Home » Sports Business

Sports Business

Articles

THE TRAVELING LIFE: Start traveling now before it’s too late

On an Ambassadair trip to Athens, Greece, in 1987, one of the tour members suddenly got up from the breakfast table, saying he had to hurry to a class he was teaching that morning. After he left, his wife explained to the puzzled group that he had Alzheimer’s disease, which was diagnosed the year before his retirement in 1986. She said wistfully that they had saved their money so that they could travel after he retired from his job as…

Read More

Strides taken in life sciences, experts say: Industry panel: Thanks to ongoing efforts, Indiana has experienced serious progress as biomedical hotbed during last 5 years

Five leaders of Indiana’s life sciences industry offered their perspectives at the Indiana Convention Center June 26 as part of the Indianapolis Business Journal’s Power Breakfast Series. The panelists: Mike Arpey, managing director of global investment bank Credit Suisse’s Asset Management Division and manager of the $73 million Indiana Future Fund for BioCrossroads, the state’s life sciences economicdevelopment initiative. Ron Ellis, co-founder, president and CEO of Lafayettebased Endocyte Inc., a biotechnology company focused on the treatment of cancer through receptor-targeted…

Read More

SPORTS: A race with half the wheels could be twice as fun

On July 16, I followed a caravan of about 200 motorcyclists from downtown to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. As I climbed out of my car in the IMS parking lot, I heard AC-DC’s “Hell’s Bells” blasting through the loudspeakers. Just another reminder it’s not your father’s Speedway anymore. More to the point, it’s not Tony George’s grandfather’s Speedway anymore. Think about it. No sooner than George and his IMS team bid adieu to Formula One, they said hello to MotoGP,…

Read More

RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: Chew-and-view eateries do not make a happy meal

Who asked for televisions to be installed in every restaurant in central Indiana? I’ve been to a lot of them, standing in lines, overhearing conversations with wait staff, chatting with the bartender, and never once, not a single time in my whole life, did any customer ever say anything like, “You know, what this joint really needs is a TV!” I can understand places where you’d expect to find TVs, and indeed where you go to watch TV on special…

Read More

Retailer’s growth plan boon for Plainfield facility: Dick’s Sporting Goods’ strategy to expand west will push inventory through local distribution center

Dick’s Sporting Goods’ aggressive nationwide growth plan will mean about 400 new jobs at the retailer’s Plainfield distribution center, industry experts said. Last month, Pittsburgh-based Dick’s rolled out a plan to grow from 309 stores to 800 nationwide within seven years. The plan includes growing from zero to 90 stores in California, two to 60 in Texas, and two to 40 in Florida. “Their expansion plans are so aggressive, they’re eventually going to have to open another distribution center, but…

Read More

SPORTS: Tennis tourney healthy but needs a new home

A significant Indianapolis sporting event with international appeal is preparing to celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2011. The Indianapolis 500? Well, yes, that too. Far less-wellknown and recognized is that the origins of elite-level competitive tennis in Indianapolis also date back to just after the turn of the century … the last century, that is. Records show that the Western Tennis Championships, which led to the U.S. Clay Court Championships, which led to the U.S. Hardcourt Tennis Championships, which led…

Read More

SPORTS: Pan Am Games was ‘coming out’ party for city

Twenty years ago, Indianapolis was preparing to take on the world. Or at least half of it. It was a month before the 10th Pan American Games. In my lifetime, I do not recall many times-if any-when there was such a feeling of collective effort. This wasn’t a city rooting for a team, like the Pacers or the Colts. This was a city rooting for itself to pull off this mammoth undertaking, to show not just the country, but the…

Read More

Commentary: We can learn some things from Turkey

Turkey isn’t high on the list of countries Americans visit. Tell friends you’re going to France and they congratulate you. Tell them you’re going to Turkey, and they ask why. They might follow the why with a reference to the movie “Midnight Express,” a 1978 film about an American’s nightmarish experience in a Turkish prison. Midnight Express had such a negative effect on Americans’ perceptions of Turkey that the man who wrote the book the movie is based upon recently…

Read More

Lilly rescues tennis tournament

A major sponsorship upgrade by local drugmaker Eli Lilly and Co. and a quartet of new corporate partners has helped the Indianapolis
Tennis Championships stem its losses after the departure of its title sponsor.

