Author Archives: Kent Sterling

Was Colts QB Jacoby Brissett replaced because he is black? Depends on who you ask

Barring injury, Philip Rivers will replace Jacoby Brissett as the starting quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts.

When I watched a video of four black NFL pundits, including ESPN’s Domonique Foxworth, agree that Philip Rivers is replacing Jacoby Brissett as the Colts starting quarterback because of racism, I winced.

The four experts were not in perfect alignment about the role racism plays in the evaluation of NFL quarterbacks, but all agreed it exists.

I got mad for a few minutes.  “Why does it always have to be about race to blacks?” I asked myself.  Then I looked in the mirror and realized the answer to that question is not mine to offer.

I don’t understand the signing, as Rivers best days are almost certainly behind him and Brissett’s best days are likely coming in the near future.  Rivers is going to earn $25-million in 2020 as the Colts starter because of who he was – not who he is likely to become.  It’s hard for me to ascribe the signing as racially motivated though.  I hate racism, and cannot fathom the Colts do business with an eye toward the color of a QB’s skin – especially a year after signing Brissett to a two-year deal worth $30-million.

Click here for your copy of “Oops – the Art of Learning from Mistakes and Adventures” by Kent Sterling

Within 24 hours of watching the video where Brissett’s single year as the starter was discussed, I read a piece in the Indianapolis Monthly by Dan Wakefield.  In it he discussed his recent understanding of the discrimination against blacks that has existed silently under his nose in his hometown of Indianapolis for his entire life.

Wakefield wrote of the tragic and sad end to his friendship with African-American writer James Baldwin as the result of a racially dismissive comment made by Wakefield at a dinner.  He lamented that he didn’t fully understand that a concept like racism is defined by our individual experiences rather than as a universally agreed upon concept.

Every reasonable human being decries lynchings as horrifying.  The Voting Rights Act of 1965 attempted to end an overt act of racism.  Recent protests against the murders of unarmed blacks by police point to another chapter of racism.  Whites and blacks together understand murder and denying the right to vote is wrong.

Whites, including myself, fail to acknowledge unique challenges faced each day by blacks.  We can’t understand how subtle racism works because we don’t live it.  Whites see their lives as challenging and express pride in their ability to overcome adversity.  Success is hard to find for everyone, we believe.  It’s tough out there, and those who use race as an excuse for not finding it are not fighting hard enough.  That was basically the message from Wakefield to Baldwin that caused their friendship to immediately immolate.

This is not about whether the Colts are an organization that embraced racism by signing Rivers as the starter over the top of Brissett.  It’s about four smart black men with NFL expertise  believing racism plays a role as whites in front offices evaluate black quarterbacks.  These guys have experiences different from mine.

That doesn’t make them right and me wrong.  it also doesn’t make me right and them wrong.  Racism is assessed through each of our own experiences and the lessons of our families through generations of unique experiences.  No matter how evolved our ability to empathize, we can’t fully understand the black experience and their response to societal norms we accept as fair and equitable.  Similarly, they cannot understand how we interpret their appraisal of the Colts actions – or those of organizations run by whites.

I have no doubt Colts general manager Chris Ballard and his staff did everything they could to view Brissett’s work in 2019 through a colorblind prism, but that doesn’t count for much among the four guys who applied race as a factor in his demotion.

You see it one way.  I see it a differently.  Those four each see it in their own individual way.  Racial differences divide us, as do those of gender and religion.  And they always will.

The best we can hope is that each of us grasp that because all our experiences have been unique, we each have an equally unique understanding of the effects of race upon each of our lives.  And so we need to accommodate the tremendous disparity in beliefs driven by those experiences.

Was Brissett passed over because of his race?  There are many answers – none globally correct, but each accurate through our own unique prism.

 

My first Cubs game – Banks doubles and homers in 9-8 loss – April 16, 1968

To a five-year-old’s eyes in 1968, this was the most beautiful place in the world. Almost 52 years later, it still is.

