Author Archives: Kent Sterling

Indiana Basketball – Why is Yogi Ferrell responsible for player behavior as a leader, but Tom Crean is not?

by Kent Sterling

Yogi Ferrell spoke to the media yesterday and claimed responsibility as a leader for the behavior of the Hoosiers, which was refreshing. (pic credit to The Indianapolis Star)

Sometimes the messages we send aren’t those that were intended, and when Indiana University point guard Yogi Ferrell stood in front of the media yesterday and claimed responsibility for his aberrant behavior as well as that of his teammates, I had one immediate and lasting thought – why didn’t coach Tom Crean do the same thing the night before on his radio show.

So the 21-year old point guard is responsible for the wayward actions of his teammates, but the coach isn’t?

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Ferrell said, “We, the Indiana basketball team, have let down our fans, family and friends, and those before that have made Indiana basketball what it is today. We are embarrassed by our actions, even I have made mistakes. I have owned up to those mistakes. Me, being a leader of the team, I have to hold guys more accountable to their actions and what those actions can do to this program.

“The root cause is the entire team, ourselves. It has nothing to do with the coaching staff. Coaching staff is great. (They) get us ready for each game. It’s just with the team. We don’t hold each other accountable.”

I like Ferrell, and I always have. He was a diligent and hard-working kid as a sixth grader, and that has never changed. Yes, he screwed up during Little 500 weekend by trying to get into Kilroy’s Sports with a fake ID two weeks shy of his 21st birthday, and made a bigger mistake by bringing freshman Stanford Robinson with him. Bad decisions.

What has Crean done? He suspended the two players who tested dirty (Robinson and Troy Williams) for four games, and the freshman (Emmitt Holt) who was cited for illegal consumption and OWI following the automobile accident that sent Devin Davis to the hospital with a skull fracture was suspended for the same period.

The games that will be missed by the three players will be two exhibitions and games against Mississippi Valley State and Texas Southern. The first game they will be eligible to play will be the first true challenge for the Hoosiers against SMU.

It’s impossible to avoid the deduction that Crean is putting wins ahead of discipline because of that timing. The college junior is claiming responsibility for a lack of discipline on his team, and the coach is plotting the timing of suspensions to coincide with the games when those players will be needed.

In February, Hanner Mosquera-Perea was arrested for driving with a blood alcohol content of more than twice the legal limit after driving the wrong way down a one-way street at 3:11 in the morning. He was suspended for two games during the Big Ten season.

If Crean has stood in front of the media, and said “This is my fault,” I missed it. If Crean has taken actions that elevated discipline above the importance of the on-court result, I missed that. The players’ behavior over the last 8 1/2 months would indicate they missed it too.

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If the guy who is paid more than three million bucks per year to establish the culture for the Indiana Basketball team isn’t responsible for that culture, and Ferrell is, Yogi is grossly underpaid as a scholarship athlete.

Among the first behaviors children are taught is to take responsibility for their mistakes. The first thing adults learn as they enter politics or business is to deflect all blame for everything. Corporate offices and the U.S. Congress are filled with very well-paid people whose only skill is avoiding direct culpability for mistakes.

Sad to learn that Assembly Hall appears to be no different.

Indiana Basketball – Change will come, but the right call is to wait until the end of the season

by Kent Sterling

Fred Glass is doing the right and prudent thing by waiting to act. The status quo should be maintained until the right replacement can be hired.

Change is coming at the top of the Indiana Basketball program, but it will have to wait.

Fred Glass is the athletic director at Indiana University and a very smart guy, and I believe he will do the right thing.

It won’t just be one right thing, but a series of right things that will allow the Indiana Basketball program to evolve forward both in competitiveness and behavior.

The most important part of a regime change is not the removal of the leader, but the selection of the person who will replace him. Without that important piece in place, the initial act of asking the original coach to pack should be done only as a last resort, and Indiana Basketball is not there yet.

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Given the current state of affairs in Bloomington, the best course of action – the strategy most fair to everyone involved – is to allow Crean to continue to serve as the coach until the end of the season.

