[youtube LLyIVYU26H0]
Donald Davidson knows more about the Indianapolis 500 than any man alive. Today, we turn Donald’s memory loose on the third three time champ, Mauri Rose.
Click here to follow Kent on Twitter @kentsterling
I think every story Donald tells is incredibly interesting, and understanding the Indy 500 as a historical event is difficult without listening to Donald talk about the drivers upon whose shoulders the Indy 500 was built.
Today’s story about Mauri Rose is fascinating.
by Kent Sterling
This is what IU did with a head cover. Imagine the crazy hell they would raise with a mascot!
What the hell kind of an awful representation of the state of Indiana would prowl the sidelines at Memorial Stadium if Indiana University decided to re-animate the long dormant mascot program at IU?
Terry Hutchens of the Indianapolis Star wrote a piece today quoting several fans, all with very different ideas about how and if a mascot should return. None agreed with the other, and therein lies the rub.
Click here to follow Kent on Twitter @kentsterling
Either it would be some some giant hayseed in overalls named Harry Hoosier with straw sticking out of his sleeves, or an enormous gas pump named Ethel Ethanol (pleasing the clients is always job #1). Maybe “Hoagy Hoosier” a big glitter covered sandwich commemorating both Indiana’s love of food and Hoagy Carmichael, the writer of “Stardust” and “Georgia”.
Regardless of the choice, 80% of the people would hate it. The response would either be, “What the hell is that awful thing?”, or “Jesus, could we portray ourselves as any more feeble and stupid?”
For a good look at the national image of Indiana, you need look no further than two network sitcoms. “The Middle” (Wednesdays 8p, ABC) stars Patty Heaton as the mother of a family of idiots who shop at the “Hungry Hoosier”, and Amy Poehler is a civic employee in fictional Pawnee, Indiana, in “Parks and Recreation” (Thursdays 9:30p, NBC). References to obesity as a source of pride for Pawnee residents are both hilarious and a nightmare for every chamber of commerce in the state.
Sadly, any mascot that accurately conveys the image of people in the state would be a horrifying reflection or a complete fraud. Best to just let sleeping dogs lie.
No doubt that the amount of goodwill a mascot can generate is a serious inducement to the university to stick a gymnast in a funny suit. Ask an eight year-old what he or she loves best about going to an Indiana Pacers game, and 90% will respond “Boomer”. Over the past few years, many adults would have agreed.
As IU tries to engage potential customers, it would be great to be able to send a mascot out to entertain kids and make appearances at client locations. But when the decision is made as to what this thing looks like, IU folks need to exercise care.
Purdue has “Purdue Pete” – a mascot that appears to be popular among Boilermaker fans, but is terrifying to children and a frowning menace to adults not clued into his heritage. “Pete” is a huge-headed frowning hulk of a hammer-wielding man, and how that promotes the Purdue image is anyone’s guess.
The university changed Pete’s appearance briefly this year before the outcry from students, alums, and high level staff caused the hurried return to the old Pete.
That will be the reaction Indiana University faces if it unveils a breaded tenderloin in tights.
Better to make no decision than a bad one, and that is the decision IU has made since its 1979 shaggy-haired Fred Flintstone look-a-like “Hoosier Pride” debuted and retired almost simultaneously.
My idea in the late 1980s was rejected out of hand, but I still think it’s the best because it’s already an accepted icon in Bloomington. It might be a little reminiscent of the bison that failed in the 1950s – in fact, giving it more than five seconds thought, it’s pretty obvious where the idea for the Nick’s English Hut mascot came from – but why not use what’s on the sign at Nick’s, including the Nick’s sweater.
He’s like Purdue Pete only angrier and hairier with horns, and instead of holding a hammer, he’s got a handful of delicious golden ale. What screams Bloomington more than a beer at Nick’s?
by Kent Sterling
It’s been awhile since fans of the Indiana Pacers didn’t watch the NBA Draft Lottery with keen interest, but tonight will be the night that the Pacers don’t fly team president Larry Bird to New York for the unveiling of the order for the first 14 picks of the June 28 draft.
The Pacers are assured of selecting 15th, and Bird sat before several members of the media at Conseco Fieldhouse to talk about the future of the team instead of waiting in his hotel room to report to his post behind the little game show podium in New York.
