Indianapolis is My Home

18
Jun

Should Victory Field Always Be Victory Field

Author: Jason Bean, Category: Business, Downtown, Indianapolis Indians, Victory Field

I think one of the often overlooked features of our city is the Indianapolis Indians and Victory Field. I’ve not done a tour of all the minor league ballparks, but I can tell you that the ones I have seen don’t even come close to Victory Field.

The question up today though is whether or not naming rights to the field and stadium should be sold?

Earlier this year, at the team’s annual shareholder meeting, Schumacher was asked why the team doesn’t sell naming rights to Victory Field, which has been cited by several baseball publications as one of the finest minor league ballparks in the country.

What do you think? My opinion is that it should absolutely remain Victory Field. How about you?

IBJ.com - Indianapolis Business Journal - "The Score" Sports Blog

Image Source: Small Parks

08
Oct

Big Changes for WIBC 1070

Author: Jason Bean, Category: Brickyard 400, Business, Indiana Fever, Indiana Pacers, Indianapolis Colts, Indianapolis Golf, Indianapolis Indians, Indy 500, News, Sports, US Grand Prix - F1

I’ve been a listener to WIBC’s afternoon drive with Dave “The King” Wilson, Joe Staysniak and Matt Hibblen since back to 1998 or so when I first moved to Indianapolis.

An announcement today says that Emmis Communications, the parent company of WIBC is moving WIBC 1070AM to an all-sports format and changing their WNOU 93.1 FM station all-talk. The new station will be called WIBC-FM. During the transition 93.1 will begin playing Christmas music from now through Christmas.

In one of the biggest local radio station format shake-ups in recent years, Emmis Communications Corp. announced today that WIBC-AM 1070 will become an all-sports station. The station will be an affiliate of ESPN Radio.

Meanwhile, the company’s rock and hip-hop station, WNOU-FM 93.1, will change to a news-talk format, a rarity on the local FM dial.

WNOU now will be called WIBC-FM. It essentially will air the same news and talk programming that had been on WIBC-AM 1070.

The move was launched at noon today with WNOU becoming all-Christmas through December. Emmis officials said they launched “93 Days of Christmas” as a transition period.

I’ll be interested in hearing what everyone has to say about the change on the drive home today.

14
Aug

All-Indy Pass

Author: Jason Bean, Category: Art, Business, Childrens Museum, Colleges, Concerts, Dining, General, Indiana Fever, Indiana Pacers, Indianapolis Indians, Indianapolis Zoo, Special Events, State Fair, Theater, Things To Do in Indy

My wife and I have been wondering lately why Indianapolis doesn’t have a citywide pass that would get you into a variety of attractions for a single, annual fee.

We’re members of the Indianapolis Zoo, The Indianapolis Children’s Museum already and would be interested in buying a membership to NCAA Hall of Champions, Indiana State Museum, Connor Prairie, Eagle Creek Park, etc.

There are loads of different events that happen across the city on a regular basis, it seems like an Indy City Pass would be a great idea for somebody to implement. You could even incorporate restaurant discounts, free parking and similar items.

Even thinking about it a little bit more, it would be great to be able to choose one game to attend for each sports team: Pacers, Colts, Indians, Fever, Ice and maybe even local college sporting events.

19
Jun

For the First Time I Missed the F1 Race

Author: Jason Bean, Category: Indianapolis Indians, Sports, US Grand Prix - F1

Lewis Hamilton sets Indianapolis Motor Speedway records in the 2007 US Grand Prix by being the first rookie, 2nd youngest driver and only black driver to win a major race at the speedway. The USGP Indy website has the details.

Hamilton, age 22 years, 161 days old, became the first rookie to win the USGP at Indianapolis and the second-youngest driver to win a major event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Only Troy Ruttman, who won the 1952 Indianapolis 500 at age 22 years, 80 days old, was younger when he took the checkered flag at IMS. Hamilton also became the first black driver to win a major race at IMS.

All of that happens, and for the first time since it’s been coming to Indianapolis, I missed attending the F1 race, a.k.a. the U.S. Grand Prix. I’ve got a friend that lives in Las Vegas and is a huge F1 fan. He’s come in every year and has been generous enough to provide me a ticket to the race each year. I normally serve as the sherpa of camera cases and other items in exchange, which is fine with me.

This year I didn’t get to attend the race because my wife surprised me with a Father’s Day gift that was a weekend in Cincinatti with my family. The weekend included attending a Cincinatti Reds game with my son and my brother and his daughter. It was a really good time and I got to see Sammy Sosa hit a grand slam to basically seal the game as a win for the Texas Rangers. I was impressed with the Great American Ball Park, but it maybe increased my appreciation for Victory Field even more. The only thing Victory Field is lacking from the major leagues is a couple more extra decks of seats. Good times though, I think I’ve convinced my son to join me at more Indians games now.

The big question though about F1 is whether or not it will be back. Bernie Ecclestone, President and CEO of F1, has supposedly given Tony George, owner of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a figure that he and F1 needs to stay in Indianapolis. According to WIBC the cost for this year may have been somewhere around $15M to host the event.

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