Author Archives: Kent Sterling

Top 10 reasons to love the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indianapolis 500

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is enjoying it’s 100th May as the host of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is one of my favorite places on the planet, and when May rolls around that is where I choose to work.

Because of technology, we can do my radio show anyplace we like with minimal tech support, so why not do the show from Jonathan Byrd Racing’s garage (B-20) everyday the track is open?

Sportstalk shows on other stations make occasional appearances, but we want to be there every day. It’s not because it is somehow good for business but because I love the place. Given a choice of sitting in a studio talking to myself and being at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway talking to drivers, engineers, and car owners, I choose Indy and I’m baffled why others choose not to.

Here are the top 10 reasons all of us should love the place:

10 – Donald Davidson and the Talk of Gasoline Alley. There is one man whose unique and wonderful brain holds the stories, secrets, and statistics of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing, and he gladly spills them all over central Indiana during the show he has hosted each night in May prior to the Indianapolis 500 for nearly a half century. Yes, the historian has now become as big a part of the history of the Indy 500 as the race itself. For those who move to Indianapolis, an afternoon with Donald is a prerequisite for understanding just what is so special about the Month of May in Indy. Continue reading →

Top 10 reasons Larry Bird may have made a huge mistake in firing Frank Vogel

Jay Larranaga might be the next coach of the Indiana Pacers, and he might be great. Or he might not be.

I like Frank Vogel. You do too.

He’s a really good guy and coach who never put his self-interest ahead of the Indiana Pacers.

That doesn’t mean he is the absolute best candidate to lead the Pacers in 2016-2017 and beyond, but it doesn’t mean he isn’t either.

There is a chance that Bird hires the right guy to get the Pacers to play to their potential and evolve the offense toward the small ball he craves. A chance also exists that fans, staff, and players wind up looking at the Vogel era as a crest in the wave for a mediocre team.

Vogel was not perfect, but in the aggregate he got done what he was supposed to get done. There were rotation issues, time outs called when the Pacers might have pressed an advantage, and a more than occasional lack of feel for the flow of the game, but the results exposed a coach who could get a lot out of a flawed roster.

This list looks at the potential downside of firing Vogel – why it might be a mistake from which Bird has difficulty recovering. Admittedly, it’s being done in a vacuum without knowing who the replacement is – or whether the Pacers might flourish under his leadership.

Here are the 10 reasons Bird may have made a serious error in firing Vogel:

10 – The pool of potential quality replacements seems shallow. The names mentioned in the media as possible entries on Bird’s list are not inspiring – Brian Shaw, Ettore Messina, Nate McMillan, Jeff Hornacek, Mike D’Antoni, Mark Jackson, Tom Crean, and many others. Maybe there is a good coach Bird has had his eye on that we haven’t thought of – a guy like Boston Celtics assistant Jay Larranaga. Every great coach has gone from uninspiring name to well-regarded, so this doesn’t automatically DQ a candidate from succeeding, but it’s not likely he’s going to inspire much enthusiasm among fans who liked and respected Vogel. Continue reading →

Top 10 reasons you need to enjoy Tamika Catchings final season with the Indiana Fever

Tamika Catching points the way toward a championship and a better life for many in central Indiana.

Tamika Catchings is on of the best players in the history of the WNBA – an outstanding player who is capable of excellence as a scorer, rebounder, and defender.

But she is a better teammate and person.

There have been plenty of transcendent Indiana sports figures – Oscar Robertson, Peyton Manning, Reggie Miller, Slick Leonard, Bob Knight, Rick Mount, John Wooden, Knute Rockne, and plenty of others. Catchings has earned her place among them through selfless excellence in 15 years as a member of the Indiana Fever, but more importantly as a force for good in the Indianapolis community.

Catchings has announced this will be her final season as a player for the Fever. We are all lucky this won’t be her last year as a Hoosier.

Here are the top 10 reasons we need to appreciate this final season for a thoroughly unique force for good on and off the court:

10 – Catchings has given area players a supremely positive role model. Manning is given great credit for elevating the level of interest in football for Indianapolis area kids. As a result, Indy has become fertile recruiting soil for college football coaches. The same credit should be lavished upon Catchings for serving as such a positive role model for female athletes in central Indiana. If guys are paying any attention, they have learned a lot about basketball and life from Catchings as well. Continue reading →

Top 10 candidates to replace Frank Vogel as the Indiana Pacers coach

Will Tom Crean be a candidate for the vacant Indiana Pacers coaching position?

With Frank Vogel out, the Pacers are looking for a new coach.

Pacers president Larry Bird has been insistent that his team push the ball, shoot threes, and score more points. Vogel didn’t get that done to Bird’s satisfaction, so the search is on for someone who will.

