by Kent Sterling
Last week, we had a good show. Lots to talk about, and unbelievably good guests.
This week, there might be even more to talk about – the Pacers win last night that shouldn’t have been, Indiana’s continuing Season on the Brink II with a must win game against Illinois, and the continued evolution of the Indianapolis Colts roster.
And there is plenty more for Fox 59 sports director Chris Hagan and I to talk about.
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The legacy of Peyton Manning is going to come into much clearer focus in eight days. Will he be seen as the best who ever played, a top five quarterback, or a top ten guy? Being the first to win a Super Bowl as the starting quarterback for two franchises would go a long way toward giving Manning a leg up on the ladder.
College athletics are getting ready to undergo what could be a dramatic sea change with the 65 major conference schools developing an unprecedented amount of authority. In the past, the smaller schools stood in the path of evolution because there are more of them, and voting as a bloc stunted changes like allowing schools from paying for the full cost of attending college.
By creating a separate class for the schools who are able to generate a tremendous amount of wealth, a more reasonable world will be created. Fred Glass is the athletic director at Indiana University, where growth is occurring though out their 24 programs. Fred will talk to us about college athletics, and specifically how the potential changes will affect the Hoosiers.
Fred also teased a series of structural improvements in athletic facilities during the announcement of the Assembly Hall renovation, and we’ll try to pin him down on a timeline – at least for the future announcements.
Also joining us will be Colts inside linebacker Jerrell Freeman, who should be in Hawaii this weekend for the Pro Bowl. Instead, he’ll spend time with Chris and me. Not only did Freeman lead the Colts with 126 tackles, but led all inside LBs with six forced fumbles. Freeman uses his speed to make plays, and has gone from a guy where people wondered if the Colts could improve at his position to being a guy Colts fans are thrilled to have in Indy.
Every week, I pledge to vent about the Cubs and their clear desire to avoid improving until the farm system starts producing help at the major league level, but with everything going on in Indiana, this week might not be the week for that either – despite losing the auction for Japanese wunderkind Masahiro Tanaka. The Cubs never believed for a minute they were in the game for Tanaka, and used the process to sell fans on the concept of them not spending because they were marshaling their resources for their bid – which was abject nonsense.
And we want to take your calls. We have not spent a lot of time taking calls because I don’t like turning over control over the quality of the show to anyone who can dial a phone. During the few segments where we have asked for people to share their thoughts, we have been anything but disappointed. We have had really smart callers, and I think they have added to the quality of the show. So, let’s hear from you.
Fred will join us at 11:45, and Jerrell will call in at 12:15.
If you’re in the car, or relaxing in the house before getting out in the weather, turn on 1070 the Fan or 107.5 FM and spend some time with us. If you live outside the area, you can listen at 1070thefan.com or on the 1070thefan smartphone app.
It’s the best two hours of my week.