Author Archives: Kent Sterling

Chicago Cubs – Almost too tired of the BS from Tom Ricketts to respond – almost

by Kent Sterling

Tom Ricketts whining about the facility he forces his Cubs to use when they warm up to pinch hit in the video the team released yesterday.

Any credibility that Chicago Cubs owner had vanished last year when he claimed that he would consider moving the team to a suburban stadium if his Wrigley Field renovation plan was not approved by the city.

When he claimed during spring training that the Cubs looked like a team that could go to the playoffs, people rightly laughed.

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In a video released yesterday on Cubs.com, Ricketts croaked that the Cubs have the least player-friendly facility in the major leagues. Part of the video was shot as Ricketts showed the ridiculous batting tee area in the clubhouse as though he isn’t responsible for it.

Ricketts scoffs at the covering over a TV that needs to be deployed along with the net for hitters to be able take a few pre-at bat cuts. Here’s an idea for Ricketts – build a damn batting cage! The only hold up in this $500-million modernization is the series of video boards and signs that will violate the contract with the rooftop owners that prohibits any change in the view from those rooftops. There isn’t a word in the rooftop contract barring a batting cage.

In the same contract, the Cubs are guaranteed 17% of the gross take of the rooftop owners. That total was estimated at $3.1 million for the 2013 season. Ricketts acts like the rooftop owners are the bad guys in their stalemate, but the deal was negotiated at least in part by current Cubs president of business ops Crane Kenney and it runs until 2023.

The strange part of the video by the almost despondent Ricketts is that there is nothing preventing him from making all of the renovations to Wrigley Field that require no change to the view from the rooftops.

If he’s embarrassed by the condition of the clubhouse, he should change it because waiting for the rooftop owners to shred a legally contract out of the goodness of their hearts to allow revenue generating/view blocking signage is a waste of time. This morning, Ryan McLaughlin of the Wrigleyville Rooftops Association released a statement, “The Ricketts family’s decision to unilaterally end negotiations with their contractual partners is another refusal to accept any of the proposed win-win solutions that could have funded the modernization of Wrigley Field and enhance the team’s competitiveness.

“In fact, it appears their zeal to block rooftop owners who pay them millions of dollars a year in royalties knows no bounds,” McLaughlin continued. “Unfortunately, this decision by the Ricketts family will now result in this matter being resolved in a court of law.”

The renovation has pieces that are interconnected, and building a new clubhouse isn’t as simple on the Wrigley Field footprint with a water table not far below the ground level. It’s not like building a bigger deck in the backyard, but it isn’t impossible, and if Ricketts is embarrassed to the point of mocking his own facility, the solution is in the Ricketts Family Trust checkbook.

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Two things continue to pop into my mind regarding Ricketts and the Cubs. First, the fortunes of the team are not going to change until the new TV deal starts pumping in fresh cash and when the restrictive covenants of the sale of the team (way too complicated to explain here) expire. Both happen after the 2019 season (the WGN deal is done after 2014, but the CSN deal runs through 2019).

The second issue is that Ricketts is a smart guy and knows that the rooftop owners will sue to preserve their livelihood. Rooftop expenses were allocated with 2023 in mind as the earliest closure of their window of operation, and running that forward nine years will be expensive – clearly too tall an order for the owner of a team who forces his players to cover a TV in order to take some hacks.

Ricketts’ video appears to be a dare to the rooftops to litigate, and why would that happen? The Cubs are trimming payroll – right now it’s $89 million with $14 million being paid to New York Yankee Alfonso Soriano. There appears to be no floor to the level of play fans will pay an average of $47 to watch, so as long as excuses can be perpetuated and villains created, why change the business model until 2020 when all financial restrictions come off.

This is exactly the kind of dopey play I would expect from a smartest guy in the room wonk like Ricketts. Instead of continuing to court the legally protected rooftop owners as partners, the Cubs will force them to sue, demonize them, and buy a few more years of expectation free profit.

Not sure if Ricketts studied Nixon, but he sure strategizes like him.

1070 the Fan’s Dan Dakich says Dwyane Wade did it on purpose, and of course he’s right

by Kent Sterling

How is the possibility that this knee to Paul George’s head was purposeful so difficult to fathom?

The Dan Dakich Show doesn’t dole out a bunch of pre-approved media claptrap from 12p-3p on 1070 the Fan in Indianapolis. No one else is talking about whether the Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade knee to the back of Pacers forward Paul George’s skull was inadvertent or intentional. Dan is, and he’s right to.

