The Replay: Tony Kanaan, Bob Kravitz, and Butler’s Big Game

Shirt Off Our Back Edition
» Airing of Grievances: Has anything produced more hot air than DeflateGate? ESPN’s Bill Simmons took to Twitter this week and pricked WTHR’s Bob Kravitz for being sorry-but-not-sorry about the whole thing:

 

Kravitz appeared on ESPN 1070 The Fan’s The Ride with JMV on Wednesday to, um, clear the air:

https://soundcloud.com/1070-the-fan-1/kravitz-15

 

» Racy: 2013 Indy 500 winner Tony Kanaan puts the top down for the newest issue of Pattern magazine:

https://instagram.com/p/y7NQBiotSi/?modal=true

 

» #LARONING (Yes, it’s a thing): The Colts flexed their muscles and cleared some cap space by cutting three players, but we won’t miss safety LaRon Landry flexing his:

https://instagram.com/p/vKBP-HGkSG/?modal=true

 

» Bird Dog: Though he hasn’t played in decades, Larry Bird’s genius for trash talking—and our appreciation of his mastery of the form—continues to grow. In the latest addition to the canon, Bird welcomes Atlanta Hawks great Dominique Wilkins to the NBA.

 

» Like Cats and Dogs: Saturday’s sold-out showdown between No. 6 Villanova and No. 18 Butler, the top two squads in the Big East, is being billed as one of the biggest games in Hinkle Fieldhouse history.

 

» Disorder on the Court: On Saturday, a game between two Indiana high-school boys basketball teams—Hammond and Griffith—devolved into a brawl. On Tuesday, the IHSAA canceled the remainder of the season for both teams. In 49 other states, it’s just basketball. In Indiana, it’s a potential lawsuit:

 

» A Royal Champaign in the Ass: Radio host/ESPN college basketball analyst Dan Dakich took down the mayor of Champaign, Illinois, during a Twitter spat last weekend. The two buried the hatchet when the mayor, Don Gerard, put his money where his mouth had been, donating to the #JoshStrong campaign. Dakich and others have been instrumental in raising funds for Josh Speidel, a Columbus North basketball player who was critically injured in a car accident.

 

» Now Read This: ESPN The Magazine‘s story on the pursuit of the “world’s most successful sports bettor.”