Sports columns | Journal Gazette

Predicting an end to the curse

Ben Smith — Sun, 26 May 2013 03:00:00 EST

Ah, flying in the face of history. Now there's a thrill ride for you.

Indy 500 reclaiming place as special event

Ben Smith — Sat, 25 May 2013 03:00:00 EST

Look, I know how this goes now. I say it, and you roll your eyes. I say it again, and you just sneer. Oh, please. We've heard this a million times before. Time to take off your Mauri Rose-colored glasses and face reality.

Archer a home-grown star

Fri, 24 May 2013 03:00:00 EST

Despite being the No. 1 singles player for four years at South Side, senior Norene Mamani had plenty of doubles partner possibilities over the years. The best bet, though, has always been her father, Sergio.

Jourdain only one frustrated

Ben Smith — Mon, 20 May 2013 03:00:00 EST

Three-thirty on a warm sun-flooded Sunday afternoon, and here's what's stirring around garages B-26 and B-27 in Gasoline Alley: Not a whole lot.

Patience pays off for Allmendinger

Ben Smith — Sun, 19 May 2013 03:00:00 EST

Patience. Now there's an odd word for a cartoon-speed day.

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.

Cubs' owner knows: Fans flock to Wrigley

Jim Litke — Fri, 17 May 2013 03:00:00 EST

If the Cubs were half as good at baseball as they are at artist's renderings, the team would have left Wrigley Field behind long before now.

Who could be on short list to replace Sims?

Tue, 14 May 2013 03:00:00 EST

If Komets general manager David Franke knows who he wants to be his next head coach, he's keeping it to himself.

Pride gets in umps' way

Tim Dahlberg — Mon, 13 May 2013 03:00:00 EST

Take heart, baseball fans. Expanded instant replay is on its way, although it may not be the game changer the sport needs. Not when there are umpires who don't know the rules, and others who ignore what they see in front of them.

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.

Collins' coming out as gay important, hardly groundbreaking

PAUL NEWBERRY — Tue, 07 May 2013 03:00:00 EST

Jason Collins has been compared with Jackie Robinson. And Neil Armstrong. Courageous? Absolutely.

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.

Explaining conference unrest

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 03:00:00 EST

The conference realignment dominoes have begun to fall with the Thursday announcement of the eight-team NHC disbanding in 2015 and the likely addition of Jay County to the ACAC. But why the changes.

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.

We've had an attack'

Mike wise — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 03:00:00 EST

You hear the race announcer calling out the names of finishers one second. The next - clearly audible - comes the blast, ripping through one side of the course, dropping a runner to the ground, killing at least three people, maiming so many more.

Messy win avoided at Masters

tim dahlberg — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 03:00:00 EST

It slipped away early, before Tiger Woods could really give himself a chance. A belated run in the rain on the back nine was never going to be good enough to win this Masters, something even Woods seemed to realize after he missed badly on his last real birdie chance on the 16th hole.

Leadership set Chaulk apart

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 03:00:00 EST

It was 2002 and coach Greg Puhalski had settled on making newly signed center Colin Chaulk the Komets' captain before he'd even come to town. I knew from his time with the UHL's Missouri River Otters that Chaulk was a dynamic playmaker and tenacious defender.

Cadet making her father proud

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 03:00:00 EST

Having her father as coach has definitely helped senior Anna Schillinger, and apparently it's pretty good for the Concordia softball program as well.

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.

Boys boost Concordia basketball lore

Sat, 23 Mar 2013 03:00:00 EST

Concordia has been to the basketball state finals before, winning girls titles in 2010 and 2012.

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.

Cadets have not been short on leadership

Sat, 16 Mar 2013 03:00:00 EST

The last time Concordia made it to a boys basketball semistate, Tim Reinking was leading the program. Well, Reinking is still around as the Cadets have a rematch of sorts against Andrean, the same school they faced 13 years ago, in a Class 3A semistate game today.

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.

Streaks fine; titles better

PAUL NEWBERRY — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 03:00:00 EST

Blowouts. Narrow margins of victory. Lucky breaks. Overwhelming opponents with superior skills. It all adds up to a pair of remarkable streaks in Miami and Chicago.

Celebrate Rivera's unmatched greatness

Tim Dahlberg — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 03:00:00 EST

The last save will be the toughest of them all for Mariano Rivera. The cities and stadiums will all be familiar after 18 years crisscrossing the country, glove in hand.

Brothers, friend form city's own Big Three

Thu, 07 Mar 2013 03:00:00 EST

A rivalry and friendship were formed when Northrop seniors and twin brothers Bryson and Brenton Scott first stepped onto the basketball courts at Spiece Fieldhouse with Bishop Luers junior James Blackmon Jr.

It's time NFL halts liking girls' inquiry

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 03:00:00 EST

Imagine being asked a question about your sexual orientation in a job interview, even if it happens to violate every labor hiring law on the books. And you knew damn well the answer your prospective employer, one of just 32 companies in the world paying top dollar for your specific skills, wanted to hear.

Canterbury's title built on solid foundation

Greg Jones — Sun, 03 Mar 2013 03:00:00 EST

When Ken Harkenrider took over as Canterbury athletic director from Joe Santa in 1991, girls basketball wasn't viewed highly from outsiders or from within the school.

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.

Door closed on girls finals returning to city in 2014

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 03:00:00 EST

One thing is certain regarding the location of next year's girls basketball state finals: It won't be in Fort Wayne.

Everyday heroes help us knock down barriers

Sun, 24 Feb 2013 03:00:00 EST

As we approach the end of Black History Month, I find myself reflecting upon a cultural landscape and personal reality that simply cannot be properly captured in a mere 28-day period each year.

Miles to go for female racers

Janet Guthrie — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 03:00:00 EST

There's an old saying in motor sports: "Speed costs money. How fast do you want to go."

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.

Girls basketball city strength

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 03:00:00 EST

The Summit City is again making its mark on the girls basketball postseason.

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.

Baseball still has stench of drugs

Tim Dahlberg — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 03:00:00 EST

There's something different about spring training this year. It came early because of the World Baseball Classic, and Tim Lincecum came without his long locks. Much, though, remains the same.

Competitive fires burn for Leyland

jim litke — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 03:00:00 EST

Detroit manager Jim Leyland arrived at the Tigers' training camp Monday in Lakeland, Fla., exactly 50 years after he first showed up there as a pencil-thin 18-year-old prospect.

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.

Fearlessness left Vonn vulnerable

Sally Jenkins — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 03:00:00 EST

For a true sense of what happened to Lindsey Vonn, go to the freeze frame.