Home » Authors » Bill Benner

Bill Benner

Articles

SPORTS: In hiring as in knee surgery, timing is everything

Of this, that and the other: Timing, as they say, is everything. The University of Notre Dame lost its athletic director, Kevin White, to Duke University on June 1 and has been actively engaged in identifying his successor. A couple of weeks later, Indiana University announced its athletic director, Rick Greenspan, would resign but serve in lameduck status until the end of the year. Somewhere in the middle of those circumstances was Indianapolis attorney Jack Swarbrick, a Bloomington native but…

Read More

SPORTS: Pacers are walking a tightrope-and doing it well

The Indiana Pacers, abandoned by so many, are re-establishing their relevance. Given up for dead, the Pacers have a pulse. Leading them out of the wilderness is the hands-on owner, Herb Simon; the thoughtful, prudent and brilliant community leader, Jim Morris; and our Indiana basketball icon, Larry Bird. The draft-night wheeling and dealing created an instant buzz about the Pacers, the most positive since the brawl in 2004. It showed that, if I may lean on the cliché, there is…

Read More

SPORTS: Lamentations-and a recommendation-for old IU

Adam Herbert, who may go down as the sorriest presidential hire in the history of the Big Ten, is nowhere to be seen, those velvety crimson jumpsuits disappearing about the same time Sampson was shown the door. Certain members among the IU trustees-who so violated the trust part of their duties, first in hiring Herbert and then in bringing in Sampson-are not about to step up and take responsibility for their actions. I guess it will all come out some…

Read More

SPORTS: A 40-year hacker tries playing golf the right way

Every December, my wife and daughters ask the inevitable question, “What do you want for Christmas?” I always reply, “world peace.” Otherwise, I’ve been blessed with an abundance of stuff. No sense adding to the pile. But this past December, I actually got something that transcended a want. It was a need. Golf lessons. Like, from a pro. I’ve been chasing the little white pill around the pasture for 40 years. I’m selftaught and it shows. I picked up a…

Read More

SPORTS: I’m hanging onto my belief in honest outcomes

Other than the occasional NASCAR race and, notably, professional wrestling, I choose not to believe in orchestrated outcomes and conspiracy theories when it comes to sports. OK, I’m just kidding about NASCAR. Well, sort of. Anyway, I defended that belief even as I was being besieged by Pacers fans- back when the Pacers were the local team of choice and favor-who were convinced NBA Commissioner David Stern and his minions were preventing our small-market darlings from reaching the NBA Finals…

Read More

SPORTS: Before ESPN, there was McKay and ‘Wide World’

It might be a bit over the top to say that a man I met only once and barely knew had a profound influence on my life, but that’s how I felt about Jim McKay. Thus, when I tuned in to view the Belmont Stakes on June 7 and the lead story was not of Big Brown’s (failed) bid for the Triple Crown but of Jim McKay’s passing at the age of 86, I admit I felt a sudden pang…

Read More

SPORTS: Excitement-and fear-grows as Cubs pile up wins

My father in law, John Parker Jr., died this past March in LaPorte. He was 90, so he didn’t get shortchanged in the longevity department. He had a full, complete life. Except for one thing. He spent virtually all those 90 years rooting for his beloved Chicago Cubs to win a World Series. As with many from northwestern Indiana-Da Region-his afternoon ritual, especially in his retirement years, was sitting in front of the television to root, root, root for the…

Read More

SPORTS: Open-wheel racing’s full recovery still miles away

Well, to all but one sourpuss. “The [Indy Racing League] is garbage,” said caller “Gordon from Zionsville” on WNDE’s sports-talk show, “The Drive,” on the Tuesday following the big race. Gordon was weighing in to denigrate the IRL and praise NASCAR. Back to him in a moment. For the time being, the IRL’s competition isn’t NASCAR. While overnight ratings showed the afternoon Indy 500 scored a bigger rating than NASCAR’s prime-time 600-miler at Charlotte-and that Indy’s ratings were up from…

Read More

SPORTS: City’s Super Bowl score was decades in the making

Shoot, if I’d known city leaders were going to resurrect Dennis Hopper-Shooter, from my alltime favorite flick, “Hoosiers”- for the Super Bowl bid video, I would have suggested they also use Hickory High player Merle and paraphrase his memorable line: “Let’s win it for all the smaller NFL-designated market areas that never had a chance to get here.” Yes, we are the nation’s 13th-largest city. Thank you, UniGov. But in terms of market size, we’re 26th or so. Certainly not…

Read More

SPORTS: A smorgasbord of sports, both good and bad

Of this, that and the other: Indiana University has filed its official response to the NCAA infractions committee regarding the violations allegedly committed by former men’s basketball coach Kelvin Sampson. And Sampson has filed his response to IU’s response. He believes he’s been cast as a liar and a cheat. If only it weren’t true. I’m also troubled by his complaint that the IU compliance staff didn’t monitor the basketball coaches closely enough. How about some self-compliance, Kelvin? Fact is,…

