MORE Indiana dominance: Manti Te'o and Jaylon Smith win Butkus

UPDATE on Manti Te'o:

• Heisman Trophy Runner-Up
• Lott Trophy
• Maxwell Award
• Chuck Bednarik Award
• Walter Camp Award
• Bronko Nagurski Trophy
• Butkus Award
• Lombardi Award
• ARA Sportsmanship Award
• 1st Team All-American

#1NDiana

Hoosiers beat Tarheels in big matchups this week, both basketball and soccer. Duke emerges as the biggest obstacle for #6, while the Final-4 awaits the Army on their quest for #8. 

David Woods tweets Indiana has a case for college sports' best athlete in soccer (Eriq Zavaleta via Westfield), Basketball (Cody Zeller via Washington), Track (Andy Bayer via Leo) and Field (Derek Drouin). 

Additionally, South Bend has the best football player and women's basketball player (Skylar Diggins).

Indiana Amateurs #1

Tonight in Brooklyn, the undefeated #1 Hoosiers take on Georgetown, who just upset #11 UCLA last night. Speaking of upsets, Butler spanked UNC Tarheels in the Maui Invitational today after pulling out a miraculous buzzer-beating 3-pointer last night over Marquette. In other Indiana hoops, Purdue's lone win so far is against Hofstra (losing to Bucknell, 'Nova and Oregon St).

Tomorrow night, LC opens the HS bball season against LN. Traditionally, the Wildcats are the perennial powerhouse but the Bears will have something to say about that.  Meanwhile, the LC Bears football team wraps up their season at Lucas Oil Stadium on Saturday in the IHSAA 5A State Title game vs FtWayne Snider. The coveted Mr Football award is up for grabs and some voters have QB Drake Christian on their ballot.

Another football award awaiting a victor is the Heisman, which typically goes to the QB (or RB) of the best team in college football. If Notre Dame can beat Southern Cal on Saturday, I expect LB Manti Te'o to take home the statue, even though no (primarily-) defensive player has won the award since it was named 'Heisman' in 1936. Charles Woodson was a return man and Leon Hart played Tight End as well as DE.

And finally... Purdue hosts IU in the annual Old Oaken Bucket game on Saturday. Despite Rose Bowl hopes just 10 days ago, the Hoosiers football team has nothing left to play for other than ownership of the Bucket. The Boilermakers, however, have a bowl bid on their mind.

I-69 opens from Evansville to Crane

The first 67 miles are completed and will be open to the public starting November 19. Sections 4 and 5 should be completed within the next 2 years; then after the road hits Bloomington, Indiana will have to find another billion dollars to complete the stretch all the way to Indianapolis.

I'm all for this project EXCEPT the re-numbering starting over in Evansville.  That means my home, Exit 0 is now known as Exit 200. 2012 is the end of an era, unfortunately.

Indy Diagnosed with Championship Fever

There was Katie Douglas courtside, epicenter of the final couple seconds of Championship-clinching Game 4. She hadn't scored in weeks, but she deserved this moment just as much as Tamika Catchings, who won Finals MVP. When the injured star was out, the rest of the team stepped up and overcame tough obstacles to bring home the championship. This marks the 2nd professional championship won in Indianapolis this year (Superbowl) and first pro basketball title since the ABA championships in the early 70s.

Coach Tom Crean reminds us MSU, UM and O$U are the current champs, and while it's nice to be in the (natl) title conversation the real challenge is improving everyday... Trickle-down leadership, starting with Watford. One reporter asked him to comment on the state of basketball in the Midwest, with Louisville, UK, and Michigan all contending. He then reminded her of O$U, Illinois and the rest of the B1G as well as Cincy, Butler and Notre Dame.

Speaking of ND, for the 4th straight year, Football Irish are #1 in grad rate, and likely top-5 in GPA too (Academic All-Americans Mike Golic and Manti Te'o). ESPN Gameday will be in Norman this Saturday as your Irish take on the Sooners in a  primetime matchup featuring a pair of top10 teams. If only Keith Jackson was calling it... WHOA NELLY!

