Indiana

Regarding Brian Murphy's op-ed "Toll troubles" (July 7), Mr. Murphy fails to inform readers that Gov. Mitch Daniels of Indiana leased the Indiana Toll Road to a consortium from Australia and Spain for $3.5 billion over 99 years. Moreover, the consortium collects tolls to finance all the improvements and maintenance of the now privatized highway. Leave it to each of us to decide the merits of abandoning the public sector for the easy money from overseas. John Depman, Bel Air

Sometimes Groupon makes you hunt for the best deals. This hidden gem gets you $20 at threadless.com for $10. It is posted under Eerie, Indiana but is valid nationwide. Somehow only 122 have sold so far. Here's an MSNBC story from a few years ago on Threadless:  

Eric DeCosta, the Ravens' director of player personnel, gave quarterback Joe Flacco a pre-draft assignment before the lockout: Scout a selected group of six receivers expected to be taken in the middle rounds and report back. "Tandon Doss was the top guy," coach John Harbaugh said Saturday as the Ravens wrapped up their 16th draft. In an offseason where the Ravens took away Flacco's quarterbacks coach and told him to wait another year for a contract extension, the organization granted one of his wishes with an Indiana wide receiver in the fourth round.

The Cordish Cos. is suing its former casino business partners in Indiana and the Maryland Jockey Club for $600 million, claiming they conspired to defame Cordish in an effort to prevent it from developing what could be the state's most lucrative slots parlor at Arundel Mills mall. The wide-ranging suit claims defamation, business interference and invasion of privacy and alleges a conspiracy to "deliberately and maliciously" publish false information about Cordish. The Baltimore-based development company claims its reputation was sullied in the real estate and gaming industries and it was forced to "expend considerable sums" to counter the "false and defamatory" claims.

Any of Big East's beasts Chris Dufresne Los Angeles Times Let's first eliminate No.1 Ohio State, unless the Buckeyes plan on losing a game soon. No undefeated team has won the NCAA title since Indiana in 1976. Butler, last year's silver medalist, won't have a Bulldog in this hunt. Duke, the defending champions, is well-positioned because it is Duke and Mike Krzyzewski is still the coach. The Blue Devils would have been prohibitive favorites had they not lost freshman point guard Kyrie Irving to a foot injury.

Penn State was picky in choosing game film to study Indiana. The Hoosier horror flick that was the 83-20 defeat last week to Wisconsin was tossed aside to focus on what Indiana did right its two previous games, losses to Iowa and Northwestern by a combined eight points. That's the team coach Joe Paterno thinks the Nittany Lions (6-4, 3-3 Big Ten) will face when the schools meet Saturday at FedEx Field in Landover, Md. "I watched it when it was … Wisconsin was ahead 30, 40 points and then I didn't waste time looking at it," Paterno said.

Michael Phelps has struck endorsement deals to promote athletic clothing for Under Armour and sandwiches for Subway. His next pitch: pricey "swim spas. " The 25-year-old Rodgers Forge native, the most decorated Olympian in history, with 14 gold medals in swimming, has teamed up with an Indiana company to design and market a new line of mini-pools, in which users swim against a current of water. Master Spas, of Fort Wayne, said Phelps and his coach, Bob Bowman, worked with the company's engineers to design six swim spas for home use as well as professional spas for fitness centers, universities and physical therapy centers.

The latest salvo fired in the war over a planned slots parlor at Arundel Mills Mall comes by way of Indiana, of all places. Opponents of Question A claim that an ongoing dispute between the Cordish Cos. and the owner of the Indiana Live! casino demonstrates that the developer's plans for Arundel Mills are risky and his track record poor. What's remarkable about this particular line of reasoning — already trumpeted in anti-Question A ads on the Baltimore airwaves — is that the evidence suggests just the opposite.

The Cordish Cos., which is seeking to build Maryland's largest slots parlor in Anne Arundel County, could lose a contract in Indiana that represents its only other gambling management deal — despite the Baltimore developer's solid launch of the project. The parent of the Indiana Live! casino is seeking to terminate its multimillion-dollar management contract with Cordish, according to documents obtained by The Baltimore Sun. The move appears to have little bearing on Cordish's plans to build a slots parlor adjacent to Arundel Mills mall.

Towson (0-0) at Indiana (0-0) Time: Thursday, 7:30 p.m. Radio: 1370 AM Television: Big Ten Network Series record: First meeting What's at stake: The Tigers will open their 42nd season of football by traveling to play a FBS opponent for the third straight year. They've been beaten, by Navy and Northwestern, respectively, 41-13 and 47-14. Though Indiana is a perennial also-ran, tonight's game should probably follow the same pattern.