Mel Simon died this morning at the age of 82. Mel was best known around Indianapolis as chairman emeritus of the board of Simon Property Group (mainly malls, malls & more malls) and owner of the Indiana Pacers.  To say that he had a major impact on the city, as well as the entire country, would be an understatement.  Most recently Mel and his wife, Bren, donated $25 million to Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center at the IU School of Medicine campus in Indianapolis.

Check out the Indy Star for an in depth article about Mel Simon.

The Indiana Pacers almost have me back in the fan base…

The Pacers distanced themselves from Tinsley earlier this summer when they removed his nameplate from his locker at Conseco Fieldhouse and boxed up his belongings and shipped them to him in Atlanta.

- Via The Indy Star

They have a few other knuckleheads to part ways with and there will be a lot of happy fans in Indy again…even if we do have a string of losing seasons.

“The Indiana Pacers announced today they will not increase season-ticket prices for the 2008-09 regular season.”

Is this really newsworthy?

You have the worst attendance in the league, you’re mediocre at best and you employ people who consistently make poor off court choices.  Personally I think that I’d drop ticket prices AND “clean house” for next season, but maybe that’s just me.

Going into the All-Star Break, it looks like the Indiana Pacers will be sitting at 21-32 or 20-33, depending if they can beat Portland. (Boston and Detroit are probably safe bets for the loss column given their play of late.)

Some people will look at that and think that’s just horrible and that they need to win the rest of the season to make the playoffs. But I say do everything in your power, short of “throwing” games, to lose the rest of the way out and have a decent shot at high lottery pick. If you make the playoffs you’re only ensuring yourself of an early exit and no decent draft picks.

Miami is clearly doing this, so why not give them and Minnesota a bit of competition? The attendance this year is the worst in the league (rightfully so, and the fans are making a statement by staying away). If they can manage to get a lottery pick in the top three they can probably grab Eric Gordon which would do wonders for the attendance at the very least (they blew it last year in getting one of the three local players in the draft).

But then again, historically the Pacers aren’t too bright when it comes to draft picks and they’d probably pick someone from overseas that has no intention of playing in the NBA anytime soon. So go ahead. Make the run for the last playoff spot.

You lose the Indianapolis mayoral election in November, the Indianapolis Colts lose in their home playoff game, then you (temporarily) move to Boston and jump on the New England Patriots bandwagon. OK, maybe that’s a little “out there” on the later part, but I do find it odd that even a former Mayor of Indy can’t find a decent job in the area. I don’t even need to comment further on that as it truly speaks for itself. And frankly, I can’t blame him for jumping on the opportunity…or on the Boston Celtics bandwagon (the Indiana Pacers off-court actions of recent years are enough of a reason for anyone to disassociate with the city).

Could someone please make the bad men stop…

Indiana Pacers center David Harrison has been suspended five games without pay by the NBA for violating the terms of the NBA/NBPA Anti-Drug program, the league announced today. (via the IndyStar)

Seriously guys, please stop listening to the people who told you that any publicity is good publicity.  This sort of thing is getting really old.

I said it almost a year ago and I’ll say it again, the Indiana Pacers must get rid of Jamaal Tinsley (legal troubles and just poor judgement) and they might as well send Jermaine O’Neal (slows the team down when he’s on the court), Marquis Daniels (legal troubles with his buddy Tinsley) and Shawne Williams (legal troubles) with him in some sort of package deal that does not include Mike Dunleavy (as I can see them doing that).  Poor off court decisions, regardless of who is at fault, continue to kill the support for the team and maybe eventually even the players themselves.  Seriously guys, something has got to give.