Every year beginning in 1968, Dad would take me out of school on a spring afternoon to go to a Cubs game at Wrigley Field.  Back then, the Cubs only played day games, so that was the only way to see them during the week.

Cubs owner Phil Wrigley mandated that 22,000 tickets went on sale the day of every game, so there were always tickets available for those who woke up with an inkling they might want to see the Cubs that afternoon.

On April 16, 1968, Dad drove us down to Wrigley, a place I had only seen on our black and white TV, and as we headed east on Addison from the Kennedy Expressway I couldn’t wait to get my first glimpse of the historic ballpark.  Every block, I asked, “Are we close?”  Dad nodded in annoyance.

Click here for your copy of “Oops – the Art of Learning from Mistakes and Adventures” by Kent Sterling

Finally, through the trees, the red marquee that faces the intersection of Addison and Clark Streets was visible, and my heart exploded.  It’s hard to explain how thrilling it it to see in-person an iconic site that had only been available on TV.  To a five-year-old, it’s like rolling up to the pearly gates of heaven.

We parked in the lot adjacent to Wrigley, just across Clark, a waited in line for tickets.  Dad popped for a couple of box seats 10 rows up from the Cincinnati Reds on deck circle on the first base side.  Back then, the most expensive tickets at Wrigley cost $3.50, so it wasn’t a financial hardship to sit up close.

Walking up the stairs that leads to the seating area, I was totally unprepared for the beauty of what I would see moments later.  It never occurred to me that the grass at Wrigley was green.  It was gray on TV, so I assumed the grass was gray.  The iconic scoreboard also appeared to be gray on TV.  When I reached the top of the steps, I was surrounded by a green so vivid I was overwhelmed.  I stopped until the slack in the arms that connected my dad and I as we held hands snapped taut.  “Cmon,” Dad pleaded.

We bought a scorecard and sat in our seats.  The game was 45-minutes from first pitch, but that was the way Dad lived – arrive early, leave earlier.  He handed me the scorecard and pencil, pointed to a couple of guys in Reds uniforms, and told me, “Go ask that guy to sign the card.”

Because there were two Reds standing next to the dugout, I went toward the player without a crowd around him.  The Reds player signed his name and I ran happily back to my seat.  Dad was laughing.  “Pete Rose and Fred Whitfield are signing autographs, and you go to Whitfield.”

That’s a very solid example of how my relationship with Dad worked over our 40 years together.  Dad told me to do something, I did my best to comply, and the result was less than perfect.

The National Anthem played, we stood, and I sang as loudly as I could.  We had just learned the lyrics from Mrs. Courtney in Kindergarten, so I was eager to sing loudly enough that my mom could hear me as she watched on TV at home.  Sadly, despite my efforts, she was unable to discern my voice from the others who joined the chorus.

Cubs baseball was not the juggernaut of popularity in 1968 that it is today.  The Cubs had been a bad team since 1945, and while hopes were high for 1968, fan interest drove only 10,763 fans to Wrigley on that day.

Fergie Jenkins started for the Cubs, but he didn’t have his best stuff and only lasted three innings.  The Cubs fell behind 5-0 after the Reds scored two in the top of the third, but exploded for seven in the bottom of the frame.  Ernie Banks’ two-run double was the most exciting moment of the inning.  He followed that up in the fifth with a leadoff home run.  Big day for Mr. Cub, who was my favorite player.

Banks always smiled, was skinny like me, and seemed to be just about the smoothest human being I had seen do anything, so I loved him over Ron Santo, Billy Williams, Jenkins, and Don Kessinger.  To see him whack it like he did that day was a treat.

I was having a great time, but Dad was ready to hit the road after six innings with the Cubs leading 8-6.  This was the first of many Cubs games I would attend with Dad without ever staying around to see a seventh inning stretch.  Avoiding traffic was much more important to Dad than watching an additional three innings of baseball.