To negotiate his departure today would leave the program in a state of chaos. Either Tim Buckley or Steve McClain would be tasked with being the interim leader. Whatever feint network of discipline that currently exists would vanish because there is zero chance of either Buckley or McClain being the permanent head coach. The season would be lost, and the rebuild following the season would be at least as bloody as that Crean embraced in 2008.

No one wins in that scenario. Not the players, not the fans, and not Indiana University. The program would have no chance to compete, and the misbehavior that has Crean’s job in jeopardy would likely spiral downward.

Bad news all around would be the result for a Glass overreaction today.

The right path is one of prudence and patience. Understand that left to his own devices, Crean has built a flawed program that has succeeded on two fronts – Academic Progress Rate and graduation rate for those who stay three years or more. That’s important.

Failures exist at Indiana in behavior and quality of basketball. The Big Ten regular season championship was nice. The rest showed an inability to recruit the talent needed to win or build a game plan to succeed when the talent did exist.

A successful basketball program at Indiana means recruiting great kids committed to playing basketball at the highest level, and then leading them there. Degrees must be earned, and bad apples separated from the program with dispatch. Playing basketball at Indiana is a privilege, not a right, and when bad decisions are made they are addressed with serious consequences. When habitual irresponsibility is shown, separation is required – not a four-game suspension. And the suspension should not be scheduled to end immediately prior to the first tough challenge of the schedule.

Whomever the coach at Indiana is, he must be the right person to execute on all levels, and that person is not available to report to Bloomington today, so making a change would be imprudent at best and irresponsible at worst.

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And so Glass will continue to encourage the best possible outcome based on the status quo in leadership. When the time is right, a change will be made because it has to be. Based upon what available metric would a change not be called for? Graduation rates and perfect APR scores are nice but only part of the equation.

Most high school basketball coaches could help 13 guys make grades and earn degrees. Crean is being paid more than $3-million a year to do far more than that, and a significant chunk is for making certain that his players live as campus leaders and are safe. The events of the last 8 1/2 months have shown that neither is happening in Bloomington.

Absent also is winning at an acceptable level.

Change is coming, but not until the timing is right. Hoosier Nation will need to wait for the next great reason for hope.

Indiana Basketball – Given lack of respect shown by players – what does playing for Indiana mean in 2014?

by Kent Sterling

Tom Crean announced four game suspensions tonight for Stanford Robinson, Troy Williams, and Emmitt Holt.

It’s easy to watch the most recent de-evolution of Indiana Basketball and get angry, but let’s take a deep breath and calmly evaluate the events of the last 72 hours.

Whatever is going on at Indiana with alcohol-related arrests, dirty drug tests, and the subsequent suspensions, it’s easy to question the culture being enforced in Bloomington.

Speculation is rampant as to the ultimate disposition of coach Tom Crean, and there are plenty of opinions available on radio and social media as to what should happen to the players who have shown themselves incapable of either understanding or following rules.

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Crean decided that suspending Stanford Robinson and Troy Williams four games for failing drug tests would be the attention getter than has been lacking. Freshman Emmitt Holt was also suspended four games for his illegal consumption and OWI citations that resulted from the SUV vs. head accident that landed Devin Davis in the hospital with a fractured skull.

Holt issued a statement earlier tonight, “Devin is not only a teammate but a great friend and it pains me to know that I have caused him harm. I sincerely regret my actions and I understand that I must be held accountable to the high standards that Coach Crean and IU have set for all of us. I want to apologize to Coach, to my teammates and to the entire IU community for not living up to the expectations that this program and university deserve. I will work hard in the coming days, weeks and months to become a better man and teammate.”

Nice words. Let’s see what actions follow.

Whether the suspensions are enough will be seen over the next few months as players will either ignore the message intended with that discipline, or toe the line in a way that implies understanding.

Arguing the merits of discipline as meted out by Crean, or the justification of the decision to allow players to continue as part of the team avoids the question that needs to be answered by every member of the Indiana program – what does it mean to play basketball at Indiana?

People in the state, graduates of the school, and those affiliated with Indiana all over the world feel Indiana Basketball should represent the best of the university and state. Grades should be made, degrees should be earned, and National Championship banners should be hung. Do it right. Do it better.

That’s Indiana Basketball.

