Lopresti: 20 keeper moments from the NCAA tourney in Indianapolis
How to remember the past three weeks in Indianapolis?
Mike Lopresti
Articles
Mike Lopresti: It isn’t Indiana’s year for basketball, despite the Big Dance
Only yesterday, the Big Ten was the baddest bunch in the land. Today, it has as many teams in the Sweet 16 as the Summit League.
Mike Lopresti: There’s never been a time in Indianapolis like what’s coming
The entire March-Madness-speaking world is now focused on Indianapolis, with 68 teams flying and busing this way.
Mike Lopresti: Indians, fans eye return to Victory Field in spring
The Indianapolis Indians are to host the Nashville Sounds; when the first pitch is thrown, it will have been 591 days since the last Indians pitch was thrown in Victory Field.
Mike Lopresti: This year’s bracket won’t be ordinary. It can’t be.
We have here the most recent Associated Press Top 25, and what it suggests is that Indianapolis won’t just host the most unorthodox tournament ever played by location, but also maybe with one of the most unusual fields in recent times.
Lopresti: Sports legends’ endings come in many flavors
Philip Rivers’ short career as a Colt brings to mind other notable last games in the state of Indiana, including the swan songs of Reggie Miller, Gene Keady, Peyton manning and Brad Stevens.
Mike Lopresti: March Madness in Indy with no teams from Indiana? It could happen.
When Indy last hosted the Final Four in 2015, five state teams were invited to the tournament. When the RCA Dome was the site in 2000, there were six.
Mike Lopresti: Years ending in ‘1’ seem to spawn historic events
So here we are in 2021, and it is impossible to imagine the tradition of IU basketball without Knight, a World Series in the daytime, or the Final Four in a simple basketball arena.
Mike Lopresti: Referees are hard to find in age of COVID-19
The body of officials in Indiana is aging and dwindling, with not enough young replacements. The problem has been growing for years, but COVID made it worse.
MIKE LOPRESTI: A better 2021?
For some, the bar is surprisingly high, but most of us are ready to move on.
Mike Lopresti: NBA and NFL have served up a plethora of Christmas memories
The longest game in NFL history delayed many a Christmas dinner back in 1971.
Mike Lopresti: Indiana’s magical season, by the numbers
Indiana football has rarely, if ever, been the subject of nationwide conversation among college fans.
MIKE LOPRESTI: Indiana’s winningest high school coaches eye season tipoff—and COVID
In their combined 98 seasons of coaching, Holmes and Keefer thought they had seen it all.
MIKE LOPRESTI: Here are a few ideas to ponder for a one-city-fits-all NCAA tourney
The idea of Indy hosting all of March Madness is thrilling. Let’s make it the ultimate showcase of our state’s favorite sport.
MIKE LOPRESTI: Something strange is afoot in the fall of 2020
Let the record show that as of Veterans Day, 2020, Indiana and Purdue were a combined 5-0 in the Big Ten, while Penn State, Michigan, Michigan State, Iowa and Nebraska were 3-11.
MIKE LOPRESTI: Presidents and their games
George Washington had wicket, Ford excelled on the gridiron and Reagan was a swimmer. White House occupants have a history of playing and watching—or trying to influence—the sports Americans love.
MIKE LOPRESTI: As Big Ten finally kicks off season, get ready for more drama, surprises
The Big Ten plan will play eight games in eight weeks to determine its final standings. Good luck on that one.
MIKE LOPRESTI: Strange twists, turns in sports fit with the surreality of 2020
This could be the year of an all-Chicago World Series between the Cubs and White Sox. The only other time that happened was 1906.
MIKE LOPRESTI: These rival coaches have been a pain in our posterior
Krzyzewski and Belichick haven’t been the only thorns in our side.
MIKE LOPRESTI: Twenty quirks about Colts season before the first snap
Oddities abound, including the Colts playing a game on the first day of the Masters.