As we wrap up 2014, we have to admit it was a year to remember, both locally and nationally, and not always for the best reasons. You can probably say it for any year, but 2014 seemed to have more than its fair share of disturbing news. The fact that much of the news came from the world of sports is fitting because of our national obsession with sports and the billions of dollars that are spent on sports of all kinds.
The city of Indianapolis saw two new sporting franchises open in the city. The Indy Eleven, a professional soccer club owned by Ersal Ozdemir and playing in the North American Soccer League started its first preseason schedule in March with a game against the Vancouver Whitecaps in Casa Grande, Arizona. Peter Wilt is the president and General Manager of the club and Jurgen Sommer is the head coach. The club plays its home games at the Michael Carroll stadium on the IUPUI campus. The Club opened the spring season by playing their very first home game on April 12, 2014 against the Carolina Railhawks. The Club compiled a spring record of 4 draws and 5 losses in 9 games, finishing 10th in the standings. In the fall season the club completed an 18 game record consisting of 6 wins, 7 losses and 5 draws. The Eleven finished 7th in the NASL standings. The Eleven won their first major victory of any kind by beating the Dayton Dutch Lions at home, 5-2 in the third round of the US Open on May 28. It was a very successful year both in performance and fan attendance for the Indy Eleven.
The Indy Fuel became the city’s latest professional hockey venture, playing in the AA ECHL (East Coast Hockey League). The Fuel is in the North Division. They are affiliated with the Chicago Blackhawks and their AHL farm team the Rockford IceHogs. The Fuel plays at the Farmer’s Insurance Fairgrounds Coliseum and are coached by Scott Hillman. The Hallett brothers, along with Jerry Williams, form the team’s ownership, with Sean Hallett serving as the president. Indianapolis has always had a very loyal and supportive group of hockey fans and they have taken the Fuel to their hearts. The Fuel has played 28 games into their season and have compiled a record 6 wins, 16 losses, 3 overtime losses, and 3 shoot-out losses. It’s going very well for the Fuel in their first year.
In May the Indy 500 had a finish that was one of the most exciting in recent years. Ed Carpenter won the pole for the second year in a row for his own team. Driving a Honda powered Dallara chassis for Andretti Autosports, Ryan Hunter Reay scored his first Brickyard victory. Popular NASCAR champ Kurt Busch won Rookie of the Year honors with a sixth place finish. Jim Nabors sang “Back Home Again” for the last time in person. For the first time a race was held on an IMS road course during the month of May. Simon Pagenaud took home the checkered flag for Sam Schmidt Motorsports at the inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis on May 10th.
The Brickyard 400 held in July saw Indiana’s own Jeff Gordon win the race for a record fifth time. Gordon is a Hoosier favorite and a popular winner and the Brickyard has kind of become his own race. Kevin Harvick won the pole with a record setting 188:470 mph. On August 9, former Brickyard 400 and Columbus Indiana native Tony Stewart was driving at a sprint car race on a dirt track in Canandaigua New York the night before the Cheez-It 355 at Watkins Glen. During the course of the race, Stewart got into a tangle with 20-year-old Kevin Ward Jr, a popular local driver, and sent him into the outer guard rail. A yellow caution light went on. As Stewart came around for the next lap, Ward came down on the track to shake his fist at Stewart. Stewart struck Ward, sending him nearly 50 feet into the air. Ward was killed on impact with the ground. A shaken Stewart claimed that he didn’t see Ward come toward his car and apologized and withdrew from racing for the next month, missing three Sprint Cup races. The county prosecutor reviewed tapes of the race and could find no criminal intent on Stewart’s part and the county grand jury declined to indict him on any charges. The Ward family maintains that at the very least Stewart is guilty of negligent homicide and even second degree murder and has been lobbying for a trial for Stewart and his suspension from racing. Their cause wasn’t helped by the revelation that Kevin Ward Jr. had been driving the race under the influence of marijuana at a level high enough to impair his driving. A very sad affair, indeed.
For the National Football League it was a year of controversy and negativity as the off-field behavior of several of it’s stars and one of it’s team owners came out. The incidents of domestic violence involving NFL players Ray Rice, Greg Hardy, and superstar Adrien Peterson dominated the news and are still being debated. So too was the arrest of Colts owner Jim Irsay for DUI and prescription drug possession on March 16 while driving in Carmel. After a national uproar, Irsay pled guilty to OWL and was put on a year’s probation and ordered into rehab. The NFL suspended Irsay for the first six regular season games and fined him $5,000,000. Some felt it was too lenient a punishment for the owner of the Colts.
Coach Mark Henninger led the Marion University Knights to the 2014 title game against Southern Oregon. The Knights compiled an 11-3 record playing in the Crossroads Conference. The team was led by senior runningback Tevan Lake from South Bend with 1385 yards rush and 17 touchdowns, and Junior quarterback Hayden Northern from Martinsville with 2939 yards passing and 22 touchdown passes, and Indianapolis Warren Central’s Krishawn Hogan, a sophomore with 82 receptions for 1136 yards and 11 touchdown catches. Defensively, sophomore defensive back Eric Price from Sheridan, Indiana picked off 9 interceptions and broke up 17 passes. Junior linebacker Beau Shields from Martinsville led the team with 114 total tackles. The Knights were an exciting, high scoring, big play offensive team with a hard hitting, take away defense. The Knights were ranked 7th in the NAIA when they met Southern Oregon in Daytona Beach in the NAIA national championship game. They fell to the Raiders 55-31. Congratulations to the Marion University Knights.
Of course there were lots of other stories in 2014, as there are every year. As long as humans and animals compete there will be stories to tell… and I will have a column to write.