Not sure if this is worth commenting on. I'm surprised he remembers how to spell the word Pacers.
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dl...plate=printart
Bob Kravitz
Blame has to start at top
February 8, 2007
If their names weren't Donnie Walsh and Larry Bird, we'd be calling for their heads. If one wasn't a saintly presence with a long record of success, and the other wasn't Larry Legend, the official state Bird of Indiana, we'd be running them out of town.
Instead, the Indiana Pacers CEO and president get the benefit of the doubt. It's all Jamaal Tinsley's fault. Or Marquis Daniels' fault. Or the fault of the club manager who kept sticking his face in the way of people's fists the other night during an incident at the 8 Seconds Saloon on the Westside.
Well, no more.
It's time for the Pacers' owners, the Simons -- Herb and Mel, or Mel and Herb if you prefer -- to hold Donnie and Larry's feet to the fire, demand accountability for what has become a joke and an embarrassment of an organization.
Something has to change.
It's one thing after another after another for the TrailPacers, leaving a once-proud franchise shrouded in shame. And to have this happen just hours after the Indianapolis Colts' wonderful championship parade and RCA Dome pep rally is truly embarrassing, a major civic buzzkill.
At this point, I'd rather be the Boston Celtics.
How much more nonsense will the Simon brothers put up with? They're not in this business to lose money, and they're surely not in it to look like chumps.
Without question, Walsh has been one of the game's pre-eminent architects, building teams that were not only good but easy to embrace. These past few years, though, this organization has made one horrid mistake after another after another. Casting its lot with Ron Artest, although, in retrospect, he looks like a beacon of rectitude. Trading for bad actors. Signing ordinary talents to long-term contract extensions.
It's not just the fact that they're a slightly better than .500 team; a town could easily accept that. The problem is who they've got. There's a reason they're near the bottom of the league in home attendance, and it's not because Hoosiers don't like basketball.
At this point, it's still unclear what Walsh is planning to do at year's end. His face graces the cover of the team's media guide, which suggests maybe this is his swan song. With the team's decline, he could be leaning one of two ways: Either he wants to walk away from this mess, or he's intent on making sure he leaves the Pacers in better shape than they are now.
Of course, the Simons may decide he doesn't have a choice in the matter. Walsh has had a great run and he's a wonderful man by any conceivable measure, but it's impossible to ignore what has happened here in recent years, on and off the floor.
Then there's Bird, whose addition to the front office seemed like such an inspired idea at the time. The year he began, the Pacers reached the Eastern Conference finals. Since then, it has been a nightmare.
How much of that is Bird? With two men leading the team, it's hard to know exactly where the culpability begins and ends, but it's undeniable that he deserves his share of the blame.
If you're Bird, who really doesn't need this nonsense when there's so much golf still to be played, are you really interested in returning next year? More important, if you're the Simons, who have spent a whole lot of money to keep two men in charge of a franchise that is completely rudderless right now, do you really want to entrust the franchise to Larry Legend when Walsh retires?
There's not enough room here for a complete accounting of all the Pacers' front-office missteps in recent times, but let me offer just one timely example: This summer, they off-loaded Austin Croshere for the fabulously unproductive Daniels. With the trade deadline looming, how valuable would Croshere's lapsing salary have been to a team in rebuilding mode?
They would have gotten more than Daniels, I can promise you.
At some level, coach Rick Carlisle gets the hit here, too. He was sold on a lot of the wrong players. He was a big Stephen Jackson guy, thought Tinsley could be saved, pushed for Daniels to come in and make his team more athletic. He has been tougher on players this year, without question, but they still don't seem to want to play for him, and they sure aren't making themselves accountable, to him or to one another.
I'm not saying players should mope after losses and drown their sorrows in 2 percent milk, but this all happened a few hours after Jackson and Golden State walked into Conseco and lit up the Pacers. Duly chastened and embarrassed, the fellows went to a club. That's the problem ultimately: Fans often care more deeply than the players.
So now the Pacers are stuck again. Trade them? Good luck. Suspend them? For what? Staying out late? The players will receive and deserve their due process, but in the eyes of a dwindling fan base, they are once again guilty of debasing the franchise.
