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Bird returned to Terre Haute, Indiana — home of Indiana State University — and answered questions from reporters after the ribbon-cutting for the brand new Larry Bird Museum inside the convention center. The festivities started just after 10:30 a.m. outside, in downtown Terre Haute. Bird kept his remarks to the public brief, to about two minutes. But he started and closed with heartfelt words. “I want to thank everyone that had anything to do with putting this museum together,” said Bird, 67. “I know it's not easy. Takes a lot of time, a lot of people, but I think you'll enjoy it. “I know there'll be thousands of young kids come through there. And like I always say, if just one of them gets a feeling to do something, not only in basketball, but other sports, and is successful at it, it's done its job. “There's so many things in there that brings back memories. You go from Indiana State, then to Boston, then to coaching, then the front office. So there's just so many things to look at and I'm very proud to just be a small part of it.”
The Indiana State University and Boston Celtics great addressed a public ceremony Thursday for the official opening of the Larry Bird Museum inside the Terre Haute Convention Center. After the ceremony, Bird took questions from the media, which he jokingly said might be his last interview. "I got a little street named after me, I got a statue out there and now a museum here," Bird said of the city, the home of Indiana State. "Thank you, Terre Haute, but I think that's enough for a while. You have no idea how much I respect the city and the people in it."
Organizers of a planned museum about basketball great Larry Bird in Terre Haute are starting to assemble thousands of items ahead of its expected opening next year. The museum will be part of the new Terre Haute Convention Center, which remains under construction with an anticipated completion date of March 2022. It will include items donated by Bird and others from his career with the Boston Celtics, Indiana State University and the U.S. Olympic team. The site for work on cataloging the memorabilia is being modified for security and should be ready within weeks, the Tribune-Star reported.
Terre Haute is where Larry Bird began his legendary collegiate basketball career at Indiana State University, followed by his acclaimed professional career with the Boston Celtics in the NBA. It's that history that attracted members of "The Official Fan Club of Larry Bird" to Terre Haute this weekend. Eighteen members of the club, limited to 250 members, toured the city, with a slated visited to French Lick on Saturday. Many in the club where in their mid-teens when they first watched televised games of Bird on the basketball court in the 1980s.
In addition to Catchings, three other basketball icons with ties to Pacers Sports & Entertainment were emblazoned in bronze. Hall of Fame sharpshooter Reggie Miller shares a statue with Hall of Fame coach and broadcaster Bobby "Slick" Leonard, a fitting tribute as Leonard's "Boom Baby!" call after a Pacers 3-pointer became synonymous with Miller, who made 2,560 threes in his 18-year career. Another statue features the great Larry Bird, who starred at Indiana State before going on to a Hall of Fame career with the Boston Celtics, then later returned to his home state to coach the Pacers and later lead the front office. To date, Bird is the only person in NBA history to win the Most Valuable Player, Coach of the Year, and Executive of the Year awards. "It's a remarkable day," Pacers Sports & Entertainment President/COO Rick Fuson said. "To see these great likenesses of all these friends that I've known over the years, it's heartwarming for me."
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Creighton star Doug McDermott is on this week’s Sports Illustrated cover. It channels the classic Larry Bird with Indiana State cheerleaders cover from the 70s. It’s not clear how many magazines he will sell for SI, though McDermott has been worth a little north of $12 million to Creighton over his four-year career.
A 15-foot-tall bronze statue of Larry Bird has been erected at Indiana State University more than three decades after the basketball great led the school to a national championship game. The 1,900-pound statue, tethered to steel cables, was lowered into place with a crane Monday outside the Terre Haute campus’ Hulman Center while sculptor Bill Wolfe and others watched.
Indiana State is moving ahead with plans for a 15-foot bronze statue honoring Larry Bird for his playing days with the Sycamores. A statue has been discussed for several years, but officials now expect to dedicate it in the fall of 2013 at the school’s Hulman Center arena, the Tribune-Star of Terre Haute reported Tuesday.
Sculptor Bill Wolfe said he wants to make sure Bird’s statue is taller than those of Magic Johnson, whose Michigan State team beat Bird’s Indiana State team in the 1979 NCAA championship game. ‘‘I don’t have anything against Magic,’’ Wolfe said. ‘‘Larry is just better,’’ Wolfe then said in unison with Jack Fox, director of development for the Indiana State University Foundation.
A sculptor who has worked for years to promote plans for a statue of Larry Bird at Indiana State University says it looks like he won’t have the chance to make it. Vigo County sculptor Bill Wolfe says the founder of the Larry Legend Foundation told him a donor was willing to fund the project, but insisted on another artist. Wolfe tells the Tribune-Star the news is devastating and that it knocked him for a loop.
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