Read More

SPORTS: Making the case for a U.S. Open at Crooked Stick

Preparations are well under way for the U.S. Senior Open at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel. Traffic and parking plans have been determined. They’ve identified the main entrance and the location of merchandise, media and corporate hospitality tents. Speaking of the last item, they’re already approaching a sellout, but tents might be added if demand persists. Tickets have been printed and have gone on sale. The money necessary to put on such an event is being raised. They’ve even…

Read More

SPORTS: In retrospect, the Dome’s utility can’t be denied

The roof has closed for the first time on Lucas Oil Stadium, and we now have a timetable for the demolition of its predecessor, the RCA Dome. Its last general event, the Fire Department Instructors Conference, has come and gone, as has its last sporting event, Supercross. Bit by bit, its innards are being dismantled. The pace will quicken throughout the summer. In August, the Teflon dome will disappear from the city skyline and shortly thereafter, the walls and the…

Read More

SPORTS: How big was Patrick’s win? Let the debate begin

Like most of the rest of the sporting world and to some extent beyond, I had awakened on that Sunday morning to the delightful news that, overnight in faraway Japan, Patrick had broken through to secure her first Indy Racing League victory in 50 tries. She now is something more than a pretty face and, to some, a sexual object who also just happened to drive race cars. She is a champion. Now this isn’t, as one gearhead suggested, along…

Read More

SPORTS: Indiana’s ‘Mount Rushmore’ will try to fix Pacers

The first time Herb Simon ever met Jim Morris, it was to ask him for money. Fifty grand. To be fair, it wasn’t Morris’ money. It belonged to Lilly Endowment Inc. Simon was at the endowment, which Morris directed at the time, to ask for a grant to support the Jewish Community Center. He got the money. This past week, Simon had another request of Morris … to replace Donnie Walsh as president of Pacers Sports & Entertainment. Again, Morris…

Read More

SPORTS: Free throws, future Final Fours remain important

Thoughts about this, that and the other after a much-delayed return (yes, my bride and I were among the thousands caught in the American Airlines travel fiasco) from San Antonio for the Final Four. I’ve related this story before-possibly in this space-so if I’m repeating myself, I apologize. I’m taking the chance that, if I don’t remember, you don’t either. In my driveway, I have one of those adjustable-height basketball goals. Years ago, several of the local neighborhood kids would…

Read More

SPORTS: Maybe Crean can help IU fans turn the page

But a mess it is, one that won’t be quickly eradicated. And we all know how patient IU basketball fans are. But an eight-year contract acknowledges that a quick fix is not the expectation. It also says-if those same fans are willing to listen-that the constant upheaval needs to be replaced by a consistency of voice-and excellence. “Indiana has always stood for class … integrity … and for doing the right thing,” Crean said. Well, before it hired Kelvin Sampson,…

Read More

SPORTS: Anyone glad to see Walsh go has a short memory

Twenty wins in 1982-1983. Twenty-six wins in ’83-’84. Twenty-two wins in ’84-’85. Twenty-six wins in ’85-’86. You think the Pacers are having a tough time putting butts in seats today? Today’s problems aren’t even close to those curtained-off Market Square Arena days of the early ’80s when the average crowds dipped to as low as 4,800 in the ’82-’83 season. It began to rebound only after Walsh took a chance on a marketing whiz-and exsportswriter-named Ray Compton and adeptly began…

Read More

SPORTS: ‘The Luke’ and its potential are finally real to us

And in less than five months-if, as we used to say in Center Grove, the Good Lord’s willing and the cricks don’t rise-it no longer will be just that mammoth structure rising between West and Missouri streets. It will be ours, and in that personal pronoun, I mean, sincerely, that Lucas Oil Stadium will belong to all of us, not just residents of Indianapolis and the contiguous counties who have pitched in on the funding, but to all Hoosiers who…

Read More

SPORTS: NCAA tourney sure to have lots of Hoosier flavor

Of this, that and the other while sifting through the e-mails that made it clear many of you still believe the Indiana Pacers are the embodiment of evil and incompetence. Oh, well; I tried. It was just a few years ago, wasn’t it, when Indiana college basketball was in a swoon? Now you see the Hoosier influence here, there and everywhere. When the NCAA Tournament pairings are announced, four Indiana teams-Butler, Purdue, Notre Dame and Indiana-are assured of being in…

Read More

SPORTS: In defense of the indefensible blue and gold

Yes, I’m writing about the Indiana Pacers. Their struggles-and, yes, the scrapes with the law and bad judgment exercised by a few-have exposed an ugly underbelly that says as much about us as it does about them. It’s a cautionary tale for those riding-high Indianapolis Colts because (1) Peyton Manning won’t play forever, (2) Tony Dungy won’t coach forever, (3) Bill Polian won’t be the decision-maker forever, and (4) the law of legal averages eventually will catch up to any…

Read More