What it shouldn’t be is arrests and drug test failures, and let’s be honest, 17-15 seasons are tough to stomach. An adult needs to assess whether the players involved in these events, and the coach who creates and enforces the culture of Indiana Basketball have a sufficient understanding of what Indiana Basketball means and how to achieve those lofty goals to continue in those roles.

That adult is athletic director Fred Glass, who must now assume the unpleasant position of brand protector – which means from this point forward his name and position is attached to the behaviors of the players and the disciplinary tactics of the coaching staff.

The conversations taking place wherever Indiana fans gather are meaningless. Does Crean stay or go? Does Robinson deserve to wear the jersey after two indiscretions? Is a four-game suspension enough to get players yet to grasp the gravity of their situation at Indiana? All are open for conjecture.

What is known is that the consequences Crean felt were appropriate in the past were not enough, and that the current crop of players who have run afoul of drug tests and the law do not understand what Indiana Basketball means to those who have gone before them.

But it’s not for a bunch of old guys to define Indiana Basketball. That’s the job of the current roster and staff. It isn’t words that will provide their legacy, but actions.

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In 2014, Indiana Basketball is a troubled program with a roster of entitled and enabled young men yet to grow out of their selfishness and haughtiness led by a coach unable or unwilling to impart the lessons of humility and cooperation through impossible to ignore penalties.

What happens next is dependent upon whether losing the right to play four games is enough to discourage another round of immaturity and self-indulgent behavior. If it isn’t, what Indiana Basketball means will be sullied no less permanently than it was by the rampant NCAA non-compliance by Kelvin Sampson and Rob Senderoff less than seven years ago.

Indiana Basketball – Alcohol related arrests will make recruiting increasingly difficult

by Kent Sterling

When Tom Crean shows up to visit a recruit, his family will already be well-aware of the potential for alcohol fueled mayhem that has resulted in four arrests over 8 1/2 months.

As a parent of a kid who played college basketball, and was recruited to play at a variety of schools, I can say that safety is a chief concern for parents of athletes as programs are evaluated. After three incidents in 2014 that required four arrests or citations and one hospitalization of Indiana basketball players, related to alcohol, parents of current recruits this morning are drawing a line through Indiana on their lists.

There is nothing that frightens parents more than the prospect of a phone call from school to tell them about an injury, regardless of the circumstance. Few things will make them angrier than a call about an arrest.

Trusting a son or daughter to a coach that has shown him or herself to be unable to mete out discipline necessary to curtail irresponsible behavior is not going to happen, and that means Tom Crean’s presence in Bloomington is no longer attractive to recruits.

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That is the problem that will ultimately prove most problematic for Crean and likely to cause athletic director Fred Glass to make a decision he would prefer to avoid – a change in leadership for his marquee program.

Revisionist history will point to the two-game suspension of Hanner Mosquera-Perea following his drunk driving arrest as the moment the inmates learned they were running the asylum.

It’s tough for a coach to enter into a no-win scenario, and that’s what Mosquera-Perea’s arrest invoked. Boot him off the team, and the only reasonably large and talented player likely on the roster for 2014-2015 would be gone. Suspend him for a couple of games, and the players’ fear of consequence evaporates.

What happened next was predictable. Stanford Robinson and Yogi Ferrell were arrested for using fake IDs to gain entry at Kilroy’s Sports during Little 500 Weekend. Now, Devin Davis is in the hospital with a skull fracture and Emmitt Holt is facing two charges because he drank a beer or two before driving the car that struck Davis.

Whatever you think of Crean’s basketball acumen, it’s clear that the culture he has established at Indiana has fostered an environment where players feel very comfortable doing the wrong thing. That doesn’t mean that Crean is responsible for the accident or the arrests, but to argue that he has done anything meaningful to provide a reasonable disincentive for players’ irresponsibility is equally inconsistent with the facts.

That’s what parents will look at as they decide in whose care they will trust their most important asset – the life and career of their child – and opposing coaches will hammer the arrests deep into their consciousness.

Indiana overcoming its own mediocrity this season was going to be a fascinating challenge, and Crean’s need to rebuild the basketball program on an annual basis as players transfer or jump early to the NBA made for a a less than sturdy platform for sustained success. Crean is paid at an elite level – a level inconsistent with two trips to the Sweet Sixteen being the high water mark.

