Indianapolis

The first thing Tim Johnson remembers hearing from the son who had gone unexpectedly airborne that dreary August afternoon seven years ago in southern Canada, a 12-year-old bucked from his 250cc motorcycle like a clueless bull rider, was that he could not feel his legs. Michael Johnson could not feel his legs, he later learned, because there was no way of feeling them. At the moment his chest, hurtling toward a wooden fence at almost 80 mph, met the handlebars of a dirt bike that refused to go any farther, the paraplegia was immediate.

The storyline heading into Maryland's first-round game against Cornell on Sunday dealt with who to match up against Rob Pannell . This week, there isn't as much speculation over who among Dominic Imbordino , Joe Meurer (McDonogh) and Robby Haus (Gilman) will draw the assignment - one, because fans aren't as familiar with those players as they are with the Terps ' defense; and two, because Ohio State is much more likely to employ multiple strategies to slow down Pannell, as opposed to trying to play him straight up. "We want to play with seven," Buckeyes coach Nick Myers said.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Mike Tyson was indicted here yesterday on charges of rape and three other criminal counts. But in spite of his legal troubles, the former heavyweight champion will apparently fight Evander Holyfield in a title bout in November, as scheduled.The indictment came after a monthlong investigation by a special Marion County grand jury into allegations Mr. Tyson sexually assaulted an 18-year-old woman in his suite at a luxury hotel here during the early morning of July 19.If convicted of all four counts, Mr. Tyson, 25, could face up to 63 years in prison.

NFL teams already have their stopwatches poised to time draft prospects at the annual scouting combine that begins Wednesday in Indianapolis. Should Notre Dame inside linebacker Manti Te'o or Georgia inside linebacker Alec Ogletree plummet to the Ravens' 32nd overall draft pick of the first round in late April, NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock thinks the Super Bowl champions would bolt into a speedy 40-yard dash to select either coveted defender....

In Indianapolis yesterday, there was silence: Not merely a moment of silence, as if mourning the dearly departed, but an all-day silence, an officially decreed silence, as if hoping no one would notice the tainted anniversary of the not-so-dearly un-departed, who are called the Colts.Precisely 10 years after the snatching of the Baltimore football team and its arrival in Indianapolis, the silence was team policy. A Colts official who requested nervously that his name be kept out of the newspaper said no one associated with the team was allowed to discuss Baltimore, and no one was allowed to discuss the circumstances of the club's move to Indianapolis.

Boys' Latin junior midfielder Brady Dashiell has orally committed to play lacrosse at Furman, which will enter Division I competition in 2014. Dashiell was an All-Star at FLG in 3D and also played at MVP at Rider and National 175 in Connecticut. He considered High Point and Boston University as well. Senior oral commitment Midfielder Wyatt Wood of Cathedral High in Indianapolis has committed to Maryland. The 5-foot-9, 170-pound Wood plays for the Long Island Sting. A two-year captain, he has won Indiana Catholic Conference Player of the Year honors as well as being named a Brine All-American and Champion All-American.

INDIANAPOLIS -- The earliest ones, the ones made of canvas and later of pressed paper that are on display in the Speedway Museum, take your breath with their flimsiness.But in 1911, when Ray Harroun was tooling around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway at 74.6 mph, no one was very worried about how the head gear worked.All Harroun and company wanted was something to keep their hair out of their faces.It wasn't until 1935 that helmets were considered mandatory equipment.Now, as Al Unser Jr. and his peers whip around this same 2.5-mile oval at average speeds of 228.001 mph, the helmets are artistically stunning, in their slickness and color designs.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Winston Cup driver Ricky Rudd is Everyman. He's the hard-working family man who owns his own business and spends every minute of his spare time trying to get ahead.His hair is gray from the effort, but he has earned everything he has and survived in good times and bad.This season, in particular, has been particularly hard on the Tidewater Virginia native. And that's why he looks at his 14th starting spot in today's Brickyard 400 as lucky.Aside from winning the pole at the Dura Lube/Big K 400 at North Carolina Speedway in February, and the outside pole for the Pepsi 400 at Daytona last month, this is the nicest thing that has happened to Rudd in some time.

Mayor Martin O'Malley's idea to let private firms bid against city agencies to provide security and janitorial services is a page ripped from the playbook of Indianapolis, the first city in the nation to promote broad privatization of government services. During the eight-year administration of former Mayor Stephen Goldsmith, Indiana's biggest city privatized 70 services, establishing a reputation as a model for reinvented city government. Goldsmith, a Republican, handed management of the city's waste-water treatment plant and airport to private companies, contributing to more than $400 million in claimed savings and earning him a national reputation as a visionary reformist.

INDIANAPOLIS - Somewhere on a narrow limestone ledge overlooking the downtown streets of this city is the seat of infamy reserved for Eugene Scheiffelin. Cushioned by several inches of bird droppings and surrounded by the incessant flapping and raspy shrieking of starlings, Scheiffelin would be forced to sit, day and night, tormented by the flying scourge he introduced to North America more than a century ago. Such revenge would indeed be sweet in Indianapolis, but alas, the New York ornithologist has been dead since 1906, while descendents of the 60 starlings he released in Central Park in 1890 have spread and multiplied like mosquitoes at a county fair.

