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Page 6 • The News-Banner • THURSDAY, MARCH 8, 2012
Indy loses a favorite son
as Manning bids farewell
By CLIFF BRUNT
AP Sports Writer
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Race car
driver Ed Carpenter watched in amazement
as Peyton Manning transformed
his hometown.
The longtime Colts fan remembers
when the NBA’s Indiana Pacers ruled
the basketball-crazed city, and saw
how that shifted within a few years of
the Colts drafting Manning in 1998.
Carpenter reflected on it after the
Colts released the four-time MVP on
Wednesday.
“I remember going into (Colts)
games at the RCA Dome and at packed
(Pacers) games at Market Square Arena,
and even now you go to half-full Pacers
games and packed crowds at Lucas Oil
Stadium,” the 31-year-old Carpenter
said. “I don’t think without Peyton that
ever would have happened.”
Colts fans, now forced to view the
city’s sports landscape without their
greatest hero, struggled to deal with it
despite knowing that the move seemingly
makes good business sense. The
dismay stretched from the streets of
Indy to the governor’s office and to
Manning himself as he said goodbye,
standing beside team owner Jim Irsay.
“I sure have loved playing football
for the Indianapolis Colts,” Manning
said. “For 14 wonderful years, the only
professional football I’ve known has
been Colts football.”
The move brings an end to a golden
run in a city that Manning helped turn
into an NFL power.
“I think in terms of the sport and the
Kentucky,
Syracuse
have edge
for NCAA
top seeds
By EDDIE PELLS
AP National Writer
Even the chairman of the
tight-lipped NCAA selection
committee can’t deny this
simple fact: Heading into this
week’s conference tournaments,
there’s Kentucky and
Syracuse, and then everybody
else.
In a teleconference to preview
Sunday’s release of the
NCAA tournament pairings,
committee chairman Jeff
Hathaway all but handed two
of the four top seeds to the
Wildcats and Orange, each
of whom entered their conference
tournaments with a
record of 30-1.
“I think we all agree that
if the season ended today, we
know who the two best teams
are,” he said Wednesday. “If
you’re looking at 3 and 4 on
the first line and the entire
second line, we have the same
handful of teams in mind but
where they would be laced
will be a tremendous debate.”
Though Hathaway, the former
athletic director at defending
national champion Connecticut,
did not get specific,
among those lumped into
consideration for the other top
seeds are Duke, Kansas, North
Carolina, Missouri, Ohio State
and Michigan State.
The brackets come out
Sunday evening, with the
tournament starting Tuesday.
When Hathaway was
pressed about his Kentucky-
Syracuse statement, he tried
to back off.
“I don’t want to say anyone
should feel secure,” he said.
“If I did, those two coaches
would get after me and say we
took away some motivation.”
He said injuries or a suspension,
each of which the
committee considers when
making up the bracket, could
change the picture.
“The bottom line is, everyone
today knows that if the
season ended, we would say
those two teams are the best in
the country,” Hathaway said.
As is typical in the lead-up
to Selection Sunday, the chairman
talked a lot about process
but offered few specifics or
promises.
He said the Big Ten, widely
perceived as the strongest
conference top to bottom this
season, would not receive
special consideration for a top
seed.
“The fact of the matter is,
conference RPI and conference
rankings are not brought
up in the rating room at all,”
Hathaway said, speaking to a
change the selection committee
made in the time since he
joined five years ago.
state of Indiana, he made football relevant
in Indiana,” former Colts executive
Bill Polian said. “When he first
arrived, Indiana was a basketball state.
The pecking order was IU basketball,
the Pacers, and then the Colts. Now,
although IU basketball is back, and
we’re thrilled about that, and the Pacers
are back, and we’re thrilled about
that, the Colts and football are at least
sharing top billing, and that’s all due to
Peyton Manning.”
Just before noon, the Indianapolis
Colts Grille downtown was packed
with customers waiting to watch the
Manning announcement, some asking
for towels and tissues in anticipation of
the bad news. General manager Mike
Duganier said all 66 flat-screen TVs
were tuned to the news conference at
full volume and the entire restaurant
watched in silence.
When Manning finished speaking,
the restaurant broke out in applause.
Duganier quickly changed the channel
to Big East basketball to lighten the
mood.
“We’re a Colts grille, not a Peyton
Manning grille,” Duganier said. “We’re
all Peyton fans, but this is a restaurant
by the Colts for Colts fans.”
Manning, who played his college
ball at Tennessee and has family roots
in Louisiana, has been a popular figure
for years in Indianapolis. His work
with kids became so prominent that St.