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The 17-15 record last season, and a young and small roster for 2014-2015 had fans murmuring about the possibility of a change in direction. The virtual impossibility of recruiting at a high level due to four of 15 players on the current roster being arrested during the past 8 1/2 months, and a fifth still in the hospital, will almost certainly accelerate that momentum.

The reality might be that Crean is a taskmaster who has lowered the boom on kids multiple times, but the proof with discipline is always in the pudding. The results of leadership always perfectly reflect the quality of that leadership. The misbehavior of his players reveal a leader incapable of achieving the desired result off the court, and now it will cost him on the recruiting trail.

Glass will have a tough set of decisions facing him come March.

Indiana Basketball – Update on Devin Davis; Family issue statement thanking fans, Crean, hospital

This is the email from IU sports information director J.D. Campbell updating media on the condition of player Devin Davis, who suffered a head injury in an accident earlier this weekend. The email included only quotes from Dr. Larry Rink and coach Tom Crean.

The Davis Family issued at statement at 7:58p tonight through Campbell.

The Davis Family (Parents Tiffany, Devin Sr., Elaine; brothers C.J. Darius, Dorian and sisters Rayven and Daya)

“As all parents can understand, the last 40+ hours have been difficult for us and for all of those who care about our son. Devin’s condition is improving and we know that there is a road to recovery ahead.

“We want to thank the incredible team at IU Health Bloomington Hospital for taking such great care of Devin. We also want to express our gratitude to Coach Crean, who has been by Devin’s bedside for most of the past two days and to all of his coaches, teammates and the extended Hoosier family who have kept him in their prayers.”

Dr. Larry Rink

“I am glad to report that Devin is doing better this morning and has benefited from uninterrupted rest. His speech in normal and he has the use of all extremities.

“Devin is being cared for by the best medical team and the support from his family, friends, and teammates has been incredible.”

IU Coach Tom Crean

“Too often in life, we all take for granted the simple tasks of opening our eyes, processing thoughts and putting a simple sentence together. In our program , we routinely emphasize to our players that everything matters and watching Devin improve just over the last 36 hours has furthered our belief in that approach.

“On behalf of the Davis Family and the IU men’s basketball program, we appreciate the concern, calls, texts, and thoughts and prayers we have received. We are especially grateful for every doctor, nurse, and staff member at IU Health Bloomington Hospital. We look forward to his continued recovery.”

Indiana Basketball – Update on Devin Davis; showing improvement from head injury

The Davis Family (Parents Tiffany, Devin Sr., Elaine; brothers C.J. Darius, Dorian and sisters Rayven and Daya)

We want to thank the incredible team at IU Health Bloomington Hospital for taking such great care of Devin. We also want to express our gratitude to Coach Crean, who has been by Devin’s bedside for most of the past two days and to all of his coaches, teammates and the extended Hoosier family who have kept him in their prayers.”

Dr. Larry Rink

“I am glad to report that Devin is doing better this morning and has benefited from uninterrupted rest. His speech in normal and he has the use of all extremities.

“Devin is being cared for by the best medical team and the support from his family, friends, and teammates has been incredible.”

IU Coach Tom Crean

Indiana Basketball – Car driven by teammate seriously injures Devin Davis and Tom Crean should answer for it

by Kent Sterling

Behavior of those being led tell us more than the words of the leaders themselves. and because of the actions of his players, Tom Crean should be held accountable.

Before writing anything else – prayers, good thoughts, and hopes for a speedy recovery to IU basketball player Devin Davis, who is in serious condition at IU Health Bloomington Hospital. With that most important thought out of the way, let’s deal with what appears to be a repeated issue with the Indiana Basketball program.

Emmitt Holt is a freshman basketball player at Indiana, and reports are that Holt was driving the car that hit Davis, causing his injuries. And according to campus reports, he had a blood alcohol content of .025 when the incident occurred. Holt was cited for illegal consumption and operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol content of .02 or higher.

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This is the fourth alcohol related arrest or incident for a basketball team with 15 members in the last nine months. That’s four too many.

