Indianapolis is My Home

10
Dec

Jamaal Tinsley Involved in Another Shooting

Author: Jason Bean, Category: Downtown, Indiana Pacers, Indy Pro Athletes, News

Pacer’s guard (has a whole different meaning now that you associate guns with it as well) Jamaal Tinsley has been involved in another shooting. This time it was downtown Indianapolis, in front of the Conrad Hotel.

Police said someone shot at the group with an assault rifle about 3:40 a.m. in front of the luxury Conrad Hotel. It followed a confrontation as Tinsley and his companions were leaving the “Cloud 9″ club outside downtown.

This is just getting old. According to the news article, new coach Jim O’Brien and Larry Bird say that Tinsley won’t be punished. He didn’t appear to do anything wrong. Except later in the article it states:

“He has every right to go to a club, there is no curfew, and he, to the best of my knowledge, did nothing wrong, other than he exercised poor judgment as to how late he was out and the environment he was in,” said O’Brien, who is in his first year with the Pacers. “He didn’t break any of our rules.”

That’s the point I’m trying to make though. I don’t care if he didn’t do anything necessarily illegal. I’m sure the innocent bystander wouldn’t have cared either if their family member had been shot as they were exiting the hotel during the shooting. Bad judgment, ummm yeah! In one breath they says there’s no curfew but then say part of his bad judgment was how “late he was out”. As far as the environment he was in, he put himself in the environment.

My son and I just went to a Pacer’s game and enjoyed ourselves. I was happy with how the team played and that I hadn’t heard of any of them being in the news lately regarding their off-the-court activities. Guess it was too early to say. I had actually thought about getting a jersey for my son for Christmas, not a chance now. Looks like I’m going to personally boycott the team another year to see if they can mature and grow-up a little bit.

Is it just me, or if you were on the Pacers team and had even the slightest inclination to hang-out with people that have broken the law, carry automatic weapons and other guns, or have warrants out for their arrest for drugs, or any other item; wouldn’t you stop for at least a split-second and think about it first? Morons!

Image Source: Another great cartoon by Gary Varvel

07
Dec

Indianapolis Yuletide Celebration 2007

Author: Jason Bean, Category: Cultural Events, Downtown, Hilbert Circle Theater, Indianapolis Colts, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Indy Pro Athletes, Things To Do in Indy

My family and I will be attending the Indianapolis Yuletide Celebration this evening with a group of friends. I’m looking forward to it as I’ve heard good things about it from a variety of people. I think my kids will really enjoy it as well.

I heard last week that Ben Utecht made a guest appearance and sang “What Are You Doing New Years” with Sandi Patti.

Hopefully I’ll have a few pictures to share after this evening’s festivities.

Have you been to the celebration? What did you think? Do you make it an annual tradition?

02
Dec

F1 Coming Back to Indy?

Author: Jason Bean, Category: Business, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indy 500, Indy MotoGP, Indy Pro Athletes, Things To Do in Indy, US Grand Prix - F1

A recent article in the IBJ suggests they are, even saying that there’s the possibility they could be back for the 2009 Centennial Celebration of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

I still say the city of Indianapolis should chip in where they could to make sure this deal goes through. The biggest problem I see is Ecclestone in the F1 camp being a pain to work with in trying to negotiate a deal.

I wonder how that will effect the changes to the course they’re making/made in preparation for the MotoGP race starting up next year at the IMS? That race will be held for the first time at the Speedway on September 14th, 2008.

One thing good did come through F1 leaving Indianapolis for a year. My friend from Vegas who came in every year for the race and bought my ticket decided to come in 2008 for the Indy 500 and bought me a ticket. It will be the first time I’ve ever been to the 500 as well. I’m looking forward to it. Our tickets are right in front of pit row so that should be even cooler!

Photo Source: BBC Sports

28
Nov

Congratulations to Helio Castroneves - Dancing Star!

Author: Jason Bean, Category: Celebrities, Indy 500, Indy Pro Athletes

A name familiar to most Indy residents, at least those interested in the racing community is Helio Castroneves. Helio was one of the “stars” chosen for this year’s season of “Dancing with the Stars” and ended up winning with his dance partner, Julianne Hough.

Julianne may be  the secret ingredient though as she was also last year’s winner with Olympic speed skating champion Apolo Anton Ohno.

Either way, Helio proved he was as quick with his feet on the dance floor as he was with he automobile driving on the racetrack.

Congratulations again to Helio!

Source: Helio Castroneves voted ‘Dancing’ champ

25
Nov

Eagles Leading Patriots 28-24 in the 4th Quarter

Author: Jason Bean, Category: Indianapolis Colts, Indy Pro Athletes

Not directly related to Indianapolis, but I’m sure this is something all Colts fans would be happy to read. The Eagles are beating the New England Patriots 28 to 24 with 13:36 remaining in the 4th quarter.

I’m a happy camper.

