Table of Contents COURTSIDE STORIES INTRODUCING Table of Contents UNCONVENTIONAL ORIGINS 8 FROM POWERHOUSE TO PEON 16 PACERS MARKSMEN TAKE AIM 22 EASTERN CONFERENCE BATTLES 30 WIPING THE SLATE CLEAN 38 INDEX 48 COURTSIDE STORIES CHAMPIONSHIP NUMBER ONE 11 JOINING THE NBA 21 MILLER MAGIC IN THE GARDEN 27 FINALLY THE FINALS 32 FLYING WITH BIRD 36 INDIANA BASKETBALL IN A NUTSHELL 44 INTRODUCING ROGER BROWN 12 MEL DANIELS 15 GEORGE MCGINNIS 18 BOBBY SLICK LEONARD 29 REGGIE MILLER 35 DANNY GRANGER 41
UNCONVENTIONAL ORIGINS MODERN INDIANAPOLIS BOASTS CHAMPIONSHIP TEAMS IN BOTH BASKETBALL AND FOOTBALL UNCONVENTIONAL ORIGINS 8
In the American Midwest of the early 1800s most cities were settled along major rivers offering ease of transportation for people and goods Indianapolis Indiana was an exception The 1821 settlement lay along the Cumberland Road the first federal highway in the United States and at the time the smoothest overland route from east to west Decades later railroad travel offered the most efficient means of getting to and from Indianapolis With spurs connecting to cities such as Chicago Detroit Louisville St Louis and Cleveland Indianapolis earned the nickname The Crossroads of America The city kept pace with the automobile manufacturing craze by the turn of the 20th century and then it cemented its unique motor car legacy when it introduced the Indianapolis 500 auto race in 1911 However the state of Indiana may be even better known for another sport basketball The term Hoosier ROGER BROWN 9