My only other memory of the day was Dad being upset that the parking lot attendant allowed a car to block our path to the exit.  Dad’s lack of patience, which was legendary, caused him to get creative in getting from the lot to Addison Street.  I don’t recall any contact between our car and those belonging to fans who chose to stay beyond the sixth inning, but I can’t swear he didn’t physically move obstacles that stood between Dad and open road back to Lake Bluff.

Every time I return to Wrigley Field, I visit the ramp Dad and I scaled on that day more than 50 years ago.  I walk up the steps and revel in the jarring embrace by the various shades of green.  The vista has changed over the years with the video screens and hideous billboards, but enough remains to make the wave of nostalgia and love for my dad so thick I stand in awe for a minute before gathering my senses and returning to present day.

I loved the Cubs before April 16, 1968.  I loved my dad before that date too.  But on that day, those two loves merged in a time and place that continues to call me back to remember and visit – just like every father’s son who took his hand, walked up a few steps, and had that perfect green grass and blue sky seared into their hearts.

My favorite Indiana Basketball team – the 1981 NCAA Champions

As an Indiana University freshman in 1980-1981, I was treated to an uneven season of basketball from what will always be my favorite team.

The beginning of the season was difficult to watch – the end was glorious.  The worst was a 66-60 loss to Texas-Rio Grande Valley, and the best was the national championship game against North Carolina.  In between came enlightenment.

What I know about basketball, I learned during that 1980-1981 season as very talented players led by an exceptionally smart coach flirted with selfless perfection and intellectual dominance.  I’m not sure this was the smartest basketball team to ever play, but it was close.

Click here for your copy of “Oops – the Art of Learning from Mistakes and Adventures” by Kent Sterling

Basketball is a weird game in that it dazzles with individual excellence, but ultimately rewards player discipline as they deny selfish impulses.  Functioning well as a team requires talking and listening, shooting and passing, and investing in the many at the expense of the one.

Once Indiana figured that out, the Hoosiers soared like very few teams before or since.  They were led on the floor by Isiah Thomas, a point guard whose superb talent was exceeded only by his desire to win.  Ray Tolbert was a team-first big whose work as a mentor for sleeping giant Landon Turner became critical as the season progressed.

Randy Wittman and Ted Kitchel were tenacious competitors and excellent shooters who knew when to listen to Knight, and understood perfectly when to ignore him.

Steve Risley and Jim Thomas were role players who knew what was expected of them and consistently delivered.  Chuck Franz, Glen Grunwald, Phil Isenbarger, Steve Bouchie, and Tony Brown were noble in their sacrifices and contributions.

This is a team that ended the non-conference portion of the season 7-5 and appeared to be one of those groups that simply did not fit together.  Talented players without collective commitment will never win consistently.  This is what we’ve seen and been frustrated by from Indiana teams since 2013.  It’s what got Tom Crean fired because he could not recruit to what IU fans demand.

This group of Hoosiers figured out how important commitment and fit are, and they soared as they became a true team.

IU’s run through the NCAA Tournament was historic with wins of 35, 15, 32, 18 and 13 points.  No team challenged them.  It’s true that the road was made smoother by Kentucky and DePaul losing in the first round and by hosting the regional finals at Assembly Hall, but Indiana won its fourth banner by becoming a selfless machine that grew quickly to understand the game and execute it relentlessly.

This was Knight’s best work as a coach.  According to those who played on this team, he handed the keys to Isiah in February and trusted him to drive.  He also allowed teammates to try to get to a very hard to reach Landon Turner.  Tolbert’s work to get Turner to devote himself to accepting the responsibility of being a great teammate was instrumental in his explosion toward greatness.

This team was mature enough to get the best from Knight without a debilitating amount of his worst.  Imagine what would have happened if Knight kicked Turner off the team – as he did to so many who shared Turner’s malaise.

Those lucky enough to watch the ’80-’81 Indiana team up close developed a unique understanding of the beauty of basketball when played by a group that cares more about the success of the unit than the individual.  This wasn’t a team that loved each other when it became a champion; it became a champion because they loved each other.

