Indy

Bill's story:

So why do Lisa and I make periodic trips to Indianapolis to watch the NBA's Indiana Pacers play basketball? This post will answer that burning question. Our twice-a-season pilgrimages began in April, 2002 shortly after we started dating, when Lisa expressed an interest in attending an NBA game. Cavs fan that I am, I thought it would be a fun change-of-pace to check out the Pacers who had made the playoffs that season and were hosting the New Jersey Nets with their all-pro guard Jason Kidd in the first game of that series. We witnessed a tense gripping affair with the Nets finally prevailing only after Pacers' great Reggie Miller misfired on his buzzer-beater. Despite the result, we got so caught up rooting for the Pacers that night you would have thought we were life long fans of the team. And that is just what we became. But following the Pacers is not the only reason we kept coming back to Indy. The vibrant downtown area near Conseco Fieldhouse where the Pacers play is chock full of restaurants, great bars, nightclubs and hotels and a wonderful vibe that unexpectedly make Indy the perfect place for an overnight getaway.

So last Friday night, March 20th, we made the less than three hour journey west on I-70 from Columbus to Indy. We arrived just past 6 PM. In less than an hour we were able to check into our favorite Indy lodging - the small Canterbury Hotel, freshen up in our elegant junior suite, eat a fine dining steak dinner at St. Elmo's Steakhouse located next door to the Canterbury, and still easily make the 7 PM tip-off for the Pacers- Dallas Mavericks match-up at Conseco, a five minute walk from the restaurant.

One reason we were able to move with such dispatch is the nifty drive-up-on-the-city-sidewalk entrance to the Canterbury which is shown in the picture below with Lisa in the foreground.




Another reason we favor the Canterbury is its very comfortable bar just off the lobby. With its fine leather and old oak paneling, it has the look and feel of a very fine English club's bar - except more accessible.

And here I am in front of St. Elmo's in rabid Pacer attire.

The primary reason we were able to make the tip-off was the exceptional service we received from Mark, a six year veteran of St.Elmo's wait staff. Our filets were perfect and so was the wine. Mark is a fellow Pacer fan who shared his disappointment with the team's losing record this year. Beset by injuries to key players, the Pacers have been on the outside looking in when it comes to the playoff picture. Still, Mark opined that a winning streak could still lift the team into the playoffs in the east which is a relatively weak conference outside of Cleveland, Boston, and Orlando.

St Elmo's also has a fabulous bar.

Conseco Fieldhouse has all the amenities you would expect in a new arena, but it has architectural features and an ambience which are reminiscent of old style fieldhouses. This evocation of the past is enhanced by the homage that is shown in various displays to the Pacers' and the state of Indiana's basketball history.

Lisa sports a hip Reggie Miller retro jersey while I am relegated to a Peja Stojakovic jersey which I purchased cheap at the Pacers' store after he was traded from the Pacers.

The "Pacemates" and Bowser the mascot fire up the crowd.

We had our best seats ever for a Pacers game. Lisa took the game photos from our section 11 seats only 10 rows from the floor.

The Mavericks' mainstay for several years has been Dirk Nowitzki. (right in the photo below). One of the things that makes the angular 7 footer great is the ability to get a good shot off just about any time he wants. And the Pacers' old nemesis Jason Kidd, now with the Mavs, (left in the photo below) feeds Nowitzki the ball and provides stat stuffer numbers of assists, steals, and rebounds. The Pacers rallied from a ten point deficit and actually took a four point lead with 2 minutes to play. My favorite current Pacer player, Jeff Foster, a stolid hustling center who cannot shoot but leads the team in floor burns and hustle, was faced with the unenviable task of guarding Nowitzki during the fourth quarter. Foster did well for awhile slapping the ball out of Nowitzki's hands twice for turnovers as Dirk was pump faking. Then Kidd forced two turnovers leading to Mavs' hoops. The Mavs went up three until Danny Granger connected on an off-balance 3 pointer with the shot clock running out tying the game with fourteen seconds to go. The game came down to Nowitzki at the top of the key with Foster defending. This time there was no pump fake and Nowitzki threw up an 18 foot fall-away jumper over Foster's outstretched hand and buried it. That of course is what great players get paid to do. Another solid effort by the Pacers against a superior team ended in frustration.

But here is the best part! After the game, the fan-friendly Pacers invited the fans to come down on the court to attempt a foul shot. I got in line with kids and a few fellow over-the-hillers sprinkled in. Lisa recorded my body-englished effort below. I did draw iron but sad to say I am 0 for 1 in foul shooting in NBA arenas.

The scoreboard tells the story.

