TERRE HAUTE — Some of the younger guys around the office get a little bit of amusement about the fact that I would rather watch the National Hockey League than the National Basketball Association on my nights off.
It’s not completely a lack of NBA interest. I scour the boxscores every day, try to know the roster of every team, and can appreciate the rather bizarre cast of idiots, malcontents, spoiled brats and near-criminals who populate a reasonably high percentage of those rosters.
I just don’t like to watch them play basketball, or what passes for basketball at the professional level.
I got a sad reminder of why that’s the case earlier this week. Find me another Norm Van Lier in this year’s NBA and I’d be back watching — his team, anyway.
About 30 years ago my uncle took my cousins, Tom and Harry, and me to Wrigley Field on a rainy summer day to see the Cubs play the San Francisco Giants. The game got rained out, but the day was a success for me because, a few rows in front of us in the cheap seats of the left-field grandstand, was Norm and his wife.
“That’s Norm Van Lier,” I told Tom and Harry. “So?” was the response from a couple of even lesser NBA fans than I was. “I’m going to get his autograph,” I said, undeterred.
Norm is less than a year older than I am, so when I handed him my Cubs scorecard to sign he gave me a bored expression that clearly said, “Dude, aren’t you a little old for this?” But he signed. I’ve still got that scorecard somewhere.
He must have been in a really good mood that day, because Stormin’ Norman was never a guy who believed in the value of public relations. He teamed with Jerry Sloan in what has to be the meanest, fiestiest, most physical backcourt in the history of the NBA. How mean were they? Sloan, who some of the old-timers around here might remember from his days at Evansville and now the crusty old coach of the Utah Jazz, was the nice guy of the two.
So find me an NBA player with that kind of passion, and maybe I’ll watch. Until then, I’ll spend my time watching athletes who care about what they’re doing.
• Geography — I’ve mentioned before that the Indiana High School Athletic Association has a limited grasp of that subject, having seen the IHSAA send Seeger to Evansville for a softball semistate (all three other semistates were closer) or North Vermillion to Shelbyville for a basketball regional (something like six high schools in the entire state were farther away from there than the Falcons were).
Now the good folks at the Illinois High School Association are joining the act.
There are four super-sectionals next week for Class 2A boys basketball teams — at Southern Illinois (Carbondale), at Lewis (Romeoville), at Northern Illinois (DeKalb) and at Western Illinois (Macomb). You may have read in this newspaper where the winner of the Robinson Sectional — Marshall, Paris or Tolono Unity — will have to go.
Yes, it’s to Macomb. It might be quicker to get to Macomb than to Carbondale for the folks at Tolono — and I’m not completely sure about that — but for the other schools that’s the farthest distance among the four sites. If Robinson had won its own sectional, the Maroons would have had to travel at least five hours for their next game.
On a school night!
• Wounds remain — Got an e-mail recently from David Troup, manager of the South Bend East Side Little League teams who were declared ineligible at North Terre Haute the past two summers.
According to a Feb. 25 story in the South Bend Tribune, the last boundary map filed by that league with its regional office in 1992 verifies that all the players were legal; unfortunately for the boys and their parents who made the trip, their district administrator was unable to provide documentation at the time.
East Side is not happy with Little League in general as a result. Troup said he wishes all the Terre Haute teams luck this year, but his team will be competing in Cal Ripken.
• Swim stuff — Forgot to mention after Saturday’s state finals that the points scored by Terre Haute South enabled the Braves to finish tied for 16th in the state, while the backstroke points tallied by John Craig Huster put Terre Haute North in a tie for 44th.
And remember the name Kyle Whitaker when you get ready to watch the Olympics in three years. The junior from Chesterton not only set a national record in the 200 IM — did Michael Phelps compete as a high school swimmer? — but an hour or so after that was seen doing the thankless and boring task of holding lane cards for a teammate swimming the 500 freestyle.
Andy Amey can be reached after 4 p.m. for comments or news items at (812) 231-4277 or at 1-800-783-8742; by e-mail at andy.amey@tribstar.com; by mail at P.O. Box 149, Terre Haute, IN, 47808; or by fax at (812) 231-4321.
Amey Takes Aim
Amey Takes Aim: Searching for another Norm Van Lier
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Amey Takes Aim: NHL playoffs to put TVs to good use
If Jenny had known, she probably wouldn’t have bought that TV.
But four or five years ago, my Fathers Day present — for those unfamiliar with Amey family traditions, the Fathers Day one is “let’s get something we all really want and pretend it’s a gift for Dad” — was a 42-inch Vizio. It’s been used even more than the cell phone I never would have bought for myself, or the TomTom that disappeared since Jenny’s smartphone arrived.
And it came with high-def.
I’m not going to insult you by telling you how great high-def is, because to do so would be to imply that you are even farther behind the technological curve than I am. I’m guessing, however, that not all of you have yet discovered what it does for hockey. -
Amey Takes Aim: Can’t bottle the joy of Amey vacations
The first bad sign was the Gatorade bottle.