Too many laymen watch elite athletes through their own experiences and feel the very probable is impossible. A knee to the brain as a man dives across another moving athlete is almost impossible for weekend warriors to imagine executing, but to a player like Wade it’s as easy as making a layup.

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At least it looked like both players were diving at the time, but a closer look (see pic above) shows that Wade dove following the impact. He was in full control of both legs at the time of the kick.

Remember the LeBron James elbow that squeezed through Roy Hibbert’s arms during a regular season Pacers vs. Heat game in March is another great example of a physical act that showed otherworldly dexterity that 99.999% of regular guys don’t possess, and so James got a virtual pass.

Another quality that most normal people don’t have, or if they do they sure don’t utilize it in ordinary life, is a willingness to do whatever it takes to win. And I mean whatever.

Athleticism and an all powerful craving for success are two of the chief differences between professionals and amateurs in sports and business, and as Dan spoke about his belief that Wade did what he did to George late in the game Tuesday night, I thought about those differences. Dan has been there, willing to go to lengths most would shrink from to emerge victorious.

You want to know why Dan was able to stop Michael Jordan in Indiana’s 1984 NCAA Tournament win over North Carolina? It’s the same reason Bob Knight assigned Dan to defend Jordan – because extreme will can overcome an athletic deficit.

With a chance to diminish an opponent without penalty, champions will always take their shot, and that is exactly what Wade did.

This isn’t a criticism of Wade anymore than Dan’s revelation about his act being purposeful was. Wade had an opening to adjust the competitive balance in the Eastern Conference Finals, and he took it.

Just because the decision was made very, very quickly – almost instantaneously – Wade’s intent shouldn’t be dismissed, nor should his innocence be granted.

Now, there is no way Wade will ever publicly own up to his attempt to bring pain to George and weaken the Pacers ability to compete, but for anyone to infer blind luck as the reason his knee solidly struck the cranium of the Pacers best player is ridiculous – or he/she has never dug deep into the soul where the bad stuff lies.

For champions, winning is the equivalent of self-preservation. How hard would you fight if losing equaled death? That’s the regular state for men like Michael Jordan, Isiah Thomas, and Dwyane Wade. The difference between dirty and clean is meaningless to them compared to the difference between winning and losing.

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One of the wonderful aspects of competing is experiencing first hand the speed with which physical decisions can be made and executed. Time slows, a conscious decision can be made, and the perfect physical motion can be executed in the blink of an eye. Whether it’s driving a 2-2 slide piece the other way for a game-winning oppo-taco or choosing to allow a knee to dangle in exactly the right spot to connect with an opposing player’s head, it’s all sports.

The Pacers know damn well that the knee to the head (if not the resulting injury) was intentional, and the Pacers would do exactly the same thing to Wade or James if given the opportunity in a moment where the referee’s judgment and chance for a proportionate consequence would be briefly suspended.

Anyone who thinks otherwise is naive.

(The Dan Dakich Show airs every weekday from 12p-3p ET on 1070 the Fan and streams on 1070thefan.com. As a source for unique perspective, it is in a class by itself.)

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Mark Cuban and Bomani Jones sparring on racial profiling, reparations, and dealing with prejudice

by Kent Sterling

Bomani Jones is one of the best broadcasters in America, and his voice is being heard today.

So sad that a simple discussion on race can’t happen without people inferring acrimony between the participants.

Bomani Jones and Mark Cuban are both very smart guys coming at a very complicated and volatile issue from two unique perspectives, and the more smart people talk about race, the better all of us will understand the unique beliefs being advanced by blacks and whites.

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Cuban is right when he says we all have our prejudices, and Jones is right when he asserts that whites have no idea what it’s like to be black.

Whites tend to assume that because they don’t encounter or perpetuate overt racism on a regular basis that racism no longer exists in a way that restricts blacks from achievement. We see a black president, black CEOs, and blacks in media (like Jones) and infer that all of a sudden everyone got smart and the doors are open to everyone without exception.

The reality is obviously a little different, and the stereotypes persist as much as everyone wishes they didn’t.

Blacks hear whites prattle on and on about how equality has been achieved, and they think whites are insane and ignorant.

What Cuban and Jones tweeted toward each other isn’t nearly as important as the fact that things are being about race. The more often racial differences are explored, the better we all understand each other.

Racism is a virulent curse upon our society regardless of the incremental progress that has been made since the emancipation of slaves 150 years ago. Many blacks with slaves in their family history remain embittered, and a lot of whites want what they perceive to be whining about it to stop.

