A Man About Town: Sun King Brewery

So I'm gonna start doing a series of me going to the best places in the area. I'm looking for the most fun places in Indy or hidden gems that residents should experience. The first place in this series is Sun King Brewery.

I'm a big fan of Sun King.  It's probably the best amongst the Indianapolis craft beer scene. They make good beer and their Friday deal for growler fills for $5 is unbeatable. Sun King is basically a big factory that has a large open area with a few high top tables (no chairs). You go in and they give you 6 tickets for dixie cups of beer samples, 3 for their regular  and 3 for whatever specialty beers on tap. I'm generally not a fan of the specialties but the Osiris, Wee Mac, and Sunlight Cream Ale are all pretty good. I usually get 2 growlers of Wee Mac and do the samples. It's a great place to bring out of town guests or a good starting point for a Friday (weekend) bender. The place is slightly hipsterish, but its not only slight and not annoying like some other hipster places. I wish they had food and chairs, but that's why its a good starting point.

If you know of any place/ events I should try leave a comment or let me know via Twitter @IndySportsJoe.

Is Anyone Else Terrified by Ray Liotta? 

So last night during the Pacers game I saw this Ray Liotta/ 1800 commercial and it reminded me how afraid of Ray Liotta I am. Look at this commercial. No doubt in my mind Ray was on his way to brutally murder someone and decided to rip a couple tequilla shots in the middle of a traffic jam. When that poor elderly bartender pulled the shitty stuff out, I said to myself, "Well, he's dead."

Also it appears Ray's in Mexico. An American only goes to Mexico by himself for 3 reasons. 1) He's buying drugs, 2) He's committing a drug-related murder, or 3) to watch a woman lose more than her dignity to a donkey.

PS- Just kidding Ray, I loved you in Revolver. Please don't murder me.

Pacers Game 6 Recap

Feeling pretty good about myself and the Pacers this morning. Yesterday I said that the game depended on DWest and PG. Well both of them showed up in a big way last night. PG is going to get a lot of credit and media attention, but I really thought David West was the guy who won the game for us last night. Now we bring it back home for game 7 at Bankers Life. I know the Gold and Blue haven't won back to back in this series, but I think home court and an intense game 7 environment will propel the Pacers to a W on Saturday.

- The George Hill/Mike Scott fight. I use fight loosely, because no one actually fights in the NBA, just a bunch of "hold me backs".  And Joey Crawford didn't disappoint in his call of that situation either. The guy is an absolute joke and his crew not being able to figure who the foul was on was vintage Joey. Everyone's making a big deal about PG coming on the court during the fight but I really don't think anything will happen. First off, he had like a foot on the court and didn't really get in the mix. It's not really in the spirit of the rule to enforce it in that situation. Secondly, if you think the NBA is going to suspend the biggest star in the series you're cuckoo.

-Frank Vogel just absolutely refuses to make adjustments in response to the Hawks. Last night the bigs were in foul trouble and PG was on the bench with 4 fouls. Naturally the Hawks went to the basket on like 8 straight possessions with no one there to stop them. It seemed to me that that would have been a perfect time to stop that with Hibbert or Scola. I'm not saying Hibbert has been good (or even adequate) this series but put him in there for no other reason to protect the rim and make ATL think twice about driving. Just my two cents, but it seems to me as though Vogel is getting put into a mental pretzel by ATL's coach.

PS- I just looked up Atlanta's coach and this picture is at the top of the Google search. Yeah, I'm going to go ahead and say that your coach's mug shot being the top result isn't a good look for your franchise.

BACK HOME FOR GAME 7!

Back to Bankers Life for game 7 baby!  Recap tomorrow. ATL we're comin for dat ass on Saturday!

PS- Everyone hates on this photo, I kinda think they look fly as fuck.

Pacers Game 6 Preview

Game 5 may have been the lowest point in my entire life of loving sports. I honestly considered taking a bath with the toaster in the 2nd quarter. Pacers fans turned on the team quickly and the game was over with 9:00 left in the 3rd. It doesn't help that that cocksmoke Steve Smith was calling the game. I've said it before, but NBATv may be the worst network available in the United States. Having said all that, I fully expect the Pacers to bring this thing back home to Indy for a Game 7.

To win tonight, the Pacers have to lock down the 3 point line. It's confusing to me because a hallmark of the early Frank Vogel Pacer teams was that they ran other teams off the 3 point arc. Somewhere this season that changed. I think we can all agree that Roy shouldn't play more than 15-20 min tonight. Our best lineups have been with quicker bigs that can guard on an extended floor. I'd actually like to see Cope a lot more, but Vogel stashed him on the end of the bench all season so I don't know how realistic it is to expect a game changing performance out of him.

The game is going to be won or lost by the efforts of 2 players. Paul George absolutely dominate tonight. He's looked good in flashes on both ends of the floor by locking down Teague and lighting it up on offense, but it's gotta be for the full 48 minutes tonight. DWest has to assert his will. When he gets in his intense win at all cost moods, his personality influences every other Pacer. I'd like to see him pound Millsap down low hard in the first quarter.

Game's at 7. Pacers are going All In and bringing it back to Indy for Game 7.

