Indy's time to shine

Since 1997, I have been a frequent visitor to the capital city of Indiana. As a die-hard Colts fan dating back to the days of "Captain Comeback" Jim Harbaugh, my father and I usually make at least one trip to Indianapolis a year for a Colts game.

I have also been on hand for three Big 10 Men's Basketball Tournaments and the 2011 Drum Corps International show.

But I will be making a special trip down there today for an event that has never occurred within driving distance in my lifetime - that being Super Bowl weekend.

Some of my favorite Indianapolis moments since 1997 include:

Meeting Jim Harbaugh (1997, on field)

Meeting Peyton Manning (1998, in the Hyatt hotel elevator)

Touring the RCA Dome (1998)

Being in attendance for infamous Jim Mora PLAYOFFS???!!! game against the San Francisco 49ers (2001)

Seeing punter Hunter Smith score a touchdown on a fake field goal against the New York Jets (2003)

Seeing Peyton Manning's 48th and 49th touchdown passes, then an NFL record in an incredible come-form-behind overtime win against the San Diego Chargers (2004)

Waiting inside the RCA Dome for the Colts to arrive with the Lombardi Trophy for the Super Bowl Champions rally (2007)

The final regular season game at the RCA Dome (2007)

The first ever game (preseason) played at Lucas Oil Stadium (2008)

Incredible classic comeback win over the hated New England Patriots after Bill Belichick's 4th and 2 gamble (2009)

To the NFL - I can only hope that Lucas Oil Stadium becomes a regular Super Bowl site. Indy has always done a fine job hosting sporting events like the Big 10 Tournament, Indy 500 and also a number of conventions, auto shows, band competitions and the Drum Corps world class finals.

Go Indy, it's your time to shine.

Super Bowl deja vu

Other than the night the Colts beat the Bears in a torrential downpour, I cannot remember being happier about a Super Bowl outcome than when the New York Giants stunned the undefeated New England Patriots and became Super Bowl XLII champions.

Four years later, we get another go-round, and this time it's right in our backyard.

With the Colts bowing out of playoff contention pretty much the moment the season began, all I was hoping for out of the 2011 season was a good Super Bowl match-up that would have story lines galore in Indianapolis.

Well that's exactly what we have - with Eli Manning, Peyton's little brother, attempting to defend the house his brother built against his brother's biggest rival, one Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.

Can Eli outdo Peyton by winning a second Super Bowl in a stadium with a poster of Peyton on the front?

Will the Patriots avenge a four-year grudge against the very team that prevented their perfection of 2007?

And will Indianapolis, America's best mid-size town, prove that it was a good choice to host the Super Bowl.

Let's hope the answers to those questions are: Yes, no, and yes.

Go Giants!

Suing for what?

According to court documents, Phoenix Ventures, LLC, the company attempting to bring a strip club to Michigan City is suing the La Porte County Board of Zoning Appeals for denying their variance request.

WHAT?

Why should a community that is focused on improving their image be forced to accept a strip club in their area? Why can't the people, who clearly are against such a place, simply say no because it will have an affect on the socioeconomic statues of the area?

Shame on the petitioners for filing such a lawsuit.

Top MC stories of 2011

I have put together a list of what in my opinion constitutes the top 10 stories of the 2011 calendar year in Michigan City.

10. Common Council members vote against ensuring that Moon Valley, a 57 acre tract of greenspace between Lake Shore Drive and US 12 will be preserved. An ordinance reapprorpriating $75,000 would have all but guaranteed that Moon Valley would be saved through a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA). Since the May 4 no vote, the Save the Dunes council is still awaiting word from NOAA on the response of the grant application.

9. IU Health La Porte Hospital lays off 112 employees, and legal battles are still being fought.

8. Citizens and community leaders speak out against a proposal for a "gentlemen's club" near US-421 and I-94. The variance is denied by the La Porte County Board of Zoning Appeals, but the petitioners have now taken the matter to court and are requesting a jury trial.

7. "Snowmageddon" shuts down much of Michigan City in early February.

6. A 17-year-old girl is killed and an 18-year old man injured after a family party at Krueger Memorial Park in July ends with gunfire. According to the Michigan City Police, there were two shooters in the parking lot. The one allegedly responsible for the death is still at-large.

5. Former La Porte volleyball coach Robert Ashcraft is sentenced to 21 years in prison after being found guilty of having a sexual relationship with a former player.

