Ben Smith | Journal Gazette

Briscoe's long road back

Ben Smith — Sat, 18 May 2013 03:00:00 EST

The road to today began on an airplane, and Ryan Briscoe was nowhere near it. Good a way as any to start this particular Pole Day tale.

By keeping past alive, Bennett will never die

Fri, 17 May 2013 03:00:00 EST

So they come to me now and they tell me Carl Bennett has gone to his reward, and what I think about that, what is the easy and entirely proper segue, is this: It better be a hell of a reward.

Parity is back in IndyCar as 500 looms

Sun, 12 May 2013 03:00:00 EST

So, this is not just about Chip and the Captain anymore, apparently. This is about Super Tex waking up the echoes, too.

Bet on long shot with great story

Ben Smith — Fri, 03 May 2013 03:00:00 EST

Well, there goes that grand plan. Apparently, My Friend Flicka isn't running the Kentucky Derby this year.

Coleman hoping to wow Seahawks

Ben Smith — Wed, 01 May 2013 03:00:00 EST

His phone chirped at him about 9 p.m., not long after the last name had been called in Radio City Music Hall. The NFL draft was done. The dream, however ...

Draft gurus miss as often as a chair

Ben Smith — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 03:00:00 EST

Let's hear it out there today for the gurus, the geeks, the lab coats, the draftniks - and of course the Follicles Indestructible of Mel Kiper Jr., reigning master of all of the above.

Cardinals QB unassuming star

Ben Smith — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 03:00:00 EST

He's wearing the Magic Blue Don't Hit Me Jersey this day, which is how you know spring has sprung. It's April now, November disguise be hanged. And so Keith Wenning's last season - his final exam, if you will - seems miles and eons away.

Ever the coach, Keady shares his insights

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 03:00:00 EST

The man always could work a room. And so hand Gene Keady that microphone there - what the heck, hand him two - and open the floor for questions, here on this gray rain-hammered evening.

Ex-K's coach finds glory down south

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 03:00:00 EST

So another spring has come around, and the view has not changed. Here again are the hockey players sprawled on the ice. Here again is the silver cup in their midst, about to be filled with delicious adult beverages.

Now Ants know what playoffs about

Ben Smith — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 03:00:00 EST

Ah. So this is what the playoffs look like. They look like Tony Mitchell dropping jumpers, pretzeling to the tin, stacking up points like a miser stacking his gold.

Hooton prepared to pitch in

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 03:00:00 EST

OK, first things first: The man can still bring the knuckle-curve. Sometimes, that is. Occasionally. When his arm, you know, lapses into a coma and forgets it's 63 years old.

Baseball plays role as common language

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 03:00:00 EST

So here comes summer now, and it's speaking in tongues. There is liquid Spanish, and every flavor of English under the sun. Over here, a little no-worries Australian. Over there, a Tennessee drawl fit for a porch swing. And right here, shirtless and inked up with some truly breathtaking body art ...

Madness at home in this tourney

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 03:00:00 EST

And now on to Atlanta, and a Final Four for every appetite. Diversity is our deal now, right? And so we've got Louisville, the lordly No. 1 seed, for those uncomfortable living outside the box.

Hoosiers left vulnerable after peaking too early

Sat, 30 Mar 2013 03:00:00 EST

I see what Jim Boeheim did there. He made a guy 7-feet tall disappear.

Komets get offseason to fix lost season

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 03:00:00 EST

So the season slips off without the usual tumult and shouting, and the silence is deafening. No playoff run? No once-upon-a-Jungle roar? No streamers dancing in the air currents as the Cup, whichever Cup, makes its slow turn around the ice.

Indiana will remember swat like they did shot

Ben Smith — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 03:00:00 EST

This was Watford For The Win all over again, only bloodier and less pretty. It was the dagger three without the dagger, and also the three. And it made a flatter sound, an uglier and yet somehow more substantial sound, than the original version.

Owls facing who's who of trouble in Hoosiers

Ben Smith — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 03:00:00 EST

Suddenly he's the bomb-disposal guy from "The Hurt Locker," though Fran Dunphy more resembles Jim Nabors than Jeremy Renner. Which wire do you snip, the red or the green one? And what's up with this blue wire.

Indiana gives James Madison history lesson

Ben Smith — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 03:00:00 EST

Maybe the Namesake could have stopped this, though it ain't likely. James Madison rises from the grave, him and his killer crossover. Brings Alexander Hamilton along from the Great Cosmic Cornfield. Brings Tom Jefferson, too.

Hoosiers grow from 3 years as underdogs

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 03:00:00 EST

No way they pull this off, these Indiana Hoosiers coming at you with their neon earnestness and practice duds the color of arterial blood. What they know about James Madison you could fit inside a miser's purse, and that is that.