Smart people are still discussing the logic of reparations that ancestors of slaves deserve, and whites are eager to suggest that blacks get on with their lives because the last living slave owner died almost a century ago.

Consensus on reparations is unimaginable, but that shouldn’t stop the conversation.

My own experience is completely different from anything a black person has lived, but I’m still pissed off that my grandmother had to scrub the floors of rich people in Lake Forest, Illinois, to make ends meet. She was never bitter about it, and used her experience to try to educate me about how to make it through the drudgery of repetitive and demeaning work without losing pride.

She was a very smart and proud woman, who lived an extraordinary life, raised three kids who have raised nine kids of their own. All of us have had opportunities to succeed or have succeeded in large part because she scrubbed all those floors, but I’m still pissed off that she was forced to learn how how make it through each day with a scrub brush in her hand.

My outrage can’t measure to 1/10th of one-percent of the most eager-to-forget-the-past black man. I have no idea what it is to walk in a black man’s shoes. None.

And it’s not important that anyone become intimately aware of the challenges that each of us face in our lives. A good solid first step would be to respect those with whom we come in contact, regardless of any stereotypical tagging they present. Assume the good rather than the bad.

All of us don’t need to get along, but we should find a higher class of reasons to dislike one another.

The conversation via Twitter that all of us get to watch between Cuban and Bomani has prompted a significant amount of constructive dialogue, and out of it maybe we will become just a little bit less likely to judge based upon what we see as we walk past a kid on a sidewalk.

That makes today a good day.

Sad saga of Leticia Romero shows abuse of power college athletic reform needs to correct

by Kent Sterling

Leticia Romero wants to play basketball somewhere else. What could be wrong with that? Given what we know right now – not a damn thing.

Could anybody be this dumb? That’s what I kept thinking as I read reports from a variety of sources about freshman basketball player Leticia Romero and her so far unsuccessful attempts to transfer from Kansas State University.

There must be more to the story because reasonable people don’t behave like the athletic director at K-State without justification and an application of reason.

At a time when smart and powerful people are weighing the pros and cons of what modern NCAA inventor Walter Byers referred to as the “neo-plantation mentality” of college athletics, the last thing critics need is a lonely girl from the Canary Islands being selfishly denied the ability to transfer from a Big 12 school.

Playing collegiate sports is an honor to be respected and enjoyed, and that respect should be a two-way street between the athlete and university. At the majority of universities that is exactly what happens. Talented kids show up the summer before their freshman year, and leave four or five years later armed with a diploma and lessons that will benefit them for a lifetime.

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It’s a shame that one of those lessons for Romero is that people with power can sometimes be jerks just because it suits them.

Here a brief synopsis of this troubling story. Romero was the best player as a freshman on an 11-19 Kansas State team, earning Big 12 freshman of the week four times. She led the Wildcats by scoring 14.2 points, grabbing 5.8 rebounds, dishing 5.0 assists, and snaring 1.9 steals per game.

Because of entrenched mediocrity at K-State, coach Deb Patterson was canned, and former TCU head coach Jeff Mittie was hired. A long way from home and without the coach who recruited her, Romero decided to transfer. According to reports, the request was initially declined, and then the school asked for the list of schools she was considering as her destination before they reconsidered.

According to ESPN, Romero provided a list of 100 acceptable schools. A Kansas City Star report cites 94 as the number. Regardless, all were declined as acceptable ports in her storm by K-State bigwigs.

Some who tried to apply logic to the denial assumed that Romero might have been awaiting word as to where Patterson would land. When Northern Colorado hired Patterson as an assistant to head coach Kamie Etheridge (herself a former assistant of Patterson’s), a quick check of the list showed they weren’t on it. The rest of the K-State staff displaced by Patterson’s firing followed her to Northern Colorado, so any thoughts that one of her former leaders tampered were assumed to be unfounded.

Still, Kansas State would only allow a transfer to schools Romero had never heard of.

This is exactly the kind of nonsense that critics of college athletics point to when demanding reform. Heavy-handed doofuses sit in their ivory tower without any meaningful oversight treating their athletes like prize cattle rather than human beings is at the heart of complaints about a system that works very well 98% of the time.

But the moments of addle-brained abuse are too many even if Romero is the only victim of absolute power in collegiate athletics corrupting absolutely.

As for the K-State side of the story, the only public comment has been from athletic director John Currie via Twitter, “Generally speaking, on RARE occasions that we have denied a student-athlete transfer release, it has been because of concerns about outside tampering, undue influence by third parties, or procedures not being followed in an honest and forthright manner.”