Fans don’t get a chance to watch teams evolve into dominating champions very often, but magic happened in 1981, and all of us on campus then got to take that joyous ride with them.

Local Talk Radio is critical to remaining connected, informed, and entertained

Radio has never been more important for our communities than it is at this very minute.

Local radio helps communities connect, and that connection is needed more than ever as we have been forced to withdraw from personal contact by the Coronavirus pandemic.

Somehow, some way, radio is best at building one-on-one relationships.  We feel connected with hosts is a way that just doesn’t happen with other media.  Maybe it’s because radio is unscripted and the performance by hosts is behavioral rather than contrived.  Radio is the place where we visit friends and feel that we are not alone in these strange, strange times.

Click here for your copy of “Oops – the Art of Learning from Mistakes and Adventures” by Kent Sterling

Social media is a nice interactive portal for us to connect with friends, but for community connectivity there is nothing to rival radio.  Radio is live, authentic, and audible.  Twitter deals in 280 character blasts of compassion or invective.  There is something calming about the sound of another person’s voice, and the opportunity to hear calls from others who feel like we do.

When we listen to Dan Dakich on 107.5 The Fan, Hammer and Nigel on WIBC, Smiley on WZPL, or the Bob & Tom Show on Q95, there is a feeling we are not alone, and that connection is only going to become more important of the next several weeks and months as the virus continues to affect life here.

We have only been dealing with the most serious effects of the outbreak for the last week, and we likely have another eight weeks (minimum) of this to patiently deal with.  Remember, it was only seven days ago when Bankers Life Fieldhouse was filled with fans to watch Indiana play Nebraska in the first round of the Big 10 Tournament.

And the likelihood is that the worst is yet to come .  We will need a medium to receive and relay real time information and guidance from the government and health care officials, and radio will be there for us in that capacity as it has been for the past century.

TV is important too, but the crucial difference between radio and TV is the simplicity and immediacy of delivery.  With radio, push a button and broadcast.  TV is just a little more cumbersome and complicated.

Not only is radio an excellent portal to disseminate information, but it also helps provide a bit of a respite from the relentlessness of unpleasant news.  Over the past two days, the Dan Dakich Show has presented a NCAA Tournament bracket to replace the cancelled March Madness.  Obviously, that pales in importance to the dire news about the spread of this virus and its economic effects, but it’s important to allow us to feel normal for a few minutes.

We need to laugh, share, and communicate.  Nothing does that better than radio.

Philip Rivers to #Colts – one-year, $25M – how does it make sense?

Philip Rivers will be an expensive quarterback for the Colts next year. How can he be worth it?

I never climbed on board the Philip Rivers to Indianapolis train.  It just didn’t make sense given that way general manager Chris Ballard does business.

Ballard is about developing and executing a plan that builds a championship level culture.  Nowhere on the list of Rivers’ accomplishments is the word “championship.”  He’s 38-years-old, and started all 160 games for the Chargers in the last decade.  The record for those 10 Chargers teams is 77-83.

Not only did Rivers not lead a championship culture while in San Diego and Los Angeles, he was responsible for losing more than he won from 2010-2019.  A quarterback is not solely responsible for a team’s performance, but over a decade you learn who a player is and what he can be expected to contribute.

Click here for your copy of “Oops – the Art of Learning from Mistakes and Adventures” by Kent Sterling

It’s not like Rivers is some rag arm oaf incapable of winning – the Chargers won 12 games in 2018, but viewing him as a Super Bowl level quarterback is ignoring the reality of his previous 16 seasons.

Colts owner Jim Irsay always says the Colts are in business to win championships.  Okay, then why sign Rivers, an old man who has never been to the Super Bowl?