My team is better than yours

The worst kept secret was released today: Indiana Hoosiers basketball is the top team in the land. Not only are they returning all 5 starters from last year, but Sheehey is the best 6th man in the nation and Yogi adds backcourt depth. Its an embarrassment of riches that wasn't exactly easy; Coach Tom Crean has pieced together a title contender in just 4 years after inheriting a program with 1 (former) walk-on.

IHSAA football sectionals begin this week, and look who is ranked #1... da Bears. Lawrence Central went to the title game in 2010 but lost to Fishers at Lucas Oil stadium while Mr Football Tre Roberson eventually took his talents to Bloomington.  QB Drake Christen leads the state's most prolific offense (42 ppg) while A-Rod and Isaiah Townsend own the run game and a solid D known for shutting-out opponents all season. Eyes will be on the sectional semifinal next week, where LC looks to avenge last year's loss to 2011 State Champ, Carmel Greyhounds.

Speaking of stout defense, Notre Dame has yet to allow a rushing TD this year as they sit undefeated in the BCS hunt. Their 6-0 record and top-5 ranking is boosted by downing three ranked opponents and could get better with wins @ Oklahoma & USC. Linebacker Manti Te'o is a Heisman contender and the other #5 leads the dynamic offense, even though veteran QB Tommy Rees has had to pick up Everett Gholston's slack a few times.

Pacers begin the season later this month with some unfamiliar faces, adding role players DJ Augustine, Ian Mahinmi, Gerald Green, Sam Young, as well as draft picks Orlando Johnson and Miles Plumlee. Some say the bench didn't really improve from last season, but the chemistry of the starting 6 (Hansbrough) strengthened, plus major improvement from George Hill and Paul George should compliment the frontcourt of Danny Granger, David West and Roy Hibbert, who signed a max-contract this offseason.

I am holding off on talking about the Reds until I've cooled off from their choke-job, but my headline still holds true unless you're a fan of SF, NY, STL or DET.

And finally the Colts. Yes, I'm still soaking in the victory over the Packers. All I can say is Andrew Luck is my hero. Other than that, ChuckStrong!

CNN says Carmel is #1

Breaking News!!! Indy suburb ranked best place to live in America! You'd think I'd get tired of publishing the same story over and over again, but nope!

The Internet turns 20

1992 wasn't just the birth of .com, .net, .org, .edu and .gov, or the first time audio & video was ever 'multicast',  but also the phrase "surfing the internet" was first used, and the Zen and Art of the Internet was written just as the total 'hosts' reached one million. 

Indy is #1 in affordable homes

It almost seemed like we were beginning to lose a lil bit of luster there, what- with it being a whole 2 years since the (non-sports-related) spotlight was last shone on Indianapolis. But alas, another survey says that Naptown is the most affordable place to live in America. Lucky me!

The Unstoppable Cuban Missile

The fastest thrower in baseball was officially named the Cincinnati Reds' closer on May 20th, the day of our our Lord Sun. After 28 innings thus far, he still hasn't allowed an earned run, only 9 walks, 50 Ks, a .57 WHIP, 5 saves and a perfect 4-0 record. Meet Aroldis Chapman.

U of Indy pitcher tosses no-hitter

Phil Wheeler threw his first and GLVC Tournament's 1st no-no in the conference semi-final on Saturday. The Greyhounds, having beaten Quincy, Lewis and now Rockhurst, face Northern Kentucky at 3:30p EST today in Evansville, Indiana.

Guess Who's Bizzack

After a 6-month hiatus I am declaring myself back!  My excuse is I couldn't comfortably blog with the lack of hardware (ie. physical keyboard) and connectivity (ie. LAN), but now that I have those back you can expect more of my rambling nonsense...