It’s a tough call though because I’ve got Tom Brady on one of my Fantasy Football teams, but I’ll sacrifice for the betterment of the cause.

I was expecting this game to be a blow-out and another opportunity for us to see the Patriots run up their touchdowns and scoring. I really don’t have much of a problem with a team running up the score. Personally I’d put in my 2nd, 3rd, + stringers and let them get some playing time instead of the game’s in the bag.

A.J.Feeley is doing a great job of leading the Eagles, let’s hope he can keep it going for a few more minutes.

25
Nov

Me and Some Politicians Take In A Pacers Game

Author: Jason Bean, Category: Celebrities, Conseco Fieldhouse, Elected Officials, Government, Indiana Pacers, Indy Pro Athletes, People, Politics

A friend of mine (thank you Aaron!) called me on Saturday to see if I were interested in going to an Indiana Pacer’s game. He had tickets and wasn’t able to go. He said they were really good tickets and I figured it would be a good early birthday gift for my son.

I have been an anti-Pacer’s fan ever since there continued run ins with the law and less than common sense decision making.

I’ve got to say I’m pleased with their performance. They played the Dallas Mavericks and came out with a win. In the meantime, ending the Mav’s 5-game winning streak as well. I’ve got to say it’s a whole new team as well, at least from my memory. The vast majority of the players are new to me, the only names I really recognized as being around for awhile were: Tinsley, O’Neal (didn’t play) and Jeff Foster.

I’m not ready to go buy season tickets yet, but I’m pleased to say that my earlier opinion of the Pacers may be melting a bit. They looked good at the game and played well as a team. Hopefully Coach O’Brien will be just what the doctor ordered and get some discipline and restraint for our team and players.

The only person not showing some restraint at the game was Mav’s coach, Avery Johnson. He slightly disagreed with the Ref Salvatore on a call. He actually went after him, chased him down the floor to give him some more suggestions on how he should call the game. That got him ejected. Buh-bye.

There were also a number of big names in attendance, continue reading to see the photos of the people in attendance.

Read the rest of this entry »

19
Nov

Colts Fans and Facebook

Author: Jason Bean, Category: Indianapolis Colts, Indy Pro Athletes, RCA Dome, Sports

If you’re a Colts fan and on Facebook as well, use this link to show your team support and spirit.

As you can see, we need some more fan support to beat the Patriots!

14
Nov

Season Over for Dwight Freeney

Author: Jason Bean, Category: Indianapolis Colts, Indy Pro Athletes, News, Sports

As if injured players on the offensive side of the ball wasn’t enough, now we’ll be missing one of our key defensive players in Dwight Freeney. He injured his left foot on Sunday during the game against the Chargers and it more than likely will require surgery.

Freeney, the three-time Pro Bowler, is the highest-paid defensive player in the NFL. He injured his left foot in Sunday’s loss to San Diego and was diagnosed with a Lis Franc injury that may require surgery.

Arrrgh! Not much more you can say about things right now regarding the Colts. I don’t think this is the nail in the coffin for the season by any means, but his presence will definitely be missed on the field. At this point I’m not worried about any games against non-divisional opponents. Sit anyone that’s injured and let them heal and recover as much as possible. Let’s just play the rest of the season in preparation for what we can accomplish in the playoffs.

News Source: Freeney’s season over

Photo Source: UnderGroundOnline

04
Nov

Colts Play Hard But Fall to Brady and the Patriots

Author: Jason Bean, Category: Indianapolis Colts, Indy Pro Athletes, RCA Dome, Sports

A disappointing loss tonight for the Colts against the Patriots. They played them well the entire game and gave them a lot of firsts this season:

• First game they didn’t score first
• First game they didn’t score on opening drive
• First game they were ever behind this season

Regretfully they just couldn’t give them their first loss. Things looked good for three quarters for back-to-back touchdowns put the Patriots up by four with 3 minutes left in the game.

I wouldn’t want any other quarterback in the league in charge of my offense than Peyton Manning in that situation. Sadly, this time it just wasn’t enough.

I think there should be a lot said for the Colts. The defense really stepped up and aside from the final two touchdowns by Brady, shut down the most powerful offense in the league. Joseph Addai was a 1st down machine in the game, bringing out comments from the commentators about his similarities to Barry Sanders (interestingly enough the Detroit Lions scored 44 points today. I don’t think they scored that much all of last season).

What’s amazing is this game was only really important when it comes down to the playoffs and a tie between us and the Patriots. The way the two teams are playing it’s pretty apparent they will be seeing each other again in that situation. With this win it looks like we’ll be playing them in New England.

31
Oct

Vote for the Colts on Fox Sports Power Rankings

Author: Jason Bean, Category: Awards & Recognition, Indianapolis Colts, Indy Pro Athletes, Sports

As you can see we need some votes over at Fox Sports NFL Power Rankings.

Go now and vote!