Good question.  Let’s look at other moves that may help this signing appear a little more sensible:

  • Jacoby Brissett will be traded, and it is likely that trade has already been agreed to – or the Colts have assurances of Brissett’s value to someone.
  • Ballard will draft a quarterback of the future in April.  Is that Jacob Eason?  Is it Jake Fromm?  Is it Jalen Hurts?
  • The one-year, $25M deal for Rivers ensures the Colts will have a ton of cap space against next offseason.  This is a short term risk that can be forgiven and forgotten if the Colts bounce back in 2021.

Speaking of finances, as of this moment the Colts have an enormous amount of cash invested in the QB position.  According to Spotrac, in addition to Rivers $25M against the cap, they have Brissett’s $21.375M, Brian Hoyer’s $5M, Chad Kelly ‘s $750K, and Andrew Luck’s $6.4M.  That comes to, drum roll please, $58,525,000.  And none of them rank in the top 15 among QBs.  The Colts have seemingly amassed a heaping helping of averaged, and sadly the NFL doesn’t reward five average QBs in the same measure it compensates one that is elite.

Logic dictates more changes will come and that total will be reduced, but as it stands today, the Colts are scheduled to spend nearly 30% of their available cap space on four quarterbacks who have totaled one playoff win as starters over the last six seasons, and another that has retired. The regular season record for those still active QBs as starters from 2014 forward is 69-93.  Individually, none have winning records during that time.

That’s a lot of cash for entrenched mediocrity.

The questions that need to be answered to thoroughly evaluate this signing are what kind of return can Brissett generate in a trade, and who will the Colts draft.  Set the $25-million aside for a minute, if that’s possible.  if Rivers can play well enough to get the Colts to the playoffs, and help tutor or set an example for a replacement to lead the offense in 2021, our negativity can pivot.

On its face, this looks like a dopey move by a team that wants to win March rather than January, but Ballard has not yet shown himself to be a dope.  Compared to rival NFL GMs, Ballard is uniquely averse to exciting fans at the onset of free agency.  In three free agency periods and draft, he’s been the sane guy that fans criticized for slow-playing roster development.

Signing Rivers flies in the face of that reputation, but Ballard has earned enough equity as a smart executive to assume there is more to the calculus of this deal (I hope).

Let’s hope Rivers pays dividends, and that the other moves that come with Colts QBs help this deal make a little more sense than it does today.

No way Rivers flows to Indianapolis; #Colts need to look elsewhere for answer to QB problem

If you think Chris Ballard is genuinely interested in Philip Rivers, you need to use your head – or he does.

Philip Rivers to the Colts?  Those rumors cannot be real.

Reports keep linking the 38-year-old former Chargers quarterback to the Colts, but I can’t twist the notion around in my mind to where it makes sense.  Colts GM Chris Ballard just doesn’t make moves like this.

Rivers is going to be 39 in December, hasn’t been to a Super Bowl in his 16-year career, and will cost $20-million or more per year.  He ranked #17 among QBs in 2019, according to Pro Football Focus, right between Carson Wentz and Baker Mayfield.

Click here for your copy of “Oops – the Art of Learning from Mistakes and Adventures” by Kent Sterling

How about this for a stat that should dissuade Ballard from the belief Rivers makes the Colts an immediate contender – the Chargers record over the last decade is 77-83.  He posted double digit wins once (2018) during those 10 seasons, and Rivers never missed a start.

Everyone points to the familiarity between head coach Frank Reich and Rivers as a reason for the supposed reciprocal interest between the Colts and Rivers.  During the three years they were together (Reich was QB coach in 2013 and offensive coordinator in 2014 & 2015), the Chargers were 22-26, Rivers led the NFL with 18 picks in 2014, and he was sacked an average of 35 times.  Familiarity like that doesn’t motivate a reunion.  This isn’t Paul Simon & Art Garfunkel – it’s Simon and CeeLo.

People say Rivers needed an offensive line and weapons in 2019 – that his numbers reflected the quality of the 10 other guys he took the field with.  Okay, fair enough, but damn, over the last 10 years, his teams were under .500.  Doesn’t Rivers deserve some of the blame for the Chargers’ entrenched mediocrity as he has aged?

