The Hoosierist: No Reason To Cheer

Q: How much do Indianapolis Colts cheerleaders get paid?
Zane M., Carmel
A: The Colts won’t say what sort of remuneration the team’s roughly two dozen beauties enjoy, but The Hoosierist figures it’s a shade less than Andrew Luck’s $2.4 million base salary for 2014. Actually, it’s probably less than the tip he leaves after a St. Elmo dinner, given that league-wide, NFL cheerleaders draw around $70 to $90 per game. That’s less than $1,000 per year. To put it in perspective, NFL team mascots take home as much as $65,000 annually. The Hoosierist thinks a more equitable arrangement would be to give the cash to the sideline performers who attract the most attention. Because he’s pretty sure, based on where his own eyeballs land during timeouts, that the cheerleaders would pull in five figures and the mascot would be working for $70 to $90 per game.
 
Q: How did College Avenue get its name? I don’t see any colleges along it.
Alex C., Indianapolis  
A: Just because you don’t see an institution of higher learning now doesn’t mean the thoroughfare didn’t host one in the past. North Western Christian University opened at 13th Street and College Avenue in 1855. Actually, it debuted at 13th Street and Plum Street—College Avenue’s name before the city changed it in 1891. The stretch between Mass Ave and 11th Street got the new moniker first, with the rest of the blacktop ribbon renamed in 1953. But by the time the entire length of the road had been renamed, the school that launched a thousand street-sign changes (or at least a couple dozen) had altered its own title and moved to greener pastures. Can you guess what North Western Christian University is called today? Hint: Its founder was Ovid Butler.
 
Q: Has the Indiana Convention Center ever turned down any weird gatherings? 
Sarah T., Indianapolis  
A: The Convention Center is about as likely to turn down an event as your parents are to ban you from your old bedroom. “We’re wide open to things,” says one staffer. “We do everything.” And when she says “everything,” she means it—from funerals to weddings, carnivals to this month’s JAMfest Mega-JAM (a cheerleader confab that apparently involves a lot of JAMming). About the only way to get a “no” is if your shindig runs into a scheduling conflict—though the management reserves the right to refuse service to anyone who “violates federal, state, or local laws and/or fire and building codes.” So it looks like the International Association of Jewel Thieves and Arsonists will have to go elsewhere.
 

The HoosierStat

Number of Turkeys Raised in Indiana Last Year
Though the number of Indiana gobblers has held its own the last couple of years, nationally the market has slumped—bad news for turkey farmers. As for the turkeys, it’s always bad news for them.
 
Have a question about anything Indiana-related? Email it to Hoosierist@IndianapolisMonthly.com.