After the game we went to our favorite Indy nightspot, the Slippery Noodle. It is the oldest continually operating bar in Indiana dating from 1850. It features two rooms of music (generally the blues which Lisa and I both love) The headliners generally play in the backroom which also has room for dancing.

Lisa and I danced in the back room to the sounds of the Kansas City based Back Alley Band. There was no song we did not like, but "Sweet Home Chicago" really raised our collective pulses. Oh my, but the joint was rockin' with soulful train-sounding blues harp. If you like rocking blues, you too would go for the Back Alley Band. This band was so good that I am going to give you its website: www.thebackalleyband.com

We could have hit many more places after the Noodle, but we were all in and retired to the Canterbury. To our friends: some day you will believe us when we tell you (as we have many times) just how great Indy is!

Puppy! Puppy! Puppy!

Alright - it was my idea! Meet Angus our Welsh Pembroke Corgi. I talked Bill into getting a puppy a couple of weeks ago. I researched various breeds and made my pitch that this little guy would be the perfect addition to the Case family. Bill was more than a little skeptical but my logic (and wheedling) finally won him over.

He is a very good boy!

He loves his toys!

Look at Angus's new best friend!


Good dog!

Even Par For The Year

Bill likes to point out that starting on the first hole for the year, we are even par. So on that high note, we opened our 2009 golf season at our home golf club, The Lakes Golf and Country Club in Westerville, Ohio on a beautiful March Sunday. We were a little rusty but it felt good to get moving and enjoy the sunny afternoon.!

Lisa showing fine form on the 1st tee!

Bill showing his inimitable style!


The Lakes clubhouse.

A slight chill in the air, nothing a wee dram won't take care of!

Bill & Luke Bowersock - one of our great pros at the The Lakes.
What a great day! Good fun, some promising shots and a little whisky - not a bad start to the 2009 season!

Miami (Ad)Vice

Bill's Story

It is always great fun to fly south to Miami Beach to visit my daughter Hadley Case Henriette and her husband Yannick. Hadley is the Miami managing editor for 944 Magazine, an "irreverent lifestyle magazine that covers fashion and entertainment with a youthful eye." (check out http://www.944.com/ ) As you might expect, Hadley's position affords her entree into an array of great parties and happenings in south Florida. When I am in town, she usually hustles up an extra ticket so I can rub shoulders with the in crowd. I am always a proud and impressed dad as I watch her work the A list. And I try not to embarrass her by wearing a corduroy sports coat or something else hopelessly Midwestern to these events. Hadley really pulled out all the stops for my visit in March.

Upon my arrival Thursday night, Hadley, Yannick and I attended a soiree marking the grand opening of the beyond posh Viceroy Hotel in downtown Miami.

Hadley is the blond below.

The Viceroy Hotel (check out http://www.viceorymiami.com/ ) made a big splash with its opening party. We were greeted with champagne, hit the buffet lines hard, and were dazzled by the Viceroy's pool in the sky and Club 50 (50th floor). I met several interesting friends of Hadley's including Brian Elias, an attorney and owner of the hip Lucky Strike Bowling Lanes in downtown Miami, and Elizabeth Schwartz, another attorney who has been active in protecting the rights of gays and lesbians in south Florida. And talk about beautiful people! Sharon Stone was in attendance. I tried to be casual and avoid gaping as I slowly sauntered past the lovely Ms. Stone's table. I apologize dear readers for not doing the paparazzi thing and snapping off a picture so I could more fully share this moment in time with Ms. Stone with you, but that would not have been too cool. (When I told Lisa, she asked if I had mentioned to Ms. Stone how much I enjoyed Basic Instinct 2 and the rest of her "body" of work!)


The next afternoon we visited the Viceroy's magnificent spa. As we soothed our bodies in the hot pool, the staff offered us orange slices and refreshing juices. Our celebrity encounters continued as we checked out of the spa just ahead of Miami's own Gloria Estefan (who was comped of course).

The big events kept on coming Friday night with our appearance at the Miami International Film Festival. My Hadley was serving as one of the three jurors in the "Cutting the Edge" category. (see http://www.miamifilmfestival.com/ ) The opening night of the festival was held at the Olympia Theatre at the Gusman Center where we watched the American debut of the documentary film "Valentino-The Last Emperor."



I am told that it is unusual to have a documentary as the opening film at a festival. But this look at the mercurial fashion designer at the end of his career was so well edited that the film had the look and feel of high drama. The movie was multi-themed: (1) the aging artist tiring of his work but reluctant to let loose of the limelight; (2) the corporate takeover of the fashion industry, and (3) Valentino's relationship with his collaborator-lover, Giancarlo Giammetti. All who know me will resoundingly affirm that I know nothing about fashion but I nevertheless found the film riveting.