Click here to follow Kent on Twitter @kentsterling
For the first time since I began attending these press conferences I thought Bird looked relaxed and borderline happy. He always jokes around with Indianapolis Star beat writer Mike Wells, and he did that today too, but I thought Bird looked good.
The highlights of Bird’s talk were:
Many of the people in the room were Pacers staffers, and it was held in the media workroom, rather than the typical media area. GM David Morway, president Jim Morris, Greg Schenkel, and media relations chief David Benner comprised roughly a quarter of the crowd.
Bird remains one of the most interesting and entertaining men in sports, and the work of waiting until this offseason for the significant cap room necessary to take the team to the next level is over. Now it’s up to Bird to spend the money well on players who can help the Pacers win.
Also expressed was Bird’s desire to bring in good people as well as players. He wants a “tight” locker room, and has no idea what will happen with the pending lockout set to begin on July 1.
And, even better for me, I finally got some good answers about what Morway does for the Pacers. As it was described to me, it seems that Morway does almost exactly what I did at Emmis Communications until 2007 as the assistant program director for WIBC (although I was far less well paid and didn’t have a cool title), which is to fill the holes of management. In other words, he does what is delegated to him by Bird because either Bird doesn’t like to do it or isn’t good at it.
I’ve never been critical or praiseful of Morway because frankly I never knew what he did. Now that I have a better understanding, I’ll have some empathy for him. It’s not easy to do work you might rather see re-thought. Being held responsible for it can be very trying. That’s not to say that either of us was driven crazy by our respective bosses, but there are always minor differences in opinion.
The Pacers are through step one of rebuilding, and now they get busy with the fun stuff. For his patience and drafts over the past three years, Bird gets a B+. If he can do the same thing for the second phase where he gets to build, he will more than justify owner Herb Simon’s faith.
Remember the #8 seed last year? The Chicago Bulls, who hired the right coach in Tom Thibodeau, and picked up two key free agents in Carlos Boozer and Kyle Korver. The road from eighth to the upper echelon of the NBA East isn’t that huge a leap – at least it’s not unprecedented.
If Bird and the Pacers can take another leap forward to 45 wins, it will justify the fans’ faith, and the days of the Pacers hoping for their ping pong ball to be pulled so they move into the top three of the draft will be over.
by Kent Sterling
You have to love Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay. He speaks his mind, regardless of how his comments are perceived.
I’m sure NFL commissioner Roger Goodell would like the 32 franchise owners to either shut up or sing from the same hymnal. Anyone who has ever hear Irsay play the guitar and sing knows that he brings a unique voice to everything he does, and his tweets yesterday are a great example.
The mantra is not end lockout,it’s get new collect. bargain. agreement.We have no CBA at this point,an obvious fact that gets lost n shuffle
Drop all lawsuits,waste of time n $,get 2 collective bargaining,have equally,self-imposed fines on players n owners going 2 fan’s charities
For every week after july 15 that’s there’s no new CBA,self-imposed players/owners fines 2 fan charities..get out of the courts!
Jeff Saturday and I could get this thing done,on cocktail napkins,over a long lunch at Rick’s Boatyard..it’s not that hard!
Everyone’s so damn serious,suits,briefcases,lawyers! Let’s put on jeans n golf clothes,players/owners remembering we’re friends,hang alittle
Players/owners have alittle fun time retreat..drinks,laughs,golf,music clubbing..hang out,take the temperature down..find common ground
I ain’t riding no bull like Chad thou,not even 4 new C.B.A.!!!!!!
Life is short and history is always watching..Canton,Ohio is sacred ground..it’s always searching for the good stewards who protect the game
Every time we argue about who’s fault it is and who did that and who said this..spin,spin,spin..who cares! Get something done!
People tend to mock Irsay because of his iconoclastic Bohemian beliefs. His tweets aren’t those you would expect from a guy whose assets total in the ten-figure neighborhood. He owns the original Kerouac “On the Road” scroll, and was a friend of Hunter Thompson’s.
Click here to follow Kent on Twitter @kentsterling
He’s been to the dark side and back, and now barks at the two sides fighting over how to splits the $9 billion spigot that only they have the power to turn off.
