Author Archives: Kent Sterling

Indiana Pacers only consistent in their inconsistency – lose Game Five to Atlanta 107-97

by Kent Sterling

Paul George had a great stat line with 26 points, 12 boards, and six assists and steals, but stats don’t win games.

Swiss psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler coined the term ‘schizophrenia’ in 1911. The first half play of the Indiana Pacers re-defined in the first half of their 107-97 loss tonight to the Atlanta Hawks.

After leading through most of the first quarter and finishing with a 21-20 lead, the Pacers went on a vacation that brought their offseason break to within 48 minutes of basketball Wednesday night in Atlanta.

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During a thoroughly miserable 1:46 stretch at the front end of the quarter Hawks sharp shooter dropped four triples right on the Pacers head. For the quarter, the Hawks hit 9-of-11 threes in the second quarter, and the slim Pacers lead became an impossible to overcome 61-40 deficit.

The bench was a disaster tonight as Evan Turner, Ian Mahinmi, and Luis Scola tallied +/- of -14, -15, and -16. Surprisingly, Paul George was +6 in 43 minutes. That means in the five minutes George sat, the Pacers were outscored by 16.

Not that the Pacers didn’t gamely compete once the lead ballooned to 30 with 7:07 left in the third quarter, cutting it to eight toward the end, but this game was over once Scott hit that crazy run of triples.

The only thing consistent about the Pacers is their absolute inconsistency, but fans used to be able to count on the inconsistency to run from game-to-game rather than quarter-to-quarter.

So now the Pacers head to a real must-win game in Atlanta down three games to two, and not even the famed Dr. Bleuler would care to venture a guess as to which Pacers team might show up. Will it be the reasonably tenacious group that came back in Atlanta Saturday afternoon, or the docile and laconic bores who stood around and watched the Hawks blow Game Five open during a 41-20 second quarter.

The sense of desperation that is usually present during the playoffs comes and goes in waves with the Pacers like hot flashes in menopausal women.

Before anyone writes the epitaph for the Pacers, remember that they defy convention and expectations at every turn. Once you think you have them figured out, they spin around and show another side of their many personalities.

Paul George and Lance Stephenson are just 23 years old, and when a guy who proclaims himself to be the team’s leader is that young, having the perspective to dig deep and battle is difficult. Michael Jordan was 28 when he finally got over the hump and won a championship, and George is not the player Jordan was.

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Years tend to harden resolve of those not born with grit, but the Pacers have a blend of talented veterans and brash youth that has a chance to achieve greatness. They appear content to look back on 2014 for how it began, not how it will end.

Losing to a team that was 38-44 in the regular season in the playoffs seemed impossible three months ago, but now it’s more than possible. It’s likely.

That doesn’t mean it’s a done deal, and I still believe the Pacers will win both games six and seven, but it will take 96 minutes of focused effort, and as Dr. Bleuler advised the families of his many schizophrenic patients, “Eet iz okay to hope, but I would not count on zee patient enjoying a stretch of lucidity zat lasts quite zat long.”

Fox Sports 1 Cancels “Crowd Goes Wild” – Here are nine reasons why

by Kent Sterling

Who the hell are these people and why do I care? That’s the first question that should be answered by any producer.

There was so much wrong with the first episode of “Crowd Goes Wild” on Fox Sports 1 that they lost me for the next three months. I tuned back because of equal shares of professional responsibility and morbid curiosity. Same problems.

Today, I read where the show has been cancelled, so I revisited. Same old song. There is a way to counter program against ESPN, but this was off the mark, and the network should have known.

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Here are nine examples of common programming errors that were violated by the show, and show they could have easily been corrected:

9 – Give the show time to organically develop. I knew there would be big trouble for this show when I saw the size of the couch and the insane level of promotion that preceded its debut. It’s a victory when a show is watchable at all in its first iteration. Look at the first season of “Seinfeld” or “30 Rock.” Both became great sitcoms, but the early episodes were experiments that led to the product that became timeless and nearly perfect. Making that happen isn’t always pretty. Driving sports media consumers en masse to the first week of programming ensured failure because viewers don’t care much for trail by error. Always let show evolve into its best version before driving consumption.