When asked to enter a forum where questions might be asked and his answers scrutinized, Currie claims to be bound by concerns about privacy for Romero. But on Twitter, he takes a shot at Romero himself. All class.

It’s not fair to judge the 98% of the athletic departments who do their jobs with laser focus on the education and development of the student-athletes based upon the mopes like Currie. Punishing athletes who dare show an independent will just because you can is weak, and Currie’s decision to do so has basked college sports in a terrible light – again.

If there is a missing chapter to this story that justifies the apparently unwarranted and punitive action against Romero, I would love to hear it.

IHSAA decision to slide girls state basketball tourney still drawing fire from coaches

by Kent Sterling

David Baxter is very passionate in representing the girls he coaches at Benton Central, and there is nothing wrong with that.

The heated discussion among high school girls basketball coaches and the IHSAA continues with a letter from Benton Central girls basketball coach David Baxter.

At issue is a mandate that the girls basketball sliding a week earlier to avoid a conflict with the Big Ten Tournament at the IHSAA’s venue of choice – Bankers Life Fieldhouse – and the boys basketball sectional finals.

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Sure, it sounds absurd to people outside of the battle being waged, but if convenience is taking precedent over the needs of the participants, theta seems at odds with what should be the primary goal of the IHSAA.

I think we can file this fracas under – nothing is ever easy.

Here is Baxter’s letter:

Commissioner Cox,

Thank you for your response regarding the recent decision to move the girls’ basketball season forward a week. However, after reading your letter, I continue to have major concerns about the negative impact this will have on girls’ volleyball and basketball programs throughout the state. In fact, it is highly evident your decision is unacceptable and a detriment to female student- athletes in Indiana.

First, your belief that girls who participate in both volleyball and basketball could practice both sports during volleyball sectionals week is preposterous. You stated that: “Girls that are also basketball players will have at least two days of conflict. It does not mean that those girls (multi-sport athletes) could not accomplish a basketball practice on that Monday or Tuesday but that would take an increased level of cooperation between the school’s volleyball and girls’ basketball coach.”

Mr. Commissioner, it is alarming for you to say it is ok for dual-sport athletes to condition and practice basketball while preparing during championship week of volleyball Sectionals. Your comments were disrespectful to volleyball programs across this state and display a lack of appreciation and care for girls’ basketball programs. I have too much respect for my coaching colleague at Benton Central to even ask for permission to practice the athletes we share during the most important week of her season, and I know that coaches around the state share my sentiments. I also have too much respect for the student-athletes under my supervision to ask them to attend school all day, attend volleyball practice, stay for basketball practice, and then head home and work on school work.

Mr. Cox, do you know volleyball coaches in Indiana who would allow their players to practice basketball during volleyball Sectional week? Furthermore, will you remind and enforce volleyball coaches of your policy and ensure dual-sport athletes are allowed to practice both sports during volleyball Sectional week if the solution is allowed in 2015-2016? Given the unacceptable nature of the requests that you are asking us to make, I am confident that you are not willing to press the issue.

Second, Coach Christlieb asked, “How will this affect the multi-sport athlete who plays volleyball and basketball? Will girls now choose one sport over the other due to the overlap and ultimately hurt both sports, particularly in the smaller schools?”

You replied, “I’m not sure shifting a season one week will cause a different decision made by a student athlete on whether she will choose one sport over another. My sense is that when coaches of any sport make the team experience meaningful, worthy and fun, a student will engage in that activity.”

Commissioner Cox, your statement sums up the main problem with the IHSAA. Decisions are made by people who don’t know the outcome of the decisions they make. They are too distant from the reality of what they are creating and blinded by potential revenue when they should be concerned with the welfare of the student-athletes and the sports they participate in. It is an obvious fact to us as coaches that athletes will be pulled in different directions unnecessarily. For example, students at smaller schools typically play both sports. In my case, 85% of my Varsity team plays volleyball. Even if they lose, it becomes next to impossible to give them any time off before starting basketball. At larger schools, athletes will consider playing just one sport with this increased conflict. Either way, it’s not good for both sports.

Third, this decision drastically impacts the quality of pre-season and early season practices and contests. In the chart below, I have visually illustrated the disproportioned ratio of conflicted athletes when comparing boys’ football and basketball to girls’ volleyball and basketball with the numbers you provided.

(The chart did not convert for this post, but displays that the current construct as mandated in the IHSAA changes disproportionately impact girls’ basketball and volleyball, compared to the process that existed prior – or to the overlap between football and boys basketball)

Commissioner Cox, you stated, “For 35 years, member schools have successfully dealt with this conflict and from my personal perspective, I do not believe this conflict has hindered the development or quality of boys’ basketball play in our state for one moment.”