I loved the Olympia Theatre, an example of an "atmospheric theatre" designed by theatre architect John Eberson in 1926. The Olympic gives the theatergoer the illusion that he is located outdoors in an elaborate Moorish courtyard with magnificent plaster statuary under twinkling stars with clouds passing by. I first encountered Eberson's work at the Akron Civic Theatre as a kid back in the sixties. I wondered then and now what makes the "clouds" move on the theatre's ceiling. This was a fitting venue for the festival's sparkling opening night.


Saturday marked my first golf game of the 2009 campaign at the difficult Crandon Golf Course at Key Biscayne. Hadley and Yannick struck the ball well for as little as they play. I attributed my disappointing effort to rust.

Then, back to the film festival at the tiny jewel box Cinematheque in Miami Beach where Hadley along with her affable fellow juror Cricket Taplin, judged "Cutting the Edge" films, The festival describes this category as including "provoking and sometimes extreme" films. .An example which we viewed that night included "Shallow." This film featured twenty five excerpts of couples about to have sex taken from obscure movies from the sixties. These clips were accompanied by mixes of popular music from the period. These same scenes were repeated over and over. Not everyone's cup of tea and a few viewers walked out. While "Shallow" was not my favorite, I still had a blast at the festival and hope to return some day.

This whirlwind of events came to an end when I said goodbye to my daughter and son-in-law and left Miami on Sunday. Hadley and Yannick were great hosts. Lisa and I can always count on them to give us unique material for "The Sporting Life."

Jackets Win - A New Experience!

Bill's story:

When the Columbus Blue Jackets entered the NHL as an expansion franchise in 2000, I made an arrangement with a Dayton businessman in which I bought his four section 109 lower bowl tickets to 9 games for the Blue Jackets' inaugural season. This was a leap of faith, because at best I was a casual hockey fan. But the money was put down because I was enthused that a major league sport was debuting in our fair city. And Lisa and I (as well as my law partner Alan Berliner who now shares our seats) have continued to buy these tickets through eight desultory seasons in which the Blue Jackets never achieved a winning record nor sniffed the playoffs. Despite the Jackets' lack of success, we enjoyed the action; there is no faster-paced sport outside of auto-racing. But notwithstanding this faithful support of the club, Lisa and I never developed that strong bond with the Jackets or hockey that is associated with rabid fans. Aside from borderline superstar Rick Nash, the departed enforcer Jody Shelley and the occasional goaltender, (remember Ron Tugnutt) the names of the players tended to slip our minds. I am sure the not so subliminal reason for our holding back a deep emotional commitment is because we have been burned so many times by blood pledges of fealty to numerous hapless Browns, Cavaliers and Indians teams.

For the first time, the possibility of a Jackets playoff appearance looms. The disciplinarian no-nonsense approach of coach Ken Hitchcock coupled with the phenomenal play of rookie goalie Steve Mason has paid big dividends. Lisa and I still do not comprehend all the ins and outs of hockey, but even an untrained eye can detect the team's improved passing, checking, aggressiveness , and consistent goaltending this year.

Wednesday March 3rd, the Jackets hosted the Los Angeles Kings, another contender for a Western Conference playoff berth. We ran into our great friend and fellow sports fan, Chuck Ticknor who graciously agreed to be photographed for the Sporting Life.



The Jackets evidenced the pluck and grit that has characterized the 2008-09 team in prevailing 5-4. Previous clubs would have folded after the Kings' three goal onslaught in the second period which put L.A. out in front 4-3. Overcoming a rare subpar outing from Mason, the Jackets rallied. They peppered the Kings' goaltender with an array of shots. This strong offensive output featured two goals and an assist from Manny Malhotra. The winning goal came on the sweetest cross-ice pass imaginable from Rick Nash to Malhotra. The pass was so pure that I might have been able to knock it in assuming of course that someone propped my nonskating self in front of the Kings' goal mouth.








Lisa and I have been good luck charms for Malhotra who always scores when we attend. Unfortunately there does not seem to be much of a market anymore for good luck charms. The most successful such "charm" in sports history is the half-wit Charles Victor "Victory" Faust who served as the good luck mascot for the New York Giants (baseball) in 1911. Faust was reportedly told by a fortune teller that he would pitch the Giants to the pennant in 1911. He then presented himself to the Giants Hall of Fame manager John McGraw in St. Louis where the Giants were playing a series with the Cardinals. Faust revealed the soothsayer's predictions to the superstitious McGraw. In the Giants'next game, McGraw allowed Faust to sit on the bench and the Giants won. The Giants left town without Faust and the team collapsed into a losing sreak until Faust showed up at the Polo Grounds in New York and a desperate McGraw gave him a uniform. With the simpleton Faust in tow, the Giants sprinted to the pennant winning 39 of their last 41 games. McGraw even let the no-talent Faust (he threw nothing but straight slow balls with an odd windmill motion) pitch in two games after the pennant was clinched. When Faust left the team two years later, the Giants stopped winning.