8 – Lack of form makes show too clunky. Panel shows can degrade into chaos without tight blocking and clearly understood roles. Too often on “Crowd Goes Wild,” cast members talk over the top of one another. If that is reflective of the Fox “attitude,” Fox Sports 1 should adopt a different attitude. Shows need compartments and context. Formless yakking is tough to consume. Even “Chelsea Lately” has sensible chunks and solid casting. It would be easier for producers to allow Chelsea to rap with her panel without knowing exactly who was supposed to do what and when, but the show is blocked so there is seldom any confusion as to who is saying what and when. Smart show.

7 – Big casts are death. NYPD Blue was a police drama on ABC in the 1990s and early 2000s from Steven Bochco, who was a great creator, producer, and writer of hour long TV dramas. This show had a big cast, but early episodes focused on detective John Kelly (David Caruso). Other characters were introduced through their interaction with Kelly. Otherwise viewers would have been dizzy trying to figure out who the hell was talking, and most importantly why they should care. The individual parts of “Crowd Goes Wild” can be pretty good if you take the time to acquaint yourself. Katie Nolan is funny and angry, making her very unique among sister sports broadcasters. She is a star. Trevor Pryor had nice insights, and Michael Kosta had moments, but there was no coalescence. Great ingredients combined incorrectly = bad stew.

6 – Casting is critical, and separation requires more than a variety of appearance. “Crowd Goes Wild” as it is currently constituted has a blond woman with an English accent, a dark-haired American woman, an African American former NFL player, a blondish guy with glasses, and a dark haired white guy. They all look and sound different. Great. The cast of “Designing Woman” always wore different color outfits. I get it, we need different looking people to recognize any of them, but look at ABC’s female chatfest “The View.” Not only has the cast been diverse in appearance, they have easily identified unique attitudes. The show is cast well because the personalities deliver upon viewer expectations. “Crowd Goes Wild” has different looking folks I don’t have any reason to see as unique.

5 – Jason Gay of the Wall Street Journal is a member of this giant cast, and on today’s show he referred to Cowboys Stadium as an arena. Guy know sports too well to make that kind of error in nomenclature. He sounded like principal Ed Rooney in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” asking the cook about a Cubs game on the restaurant TV. A single moment like that kills all credibility.

4 – What the hell is going on here? This show appears to be nothing more than five mostly unknowns talking about sports without any context. One thing ESPN does that should be copied by every sportstalk radio and televised panel show is to make the segments of the shows bite sized. A hour-long show where people babble over the top of each other segment after segment is downright unconsumable.

3 – Regis? Hey, I love Regis Philbin. He has has massive ups and downs over the course over his nearly 60 years in media, but he has always been equal to the task when called upon. This show needed a broadcaster to help shape the form, but Regis was woefully miscast. This isn’t a reflection on Regis, but producers cruelly threw a still brilliant guy into an environment where he had no chance to succeed. No matter how big a Notre Dame fan Regis is, bringing whimsy or heft to a conversation to be consumed by hard core sports content users is a ridiculous expectation.

2 – Should have flanked ESPN on the other side. A sports show less about sports than ESPN is always doomed. There is a significant sect of sports fans tired of the major market focus, and devotion of time to sportsebrities like Tim Tebow. While ESPN is very smart is the way it caters to the largest slices of its thoroughly researched audience, people in Kansas City, Indianapolis, Nashville, Columbus, Salt Lake City don’t give a damn about Jacoby Ellsbury’s assimilation to the Yankees. Flanking ESPN should be done by being more sports oriented, not by providing additional noise and “attitude.”

