of course, the robot labor, which was loosened then ignored and put back in place. They may have been affected by the Thirty Years War, with soldiers quartering in their home. 

This image shows Georg Havel's services in the region

The family homes for my Hovel line changed, although Ratiborova Lhota was home to seven generations. Frantisek married and moved to Dolni Chrastany, and his son Josef, and Josef's married and emigrated to Jefferson, WI, which saw Martin married and moved to Manly, IA, with his father and mother following about five years later. My grandfather and father were born in Manly and then to Sun Prairie, WI. I reside in McFarland. The change in residence also follows a change in employment and specialization that has occurred with industrialization. Josef's farming in the old country was more like his 7th great grandfather than that of his grandson. From disparate long linear fields in the old country to large 80 plus acre holdings in the United States on prime agricultural was a change they likely welcomed as much as the freedom Josef experienced with the end of serfdom in 1848.

Four posts have been dedicated to agricultural congruence. What the posts show is that at times there was some dissonance with the overall socio-economic-cultural trends, but the family saw a great deal of congruence with the socio-economic-cultural occurrences over the centuries. They persevered under serfdom, and struggled with its varied, and changing, requirements for robot labor and other aspects. They emigrated from the old country for economic opportunity, with all family members at one point taking up farming in the US. In the US they have followed the trends, starting with mechanization of agriculture to the descendants being part of the specialization of labor. The Havel family was of the world, and its history would not be even a blip within the large trends of the world. The agricultural congruency of the family shows its fit within history in Bohemia and the United States.

Notes:

Translation of Varied documents for the author by Richard D' Amelio. Land Registers, Seignorial Registers, yield and tax records, and Urbarium records.

Wright, William W. 1966. Serf, Seigneur and Sovereign: Agrarian Reform in Eighteenth Century Bohemia, University of Minnesota Press 

Stabile Cadastre Maps from: ags.cuzk.gov/archiv

Hovel, Thomas D. "Robot Obligations of a Peasant Farmer in Bohemia." Nase Rodina, Dec 2023. v 35, #4