Obama to win Indiana in a landslide!

The Roach Polling Institute predicts a Barack Obama landslide victory in Indiana. On Saturday, we conducted a completely unscientific study of voters in Monroe, Owen and Putnam counties. We drove from Bloomington to Greencastle to see the DPU Tiger beat the Sewanee Tigers 27-20. We didn't however get to eat at Marvin's. Why on earth would Marvin's be closed for lunch on a football Saturday? It was even Family Weekend! But I digress. On this approximately 48 mile trip through conservative southwestern Indiana, including the towns of Elletsville, Spencer and Cloverdale, we counted 12 Obama yard signs and only 5 John McCain signs. That leads us to predict a 71%-29% Obama victory. Only time will tell if we're correct!

2008 DePauw Football schedule

Football season is fast approaching! We always try to go to at least one DPU Tigers game at beautiful Blackstock Stadium. Maybe this year Parker will enjoy watching part of the game. And if not, that's ok. We'll get out on a fall day and enjoy a Marvin's GCB. Still a winner.

• Sept. 13 vs. ANDERSON (Community Day)
  
• Sept. 27 vs. SEWANEE (Family Weekend)
• Oct. 11 vs. BIRMINGHAM-SOUTHERN (Old Gold Day)
• Oct. 25 vs. COLORADO COLLEGE
  
• Nov. 8 vs. RHODES
  
• Nov. 15 at Wabash (115th Monon Bell game)

We likely won't be able to make the Sept. 13th game. we'll be busy getting ready for Parker's 3rd Birthday party on the 20th. If you're interested in joining us, let me know!

The weekend by the numbers

The weekend was full of interesting numbers.

3: Number of dimensions that the "U2 3D" concert film was shot in. Four friends and I treked to the Indiana State Museum IMAX theater on Saturday to see the "U2 3D." I thought it was great, but I'm a hopeless U2 fanatic. The film featured 14 songs filmed in stunning IMAX 3D during U2's vertigo tour dates in South America. This was my first trip to an IMAX theater and my first 3D movie. The effect of a 6 story tall, 3D Bono coming at you is hard to imagine. It was an entertaining film, although I pretty much knew what to expect, with two DVDs of concerts from this tour already being released, Milan and Chicago. The visuals were stunning. The 3D was more than what I had even expected and almost motion sickness inducing. The best shots were overhead shots of Larry's drum kit and wide establishing shots made from eye level of the audience. The stage filled the screen and your field of vision as the arms and bodied of the concert goers bounced in front of you. The musical highlight was "Miss Sarajevo," featuring Bono's vocals on the Italian parts originally recorded by the late Luciano Pavarotti. The film's editors didn't cut out all of Bono's sermonizing, but did tone it down for the general public. He did get make his usual plea for religious pluralism and peace. Here's a good review from the Indy Star's Dave Lindquist.




7: Total number of U2 concerts seen by the 5 of us that went to the film.

3: Number of points that the New York Football Giants beat the New England Patriots by in the Super Bowl. While I'm not a Giants fan, it was good to see Tom Brady lose and see Eli Manning finally justified to New York fans. The 18-1, nearly undefeated season will have to be a footnote beside the 1972 Dolphins' 17-0. I was, however, looking forward to not ever hearing anything from Mercury Morris again.

14: Number of years since Tom Petty has released a relevant album. I'd say 1994's Wildflowers was probably the last one anyone cared about.

Mississippi Miracle

Anyone else see this? This past weekend, SCAC Trinity University (7-1) beat defending SCAC champs Millsaps (6-2) in what ESPN called the "the longest play in college football history". 15 lateral passes, 61 yards and 62 seconds later, Trinity beats Millsaps as time expires, 28-24. They’re calling it the “Mississippi Miracle.” Brilliant! These are both good teams. We saw DePauw (7-2) lose to Millsaps on September 29th. DePauw's only other loss of the season was to Trinity. I love Division III football!

The stage is set!