Few other hints were offered yesterday as to the criteria for the hire. Being a former player seems not to matter, despite Bird consistently citing his experience as a player for his thoughts on building the team. The coach doesn’t need to have been an NBA head coach before.

He ruled out former teammate Kevin McHale, who was fired in November after a disappointing start for the Houston Rockets despite leading them to the Western Conference Finals six months before.

These lists are exercises in silliness, especially with Bird as the hiring manager. Outguessing Bird is impossible (see the drafts of Paul George and Miles Plumlee as two examples with wildly divergent results), but that doesn’t keep us from trying.

Here are the top 10 entries as the candidates for the Pacers job are vetted:

10 – Mark Jackson – 100-1. Everyone I have spoken to affiliated with the Larry Bird coached teams for which Mark Jackson was the point guard says that Jackson undermined Bird’s authority at every turn. Residue from that acrimony must remain for Bird, who has a very good memory. Jackson did a great job of helping the Golden State Warriors get to the point where they could contend for a championship, but he was fired in favor of Steve Kerr a year prior to their first title. Continue reading →

Top 10 takeaways from Larry Bird’s announcement Frank Vogel will be replaced

Larry Bird announces Frank Vogel will not return as coach of the Indiana Pacers.

Frank Vogel will not be the coach of the Indiana Pacers moving forward. He hasn’t been fired because Vogel’s contract expired at the end of the playoff series with the Toronto Raptors.

The debate that began in earnest as Pacers president Larry Bird shared his thoughts on Vogel with the Indianapolis Star’s Gregg Doyel will now grow wings and fly; is the 45-37 record and first round playoff exit a product of team leadership (Vogel) or roster assembly (Bird)?

Obviously, Bird feels new leadership is needed as he continues to tweak and mold a roster he feels will be able to compete for a world championship – something this franchise has never experienced during its NBA era.

The press conference was fascinating – as are all appearances by Bird because lying and politicking don’t come easy to him. He is blunt, conversational, and likable, even on a gloomy day like this.

Here are the top 10 takeaways from his press conference:

10 – The next coach will know there is a ticking clock on the gig. Bird has been resolute since he was a coach for the Pacers from 1997 to 2000 that three years is about all the juice a coach has to hold the attention of a team. Vogel made it through five-plus seasons before Bird recognized the need for a different voice. The new coach will have a very clear notion that the timer is set to three years when he walks through the door, and with a little luck can extend his reign by another two seasons if the wind is at his back. Continue reading →

Top 10 reasons Frank Vogel should leave the Indiana Pacers regardless of whether he is invited to return

Frank Vogel likes to smile, and there might not be many opportunities to do that moving forward if he sticks around.

Frank Vogel likely doesn’t know at this moment whether he will invited to return as the coach of the Indiana Pacers (Larry Bird will hold a press conference tomorrow at 11a to talk about this and other topics), but that shouldn’t keep him from making the call on his own future.

Leaving the Pacers is Vogel’s only option even if team president Larry Bird begs him to return.

it’s a shame the end for Vogel has come this way. He is a good NBA coach and a better guy, but coaching professional basketball is a brutal business where a roughly a quarter of the 30 gigs turnover every year.

No coach in the NBA history of the Pacers made it past four full seasons until Vogel did it 14 months ago.

For the Pacers coach with the most NBA games and wins, the time has come to pack a box whether the Pacers want him back or not.

Here are 10 reasons why:

10 – Vogel will never be Larry’s guy. Jim O’Brien was Larry’s guy, and Vogel was on O’Brien’s staff. When O’Brien was fired, the interim gig went to Vogel, and the Pacers started winning. They won enough that hiring Vogel as the permanent coach became the obvious call. Rumors surfaced that hiring Vogel was owner Herb Simon’s call. Bird and Vogel have always gotten along, but there has always been a sense that Bird’s hand was forced in the hire. Continue reading →

Top 10 worst parts of knowing you are very likely to be fired – like Pacers coach Frank Vogel does

Larry Bird and Frank Vogel were always an odd couple, but the quirky combo worked – for awhile.

There is no doubt after reading the quotes from Pacers president Larry Bird in today’s Indianapolis Statr that he wants to replace coach Frank Vogel.

The headline in the Star says Bird is undecided on Vogel’s future, but that sure wasn’t my take. Here are the quotes gathered by Gregg Doyel:

“I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
After saying he needed to discuss the issue with owner Herb Simon, Bird said, “(Simon) is busy, so it could be a week or it could be tomorrow. What I don’t want to do is leave Frank hanging — there’s other jobs out there he could get.”
And finally, “If Frank comes back, what can we do to get better offense? It’s on all of us. Frank’s a great guy. He’s going to be fine no matter what happens. If he’s back, he’ll be fine here. If he’s not, he’s not. We’ll see.”