Just what the hell is going on down in Bloomington, and at what point is Tom Crean going to be held accountable for leading a program where this kind of behavior is tolerated?

In February, Hanner Mosquera-Perea was arrested for drunk driving and was suspended for all of two games. In April, Yogi Ferrell and Stanford Robinson were both arrested for trying to use fake IDs to gain entry to Kilroy’s Sports Bar. Now, not only has a freshman been cited for alcohol related violations, but his teammate is lying in a hospital.

Clearly and sadly, whatever consequence Crean meted out as the result of Mosquera-Perea, Ferrell, and Robinson’s idiocy had no effect on the behavior of the players he is employed to mentor and coach through their college years.

Coaches have a responsibility to focus on a variety of issues as student-athletes move through the awkward and dangerous latter stages of their adolescence. Judging by the level at which Indiana basketball players are committing alcohol related crimes, Crean has abrogated his duty in that narrow but extremely important regard.

Claiming players are responsible for their behavior works once and maybe twice, but for the third incident in less than a year, the leader of the program becomes accountable.

This is no different than a manager in business being held responsible for the repeated failures of his staff. Once, okay, bad things happen. Twice, maybe it’s a trend and maybe not. Three? The pattern of disobedience undoubtedly leads to the conclusion that leadership is ineffective.

When kids are arrested, that’s one thing. It’s embarrassing and provides a platform to issue a consequence that teaches a lesson that will last for the perpetrator and his peers. Obviously, peers weren’t paying close attention in February or April.

This one is on Crean, and a young man is in serious condition because of it.

A BAC of .025 means Holt drank a beer or maybe two, and what’s the big deal? Well, society says it’s enough of a problem that there is a law against it.

If I’m the father of a recruit interested in playing basketball at Indiana, the Hoosiers are coming off that list because of the pattern of misbehavior over the past nine months – and who knows how long before that.

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The individual crimes would not be that big an issue, but collectively they reveal a lack of decisive action by leadership that might serve as a reasonable disincentive.

Grades have been good. Degrees have been earned. Lack of success on the floor has been an irritant. Recruiting has been uneven. I can live with all of that because a coach is employed primarily to safely usher kids in his care to a meaningful degree. What happened last night is endemic of a failure to provide a framework of rules and discipline that causes young men to make good decisions.

Joe Maddon to Chicago Cubs – How a simple hire turned me stupid … again

by Kent Sterling

The simple act of hiring Joe Maddon has re-energized this very small but passionate part of the Chicago Cubs fan base.

As I gave my personal ticket representative my Visa number over the phone, I heard my Dad whisper all the way from heaven, “What are you, a moron?”

The Chicago Cubs are on the precipice of hiring a transformative figure in their history, and suddenly I reverted to the hope-tainted wretch I was from 1969-2003, and that meant picking up the phone in response to a postcard from the Chicago Cubs offering me a chance to buy season tickets for the 2015 season.

When the postcard first arrived, I laughed at it. Buying season tickets for a doomed franchise as an investment or for personal use was as far from my mind as returning to college to indulge my long dormant dream of learning Fortran.

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And then the Cubs did something either prescient and bold or insidious and cruel – entered into an agreement to make Joe Maddon their manager.

Now that Jim Leyland is retired, I believe Maddon is the best manager in the game. His style of leadership is perfect for baseball – empower the players and turn them loose. Enforce few rules, but make sure those that are in place are strictly followed.

Cynicism is an easy indulgence where the Cubs are concerned. Not only have the previous 106 seasons been a trail of tears for everyone associated with the team, but recent moves by ownership and the business office have shown a nauseating proclivity for whoring out the team and ballpark.

Last offseason, the Cubs negotiations with free agent Masahiro Tanaka were an absurd and meaningless dance that were destined to fail, and everyone involved knew it. They were held only to build hope among a fan base without an alternative rationale for looking forward to the 2014 season. it was a cruel canard, and Cubs fans deserved better. That was the last straw for me, or so I thought.

During the summers of 2011 and 2012 that I spent in St. Louis, I learned why the Cardinals always succeed and the Cubs don’t. It isn’t some metaphysical pox that the baseball gods have visited on the Cubs. It’s competence in all phases of operating the franchise. “The Cardinal Way” wasn’t just on on-field representation of fundamental excellence. It is reflected in decision making at all levels of the business and marketing departments.

