Wandering Off Beaten Path Into Sports
Notes found scribbled on the back of a 1973 Indiana Pacers-Kentucky Colonels scorecard . . .
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FOR THE 21 or 22 of you (statistics show more of you have started following me!) who read my scribbles, you know from time to time I dabble in sports. For the non-sports fans, I apologize. But then again, this gives you a few extra minutes to do something with your day.
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FORGIVE me, but the national media – and even some of our state folks – drive me batty. Have you been listening to the “experts” on TV and radio talk about the Pacers? If not, the takeaways are:
- The Pacers are a “surprise” team
- They are playing well above their paygrade
- The playoff run is about to end in the conference finals
- And should the unlikely occur and the Pacers make the NBA finals, they are destined to lose
Bullpuckey, bullpuckey and bullpuckey!
First, what “surprise?” The Pacers were in the Eastern Conference finals last year. Can you think of some other time in sports where a team repeats and is called a surprise?
Above their paygrade? Please! Cleveland Coach Kenny Atkinson talked about how fast the Pacers played, how good they were and how they deserved to win. Let’s not forget that Cleveland was the No. 1 seed and Indiana won four out of five games off them. I might be wrong, but I suspect Atkinson knows a thing or two more about basketball than the media “experts.”
As for losing in the conference finals – maybe, maybe not. We’ll see.
And if they don’t lose there, anyone think either Western Conference foe is unbeatable? I mean these aren’t the 1999-2000 L.A. Lakers, right?
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A FEW blocks over from where the Pacers play is the house that Peyton built – and the home to the Indianapolis Colts. It’s astounding to me how mediocre the team has become AND how much the Indianapolis media continues to talk about them.
Forget the conversation about the quarterback, general manager and coach. The truth is that Indy hasn’t had anything close to a good season since 2020 (11-5 and wildcard loser to Buffalo). Truth to tell, it’s been more than a decade since any sort of sustainable success – and it’s been more than 15 years since the last Super Bowl appearance.
Now that next year’s schedule is out, all we’re hearing is one rosy prediction after another. What has me chuckling is that so many folks are predicting a 2-0 start for Indy. The reality is that the Colts have not won a season opener since 2013. Barack Obama was president for crying out loud. If I was a betting man, I wouldn’t wager the house on that streak ending this year with Miami up first.
This is a franchise that is bordering on the worst fate in all of sports, irrelevancy.
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BUT YOU know what? The weather finally seems to have kicked the cold (I mean really cold) to the curb for another year. The sun is shining and little kids are taking to the fields. That means Saturdays watching grandpups in T-ball, Little League, softball, soccer, swimming and whatever else they happen to be doing. Life is good, my friends!
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REMEMBER the 1973 ABA finals? Our beloved Indiana Pacers – with Mel Daniels, George McGinnis, Bob Netolicky, Roger Brown, Darnell Hillman, Donnie Freeman, Freddie Lewis, Billy Keller and Don Buse – took on those evil Kentucky Colonels. The bad guys had Dan Issel, Artis Gilmore, Louis Dampier, Rick Mount (that felt so wrong) and Walt Simon. Kentucky won two of the first three games. The series went to seven games and the Pacers – led by Coach Bobby Leonard – won IN Kentucky 88-81 to secure the last championship in Pacer history. Wouldn’t it be great if that half-century-plus streak ended this year?
Two cents, which is about how much Timmons said his columns are worth, appears periodically in The Times. Timmons is the chief executive officer of Sagamore News Media, the company that owns The Noblesville Times. He is also a proud Noblesville High School graduate and can be contacted at [email protected].