Final Four Weekend
A friend told me I am writing more about basketball than politics these days. I guess so, but in Indiana basketball is politics.
Tonight, Reggie Miller will have his number retired by the Indiana Pacers. There are several national basketball figures already in town for the Final Four, so I imagine there will be a lot of star power at the game. A friend of mine has already seen and exchanged pleasantries with Dick Vitale downtown. Dick did not tell him he was a PTPer.
I did a technorati search for Indianapolis and Final Four to see what bloggers have to say about coming to Indianapolis this weekend. I do have a bit of civic pride in spite of all. I was disheartened to see a blogger from Baton Rouge of all places declare that he did know Indianapolis had anything besides a Speedway. How can anyone from Baton Rouge look down on Indianapolis? I’ve been to your airport. I have been to indoor flea markets that are larger than your “terminal”.
Espn.com’s Pat Forde has an article about the decline of basketball in Indiana on every level. He speaks about the decline of the high school basketball tournament since we moved to a multi-class format. This ensures the Milan miracle (inspiration for the movie Hoosiers) will never happen again. Of course, the Indiana University Hoosiers and Purdue Boilermakers have been in decline as well. Lastly, he talks about the disappointment that the Indiana Pacers have been over the past few years.
I am sick of the asshat Bob Kravitz deriding our new coach at Indiana University. The deal is done. Let’s support him and give him a chance to win. Hoosier and Espn.com columnist Jason Whitlock has a lot of good things to say about him. I am excited. Let’s face it, after the Davis debacle if we run Sampson out of town, we’re not going to be able to lure blacklisted coaches Jim Harrick or Larry Eustachy here.
I was at the circle downtown for lunch. It was a beautiful day around the crowded circle. I saw friends that I haven’t seen for months because we have been shuttered up inside from the cold. They’ve built quite a concert stage and I will go to the concerts even though I am not a fan of many of the acts slated to play.
The last time the Final Four was here a friend and I started drinking around Noon and we were out until around 2 am when we were dragged out of a downtown bar after almost starting a fight with a guy whose hulking friend looked like Mr. Clean. That was my closest call ever for a bar fight and I do not anticipate a reoccurrence.
As Jim noted the bars will close at two am on Saturday night because of Daylight Savings Time, but Mitch Daniels has declared it's okay to pour past two. If I am able to stay up that late, I'll raise a toast to him for once. You see, I found a way to sneak politics into this post.
Tonight, Reggie Miller will have his number retired by the Indiana Pacers. There are several national basketball figures already in town for the Final Four, so I imagine there will be a lot of star power at the game. A friend of mine has already seen and exchanged pleasantries with Dick Vitale downtown. Dick did not tell him he was a PTPer.
I did a technorati search for Indianapolis and Final Four to see what bloggers have to say about coming to Indianapolis this weekend. I do have a bit of civic pride in spite of all. I was disheartened to see a blogger from Baton Rouge of all places declare that he did know Indianapolis had anything besides a Speedway. How can anyone from Baton Rouge look down on Indianapolis? I’ve been to your airport. I have been to indoor flea markets that are larger than your “terminal”.
Espn.com’s Pat Forde has an article about the decline of basketball in Indiana on every level. He speaks about the decline of the high school basketball tournament since we moved to a multi-class format. This ensures the Milan miracle (inspiration for the movie Hoosiers) will never happen again. Of course, the Indiana University Hoosiers and Purdue Boilermakers have been in decline as well. Lastly, he talks about the disappointment that the Indiana Pacers have been over the past few years.
I am sick of the asshat Bob Kravitz deriding our new coach at Indiana University. The deal is done. Let’s support him and give him a chance to win. Hoosier and Espn.com columnist Jason Whitlock has a lot of good things to say about him. I am excited. Let’s face it, after the Davis debacle if we run Sampson out of town, we’re not going to be able to lure blacklisted coaches Jim Harrick or Larry Eustachy here.
I was at the circle downtown for lunch. It was a beautiful day around the crowded circle. I saw friends that I haven’t seen for months because we have been shuttered up inside from the cold. They’ve built quite a concert stage and I will go to the concerts even though I am not a fan of many of the acts slated to play.
The last time the Final Four was here a friend and I started drinking around Noon and we were out until around 2 am when we were dragged out of a downtown bar after almost starting a fight with a guy whose hulking friend looked like Mr. Clean. That was my closest call ever for a bar fight and I do not anticipate a reoccurrence.
As Jim noted the bars will close at two am on Saturday night because of Daylight Savings Time, but Mitch Daniels has declared it's okay to pour past two. If I am able to stay up that late, I'll raise a toast to him for once. You see, I found a way to sneak politics into this post.
posted by torporindy at 3/30/2006
5 Comments:
I miss downtown. Ah, the strawberry festival, the chocolate festival, any other reason to avoid going back to work in the mid-afternoon...it's all good. Also, I like it when the Hilbert Circle Theater (do they still call it that, what with the firing and the legal actions to recover assets from him and all?) has the symphony playing in the summer and they pipe the music outside.
If you head over to the Old Point or the Rathskeller or the Chatterbox, have a beer for me too! You could even have a beer in all three for me! I love the 'Box.
Yes, they still call it the Hilbert Circle Theater in spite of it all. I imagine Steve is clinging to that name since the rest of his world crumbled. Btw, the ISO has foolishly scheduled concerts for Friday and Saturday night. I guess no one told them the city was going to use the circle as its entertainment center for the weekend. There are over 100k people expected for the Mellencamp concert Sunday night.
I'll probably go over on Mass Ave at some point. I like all of those places plus a newer (well, since you left) place called MacNivens
Ahh, bar fights. Well, o.k., I've only been in two. And technically the first one was in line for pork burgers served from a trailer parked outside of the bar. But it involved a Miami University football player and me getting stitches.
The second one -- there was a little guy mouthing off to my buddy. So, I casually asked the little guy, "do you lick balls?" Unfortunately, the little guy had been so mouthy, I failed to notice the big, quiet guy standing next to him until his fist broke my nose.
Like Chief Joseph, I will fight no more forever.
Doug, that's the same with me. I had no idea Mr. Clean was his buddy.
I forgot I almost got in a fight in Jackson Square in New Orleans on NYE 1999, but luckily it never came to blows.
I have been a few fights outside of bars. I had a my jaw broken in high school by a guy who had "Karate xxxx" as a nickname.
Now, I am a follower of Chief Joseph too.
I dropped CPF a "are you alive or have you been attacked by teenagers" e-mail. Will let you know when I know something.
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