Vincent Hospital renamed its children’s
wing in his honor, and his imprint there
is everywhere — autographed helmets,
jerseys hanging, a painting of him in
Taking advantage of Wednesday’s spring-like weather
Danielle (Oman) Kunkel, a 2002 Bluffton High School graduate and now a Bluffton track
coach with her husband, Brent Kunkel, instructs team members (top photo) about high jumping
on Wednesday afternoon at Fred F. Park Field. While the track teams were working out, the
baseball team (bottom photo) was going through preseason conditioning on the new artificial
turf on the football field. A video clip of the Bluffton track and baseball teams working out at
Park Field may be seen by going to the News-Banner's "Sports & Outdoors" blog by browsing
our blogs at www.news-banner.com (Photos by Paul Beitler)
Sports Roundup
Drew Imel sees action
for IPFW golfers
Drew Imel, a junior at IPFW in Fort
Wayne, placed 29th at the Caribbean Intercollegiate
men’s golf tournament in Ponce,
Puerto Rico.
Imel, a Norwell High School graduate
from Bluffton, shot a 229 (78-74-77) for
the three-day tournament, which concluded
Wednesday. Imel was fourth for the Mastodons,
who placed sixth behind Rollins
College, which was first with a team score
of 859. St. John’s was second with 866,
followed by USC Upstate with 877, Laval
University 878, Old Dominion 878 and
IPFW 895.
E.J. Tackett, tied for 14th place, to lead
IPFW with a 220. Patrick Kundenreich tied
for 25th with 225. Jacob Groninger was
27th with 227 and Bruno Carvalho was
30th with 231.
Registration for
Bluffton Youth Baseball
The Bluffton Youth Baseball Association
will hold registration for its Farm League
and Junior League from 9 to 11 a.m. on Saturday,
March 10, at the City Building.
Additional registration will be from 6 to
8 p.m. on Tuesday, March 13, at the Wells
County Boys and Girls Club.
Farm League is for children 8-10 years
old and Junior League is for ages 11-12 as of
the lobby.
Manning shows up, too. Employees
raved about how he comes and just
walks around, no reporters in sight.
“He’s contributed in ways people
can see, like his children’s hospital, but
he has also done so many things that
he insists no one know about,” Gov.
Mitch Daniels said. “There have been
countless times that he has called me
when we’ve had some kind of need
and said, ‘Governor, I want to help,’
and he’ll do everything but associate
his name with it. We are going to
miss seeing No. 18 under center for the
Colts, but I am happy to hear he will
continue to call Indianapolis his home.
It’s not a happy day.”
Manning’s departure was news many
fans expected after he missed last season,
yet hoped wouldn’t come to pass.
“When the Super Bowl was here,
everybody talked about our ‘Hoosier
hospitality,’ and this is a part of it,” said
Melody Whitlow as she learned of the
news. “He’s one of our own, and he
always will be.”
Larry Bird, the most famous Hoosier
of all from his storied prep days to Indiana
State to the NBA, agreed.
“Peyton Manning is the best professional
athlete to ever play in Indianapolis,
truly a one-of-a-kind player, maybe
a once-in-a-lifetime player,” said Bird,
now the president of basketball operations
for the Pacers. “Being a small market,
having a player like him come here
and do what he did on and off the field
is remarkable. ... We wish him nothing
but the best.”
May 1. For more information call 824-6069.
A team manager also is needed. Interested
persons should call 385-2073.
Wells Junior League
sign up set
Wells County Junior League Baseball
registration is set for 4-8 p.m. on March 13
and 15 and 9 a.m.-1 p.m. on March 10 and
17 at New Hope Lutheran Church, which is
located on the south side of Ossian on Ind.
1. For more information call 260-413-2587.
Junior League is for children ages 9-12.
Youth baseball
sign up at Ossian
Registration for Northern Wells Minor
League Baseball, Ossian Little League and
Ossian Sandy Koufax League will be held
from 4-8 p.m. on March 13 and 15 and
from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. on March 10 and 17 at
New Hope Lutheran Church, which is on
the south side of Ossian on Ind. 1. For more
information call 260-413-2587.
Regional caravan slated
A caravan is being arranged to follow the
Norwell boys’ basketball team bus to the
Blackford regional at Hartford City on Saturday.
The bus will be leaving at 8:45 a.m.
The caravan will form at 8:30 a.m. in the
parking lot near the tennis courts. Sectional
championship T-shirts are on sale for $10 in
the athletic office.
By CLIFF BRUNT
AP Sports Writer
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) —
Michigan State coach Tom
Izzo has never seen anything
like this.
He says he can’t remember
a Big Ten season where
the top of the league was so
balanced and the bottom-tier
teams were so competitive.
Not since he became a head
coach, not since he joined the
Michigan State staff in 1986.
He believes the Big Ten is the
nation’s best conference.
“I don’t think there’s any
question, and you’ll get arguments
until the cows come
home about what conference
is the best, this and that, I still
say, you look top to bottom,
and if it isn’t the best, this
year is the best of the 27 years
I’ve been here,” Izzo said.
It also means that the
Big Ten tournament, which
begins Thursday at Banker’s
Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis,
is one of the most unpredictable
ever.
“In years past, you would
say, these two teams and
maybe a surprise here and
there,” Northwestern coach
Bill Carmody said. “This
year, I really wouldn’t know
what to say. Anybody could
beat anybody. I think all the
way down, there could be
some upsets. It’s going to be
a fun tournament.”
