Indy features nations best young pro studs

1. Indy: Paul George and Andrew Luck
2. Washington: Bryce Harper and RG3
3. San Fran: Buster Posey and Colin Kaepernick
4.  L.A.: Mike Trout and Blake Griffin
5. Houston: JJ Watt and James Harden
6. Chicago: Derrick Rose and Jonathan Toews
7. Pittsburgh: Sidney Crosby and Andrew McCutchen
8. Tampa: Steven Stamkos and Doug Martin
9. ATL: Julio Jones and Justin Upton
10. Dallas: Dez Bryant and Yu Darvish

Hicks v Knicks

The rivalry was unofficially born in '93, climaxed in '95, and renewed at the turn of the century. Six playoff meetings in 8 years ending in 2000. If you look at today's Pacers roster, all of them were just kids when this happened, even David West. Larry Bird built this team, following Donnie Walsh's footsteps, then Walsh built this current Knickerbocker squad. That's why this match-up is a basketball lovers dream: each team's playing style reflecting their home market's identity. NYC run&gun/street ball versus Indiana's defense/rebounding.
Hoosiers vs Hoopers, or Hoovers, or Hooders... I'm still working on an improved title, but until then its "Hicks vs Knicks"

Dial 317 for March Madness

Click Here for a look at 14 NBA hoopers from the Indy area. List includes JJ, Zbo, Zeller and Plumlee in addition to these TOP10.  *Jared Jeffries, not JuJuan Johnson. He'd be JJJ

Here's Indy's Sweet 16(+1):

• RJ Hunter (Pike HS) is following his dad's footsteps (former IUPUI coach Ron Hunter) by attending Georgia State, where he already leads his team in points (17 per game), 2nd in rebounds, and adds a couple steals & assists per game. He's also set the conference record with 10 treys in a game vs ODU
• Another former Red Devil, ISU freshman Khristian Smith sees 20+ mpg, 5 ppg, and 3 rpg
• Mr Basketball Gary Harris (Fishers) is the 2nd leading scorer for MSU and leads all B1G freshman
• AJ Hammonds (Carmel) is dominating the paint for the Boilermakers - 11 ppg/7 rpg/2 bpg - had his breakout game vs IU, scoring 30 points
• Brothers Ronnie and Terone Johnson (NCHS) also carry a sub -.500 Purdue squad - 3rd & 1st in points, respectively. Ronnie's 3.7 apg is 8th best in B1G.
• Another former Panther overshadowed by his big brother, ASU's Evan Gordon, had a breakout game vs USC last month, scoring 28 points
• D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera (also NCHS) had his breakout game vs DePaul this week, scoring 33 for Georgetown
• Jack Isenbarger (ZHS) is helping Elon Phoenix chase a Southern Conference title by leading in minutes, while placing 2nd in both points & assists
• Andrew Smith (CC HS) is 2nd best for ranked Butler in both points and rebounds
• Another Butler standout, sharpshooter Kellen Dunham (Pendleton Heights), contributes over 10 ppg.
• Another freshman, Yogi Ferell (Park Tudor) is one of the top3 PGs in the B1G (Burke, Craft) while leading the #1 Indiana Hoosiers
• Another Hoosier from Indy, freshman Jeremy Hollowell (LCHS) has contributed off the bench in almost every game and shows tons of potential
• Another Lawrence Township product, freshman Eron Harris (LN) is 3rd on WVU in scoring
• Another former Wildcat, Justin Martin, averages 8 & 5 for Xavier
• Another former Wildcat and current Musketeer, senior Jeff Robinson gets 7 & 5 per game
• And oldest of them all, another former Wildcat, Stephan Van Treese sees action off the bench for #1 Louisville Cardinals, had a solid outing vs Duke (8 & 8)

ESPN Gameday visits 3rd Indiana school in 3+ weeks

Can they get another Halfcourt shot winner?

and here's the shot at Hinkle Jan 19th

3 College Gamedays in Indiana in a span of less than a month.

Although the IU/UM game was built up as the "game of the year" based on rankings, Butler had that distinction - until Saturday night when Notre Dame managed to tie a game in which people had actually left the building thinking it was over; but Jerian Grant (Victor Oladipo's HS teammate) scored 12 points in just 47 seconds, forcing overtime vs Louisville. And then another OT, and another, and another, and another. In 49 states, its just a game

1NDy

2012-2013

• IHSAA football champs (LC Bears)
• NAIA football champs (Marian Knights)
• NCAA Athletic and Academic All-American (Cody Zeller)
• NCAA All-American (Victor Oladipo)
• NCAA Academic All-American (Jordan Hulls)
• WNBA champs and Finals MVP (Fever/Tamika Catchings) 
• B1G Sixth Man of the Year (Will Sheehey)
• #1 Ranking and B1G champs (Hoosiers)
• Brad Stevens and Frank Vogel (b/c why not)
• #1 seed and nation's best guard (Skylar Diggins)
• 7 top awards plus Athletic and Academic All-American (Manti Te'o)
• NCAA D1 football Coach of the Year (Brian Kelly)
• #1 Pick leading team to 11 wins/playoffs (Luck/Irsay)
• NBA All-Star and emerging superstar (Paul George)
• Leukemia Survivor and CoY  (Chuck Pagano)
• NFL Coach of the Year and Coord of the Year (Bruce Arians)
• NFL GM of the Year (Ryan Grigson)
• NCAA men's soccer champs (IU)
• NL Central champs (Reds)
• B1G baseball champs (IU)

Fishers 3rd Friendliest in USA

 Not only does Hamilton County have a college grad rate above 50%, which happens to be highest in the Midwest and 5th best in the nation, it's also been named as the best place to raise a family, and also named most affordable in the nation, and safe, quiet, fast, blah, blah, blah... We have a new publication with another top (3) award. Nextdoor.com re-affirms we're still the brightest place in the Midwest, but this time its not just our brains but our manners.

Forbes.com slideshow "America's Friendliest Towns" #3 Fishers, IN

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!