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Guy Johnson
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Indianapolis, Indiana 46204
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Tue, Apr 28 2009 11:13 AM
| Colts, CIB, Indianapolis
| Permalink
“Get me somebody like Jim Morris!”
When the Indiana Pacers brought in Jim Morris as President of Pacers Sports and Entertainment, I thought they had settled for a 1990s solution to a current problem. Sure, Morris knew everybody in town and had proven his leadership skills, but how could he deal with the drugs and the guns and the increasing alienation of the Pacers players from the Indianapolis community?
Now I think the Colts need their own Jim Morris. Anybody know a good fixer?
Look at the news about the Capital Improvement Board’s financial crisis today. Here the Pacers are asking for relief from the city and the Colts are saying they’d like to continue to fulfill their contract. Yet it’s the Colts who are getting the penalty flags thrown at them by the city, the state and the fans.
The Pacers missed the playoffs again and there are were few walk-ups who asked for $125 seats this year. All over town, however, folks who got cheap tickets for promotional nights and the many freebies Morris and other club officials personally distributed are thinking about actually paying for tickets for the coming season.
Meanwhile, the Colts are just two years removed from their championship and are led by Peyton Manning, a Babe Ruth for the 21st century. Ask the person on the street today and he’s likely to talk about how the Colts squeezed a great deal out of the city and then turned their backs when the economy went sour. The Colts have to realize that with corporate America in decline, working men and women may once again become their prime customers.
Every time Bill Polian or Jim Irsay gets up to defend the team’s position in the team’s trademark jutting-jaw style, the talk on the street gets louder. The team needs a fixer, somebody who can work through the city’s power structure to make the team’s position marketable, serve on the committees and show a smiling face to the cameras.
Who? There are a number of people in Indianapolis who could qualify. Candidates would need some political experience, maybe with the Goldsmith or Hudnut administrations; some negotiation skills and considerable marketing savvy. In this case, they’d also have to have strong enough personalities to withstand the force of the Colts’ top management.
When the Indiana Pacers brought in Jim Morris as President of Pacers Sports and Entertainment, I thought they had settled for a 1990s solution to a current problem. Sure, Morris knew everybody in town and had proven his leadership skills, but how could he deal with the drugs and the guns and the increasing alienation of the Pacers players from the Indianapolis community?
Now I think the Colts need their own Jim Morris. Anybody know a good fixer?
Look at the news about the Capital Improvement Board’s financial crisis today. Here the Pacers are asking for relief from the city and the Colts are saying they’d like to continue to fulfill their contract. Yet it’s the Colts who are getting the penalty flags thrown at them by the city, the state and the fans.
The Pacers missed the playoffs again and there are were few walk-ups who asked for $125 seats this year. All over town, however, folks who got cheap tickets for promotional nights and the many freebies Morris and other club officials personally distributed are thinking about actually paying for tickets for the coming season.
Meanwhile, the Colts are just two years removed from their championship and are led by Peyton Manning, a Babe Ruth for the 21st century. Ask the person on the street today and he’s likely to talk about how the Colts squeezed a great deal out of the city and then turned their backs when the economy went sour. The Colts have to realize that with corporate America in decline, working men and women may once again become their prime customers.
Every time Bill Polian or Jim Irsay gets up to defend the team’s position in the team’s trademark jutting-jaw style, the talk on the street gets louder. The team needs a fixer, somebody who can work through the city’s power structure to make the team’s position marketable, serve on the committees and show a smiling face to the cameras.
Who? There are a number of people in Indianapolis who could qualify. Candidates would need some political experience, maybe with the Goldsmith or Hudnut administrations; some negotiation skills and considerable marketing savvy. In this case, they’d also have to have strong enough personalities to withstand the force of the Colts’ top management.
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