Just returned from an author presentation for this book. It’s a serious journalistic effort worthy of your attention. It’s not a biography of Bird as much as a look at a unique moment in time and all the people touched by it.

This is the 35th anniversary of Travis Best’s 81-point game in high school in Springfield, Massachusetts. He had 48 at halftime.

Sometimes someone comes to your house and ruins the evening. A look at some examples in basketball games played in Indiana, courtesy of Keaton Wagler, Evan Turner, Mo Williams, Super John Williamson and Austin Carr. www.ibj.com/articles/mar...

Imagine a 15-year-old girl convincing a professional sports commissioner to stop playing games on Christmas Day because she wanted her father to be home. It happened in 1971 when the daughter of the Pacers' coach wrote a letter. www.ibj.com/articles/mar...

Media access has changed a lot over the years. Reporters rarely sit courtside at NBA games now. Many interviews are manipulated by media relations departments. Strange to think it once was OK for a photographer to visit a player in his hospital room and take a picture of publication.

The Vegas oddsmakers have underestimated the Pacers the past three seasons. Have they done it again this year? www.ibj.com/articles/mar...

Sometimes a "failed" athlete finds new life in a new place with new coaches and teammates. Colts quarterback Daniel Jones is the latest example, but there have been others in Indianapolis. My story in this week's Indianapolis Business Journal. www.ibj.com/articles/mar...

My story on Nancy Leonard for the Indianapolis Business Journal. www.ibj.com/articles/mar...

Larry Lannan and I talked sports, mostly on whether or not the Pacers will miss Myles Turner and Rick Carlisle's evolvement as a head coach. soundcloud.com/podcasts-by-...

You reach a stage in life where you realize that with the possible exception of socks and underwear, you’ll never need to buy another article of clothing. Unless you shrink into a smaller size.

Bob Hammel was a homer in his coverage of IU sports, no doubt about it. But he also was talented, prolific, smart and a genuinely nice man. That made for some interesting times in his coverage of Bob Knight's basketball program. Even the chair throw was excused. www.ibj.com/articles/mar...

Costco has put Halloween items on display. Don’t know what took them so long.

Rick Mount has been conducting shooting camps for 45 years. He swears Wednesday will bring the final day of his final one. He doesn’t get around like he once did and can’t put on shooting exhibitions any longer.

The Pacers play the 20th game seven in franchise history Sunday at Oklahoma City. (That includes game five of a best-of-five series.) They are 11-8 in those games, 6-2 in the ABA and 5-6 in the NBA. Rick Carlisle is 2-0 with the Pacers, both wins coming on the road. Was 1-2 with Dallas.

I covered the Pacers' run to and through the NBA Finals in 2000 for The Indianapolis Star. Here's a look back at a memorable season filled with playoff drama. Nearly lost to Milwaukee in the first round, took the Lakers to six games in the last. www.ibj.com/articles/mar...

These are probably the two greatest players who called Indianapolis home. That means they were from a city high school or played for the Pacers. Oscar Robertson is undoubtedly the greatest hs player from the city. You could argue the Pacers had better players than Reggie but none had a better career

You’ll find nonconformists in every crowd. Just throw it over your shoulder if you’re not feeling like one of the masses.

Nancy Leonard has been a fixture at Pacers home games since her husband Slick became the coach in 1968, aside from a period in the early 80s after he was fired and before he became a broadcaster. Health issues have kept her away most of this season but she was back for the last 2 playoff games.

Today brings the fourth edition of Pacers and Racers, as the Pacers host a playoff game on the same day as the Indianapolis 500. The two sporting neighbors have a long history together, as I wrote in the latest edition of the Indianapolis Business Journal at www.IBJ.com.

The New York tabloids are not known for their subtlety.

Pacers were outrebounded (as usual) by the Knicks, 46-39, but only committed seven turnovers and outscored New York 27-4 off turnovers.

Gene Keady turned 89 yesterday. Someone once mailed this article to me. When I brought it up to Keady he said, “No wonder I’m crazy.“ Notice they gave him different ages in the headline and story.

Of the 23 playoff series the Pacers have won in the NBA, 14 were clinched on the road. That’s appropriate for team that won all three of its ABA titles with road victories. Don’t preach to them about homecourt advantage.

The Pacers are 7-22 in NBA playoff series when they open on the road. They have only won one of them when they lost each of the first two games. That was last season against New York.

Lance Stephenson returns to the Pacers. As a fan.