From my personal perspective, I see the numbers you provided to clearly display a blatant lack of equality between the conflicting schools comparing the transition conflicts between boys’ sports to girls’ sports. The IHSAA has created an even greater disparity in the scenario where all schools are affected. It is easy to see the boys’ sports conflicts are relatively small when compared with the girls’ sports conflicts. In addition, please take special notice how similar the percentages are between the boys’ sports conflicts and girls’ sports conflicts before you moved girls’ basketball forward one week on the calendar.

Another problem with your solution is the lack of equality between the length of the girls’ basketball season to the boys’ basketball season. Please look at the winter weeks and count on a calendar. You come up with 15 for the girls and 16 for the boys between the start of the season and the start of the tournament. Here is the link to the calendar.

http://www.ihsaa.org/Portals/0/ihsaa/documents/calendars/2014-15%20At%20A%20Glance.pdf

Commissioner Cox, when you factor in the overlap of girls’ basketball and girls’ volleyball many schools in the association will have roughly a 14 week season. That’s 14 weeks to play 23 games for girls athletes compared to 16 weeks to play 23 games for boys. There is little doubt with the lack of proper pre-season basketball conditioning and a shorter basketball season there is a greater potential for a risk of injury. I would hope the IHSAA would show more concern toward the safety of its female athletes.

Fifth, I am most concerned about the IHSAA’s lack of transparency. You stated, “Finally, I would relate to you that this conversation about the girls’ basketball season has been discussed thoroughly at our area principal meetings with athletic directors and principals. With any decision of this magnitude, we examine as many perspectives as possible.”

The IHSAA failed to listen to the athletic directors and principals at the district meetings. For example, if the IHSAA had listened to their constituents then the recent passing of the two extra games per season would not have been passed. Most principals and athletic directors voted NO. In fact, principals and athletic directors voted overwhelmingly NO. However, the IHSAA did not heed the advice of the association of athletic directors and principals. Commissioner Cox, can I obtain the voting results from those representatives that attended the district meeting? Perhaps it would provide some clarity if we saw the actual numbers of who voted to support this action and had an understanding of why those individuals felt this was the best course of action. Did the IHSAA do what it wanted regardless of what a majority of association members’ voted? Did the IHSAA clearly communicate, inform, and obtain the perspectives of the girls’ basketball coaches with regard to your solution? It is most obvious coaches were not presented with the complete picture of facts of how the IHSAA planned to move forward with your solution. It is my belief the IHSAA was not forthright and upfront with how they planned to solve the issue of removing the conflict between the girls’ state finals and boys’ basketball sectional finals with girls’ basketball coaches.

In the final analysis, the decision by the IHSAA regarding this move to over-lap girls’ basketball with girls’ volleyball is poor. Before I leave, I offer some potential solutions.

Why not also move the volleyball forward one week? That seems like a very easy solution.
Why not play the girls state finals at the Fairgrounds Coliseum? The finals are in Indy and in a great building. Perhaps you could poll the girls’ basketball coaches and get their opinion.
Another solution would be to go back to the midweek single game Regional and two game semi-state.

In conclusion, I would like to reiterate that a vast majority of girls’ basketball coaches support removing the conflict between the girls’ state finals and boys’ basketball sectional finals (which only effected a very small number of schools). With that said, there are even a greater number of girls’ basketball coaches, volleyball coaches, and even boys’ basketball coaches who do not support the current over-lap you plan to implement in 2015-2016. It is my goal to bring all parties together to seek a solution that is great for all female student-athletes in Indiana. Thank you for your time and consideration in this matter.

Sincerely & respectfully,

David Baxter

Grade 6 Educator
Prairie Crossing Elementary School
Girls Varsity Basketball Coach
Benton Central High School

Ten-point plan from Pac-12 presidents to 53 other Big Five leaders step toward independence

by Kent Sterling

There is going to come a breaking point in this process of separation between the 65 big conference schools and the other NCAA Division One schools, and it moved a couple of steps closer with a letter authored by the Pac-12 presidents that was sent to the other 53 presidents of the High Five.

The letter represents an acknowledgment that the dam of amateurism in collegiate athletics is leaking, and meeting for months and years with thumbs planted rectally to choose which holes of the dike presidents should stick their fingers is going to allow a breach that cannot be stopped.

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In the letter, as reported by the Associated Press, the presidents outline a 10-point plan, and urge swift movement before the question of amateurism winds up being decided in the courts, where the judges decide what is right rather than the universities themselves.