1 – “More Attitude” is a terrible branding position. What the hell does “more attitude” mean anyway? Is it about irreverence, an aversion to real sports, or hot women as hosts? Maybe it’s all three, but it doesn’t attract sports fans. As I’m watching now, an entire segment is being devoted toward an interview with two women’s professional soccer players. No matter how hot they are, no one but friends, families, and young female soccer players care about this segment. It’s hard to outduel ESPN while talking about the NFL, but I may be one of 45 people across the entire country watching this segment, and it’s only because I’m writing about the show.

What Fox Sports 1 should do is hire radio consultant Steve Reynolds to create and deliver a two-hour show that airs from 4p-6p. His four traits of great radio extend to all media – relevance, authenticity, fun, and innovation – and in all areas, this show fails, and predictably has been cancelled.

Indiana Pacers Game Five – Soap opera season continues tonight against Hawks

by Kent Sterling

What role Roy Hibbert will play tonight for the Indiana Pacers? We’ll all find out together starting at 8:00 p.m.

Expectations are a huge factor in building a narrative for a seven-game playoff series. Last year, the Indiana Pacers won 49 games, were the third seed, and faced a Game Five against the Atlanta Hawks with the series tied 2-2. This year, while in the same situation against a different Hawks team, the mindset of fans and media is wildly different.

That’s what getting off to a 33-7 start and finishing atop the Eastern Conference standings will do for a coach and team.

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Last year, Frank Vogel was seen as a long term solution as a coach. If the Pacers can’t win two of their last three against the Hawks, a significant level of din for his ouster will build.

The truth is that Vogel has done a spectacular job of dealing with a unique set of personalities with varying states of financial security. Roy Hibbert is never going to have to work a day in his life after he retires. Lance Stephenson is earning $5,000 annually more than a back-up center who has played a total of 36 minutes.

Luis Scola and David West are 33 years old, and have significantly less tread remaining on their tires than much younger teammates who can’t imagine the end of their careers will ever come.

Those challenges aren’t necessarily unique to Vogel and the Pacers, but the intense media scrutiny in which they were immersed was entirely different. The Pacers were the media darlings of the NBA as their team-first lovefest was in full flower.

The only thing the media enjoys blathering about more than the ascension of individuals and teams is the decline, and in one of the few times in sports history a team shoved a bunch of both into the same single season.

Now the Pacers are on the brink of doing what is almost entirely unseen outside of movies – the rise, fall, and redemption of a team in the same season.

Game Five is not a must-win for either team; it’s a boy-it’s-a-lot-better-to-be-up 3-2 than-down 2-3 game. Winning one-of-two is a whole lot easier than winning two.

Whether the Pacers or Hawks win tonight (or any night) comes down to three issues – making shots, being the aggressor, and controlling 50-50 balls. Whichever team does those three things best will have two bites at the apple to end this series.

The Pacers are likely to continue to employ a small lineup with only occasional stretches with Roy Hibbert in the pivot. Ian Mahinmi reported for Hibbert with 4:16 left in the third in Game Five, and he became – to his credit – the world’s tallest cheerleader for the rest of the 91-88 win.

While many Pacers fans have enjoyed watching C.J. Watson and George Hill play together at the expense of Lance Stephenson, the Pacers went on a game winning 8-0 run after Stephenson reported with 3:59 left in the game while behind 85-81.

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Tonight is the fifth chapter of this fascinating story, and everyone has an opinion as to what should happen. The plot gets thickens and thickens, and it seems that’s the way this team likes it. Should the Pacers go big, go small? Will they play passively or with zeal? With the guys on the bench watch with their heads in their hands or be as ravenously supportive as they were in Game Four?

If the Pacers win, can they close out the series in Atlanta as they did in 2013? If the Hawks win,, can the Pacers find a way to force a Game Seven at Bankers Life Fieldhouse?

