I keep tabs on my RSS reader throughout the day and after the Indy Star stories are read in the morning, breaking news stories will occasionally pop up one at a time during the day. There was a time not long ago when I would see a new story, flinch, and brace myself for some bad news about the Pacers. I noticed lately that the new stories throughout the day no longer gave me pause since (knocking on my head) the Pacers haven't made any negative news in some time. Instead Indiana University has had the crazy breaking news stories over  the past few months.

But today, the wild news stories were flying fast and furious from several directions, yet all was quiet on the Pacers' front. Whew.

IU had a player snap yesterday  and then Tom Crean announced that he officially booted four scholarship players today. I actually think this is good news for the long term prospects of the Hoosiers. With no guaranteed contracts, Crean was able to blow things up in an afternoon and begin rebuilding the team in his image. The mess that was festering down in Bloomington this past year, though, is stunning.

For the second time in two weeks, the Indianapolis Colts were dealing with a case involving police, when reports linked locally lauded wideout Marvin Harrison  to a shooting  in his hometown of Philadelphia.  

Finally, Purdue's football and men's basketball teams are facing scholarship  losses for poor academics, although the headline makes the situation appear worse that it is right now.

Obviously, all of these stories vary in severity, but the common theme is negative. Don't misunderstand the intent of this post. All of these stories are disheartening and sadden me as a fan of these local teams. I don't want the Pacers to look better because other glorified teams are brought down. Instead, I'd rather the Pacer rise up and begin leading the way, again, as a model franchise.

But, after enduring all of the snide comments and jokes about the Pacers and their problems over the past couple of years, it's nice to know that today, with all the chaos surrounding local teams, all is calm at the Fieldhouse.