4. The revival of Franklin Square into the Uptown Arts District is strengthened as Common Council members vote unanimously to purchase the Warren Building for the Redevelopment Commission, who will then sell it to Minneapolis-based Artspace, a non-profit group dedicated to finding housing for area artists. Once renovations are complete, the seven-story Warren Building will be a colony for about 30 artists.

3. A major up-hall of the Sanitary District includes a new General Manager and board members. Shortly after former employee Ron Meer wins the democratic mayoral primary, GM Al Wals resigns. Meer later names Michael Kuss, a former IDEM to executive to the post.

2. One Chicago-area teenager is dead and another faces manslaughter and battery charges following a July 4 fight at Stop 26 in Long Beach where 17-year-old Kevin Kennelly Jr. was allegedly struck in the head by 19-year-old James Malecek. Malecek is set to go to trial in July.

1. Ron Meer is elected Mayor, completing a two-year turnaround where he was fired by the Sanitary District for being a whistle-blower, and now in the midst of appointing top personnel at the District. His "fighting blight" and "aggressive on crime" approach won over many voters as well as his close ties with the local unions.

Photo: Although she only acquired a little more than 300 votes on Election Day, Independent mayoral candidate Nancy Moldenhauer (pictured) said the campaign was a success because the platform of turning Michigan City into the "Green City of Northern Indiana" was brought to the forefront.

Saint Xavier...Number 1 at last

Saint Xavier University, my alma mater, is at the top of the NAIA Football rankings, the first time SXU has reached the number one ranking in any sport.

I would have liked for that to have come while I was a student, and seeing Sioux Falls move to NCAA Division II sure aided in the Cougars' eventual rise to the top, but this is still a monumental distinction for a school that has been steadily good, just unable to "get over the hump."

In Women's Basketball, its either a team from Tennessee of California that dashes national championship dreams every year.

In football, it's either Carroll or Sioux Falls putting an end to a dominant Saint Xavier season.

But maybe not this year.

Sioux Falls is gone from the NAIA and Carroll has begun the season 1-1. If SXU can put together an undefeated regular season run like they usually do, the NAIA playoffs may go through Mount Greenwood in 2011.

Post Manning era may begin early

Over the last few years, Colts fans have begun realizing that the Peyton Manning era will come to a close at some point, but nobody had imagined it coming as early as 2011.

But that may be the case, as Manning has already missed his first game to injury last week at Houston and may be out for quite a while.

This is the time for the other Colts to step up. They need to be motivated and give even more of an effort to show that this 10-year run of greatness was not just because of one player.

I think they will be fine. They probably will not make the playoffs, which would be the first time since 2001. But they will not be 2-14 like everyone else seems to assume.

Let Manning take the year off, completely heal, and then come back in 2012 with comeback player of the year on his mind. If that happens, Indianapolis is a force once again.

Movie tour in Chicago

CHICAGO - My friend Ramon comes up with a lot of the ideas for my travels and experiences, and he hit another good one this weekend with a Sunday movie tour. We would spend the day traveling through Chicago and the norh suburbs in search of famous scenes from some of the most popular films with ties to the Windy City.

The first stop was Winnetka, where we would see the famous house from "Home Alone." It looked similar to how it did in 1991 when the movie was released. An article in the Chicago Tribune the very day we went to see the place had it listed as for sale. A woman from across the street was not too pleased with the mass amount of people coming on her block that day.

From there it was to Highland Park, which served as the home of famous scenes of two 1980s classics, "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" and "Risky Business."

We actually had to go on private propery to see the place where Ferris Bueller allowed his friend's father's car to reverse through glass windows and into a ditch. May be the most memorable site from this movie tour.

Risky Business was right around the corner from Ferris, and the famouns "Old Time Rock n Roll" scene took place inside those very walls.

We also drove through Lincoln Park to see the site of Child's Play, one of the movies affiliated in the Chucky series. And then, of course, it was Pilgrim Baptist Church, where Jake and Elwood finally saw the light and decided they were "On a Mission From God" to get the band back together.

Of course it wasn't just a movie day - we checked out some of the neighborhoods on one of the busiest days of the year with the Air and Water Show taking place on the lakefront.

The traffic was bad everywhere, especially on I-94 eastbound, but we still saw the Belmont Corridor, Roscoe Village, Lakeview, South Chicago, Pilsen and Bridgeport.

I was also really impressed with McKinley Park, which seems to be a testament in to how the Chicago Park District has improved over the last few years.

Photo: The house from the early 90s hit, Home Alone.