Izzo hopes the balance
doesn’t work against the conference.
“We’ve all beaten up each
other,” he said. “Usually,
there’s a couple teams at the
bottom that might not have a
win in a year like this. I hope
it doesn’t hurt us.”
Michigan State has
earned the top seed as part
of a three-way split for the
regular-season conference
crown. Michigan is the No. 2
seed and Ohio State is No. 3.
Those teams earned byes and
will play their first games on
Friday.
Play began Thursday
when No. 8 seed Iowa met
No. 9 Illinois at 11:30 a.m.,
followed by No. 5 Indiana
SPORTS
Rupright in the
running for Indiana
Girls’ All-Star team
Norwell senior center Jessica Rupright has been selected
to participate in the Hoosier Basketball Magazine’s Top
60 Workout on Sunday, March 11, at Marian University in
Indianapolis.
The Top 60 senior girls were chosen
by Garry H. Donna, publisher of Hoosier
Basketball Magazine.
A group of 28, primarily from northern
and southern Indiana, will compete
in the first session from 1-3 p.m., while
the remaining 32 girls, primarily from
central Indiana, will work out during
the second session from 3:30-5:30 p.m.
Two of the Top 60 invitees are from
Class 4A state champion Indianapo-
lis North Central — Rachael Gregory and Nariah Taylor.
Three are from 3A state runner-up Mt. Vernon (Fortville)
— Jessica Brown, Anna Olson and Makenzi Reasor.
Other Top 60 participants
include six
of the state’s highest
scorers: Taylor Miller,
Hauser (24.3 ppg);
Amanda Moore,
Seymour (23.9 ppg);
JoJo Daghe, Speedway
(23.6 ppg); Jaidlin
Delph, Sheridan
(22.5 ppg); Staci
Groom, Tippecanoe
Valley (21.6 ppg);
and Nicole Rogers,
Western (21.5 ppg).
The list also
includes the following
12 girls who will play
at in-state Division
I universities: Katie
Brewer, Roncalli
(Butler); Abby Dean,
Carmel (Valparaiso);
Laura Friday, Marion
(Evansville); Kasey
Johnson, Plainfield
Jessica Rupright
Jessica Rupright (left) became
the all-time girls' scoring leader
for Norwell after compiling 1,591
points during her four-year career.
(Indiana State); Blaire Langlois, Carmel (Butler); Taylor
Miller, Hauser (Ball State); Jocelyn Mousty, Eastern-Pekin
(Ball State); Courtney Ogle, Columbus East (IPFW);
Makenzi Reasor, Mt. Vernon-Fortville (Indiana State);
Nicole Rogers, Western (IUPUI); Akilah Sims, Fort Wayne
Snider (IUPUI); and Brittany Webb, Heritage Christian
(Indiana). Rupright will be attending Miami of Ohio.
Both sessions are open to the public for an admission
fee of $7.
Big Ten Tournament
sports balanced field
against No. 12 Penn State.
The evening matchups are
No. 7 Northwestern against
No. 10 Minnesota and No. 6
Purdue vs. No. 11 Nebraska.
The semifinals are Saturday
and the championship is Sunday.
Michigan State’s road
this week and beyond will
be tougher because forward
Branden Dawson has torn
the ACL in his left knee. The
freshman averages 8.4 points
and 4.5 rebounds per game.
Of course, Izzo’s teams
have been tournament tough
for years, and perhaps his list
of accomplishments — he’s
been to six Final Fours and
won a national championship
— perhaps pushes the Spartans
into a favored role.
While Izzo is proven,
Michigan is going through a
resurgence. Michigan’s John
Beilein said the effort that
went into fighting for the regular-season
title should help
the Wolverines prepare for
the tournament.
“We’re going to have to
have a mentality of sticking
to things, and having a right
mental approach because of
everything that was at stake
during that time that you’re
trying to be a champion.”
Ohio State’s Thad Matta
has chosen not to look ahead.
“The one thing we’ve
always done in going into
these tournaments is take it
one game at a time, because
you won’t know who you’re
playing until we get there,”
he said. “We never go in talking
about trying to win a conference
championship. We
always go in with the same
approach.”
While Michigan State,
Michigan and Ohio State
are nearly certain to make
the NCAA tournament field,
Northwestern (18-12) likely
needs at least two wins to
qualify for the first time ever.
“I think these guys know
the history better than I do,
almost,” Carmody said. “I
just look at it game by game.
They probably talk about that
amongst themselves.”
High School Calendar
Friday, March 9
TRACK & FIELD: ACAC Indoor Meet at IPFW, 5 p.m.
Saturday, March 10
BOYS BASKETBALL
IHSAA Class 3A Regional at Blackford, NorthWood vs.
FW Dwenger, 10 a.m.; Muncie Central vs. Norwell, noon;
championship game at 7:30 p.m.