In the Bataan-Death-March drive to Orlando that got the Amey family spring break vacation off to a bad start, seeing it between lanes of I-24 — as we zipped along at a 100-miles-in-five-hours clip — filled with an ominous yellow liquid was a little bit scary. And although we didn't stop to check for sure, I'm fairly certain I knew about its contents.
And the person stuck in the same traffic jam with us, the one with the existential license plate YMIHR4, couldn’t have asked a more pertinent question.
But, after seeing a lot more of Oak Grove, Ky., than we’d planned, and after enduring more traffic slowdowns in Nashville, we were on our way. Even some rain in the dark in the Smokies didn’t slow us down much, so you would think our first-day troubles were over.
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ANDY AMEY: Farewell to basketball
I believe you’ve heard me say before — just about a year ago, perhaps — that a boys high school basketball season that ends with the Tribune-Star in Bankers Life Fieldhouse can’t be considered a bad one, which is why we have a little celebrating to do thanks to the Linton Miners.
Lover of irony that I am, I’ve also got to point out that this season was another branch sprouting from the Wabash Valley’s most legendary coaching tree, that of Joe Hart.
Joe never got much credit for his work at Dugger, but he took Brody Boyd, Clark Golish and the Bulldogs to a state championship game in 2000, and since then three of his former players — Joe Pigg, Clint Swan and now Joey Hart, his son — also have coached teams in the final game of the season.
Joe probably wishes he could take credit for Doc Nash, another down-home type who gave a banjo lesson earlier Saturday in leading Borden past a bigger, more athletic Triton team (banjo lesson is a Howard Sharpism, for you younger readers), but his lineage is still the best I can think of around here. -
AMEY TAKES AIM: Maroons, Rox final a true Classic
I don’t make predictions nearly as often as I used to, but I had one several months ago that was proven correct last week.
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AMEY TAKES AIM: Nitpicking aside, West Vigo Hall of Fame selections spot on
I can’t imagine a better first class of inductees into the West Vigo High School Athletics Hall of Fame than the one that was feted Saturday night in the Jim Mann Green Dome.
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Tough bunch of people
I’m getting my warm clothes ready for a trip to Linton this week, and if a few thrills from the Miners, Casey or North Vermillion happen the next couple of weeks, I hope I get to see them.
But high school football is over in Vigo County for the season — as coach Chris Barrett of Terre Haute North said, prematurely — and I’m sadder to see it go than usual.
Walking the sidelines and doing midweek or postgame interviews enables me to meet quite a few of the guys whose names you are about to read, and haven’t been more impressed than I was this fall. What outstanding groups of young men. What a tough, tough bunch of people.
Many know that one of my favorite athletic adjectives appeared consecutively in the previous sentence. -
AMEY TAKES AIM: A weekend to remember with ISU’s ’72 football team
They’re all still pretty hale and hearty, the boys of the fall of 1972 who returned to campus over the weekend to honor their former football coach.
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AMEY TAKES AIM: ISU reunion raises more questions than answers
One of the wrestlers I used to hang out with occasionally claimed to be a pretty good second-story man — although he may have just been talking, since I never saw any of the goods — and it was with him in mind that I was able to get access to the Indiana State Wrestling Alumni Reunion late Saturday night.
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AMEY TAKES AIM: Deciding not to ‘vacate’ during ‘vacation’ – & other ventures
Flaunting the law, setting a bad example for the kids in other ways, grooming and acquiring dogs … not a typical Amey family vacation, but an appreciated one just the same.
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AMEY TAKES AIM: Huntsville’s Stars, Havoc take back seat to GGS
The second-best thing about the Amey family’s spring-break trip to Huntsville, Ala., is that we left a lot of things on the table to do the next time we’re down there.
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AMEY TAKES AIM: Rox well represented on Amey teams
If having the state finals in town makes it a successful girls high school basketball season, then certainly having a team to follow at the state finals makes it a very successful boys high school basketball season . . .
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AMEY TAKES AIM: A feeling of pride, not disappointment, comes from watching Rox play
It’s not going to come as a startling admission that I — once the rest of the local opposition has been eliminated from consideration — am an unabashed fan of whatever team the Wabash Valley sends onward in postseason high school sports competition.
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AMEY TAKES AIM: This private school plays basketball the right way
Any girls high school basketball season that ends with state championship games in Hulman Center is a pretty good one — even though I wished I’d seen Riverton Parke and Seeger knock off a couple of private schools the week before to even the public school-private school battle a little bit.
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AMEY TAKES AIM: Even 2 of state’s best once had doubts
Look at them now.
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AMEY TAKES AIM: Getting ready for the dance
Terre Haute North got the good news Sunday night — or did it?
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AMEY TAKES AIM: Harrowing path for state hopefuls
The bad news is that the winner of Class 4A Sectional 13 in boys basketball heads northeast instead of southeast for regional play in March — to Hinkle Fieldhouse instead of Seymour as a result of Indiana High School Athletic Association’s changes.
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AMEY TAKES AIM: A superior all-star arrangement
I don’t work on Wednesdays, so I wasn’t able to attend the first Wabash Valley Football Coaches Association draft last week to set up the annual all-star game that will be June 23 this year.