Logic is the enemy of lawyers, and Irsay spouts clear logic on Twitter as easily as Dylan lyrics.
Sure, Irsay is occasionally eccentric (that’s rick folks’ version of nuts), but given his resources, many of us would be lucky to survive with our sanity intact. Read those tweets and tell me the guy doesn’t make complete sense. In an environment dominated by double-speaking, self-serving mopes, what Irsay says is like a bright beacon of reason.
by Kent Sterlling
Everyday through the Sunday, May 29, and the running of the centennial Indianapolis 500 Mile Race, we will present a video memory of one of the most important men in Indy 500 history.
Click here to follow Kent on Twitter @kentsterling
The features will be more or less chronological, but will always feature some of the guys who I like. I chose the 14 men, and not all were champions. Two weren’t even drivers.
For my development as an Indy 500 fan, understanding the history of the event and the men who built it was key.
Today’s “Donald Davidson Remembers” discusses the life and career of Wilbur Shaw.
[youtube X-rZLYrB5vM]
by Kent Sterling
It’s hard to question the sanity or accuracy of the responses from the subject of an interview, especially when he owns the Chicago Cubs. It must be, because Chicago Business’ sports reporter Ed Sherman in his interview with Tom Ricketts let’s him get away with responses that have very little to do with reality.
I have a friend, Larry, who’s a bigwig in Chicago public relations and enjoys sending me links to pieces about the Cubs that he knows will aggravate me. Sherman is the author of many of them.
Click here to follow Kent on Twitter @kentsterling
The incredibly gentle treatment given the Cubs by Chicago media is absolutely strange and unjustifiable. They spend more, charge more, and play bad fundamental baseball. They get a pass from most sportstalk radio hosts, columnists, and Sherman.
The Cubs are not a good baseball team. I watch them most days, hoping they will play better. As has been the case for most of the past 65 years, they haven’t. Even when they went to the playoffs in 2007 and 2008, the Cubs were poorly built to win low scoring games, so they were swept in both series.
Rickets and his front office can continue to make excuses – the weather, injuries, wind, economy, Wrigley Field’s outdated facilities, blah-blah-blah have all caused such a hardship that the Cubs attendance and quality of play had to drop.
Nonsense. Anyway, here is the interview, with my comments in bold/italics:
Sherman: What’s your take on what’s going on with attendance?
Mr. Ricketts (Why the “Mr.”? Would readers think he was talking to Ricketts’ wife?): There’s two types of attendance. Tickets sales and people who attend the games. Our ticket sales are a little soft, but not dramatically. People fail to keep it all in perspective. In terms of ticket sales, the Cubs generally don’t have an issue compared to other teams in the league. We still have a huge waiting list for season tickets (made up of people like me who have no current interest, but thought it would be cool to click the button at cubs.com). Our sales are softer than we’d like, but we’re not in any way panicked or freaked out about that (Ricketts should be panicked because once the fall starts, the work to correct it should already have started, and it clearly hasn’t. Cubs fans are sick and tired of the consistently silly moves made by Jim Hendry to shore up a mediocre team with more expensive mediocrity.)
The second part is who is coming to the park? When you play most of your home games in 45 degrees and it’s wet, I’m sorry, I can understand why some people don’t want to come out. That’s been the driver here. Once we get some spring weather, people will want to be at the park (This is not the first bit of bad weather to hit Chicago during April and May, and fans staying away in the numbers they are is not entirely weather driven. Saturday night was miserable, and even I wouldn’t have been caught dead at Wrigley, but there have been weekday games where the sun-baked bleachers were half-full. There is a period of denial that many business owners have when they blame all the externals before they look in the mirror, and at staff. How quickly they move through that period determines whether they are able to escape it. Ricketts has not appeared to be a quick study as to how a baseball team should operate.)
After a couple of disappointing seasons, are we seeing a “show-me” factor come into play by at least some of your fan base?
