David Benner, long time director of media relations for the Pacers has passed away

Collapse
X
 
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
  • Peck
    Administrator
    • Jan 2004
    • 20053

    #1

    David Benner, long time director of media relations for the Pacers has passed away

    We are saddened to announce the passing of our longtime Director of Media Relations, David Benner. โ€œDavid embodied the very best of our organization. He was immensely talented, experienced, and humble."




    If you are old enough you will remember when David was a reporter for the Indianapolis Star. He and Reggie Miller had a somewhat famous pre-game ritual where David would get Reggie pumped up by trading trash talking.

    Every time I had interacted with him he was always a friendly and talkative fellow who would love to remanence about his time with the star.

    He was a fixture at both MSA and the fieldhouse and he will be missed.


    Basketball isn't played with computers, spreadsheets, and simulations. ChicagoJ 4/21/13
  • Trader Joe
    DIET COKE!
    • Jan 2006
    • 47069

    #2


    No words really. Horrible and it seems pretty unexpected.


    Comment

    • vnzla81
      Member
      • Jul 2008
      • 69560

      #3
      He just retired
      @WhatTheFFacts: Studies show that sarcasm enhances the ability of the human mind to solve complex problems!

      Comment

      • Hoop
        PG who Points
        • Jan 2004
        • 6110

        #4
        Good guy. RIP.
        "Just look at the flowers ........ BANG" - Carol "The Walking Dead"

        Comment

        • Rogco
          Undefeated
          • Sep 2010
          • 6495

          #5
          Sad to hear this. Enjoyed his Indy Star reporting
          Danger Zone

          Comment

          • MyFavMartin
            This team is fun!
            • Oct 2007
            • 5562

            #6
            Condolences to his family and friends.

            Comment

            • Peck
              Administrator
              • Jan 2004
              • 20053

              #7


              No matter what you think of Myles as a player, this is a wonderful gesture from Myles the person. Yes that is David Benner from years and years ago on his shirt.



              Basketball isn't played with computers, spreadsheets, and simulations. ChicagoJ 4/21/13

              Comment

              • 712Jefferson
                Member
                • Dec 2009
                • 5789

                #8
                Gut punch.

                Comment

                • BillS
                  Angry Old Poster
                  • Mar 2004
                  • 21862

                  #9


                  Doyel: David Benner, a legend at IndyStar and then the Pacers, dies

                  Gregg Doyel
                  Indianapolis Star
                  View Comments


                  GREENWOOD โ€“ David Benner wouldnโ€™t say he was dying. Not his style. And this was a man of style โ€“ and substance. He worked for the IndyStar from 1979-1994, worked his way up from copy boy to the biggest beats in sports before shifting gears and working for the Pacers in media relations. An unusual career switch, something only the strongest of souls could do, but that was Benner. One of the strongest souls around.

                  Benner left us on Wednesday morning at age 67, dying of the cancer that had been coming for him for a decade, nibbling around the edges, trying to get close but running into the same wall most of us ran into, eventually: Benner would decide how close youโ€™d get. You, me, cancer โ€ฆ none of us chose. Benner chose.

                  Toward the end, when the cancer stopped nibbling and started taking large bites, Benner knew the decision was no longer his. A proud Southsider, he spent a week in intensive care at St. Francis Hospital before moving into the nearby Franciscan Hospice House. That was three weeks ago.

                  By then heโ€™d done the chemo, over and over, and heโ€™d come to grips with what was happening to him, and what would be happening to him soon enough. Heโ€™d been going to Columbus for chemotherapy, where heโ€™d seen people much younger battling the same disease.

                  โ€œHe felt bad for them,โ€ says Mike Wells, who covered the Pacers for the IndyStar from 2005-13, becoming close with Benner then, and becoming even much closer after Wells left the Pacers beat to cover the Colts for ESPN. โ€œHe told me, โ€˜Iโ€™ve lived a hell of a life. Iโ€™ve traveled the world and had an incredible life.โ€™ He felt bad for the 20-somethings who hadnโ€™t had the chance to do that.โ€

                  David Benner had a heart, but he kept that part of himself under wraps as best he could, unless you were on the inner circle. Very few people got inside there. Lucky me, he let me inside about six months ago before putting up the wall again. He was dying, see, but that was his story. And he wasnโ€™t going to open his book for just anyone.


                  A curmudgeon's curmudgeon, David Benner


                  Benner had things he enjoyed. That will come as a surprise to those who knew him just a very little bit, and here Iโ€™m referring mainly to the media members he kept at armโ€™s distance โ€“ like me, until six months ago โ€“ because to us, this is the only thing he seemed to enjoy:

                  Keeping us at armโ€™s length.

