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“Have Laptop, Did Travel.” That’s the title of Windermere resident Mark Morrow’s newly released sports book. It’s the former Indianapolis Star sports reporter’s memoirs on “Sports’ Grandest Stage.”
Former Indianapolis Star Indiana Mr. Basketball recipients Billy (1968) and David Shepherd (1970), of Carmel, wrote the forward.
The book provides behind-the-scene stories about a wide range of sports legends Morrow covered during his career that started at age 16, covering Little League Baseball for The Kokomo Tribune.
Born and raised in Kokomo, Ind., leaving to become sports editor at The Michigan City News-Dispatch in 1975, Morrow takes the reader through his travels and shares his many emotions, including 1961, the year the Kokomo Wildkats won their only Indiana high school boys basketball championship. Morrow talks about Jimmy Rayl, whom former Indianapolis Star sports editor and columnist Bob Collins, now deceased, also agrees was the greatest long-range shooter in Indiana high school history.
Morrow, also revisits Class Basketball after 11 seasons, providing an exclusive interview with Ray Craft, the former associate commissioner who retired from the IHSAA in June 2008.
And there’s even more on high school sports, including a look at The Shepherds of Carmel, the First Family of Indiana basketball, and the somewhat rocky start Morrow and Lawrence North coach Jack Keefer, a four-time state-championship coach with over 600 victories, got off to when the coach was an assistant at Oak Hill High School in Converse, Ind. Keefer proved to be a winner in many other ways. An Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame member and a National High School Coach of the Year recipient, Keefer is also a man who put life in perspective after one of his toughest losses. No, not a game . . . rather the life of a member of his basketball family.
Morrow also shares his personal connection with former No. 1 NFL draft pick Jeff George – once was given the key to the city as the Indianapolis Colts’ quarterback – and his parents. The 14-year quarterback still makes his home on Geist.
Morrow, the beat writer for the Indiana Pacers in 1984-86, gives the reader a behind-the-scenes look at the NBA, including the lack of modesty in the locker room and the Flight from Hell, a charter from Milwaukee that then-assistant coach Donnie Walsh and David Benner, former beat writer for the Star who now heads media services for the Pacers, surely remember.
And if you want an even clearer picture of former Indiana University coach Bobby Knight, well, the book contains a lot about “Coach,’’ that lovable bully in the red sweater. Some stories may shock you . . . some will not. Even Michigan City optometrist Carl Golightly, one of Knight’s closest friends, shares his thoughts on “Coach.’’
Some other stories:
- Auto racing’s Tony George, a man with great vision, and the grandson of the late Tony Hulman.
- Former ABA championship basketball coach Bobby “Slick’ Leonard, a real character, still a popular, fun-loving figure in the Indianapolis-area community, and a veteran member of the Pacers’ broadcast team
- ESPN college basketball analyst Dick Vitale, who spent his early years as a member of the Pacers’ telecast team. He helped energize college basketball . . . and his ‘‘awesome baby’’ screams over the airwaves certainly get your attention.
- Former Irish football coach Lou Holtz, the soft-spoken man who could talk the talk and walk the walk. He’s witty with wee smile. I mean fleas smile bigger.
- John Daly’s wild ride in life, and his 1991 PGA Championship at Crooked Stick Golf Club.
- Thumbnails on Johnny Wooden, Larry Bird and Oscar Robertson and Johnny Wooden, chosen three of the top 50 Indiana sports figures by Sports Illustrated in 1999.
There’s also a photo section, containing color photos, including Danica Patrick, Sir Knight and Bobby Plump – displaying a signed basketball from the Miracle of Milan state championship in 1954 – at “Plump’s Last shot’’ in Broad Ripple.
Each memoir is filled with Morrow’s experiences and observations and opinions about what happens on and off the playing fields, a first-time behind-the-scenes look for sports fans.
Morrow, whose book is designed to entertain and enlighten the reader, touches on the lives of athletes and celebrities he may have touched through years and, more importantly, those who touched his life.
Scheduled local book signings
- Dec. 13 – Mudsock Books, 11631 Fishers Station Drive, 1 p.m.
- Dec. 14 – The Mystery Company, 233 Second Avenue SW (Carmel’s Old Town along the Monon Trail), 2 p.m.
- Dec. 17 – Noblesville Elks Club, 35 S. 9th Street, 5:30 p.m.
The book will be released on Dec. 10. Priced at $17, it will be available at Mudsock Books (11631 Fishers Station), Noblesville Golf (2315 Conner Street, and the Mystery Company (233 Second Ave. SW, Carmel).