He’s better than Jacoby Brissett was when he came back from injury, but so is every starting QB in the NFL.  There is no question Ballard needs to elevate passing efficiency for the Colts, but Rivers is not the sealant to plug that hole.

Owner Jim Irsay mentioned a few weeks ago that prior to free agency and the draft the Colts might throw out a few red herrings to distract the media and rivals.  While I always believe Irsay trusts his own message, I rarely do.  He gets excited and says things without much regard as to whether they will come true or not.  Maybe this is the red herring that Irsay threatened.  I hope so.

Whatever the explanation, I cannot believe that Ballard would seriously entertain the thought of overspending for an aging middle of the pack quarterback without any special skills.

Rivers was a competent quarterback who ended two Colts seasons over 10 years ago.  He was good.  THAT Philip Rivers would look pretty good in a Colts uniform.

What’s left of this Rivers should drip somewhere else.

NFLPA does the right thing – denies greed, avoids potential for a 1987 re-make

The Replacements was a terrible movie, and a worse reality. Neither NFL owners or players want to re-live it. And they won’t.

It’s been 33 years, but the lesson remains – a union of professional athletes that believe they run the show will learn the painful lesson that there are advantages to ownership.

The NFLPA ratified the new collective bargaining agreement by a slim margin of 60 votes, so there will be football without interruption through the next decade.  Owners will make more money than they can count, and it will be shared generously with players like Colts left tackle Anthony Castonzo who will earn $33-million over the next two seasons for blocking other guys making roughly an equal amount of money.

The alternative was to defeat the agreement, which would have sent the union and owners back to the conference table to broker a new deal from scratch.  It would have been unlikely that the 32 billionaire owners agree to a pact that provides all that exists in the current deal.

In any negotiation, the bankroll available to each side is the key component to outlasting the opposing group.  It’s like Texas hold ’em, the player with the taller stack has a distinct advantage.  Billionaires vs. millionaires and thousandaires really isn’t much of a fight.

Click here for your copy of “Oops – the Art of Learning from Mistakes and Adventures” by Kent Sterling

In 1987, the players decided enough was enough.  They walked out with great solidarity after week two of the season.  Three weeks later, after the owners rebooted the league with replacement players, the union ran out of money and resolve.  They broke ranks and reported back to work.  The union was broken, and the owners ran the NFL unfettered until the union was recertified in1993.

There was a chance that would happen again if the NFLPA declined this agreement.  There is one word billionaires rarely hear, and loathe more than any other.  They tend to hold those who dare utter this word to them culpable and punish them for their impudence.  That word is “No.”

By ratifying this version of the CBA and not pressing their luck, it’s very likely the players saved themselves a year of misery across a conference table from a quarry with a virtually inexhaustible stack of chips.  They may have missed game checks and been left with a substantially less agreeable deal when an agreement was finally forged.

The NFL is a money printing machine with amazing popularity.  Owners make a lot of cash.  Players earn millions.  The only thing that can derail this remarkably stable financial apparatus is greed, and the players were just 60 votes from getting dangerously greedy.

Owners and players need each other, but the players need the owners just a little bit more.  We learned that in 1987.

Five Indiana teams in MMFAA Bracket! IU vs. Kentucky a second round possibility

The MMFAA Great Wall of Hoop is up and the bracket has five Indiana teams in it.  Indiana vs. Houston is among intriguing first round matchups.

One Indiana championship dream ended today as Kofi Cockburn swatted away a potential game-winning reverse layup by De’Ron Davis.  Another began as the MMFAA (Make March Fun Again Association) Tourney Bracket was revealed.

The Hoosiers narrowly missed their first ever Big 10 Tournament Championship this afternoon, losing 67-66 – the exact same score as the game Indiana lost at Champaign-Urbana two weeks ago.