Even the most optimistic Vogel supporter has to admit that Bird is going to ask for Simon’s blessing to fire Vogel. If Bird wanted Vogel here, he would make that very clear as he did two years ago when ESPN’s Marc Stein cited unnamed sources in reporting that Vogel was coaching for his job.

Here are the top 10 things that suck about knowing you are going to be fired before it actually happens:

10 – Knowing your family will be forced to move. Unless Vogel wants to be a high school coach, the next step in his career as a basketball coach will be in another city as Butler is the only other job paying serious jack. Kids get dug in, and uprooting them can cause some issues down the road. Knowing that your failure caused that disruption is tough to process without accepting some longterm guilt. Continue reading →

Top 10 reasons to hang on to Frank Vogel as Indiana Pacers coach

Frank Vogel is a nice guy and outstanding coach who should stay with the Pacers for the foreseeable future.

Last night, the Indiana Pacers season came to an end, and with it the curtain may be ready to fall on the longest coaching stint in franchise history.

Frank Vogel has been the coach of the Indiana Pacers more than 100 games longer than anyone in the team’s NBA history, and he has the second best winning percentage (behind only his boss, Larry Bird).

Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweeted this last night to get the tongues wagging about Vogel’s future with the Pacers, “Sources: Indiana coach Frank Vogel’s contract expires at season’s end and so far there’s been no discussion of a contract extension.”

Arguments can be made that while Vogel was exactly the patient voice needed to follow the stern Jim O’Brien, it’s time for another leader to get the most out of Bird’s veteran roster, but those arguments will not be made by me.

I’m a believer in Vogel’s far-sighted methods of extracting the best his players have to offer. Here are 10 reasons to keep Frank for the foreseeable future:

10 – While good is the enemy of great, it’s also the enemy of crappy. Everybody wants to win a championship, and for every story of Phil Jackson replacing Doug Collins and Steve Kerr taking over for Mark Jackson, that are instances were a terrible coach was hired to replace a pretty good one. Bird knows Vogel is capable of taking a good roster to a good result, and that isn’t chopped liver. Continue reading →

Top 10 reasons the Colts got the right guy in center Ryan Kelly with pick #18

Colts did the right thing – not the brilliant thing – when they drafted center Ryan Kelly.

Indianapolis Colts general manager told us last night that Alabama center Ryan Kelly was the best player on their board, the player they targeted all along, and just happens to address their biggest need.

Okay.

I’ll buy it because I like the pick – a lot.

Andrew Luck woke up safer this morning than he was yesterday, and that’s the key to the Colts championship dreams for the next decade.

This was both the right pick and the obvious pick. How obvious? On my radio show, all month we spoke to players who were projected to go to the Colts. We replayed one of those conversations yesterday – the interview with Kelly.

I wasn’t certain the Colts were going to take Kelly, but I was sure his was the best interview.

This was the right pick for the Colts – for at least the following 10 reasons:

10 – Kelly looks like Art Donovan. Some guys just look like football players – guys who could be plugged in during any era. That Ryan Kelly looks a lot like the late Colts hall of fame defensive lineman Art Donovan speaks to the ease with which Kelly could be seen blocking for Johnny Unitas, Bert Jones, Jim Harbaugh, or Peyton Manning. Continue reading →

Top 10 reasons the Bob Knight appearance at the Donald Trump rally should make you cry

Bob Knight inspired no anger nor glee – just sadness during his endorsement of Donald Trump yesterday.

Former Indiana basketball coach Bob Knight opened for Donald Trump at a campaign rally last night in Indianapolis, and the result wasn’t the shock and awe hilarity that used to be Knight’s standard fare.

Instead, the monologue was strange, rambling, self-serving, and sad. One of the greatest basketball coaches in history has been reduced to a toothless dancing bear sideshow with all of the growl, but none of the bite for which he was known.

Getting old will or has happened to us all, and many gracefully exit the public stage before the spectacle becomes pathetic. Sadly, Knight has now entered the embarrassing stage of public life, and as I watched, it – surprisingly – made me sad.

I love the Knight of the 1980s – brash, unapologetic, demanding, funny, and the architect of outstanding basketball teams. The Knight of the 2000s was eerily reminiscent of the earlier version, but this one – the guy trying in vain to crack a whip that has no tail – brought only a hollow echo of the thunderous bluster that once made him the most polarizing figure in sports.

I cried no tears for Knight yesterday, but felt there should have been a few to mark the passing of a legendary presence.

Here are 10 reasons why tears would have been appropriate as Knight spoke:

10 – His preparation-free rants are no longer able to entertain. For years, Knight would just show up, tell stories, yell at people, and collect a check from a gleeful event organizer. His wit was razor sharp, and his indignant rants were legendary. Yesterday, the lack of prep caused a verbally clumsy mess. Continue reading →