Yeah, I think that’s fair. We have an exciting young team (compared to geriatric storage centers, yes, the Cubs are young. Minus Starlin Castro and Darwin Barney, they are very old with starters currently aged 33, 33, 35, 33, 34, and 28, and ‘exciting’ is an odd word to describe this group. They have almost no team speed, poor defense, and minus Soriano’s April, limited power. I’m not sure what part of baseball that can be exciting the Cubs display), maybe the most exciting young player in baseball (Starlin Castro). But we’ve got to put a string together to put some excitement behind some of that potential, (an odd word to use with six players with a bunch of experience, and two youngsters who are playing beyond their potential. Barney and Castro are hitting .333 and .338, so what might their potential be? To hit .424 like Rogers Hornsby?). We have to put a winner on the field so people feel like the tickets are a good value for them. We need to get a couple of guys back (ah, the injury thing. In 38 games, only Geovany Soto among the eight starting fielders has missed any real time due to an injury, and the top three rotation pitchers and entire bullpen have enjoyed great health) and win some games. If we do that, there won’t be any attendance issues.
The Cubs ticket prices rank among the highest in baseball. Is there a fan backlash on that front?
Our ticket prices did not go up this year (how could they? They were the highest in baseball, and the Cubs won 75 games after spending $146 million on payroll. We Cubs fans are stupid, but no one is that dumb.). This might be an issue from year’s past. For our season ticket holders, the average price did not go up. It was flat. We did juggle the pricing and added more premium games. But we took those dollars and subsidized 70% of our least expensive tickets. We increased the amount of our low-priced tickets (Remind me to send Ricketts some flowers!).
I can’t stand it when I hear someone say they can’t afford to go to a game (But not enough to make it affordable for a family). It might be hard to get tickets for a Yankees or Sox game, but there’s no reason why they can’t afford to go another game. We want to get more fans in the park.
How do you feel about having so many tickets available below face value on the secondary markets? Does that undercut the team’s ability to clear out its ticket inventory?
Obviously, when there’s excitement behind the team, those tickets on Stubhub are at a premium. We feel like it is going to happen (again, denial ain’t just a river in Egypt). It’s a double-edge sword (the Cubs have a business arrangement with Stubhub). We hate to see the prices trade under face value (then hire a real GM to build a decent team, and a manager who can get them to play like professionals – hear I’m speaking directly about Alfonso Soriano and Aramis Ramirez, whose range factors are ridiculously low). We also want people in the park too.
by Kent Sterling
There is a new book coming out on May 24th that has people in sports journalism buzzing. “Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN” by James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales is said to have all the dope on how ESPN was built and evolved into one of the most impactful brands in media.
Click here to follow Kent on Twitter @kentsterling
I can tell you how it was built before the release of the book – granted, without any of the salacious details about sex, drugs, and sports-n-roll that will move copies, if we can find a bookstore that isn’t closing.
The people who work at ESPN are really fucking smart. They know what the hell they are doing, and what they do is done exceptionally well with attention to detail that is dizzying.
One of the best days I spent in my career was at ESPN Headquarters in Bristol. To see the attention to detail, the incredible facilities, and constant buzz of creativity was for lack of a less sycophantic word, inspiring.
It’s not surprising that they get it at ESPN. The call themselves the “Worldwide Leader in Sports” for a reason. They are exactly that, and by a Secretariat-esque distance over their nearest competitor. They are so far out in front, I can’t tell you who comes in second.
They do it all in Bristol – online, TV, radio, and publishing – and they do it better than anyone else because before they do it, they learn exactly what the audience wants. It may be a little more corporate and less irreverent than it used to be, but that’s what happens as smart people learn to eliminate mistakes.
There used to be periodic mayhem on ESPN. No more. That’s because everyone there got really good at their jobs.
ESPN, I was told during my visit, is a media research company with a broadcasting wing. Without understanding precisely the needs of an audience, the media cannot please them. Guessing is a quick road to failure, and ESPN guesses at nothing.
Why guess when the resources exist to find out exactly how audiences consume?
ESPN is also very successful because it is constantly focused on three-to-five years down the road. The young end of the audience adapts to new media very quickly, and ESPN works hard to understand them. They now know that the college kids who used to be the life blood of the SportsCenter audience are no longer watching. Some are going so far as to completely unplug from cable/satellite. Students use their computers as the hub of their consumption.