Great gathering in West Lafayette today with former Purdue beat writers, former sports information department members and coach Gene Keady. He’s aging but still has his sharp sense of humor. Referring to his former wife, he said, “Pat liked you guys. She told me, ‘You’re the only asshole in there.’”

The Pacers have the name of every player who has appeared in a game for the franchise on the wall in their practice facility. Even Darvin Ham, who played in one game for five minutes. There are a lot of names, but it’s really a pretty exclusive group in the grand scheme of things.

Great advice. Do not speak his name.

Pacers forward Aaron Nesmith is shooting .915 from the foul line, and is their best clutch shooter. Locked up tonight‘s game with two of them. He’s on a 50-40-90 pace. And is probably their best defender as well.

I wasn’t planning to go strictly with 1 seeds for my Final Four when I begin filling out my brackets, it just turned out that way. So I have a shot at a shining moment.

Interesting broadcasting merger today of two guys with polar opposite backgrounds who played in the state of Indiana. Purdue’s Rob Hummel and Pacer Jalen Rose.

I can’t remember a Pacers win that was more surprising or impressive than the one in OT at Minnesota tonight. Four starters sat out, the other one got kicked out and the 6th man fouled out. Those missing bodies could learn a few things about tempo and ball movement from the guys who played.

It might seem like Robbie Hummel broadcasts a college basketball game every night, but he'll do "only" 84 this season. There's a reason he's fullcourt pressing, and I wrote about it in this week's Indianapolis Business Journal. No paywall on this one, I'm told. www.ibj.com/articles/mar...

Here’s the moon eclipse as it looked in Indianapolis.

Sorry to hear the passing of John Feinstein. His first book, A Season on the Brink, was groundbreaking and eye-opening. He was a great reporter with a great work ethic.

Hardly any court, pool, room or building in the sports world goes unnamed these days. Some naming rights are sold, some are awarded, but there's a prevailing question: what's left for the next round of athletes, coaches and administrators? www.ibj.com/articles/mar...

Not big news anywhere but at Purdue, but Rick Mount plans to attend tonight‘s game against UCLA. He made his college debut against UCLA in 1967 as a sophomore against Johnny Wooden’s defending national champions. He has not been to a game there since they had a bobblehead night for him in 2015.

Grateful that my job enabled me to see some great moments in sports. Like Bob Knight throwing the chair, anti-disco night at Comiskey Park and the brawl at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

Former Indiana Mr Basketball and Purdue All-American Rick Mount signing a copy of Sports Illustrated from 1966. He was the first high school athlete from a team sport to be on the cover. Swimmer Donna de Varona was the first high school athlete to get that honor.

Hubie Brown broadcasts his final NBA game today. When you're still working at 91, your career covers a lot of years. He worked Reggie Miller's first game, on 11-6-87, and his last one, on 5-19-05. Video of Miller's first and last fgs can be seen in audio/video section of www.markmontieth.com.

Pascal Siakam has emerged as the Pacers’ best player and leader, surpassing last year’s “emerging superstar” Tyrese Haliburton. Siakam has scored in double figures in every game, except one, when he had 9 pts on 8 fga against Charlotte.

Is there a more joyless coach in the country than Mick Cronin?

Purdue played a sloppy, uneven game in Iowa, but they’re to the point you expect them to find a way to pull it out in the end, even on the road. And they did. Braden Smith with 31 on 11-15 shooting.

Other winners: NBA media and talk show hosts throughout the country who suddenly have a hot topic to fill the time.

Anyone hear a rumor of the Luka-AD trade? Of course, not. NBA trades that actually occur are almost never rumored. And those rumored almost never occur. And yet some people are practically able to make a living off trade rumors. Fans should know better than to pay attention by now.

This crowd in Paris for the Pacers-Spurs game is not the most enthusiastic I’ve ever seen. They look like wallpaper on television.

Pacers are rolling. Further improvement seems likely when Nesmith can resume full-time starting role and Mathurin becomes 6th man who has bigger role in offense with second unit. Only trade that makes sense would be for a frontline rebounder to address their greatest weakness.

Bob Uecker played in just six games for the Indianapolis Indians in 1960, batting .227. He did have the highlight of hitting an eighth-inning home run in a victory less than 12 hours after his third child was born. He went on to play six MLB seasons from 1962-67 with a lifetime average of .200.

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Thomas Bryant scored 41 points in 10 appearances for Miami. Since traded to the Pacers, he has scored 94 points in 14 games while hitting 59% of his FGA. He and Myles Turner have combined to average 20.7 points on 54% shooting while providing a legit three-point threat from the center position.