Should IU have hired Butler basketball coach Brad Stevens two years ago? That's debatable, but the non-hiring of the young
coaching gem is a sign of a bigger problem that has plagued the Hoosiers for more than a decade.
Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay makes an unusual pitch for one of the team's biggest sponsors, Toyota.
Butler University is bracing for a siege of publicity this weekend. The school's Web sites have been bolstered and retail
shelves are being stocked. Already more than $1.7 million in Butler merchandise has been sold.
Butler's run to the Final Four has its roots in a decision two decades removed by a former school president and a group
of trusting trustees who dared to believe the impossible was possible for the Bulldogs.
The pendulum of support is swinging and the idea of expanding the men's NCAA basketball tournament from 65 to 96 teams
is now gaining support from the Big Ten.
A proposal to launch a college auto racing series could be the answer to boosting open-wheel racing popularity to the level
it enjoyed when the first Final Four visited Indy in 1980.
Butler's triumph has likely eliminated some of the direct visitor spending the city would have seen if Syracuse or Kansas
State would have made it to Indy for this year's Final Four. But corporate excitement could wipe away that loss.
Watching the transformation of Bob Knight from a take-no-guff head basketball coach to the type of glad-handing media type
he would have detested in his previous life has been truly shocking, and a little sad, to behold.
Graham Rahal's new full-time deal to drive for Newman Hass/Lanigan this year is positive for the Izod IndyCar Series on
many fronts, but it dramatically intensifies pressure on series leaders to turn a profit.
Indianapolis Colts' owner Jim Irsay's recent proclamation could dramatically escalate the salaries of the Colts'
and New England Patriots' franchise quarterbacks.
Despite a 20 percent attendance increase at this year's men's Big Ten tournament at Conseco Fieldhouse, there are still cities looking to steal the event from Indianapolis.
Butler's stellar on-court performance drew big crowds to Hinkle Fieldhouse this season. But some still wonder if the Bulldogs
will have enough financially to retain Brad Stevens as coach.
With six days left to vote, it looks like the vote for the Madden 11 cover is down to two. For the first time, fans have a
say in the outcome, but Colts fans may have good reason to cheer against their man this time.
Indy Racing League officials hope to leverage their growing relationship with Brazilian president to attract U.S. President
Barack Obama to the Indy 500. It would mark the first time a sitting president has attended the 100-year-old event.
After years of providing TV viewer ratings for individual sporting events, Nielsen Media Co. today said no more. The new policy
means fans and media now have few ways to gauge success or failure of the IndyCar Series.
With 75 percent of its sponsorship deals expiring at the end of last season, there were lots of reasons for the Indianapolis Indians to panic. Instead, the team invested big bucks in Victory Field and had faith its sales staff would come through in the clutch.
The 21-year-old son of Indy 500 champ Bobby Rahal has scoffed at a two-year offer from Dale Coyne Racing, and by doing so
may be endangering the future of open-wheel racing.
While top prospects were on display at yesterday's NFL Combine in Indianapolis, members of the league's competition
committee were hotly debating a rule that could change the game next year.
The Indianapolis Colts' decision to increase ticket prices in 2010 pulls another $4 million or so of discretionary dollars
out of this small market. It could also inch the team higher above NFL league ticket price average.
Ratings for the Feb. 20 NASCAR Nationwide Series Race, Danica Patrick's second, were down nationally and in the Indianapolis
market compared to the season opener Feb. 13. But Danica has another chance to shine Saturday in Las Vegas.