Hiring Joe Maddon is not just bringing in an eminently qualified leader to run the on-field operation, it represents the kind of decision making that leads to success. It’s very Cardinals-esque. The Cubs didn’t wait for Rick Renteria to fail his way out of the manager’s position. They decided that good – and Renteria was a good enough manager to win 73 games despite a roster filled with aging mediocrity and youth more promising than productive – wasn’t good enough.

The opportunity to hire a leader like Maddon, who won 90 or more games five times in nine seasons despite a payroll that averaged only $53.1 million while playing in a division that includes the New York Yankees, doesn’t come around often.

In fact, the Yankees payroll averaged $204 million over the same period. That reflects a manager that is able to get a lot out of not so much.

It would have been easy for Cubs management to stick with Renteria – an amiable fellow who was never seen as the cause of any stress or strain from fans. But great doesn’t happen because the easy path is pursued. Championships are won through consistent assessment and acquisition of talent molded by smart, aggressive, and exacting leadership.

The Cubs farm system’s strength is of little interest to me. I’ve seen enough Brooks Kieschnicks, Corey Pattersons, and Ryan Harveys to take lightly the promise of future excellence. When youngsters become productive at the major league level, that is the moment I become engaged. But when a franchise expresses its desire to succeed through doing the difficult but correct thing, I pay close attention.

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And then evidently I invest heavily in their product, which in my world is an outlay of $4,662 for two bleacher tickets to 62 games played 189.7 miles from our house.

Not only will I buy that season ticket package, but my wife has fully endorsed the purchase. Actually, she asked about buying more. Julie’s boundless enthusiasm equates to a reason to set aside petty concerns about the cash-first Tom Ricketts era of Cubs ownership, and push all chips into the middle of the table.

Ignoring all past indiscretions and jumping in head first is a longstanding Sterling tradition. We are due to be right, and so are the Cubs.

Joe Maddon to the Chicago Cubs has my hope-meter spinning wildly

by Kent Sterling

Joe Maddon will give the Cubs immediate credibility, but that’s not the most important attribute shown by his hiring.

As a lifelong Chicago Cubs fan, I have learned not to indulge in the last emotional refuge of the truly pathetic – hope.

“Life in hope; die in desperation,” is a quote that should be spelled out in the ivy on the Wrigley Field outfield wall that Bill Veeck planted 75 years ago.

Every spring training, I explain in very pragmatic terms why the Cubs will fail in their efforts to compete for their first world championship in 106 years. And I am always right.

The Cubs have suddenly and surely changed the game with the hire of Joe Maddon – a truly transformative figure in baseball. With a payroll averaging $40-million beneath the median, and sometimes one-third that of division rivals New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, Maddon has won 90 games or more in five of nine seasons as manager of the Tampa Bay Rays.

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Maddon has gone to the playoffs four times and the World Series once managing a team without the ability to spend while playing in front of indifferent fans.

When Maddon announced last week that he was opting out of his deal with the Rays in order to test the market, it appeared he would head to the Dodgers to join his old boss from Tampa, Andrew Friedman. Both the Cubs and Dodgers currently have managers in place, and rarely do teams make a change without being prompted by the failure of the current regime.

Management of most organizations fail to replace employees until they fail their way out. Few are wise enough to embrace the thought that improvement can be made by supplanting good with great.

In 2014, the Cubs were managed by the decent and good Rick Renteria. He did a lot right in leading a terrible team to 73 wins, but he is not Maddon.

The Cubs know it, and are making the kind of big boy decision that so often eludes the narrow mindset of typical baseball ownership that normally embraces cronyism.

Maddon is a game changer, and walks into Wrigley Field as the best Cubs manager since Leo Durocher, and maybe Joe McCarthy, and that move has my normally reliable Cubs fan heart beating in a strange rhythm – a cadence not felt inside my chest since 2003, and 1989 before that (I was was smart enough to avoid buying into the 1998, 2007, and 2008 teams).

The Cubs farm system’s quality doesn’t give me pause to suspend cynicism about the Cubs, and Maddon being in the dugout is only a curiosity at this point. The reason I feel the unwanted hug from hope is that the Cubs are finally making a decision that is both personally difficult and strategically wise.