Indiana came out flat, still feeling the emotional hangover following last night’s incredible and strange win over Purdue.  Illinois ran out to an 18-4 lead before a barrage of threes from Devonte Green gave the Hoosiers a 22-21 lead at the under-12 media timeout in the first half.

Click here for your copy of “Oops – the Art of Learning from Mistakes and Adventures” by Kent Sterling

For the rest of the game, Indiana struggled to make its legs work at the same level Illinois’ did. This was IU’s fifth game in five days, while the Illini were playing their third in three.  In one strange moment, new Big 10 Commissioner Kevin Warren banished the Indiana Pep Band.  “I just couldn’t take it.  if I had to endure Indiana, our Indiana or the William Tell Overture one more time, I would have yanked my own ears off,” he explained.

IU fans filled in for the band, singing the fight song and humming the overture during timeouts.

For the first time since the tournament opening win over Nebraska, Archie Miller spoke to the entire media contingent following the loss, and again he went after ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi, “Mr. McFeely needs to go back to Mister Rogers Neighborhood and stop yakking about brackets.  If he wants to talk seeds, he should be a farmer!  That would be a great idea – go plant something and grow some sense – like frankincense!  Ha!”

Miller’s mood an hour later brightened when I told him by phone that his Hoosiers would be a nine-seed and play Houston in St. Louis, “I love beating cheaters.  Can’t wait to hammer Sampson.  Never cared for him.  Good coach.  Arrogant though.  We’ll use that arrogance against him!  Can’t wait!”

The next step in the bracket won’t be as much fun for Miller as the Hoosiers drew Kentucky as a likely second round opponent should IU beat Houston and Kentucky beats 16th seeded Siena, “I don’t look ahead, but Calipari is a family friend.  I know our fans hate Kentucky, and Kentuckians hate IU, but the Millers and Caliparis have known each other a long time.  That doesn’t mean we won’t kick his ass, like Indiana always seems to.  We match up great with UK!”

Indiana got into the tournament by playing its best basketball after beating Nebraska in Wednesday’s first round game.  Everything seemed to click after that until running out of gas today.

This was a very good day for many other Indiana teams.

  • Ball State chirped its way into the bracket by winning the MAC Tournament.  The Cardinals will be a 13-seed in St. Louis, taking on the fourth seeded Wisconsin Badgers.
  • Butler will play a dangerous 12/5 game against Liberty – also in St. Louis – an intriguing matchup as Butler assistant coach Jeff Meyer was the head coach at Liberty from 1981 to 1997.
  • Purdue snuck its way into the tourney as a 10-seed despite losing a tremendous Big 10 Tourney semifinal game against Indiana.  They will play West Virginia in the first round.
  • One of the big surprises was Notre Dame.  The Fighting Irish were long thought to be out of consideration for a bid.  The committee must have been pleased with something, but the Domers’ resume’ was not stout.  Mike Brey’s team lost every single game (0-8) they played against opponents ranked in the top 50 by Ken Pom.  They will play the Friars of Providence in the first round.

Notable omissions from the bracket included UCLA, Memphis, Penn State, and Arizona State.

Results of first round games will be revealed on tomorrow’s Dan Dakich Show on 107.5 FM The Fan in Indianapolis.

Indiana beats Purdue in semi’s as Gene Keady makes peace between Archie and Painter

The postgame handshake between Matt Painter and Archie Miller was much friendlier than their earlier meeting at mid-court.

A simple basketball game became a showcase for the wisdom and old-school parenting from an 83-year-old mentor 15 years removed from coaching his final game.

“I just wanted to get those two guys focused on their kids.  We can’t have Big 10 coaches squaring off like Ali and Frazier in front of 18,000 people.  Someone had to do something, so I did,” former Purdue coach Gene Keady told me after Indiana beat Purdue 63-57 in the Big 10 Tournament semifinals – a game in which the once heated rivalry between these two programs nearly went nuclear.

