Hoosier Daddy

Reflections on a Championship

The pure euphoria of the Indianapolis Colts winning the Super Bowl has faded a bit, but the afterglow is still there.  And isn't it sweet?

This week the Colt's 2006 season DVD was released with much hoopla and fanfare.  In some past years, the NFL could probably count the number of Colt season DVDs (or video tapes in the "old" days) on one hand of the old Cub pitcher Three-Fingers Brown.  But what a difference a few wins and a silver trophy make.

On the first day, fans lined up for more than 7 hours to get a copy signed by star defensive tackle Dwight Freeney.  If I didn't have meetings scheduled the next day, I might have been in line at 4 a.m. to get a copy signed by the man himself -- Tony Dungy.

So even as I.U. and Purdue, improving as they are, still struggle at times, and the Pacers, well they just are struggling all the time -- we still walk around with that silly grin on our faces.  And you know that you can walk into any group of people, anywhere in Central Indiana, and simply say "How 'bout them Colts!" -- and you instantly have a room of friends.

Chicago Surrenders Before Game Starts

BEAR HUNTING SEASON STARTS SUNDAY

GO COLTS ! ! ! 

WHAT A RIDE ! ! ! INDY IS PAINTED BLUE

Everyone in Indianapolis has noticed it.  It's in the way everyone has a little more spring in their step, a little smile on their face, and a few more kind words for the people we pass on the street.

Indianapolis has caught Super Bowl fever! 

The entire city is decked out in blue and white.  Colts jerseys are the most common style being worn.  Even people who don't know a first down from a touchdown are wearing the horseshoe.

It's been a long time coming, and the sense of joy and relief is palpable.  It's not that we made this sudden turnaround, like the New Orleans Saints.  It's that we've been so close, so many times over the years. 

It was frustration -- not just with the Colts, but also with the Pacers.  Always very good.  Great seasons. Often winning our division.  But always falling short in the playoffs.  Even all of Reggie Miller's heroics only got the Pacers to one NBA finals, and that was a short-lived series against the Lakers.

But now . . . Ding Dong the Witch is Dead!  How more fitting than over the Patriots -- the team Reggie Miller said was Payton Manning's Lex Luther.  And in a nail-biting-down-to-the-second-knuckle fashion.  We even got a few classic Bob Lamey calls out of it.  "He dropped the fricken football . . ." will go down in Colts history, along with his nearly choked-up voice announcing with finality:  "We're going to the Super bowl."

Regardless of what happens next week, it's been a helluva ride. 

Oh, my prediction:  Colts 34 --  Bears 17 

Go COLTS ! ! !

Random thoughts while wondering where that liquored-up idiot kicker Vanderjerk is tonight.

There is something particularly sweet about the way the Colts beat the Baltimore Ravens today -- and Kansas City last week.

None of that fancy "basketball on turf" stuff. No Payton Manning to a streaking Marvin Harrison for an 80-yard "my jersey isn't even dirty" touchdown.  This has been hard-nosed, in the treches, I'm gonna run - can you stop me, smash-you-in-the-mouth football.  It's run the ball straight ahead -- even Payton running and lowing his head for a touchdown last week.

Don't hear anybody talking anymore about Coach "Ungy" -- You know, no "D".  And nobody is calling the Colts "soft" anymore, either.

Wouldn't it be nice if the Patriots win tomorrow so we can get them at the Dome next week?

In the meantime, let me cheer for my other favorite football team -- GEAUX SAINTS ! ! !

Top NCAA Moments for a Hoosier

With the Final Four in town, I thought it is time to list my top moments in NCAA tourney history -- from the totally subjective viewpoint of a Hoosier (as in Indiana native).  I'm sure I'll overlook some, but here goes:

1. Keith Smart hits a last second shot to lift the Indiana Hoosiers to a one-point win over Syracuse in the 1987 Championship game.  Smart was a very good player who, in an instant, became a legend.  The photo of his shot slipping through the nets still adorns walls of offices and dens of I.U. fans around the state.
2. After a floor length in-bounds pass, former Mr. Basketball Bryce Drew hits a game-winning 3-pointer to propel upstart Valparaiso passed 2d seed Mississippi State and into the Sweet 16. Drew collapsed to the floor as his teammates piles on him and his proud father Homer Drew, coach of Valpo, watched from the bench.  Replays of the event are still shown as part of CBS' promotion of its the tournament coverage.
3. North Carolina State's 1983 improbable win over the Houston's Phi Slamma Jamma's, with future NBA stars Akheem Olajawaun, Clyde "the Glide"sh Drexler, Michael Young and Larry Micheaux.  Who can forget the image of the long attempt at a game-winning shot, that just like NC State's hopes, was obviously falling short.  Then those two arms of Lorenzo Charles reaching up seemingly from no where, and in one motion, grabbing the errant shot and flushing it through the nets. Who could forget coach Jimmy Valvano running in shock and amazement, trying to find someone -- anyone -- to hug.  Now we see that moment with the poignancy of Jimmy V's courageous fight with cancer.  "Don't give up; don't ever give up."
4. I.U. wins undefeated national championship.  It is a team that is now legend. In 1975, I.U. was undefeated, but fell Kentucky when national player of the year Scott May broke his arm, and some referees lost their whistles.  In 1976, Indiana was viewed as a of destiny.  But so many teams of destiny find their journey derailed.   But not this one.  Even with a devastating early-game injury to guard Bob Wilkerson, the Hoosiers with Quinn Buckner, Scott May, Kent Benson and John Lazkowski were nearly perfect in beating Michigan.  In the 30 years since, no team has duplicated I.U.'s undefeated run to the championship.
5. Rick Mount's amazing shooting display.  It was 1969, UCLA, led by senior Lew Alcindor and coached by native Hoosier and Purdue All-American John Wooden, was dominating college basketball like no team had done before or since. But at Purdue, the best pure shooter to ever play the game was putting on a shooting display that has never been equaled.  With every defense focused on Mount, every shot contested, and long-range bombs only counting for "2", Mount led the Boilers on their run to the final game. His trademark full-speed dash to the corner, shot being thrown up as his body hurled out of bounds, then nothing but the sound of the ball ripping through the net.   In the Final Four, Mount scored 36 (2 at a time) as Purdue demolished North Carolina, 92-65.  Sure, UCLA won its gazillionth championship, but the image I will always remember is that slender flying body, seemingly out-of-control, the ball flying out of his hands, crashing into the front row of spectators -- and then ball gliding so perfectly into the net.

Indy Shines During Final Four

There is no better place to be this week than Indianapolis.  Downtown is buzzing and the city simply shines as the Final Four comes to town. 

Tuesday the stage went up for the free concerts on the circle.  Wednesday, the nation's college basketball coaches start arriving for their annual meeting, followed shortly by the Final Four teams and their legions of fans.

If you get the chance, made sure you get to downtown Indianapolis between Thursday and Monday, and just roam around.  You'll see faces you instantly recognize, a greater number than normal of men over 6'8", and constant reminders that the term "fans" comes from the word "fanatic."

Don't miss it.

Go BEARCATS ! ! !

This Saturday, Lawrence North is the overwhelming favorite to win its third straight high school basketball championship -- and this time to do it undefeated.  Led by High School All-Americans Greg Oden and Mike Conley, they seem a sure thing.

But for the second year in a row, they will face the Muncie Central Bearcats -- 8 times state champions.  And all those championships came in the one-class system.   Not only that, but two of the most famous games in Indiana high school history were championship games which Muncie Central lost -- in 1954 to giant killer Milan in the game that inspired the classic movie "Hoosiers"; and then again in 1960 when perhaps the best Bearcat team ever went into the championship game undefeated and winning by an average margin of nearly 30 points a game -- and got beat by 25 points by Gene Bartow's East Chicago Washington in the biggest upset ever in the championship game.

But I grew up listening to Indiana High School Basketball Hall of Fame broadcasters Don Burton and Morry Mannies call the Bearcat games on WLBC.  Bearcat basketball players were legend -- Charlie Secrist, Charlie Hodson, Jerry Lounsberry, Jimmy Barnes, Ron Bonham, Jim Davis, Rick Jones, Jack Moore, Ray McCallum, Chandler Thompson, just to name a few.

I was a Bearcat long before I graduated from Muncie Central -- and I'm still a Bearcat.  I still bleed purple and white.  So with apologies to Herbie, all I can say about this weekend is:

LET'S GO BEARCATS ! ! !