                  He was protective of his team, David Benner. He grew up on the Pacers, cheering for them from his home in Center Grove, going to the occasional game, and then crossing over into this strange world of writing for the local paper about the team of your childhood. He wrote about the Pacers for the IndyStar โ€“ same job Mike Wells would have, years later โ€“ from 1983-91, then covered Notre Dame football in the fall and IU basketball in the winter. That was his work life until 1994, when Pacers media director Dale Ratermann left that role and the franchise offered the job to Benner.

                  For the next 28 years he protected the Pacers like it was his job, because it was.

                  Former Pacers coach Frank Vogel was texting with me Wednesday, after the news broke of Bennerโ€™s death, and wrote: โ€œHe could not have been more supportive of me as a young, first-time head coach. He always kept me laughing with his quick wit โ€ฆ and I leaned on his experience with the media and with the organization heavily.

                  โ€œHe was a dear friend and a Pacers icon!โ€

                  Benner was a wall, stiff and unyielding in his fitted suits. Write something he deemed unfair, and heโ€™d let you know. Ask to speak with someone for an interview he felt was unnecessary, heโ€™d let you know. Understand, Iโ€™m not complaining. Not now. Back when I first got here in 2014? Itโ€™s possible I complained to people at the Star.

                  Whatโ€™s up with Benner?

                  Thatโ€™s just Benner, theyโ€™d say. And it was. But there was so much more there, if you were lucky enough to get past the exterior. โ€œA curmudgeonโ€™s curmudgeon,โ€ I called him in January 2020, when I wrote a story about attending five games in five gyms in five days, choosing a single anecdote from each arena. The anecdote I chose from the Pacers game? David Benner.

                  He was in the middle of another cancer fight, and Iโ€™d seen something pretty remarkable โ€“ well, actually, Iโ€™d not seen it โ€“ a few weeks earlier when Iโ€™d been at a Pacers game and Benner was there, same olโ€™ Benner: curmudgeonly. And then he was gone, leaving the arena before the game started. Nobody said why. I didnโ€™t know. Turns out, heโ€™d undergone chemo earlier that day. Didnโ€™t tell anyone. Well, he didnโ€™t tell me. I was on the outside.

                  The anecdote I wrote about Benner in 2020, it showed him a different side of me. Hey, heโ€™s not the only person who can put up a wall. To me he was Benner, writer-turned-PR guy, and thatโ€™s how I treated him: Respectful, but keeping him at the same armโ€™s length he kept me. His arms are a little longer, probably.

                  But he saw that story, saw in the words I wrote how much I really liked him โ€“ something Iโ€™d never told him, because heโ€™s Benner, and you donโ€™t tell Benner that โ€“ and thatโ€™s how I broke through. All the way inside? No, wouldnโ€™t say that. But every time I came back for a Pacers game, Benner and I were different, better, warmer.


                  He retired in April 2022, choosing to spend more time enjoying the things he enjoyed. Turns out, he enjoyed the Dave Matthews Band. And NASCAR. His dog Baxter. The golf at Hickory Stick in Greenwood; he could see the fourth hole from his house. And the coffee at Strange Brew on Smith Valley Road.

                  At some point he sent me a text message, wanting to get together. I still have it. Itโ€™s dated Nov. 10, 2022:

                  Sir: now Iโ€™m retired, plenty of time on my hands, unlike yourself recently. Want to know if you would like to have lunch sometime. No intent, just good conversation. At least from your end.

                  Imagine getting that note from David Benner. And imagine seeing the way he signed off: With a smiling emoji.

                  I'm not crying, you are

                  Benner liked the Cherry Limeade from Sonic. Mike Wells brought him one last week. Benner was about to start his third week in hospice, so obviously the end was coming, but Wells had an idea just how close it was when he saw Benner take two sips and put down his favorite drink.

                  Wells had another inkling when he left his friend for the final time, and Benner gave him a fist bump and told him, for the first time, โ€œI love you.โ€

                  Iโ€™m not crying. You are.

                  Benner hated that Iโ€™d do that, by the way. He didnโ€™t like the way Iโ€™d put words like โ€œIโ€ and โ€œmeโ€ in my stories. He was an old-school journalist, and in the 1970s and 80s, you didnโ€™t write in the first person. Things have changed over the years, as social media has broken down what wall existed between journalists and readers. Weโ€™re all in this together, is my feeling, so Iโ€™ll chat with you directly, and take you with me to show you the sights.

                  Benner wasnโ€™t crazy about it, and Iโ€™m not sure how to feel about this, but apparently he and Wells discussed me, for a moment, during one of Wellsโ€™ near-daily visits to hospice.