The 10-point plan answers several of the issues that drove members of Northwestern’s football team to seek the option to be legally classed as employee and to unionize.

Permit institutions to make scholarship awards up to the full cost of attendance.
Provide reasonable ongoing medical or insurance assistance for student-athletes who suffer an incapacitating injury in competition or practice. Continue efforts to reduce the incidence of disabling injury.
Guarantee scholarships for enough time to complete a bachelor’s degree, provided that the student remains in good academic standing.
Decrease the demands placed on the athlete in-season, correspondingly increase the time available for studies and campus life, by preventing the abuse of organized “voluntary” practices to circumvent the limit of 20 hours per week and more realistically assess the time away from campus and other commitments during the season.
Similarly decrease time demands out of season by reducing out-of-season competition and practices, and by considering shorter seasons in specific sports.
Further strengthen the Academic Progress Rate requirements for postseason play.
Address the “one and done” phenomenon in men’s basketball. If the NBA and its Players Association are unable to agree to raising the age limit for players, consider restoring the freshman ineligibility rule in men’s basketball.
Provide student-athletes a meaningful role in governance at the conference and NCAA levels.
Adjust existing restrictions so that student-athletes preparing for the next stage of their careers are not unnecessarily deprived of the advice and counsel of agents and other competent professionals, but without professionalizing intercollegiate athletics.
Liberalize the current rules limiting the ability of student-athletes to transfer between institutions.

The obvious intent is to remove reasons athletes might find to challenge the amateurism ideal that is applied to those who appear to engage in all the activities associated with professional sports minus enjoying their share of the spoils.

All are steps in the right direction, and serve notice to members of the NCAA Division One not part of the High Five that if an amount of autonomy is not granted to the big schools, another method of redress will ensue.

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College sports are quickly approaching a crossroads, and the status quo cannot continue to be tolerated. Evolution continues, and the players who are at the center of the debate are going to be treated differently one way or the other.

The presidents of Pac-12 schools showed they understand the urgency needed in changing the game. Either the presidents can manage their way through this potentially catastrophic era of serious adjustment, or they can be victims of it.

One way or another, change is coming quickly. Athletic departments can either guide the train or be run over by it.

Indiana Pacers – Hopefully, fans have learned by now that everything is just fine even at 1-1

by Kent Sterling

How Paul George recovers from the double ding to his head is the latest subplot carrying conversation among Pacers fans. As with the rest of the series, it will be what it will be.

Yeah, the Pacers lost last night 87-83 to the two-time defending champion Miami Heat, and now the home court advantage the Pacers worked for 82 games to attain slides south.

Hysterical fans should calm themselves because it’s happened before. Since 2005, the Pacers have played 12 playoff series, and 10 of them started with a split. The Pacers record in those series is 5-4-1 (the one is the current series).

Unfortunately, the only two blemishes of the six most recent playoff series that began with a split came against LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and their supporting cast.

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That doesn’t mean that the Pacers are doomed to repeat their 2012 and 2013 moment of doom following a split against the Heat. The difference this time is home court advantage if a Game Seven is necessary.

The seven-game series roller coaster is a ride that Pacers fans should be accustomed to by now. The ups and downs are predictable only in that they will definitely occur. That no one knows exactly where should not make them any more stunning.

Miami is the two-time champ for a reason, and laying down before a committed opponent is not one of them. They are going to win games, and the Pacers are going to win games. Like the Pacers vs. Bulls series in 1998, the winner is likely to be the team that plays best during the final five minutes of Game Seven.

How the Pacers and Heat get to five-minutes to play in Game Seven will fascinate and enlighten, but the trip to the NBA Finals will likely come in that very brief expanse of time with everything on the line. Champions are made during those moments – not just for the current season, but moving forward.

Paul George and Lance Stephenson are very young players who are winning and learning simultaneously. Last year, they learned, along with their teammates, that home court advantage is a big deal. As a result of the Game Seven collapse, offseason work was more focused. Were they able to learn enough to overcome opponents who who been around longer and learned more?

For fans, players, and everyone else invested in the success of the Pacers, learning is not the top priority right now. Finding a way to win another three games before the Heat can is the focus, and as has happened again and again, the Pacers will seek ways game by game to gain advantages necessary to get that done.

Fans can choose to endure the ups and downs by living and dying with every peak and valley, or just ride it out with a smile and a beer until an elimination game is faced by either the Pacers or Heat. At 3-2, not sweating every possession is no longer an option, but after Game One it was silly to declare an advantage for Indiana, and it’s just as premature to bequeath the series to the Heat today.