On the Edge --James is a Class Act

Colts all-pro running back Edggerin James is a class act.  He's as good as they come -- on the field and off

Maybe it's his golden smile, or his dreds, or his habit of returning to his south Florida roots in the off-season, but I think many Hoosiers don't fully appreciate "the Edge."  But we should. And with all the talk that the Colts may not be able to retain his services next year, we should all realize what a truly outstanding athlete -- and person -- he is.

In a time when we hear of sports tantrums (like Terrell Owens), and behavioral excesses (like the Vikings "Love Boat" cruise), we hear nothing of that about James.  Oh sure, there were annual off-season reports that James wanted to play for the Dolphins -- but you only heard that from those reporting rumors, never from James.  And this past season the media was all a-buzz that James would hold out because he had been tabbed with the "franchise" tag.  But when training camp opened, there was James.  And through the first seven games of the NFL season, James has simply been the MVP of the league -- hands down.

This past summer my teenage son and I tried outdoor paintball.  One Sunday afternoon, while loading up for the next paintball battle, in pulled a luxury SUV, followed by several others.  When the door opened, out hopped a familiar face with dreds and a golden smile.  It was Edggerin James and about 15 other Indianapolis Colts.  They had a private paintball party scheduled. 

But unlike athletes who brush aside fans, or only sign autographs when paid to do so, the Edge -- and all the Colts players -- were friendly and polite.  Just like most of the others there, they were simply a bunch of good young guys having a good time.  It was a good example for my son and for all the other young people who were there.   It is just like the way James has supported high school athletes in Indianapolis by showing up at high school football games.

Recently Hurricane Wilma hammered James' south Florida home.  So there he was -- on his one week off during the grueling NFL season -- striking up a deal with Sam's Club to buy supplies, food and water for the victims of Hurricane Wilma.  He took some of his limited days off to go down to south Florida to help hand out those supplies -- and in the process gave a needed lift to those who could shake his hand and know they weren't forgotten.

And by the way -- Edggerin James handed out those supplied at the Youth Center which he built for the young people in the small town where he grew up. 

So the next time you see those dreds and that familiar golden smile -- let him know that you appreciate him.  And even though his style is different from most midwesterners, you know he has the heart of a Hoosier.

F-1 to FANS: "F-U"

Hey BERNIE !   THIS "1"s for YOU!

What a debacle!  Michelin and Federation Internationale Automotive (F.I.A.), the French based governing body of Formula One totally ruined what could have been a fabulous weekend for the United States Grand Prix.

As the guy stiing in front of me at the "race" said, "Another reason to hate the French."

Anger and outrage spilled over, and the Michelin Man (see photo) had to run for his life ahead of angry Grand Prix fans.

And Bernie Ecclestone, the head of F-1, was like the house guest who spends a weekend doing nothing but criticizing his host.  Ecclestone bad mouthed the Speedway and even Danica Patrick, commenting, "I've got one of these wonderful ideas that women should be all dressed in white like all the other domestic appliances."  If you don't believe anyone could make a comment that stupid, CLICK HERE. 

Hey Bernie, I've got a great idea:  Why don't you strap into one of those race cars and race Danica?

Ecclestone treated everyone with disdain -- and in the end, he couldn't do anything more than put on a parade of high-priced machinery.  Of course, Bernie didn't stay around to see the end.  He left with 14 laps to go -- heading back to his Chicago hotel.  You see, none of the hotels in Indianapolis are up to Bernie's standards.

Hats off to the Speedway though.  NONE of this was the Speedway's doing.  Tony George refused to waive the checkered flag and refused to have any Speedway personnel take part in the victory ceremony.  Speedway President Joey Chitwood Jr. called the event a disservice to the racing fans who attended, tens of thousands of whom traveled from other countries for this event.

This was such a lost opportunity.  Until the moment the 14 Michelin cars pulled off the track, it was a near-perfect weekend.  Perhaps 70,000 fans attended Saturday's qualifying and racing.  The Porsches and the IRL's Menard's Infinity Pro Series put on two outstanding races. The young drivers in the BMW series put on a decent show, too.  And the Sunday morning Porsche race was an exciting 4-car battle, which included Indy 500 veteran Alex Zinardi.

But at 1 p.m. it all fell apart.  Like Humpty Dumpty, I don't think it can be put back together again.  What's worse-- I don't think anybody cares.