Indianapolis: The next Title Town, USA?

If you are from New York, then chances are you root for all New York sports teams, or at least the majority of them. If that’s the case, you hate certain cities, you have to, and there is just no way around it. The one-city New York sports fans hate more than any other city is Boston…damn Boston! Boston has been a hated rival of New York forever, a constant thorn in our side. This fact has been no more evident than the last 12 years of misery New York has endured watching Boston win championships over and over again.

If you are a Boston sports fan between the ages of 20-25, then you have seen nothing but sports success. All a young Boston sports fan knows is victory, and that must feel amazing. Since 2001, the city of Boston has won at least one championship in every major American sport, and no other city has even come close to achieving that feat. For the last decade plus, Boston has been Title Town, USA. But from what I’ve seen, there is a new Title Town emerging and it’s not a major city on the east or west coast, it’s a good ole mid-western city Indianapolis, Indiana.

The Indianapolis Colts are currently 6-2 in the NFL this season and are easily the best team in their division. For the last two season I have been arguing with La Sportsa Nostra writer Steven “Bruce Wayne” Ross about who’s the best young quarterback in the league. Since before the 2012 NFL draft Bruce has been saying it was going to be Andrew Luck. Bruce also called Luck taking the Colts to the Super Bowl this year and Luck winning MVP. I on the other hand thought that Russell Wilson and RG3 were just as good.

Well my RG3 claim looks absolutely ridiculous right about now, and Russell Wilson may be extremely talented, but his offense has trouble producing points week in and week out. Looks like as of now Bruce is winning the argument because Andrew Luck is beyond phenomenal. The kid took a Colts team that was 2-14 the year before he was drafted, to an 11-5 record his first year and a playoff berth.

This season Luck has his team on top of the division, and they’ve already beaten the Seattle Seahawks, the San Francisco 49ers, and possibly the best team in the NFL, the Denver Broncos. Luck actually outplayed NFL legend Peyton Manning in Manning’s first return to Indy since he was released by the organization in favor of Andrew Luck.

Luck looks just as locked in as Peyton Manning did during his time in Indy, and Luck has his own Marvin Harrison (T.Y. Hilton) his own Dallas Clark (Cody Fleener) and his own Edgerrin James (Trent Richardson). I understand I just named Harrison and James, two future Hall of Famers, and Hilton and James are likely not in the same class as those two, but Luck has his own weapons in his arsenal that will grow with him and get better with Luck as their quarterback.

It may still be too much to ask of the Indianapolis Colts to make it to a Super Bowl and win it in Luck’s second year, but as long as the Colts organization continues to get Luck weapons and get him some really good offensive linemen, this may be the start of a footballing dynasty in Indianapolis. Which brings us to Indianapolis’ other young super-star.

Paul George, Paul George, Paul George, remember this name and remember you’ve heard it here first that he’s the next one up. Last night the Pacers played the Bulls in a very good match-up, and it looked like an early season playoff game, well it did until the second half when the Pacers started firing on all cylinders and just ran the Bulls off the court.

The Pacers are now 5-0 to start the season, and have one of the best young stars in the NBA in Paul George. I have frequently compared him to NBA legend Scottie Pippen, but George can do more offensively than Pippen could. Michael Jordan was the main attraction during those legendary Bulls seasons, but on this Pacers team, Paul George is the star, and he’s getting better every game.

Through the first 5 games of the season, George is averaging 25 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists per game. Those are LeBron James and Kevin Durant type numbers. Now, George is not on the same level as Durant and LeBron and will need to keep being great for a long time in order to be mentioned with those players. But I believe he is in the next tier of stars with the likes of Kevin Love, Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Tony Parker, Steph Curry and Russell Westbrook.

George is on his way to being regarded as one of the top 5 players in the NBA, and this Pacers team looks just as hungry as they did during last seasons playoff when they took the Miami Heat to 7 games in the Eastern Conference finals. The Pacers have also started 5-0 without the help of Danny Granger and George Hill; imagine when they add those two back to the line-up. The eastern Conference has been put on notice; the Pacers are coming for the title.

Indianapolis had better start supporting their teams and their young super-stars because this isn’t a situation many cities can claim to have. Some cities don’t have one really good player let alone two great players. And although Indianapolis does not have a professional baseball or hockey team, they have teams in the two most popular professional American Sports. And Tom Crean has the Hoosiers looking like college basketball title contenders again.

So enjoy your time as the sports championship capital of the world Boston, because there’s another town gunning for that title. And as long as Boston is not Title Town, USA, then it’s just fine with me.