How do you go from fighting world hunger to polishing the tarnished image of an NBA basketball team? That’s the task at hand for Jim Morris, who said to a recent breakfast gathering, “I reached a point in my life when I realized that nothing I would do going forward would be as important as what I just did.” I suppose a number of us reach a similar place in our careers when we realize we have “hit the peak”…
Lawmakers last year approved a bill that would have given the NFL a onetime tax break on spending and revenue tied to the 2011 Super Bowl, a moot point once team owners awarded the game to Dallas. Now, similar legislation has passed both chambers of the General Assembly-this time extending the exemption to the NCAA, which has committed to hosting its Final Four basketball championships in Indianapolis regularly through 2039. If signed into law, the measure would allow the NFL…
Not surprisingly, not everyone is thrilled with former Indiana University and Texas Tech basketball coach Bob Knight joining ESPN’s in-studio crew for its NCAA March Madness coverage. Knight’s move to the media…
New Line Cinema today is releasing its latest feature film, giving a comedic glimpse of life in the American Basketball Association. Will Ferrell plays Jackie Moon, an ABA player-owner trying to break into…
A throng of media members besieged Indiana Pacers players and front office executives after the team’s practice today at Conseco Fieldhouse, seeking comment about the latest off-court incident involving a Pacers player. This…
Does Gov. Mitch Daniels’ anointing of auto racing industry veteran Rollie Helmling as the state’s motorsports development director–or the unification of the Indy Racing League and Champ Car–create more motorsports business opportunities here? While state officials say yes, others in…
There could be as many as four women drivers in this year’s Indy Racing League season. Danica Patrick and Sarah Fisher already have signed deals to race this year. Yesterday, Venezuelan Milka Duno…
The local stop on the ATP Tour now will be known as The Indianapolis Tennis Championships Presented By Lilly. Eli Lilly-which will use the tournament to promote specific drugs such as Humalog…
Despite rumors-and a report in this space yesterday-that WellPoint will be announced as a title sponsor of the Indianapolis Tennis Championships today, WellPoint and tournament officials say that’s not the case.
Officials for the Indianapolis Tennis Championships, formerly the RCA Championships,…
It was a big weekend in Indianapolis. A record 420 credentialed media poured into town to report on the NFL Scouting Combine at the RCA Dome, while a 2007-08 league-high 12,575 fans…
So much news, so little space. Over the last two weeks, there was that evolving situation involving the IU basketball coach. The Hoosiers, Butler, Purdue and Notre Dame made Indiana the only state with four teams ranked in the nation’s top 25. Butler climbed to No. 8, its highest ranking ever, and Purdue took the Big Ten lead under Matt Painter, at this point the odds-on choice for national coach of the year. My buddy and former colleague, Robin Miller,…
Based on 50 conversations IU Foundation President Curt Simic had with donors the week after news broke of the potential firing
of men’s basketball coach Kelvin Sampson over alleged NCAA improprieties, the chief of Indiana University’s philanthropic
arm says he has little fear the latest athletic department controversy will affect financial support to the school.
Last week, my wife Cherà and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary with a trip to Turks and Caicos. We walked for miles along the white sand beaches of Grace Bay, snuggled in a hammock at sunset, slathered on sunblock and, between us, polished off 10 books at poolside. By midweek, we’d finally chilled from the tension of the daily grind. Unfortunately, about that time, the anticipatory anxiety of returning home set in. “I don’t wanna go back,” was our…
N e i g h b o r h o o d activists in Pittsburgh are fighting a development that would bring a grocery store, job training center, youth programs and other social services to the area of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ $290 million arena. The Pittsburgh group was planning a march in protest. Is retail and commercial development next to a sports arena a bad idea? A Cambridge, Mass., neighborhood group was opposed to the development of three townhomes, arguing…
The situation at Indiana University is so bad, several former athletes and big-time donors are calling for Athletic Director Rick Greenspan’s termination. Some think financial support to the school will be hurt if the situation regarding the men’s basketball program…
CBS Sports this morning is reporting that Indiana University men’s basketball players are threatening to boycott the remainder of the season if coach Kelvin Sampson is forced out. Quoting unidentified sources, CBS Sports reported that players and IU Athletic Director…
Indianapolis Colts tight end Dallas Clark is getting a raise. A big one. Two years ago, Clark was making $650,000. With the six-year contract Clark inked yesterday, he now figures to make $6 million plus per year. That doesn’t approach…
UPDATE (Feb. 22): Owners of Champ Car and the Indy Racing League completed an agreement in principle today that will unify the sport for 2008, said a statement released at 4:40 p.m. by the Indy Racing League. Several Champ Car…
With all that’s happening on the local sports scene, it’s easy to forget about the NFL Scouting Combine, which begins today in the RCA Dome. The Combine, which was first held in Indianapolis in 1987, is an event that has…
AirTran Airways, a sponsor of Danica Patrick’s, recently announced that passengers at LaGuardia Airport in New York will have the privilege of their own personal pit crew to get through check-in fast, thanks to a hustling team of Danica Patrick…