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The media try to gin up angst and drama, especially on off days when there is nothing else to fill time in a compelling way.

My advice is to relax, smile at the wild rantings of Bill Simmons, Mark Schwartz, Brian Windhorst, Doug Collins, Jalen Rose, and the rest of the ESPN circus, and enjoy the games with a good attitude and cold beverage until someone is battling for their playoff lives.

My guess is that the Heat win Game Three, and the Pacers win Game Four and Game Five. The Heat shoot their wad in winning Game Six to even it at three each before the Pacers take an eight-point lead into the final five minutes of Game Seven. If they hold on, and I believe they will, a trip to the NBA Finals against San Antonio will follow.

Enjoy the ride, and don’t worry so much. Leave that to Frank Vogel.

Indiana Pacers – Champion Heat rise up late to take home court back in 87-83 loss

by Kent Sterling

Lance Stephenson was splendid tonight with 25 points, six assists, and six rebounds.

Anyone who thought the Miami Heat were just going to sit back and accept their fate as the Indiana Pacers Eastern Conference Finals punching bag grossly underestimated the two-time defending champs. Anyone who thinks the Pacers are going to roll over after the series was tied at 1-1 insults Indiana’s resolve.

The Pacers have waited just over 50 weeks for this opportunity, and they aren’t any more likely to let it drift quietly away because of their inability to close a game that very easily could have been theirs.

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This game was statistically as close as it could be. The Heat made two more field goals. The Pacers made one more three-pointer. The Heat made one more foul shot. The Pacers won the rebound battle 41-38. Assists were tied at 19. The Heat had one more steal, one more turnover, and one more foul.

While the Pacers enjoyed mostly balanced scoring with all five starters scoring in double figures (led by Lance Stephenson’s 25), the Heat’s offense, especially late, predictably came from Dwyane Wade and LeBron James with 23 and 22 points.

James scored only 12 points until just over six minutes remained in the game, but then became engaged in a process he has excelled in so many times before – taking over when it mattered most. From that point forward, James scored 10.

After a Norris Cole three-pointer with 10:45 remaining, the Big Two scored all 20 Heat points. And let’s put to bed this ridiculous Big Three talk once and for all. Chris Bosh has been useless with nine points in each of the first two games of this series.

It’s not that Bosh isn’t a good player, he is. But linking him with James and Wade is like Lee Westwood playing in a threesome with Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods. Sure he can play, but no one pays to see Westwood – or Bosh. Chris Anderson and Norris Cole were both better players tonight than was Bosh.

Minus Stephenson, George Hill, and Roy Hibbert, the Pacers shot 12-of-45. That just isn’t going to get it done if the Pacers are going to send Miami packing before the NBA Finals for the first time since Wade and James came together in 2010.

For the second straight year, the Pacers bench is lacking against the Heat. Upgrades like C.J. Watson and Luis Scola were supposed to make a difference, but that didn’t happen tonight. Paul George scoring 14 points on 16 shots does not reflect the level of offensive efficiency the Pacers need to beat a focused Heat team.

Even with all of that, the Pacers were right there – up three with under five minutes to play. They just couldn’t close.

So just like the first two series in these playoffs, the Pacers gave away home court advantage with a split at home. Unlike the first two series, they are now playing against the two-time champs with the best player on Earth. A win in either Game Three or Game Four is a virtual must, and would then force a best two-out-of-three with a trip to the NBA Finals on the line.

The relevant question is if the Pacers couldn’t close the door in a winnable Game Two at home, how confident can they be if it comes down to the last five minutes of Game Seven with a small lead?

Two chapters into what will likely be a seven-part book, this looks to be a repeat of last year’s incredibly compelling battle to exhaustion. LeBron said it best in his silly pre-game snoozefest of a pep talk prior to Game One, “They don’t like us, and we don’t like them.”

Acrimony makes for drama, and the feeling that this series is going to get mean-spirited became engrained in my mind throughout the game tonight.

Hibbert’s back, Stephenson is rolling, George had six shots rim out, and the Big Two dominated late. The last five games are going to be a beautiful war.

Can’t believe we have to wait until Saturday for Game Three.

Indiana Pacers – Reggie Miller says if Pacers win tonight, the series is over

by Kent Sterling

Reggie Miller is almost as good an analyst as he was a shooter for the Indiana Pacers during an 18-year career.

Reggie Miller is one of the best analysts in basketball – one of the few who migrated seamlessly from his regular NBA duties to March Madness on TNT/TBS/TruTV without showing serious weakness – and the 18-year Indiana Pacers veteran offered some unique insight today on the Dan Patrick Show.