In the most surreal scene in the 23-year history of the Big 10 Tournament, Miller stood in front of the scorer’s table chin to chest with his significantly larger counterpart.  Miller barked, his face going a deeper hue of red with every word, while Painter grinned and bodied Miller back toward the IU bench with a series of tiny steps before being separated by referee Terry Wymer.

Click here for your copy of “Oops – the Art of Learning from Mistakes and Adventures” by Kent Sterling

Just a minute prior, Indiana led Purdue 23-22 in a fairly pedestrian game between teams that finished the regular season 10th and 11th in the standings.  Then all hell broke loose.

As Indiana’s Al Durham drove to the basket, Boilermakers guard Nojel Eastern rolled to help and knocked Durham to the ground.  Eastern smirked as Durham made his case to Wymer that a flagrant foul should be called.  Race Thompson didn’t care much for Eastern’s smirk and shoved him.  Trevian Williams objected strongly to that shove ands ran at Thompson.  From there, the court devolved into pods of minor skirmishes.

Guys in suits – coaches, trainers, managers, and others – stood as human barriers to keep bench players off the court.  Five wrestling matches continued as three referees worked to restore order.  I saw one punch thrown, but the refs didn’t, and so who am I to tattle on the young man.

Painter and Miller ran on to the court as fans cheered and booed with equal enthusiasm depending upon who they were cheering for and which fracas their eyes were trained on.  As the squads returned to their benches, the coaches converged upon the three officials at the scorer’s table.  There was screaming and hollering by all five, and none was audible despite my position only 15-feet away.

The refs turned to the monitor to figure out what calls needed to be made against which Hoosiers and Boilermakers, and Miller and Painter were left with only each other to talk to.  It started quietly, almost like a relaxed conversation between two peers.  Then, Painter dismissively waved Miller away with the back of his hand, like he was shooing away a mosquito.

Miller’s countenance changed.  What once seemed like friendly banter became contentious enough to draw the attention of Indiana and Purdue fans who cheered with vigor for their coach.  That’s when Painter walked Miller back toward his bench – until Miller had enough.

Braced against his back foot, Miller refused to move further, and Painter turned his head and gritted his teeth.

There comes a time in every disagreement where the decision to deescalate is made.  Sometimes, it’s by a guy lying on his back.  Sometimes, it’s by the guy who put the other guy on his back.  Once in a while, a third party intercedes before anyone is on his back.

In this case, the third party who brought calm to what could have been a disastrous storm was   Keady, who looks spry enough that he might be favored to take either Painter or Miller.  Keady yelled loudly enough at the coaches that he could be heard over the suddenly quiet crowd, “Hey, goddammit!  Shut up and sit the hell down.  What the hell are you doing?  Coach your teams!  This game is too special for this kind of bullshit!  Sit down!  Jesus Christ, I hated that prick Knight, and he hated me, but we damn sure never fought each other!  Sit….down!”

As Miller and Painter went their separate ways, the crowd, IU and Purdue fans alike, rose to applaud Keady as he scowled and then walked briskly back to his seat.  He looked one part pleased and four parts embarrassed as he took his seat behind the Purdue bench.  He gave a little wave which looked bigger on the Jumbotron – which brought another wave of cheers.

Technicals were assessed in equal numbers against both Indiana and Purdue, and so no free throws were shot.  None of the squabbles resulted in a disqualification for fighting, and so the game continued with neither the Hoosiers or Boilermakers gaining an advantage.

In game action, freshman Trayce Jackson-Davis was stellar with 22 points and 15 rebounds.  His ability to limit Purdue second chance points was critical to Indiana getting the win.

I could go on about the basketball, but no one is going to be talking about dribbling, passing, and shooting tomorrow.  The talk will be about a great coach who everyone thought was finished teaching lessons on the basketball court.

In the first game, Illinois beat Michigan in a comparatively dull contest, so Indiana will take on the Fighting Illini tomorrow at 3:30 p.m.

It will take some doing for the Hoosiers and Illinois to trump today’s drama.