by Kent Sterling
The rain is falling in record setting amounts, this is the shortest day of the year, and Christmas falls on a Wednesday – meaning no long holiday weekend. You need a ray of sunshine as you pick up your last minute gifts, and today’s “Ahead of the Curve” can’t part the clouds, but Fox 59 sports director Chris Hagan and I will bring you all the fun and sports we can.
What better than two hours of radio about a historically good time in Indianapolis sports. The Pacers rolled to an easy win last night against a good Western Conference team, the Hoosiers are basking in the glow of a $40 million gift from Cindy Simon Skjodt, and the Colts are back in the game for a first round bye.
That is a lot for Hagan and I to talk about in just two hours, but there’s more. Danny Granger returned to the Pacers last night and played 22 minutes. He looked rusty, but if he can return to a reasonable facsimile of what he was at 25, how much better does that make the Pacers?
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Indiana University football coach Kevin Wilson will join us at 11:15a to talk about how the 2013 season met with his expectations, and what is ahead for the program. There are some recruits that have recently signed their letters of intent, and will enroll for the spring semester. We’ll find out about them too.
Coach Rick Venturi will join us at 12:15p to preview the Colts vs. Chiefs matchup that before last Sunday looked to be a rehearsal for the wild card weekend game in the playoffs. Now, the Chiefs are playing for the AFC West Championship and #1 seed, and the Colts will have a good chance at the #2 seed if they win. It’s a big game in a hostile environment, and if the Colts are going to make a deep run in the playoffs, they need to find a way to win a game like this. Rick worked as a defensive genius in the NFL for 26 years and now prepares for Sunday games as he used to so we can be better informed fans.
We’ll also spend some time at 12:45p talking to Indiana University athletic director Fred Glass about the effect a $40 million gift has on the student-athletes at Indiana. Glass is committed to keeping the promise made to athletes that they will leave with a meaningful degree, and have the best facilities possible to allow them the best chance to reach their potential academically and athletically.
As always, there will be gentle mockery. Hagan will bust my chops for my unnecessary use of polysyllabic words, and I will find a way to work in a few jabs about Hagan’s man crush on Michael Buble’ – the Perry Como of the 21st Century.
I can’t wait for the show to start. Hope you will join us on 1070 the Fan/107.5 FM in central Indiana, 1070thefan.com digitally, or on the 1070 the Fan app for your smart phone.