Whether the Pacers find their way out of their recurrent malaise to find the same consistent magic that led to that gaudy 33-7 start won’t be known until the Pacers either hoist a banner or suffer that miserable fourth loss in a series.

Why are we surprised by Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling’s ignorance?

by Kent Sterling

Donald Sterling will not attend Game Five of the Clippers series in Los Angeles, and may have attended his last game.

It’s always a little stunning when there is such outrage when an idiot opens his mouth. Human beings aren’t quite as bright as we like to think we are.

People tend to enjoy disliking each other for their differences, and they have for the expanse of recorded history. I’m not sure why, but whether it’s because of religion, race, nationality, sexual orientation, skin color within races, size, or financial status, we see what is not like us and shun.

There isn’t a school in the country without a bully or 12 among the students. In the workplace, the popular are promoted while those without ambition and/or charisma tirelessly do the grunt work everyday to keep the wheels moving.

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So when the world stops because a longstanding moron like Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling (no relation – he was born Donald Tokowitz) moans about his wife posting pictures of herself with black people on Instagram, I shrug. Did anyone not know he’s been sued multiple times for refusing to rent to African Americans and Latinos? Elgin Baylor is suing him for discrimination. Why did it take a TMZ report to open our eyes to this buffoon’s myopic views on race?

What Sterling said was predictably narrow minded, and while his stupidity is loathsome enough to get him drummed out of the NBA – and likely will – all of the people crowing about his boobery better take an inventory of their own attitudes and behavior.

People enjoy pointing a finger at the outrageously hateful and casting them out, but most in some way, shape, or form represent the same narrowness.

Most are smart enough to keep their stereotyping under wraps, behind closed doors, or away from recording devices, but somewhere in the hearts of many more than we would like to admit lies intolerance.

Of course, Sterling is a buffoon. He’s always been a buffoon who has long been thought to be the worst owner in major league sports. He should be lanced from the NBA as the carbuncle on its ass that he is, but he has been the owner of the Clippers since 1981. Anyone with access to wikipedia should have been aware of Sterling’s predilection toward racism.

One of the more telling aspects of the recordings released by TMZ comes when Sterling incredulously asks his girlfriend whether she believes him to be a racist. She replies that in her eyes he is not a racist.

Sadly, few believe their philosophies on cultural stereotyping represent anything but common sense. Sterling is likely sitting in his home this morning watching endless reports on Sportscenter about the response to the recording of his strange and hateful rant. I’m sure he feels picked upon, and wonders what he did to deserve this level of scrutiny.

For over 80 years, he has been what and who he is, and all of a sudden he’s a pariah? The Los Angeles office of the NAACP was going to honor him next month at a dinner, and now he’s the poster boy for racism? What kind of vetting did the NAACP do as it assessed the qualifications for an award of that magnitude?

There is a lot of stupidity in our society. We’re barely a half century removed from lynchings, turning fire houses on peaceful marches, and government sanctioned overt segregation – all done without apology in the light of day.

It would be great if the outraged expressed toward Sterling represented enlightenment, but we have a long way to go in loving and empathizing with one another.

Regardless of size, shape, color, belief, color, nationality, religion, and class, we each owe the best we have to one another. While we correctly chastise Sterling for his bizarre aversion to a girlfriend posting pictures with African Americans, maybe some of us can take this opportunity to look in the mirror at the way we treat each other.

Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling is a racist, and makes us feel real smart

by Kent Sterling

Donald Sterling is a racist? So what’s new?

Earlier, I wrote about how the NBA should mandate that idiot Donald Sterling (no relation to me; he was born Donald Tokowitz) continue to own the Los Angeles Clippers as penance for the ignorance reflected in the racist comments reported yesterday by TMZ.com.

A tape of a ridiculous conversation between Sterling and his former girlfriend was released yesterday on TMZ.com in which he said many things reflective of racism including, “I’m just saying, in your lousy f****** Instagrams, you don’t have to have yourself with, walking with black people.”

