Spotted: Venus Williams Reps IU East, Andrew Luck Hobnobs Downtown

In support of sister Serena Williams‘ winning ways at Wimbledon over the past fortnight, Venus Williams viewed her matches from the Centre Court players box alongside parents Oracene Price and Richard Williams. Venus and Serena paired up to win the doubles championship after Serena seized the singles title. What’s more, Venus appeared at a few of Serena’s matches, including the July 7 final televised on ESPN, in her Indiana University East sweatshirt (pictured). The older of the two sisters is taking IU East courses through its online education program, and in the process, she’s giving the school a lot of positive national and international press.

Venus herself is obviously quite pleased with the arrangement:

@dmichaelcoyle go red wolves!!!

— Venus Williams (@Venuseswilliams) August 30, 2011

ANOTHER INDIANA-WIMBLEDON TIE: ESPN’s commentators speculated during the July 8 men’s final between Roger Federer and Andy Murray that the latter’s coach, Ivan Lendl, might give Murray a “Hoosiers-type pep talk” during a rain delay. If Lendl complied—and we doubt it, based on his stoic demeanor (pictured)—it didn’t work. Murray lost the final in four sets, failing to become the first Brit to win the Wimbledon men’s title since Fred Perry in 1936. (A sign of that national futility: Perry last won Wimbledon three years before The Wizard of Oz‘s use of Technicolor wowed cinema audiences.)

Side note: Murray might simply have drawn inspiration from this freshly crowned “Play of the Year” winner from Wednesday night’s ESPY Awards on ESPN. IU basketball’s Christian Watford won for the three-pointer that sunk No. 1 Kentucky on Dec. 10, 2011 (VIDEO).

STATESIDE LUCK: Now at home in Indiana, new Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck has been spotted on downtown’s Mass Ave a few times already. The former Stanford playmaker was remarkably visible and approachable, seen in front of the Yats location as he headed down the block toward the J. Benzal men’s apparel store and Forty Five Degrees restaurant. He also enjoys the atmosphere in the Rathskeller‘s biergarten, sharing good times with fellow members of the rookie Colts posse. Sources say he’s fun, patient, down-to-earth, and just plain good. Sounds a lot like a certain someone …

Screenshots of Venus Williams and Ivan Lendl by Megan Fernandez
Photo of Andrew Luck via Facebook