Regardless of whether our services as lucky charms are fully utilized, the Jackets' spirited play has us fired up and we have jumped headlong on to the team bandwagon. Now, we even know the players. There is a palpable sense of anticipation in the Nationwide Arena that good things are going to happen even when the Jackets fall behind. Get ready for an entertaining stretch drive!

Brrrrrrr Baby Brrrrrrrr

Friday evening Bill & I loaded up the Jeep and headed north to the Chautauqua, New York area for a weekend getaway. It's an easy drive of just over 4 hours. We enjoyed the drive while listening to satellite radio. We arrived in the area early evening and could make out what looked like well maintained old homes and lots of snow.

On Friday morning it was 50 degrees in Columbus but by the time we reached our bed & breakfast that evening it was 15 degrees! We checked into the Great Tree Inn in Mayville, New York. The Inn is an 1820's farmhouse and our innkeeper was Samantha "Sam" Botha. Our room was charming with a gas fireplace that took the chill off.





Sam recommended we dine at Webbs Captain's Table Restaurant just down the road. We both had really good walleye. After dinner, we headed to the Inn, tired after a long drive.

The next morning, we lounged by the fire in the sitting room and talked with some other visitors. They were familiar with the area and were there to visit some local wineries. We ate a great breakfast at the Inn and hit the road.



We drove about 15 minutes south and arrived at the grounds of the Chatauqua Institution. Bill and I drove around the grounds. It was desolate on Saturday but during the summer season it is packed with residents and visitors participating in the cultural and religious programs. There wasn't much going on but we could see the potential in the winding streets, densely packed with homes, churches, auditoriums and theaters.



Our next stop was an outfitter and outdoors store. Unfortunately for Bill, the store was closed on Sunday so Bill was unable to rent cross country skis. We gathered some information about kayaking and biking - warmer outdoor pursuits for summer months!

We stopped in Johnstown for a pleasant lunch at a little coffee shop. Johnstown's claim to fame is that it is the birthplace of Lucille Ball. We didn't visit the Lucy & Desi Museum this trip - we'll save it for next trip. We searched high and low through Johnstown looking for the local train station (Bill finds inexplicable enjoyment in checking out old train stations whereever we are) until, finally, success! It was a dilapidated old brick structure and Bill braved the cold to check it out while I watched from the car.



We headed over to Long Point State Park for a brief hike. It was a cold and slippery hike and I was glad to get back to the warm car. There were many outdoorsmen on Chautauqua Lake ice fishing, skating and snowmobiling. It looked a little risky to us. We could see the water under the ice and there were cracks close to shore.



We ended our travels in and around the town of Westfield. We were told that the area is well known for wineries so we set out to find one to visit. We easily found Johnson Estate Wines, located just outside of Westfield. We had a nice time sampling the local wines. Mary explained the nuances of the various wines we tried and gave us some of the history of the winery. We told her how much we appreciated her son Wayne's service in Iraq. We left the winery and stopped in at a local antique shop and headed back to the Inn.







Saturday morning, Sam described that evening's dinner menu and asked for our choices. She reminded us to pick up a bottle of wine. We sat down to a very nice dinner. Much to our very pleasant surprise we discovered the meal was included with our room - what a nice unexpected treat!

Sunday morning arose cold and crisp. We had a hearty of breakfast of eggs florentine and headed off to church. We had passed a cute little Epsicopal church, St. Paul's, just up the road from the Inn. One of the things we like to do when traveling is attend a local church. Not only do we get a nice flavor of the locale but we usually are warmly welcomed and this was no exception. The interior of the church was simple and lovely and the service was pleasant. After the service, we were invited to join the congregation for coffee and cookies. Everyone was very friendly and Bill had a long conversation with a gentleman by the name of Paul. He actually lives on the grounds of the Chautauqua Institution. He shared lots of interesting information. We will be sure to look him up when we are back in the area.





We headed back to the Inn, packed up and hit the road. The 4 1/2 hour drive took close to 7 as we wound our way through the countryside of New York and Pennsylvania. For Bill and me the journey is often as interesting as the destination!