                  โ€œYou know,โ€ Benner told Wells, โ€œIโ€™m not a big proponent of the โ€˜Iโ€™ and โ€˜meโ€™ in his columns, but Gregg away from his columns is a guy I like a lot.โ€

                  Iโ€™m not crying harder. You are.

                  Benner and I had coffee on Nov. 14, by the way. He knew I lived near the Greenwood Mall, so he suggested The Mocha Nut Coffee Shop near Southport and Madison. He said weโ€™d go to his home turf next time, to Strange Brew on Smith Valley, but it never happened. And I tried. Well, a little.

                  For weeks after that coffee heโ€™d send me the occasional note, saying hello or asking about my recently adopted dog. On Jan. 4 I sent him something blunt, because Benner liked it blunt:

                  We eating lunch tomorrow?

                  He said no. Suggested we try in a couple weeks. Said his hip was bothering him, that he was using a cane, that the pain killer wasnโ€™t doing much. I said to him, and I quote because these are the last words I ever wrote David Benner:

                  Iโ€™m sure you have lots of people who want to get together with you, but Iโ€™ll pester you again here in a few weeks.

                  That was Jan. 5. Seven weeks ago. Never did pester him again. Think that hurts?

                  Along the way, Iโ€™m learning now, he was in the ICU for a week, then in hospice for three weeks, and then came Wednesday morning and a text from Mike Wells, telling me David Benner was gone. So Iโ€™m calling Wells, wanting to know more โ€“ for me, and for this story โ€“ and heโ€™s telling me about their final get-together before Benner went into ICU.

                  They met at Strange Brew. It was Jan. 6, one day after Benner had kept me at armโ€™s length, telling me he needed a few weeks. He was dying, see, and he wasnโ€™t going to share that with me. Only a few people were inside that circle, and that included Wells. Theyโ€™d bonded back in 2010 when Wellsโ€™ mother was dying โ€“ from cancer โ€“ and Benner was being supportive, reaching out, checking on Wells not as a beat writer, but as a friend.

                  Benner and Wells became ever closer over the years, and in recent months, when the weather cooperated, Benner would ride along in the golf cart as Wells played Hickory Stick. Sometimes Benner would join him on the green to putt, if he was feeling up to it. But on Jan. 6 in the parking lot of Strange Brew, Benner did something heโ€™d never do: He asked Wells to help him into the car.

                  Wells picked up Bennerโ€™s legs and slid them into the driverโ€™s seat, and begged him: Let me drive you.

                  โ€œNope,โ€ Benner told him, โ€œI want to drive myself. I want to enjoy life.โ€

                  To me, Wells says: โ€œI think he knew.โ€

                  One thing Benner doesnโ€™t know, will never know: From a distance, Mike Wells followed him in his car Jan. 6. Just to make sure he got home OK.

                  Bennerโ€™s home now.

                  Find IndyStar columnist Gregg Doyel on Twitter at @GreggDoyelStar or at www.facebook.com/greggdoyelstar.
                  BillS

                  A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
                  Or throw in a first-round pick and flip it for a max-level point guard...

                  Comment

                  • idioteque
                    hopeful
                    • May 2006
                    • 11484

                    #10
                    What a fixture of the franchise this man was and is. Hopefully the Pacers will do something to honor his memory.

                    Comment

                    • BobbyMac
                      Most optimistic member!
                      • Aug 2006
                      • 3670

                      #11
                      Sadly I never met him, my life is worse for this. Great person! RIP
                      Go Pacers!

                      Comment

                      • owl
                        Member
                        • Mar 2004
                        • 17670

                        #12
                        Sadness at his passing. May God comfort his family
                        {o,o}
                        |)__)
                        -"-"-

                        Comment

                        • Basketball Fan
                          Member
                          • Mar 2008
                          • 17403

                          #13
                          Wow is there a cause of death?

                          May he RIP

                          Comment

                          • BillS
                            Angry Old Poster
                            • Mar 2004
                            • 21862

                            #14
                            Originally posted by Basketball Fan
                            Wow is there a cause of death?

                            May he RIP
                            Cancer.

                            **** cancer.

                            Sent from my SM-G988U using Tapatalk

                            BillS

                            A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
                            Or throw in a first-round pick and flip it for a max-level point guard...

                            Comment

                            • rock747
                              Member
                              • Dec 2007
                              • 12530

                              #15
                              Originally posted by Basketball Fan
                              Wow is there a cause of death?

                              May he RIP
                              Cancer
                              "We've got to be very clear about this. We don't want our players hanging around with murderers," said Larry Bird, Pacers president.

                              Comment

                              Working...