The first half of the year is coming to a close. Highlights of the past six months include the Super Bowl, the Indy 500, the NBA Championship. the NCAA Championship, Indiana high school basketball, Floyd Mayweather winning all the welterweight titles, Jeff Gordon announcing that he will retired from full time NASCAR racing, and the View sponsoring an Indy Car. The Boss and I were at opening night at the Vic and saw the Tribe win; two days later I captured my first foul ball at the Vic. A whole bunch has happened in the last six months and the next six months will be just as busy (if not more so).
Ex-Boilermaker QB Danny Etling Heads South
Danny Etling, the former Terre Haute South Vigo County High School signal caller, is headed to LSU after two frustrating years with Purdue. Etling made a verbal commitment to the Boilermaker team after his junior year in high school. This was when Danny Hope was still the head coach at Purdue. After the 2012 season, when Hope was fired and new coach Darrell Hazell was hired, Etling decided to keep his commitment to Purdue.
His freshman year he was in a battle for the starting quarterback job with Rob Henry and Austin Appleby. Henry was under center for the first 5 games with an 1-3 record and only a win at Indiana State to his credit. With Purdue down 27-10 at halftime of the Northern Illinois game, Henry was benched and Etling was installed as the starter. Etling was 0-7 for the rest of the season and Purdue finished 1-11.
Etling went into the 2014 season as the starter. He, too, started the first 5 games of the season and had a 2-3 record. Coach Hazell benched Etling in flavor of Austin Appleby and Appleby led the team to their first Big Ten victory under Hazell over Iowa. Etling remained on the bench the rest of the season. Earlier this month Etling asked for and got a release from his scholarship. Etling will not be able to play the 2015 season for LSU, but he will have two years of eligibility left after the 2014 season begins.
Cursed Cleveland
The City of Cleveland, Ohio has been named the Most Cursed Sports City in the United States by the Upshot column in the New York Times. No Cleveland professional team has won a championship of any kind since 1964 when the Cleveland Browns beat the Baltimore Colts for the NFL Championship. Since then, the best any Cleveland team could do was go six games with Golden State this month before losing the NBA Championship, and 1997 World Series with the Indians leading in the ninth inning of game 7 going against the Florida Marlins and blowing it to lose the championship. The Browns are one of two teams from the NFL-AFL merger in 1967 that have yet to go to a Super Bowl. Cleveland had the Cleveland Barons NHL hockey team for the 1976 through 1978 season before they merged with the Minnesota North Stars. Cleveland fans haven’t had a whole lot to smile about except Lebron James, the greatest professional basketball player of his era, coming back to the Cavs.
Atlanta, Buffalo, Oakland, San Diego, Cincinnati, and Kansas city were among the other teams without any kind of professional sports titles since 1965. Even Seattle only has a single Super Bowl title for its trouble and has more than its share of bad luck among all their sports teams. The city of Oakland will be losing the Golden State Warriors as they move back to the San Francisco area.
The Indianapolis Indians
Indians second baseman 22-year-old Alen Hanson was named International League Player of the Month for May. Hansen hit .362 with 8 doubles, 5 triples, and 3 home runs during the month. He had 18 RBIs and 22 runs, helping the Tribe to a 18-11 mark in May. Triple A rookie Hanson is from the Dominican Republic and is right handed. Hanson is the first Indian to be honored as player of the month since Zack Duke in May of 2005.
Be sure to go to the Minor League Baseball Web site or the Indians’ Web site to cast your votes for your favorite Indian player to appear in the Triple A All Star game. You can vote up to 25 times.
This Saturday, June 27, Batman will be at Victory Field to sign autographs and give away capes. Sunday, June 28, is a kids eat free day. Each kid under 14 years old will get a voucher good for a hot dog, bag of chips, and a bottle of water.
Right now the Indians are the International League’s winningest team despite a four game losing streak. The Indians record for the 2015 season so far is 42-29 for a .592 winning percentage.
Pacers and the NBA Draft
The Pacers have the 11th pick in the first round and 43rd pick in second. Luis Scola, C. J. Watson, and Rodney Stuckey are unrestricted free agents and could be gone. David West and Roy Hibbert have player options in their contract and they too can move, so this is an important drive for the team. The Pacers need help at guard and of course they need a “Big Man.” Murry State point guard Cameron Payne is being looked at carefully. Payne was the Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year in 2014, averaging 20.2 points per game. Payne was born in Memphis, Tennessee and is 20 years old. He is 6 ft., 2 in. and weighs 185 pounds. Notre Dame’s Jerian Grant is also one of the players they are considering if he is still available when they pick. Grant can play either guard position and at 6 ft., 5 in. and 203 pounds he can come up and play the boards. Myles Tuner is definitely a big man at 6 ft., 11 in. and 238 pounds. The Texas Longhorn center from Euless, Texas is 19 years old and could be the big man in the middle that the Pacers are coveting. It’s always best to remember that no team wants to tip their hand. The Pacers may have someone in mind who is totally different than the players that they have publicly said are on their wish list.
snicewanger@yahoo.com