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  Nothing to do this weekend? The Trib-Star's 'BASH offers suggestions

  Community Theatre of Terre Haute’s main stage season finale opens this Friday, with the hit Broadway comedy “Social Security,” directed by Sonni Crawford.

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  ISU plans hearing on proposed tuition/fees increase

  Indiana State University will conduct a public hearing at 2 p.m. June 4 to receive input on a proposed 1.95 percent increase in student tuition and mandatory fees for the 2013-14 and 2014-15 academic years.

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July 14, 2012

HUGHES NEWS & VIEWS: Colts? Broncos? Maybe there’s more than enough room for both

David Hughes The Tribune-Star The Tribune Star Sat Jul 14, 2012, 05:00 AM EDT

I’ve got a longtime buddy who I’m fairly sure rarely, if ever, reads this column.

Great guy, but he’s just not a huge sports fan.

That’s fine by me. I’m not much of an opera fan. Or a car-parts fan. Or a Food Network fan, although I do like food.

We all have different likes and dislikes. That’s what makes the world go ’round.

Anyway, this buddy occasionally brings up sports-related topics in conversations because he realizes I am a newspaper sports writer. Sometimes he mentions the NFL and he starts telling me which team is his favorite, which is his second favorite, which is his third favorite, etc…

During these discussions, I always think to myself: “C’mon man, pick one team and stick with it. There’s no need for multiple favorite teams.”

But now I’m struggling with the reality that this fall I will be almost as indecisive as my friend. That’s because the Indianapolis Colts, my favorite team since the late 1980s, are now Team 1A and the Denver Broncos are Team 1B on my short list of favorites.

Figuring out why should not be difficult.

Like many Hoosiers, I did not appreciate how Colts owner Jim Irsay kicked Peyton Manning and his surgically repaired neck to the curb after all those years he dedicated to the organization. On the other hand, I understand why Irsay would want Andrew Luck wearing the horseshoe for the next 12-15 years.

So when Manning became a free agent, the Broncos and John Elway recruited him as if he were a tall Terre Haute kid who could play basketball.

As you all know, their efforts proved successful and Manning is wearing orange in 2012.

Although I have no inside sources, media reports out of Denver say the 36-year-old Manning appears to be about 90 percent of his former self. Give him a couple more months and maybe, just maybe, he can get close to 100 percent.

Wishful thinking? Perhaps, but I’ve always been a positive thinker.

So a season I originally thought would be disastrous — with Dallas Clark, Pierre Garcon, Jeff Saturday, Joseph Addai and Jacob Tamme also leaving the Colts for new teams — might actually be fun to watch if Manning can strike up Reggie Wayne-like chemistry with Demaryius Thomas and/or Eric Decker.

Now let’s look at the Colts. For some reason, Wayne decided to stay, even though he was a free agent and could have signed with a more veteran-based team. But I’m glad he’s still a Colt.

Besides Wayne, there aren’t many familiar names returning — mainly Austin Collie (one more year removed from his concussion issues) and the improving Donald Brown on offense along with Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis on defense.

Then there’s that new guy filling Manning’s shoes, although Luck doesn’t like to think of it that way. In order to contend for the AFC South championship or a wild-card playoff berth, the Colts will need Luck to play more like a veteran than a rookie, which is easier said than done.

But this won’t be the NFL’s toughest division this season. A slip-up or key injury for the Houston Texans could send them tumbling back to the pack, giving a fast-starting surprise team the confidence to jump into the lead. I doubt if Jacksonville is capable, so that would leave Tennessee or Indianapolis.

Odds are against the Colts because they’re incorporating new coaching philosophies with a bunch of new players, but Luck is considered a once-in-a-generation quarterback. If he plays like Cam Newton did as a Carolina rookie in 2011, Indy might not be as bad as the so-called experts expect.

Now that I’ve proclaimed my allegiance to two NFL teams, I fully anticipate being labeled a bandwagon jumper, especially by a couple of Facebook friends I have in mind. But who can blame any Colts fan for wanting Manning to do well, even in a different uniform? It’s not like the Colts and Broncos are scheduled to play each other this season, so I won’t be forced to choose between them anytime soon.

I’ll even keep a closer eye on Tampa Bay (Clark), Washington (Garcon), Green Bay (Saturday) and New England (Addai), although I refuse to root for the Patriots under any circumstance.

Such diversity in my NFL attention will put me in the same boat with my longtime friend for a few years (until Manning retires), but he’ll never know I wrote this column unless someone tells him.



David Hughes can be reached by phone after 4 p.m. at 1-800-783-8742, Option 4, or at (812) 231-4224; by e-mail at david.hughes@tribstar.com; or by fax at (812) 231-4321.

