cthomas

The conference will be really good at the top. The usual suspects will be doing what they always do. I think we will be an entirely different animal next season. More length, more athleticism, more versatility, and more quality depth. To me, we will be built for more success in the post season. Purdue will be good, especially at the start of the year, but they are essentially the same as last season and I don't think that translates to the tournament. MSU, much the same with better incoming players. It's the style that ultimately doesn't work. I think we are moving to one that does.

I don't think that's what p. But when discretionary decisions are made like yesterday, you open the door for speculation. That's why I think there needs to be rules that govern situations like these. I think Scott Dixon may have won a couple more races if officials had handled the end of the race like yesterday. It's just the arbitrary way that played out that is questioned. If a different driver had won, probably no one would have thought much about it. However, the overall issue would remain. There needs, in my opinion, a point after which there are no more restarts. But, as my wife always reminds me when I state an opinion, "it's not all about you."

I don't want to think that was a factor because I want to believe that Penske has more respect for the event than that. But the optics are not good when an unprecedented decision takes place that benefits a driver from his team. I've been watching and listening since the 50's and I can't ever remember anything like what happened yesterday.

I don't like the GWC either. To me, they breed crashes and eventually, that will be tragic. Admittedly, I'm an old school racing fan and enjoyed the variety of cars, engines, and configurations of the 60's, 70's, 80's, etc.. Of course they were extremely dangerous machines and the drivers had virtually no protection. And, a lot of them were killed so we are in a way better place today in that respect. Those Track Forum guys scare me. However, it's one of the few places where truly inside people post with excellent content. I will say, as much as I love open wheel racing, the craziest racers I have ever seen were the Moto-GP motorcycle riders hitting 200 mph at the end of the front straight and then leaning into the turn. They seemed to defy the laws of physics.

I agree and was thinking that lap 190 might be a good cut off. I read that it took an hour to complete the last 20 laps. I didn't realize that, but it felt like a really long time.

I never liked seeing the race end under yellow, but I think there needs to be a point where a red flag is no longer an option. The closer to the end, the more reckless some of the drivers become. Throwing the green and white flags simultaneously was asking for a NASCAR level incident. I'm glad everyone made it through without serious injury. And, yes, that tire thing was incredibly scary.

If we find a player who is good enough to push Galloway to the bench, we're in for a really fun season.

I really liked Calbert and those teams. Not sure what went wrong with Crean, but I have to think the atmosphere is much better with CMW. And, by the way, I'm liking what Coach Woodson is doing more every day. He is literally rebuilding the IU culture from the inside out.

Fans hold grudges, players for the most part don't. For them, It's about the competition in the moment. When it's over, they move on. I'm pretty sure that almost everyone playing the game now knows CMW's pedigree. That means more to them than the antics of a player, brother or not, than anything else. I can't emphasize this enough. How we as fans view the game, and how the players view the game, are completely different. Dylan Harper is looking at CMW based on how coach can get him where he wants to go. He really doesn't care about where he coaches. That's my opinion anyway.

Been a long time since we have been really in the hunt for the top kids. NIL helps tremendously, but Coach Woodson's NBA pedigree is the closer. We may be on the cusp of something very good.

CMW seems to be the right coach at the right time. We have always needed a coach with NBA credibility to compete for top ten kids. We could not have a better coach for the NIL era or to compete in the portal. Hard to have more NBA cred than CMW. Kids are noticing. Without the CMW, we wouldn't even be on Harper's radar.

If this goes bad and we have to roll with who we have, they might surprise us and everything works out fine.

Absolutely. Back in the old days, I would listen to WIBC just to get practice updates. I couldn't get enough of who was fast and who wasn't. Now I have to search for info. The more free television time the sport gets, the better. Even a reasonable pay per view locally would be better than the blackout. I have never understood the argument that allowing a local broadcast would damage attendance. The 500 is an event you either go to or you don't. Television plays no part in that decision.

I have no idea where all of this ends up, but the saying that money corrupts everything is usually not far from the truth in my experience at least.

My thoughts exactly. For a few years you could watch the on car camera feeds on the IMS website. Not recently though. It's an over the top reaction to something that wouldn't happen anyway. So, I'll be setting on my deck listening to the radio and watching timing and scoring.

Not trying to derail the thread, but I have a 19 year old grandson who fits the demographic of the gun violence in Indianapolis. As a grandfather, I worry about him constantly. He's a great young man, but you can always be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I have defended Indianapolis for years as a great city. I have a daughter and five grandkids who live on West 10th Street. I pick them up and drop them off nearly weekly. The kids go to Ben Davis and I attend sporting events there. So, I'm not going to argue the state of the city. Based on my experience and my daughter's, the city has problems. The question was if some people would choose to watch the Mad Ants instead of going to a Pacers game. My opinion, I think some will.

I've lived either in Indianapolis or near by for over 70 years. I always felt safe when in the city whether attending events or going to restaurants. That's not the case anymore. I retired in 2009 after working downtown for over 33 years. I just don't go down there unless I have to. It makes me sad. So, if I have an entertainment alternative outside the city, I'm taking it even if it's not quite the same.

Not my point. We, as fans, get caught up in kids should pick us based on our pedigree. They don't. At this point IU basketball is no different than an NBA franchise shopping for the best players we can afford.

He is a kid trying to make the best decision for him. There is no loyalty to a school involved in any of these decisions. They all selfish in nature and have nothing to do with playing for the glory of old IU. They are always about what gets these kids where they want to go the quickest. In this college basketball world, especially with the portal, they are all mercenaries. I hate everything about it.

I hate that we invest so much time and energy into the decisions that teenagers make. I want IU to accumulate as much talent as possible but not at the point of groveling at the feet of kids. I'm sure that CMW conducts himself in a very professional and business like manner. But we fans can get over the top. Even with this kid, we will have a lot of work to do to integrate this many new players into a good basketball team.

I'm not sure there is anything to discuss until someone commits to IU. The kids already on the team want to play too. If I were them, I'd be working my ass off to make sure I was better than whoever was being added to the team. If they aren't, then it's on them if someone takes their spot. I think everyone who has ever played team sports knows that is how it works.

Like this addition as well. Also like that we have CMW to make the pieces fit.

I've just never understood how men can abuse women and children. It has always felt instinctual to me to be protective also. I can be in any store and not hear a thing going on around me, until a child starts crying. Then I'm looking to see what's happening.

Not just with kids, in the old days guys always took the street side when walking with women.