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Owning a Clippers team bereft of African-Americans and anti-racists would be a more suitable punishment for Sterling than being banned from the league for being an addlepated intolerant.

It was very clever in expressing outrage, and painting racism as an ignorant attack against reason and humanity, which of course it is. The truth is that racism and the predictable outpouring of wrath that results when boobs like Sterling have their closeted stupidity revealed is boring.

Racism is idiotic. Yep and duh. Coming out against a racist is like being anti-cancer. No one in his right mind is pro-cancer or racism.

Yes, there are still plenty of racists around who keep their mouths shut unless behind closed doors with only those of their ilk with whom they are comfortable sharing their hateful ignorance. Fortunately, most of those who still see the world as colors, religions, nationalities, sexes, and sexual preferences are of Sterling’s generation, and like Sterling, 81, will be dead soon enough.

Kooks like Sterling make the rest of us feel very superior in our indignance over judging a man by the content of his character and not the color of his skin. Good for us. Being smart enough to refuse to hate shouldn’t be worth much applause these days, and that’s a good thing.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver will make a big show of suspending Sterling for a very long time, and all the talking heads will blather about how the NBA is better off without a racist in its midst. Hard to argue with that, but are we so naive that we don’t think there are others, or that the NBA hasn’t known about Sterling’s idiocy for a very long time?

Sterling has been sued multiple times for refusing to rent apartments to African-Americans and Latinos because of race, so his rant about his girlfriend posting pictures on Instagram with African-Americans is hardly a surprise.

As for NBA players saying they would never play for a racist, every single Clippers player since 1981 has done exactly that, and the Clippers team will again today as they battle Golden State in Game Four of their playoff series. Who knows whether there is another racist owner of an NBA team, or owns the company for which you work?

Would you resign if the owner of your company said the same things Sterling did behind a closed office door?

There are millions of people working today for all manner of stooges with crazy beliefs. In a black and white world, money is green, and there is nothing wrong with accepting it from a moron for an honest day’s work.

Racists are ridiculous, and the punishment of living in that darkness is severe enough. Run him out of the NBA if you like, but save the self-righteous posturing.

Huge “Ahead of the Curve” – Pacers, Hoosiers arrested, Colts cupcake schedule; Little 500, and more

by Kent Sterling

My face isn’t really this orange, and I sure as hell won’t be dressed like this today at 11a, but this is a picture of me.

Today is a big day in Indianapolis sports, and we will be all over it beginning at 11a today on 1070 the Fan and 1070thefan.com.

The Indiana Pacers will either even their series against the eight seeded Atlanta Hawks or fall into a 3-1 trough from which they might have difficulty climbing out. Frank Vogel is coaching for his job, according to an anonymous source cited by ESPN. Roy Hibbert is playing for his legacy as a Pacer. Hitting 18% from inside the paint reflects includible ineptitude.

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Do the Pacers have the rocks to rise above their petty squabbles and beat an obviously inferior team? That’s the question they have not answered in the affirmative, minus a wonderful 19-0 run over a six-minute stretch in Game Two that produced the kind of basketball fans became accustomed to in the first half of the season.

Don’t mistake this for a must win game. It isn’t. This is a ‘Boy, it would be nice to win this game!’ Game time is 2p.

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Early yesterday, Yogi Ferrell and Stanford Robinson were arrested for illegal consumption and using a fake ID when trying to enter Kilroy’s Sports Bar. This is troubling for a couple of reasons. The first is how are these two very famous (in Bloomington) kids so damn dumb that when the excise police are everywhere for Little 500 Weekend, they whip out the fake ID? The second is that they appear to be totally fearless of the consequences for their actions. That may be the result of the absurdly lenient two-game suspension given to Hanner Mosquera-Perea for his drunk driving arrest.

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The Colts are looking at a schedule that makes anything less than a 12-4 record unacceptable. With the draft less than two weeks away, what do the Colts need to take the #1 seed in the AFC?

