By CLIFF BRUNT ISL Editor First-round pick Miles Plumlee debuted in the Knox Indy Pro-Am on Tuesday and had his moments as his red team dropped an 86-83 decision to the Royal Blue squad. Plumlee had a particularly nice reverse windmill dunk that left the crowd a bit stunned. He finished with 14 points and six […]
Continue ReadingBy CHUCK SAMPLES ISL Correspondent Well, I didn’t expect that. Last week I wrote I anticipated there wouldn’t be a football program at Penn State for 2013 and possibly 2014 once the Department of Education finished its investigation into possible Clery Act violations stemming from the Sandusky child sex abuse horrors. I was not ready […]
Continue ReadingBy CLIFF BRUNT ISL Editor Tamika Catchings says only one result will make her final trip to the Olympics successful. Not winning the gold medal as a USA team – everybody will look at it as a failure, the Indiana Fever star said before heading across the pond. Now 33 years old, the reigning WNBA MVP says she’s […]
Continue ReadingBy CLIFF BRUNT ISL Editor It’s been said by many experts and some players that the Houston Rockets overpaid for Jeremy Lin. You won’t find that nonsense here. I’ve experienced Linsanity. Three years, $25 million? Pocket change. I covered the Pacers-Knicks game on St. Patrick’s Day, and what I witnessed was special. The doors to Bankers […]
Continue ReadingBy CLIFF BRUNT ISL Editor Note: The author covered the Indiana Pacers for The Associated Press for seven years. Frank Vogel is just Daddy to his daughters, Alexa and Arianna. After leading the Indiana Pacers to the second round of the NBA playoffs and finishing third in the NBA Coach-of-the-Year balloting, Vogel was caught being an average Joe […]
Continue ReadingBy CLIFF BRUNT ISL Editor WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — I was among media members who spoke with Purdue forward D.J. Byrd on Monday after a practice.
Continue ReadingBy CLIFF BRUNT ISL Editor I had been wondering what kind of player the Pacers were getting with Darryl Gerard (D.J.) Augustin, so of course, I hit up YouTube. I found a video worth sharing on limweiqiang’s channel (who, of course, credits the NBA). Highlights will only show the best of a player, so it’s hard to get a true idea […]
Continue ReadingBy CLIFF BRUNT ISL Editor This is my midseason report on the MVP and team races as the WNBA hits the Olympic break. MVP race This year’s WNBA MVP race is as close as it’s ever been at the halfway point. Because Tamika Catchings won the MVP award last year, she won’t get sentimental votes […]
Continue ReadingBy CHUCK SAMPLES ISL Correspondent If the NCAA doesn’t force Penn State to put its football program on ice after the Jerry Sandusky molestation nightmare, the U.S. Department of Education might. The NCAA is mulling whether to hammer Penn State with the so-called death penalty for an apparent culture of cover-up involving Sandusky, convicted recently of […]
Continue ReadingBy CLIFF BRUNT ISL Editor Former Purdue sharpshooter Ryne Smith will be a student assistant coach at Purdue next season. I chatted with him after Monday’s practice on shiny Cardinal Court, the school’s new practice facility. Smith made 89 3-pointers last season to rank third on Purdue’s single-season chart and shot .432 from beyond the […]
Continue ReadingBy CHUCK SAMPLES ISL Correspondent Royals pitcher Jonathan Sanchez was designated for assignment Wednesday. He deserved it. Sanchez was 1-6 with a 7.76 ERA and 44 walks — all in 53 1/3 innings covering 12 starts. The pitcher who also has a no-hitter to his credit was routinely lit up by media folks in the […]
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