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AMEY TAKES AIM: The biggest & baddest of a holiday classic
There are more things to love about the Pizza Hut Wabash Valley Classic than could fit in this newspaper, but one of this year’s best things was that for an hour or so on Wednesday, it was Justin Paddock’s world and we were just living in it.
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AMEY TAKES AIM: Taking note of ISU’s latest football win
The biggest difference I’ve noticed, as I transition from the high school football beat to quasi-official status as the Indiana State football beat writer for a few weeks, is the length of the games.
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AMEY TAKES AIM: IHSAA playoff draw not as bad as it could have been
First reaction to the Indiana sectional football pairings drawn late Sunday by the Indiana High School Athletic Association? It could have been a lot worse.
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ANDY AMEY: Between the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame & a hard place
Just in case any of you noticed — with some anticipation — the recent lack of my bylines, I can tell you that your wish (and mine) did come true. It was vacation week for the Amey family.
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Amey Takes Aim: UFC fighter’s bloodines traced back to ISU brothers
As a mild-mannered reporter from a great metropolitan newspaper — or thereabouts — I admit I haven’t paid much attention to the burgeoning mixed martial arts scene.
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AMEY TAKES AIM: Predators’ win is music to new fan’s ears
For many, many years, the number of live games televised on WGN has been cited as perhaps the main reason for the popularity of the Chicago Cubs (it’s got to be something besides masochism, right?).
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AMEY TAKES AIM: You’ll be having a good ol’ time on vacation with the Ameys
When one of the first people you meet is Tammy Wynette’s stepdaughter, when you’ve stepped on the feet of people you haven’t met while trying to navigate Ernest Tubbs’ old Silver Eagle tour bus, and when the activities director of your resort is, well, Elvis, you might be vacationing in Nashville.
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AMEY TAKES AIM: The Annual All-Amey basketball teams close out the prep season
The most encouraging boys high school basketball event I’ve attended so far in 2011 has been the Lafayette Semistate a couple of weeks ago.
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AMEY TAKES AIM: Family remembers Cheryl Weatherman as caring grandmother
As far as Riley and Keely Davis are concerned, Cheryl Weatherman was simply their grandmother, and a pretty darn good one at that.
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AMEY TAKES AIM: Honor to see Turkey Run girls close out memorable career
I don’t know if anyone in this part of the state could actually say they enjoy going to Fort Wayne and back, but I was glad to see the Turkey Run Warriors play one last time during the girls basketball state finals Saturday.
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So many matches, so many favorites
Go ahead, ask me anything about the 224 wrestlers who competed last week at the Indiana state finals — or at least about the 112 wrestlers who survived Saturday’s first round.
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ANDY TAKES AIM: A sportwriters’s lament: Oh, the games we missed
I was already tired of winter by the time that first bitterly cold snap passed through in mid-December, so it’s safe to say the season hasn’t grown on me.
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AMEY TAKES AIM: Time of the season for teams to tough it out
In the last month or so I figure I’ve seen at least four boys high school basketball teams with legitimate state-championship dreams as the season heads into its dog days.
- More Amey Takes Aim Headlines
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Amey Takes Aim: NHL playoffs to put TVs to good use
Unusual Heat Wave Bakes Alaska
Raw: Massive Protests Fill Brazilian Streets
Fans Cheer Dramatic Heat Comeback
Raw: Car Jumps Curb in NYC, Injures 8
Raw: Volcano Erupts Near Mexico City
Tiger on Sergio: 'It's Time to Move On'
Raw: Arizona Wildfire Scorches 8 Square Miles
Hunt for Ex-Teamster Boss Hoffa's Remains Ends
Hoffa Mystery Still Fascinates After 4 Decades
Raw: NASCAR Driver Jason Leffler Dies in Wreck
Raw: German President Welcomes President Obama
Raw: Huge Fire Near Yosemite National Park
Car Crash in NYC's East Village Injures 8
3 Charged in Ohio With Enslaving Mom, Daughter
Raw: 1 Dead in Shooting at Mo. Apartment Complex
Ex-NFL Star Chad Johnson Out of Jail
Obama Renews Call for Nuclear Reductions
Failed Cuba-to-Florida Swimmer Won't Try Again
Ohio Woman Accuses 3 of Holding Her Captive
Today in History June 19
Rihanna Hits Fan With Microphone
Exclusive: Locklear & Seymour Lock Lips
Miami Heat Wins in Overtime
Fists, chairs fly in restaurant brawl
Journalist Michael Hastings Dies in Fiery Hollywood Crash
Hairy Leg Stockings Aim to Deflect Male Attention
Inside Kim Kardashian's Premature Labor
Three Charged for Enslaving Mother and Daughter
Spurs' Popovich has no problem with Spurs' intensity
RAW: NSA Director Says 50 Plots Foiled
Paige Butcher Scorches on Hawaii Beach
Video: worst way to load cargo onto a plane
Never-before-seen footage of '08 Times Square bomber
Obama: NSA Secret Data Gathering 'Transparent'
WATCH IT: Lil Wayne tramples American flag
Mariah Carey Looks Beautiful in a Tiny Cut-Out Swimsuit
Out of Control Boat Throws Passengers Overboard