Read More

PROFILE: Georgetown Chiropractic Clinic PC: Demand spurs chiropractor to grow clinic Massage, Pilates, yoga classes round out northwest-side practice

P RO F I L E Georgetown Chiropractic Clinic PC Demand spurs chiropractor to grow clinic Massage, Pilates, yoga classes round out northwest-side practice If life gives you a pain in the neck, chances are you’ve sought relief from a specialist at working out the kinks-like Georgetown Chiropractic Clinic PC. Chiropractic use has tripled in the last two decades, according to research published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. To accommodate some of that growth locally, Georgetown Chiropractic has doubled…

Read More

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Long spoiled by low rates, nation now faces increase

It wasn’t long ago that writing an economic analysis column meant-surprise-that you analyzed the ups and downs of the economy. And if you came of age in the 1960s and ’70s, there were plenty of ups and downs to keep track of. Volatility in just about everything was higher then, with strikes, inflation and more frequent recessions the order of the day. And even though that environment has changed remarkably since the mid-’80s, the habit of peering at the data…

Read More

SPORTS: How much will we pay to watch IU, Purdue?

It read, “The hurrier I go, the behinder I get.” That’s the way I feel about technology. For every step I take forward, I fall two behind. A couple of weeks back, my trusty home laptop computer broke down. So, nearly, did I, especially as I pitched myself into the world of repair (it could’ve been fixed, but it was price-prohibitive) and then into retail (did the salespeople notice how my eyes glazed over as they launched into their wi-fi,…

Read More

SURF THIS: Put the i in iGoogle to personalize page

“What’s that?” she asked, looking over my shoulder as I logged into my Google account and opened my personalized page. When I told her that this was my iGoogle page, replete with all of the news, weather, stock quotes, information, blogs-everything-that I like to have at my fingertips, she was dumbstruck. “How did you get that?” she asked. I was dumbstruck, too. Is it possible that she-and, maybe, you-haven’t heard about iGoogle? Well, that changes today, and you can thank…

Read More

Commentary: Chasing after the younger crowd

A couple of weeks ago, I ate lunch with an attorney friend who was telling me about his eldest daughter-born, raised and now living in Indianapolis. A 27-year-old registered nurse, she was preparing to move to Chicago because she thinks “there is nothing to do here” for people her age. This really hit home for me because I have two daughters in the same age range living here, and both are starting to talk about moving away for a while,…

Read More

SPORTS: Hoosiers will finish the revival Coach Hep started

It’s just not fair. Life and death aren’t always. Nonetheless, I consider myself fortunate to have been among those on hand this year for what was one of Hep’s last public speaking experiences, at an NCAA function. Per usual, Hep was witty, inspirational and ultra-enthusiastic as he talked about his program. If I didn’t have season tickets already, I would have rushed out and bought some. My last memory of him is a great one. I knew Hep going back…

Read More

FUNNY BUSINESS: Biz buzz like “at the end of the day” puts me at the end of my rope

As part of my ongoing search for things to make fun of, I’ve spent the last few years collecting Business Buzzwords-Biz Buzz, if you will. I now know why they’re called buzzwords: Because if you read or hear more than two or three in a single sen tence, you feel a buzzing sensation in the back of your skull. Followed shortly thereafter by a full-blown migraine. That is precisely what happened to me after receiving an e-mail in which two…

Read More

SPORTS: Dome’s days are numbered, but memories linger

You know you’re getting old when you outlive buildings. First, it was Market Square Arena. I covered the first and last games there. Now, it’s the RCA Dome. In the summer of 1983, I went along with my then-boss, Indianapolis Star Sports Editor Bob Collins, to the roof of an old warehouse on South Capitol Avenue. From that vantage point, we watched-in awe-as the roof of the Hoosier Dome slowly inflated. While some might have hoped, no one knew for…

Read More

Symbol of YWCA’s past may soon get new owner: Women’s organization carries on without building; new mission focused on scholarships, mentoring

The former home of the YWCA is about to change hands, but even without its own building, the organization once known for housing women plans to grow its scholarship programs and support other not-for-profits that advocate for women’s issues. The 4460 Guion Road facility is under contract to be sold “and we expect to close on it shortly,” said Greg Lynn, vice president of real estate for the Central Indiana Community Foundation. Lynn said he could not elaborate on the…

Read More

Fascination with fans pays off: Fanimation’s unique designs sustain company amid tough competition

Try saying that three times fast. Or better yet, check out Frampton’s eclectic innovations at the local showrooms that stock them. Frampton, 51, is president of Fanimation Inc. in Zionsville, a designer and distributor of custom fans that circulate a cool breeze in ways rivaled only by his collection of bizarre antique models that often provide his inspiration. Foremost among his unusual creations of ceilingmounted fans is the futuristic Enigma, which sports a single blade and was featured in a…

Read More