Rick Majerus was laid to rest this past weekend in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was 64. His well-documented feeble heart was his Waterloo. Many around Indiana remember him as that big man who coached Ball State’s basketball squad between 1987 and 1989 before heading to Utah. Others, including former BSU player Mike Giunta, remember him as their coach.
Their roles will need to be more significant and their learning curve will be steeper, but the five freshmen for Purdue are actually as good as IU’s vaunted incoming class. What gives IU the edge this year is its veteran supporting cast. (Who would you take, Cody Zeller or Sandi Marcius?) But the Boiler newbies come into this season with their own pedigree.
All right, Indiana fans—let’s be realistic about things here. Before you anoint this year’s team as National Champions in the preseason, you should come to the realization that it’s just not going to happen. Sure, there will be plenty of wins and a high tournament seed, but that’s about the extent of it.
The Forrest Lucas mansion provided a crisp, perfect evening backdrop for the BMW Pro-Am selection party on Tuesday in Carmel. The dapper crowd of more than 300 golfers was treated to great food and drinks prior to the fast-paced selection countdown. PGA pro Rory McIlroy, a native of Northern Ireland who clinched the Deutsche Bank Championship in Massachusetts this past weekend, was in attendance at the soiree, notably without his usual arm candy, Danish tennis pro Caroline Wozniacki. (McIlroy warded off another star player in this BMW Championship in that Deutsch Bank final round: one Tiger Woods, conspicuously absent on this night.)
The BMW Championship (Sept. 3-9, 2012) is running an interactive event called “Place the Pin.” Eighteen golf pin flag exhibits are traveling throughout Carmel and Indianapolis, waiting for fans to discover them. Each day, clues about the pin flag locations are shared with Twitter followers of the BMW Championships. All you have to do to win is snap a photo of yourself with a located pin, tweet it to the tournament’s Twitter account, @BMWchamps (with hashtag #BMWPlacethePin), and thus enter to win daily ticket prizes to the impending PGA event.
I recently visited the office of a former employer to retrieve some photos of the 1987 Pan American Games for our coverage in the August issue of Indianapolis Monthly. When I looked at the slides, I recognized the handwriting identifying each image—it was mine. I can remember writing those IDs, and with that realization, a slew of memories came flooding through the streams in my mind like new water through a dry riverbed. But what struck me the most wasn’t the memories—it was the fact it has been 25 years since we were there.
With as smooth a swing as you’ll ever see, defending champion Justin Rose drove home the official start of festivities surrounding the BMW Championships on Monday, scorching a dead-center drive down the fairway to the delight of onlooking dignitaries and media members.
Tony Dungy had 1,000 volunteers and 7,000 empty baskets greet him when he arrived at Bankers Life Fieldhouse yesterday morning. When he exited, the baskets had been filled and shipped by United Parcel Service to America’s 32 NFL cities for distribution.
With its main branch in Indy located on what will be the (figuratively) hottest corner in the world this February, at Illinois and South Streets, the United States Post Office has a front row seat to all the action at Lucas Oil Stadium. Hearsay has flown around regarding that branch potentially moving operations elsewhere—even as far out as Indianapolis International Airport—but that’s all false, according to Donna Hoffman, Customer Relations Coordinator.