The stage is set for the big AFC Championship game between the Indianapolis Colts and the New England Patriots Sunday. The winner goes to the Super Bowl, the loser goes home. Man, that would be a fun game to attend. Sports rivalries always make the game more exciting, no matter if it's DePauw/Wabash, Pacers/Knicks or Colts/Patriots. The Colts have lost to the Patriots in the playoffs in two of the last three years, including their last shot at the AFC Championship in 2004. It reminds me of some of the great Indiana Pacers vs. NY Knicks NBA playoff series during the 1990s. The Pacers and Knicks matched up 6 times in the decade and ended up splitting the series 3-3. It made for a great rivalry, especially when the Pacers beat the Knicks in 2000 it to make it to the NBA finals. Here's the Colts playoff history in the Peyton Manning era, if anyone is interested. Go Blue!

• Jan. 6, 2007 - AFC Wildcard - Indianapolis 23, Kansas City 8
• Jan. 13, 2007 - AFC Divisional - Indianapolis 15, Baltimore 6
• Jan. 21, 2007 - AFC Championship - New England @ Indianapolis
  
• Jan. 15, 2006 - AFC Divisional - Pittsburgh 21, Indianapolis 18
• Jan. 9, 2005 - AFC Wild Card - Indianapolis 49, Denver 24
• Jan. 16, 2005 - AFC Divisional - New England 20, Indianapolis 3
• Jan. 4, 2004 - AFC Wild Card - Indianapolis 41, Denver 10
• Jan. 11, 2004 - AFC Divisional - Indianapolis 38, Chiefs 31
• Jan. 18, 2004 - AFC Championship - New England 24, Indianapolis 14
• Jan. 4, 2003 - AFC Wild Card - Jets 41, Indianapolis 0
• Jan. 16, 2000 - AFC Divisional - Tennessee 19, Indianapolis 16
• Dec. 30, 2000 - AFC Wild Card - Miami 23, Indianapolis 17
  

James leaves Colts

"The Edge" is headed to sunny Arizona. The Associated Press reports that James signed a $30 million, 4 year deal with the Arizona Cardinals. Should make for some interesting changes for the Colts. Dominic Rhodes and James Mungro are likely candidates for the Colts starting running back job. Looks like the Washington Redskins also signed former IU quarterback, turned wide receiver Antwaan Randle El, who currently plays with the Super Bowl champ Steelers.

Nothing says Colts football like...

...motor oil and fuel stabilizers? Lucas Oil has apparently bought the naming rights to the new Indianapolis Colts Stadium. They make fuel and oil additives and are based out of California. They have a history of sponsoring auto racing and are apparently the official Oil Products Supplier for the Indianapolis Colts. Whatever that means. According to the Indianapolis Star, the domain names www.lucasoilstadium.com and www.lucasstadium.com were registered Monday. Lucas Oil Stadium doesn't quite roll off the tongue. Let's hope they don't want to put a big oil can on the stadium like the ketchup bottle at Heinz Field.

BOOM, Baby!

On the back of 39 year old Reggie Miller's 22 points, the Indiana Pacers beat the New Jersey Nets 90-86 last night to clinch a spot in the NBA playoffs for the 8th consecutive year. Let's hope they send #31 into retirement with their first NBA Championship!

Casino proposal is dead

A proposal by Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson to fund a new Colts stadium with gambling revenues from a downtown casino is dead according to The Indianapolis Star. Unfortunately, the slot machine talks continue.

High Quality Colts Stadium Renderings

Don't ask me how I got these links. Confidential sources. Here are some high quality PDFs of what the new Colts stadium will likely look like.

Outside View

Night, Bird's Eye View

Inside View

New Colts Stadium

It was annouced last week that The City of Indianapolis had reached a deal with the Indianapolis Colts on the construction of a new $500 million, 63,000-seat, retractable-roof stadium to replace the 20 year old, 57,000 seat RCA Dome, which is the smallest in the NFL. Despite my strong opposition to the proposed funding for the stadium, legalized slot machines in Marion County, I do like the design.



For some alternative designs for a Colts Stadium, be sure to check out the designs of the students of the Ball State University, College of Architecture and Planning's Indianapolis Center. I got to view three dimensional models and renderings of theoretical stadiums in their Indianapolis Stadium Redevelopment District Gallery Exhibit during a recent visit to the center. If you're in downtown Indy, stop in and visit them at 22 E. Washington St.