At some point, a person in charge is going to pay the price.
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dl...plate=printart
Bob Kravitz
Blame has to start at top
February 8, 2007
If their names weren't Donnie Walsh and Larry Bird, we'd be calling for their heads. If one wasn't a saintly presence with a long record of success, and the other wasn't Larry Legend, the official state Bird of Indiana, we'd be running them out of town.
Instead, the Indiana Pacers CEO and president get the benefit of the doubt. It's all Jamaal Tinsley's fault. Or Marquis Daniels' fault. Or the fault of the club manager who kept sticking his face in the way of people's fists the other night during an incident at the 8 Seconds Saloon on the Westside.
Well, no more.
It's time for the Pacers' owners, the Simons -- Herb and Mel, or Mel and Herb if you prefer -- to hold Donnie and Larry's feet to the fire, demand accountability for what has become a joke and an embarrassment of an organization.
Something has to change.
It's one thing after another after another for the TrailPacers, leaving a once-proud franchise shrouded in shame. And to have this happen just hours after the Indianapolis Colts' wonderful championship parade and RCA Dome pep rally is truly embarrassing, a major civic buzzkill.
At this point, I'd rather be the Boston Celtics.
How much more nonsense will the Simon brothers put up with? They're not in this business to lose money, and they're surely not in it to look like chumps.
Without question, Walsh has been one of the game's pre-eminent architects, building teams that were not only good but easy to embrace. These past few years, though, this organization has made one horrid mistake after another after another. Casting its lot with Ron Artest, although, in retrospect, he looks like a beacon of rectitude. Trading for bad actors. Signing ordinary talents to long-term contract extensions.
It's not just the fact that they're a slightly better than .500 team; a town could easily accept that. The problem is who they've got. There's a reason they're near the bottom of the league in home attendance, and it's not because Hoosiers don't like basketball.
At this point, it's still unclear what Walsh is planning to do at year's end. His face graces the cover of the team's media guide, which suggests maybe this is his swan song. With the team's decline, he could be leaning one of two ways: Either he wants to walk away from this mess, or he's intent on making sure he leaves the Pacers in better shape than they are now.
Of course, the Simons may decide he doesn't have a choice in the matter. Walsh has had a great run and he's a wonderful man by any conceivable measure, but it's impossible to ignore what has happened here in recent years, on and off the floor.
Then there's Bird, whose addition to the front office seemed like such an inspired idea at the time. The year he began, the Pacers reached the Eastern Conference finals. Since then, it has been a nightmare.
How much of that is Bird? With two men leading the team, it's hard to know exactly where the culpability begins and ends, but it's undeniable that he deserves his share of the blame.
If you're Bird, who really doesn't need this nonsense when there's so much golf still to be played, are you really interested in returning next year? More important, if you're the Simons, who have spent a whole lot of money to keep two men in charge of a franchise that is completely rudderless right now, do you really want to entrust the franchise to Larry Legend when Walsh retires?
There's not enough room here for a complete accounting of all the Pacers' front-office missteps in recent times, but let me offer just one timely example: This summer, they off-loaded Austin Croshere for the fabulously unproductive Daniels. With the trade deadline looming, how valuable would Croshere's lapsing salary have been to a team in rebuilding mode?
They would have gotten more than Daniels, I can promise you.
At some level, coach Rick Carlisle gets the hit here, too. He was sold on a lot of the wrong players. He was a big Stephen Jackson guy, thought Tinsley could be saved, pushed for Daniels to come in and make his team more athletic. He has been tougher on players this year, without question, but they still don't seem to want to play for him, and they sure aren't making themselves accountable, to him or to one another.
I'm not saying players should mope after losses and drown their sorrows in 2 percent milk, but this all happened a few hours after Jackson and Golden State walked into Conseco and lit up the Pacers. Duly chastened and embarrassed, the fellows went to a club. That's the problem ultimately: Fans often care more deeply than the players.
So now the Pacers are stuck again. Trade them? Good luck. Suspend them? For what? Staying out late? The players will receive and deserve their due process, but in the eyes of a dwindling fan base, they are once again guilty of debasing the franchise.
At some point, a person in charge is going to pay the price.
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