That Game helps establish agenda for '13 Irish team

Ben Smith — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 03:00:00 EST

That Game is miles behind them now, a dwindling bloodstain in their mirrors. Brian Kelly says it's history, and - even at Notre Dame, where history is something you can breathe like air - that means it's as dead as disco.

IU going through motions as top seed

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 03:00:00 EST

So now you crack open the archives, trying to divine a few things. A No. 1 seed? What does that mean, exactly, for your Indiana Hoosiers? "There are only four of them, and we're one of them," head coach Tom Crean says, wearing his Mr. Obvious hat at a rakish angle.

Still plenty of drama left for Hoosiers

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 03:00:00 EST

Four days later, the dance is over, and, no, not that Dance. This dance involved a basketball and a rim, two old and contentious partners. And it seemed to last forever.

Optimistic Komets still eye berth in postseason

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 03:00:00 EST

For sure there's still a chance, as the sleepy building spills its orange-and-black guts into the dregs-of-winter night. There's always a chance, right? As long as the arithmetic holds out.

Archers, Cavs building their legacies

Ben Smith — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 03:00:00 EST

They'll stand as the bookends to this day, and that is as it should be. Is there anything more right than Canterbury at one end of the girls state finals and South Side at the other? Is there anything more ... well, cosmic.

South uses loss as springboard

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 03:00:00 EST

The light went on for them in southern Indiana, 10 days before the sectional. South Side's girls were at Bedford North Lawrence, the No. 2 team in Class 4A. It was halftime. South coach Juanita Goodwell walked into her locker room, and it was not what she saw, but what she didn't see, that jumped out at her.

IU proves it's the best in the land

Ben Smith — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 03:00:00 EST

You can see how this happens now, as Victor Oladipo buries the last two nails. You can see the deep run. See the March into Madness. See, yes, a sixth banner, swaying gently in the air currents at the top of Assembly Hall.

Hoosiers learn from Illini loss

Ben Smith — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 03:00:00 EST

Ninety long seconds to go. Jordan Hulls with the basketball. Jordan Hulls - ruh-roh - without the basketball. And here it was, your post-teachable moment.

IU: Forget loss, Ohio State awaits

Ben Smith — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 03:00:00 EST

Dwell Time is down to minutes now, in this hard slog of a season. So at least they've got that going for them. At least your Indiana Hoosiers, if they're the basketball team the evidence suggests, have already shoved those three lost minutes in Champaign, Ill., down the memory hole and are on to the next thing.

Undersized Tech keeps on winning

Ben Smith — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 03:00:00 EST

This is your father's basketball team, as it turns out. The guy who jumps center scrapes the sky at 5-foot-10. The center himself was a small forward last year and a shooting guard in high school. And the coach ...

History says Ravens will knock off 49ers

Ben Smith — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 03:00:00 EST

People keep asking, and we're, like, 12 minutes away from the Preface To The Introduction To The Forward To The Super Bowl Pregame Show, so I guess it's time now for the big reveal. A football team will win Super Bowl XLVII today.

Trap game? Purdue caught in IU's snare

Ben Smith — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 03:00:00 EST

So there went the storyline, stolen by Victor Oladipo. Shot down by Jordan Hulls and Christian Watford. Schooled in the paint by that estimable PhD of post-up-ology, Cody Zeller.

Crunch time is Zeller time for Indiana

Ben Smith — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 03:00:00 EST

They still lean on the kid, and there's your lockdown truth for today. Cody Zeller can vanish like smoke at times or hibernate or get so crosswise with the rim you think they're never going to make nice again, and you know what happens.

Zeller's off night no reason for IU Nation to panic

Ben Smith — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 03:00:00 EST

The Big Handsome left a big handsome door wide open, vanishing like that. Two points and eight boards? At home? Against winless-in-the-Big Ten Penn State.

Crazy, yes; pick Ravens, 49ers

Ben Smith — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 03:00:00 EST

Conventional wisdom showed up on my doorstep the other day, dressed in a Tom Brady jersey. "You're certifiable, you know," ol' CW said. "You really think Joe Floppo's gonna go up to Foxborough and beat Darth Hoodie and Giselle's Husband? In January? With another Super Whatever on the line?" He shook his head sadly.

Core leaders help K's weather change

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 03:00:00 EST

He's the first guy you see, bumping through that door after too long away. Here's the short hallway and here's the arena and out there on the ice, framed in the open bench gate, is Komets defenseman Brent Henley, doing a little post-practice stretching. He looks up. His eyes widen.

Gimmick' offenses help young QBs adapt

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 03:00:00 EST

And here you thought Vince Lombardi was rattling around some celestial sideline these days, shaking his fist at Tom Landry and wondering why the heck the heavenly host was always grab-grab-grabbin' out there, as opposed to tacklin'.