Most 35 year olds have no idea what ESPN3 is, but college students do. It’s the gateway to an almost unlimited supply of live sporting event coverage; and while Twitter is undecipherable to most over the age of 40, college students use it as their unique information news feed.
When I was wandering around ESPN’s headquarters, the guy from the staff I was with pointed to some empty space adjacent to the buildings that comprise the ESPN campus, and asked, “You know what’s going there?” I told him I didn’t. “We don’t either. It’s for what’s next.”
ESPN has the brains to know they don’t know what’s next, but can have the foresight to prepare for it anyway.
There are a lot of people shooting at ESPN because they are on the mountaintop, and when this book is released one week from tomorrow, readers will scan for the juicy bits about Keith Olberman being hated, and others acting like petulant idiots. There will be stories about managers pouting and yelling, and people will enjoy reading about the mistakes.
But the truth is that in the aggregate, ESPN is the best managed media company in the universe. They are creative, smart, and ridiculously profitable. Those profits allow them to continue to gather information, products, and technologies that will continue to separate them from those companies who continue to appear to be moving backwards as they chase ESPN.
Buy the book, and read it – the whole thing. Learn about how a modest business operated on a shoestring became a global icon. ESPN hasn’t been perfect, and growth always involves mistakes being made, but if the book is an accurate snapshot, you will be amazed at how smart this operation is.
ESPN is easy to mock because everybody watches. Walk the halls, and the mocking stops.
by Kent Sterlling
Everyday through the Sunday, May 29, and the running of the centennial Indianapolis 500 Mile Race, we will present a video memory of one of the most important men in Indy 500 history.
Click here to follow Kent on Twitter @kentsterling
The features will be more or less chronological, but will always feature some of the guys who I like. I chose the 14 men, and not all were champions. Two weren’t even drivers.
For my development as an Indy 500 fan, understanding the history of the event and the men who built it was key.
Today’s “Donald Davidson Remembers” discusses the life and career of Louis Meyer:
[youtube sPQm5ug7QVk]
by Kent Sterling
During his show on Friday, ESPN Radio’s Colin Cowherd reported that Chicago Cubs general manager Jim Hendry had been fired by owner Tom Ricketts. As Cowherd learned during the break that followed the announcement, he was wrong.
How did that happen?
Last Wednesday, furious with the level of play of the Chicago Cubs, I sent some moving boxes to general manager Jim Hendry and fired him myself. Obviously, I don’t have the power to fire anyone affiliated with the Cubs, but being unable to stomach another afternoon of Alfonso Soriano playing the worst defensive left field I have ever seen, I decided not to let the fact that I’m not in a position to fire Hendry stop me.
Click here to follow Kent on Twitter @kentsterling
So I wrote a headline – “Chicago Cubs General Manager Jim Hendry, You’re Fired!” and followed it with a post about my frustration and how I ordered boxes that were delivered by the U-Haul store at the corner of Fullerton and Racine in Chicago.
My son’s roommate enjoyed the post, and sent a link to his uncle, who then sent it to Cowherd. Very shortly thereafter, Cowherd went into a break by announcing that Hendry had been fired.
The goal was never to confuse anyone into making an error, especially one that garnered so much attention in Chicago, but to somehow vent my utter dismay that this guy continues to office at Wrigley Field after spending so much money so foolishly.
Fans must wonder what level of mediocrity the Cubs need to fall to before someone – Hendry in particular – is held accountable. I certainly wonder.
The Cubs are in the process to ruining the promising future of Tyler Colvin who is being robbed of an opportunity by the least productive .344 hitter in the history of baseball -Kosuke Fukudome, and the signing of Carlos Pena for $10 million.
The Cubs chances to make the playoffs after Pena’s signing were still zero, so why not let some kids play and see what happens. Make this 75 win season meaningful somehow. The Cubs are mediocre, so let’s see who can play.
But I digress. This post is about a longtime Cubs fan losing his mind, shipping moving crates to the source of his frustration, writing about it, and then a chain of emails that put the post in front of the eyes of a national radio host – who read a headline, and reported Hendry’s firing
That’s live talk radio. Cowherd is an excellent host, who is an exceptionally polarizing sports entertainment figure. His job is to be both loved and hated, and he is very good at his job.
