Mark Montieth: There’s no formula for draft picks, but history offers key insights
The Pacers have the 13th overall selection this year, a middling first-round selection for a team coming off a middling season.
Pro Sports
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NCAA memo: Emmert urges schools to act on NIL or he will
Six states have laws set to go into effect July 1 that will permit college athletes to be paid for endorsements, personal appearances and social media posts, setting up the possibility of patchwork rules from coast to coast for thousands of athletes.
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NFL scraps scouting combine in Indy in 2021
The NFL scouting combine will not be held as usual this year in Indianapolis, where it has taken place every year since 1987, the league told teams in a memo Monday. The city has hosted the event every year since 1987.
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NBA All-Star Game in Indy canceled for 2021, but city gets honors for 2024
Plans for the All-Star Game and related festivities in February at Bankers Life Fieldhouse have been scrapped due to the COVID-10 epidemic.
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Pacers organization terminates dozens of employees in cost-cutting move
Pacers Sports & Entertainment, which owns and manages the Indiana Pacers and Indiana Fever, has cut about 16% of its full-time workforce in response to financial losses during the pandemic, a spokesman told IBJ.
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Articles
Mike Lopresti: It’s an Indiana summer at the ballpark
Four men, who might be having the summers of their baseball lives. Four roads that led through the state of Indiana.
Mark Montieth: Carlisle’s second chance will be good for the Pacers
It’s something of a redemption tour for him, although nobody blamed him for how things ended last time. It’s also a break for the man who hired him, Kevin Pritchard, whose last hire survived but one season.
Carlisle taking over Pacers for 2nd time after leaving Mavs
Rick Carlisle confirmed to The Associated Press on Thursday he has agreed to return to the club he coached for four seasons from 2003-07. He led the Pacers to the Eastern Conference finals his first season.
Record-breaking kicker Adam Vinatieri set to retire after 24-year career
Vinatieri, 48, entered the league as undrafted free agent and became known as the best clutch kicker in NFL history. He made 29 game-winning kicks during his career and scored a franchise-record 1,515 points with the Indianapolis Colts.
Mark Montieth: Legalization of sports wagering dangerous for some
Billy isn’t his real name, but his gambling problem was as real as the loans he was taking out to finance his habit and as real as the weekly Gamblers Anonymous meetings he now attends to ward off the demons.
Mike Lopresti: Hamilton Southeastern grad is first-round draft pick
Bachman had good freshman and sophomore seasons, then dropped his pitching release slot a tad; toned up his 6-1, 235-pound frame; developed a killer slider, and turned into a flame thrower.
Mark Montieth: Slick Leonard had people skills, gift of leadership
His trademark shout of “Boom Baby” after every made three-pointer became ingrained within the vocabulary of sports fans throughout the state, shouted on driveways, putting greens and anywhere else a long shot of some sort dropped.
Mark Montieth: A tale of reboots
Whether it’s a need for better health, a better circumstance or simply more opportunity, reclamation projects have found this to be a welcoming city over the years.
Mark Montieth: McGinnis and former Pacers trainer still a team
More than 50 years after meeting George McGinnis, David Craig is still playing a major role in the rehabilitation process.
Mark Montieth: Ticket brokers confident they’ll make a comeback
The pandemic that wiped out the nation’s sporting and concert events in one fell swoop did serious damage to a lot of bottom lines in 2020, particularly those of Circle City and Fanfare.
MARK MONTIETH: Here’s the huge change 10 years can bring
Consider the dramatic turns experienced by Butler and the Colts, Pacers and Fever.
Report: Cleveland Indians to change name after 105 years
For years, Native American groups and others have protested against Cleveland’s use of Indians as its name as well as other imagery used by the American League charter franchise since 1915.
MONTIETH: If past is prologue, new coach will give Pacers a boost
By injecting a first-year coach into the mold of an established roster, Kevin Pritchard has hit on the formula that has worked eerily well for the Pacers throughout their history.
MARK MONTIETH: Four tales of grit and determination on the way to NBA glory
The path to a head coaching or key front-office job in professional basketball is often paved with sleepless nights and little or no pay.
Bjorkgren describes plan to take Pacers in new direction
First-time NBA head coach Nate Bjorkgren on Wednesday presented a different kind of vision, one Pacers fans may embrace after watching years of stodgy, half-court basketball.
UPDATE: Colts say COVID tests were false positives; Sunday’s game remains on schedule
The update came several hours after the Colts initially announced that “several individuals within our organization” had tested positive for the virus.
MARK MONTIETH: Slicing and dicing the Pacers’ exhaustive search for a coach
Hiring a coach is one of the most important moves a franchise makes, but there’s no formula for success.
MARK MONTIETH: Indians once again contend with nickname politics
The only Native American to have played for the team thinks the franchise should keep the name and use it to educate the public.
NFL broadcasts to feature phantom fans cheering stellar plays
The NFL is set to kick off its 2020 season Thursday night in Kansas City, where 16,000 fans are expected. But it will sound as if 76,416 spectators are cheering thanks to NFL Films, which is supplying prerecorded audio specific to each NFL venue.