Patrick asked Miller to complete the sentence, “If the Heat lose tonight…”

Miller responded, “It’s a wrap!”

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Seven-game series are the perfect length to build drama. The better team almost always wins in the end, but the drama builds with each successive game. The national media tends to believe what it has seen before, and the Heat winning the last two championships still trumps the Game One beatdown administered by the Pacers.

While the Heat are definitely going to bring a more intense effort tonight at Bankers Life Fieldhouse (how could they not?), the Pacers aren’t to be taken lightly either, according to Miller, “The Heat’s season is on the line tonight, and as much as we’ve been killing the Indiana Pacers, and I was one of them, they only had one thing on mind and it started in training camp, ‘We want to beat the Miami Heat.'”

“They may not say it, but they were overlooking Atlanta, and they almost lost in seven games. They were overlooking Washington and got pushed to six games,” Miller said. “Their main focus has always been Miami, and they were built to play Miami. We saw that in Game One. Now, you don’t win two championships for nothing and not being able to win on the road. So we’ll get the Heat’s best effort tonight, and it should be a very entertaining game.”

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Miller went on to predict one of the great LeBron James performances with a potential for a 50-point explosion.

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Despite Game One, or perhaps because of it, the Heat are favored by 2 1/2 points tonight. For Game One, the Pacers were 1 1/2 point dogs and won by 11. NumberFire projects a 62.6% likelihood of the Pacers winning tonight.

Remember all games in the Eastern Conference Finals start at 8:30p.

Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay back, and deserving of prayer in his battle

by Kent Sterling

Jim Irsay is in Atlanta for the NFL owners meetings, and will lobby for Indianapolis to host Super Bowl LII.

Ignorance is always stunning to me, especially when expressed by those whose thoughts on addiction begin and end with, “They should just stop using,” and “They deserve what they get!”

Understanding the addictions that plague Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay is very difficult for some, who view his drug use as a choice – an irresponsible indulgence of feeling “good” over living a responsible and temperant life.

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Anyone who has witnessed addiction up close knows different, and those who think Irsay doesn’t feel like an abject failure because of his relapse possess a dangerous level of misunderstanding of the challenges he faces in recovery.

After watching video of Irsay in Atlanta, I tweeted a brief and innocuous message of support, and received several unpleasant return messages, including, “save the prayers for cancer patients or suffering children.. not self-righteous, self-destructive, drug addicts.”

What an empathic message that is! As though there is a limit to the prayers we can offer those in pain – like rationing positive thoughts is a reasonable life strategy. Pain and suffering is pain and suffering, regardless of the cause.

There is no reason to ask ourselves, “Now wait a minute, if I take time to wish Jim Irsay well, am I costing someone else in need the help my tweeted empathy can provide?”

Addiction, especially for a man like the Colts owner who has seen the pain it can cause through his own father’s alcoholism, torments Irsay, who is all too aware the pain his relapse has caused.

Stopping use requires strength, but letting go of the guilt that comes from seeing the pain in the eyes and hearts of loved ones is incredibly difficult. Add the very public national humiliation caused by his arrest in Carmel, and Irsay has a very, very difficult time looking in the mirror, and a challenging road ahead of him.

It’s easy to mock a guy who was pulled over in Carmel for going 10 miles an hour with a stash of drugs and $29,000 in his car, but there is nothing funny about Irsay’s difficulties in maintaining sobriety today.

Law enforcement will have their say in mandating some penance for Irsay, and the NFL will definitely issue a suspension eventually. Regardless of the addiction, people addled by drugs and alcohol cannot get behind the wheel of a car. Putting innocent drivers and their passengers at risk is unacceptable, irresponsible, and requires a serious consequence.

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But that shouldn’t preclude us as human beings from offering positive thoughts to those who made bad choices because of behavior caused by addiction.

Addiction, whether to drugs, alcohol, gambling, porn, or some other destructive pursuit is beyond the control of the user, and expressing a little bit of sympathy and hope for day-by-day success to abstain is the least we can offer.

People who have an issue with that should take a good hard look at their own behavior and stop busying themselves with casting blame.

Irsay is in the midst of a struggle that will end in one of three ways – death, incarceration, or a successful adherence to the behaviors and actions that allow him to ignore the compulsion to use that will reverberate in his brain everyday for the rest of his life.

Whether Irsay has billions or not, he deserves some love and compassion – in addition to all others who face a daunting struggle, not to their exclusion.