If only Cubs owner Tom Ricketts had made the same mistake. One day, that headline, and Cowherd’s erroneous (or premature) pronouncement will be true. Hopefully, sooner rather than later.
by Kent Sterling
The kid who will graduate today, and the women who gave birth to his body, soul, and character.
Yesterday, we sat in the very room where I type this and talked to Ryan about where he would like to go to high school, or at least it feels like yesterday.
Today, we are at Loyola University in Chicago where Ryan will graduate from college with a double-major in finance and sports management.
He made it through in four years, and actually only had to take seven hours this spring to finish. That’s a record for the Sterlings that would be like a sprinter clocking an eight flat in the 100 meters.
Not sure where the hell the kid’s diligence and intellect came from, but to go from my unimpressive (which is the kindest word I can get away with using to describe my collegiate effort) work at Indiana to a 3.4 GPA while playing basketball in anything but a throwaway major has to be some kind of historic mark.
This is like a munchkin from “The Wizard of Oz” being the parent of Joakim Noah, or a humorless turd like IU sociology professor Elton Jackson (not a well-known benchmark example for lack of ability to make someone laugh, but he is the least funny man with whom I’ve ever come in contact) being the father of Robin Williams.
[Ed. note – I’m not calling myself an idiot, but processing information as presented to me in cavernous lecture halls is not where I flourish.]
It is amazing how time marches on faster and faster, and all of a sudden a kid you used to throw on your shoulders to take to Cubs games is now a college graduate.
I remember watching Ryan play in his first varsity basketball game in 2003 like it happened last night, and now our work is done.
When I was fired from my job last year, a friend asked whether Ryan’s expenses were paid for. I told him they were. He said, “Screw it then. You’re done. Your job is over.” That seemed a little final, but he was exactly right.
We are in the (sort of) enviable position of being finished. Ryan is who he is, and all the expense and work involved in getting him safely from the cute little baby to manhood has been invested. Now it’s up to him to figure out the rest – not because we don’t want to continue helping, but because that’s when the real education starts.
When mistakes have no consequences, lessons are only learned in the abstract. Parents are great buffers between kids and consequences. The time has come for Julie and I to peel away, and serve in the capacity of parents emeritus. We are here to answer questions and serve in an advisory capacity, but it’s time for Ryan to jump in the deep end of the pool and test his ability to swim.
What comes next for Ryan is his to determine. The days are over sitting in the living room as a small but potent family discussing the merits of Cathedral versus Hamilton Southeastern and Lawrence Central High Schools. Now, Ryan gets to plot his own course and both enjoy the rewards and learn from the mistakes those decisions bring.
Today, we will celebrate Ryan’s work ethic, unique (at least in this family) academic talents, athletic gifts, and ability to overcome adversity.
At the end of the month, he’ll come home to figure out what’s next. We won’t put him on a clock, but I would imagine that he’ll figure things out pretty quickly. He’s had something to work hard at forever, and I would assume he’ll miss that. If not, he can relax for a bit, and recharge his batteries.
We’ll hope that he jumps into the pool before he needs a shove, but we’re willing to do that too.
Those thoughts are for another day. Today, we celebrate a kid overcoming astoundingly bad genetics to post a very solid academic record at a tough school, and consistently made good decisions on the way to this milestone.
What Ryan is, Ryan is. My money is on him finding a way to balance work and life, so both are enjoyed. Our work is done. The checks no longer need to be written. The counsel is unneeded. And the life is ready to be led.
Good for Ryan Joseph – a kid that never gave his parents anything but joy and reasons to feel pride. He’s the best decision we never made, and his welfare and example were the driving forces behind my maturity as a man. He is going to be a wonderful manager or owner after he’s a phenomenally gifted employee, and at some point a long way down the road, he’s going to be a hell of a father.
He’s a special kid, and this is a special day for us to reflect on all those moments when he made the difficult choice, when he chose the path least traveled, when he chose work over play, and when he decided to believe in who he is.
No parent is more proud of their son than we are of him. He is a shining example of how to best live the first 22 years. We will always have that pride, but now it’s his turn to steer the boat, write the checks, and accept the consequences.