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Copyright 2013 News From Terre Haute, Indiana. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Hughes News & Views

• Terre Haute runner sets up race to help Boston

  Having competed in the Boston Marathon once before in 2003, 35-year-old Majel Wells of Terre Haute thought she should give it another try in 2013.
  “My goal was just to finish and enjoy Boston,” she reflected this week. “I had an injury [runner’s knee] beforehand, so I wasn’t too worried about beating my time from 2003 [4 hours, 10.20 seconds].
  “But nobody cares about what your time is at Boston anyway.”
  From what I’ve heard over the years, she’s right. Unless you’re a super-serious runner, the Boston Marathon has been more about taking in the atmosphere and having fun than placing in the top 50, although Wells was pleased that she beat her previous time by finishing in 3:55.19 on April 15.
  Obviously, her race time wasn’t the most vivid memory that Wells took away from her 2013 Boston experience.

  April 26, 2013  

• Former South players to play in Saylor benefit game

  I had my first phone conversation with Mike Saylor since mid-February on Thursday and he sounded good.
  The former Terre Haute South High School boys basketball coach, who’s been battling cancer this year, has been traveling back and forth to the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston for chemotherapy treatments.

  April 19, 2013 1 Photo  

• Recent South swimmers Roach, Bray heading to DI nationals

  I’m sure most of you with office jobs can relate.
  When work gets busy, sometimes it’s easy to skim over our emails. After all, how many times do we need to read the same nonsense from alleged Nigerians wanting to make us rich if we’ll send them several thousand dollars first?
  So after having three consecutive days off, that almost happened to me when I returned to work Tuesday. Then I realized that the message from Jeff Thompson, Terre Haute South High School’s boys and girls swimming coach, contained significant news.

  March 20, 2013  

• NCAA Division III basketball tournament returns to Rose-Hulman

  The last time Rose-Hulman served as host for the NCAA Division III men’s basketball tournament, its game was played inside an old World War II airplane hangar.
  You “old-timers” should know the building I’m talking about and the matchup wasn’t really that long ago — March 6, 1997, to be exact.

  March 1, 2013 2 Photos  

• DAVID HUGHES: Childhood friends use faith, sports to get them through

  When I learned in February 2009 that a rare form of appendix cancer would devastate my life and cause me to miss work for several months, Mike Saylor was among the first to offer assistance.

  February 17, 2013 3 Photos  

• Book review: Thumbs up for ‘Trophies and Tears’

  Now might be too late for giving Christmas presents, but the book “Trophies and Tears: The Story of Evansville and the Aces” is a fascinating read for longtime Indiana basketball fans, particularly those older than 40.
  Written by award-winning Kyle Keiderling of Henderson, Nev., and released in hardcover format in mid-December, the 480-page “Trophies and Tears” documents the rich tradition of the University of Evansville men’s basketball program through recent interviews and research of old yearbooks and newspaper/scrapbook clippings.
  The book contains many cheery moments — behind-the-scenes details of all five NCAA College Division (now known as Division II) championships won in the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s by the Purple Aces and their legendary coach Arad McCutchan — although some of those moments don’t seem so cheery from an Indiana State perspective when the Sycamores found themselves on the losing end of scores.

  December 26, 2012  

• Hughes, News & Views: Wishing for Colts-Broncos playoff matchup from Santa

  There’s plenty of tragedy in the world to bring us down if we let it, so let’s have a light-hearted column today — my annual Christmas gift requests for Santa Claus.
  I already know one of my gift wishes is becoming less likely to happen. That would be for the Indianapolis Colts to face the Denver Broncos in the AFC playoffs.

  December 20, 2012  

• Colts' loyalty tested by Manning, Broncos

  We’re approaching the halfway point of the NFL season and so far it’s been surprisingly enjoyable.
  I wasn’t sure how I would handle following two favorite teams — 1a.) the Indianapolis Colts and 1b.) Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos — but the new arrangement hasn’t caused me any loyalty conflicts yet.
   

  November 2, 2012  

• HUGHES NEWS & VIEWS: Sorting out the sports air waves

  My name isn’t attached to them, but I’m the one who usually puts together the “Sports on the air” television/radio listings that appear daily on this newspaper’s Scoreboard Page.

  October 1, 2012  

• Hughes, News & Views: North junior ready to go racing

  When we last visited 16-year-old Rachel Gutish, she was finishing sixth in the Women’s Enduro X race in the nationally televised Summer X Games at Los Angeles.

  September 20, 2012 1 Photo  

• HUGHES NEWS & VIEWS: Yelovich still striking the ball long on LDA Tour

  In June 2011, I wrote a feature story about former Indiana State basketball center Mick Yelovich making a name for himself as a golfer on the Long Drivers Association (LDA) Tour.
   

  July 20, 2012  

• HUGHES NEWS & VIEWS: Colts? Broncos? Maybe there’s more than enough room for both

  I’ve got a longtime buddy who I’m fairly sure rarely, if ever, reads this column.