Boys' Latin junior midfielder Brady Dashiell has orally committed to play lacrosse at Furman, which will enter Division I competition in 2014. Dashiell was an All-Star at FLG in 3D and also played at MVP at Rider and National 175 in Connecticut. He considered High Point and Boston University as well. Senior oral commitment Midfielder Wyatt Wood of Cathedral High in Indianapolis has committed to Maryland. The 5-foot-9, 170-pound Wood plays for the Long Island Sting. A two-year captain, he has won Indiana Catholic Conference Player of the Year honors as well as being named a Brine All-American and Champion All-American.

Bob in Ellicott City: Joe Flacco was on in Sunday's playoff game and showed mobility and pocket awareness not always evident. I am, however, puzzled as to why you never see Flacco doing his homework on the sidelines. All the other great quarterbacks are pouring over pictures, interpreting game schematics or talking things over with their team members or offensive coordinators. Joe is always just sitting on the bench! What am I missing? Bob, you aren't missing anything. If that is the way Flacco prefers to operate, I don't mind as long as he is successful.

With zero touchdown passes, one interception and three sacks, quarterback Andrew Luck finished with a 59.8 passer rating in the Indianapolis Colts' 24-9 loss to the Ravens in Sunday's AFC Wildcard playoff game. But the top overall pick in the NFL draft in April impressed the Ravens defensive players with his ability to scramble, which he used three times to gain first downs. “He's amazing. He was keeping plays alive,” cornerback Corey Graham said. “He looked like Big Ben [Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers]

The Indianapolis Colts' nine points in Sunday's 15-point loss to the Ravens in Sunday's AFC wild-card playoff round, matched a season low when the team fell to the New York Jets, 35-9, on Oct. 14. Critics might point to the absence of offensive coordinator Bruce Arians, who was hospitalized at a Baltimore-area hospital Sunday morning with serious flu-like symptoms, but wide receiver Reggie Wayne downplayed the impact of having quarterbacks coach...

Every week, I hope to bring you a quick Q&A with someone who covers the Ravens' opponent that week. This week, I chatted with reporter Mike Chappell, who covers the Indianapolis Colts for The Indianapolis Star. MV: Chuck Pagano was well-liked in his time here, and fans quickly fell in love with his energy and one-liners during his one year as defensive coordinator. It is encouraging to see him return to the sideline after getting treatment with leukemia. What was the coaching dynamic like when Bruce Arians was the interim head coach, and how has it been in the past week or so with Pagano back with the team?

Much has been made about the Ravens welcoming back former defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano when he leads the Indianapolis Colts into M&T Bank Stadium for Sunday's AFC wild-card playoff game. It's a similar scenario for for Ravens offensive coordinator Jim Caldwell, who will face the Colts for the first time since the organization fired him in January after he coached them to a 2-14 season. Caldwell said Thursday that he still has fond memories and strong relationships with members of the franchise where he had spent the previous 10 years before being hired as the Ravens' quarterbacks coach in February.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Bob Irsay rests in peace at historic Crown Hill Cemetery, on a broad, manicured plot with a view of the city.This grassy hillside perch is the ideal vantage point for the late Colts owner to watch as the turmoil that dogged his life turns on those he left behind.Hardly anyone has escaped the wrath of this turbulent legacy. Not Colts fans, who are tasting, for the first time since the team arrived from Baltimore in 1984, the bitter franchise insecurity Irsay unleashed on the NFL.Not the taxpayers of the region, who will likely contribute tens of millions of dollars in stadium improvements and lease concessions to keep up with what other cities are offering -- a municipal war of appeasement that Indianapolis sparked more than a decade ago.Not Irsay's family and close associates, who are bitterly feuding in courtrooms in two states for the remnants of his vast estate, including the Colts.

Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. announced yesterday that it is selling two Indiana television stations - WTTV in Indianapolis and WTTK in Kokomo - to Chicago-based Tribune Co. for $125 million in cash. The transaction allows Tribune, which owns The Baltimore Sun Co., to form a duopoly, where a company owns or operates more than one television station in a city. Tribune owns WXIN in Indianapolis. Officials with Hunt Valley-based Sinclair said they decided to sell because they couldn't create their own duopoly.

No one would confuse Andrew Luck with the Washington Redskins' Robert Griffin III, the Carolina Panthers' Cam Newton or the Seattle Seahawks' Russell Wilson - three quarterbacks who finished the regular season at the top of the NFL at their position in rushing. But that doesn't mean that the Indianapolis Colts rookie can't take off when he wants to or has to. Luck ranks second in the AFC and eighth in the league in rushing, compiling 255 yards. His five rushing touchdowns put him in a third-place tie with the San Francisco 49ers' Colin Kaepernick behind Newton (eight)

Don't misunderstand. Barry Krauss loved Baltimore - from the crabcakes to the Inner Harbor to the rich provenance of the NFL team that picked him sixth overall in the 1979 draft. But five years later, the Colts' move to Indianapolis proved a godsend for the players, said Krauss, a tough linebacker who played 10 seasons with a horseshoe on his helmet. "It wasn't fair to Baltimore fans, to lose the franchise, with all that great history," he said. "But the relationship between the team and the community was so broken, so sad. It was tough, playing before 35,000" at Memorial Stadium.