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The weather is beautiful for the annual running of the Little 500 at Indiana University in Bloomington, and that used to mean an annual visit down Ruel W. Steele Highway to the campus I called home for five years for a trip down memory lane. What is it about the Little 500, other than being deified in “Breaking Away,” that makes it wonderful?

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And instant replay is an unmitigated disaster in all sports but hockey, where somehow the league that gets it all wrong actually gets this right. The complexities of the various systems, and resulting delays disrupt the rhythm of the games, and erode the joy of the fan experience. It’s as though the organizers fallaciously believe the games are for the teams instead of the fans. Preposterous.

We’ll talk about all that and more beginning at 11a, and running straight up until Pacers Pregame with Mark Boyle from Atlanta at 1:30p.

Can’t wait!

Indiana Basketball – Quotes from Tom Crean, Stanford Robinson, and Yogi Ferrell about the arrests

Tom Crean

“We are aware of the two infractions with a couple of the guys on our team. One of our big problems on the court this year was solid decision making, which directly mirrors our lack of decision making off the court. We had too many players that had a maturity problem all year and that maturity has not grown yet to where it needs to be. This isn’t about a time of year or a special week on campus. This is about poor judgment, selfishness of actions, and disrespect for what this program stands for. We will continue as we have all year to push the responsibility of what it means to play in this basketball program and to represent yourself beyond reproach. We have been successful in doing that in the past and will continue to demand those same principles.”

Kevin “Yogi” Ferrell

“I apologize for letting down my family, coaches, teammates and fans and truly regret the mistake I made. This is something I have to learn from, use better judgement and I have a responsibility as a leader on this team to make sure nothing like this happens again.”

Stanford Robinson

“I’m very sorry for my actions. I know I have embarrassed my family and this program and have let a lot of people down. I have no excuses for the mistakes I made and I take full responsibility for them.”

Indiana Basketball – Yogi Ferrell and Stanford Robinson arrested for being college students

by Kent Sterling

No smiles early this morning for Yogi Ferrell, who was arrested along with teammate Stanford Robinson.

Being arrested for illegal consumption and possession of a fake ID while in college is almost a rite of passage, and Indiana basketball players Yogi Ferrell and Stanford Robinson became members of that club at Kilroy’s Sports Bar early thing morning, according to a release from the Indiana State Excise Police.

Getting self-righteous about underage drinking is ridiculous, as virtually everyone who has attended Indiana University in Bloomington has been there and done that, but did Ferrell and Robinson have to step so far into the danger zone to risk getting caught?

These are the second and third arrests of basketball players for alcohol related crimes in Bloomington in the last three months. Hanner Mosquera-Perea was booked for OWI – a far more serious charge – on Valentine’s Day.

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The only part of the story that baffles is that two of the most recognizable people in Monroe County would use a fake ID. Everyone in town knows that Ferrell is a sophomore and Robinson is a freshman, so if there is a hard ass bouncer or the dreaded excise police (similar in stature and demeanor to the Central Park Rangers in “Elf”) someplace, the card will either be confiscated or the police called.

If the police wanted to drill the message home that they aren’t playing games this weekend, who better to bust than a couple of basketball players. Ferrell has been through this drill for two years, so he should have known that fame is a double-edged sword.

For days, reports from Bloomington have touted the multitudes of law enforcement officials stationed in likely target areas waiting to arrest students who have either consumed too much alcohol or are too young to drink at all. There is one weekend not to use fake IDs in Bloomington, and it started last night.

Everyone I knew at IU had a fake ID but me. Spending $10 to get a bogus Kentucky Drivers License seemed to invite more problems than it would solve, and with cases of beer selling for $8 in the 1980s, it seemed like bad economics.

Being denied entry to a bar was a pill I could swallow, but being arrested for holding a fake ID and forfeiting what amounted to a case of Bud Light (plus a six-pack) was unacceptable.