  July 14, 2012  

• HUGHES NEWS & VIEWS: Point of Jones’ return

  Since May 14, Indiana high school basketball fans have wondered why Jim Jones would want to come out of retirement at 74.
   

  June 12, 2012 3 Photos  

• HUGHES, NEWS & VIEWS: Questions abound for Indy 500, Manning, baseball sectional

  Phones are ringing less frequently in the Tribune-Star sports department this week.

  May 26, 2012  

• Hughes, News & Views: Hutson getting ready for final stretch toward Olympic Trials

  If Kylie Hutson were a cross-country runner, she’d be approaching the final stretch of her biggest race in about three weeks.

  May 10, 2012  

• HUGHES NEWS AND VIEWS: Rose basketball alumni offer advice to current team

  Bryan Egli and Joe Puthoff, both Rose-Hulman basketball starters I covered in the late 1990s, took their degrees from the prestigious engineering institute and found successful careers in the Indianapolis area.
  Egli, also a former West Vigo High School multi-sport standout, lives in Carmel and works for Thieneman Construction in Westfield. Puthoff lives in Indy and works for Rolls Royce Aircraft Engines.

  March 2, 2012  

• DAVID HUGHES: Super Bowl odds getting stranger and stranger

  Today’s annual “Super Bowl odds column” feels special to me because I’ve been a diehard NFL fan since 1967 and next Sunday will be the first time the big game takes place in our great state of Indiana.

  January 29, 2012  

• HUGHES NEWS AND VIEWS: Coach’s book a chance to remember North Vermillion state champs

  Almost 10 years ago, February 2002 to be exact, the New England Patriots upset the high-powered St. Louis Rams to win Super Bowl XXXVI in New Orleans, the Winter Olympics entertained spectators in Salt Lake City and Terre Haute South High School’s girls basketball team started its tournament run toward a Class 4A state title.

  January 20, 2012  

• HUGHES NEWS AND VIEWS: Plenty of sports-related gifts for columnist's wish list

  Last week, I was all set to beg Santa Claus to give the Indianapolis Colts a certificate good for one NFL regular-season victory.
  Then the 2011 Colts decided to play like the 2009 Colts and clobber the Tennessee Titans on Sunday for their first win of the season. So that present won’t be necessary.

  December 23, 2011  

• HUGHES NEWS AND VIEWS: WTHI defends decision not to show Colts

  When your favorite NFL team is threatening to finish 0-16, you have to figure a few fans will jump off the bandwagon.

  December 2, 2011  

• HUGHES NEWS AND VIEWS: Former South coach Rady makes it look easy

  Jack Butcher, Howard Sharpe and Bill Stearman.

  November 17, 2011  

• HUGHES NEWS AND VIEWS: Wheldon's genuine personality a devastating loss to racing

  Lori Wood, the Tribune-Star’s Indianapolis 500 correspondent since 2000, planned to visit a friend in California and take in the IndyCar Las Vegas 300 as a ticket-buying fan last weekend.

  October 21, 2011  

• HUGHES NEWS AND VIEWS: Past greats proud of ISU’s recent improvements

  Indiana State football alum Chris “Big C” Hicks will turn 58 Saturday and he knows exactly what he wants for his birthday.

  October 14, 2011  

• HUGHES NEWS AND VIEWS: Rose-Hulman hungry for first football victory of season

  The Engineers have not endured a losing season since 2004. But they’ve opened this season at 0-2, causing Sokol to admit they’re desperate for a win.
  “We’re all very hungry for a victory,” he said after practice Thursday. “We all want to taste victory really, really bad.”

  September 23, 2011  

• Valley semipro football team reaches championship of IFL

  The West Central Wildcats’ semipro football team from Terre Haute has been written about before in this column space over the last two years.

  September 17, 2011  

• HUGHES NEWS & VIEWS: Colts cheerleaders glad to get back on field

  When I heard the NFL lockout finally ended this week, I looked for someone affiliated with the Indianapolis Colts to get a reaction.

  July 30, 2011  

• Amateur boxing card set for outdoors at Show-Me's

  We all know what Show-Me’s sports bar is famous for around Terre Haute, right?
  Chicken wings, of course.

  July 15, 2011  

• HUGHES NEWS & VIEWS: Porter’s persistence keeps his boxing career going

  When I walked in Sweatbox Gym through the alley door Wednesday, I wondered if a time machine had taken me back to the 1950s, the glory days of boxing.

  July 9, 2011 4 Photos  

• HUGHES, NEWS AND VIEWS: Seaton aces chance for more Div. 1 volleyball

  Plagued by one injury after another after another, Kristen Seaton was ready to turn off the lights on her volleyball career.
  In her mind, the party was over.
   

  July 1, 2011  

• HUGHES NEWS & VIEWS: Semi-pro football team to kick off season today

  If you’re worried about the NFL season being canceled and you can’t wait months for the college and high school seasons to begin, you can get your football fix tonight at Memorial Stadium.

  June 11, 2011  

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