Biggest sports moments in Indiana history

Yesterday marked the 20-year anniversary of Reggie Miller's 8 points in 9 seconds. I started to wonder, where would that moment rank if it were played in the state of Indiana? Here are some from from recent memory:

• 2011 Indy 500: 100th Anny, rookie (JRH) leads final turn/lap, crashes; Wheldon wins again, his last
• 2006 AFC Championship in Hoosier Dome. 38-34. Cheaters lose
• 2010 Final Four: small, local school w/ half-court buzzer to beat #1 Devils
• 2011 Watshot 3-pt winner at buzzer over #1 and undefeated Wildcats
• 2001 Haston 3-pt winner at buzzer over #1 and undefeated Spartans
• 2014 AFC Divisional playoffs: Andrew Luck's 24-pt comeback win
• The NBA pipeline
• 2000 Pacers reaching NBA Finals

Last Century:

• Jeff Gordon winning inaugural Brickyard 400
• 1993 Notre Dame over #1 FSU (and '88 title)
• Bob Knight's championships, chair-toss & choke
• 1987 Pan Am Games
• Multiple ABA Championships in the 70s (and Nancy Leonard's fundraiser)
• Larry Bird
• Oscar Robertson
• Bobby Plump & Milan HS
• Hoosiers
• Rudy
• Breaking Away
• Slick Leonard
• John Wooden

Honorable mention: Tony Hulman, Mike Aulby, Isiah Lord Thomas, Shawn Kemp, Glenn Robinson, Damon Bailey, Billy Keller, Scott Skiles, Steve Alford

10 years later, Conseco still ahead of the curve

Modern NBA arenas (Charlotte, Ft Worth, San Antonio and Memphis - all cities without a public smoking ban) are modeling themselves after Conseco Fieldhouse. The shrine to Indiana basketball is part-museum, part-temple. USA Today called it "a cathedral to basketball" and Amusement Business Magazine called it "the Camden Yards of Basketball". The structure pays homage to Butler's Hinkle Fieldhouse and features memorabilia spanning decades of high school, collegiate and professional icons such as John Wooden, Oscar Robertson, Bobby Knight, Larry Bird and 3 ABA Championships.

New school Pacers return to their roots

The Pacers begin anew tonight tipping off their preseason home opener at The Pepsi Coliseum, a house that has welcomed Mel Daniels, George McGinnis, Roger Brown, Slick Leonard, Connie Hawkins, Rick Barry, Julius Erving, Artis Gilmore, George Gervin and hoisted 3 ABA Titles. Larry Bird is actually carrying the torch of another bird... Bill Byrd. Now 62 and designing websites, IndyStar relives the past with him some 30+ years ago. Here's a nice excerpt...

After the 1973 season, the ABA champion Pacers played the NBA champion Knicks at a time when the leagues were competing for players. The Knicks of Walt Frazier, Earl Monroe, Willis Reed, Dave DeBusschere and Bill Bradley won the NBA title, beating the Los Angeles Lakers with Jerry West, Elgin Baylor and Wilt Chamberlain.

"The Knicks came into town the night before and we had a little event, and Bill Bradley got up and kind of made fun of Indianapolis and the Pacers. The night of the game, Roger Brown said, 'Let me have Bradley.' "Roger hit him with 26 points in the first half and by the end of the third quarter, we had them down 17." The Pacers won and moved into Market Square Arena for the '74-'75 season. By 1976, the ABA and NBA had finally merged.