Ferrell and Robinson will be earnestly chastised by Crean, and will go through conditioning work that will reinforce the message. The worst part of the deal for Ferrell is that he is only two weeks from turning 21.

The weekend will continue, and more dopey and entitled kids who don’t believe consequences await them for being idiots will be cuffed and tossed in the drunk tank.

That’s Little 500 Weekend in Bloomington.

Indiana Pacers – For most maligned team in NBA history, Saturday not a must win

by Kent Sterling

Larry Bird is usually tough to read, but last night he looked as horrified as most fans.

There are so many questions without answers that fans and media have lost hope that Indiana can vanquish the giant killing Atlanta Hawks. If there has been an eight-seed that has looked more like a one-seed than the Hawks, I don’t remember it, and the reverse is true of the Pacers.

Coach Frank Vogel’s countenance is that of a coach who has exhausted himself by pushing every button but self destruct and eject without a tangible result. David West appears to have been unsuccessful in keeping the youthful exuberance of Lance Stephenson channeled properly. And during games, Roy Hibbert looks like the elderly do when they are prepped for surgery.

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Basketball at the NBA level is a business for everyone. Wins and stats help feed families, but the game is still supposed to be fun to play. No one has ever enjoyed it less than Hibbert over the last month. The former defensive player of the year candidate has yet to register a single block in this series.

Almost always stoic Pacers president Larry Bird has been shown all day during Sportscenter with his head in his hands as Hibbert went oh-fer in the paint last night, and Vogel’s in-game dismay resembles the look on a college student’s face when offered $50 to drink a glass of milk gone bad.

The bench tries to be supportive, but even as they rise from their seats to cheer a shot in the air, their faces bely their lack of belief it will drop.

The Pacers are a team in disarray, and all are responsible. The fires are sprouting up so quickly, dousing them is impossible.

ESPN continues to call the Pacers plight “one of the worst collapses ever,” and why would anyone argue with the mothership other than because its job is not to be right, but engage viewers.

The real answer to all the Pacers problems, questions, doubt, and points of interest is that they are one win in Atlanta from being exactly where they are supposed to be, and they have two shots at it.

Who’s to blame? Everyone. Who can resurrect this team? Everyone. Should the Pacers go big or small? It doesn’t matter if they play with passion and determination. Will Hibbert find a way to make shots? Step one for Hibbert is to get over himself, and lose this woe is me attitude. Unless there is a physical issue of which we are not aware, he needs to focus his energy on supporting his teammates – and that goes for the rest of the Pacers.

Team success comes to those who are committed to the success of the others, and the self-loathing many Pacers display has nothing to do with teammates succeeding. All this, “I need to elevate my game” yakking is counterproductive.

Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls didn’t get great because Michael Jordan improved. The Bulls became champions because Jordan committed himself to making Scottie Pippen a great player.

Stop pushing buttons, stop trying to answer inane media questions, stop worrying about failure. Get mad. Get focused. Kick the Hawks in the damn mouth, and take what’s yours. I also suggest not watching ESPN for the foreseeable future – in particular Linda Cohn whose blathering has become even more shrill.

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Not only is Game Four not a must win game, it’s not close. Yes, the Pacers need to win either Game Four or Game Six in Atlanta, but it doesn’t matter which one.

If the Hawks win a third game in this series, then the Pacers will face a must win. Not before.

Indiana University’s Little 500 – Eight tips on avoiding arrest from a veteran – #1 “Don’t be the idiot”

by Kent Sterling

This is a picture from our Little 500 party at Walnut Knolls. The only thing that kept it from being busted was it would have caused more damage than it saved.

This is a picture from our last Little 500 party at Walnut Knolls. The only thing that kept it from being busted was it would have caused more damage than it saved.

Not getting arrested in Bloomington during Little 500 weekend is a lot like not being caught by a grizzly bear chasing a group of campers, you don’t have to be fast, just don’t be the slowest.