Put Bonds, Clemens in the Hall

Ben Smith — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 03:00:00 EST

I don't know who gets the Hall call today. The Baseball Writers Association of America runs that show, and the only sure thing about the BBWA is that dopey comes in as many flavors as Baskin-Robbins, and the BBWA features 'em all.

NHL follows path to ruin IHL blazed

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 03:00:00 EST

I know who Gary Bettman's problem is. It's that guy in Siesta Key who's sitting on the beach right now not missing Pavel Datsyuk.

Another plot twist in Colts' wild year

Ben Smith — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 03:00:00 EST

So now January, the playoffs, a few more twists in the plot from whatever mad novelist has taken over the Indianapolis Colts' outlandish tale. This week's installment.

It's been an amazing ride'

Ben Smith — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 03:00:00 EST

Maybe that sign up there. Maybe that's where you begin this.

Disease took athletic career, not spirit

Tue, 25 Dec 2012 03:00:00 EST

He aches to play again, five years along. Strip this down to its core, go deep to the mattress with it, and it is as simple and as complicated and as plain bare wood as that.

Fill-in has been Colts' true leader

Ben Smith — Sun, 23 Dec 2012 03:00:00 EST

Some day soon, the Man will walk back through that door again, and the light they've kept burning for him all these weeks will go back to being just a light again. And that will be good. That will be fine. That will be a great day among great days.

History, mystique questions await

Ben Smith — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 03:00:00 EST

And now here it comes, all that lore and fable crashing on in. The Rockne stuff. The Gipper stuff. The Ara stuff, the Lou stuff, the Four Horsemen, Rudy flippin' Ruettiger.

Bulldogs' walk-on makes his moment

Ben Smith — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 03:00:00 EST

So now there's a new refrain in Hoosierville, unlikely but fitting given everything the Butler Bulldogs have been and are and likely will always be under Brad Stevens' steady hand. Now there's a new refrain, and it goes like this: Alex Barlow For The Win.

Colts out to make month memorable

Ben Smith — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 03:00:00 EST

Mewelde Moore has been back merely days, but he knows what this is here. This is the season of dreams. This is a boy, a ball, Mom's flowerbed as one sideline, the neighbor's hedge as another.

Basketball's king for at least a day

Ben Smith — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 03:00:00 EST

"Indianapolis knows how to do basketball."

Maturity key to surprising Colts season

Sun, 09 Dec 2012 03:00:00 EST

Youth was out the window six weeks ago for us. - Bruce Arians, Colts And so you forget, sometimes.

Ball State's turnaround not surprising to coach

Fri, 07 Dec 2012 03:00:00 EST

Go back to the beginning of this, Pete Lembo asks now. Go back to a football program that had fallen from a great height and here comes this guy from GPS Tech (Elon? Where?), and who knew, really? Who knew.

Only 'Johnny Football' could trump Te'o's year

Fri, 30 Nov 2012 03:00:00 EST

I know this Johnny Manziel. He's Archie Manning 2.0, right.

History, hype root for Irish vs. Tide

Tue, 27 Nov 2012 03:00:00 EST

Out there in L.A.., they've baptized Brian Kelly again with something cold and wet, and Manti Te'o is howling into the soft California night. Fans dressed in green are waving Irish flags with "No. 1" scrawled on them. And as for Lane Kiffin, the ill-starred coach of USC ....

There was no shame in losing this one

Ben Smith — Sun, 25 Nov 2012 03:00:00 EST

It ended for them over on the far sideline, with a kid named Brandon Lee busting it toward the end zone with stolen goods as everyone in Lawrence Central maroon sent a delirious howl spiraling up into the Lucas Oil Stadium ironwork.

Colts know how to respond

Ben Smith — Sun, 25 Nov 2012 03:00:00 EST

It's been down the memory hole for a solid week now, and good riddance to bad rubbish. Patriots 59, Colts 24? A 35-7 rump-roasting in the second half? Julian Edelman taking a punt to the house, and then a pick six, and then another pick six.

Tradition carries day for Knights

Ben Smith — Sat, 24 Nov 2012 03:00:00 EST

So here is what history looked like, as Quinn Cook took a knee and the last second fled, and all those Luers kids back there began to chant.

Soft foe roasted in home finale

Ben Smith — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 03:00:00 EST

So here was your odd meteorological event of the day, as halftime arrived Saturday in Rockne's joint: A Stay Puft Marshmallow Man blizzard.

Out to vanquish Foxborough evils

Sun, 18 Nov 2012 03:00:00 EST

And now: Foxborough. Cute little village. Can't get there from here. Mailing address: Geographic Center, Middle of Nowhere, USA. You know those isolated wide spots in the road that Stephen King always populates with vampires and homicidal children? That's Foxborough.