That is what successful organizations do.

There are those who will be critical of the Maddon’s pursuit of the job while it is filled by another guy, and others who will look at the Cubs as disloyal toward Renteria. Those thoughts are driven by envy and/or stupidity.

Renteria is going to get a couple of million bucks to walk out the door with a smile on his face and a song in his heart, and Maddon will give the Cubs a significantly improved chance to win. Everybody should be happy.

Cubs fans – even the jaded jerks like me who find it hard to fathom the kind of late October party at the corner of Clark and Addison dreamed of by Cubs brass – should see the move to hire Maddon as a tectonic change in corporate strategy. Finally, winning has become the goal for the Cubs, instead of wrenching every possible dollar from a brand and team supported by fans who refuse to fade like their team relentlessly has for better than a century.

This weekend might be the moment that the Chicago Cubs pivot away from a legacy of losing, and embraces a future of winning. In a division with Mike Metheny, Clint Hurdle, Ron Roenicke, and Bryan Price, Maddon will be the best of the bunch. That is a big deal, but not as big as the decision by the Cubs to pull the trigger.

Indiana Pacers – Opening Night win shows team willing to fight together

by Kent Sterling

Roy Hibbert had 22 (points) and seven (blocks) reasons to smile during last night’s win.

It was tough to get a great read on the Indiana Pacers in last night’s opening night 103-91 over the Philadelphia 76ers We knew that would be the case before the tip. Both teams were missing key pieces to their roster, and the first of 82 regular season games was not going to fill in a significant part of the picture that will develop over the next six months.

There were a few obvious takeaways –

Rodney Stuckey is a serious basketball player who shows grit and aggression on both ends. Scoring a point a minute seemed to suit him. (16 points in 16 minutes). His five assists and three boards were also welcome in short minutes.
While Damjan Rudez is going to earn his minutes by shooting threes, his passing was consistently on time and on target.
Donald Sloan became better and better throughout the night on his way to 16 points and 10 rebounds.
As you might guess, the Pacers didn’t have a collective identity in the first half without George Hill, David West, Paul George, and Lance Stephenson.

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On a night when Roy Hibbert should have been the best player on the floor – he was. He responded poorly when fouled by picking up a technical that could have been more – on a night when the Pacers could least afford to play without him. Defensively, coach Frank Vogel expects consistent activity from his throwback center, and Hibbert’s seven blocks gave it to him. His 22 points on only eight field goal attempts was the kind of efficient performance they will need from Hibbert to compete until West and Hill return.

The halftime ceremony was the highlight of the night, as the Pacers honored Slick Leonard one more time. He was the greatest coach in the history of the franchise, and remains the best ambassador the franchise will ever have.

Slick is a magical presence on the radio, and while all Pacers fans equate his “Boom Baby!” call with so many of the successes experienced over the years, the team would have moved from Indianapolis without his presence and passion during the franchise’s darkest times.

Had the Pacers moved, it’s very unlikely the Colts would have chosen to relocate here, and then where would downtown be? Indianapolis would be Louisville – no offense to Louisville.

The second half showed a level of play that could bring more wins as the Pacers try to tread water until help arrives. The first half was hard to watch at times. Turnovers, fouls, and overall clunkiness led to the Sixers taking a 51-48 halftime lead. The tide turned after intermission as the Pacers outscored the 76ers 55-40.

When you open up against the patsy of the NBA, everything from that point forward is going to be uphill. The Pacers host Memphis tomorrow night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, and they are going to be a more challenging quarry.

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According to Luis Scola, the Pacers will need to work to clean up the 18 turnovers that marred their effort, but the Pacers were good enough to post a W in Game One, and that was good enough for fans last night.

The expectations for the same franchise that was thought to be a favorite to earn a spot in the NBA Finals just eight months ago are muddy at best. Estimations range from 30-45 wins depending upon when the team gets back some of its walking wounded.

All associated with the Pacers may look back at 1-0 with fondness in a few weeks, but last night there were stretches of play last night that gave hope to a fan base unsure what they are watching early in the 2014-2015 season.