Let's start with the NFL Draft -
Colts own the #1 pick and its no doubt they'll go with Andrew Luck. After that, its RGIII, then who knows. Well Jim Irsay is hosting a contest via Twitter that lets anyone guess the 32 picks (in order) to win a BMW. I entered my picks Tuesday and here's what I got:

1. Luck (Colts)

2. Griffin (Redskins)

3. Kalil (Vikings)

4. Richardson (Browns)

5. Claiborne (Bucs)

6. Blackmon (Rams)

7. Gilmore (Jaguars)

8. Tannehill (Dolphins)

9. Cox (Panthers)

10. Barron (Bills)

11. Keuchly (Chiefs)

12. Ingram (Seahawks)

13. DeCastro (Cardinals)

14. Floyd (Cowboys)

15. Kirkpatrick (Eagles)

16. Poe (Jets)

17. Upshaw (Benglas)

18. Reiff (Chargers)

19. Wright (Bears)

20. Coples (Titans)

21. Mercilus (Bengals)

22. Glenn (Browns)

23. Hightower (Ravens)

24. Martin (Steelers)

25. Brockers (Broncos)

26. Perry (Texans)

27. McClellin (Browns)

28. Smith (Packers)

29. Zeitler (Lions)

30. Fleener (49ers)

31. Hill (Patriots)

32. Konz (Giants)

We should see 2 Golden Domers (Harrison Smith and Michael Floyd) being drafted in the 1st round.

Tonight is also the final night of NBA regular season games. The artist formerly known as Ron Artest recently received a SEVEN-game suspension for a vicious elbow aimed at Thunder star James Harden. The weak suspension is further proof that David Stern is a fucking asshole that doesn't treat all franchises equally (big market = preferential treatment). Despite this disadvantage, the Indiana Pacers still managed to finish as a 3-seed in the East. The acquisition of David West and George Hill solidified a strong starting five, and adding Barbosa to the bench provides a deeper roster with many capable defenders and scorers. Coach Frank Vogel recently emptied the bench in the first half against the Pistons, and still won. Spurs and Bulls coaches may get more consideration for CoY, but Vogel should definitely be in the conversation. Also, I believe Larry Bird should win Executive of the Year for piecing together the 5th-best team in the league -despite not having a single star on the team.

The Hoosiers are the early favorites to win the 2013 NCAA Championship, Vegas odds have been set at 7:1. Louisville, Kentucky, Kansas, Syracuse, UNC, MSU, and OSU are also contenders. The Hoosiers will be 'oversigned' by 1 scholarship, but Crean seems okay with that for now. 

Finally, lets talk tech. I recently added the new Google Docs mobile app (called Google Drive) and browsed over the comments to see what others were saying. The chief complaints were users mad at the file size of the app (approx. 15MB); usually this isn't a concern because we just move the app to our SD card, but this is one of those pesky apps that has to be installed on the phone's memory, which is limited to a couple hundred Megabytes. It got me thinking, if we can store 64 GB on an SD card (something the size of a postage stamp folded over) why can't these mobile phones have that much storage space built-in? Maybe you're one of those people who can't download new apps until you delete old ones, I know I've been there. Why do the 2011-2012 phones have less storage space than 2001-era iPods & digicams? Ponder that

Indianapolis' NFL Spotlight in 2012

On the first day of the year, the the Colts loss @ Jax ensured a prize in Andrew Luck. On the second day, the Greatest NFL GM of all time was fired. And his son. And the whole Coaching staff. Next, Peyton's younger brother beats Peyton's arch nemesis in the Superbowl that Peyton brought and Indy hosted marvelously. Then College all-stars strutted their stuff in the annual Combine. And yet through all this, Peyton Manning's health has been dominating the headlines and airwaves while the owner hints at cutting the greatest QB? and Pierre Garcon, Dallas Clark, Joe Addai and Jeff Saturday?