PS- Not cool at all people robbing PG's house.

Follow me during the game, I'll be tweeting @IndySportsJoe

Are People Watching Silicon Valley?

First off, absolutely brilliant move by HBO playing this right after Game of Thrones. I'm sure HBO was waiting for my approval on that so there ya go suits. Anyway, the first episode was rough but I kept watching and it's actually starting to get funny. Granted, I'm a man with a very limited amount of computer knowledge* and I don't understand any of the tech jargon they use, but it's still pretty funny.

* Internet pornography, espn, and betting.

Cincinnati Reds First Month Review

With April in the books I figured I'd take a look at the first month for the Reds.  Look the season has been a nightmare so far, but with the amount of injuries in spring training and over the first few weeks, I'm actually feeling pretty good about a sub-.500 record. Bryan Price is having some growing pains, but I still believe that he is the guy who's gonna get the Reds some postseason wins. 

The Good

Starting Pitching- Despite Cingrani's recent struggles and Homer's early difficulties, the pitching staff has been pretty good. Alfredo Simon was April's MVP and has possibly the best nickname in the league in Big Pasta. 

The Bad

The #3 and #4 slot- It seems like whatever is put behind Joey, whether he's hitting #2 or #3, has been a black hole. It's early, but we gotta find a lineup that's gonna produce hits to knock Joey in. BP has looked bad at the plate, but I think he'll shape up and start getting used to his new role. People forget that he's hit at every position in the lineup and those adjustments take time. Jay is gonna have his hot months and his cold months, but when he's hot he's among the best sluggers in the league.

The Ugly

Zach Cozart- I feel like Dewey Cox's dad when he yells "The wrong son died!" Didi looked good last year in Arizona, but he's back in Triple A and sucks so I'm not sure he would've been better. At some point management has to start looking at what's available outside the system because Cozart's bat is making Cozart's glove not worth it. 

PS- Indy's split on baseball allegiance so I can start doing a Cubs blog, just know I'm a Reds guy. 

Examining Possible Reasons for Pacers Collapse
This Blog 100% pure speculation.

This Pacers collapse has been nothing short of catastrophic. I've never seen anything like it in all my years watching sports. When it comes out what happened this season, I expect it will be salacious as fuck and will ruin someone's career. I don't think any of the following reasons are the actual reason but let's take a look at the most popular reasons in the rumor mill.

The Bynum Haircut Incident

Without a doubt my favorite theory for pure hilarity. The rumor goes that Andrew Bynum got a haircut at halftime of the Pacers March 21st game against the Bulls and it pissed everyone off. So much so that it fucked everyone's psyche for the rest of the season? I don't think so, but it remains a popular theory. I don't think that grown men would care that much if a guy who's played like 8 minutes all season got a haircut. More likely is that the haircut is a symptom of the disease. Bynum is a cancer, he's proved it time and time again. Maybe he's shear presence has totally fucked the chemistry of a team built on chemistry.

The Lance/ET Fight

This one has been reported a lot lately in the media. Look every Pacers fan knows that Lance can either be the sparkplug of the Pacers or he can derail an entire game. Although Lance is sometimes selfish in his neverending quest for a triple double, you live with that because he brings so much talent and intensity to the table. Every fan of the NBA knows that Evan Turner is a me-first player who's trying to get his own stats and big contract in the offseason. I don't think you can have two players like that on the same team without tearing it apart.

The Paul George Miami Stripper Story

This one didn't get as much buzz as I thought it would. TMZ reported that Paul George got a stripper in Miami preggers and offered to pay her a mil to get a smasmortion. To his credit, PG has since said that he would be a dad if it's proven to be his. However, there has been a clear dropoff in PG's play from around the time that the story broke lending some credence to the rumor. At times Paul has looked unfocused and disinterested so I don't know what's going on with him, but he needs to get his life and game in order.

Pacers/Hawks preview later today.

Henryville Kids Get Funky as Fuck

Look this video isn't funny, but it's on every news channel so I figured I'd put my two cents in. Is this the new thing in middle school? Making dance videos to popular song with a Kids Bop voiceover? This is what happens when you ban dodgeball, your school becomes "artsy".  And to the teacher who organized/ choreographed this: you're better than this. Dare I say that you dulled the shine of the Henryville music department with your half-assed organization and red check marks. Be better.

Having said all that two kids really stood out for me. I think they might have a future in showbiz.

Electric Legs at 1:29. Just flat out electricity. He doesn't not give one iota of fuck. Just there to get loose.

Flow like you dream about. Never cut that salad bro.

Report: LeBron nixed Clippers due to Sterling

Article
Listen, everyone knows that Donald Sterling's actions are horrible. I'm not making any sort of defense of what he said. There really is no place in 2014 for that type of thinking, but having said all that the point of this blog is simply: fuck you LeBron. Don't sit there and try to tell us that you didn't sign with the Clippers because you wanted to take some moral high road. No, you were always going to Miami to play with your buddies. The conspiracy to meet up in Miami was hatched long before you were a free agent so don't tell me that you made some great civil rights stand, because you didn't. You wanted an easy way to win a championship and you got together with two other top-15 (at the time) players. You're no Martin Luther King Jr.