Articles

Duno tops Danica in laps led

So who led more laps during this Indy Racing League season; Danica Patrick or Milka Duno?
Well, if you chose Milka Duno, you are right on. On lap 141 of Sunday’s race at Chicagoland, during…

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NBC doesn’t honor Lucas’ request

Apparently NBC’s Andrea Kremer didn’t get the memo. At least she didn’t get the one from Lucas Oil Products Inc. founder Forrest Lucas. During a sideline segment during last night’s Indianapolis Colts-Chicago Bears…

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SPORTS: There’s more than one new football field in town

Just a few miles north of Lucas Oil Stadium, where the Colts are to meet the Chicago Bears in their NFL opener, another new football field was seeing its first official action over the weekend. And yes, there is a direct link between the two, as well as the same sense of profound satisfaction that this new field, like LOS, will make a positive and long-lasting difference in our community. Tabernacle Presbyterian Church’s youth sports ministry-our own little Miracle on…

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BEHIND THE NEWS: Limp economy could slow increase in attorneys’ fees

Attorney pay at top-tier firms is like compensation for executives of public companies. Amid hand-wringing, the numbers keep going up and up. The reasons are understandable. Law firm managers feel pressure to raise compensation to attract and retain the best attorneys-and to keep up with what other firms are doling out. The people running those competing firms feel the same pressures, accelerating the upward spiral. Hence, top attorneys in Indianapolis in the most complex practice areas now have hourly rates…

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MotoGP race will give Speedway whole new look

Fans walking into the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the First MotoGP race there Sept. 14 likely won’t recognize the place. Sponsor ads will hang on the inside walls of the track. There will be a host of companies in the hospitality area–including Yamaha, Kawasaki, Ducati and Repsol–that have never set foot inside the Speedway’s grounds.  The motorcycle-specific nature of the Red Bull Indianapolis GP will permeate every facet of the event and affects all elements of the host city’s planning.

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IRL’s Detroit race shows growth

While the jury is still out on the success of the first unified open-wheel racing season, the organizers of the Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix last weekend are calling their event a resounding…

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Colts sales staff feels the heat

Pressure is mounting on the Indianapolis Colts as this Sunday’s season opener against the Chicago Bears looms. Yes, there’s pressure to win on the field. But there’s even more pressure to make the…

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IRL title sponsor “on the doorstep”

Despite switching its telecasts from ESPN to Versus next year, Indy Racing League officials remain confident they will sign an eight-figure, multi-year title sponsorship deal by year’s end.

League officials denied rumors that some…

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Colts, Pacers join hands

The Indiana Pacers and Indianapolis Colts have long been thought to be competitors. They compete with each other for fans, sponsors, public and private support for their respective playing venues among other things in…

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Wheldon races to Panther

We didn’t have to wait long to find out where Dan Wheldon would land. Just more than an hour after news broke that Dario Franchitti would be replacing him at Target Chip Ganassi Racing, Wheldon announced he will be driving…

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Franchitti returns to IRL

Former Indianapolis 500 and Indy Racing League series champion Dario Franchitti is returning to the open-wheel circuit next year to drive for his former NASCAR boss Chip Ganassi.

Ganassi folded the NASCAR team that…

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Indians hit 8-year attendance high

With the books just closed on the Indianapolis Indians’ 2008 season, the team’s front office is already looking forward to next season. And why not? This team is hot. Red hot. And I’m…

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Goals for USA Track & Field: Raise money; don’t drop the baton

Doug Logan, new CEO of locally based USA Track & Field, knows the organization’s challenges reach beyond the disappointments
of dropped batons at last month’s Beijing Olympics. He wants to review the sport from top to bottom, and plans to announce
in the next few weeks formation of a task force that will look at everything from team training camps and the time of the
Olympic trials, to forming a series of events in the United States culminating in a series championship.

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EYE ON THE PIE: What projects should public finance?

You name it, Rusty Knale will argue against it. We’re at the delicatessen. He buys the hot pastrami on rye. I’m going for the chopped liver on pumpernickel. “I’m wondering,” I say, “if the new Honda plant at Greensburg is going to do more for the people of Indiana than Lucas Oil Stadium in Indy.” “No,” he answers quickly. “Remember that Dean Martin song, ‘Memories are made of this’? How many people will the new Colts’ stadium hold?” “I hear…

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Racing toward a new biz plan: Goals for USA Track & Field: Raise money; don’t drop the baton

Doug Logan’s heart sank as he watched the baton hit the ground on the final exchange of the women’s 400-meter relay. Earlier that same night at the Beijing Olympics, the U.S. men’s 400-meter relay team had done the exact same thing. Neither team would make it past the semifinal round. Logan, who has been CEO of locally based USA Track & Field since only mid-July, could hear the e-mail box in his Indianapolis office filling up all the way from…

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SURF THIS: This Olympic year, NBC got it right-online and off

I already miss the Olympics. Perhaps due to my overactive patriotic gene, the overdeveloped sports fan gene, or the finetuned sucker-for-agood-story gene (or some combination of all three), I found the entire event strangely compelling. I’ve paid attention to the Olympics before, but this year it had some captivating affect on me that was altogether new. I found I could watch beach volleyball or fencing with equal enthusiasm. I watched handball matches (which was not at all the game I’d…

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Commentary: Summer mega-events consume us

Just when I thought I could start getting to bed at a decent hour again after the 2008 Olympics were over, up pops the Democratic National Convention from Denver. I’m not a television watcher. About the only things I find worthwhile on the boob tube are sports, PBS, movies, and arts or cultural programs. The occasional exception might include a cooking show. Like many Americans, I found myself watching the Beijing games late into the night for most of two…

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SPORTS: These football dreams give way to football reality

Ball State’s Nate Davis makes a run for the Heisman Trophy. Well, a guy can dream, can’t he? Truth is, all I’m hoping for at this juncture is that Peyton Manning is healthy for the season opener, Indiana (never look beyond the next play) gets past Western Kentucky, Purdue sends Joe Tiller into retirement on a winning note, Notre Dame rises above national scorn, and Davis becomes known outside the Midwest. In any case, I am definitely ready for some…

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Smaller Indiana gives cultural events a boost: Web site’s bloggers share IndyFringe experiences

With a mere $11,000 to spend on marketing, IndyFringe Executive Director Pauline Moffat is always on the lookout for low- or no-cost promotional opportunities. So when Pat Coyle, founder of online community smallerindiana.com, approached her about a novel arrangement to spread the word, Moffat jumped at it. The deal was this: The Fringe would give two tickets to each of its festival shows to Smaller Indiana, which would hand them over to members who would write blogs about the performances…

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IndyGo Colts shuttle a no-go

Congestion getting to the Indianapolis Colts games is as much a problem as congestion once fans are in the new Lucas Oil Stadium. It appears that traffic flow and parking are real issues…

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