Avoiding police attention during the Little 500 weekend that started in earnest last night does not require sobriety or or a resistance to acting like a fool. You just can’t be the drunkest or the biggest idiot.

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Friends used to bring gallon jugs of screwdrivers into the race because people tend to doubt audacity. Security knows what a hidden flask looks like, but few suspect a group of 20 students each carrying a gallon jug filled with what appears to be orange juice would be bold enough to have emptied a fifth of Popov into each.

Our impudence grew over the years to finally include fake credentials that boasted our status as “special provosts,” and during our final appearance, ushers escorted us to a special entrance so we could avoid the line.

Over the years, friends who had trouble with the law were those who earned it. One drank himself stupid, wandered from the group, and found his way to Sembower Field. Too drunk to locate the gate or successfully climb the fence, police arrested him as he slept in the middle of center field.

The consequences for acting stupid rarely involved the police for our friends. A broken ankle after falling in a ditch, some bumps and bruises after doing donuts with an RV in the Memorial Stadium parking lot, random nudity, and hurt feelings of those we either directly or inadvertently insulted were the worst of the collateral damage because we maintained reasonable limits or so far exceeded the limits that authority was mystified into inaction.

Nothing in all of this to be proud of, but there are lessons learned through many years of experience that may be of some use for those in Bloomington this weekend hoping their fun does not come with a price any steeper than a groggy and wasted Sunday.

Here are some rules of the road to keep yourself and others safe:

Don’t be “The idiot.” If everyone in the room or at the race is watching you do something, you are the idiot. Being the idiot will get you mocked and then arrested. Laughing at others is a lot more fun than being laughed at, so either don’t be a moron, or surround yourself with people even more moronic than you.
Do not drive after drinking. Period. Not only will you likely be arrested, you will put lives in danger. Lives are ruined because of the choice to drive while addled. Everything in Bloomington is walking distance, so walk or if you are lazy – call a cab. This weekend should be about laughs and fun, and driving drunk results in tragedy far too often to be fun.
No fights. This was never a problem for us because the fun ratio for fighting is always out of whack. Only the psychotic laugh as they fight, and if you can’t laugh at it we didn’t want to do it. The police are really in the business of keeping people safe, and nothing threatens the immediate safety of drunken college students quite like punching each other.
Always have an exit plan. If you are at a huge and loud party, at some point the cops will find it. As you exit, do not run. Walk confidently in the opposite direction of the police presence, and under no circumstance mouth off to them. As a primer in this arena, watch an episode of “Campus PD.” Runners and loudmouths are always the first targets. If you look like you are doing nothing wrong, police tend to leave you alone.
Never host a party. When you are the host, you are responsible for everyone and everything. That is a jackpot to avoid. Being responsible for yourself when you are 22 is a full time job. Responsibility for a house or apartment filled with drunk and energetic guests is destined to end in misery.
No selfies of moronic behavior. After an arrest, selfies are called evidence. Prior to an arrest, selfies posted on social media can be called probable cause. Nobody wants to see pictures of themselves wasted. Resist the urge to document everything – or anything.
As always, treat people as you would like to be treated. Take care of one another, and if reason takes a holiday for a friend, encourage a long nap.
If you are famous in Bloomington – like a basketball player – do not try to get in Kilroy’s Sports Bar with a fake ID. This is especially true when the media is reporting that excise police are everywhere in town for the expressed purpose of catching underage drinkers.

Part of a college education is learning where societal boundaries lie. I have been there, tested the strength of the life’s fences, and made it through unscathed. Of course, all concern for being arrested can be avoided by abstaining, or leaving Bloomington for Little 500 weekend. People smart enough to do that require no counsel. This post is for those who still enjoy being in the middle of a beer and sweat soaked crowd as they bounce through a weekend of indulgence.

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Little 500 Weekend should be the World’s Greatest College Weekend, but great doesn’t happen in the Monroe County lockup.