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MICKEY MAURER Commentary: Nothing new in athletes misbehaving

There were lots of empty seats at Conseco Fieldhouse the other night. It seems thousands of fans of professional basketball in Indiana are no longer “ready to rumble.” At this rate, Pacers leaping into the stands will have no one left to cold-cock. Local media has exacerbated the situation by an ad nauseam comparison of the world champion Indianapolis Colts to the Indiana Pacers. Unfortunately for the Pacers, the Super Bowl and the latest melee occurred within hours of each…

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CHRIS KATTERJOHN Commentary: Snowstorms make you wonder

CHRIS KATTERJOHN Commentary Snowstorms make you wonder Television weatherpeople are weird creatures, and I mean that in the nicest way. I know a few of them, and they are very fine individuals. But while most folks get anxious over “weather events” like Feb. 13’s snowstorm, TV weatherpeople get excited, downright giddy. Their eyes gleam with intensity. They become more animated. Their nervous systems crank to high alert. They are like the veritable kid in the candy store. Weather events are…

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SPORTS: Sports media turns blind eye to coaches of faith

In today’s America, the separation (or lack thereof) of church and state is a political lightning rod. The separation of church and sports is not of concern. That’s because the media already has taken care of it. In the sports media, references to religion in general or of a higher being in particular are not welcome. For athletes or coaches to say their success has come from the gifts given to them by their Creator does not compute in the…

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Squabble threatens ABA’s credibility

Rival board members are at war over the future of the American Basketball Association just as the Indianapolis-based professional
league appeared to be on the cusp of breakthrough growth.

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NOTIONS: If you want to be your best, Easy Street’s a dead end

I’ve been driving around Indiana with my pal, the professor. For four consecutive Thursdays, we rendezvoused at dawn, grabbed cups of caffeine and headed to the northeast corner of the state to teach grant-writing. Our students, desperately seeking funds for the not-for-profit organizations they lead, were eager to learn and engaged in our lesson. The conversations en route were equally engrossing. We talked about our families and their health, our kids and their activities. We covered politics, sports and our…

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SPORTS: Pacers pull us back from Super Bowl’s warm afterglow

Let’s see now … The city of Indianapolis announces it is formally pursuing the 2011 Super Bowl. Indiana University defeats second-ranked University of Wisconsin in Assembly Hall, ending the Badgers’ chances of becoming the first team since IU in 1976 to go through the league unbeaten. North Central High School’s Eric Gordon goes for 43 points in a nationally televised game against a Chicago high school team featuring the two sons of Michael Jordan, who watches from the bleachers. Butler…

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Exclusive golf club opens up–a little

Until now, gaining entrance into the exclusive nine-hole golf course built on 40 acres next to the Indianapolis Metropolitan
Airport in Fishers was as difficult as a commoner scoring an invitation to a royal palace. But admittance to Balmoral is loosening–a
little.

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University Loft finds growing niche in hospitality industry: Indianapolis-based furniture manufacturer known for college products sees big potential in hotel segment

The University Loft Co.’s graduation from dormitory to hotel-furniture maker is beginning to show promise. While the Indianapolis-based manufacturer’s bread and butter remains campus furnishings, its decision to enter the hospitality market in 2003 has CEO James Jannetides thinking big-as in presidentialsuite big. In four years, the ULC Hospitality division has grown to account for nearly 10 percent of the company’s $100 million annual revenue. Jannetides, though, envisions the branch’s eventually contributing half in his quest to someday make ULC…

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Colts seize Super moment for marketing

With a season-ticket waiting list of more than 13,000–and growing by the hour–the Indianapolis Colts marketing team can
settle into cruise control, right? Owner Jim Irsay thinks not.

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Super Bowl bid team more confident after visit to Miami: Civic leaders gathered useful info on ‘terrific’ trip

No more. In Miami, the daunting requirements for hosting the game began to make more sense. The city’s strengths came into focus. Extensive tours of the stadium, media center, team hotels and practice facilities, along with hours of meetings with NFL brass and officials with other host cities, left the contingent feeling Indianapolis is ready for a Super Bowl. The group hopes to raise $25 million in private funds to host the game in 2011. “It was a terrific trip…

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TO DO LIST: BUTLER BASKETBALL: All together now: ‘Let’s go Bulldogs, let’s go!’

TO DO LIST BUTLER BASKETBALL All together now: ‘Let’s go Bulldogs, let’s go!’ Looking for a way to satisfy your sports jones now that football season’s over? Check out Indianapolis’ other team-the Butler Bulldogs-at historic Hinkle Fieldhouse. The nationally ranked basketball squad is at its prime, and taking in a home game is an entertaining reminder of the good old days when college athletes played their hearts out for four years and communities came out in force to rally ’round…

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SPORTS: Super Bowl has special meaning for diversity watchdog

As this is being written, it is uncertain which head coach will grasp the Lombardi Trophy. Those of us here certainly hope it is the Indianapolis Colts’ Tony Dungy. If not, however, Floyd Keith of the Indianapolis-based Black Coaches Association still can’t lose. Because the trophy then would be in the hands of the Chicago Bears’ Lovie Smith. As most of the world knows by now, Super Bowl XLI in Miami was going to be historic even before the opening…

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CHRIS KATTERJOHN Commentary: It’s déjà vu all over again

CHRIS KATTERJOHN Commentary It’s déjà vu all over again Every once in a while, I’m struck by the same-ness of things. My last column was filed from Florida, as was last year’s second column in January. This week’s is being written upon my return from a publisher’s meeting in Puerto Vallarta, as was last year’s first February column. That’s a little scary. Is my life getting to be that predictable? Remember my passport debacle from last year? This year in…

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Architect of Colts’ success worked his way to the top

Bill Polian, the multi-sport schoolboy athlete from the Bronx, never had the advantage of an inside track. So he broke into
the National Football League the only way he knew how: by outworking and outsmarting the competition. By all accounts, Polian,
64 and now president of the Indianapolis Colts, is still at it.

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Super Bowl win not necessarily profitable

If the Indianapolis Colts win the Super Bowl Feb. 4, team owner Jim Irsay will be going deep into his pocket. Contrary to
popular belief, winning the Super Bowl is not a huge financial windfall–at least not in the near term for the team and its
owner.

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Super Bowl travel plans mix business, fun

Super Bowl XLI has become a can’t-miss event for dozens of local business executives and government honchos, who are shelling
out several thousand dollars apiece to watch the Feb. 4 game in person.

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SPORTS: Overdosing on the Colts? Enjoy it while you can

That sport, and not religion as Karl Marx once declared, has become the “opiate of the masses” is apparent in our fair burg, where we all-or at least most of us-are overdosing on the Indianapolis Colts. The TV types are in full hyper-ventilation. The scribes are cranking out words by the thousands. No angle involving the Colts and their upcoming Super Bowl date with Da Bears in Miami will go uncovered. And, yes, some of the story lines will be…

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SPORTS: AFC title game is a big event in a land of big events

There is conjecture that the hosting of the AFC Championship game between the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots is the biggest/greatest/most significant-choose your superlative-sports-related event in the city’s history. That got me to thinking. Is it greater than the 1911 Indianapolis 500, which led to the other 88 500s that, in their current form, generate far more annual economic impact than even a Super Bowl? Is it greater than the 1946 Indianapolis 500, when Tony Hulman took ownership of…

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IMS Productions joins Web video network

IMS Productions, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s video production arm, has agreed to be one of the primary content providers
for The Venice Project, a collaboration of big-name Internet entrepreneurs intent on shaking up the television industry by
launching a 30-plus-channel, TV-like network online.

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