Sports Business

The Indianapolis Colts’ bye week has arrived, which means it’s time for a casual conversation-no X’s and O’s or New England Patriots talk allowed-with quarterback Peyton Manning. Not long ago, I sat down with No. 18 to talk about his place in the community, rather than his place behind center. Here is the first of a two-part interview. Benner: Your community service work through the PeyBack Foundation is wellknown. It’s now given more than $1 million to youth programs here,…

In that span, I viewed Indiana-Iowa, Purdue-Northwestern, Ohio State-Michigan State, Minnesota-Wisconsin, Notre Dame-USC, Michigan-Penn State and UCLAWashington State. Sometimes simultaneously. That’s because I also have picture-in-picture, which I also believe to be one of the great inventions of all time. Anyway, by the time day turned into night, I again was reminded why college football-with all due respect to the Indianapolis Colts and the NFL-remains far and above the superior form of the game. Allow me to clarify. There is…

Are you ready for some football? Of course you are. That the Indianapolis Colts are making the first of not one, not two, but three appearances on ABC’s “Monday Night Football” is once again recognition of the obvious, which is that Jim Irsay’s ownership, Bill Polian’s leadership and Tony Dungy’s coaching have made the Horseshoes as hot a commodity nationally as they are locally. Not that Peyton Manning, Edgerrin James, Marvin Harrison, Dwight Freeney, Gary Brackett, Cato June et al…

In the small republic by the Baltic Sea-population 3.4 million-many youngsters grow up dreaming the same kinds of hoop dreams young Hoosiers do. “Basketball in Lithuania is even crazier,” Jasikevicius, a 6-foot-4-inch guard, said recently at Conseco Fieldhouse, moments after finishing his first official practice as a Pacer. “We always call it our second religion.” During the 50 years Lithuania was part of the Soviet Union, players from the republic were the nucleus of the USSR national teams. It was…

The Great American Pastime is past my time. I’ve pretty much ceased to care about Major League Baseball. Note that I said “major league.” I remain very much a fan of the Indianapolis Indians and the experience to be had in the country’s very best minor-league ballpark, Victory Field. I do know, albeit casually, that going into the last week of the regular season, there was considerable sorting out to be done before playoff participants could be determined, that the…

The circumstance finally gave way to pomp last week. And as the silver shovels glistened in a setting sun at the Indiana Stadium ground breaking, a new day dawned for Indianapolis and central Indiana. Similarly, the multipurpose stadium-sorry, but I refuse to call it the “Colts Stadium” when its benefits will be so vast and its uses so varied-represents both an end and a beginning. In some ways, it is the final piece of a puzzle that began to be…