Go Colts 2003!
Thursday, October 30, 2003
When I started this I had no idea if I would keep it going. What I didn't want to do was get pigeonholed into it just being a football only storyline. I wanted it to encompass everything Colts for the season. If you have been reading, you know that the stadium issue is near and dear to my heart. For the record, I am for a new stadium, I think the city and team should find ways to raise the money and I feel the Colts should, over time pay the city back for its help and for the money. That way the team owns the stadium and unless they find a way to move it, will be here for the long haul.
If you are reading these posts you know I am a message board regular at www.indystar.com. My username is Letsgocolts.
Posted below are some of the latest posts I have made in response to other reader posts and even a private message I recieved. Note that I have not changed the spelling or punctuation since I really wouldn't have a clue as to what Sunshine16 is really trying to get at.
First the posts on the message boards.
Letsgocolts
Member
Registered: Aug 2002
Location: Indy
Posts: 484
Re: no
quote:
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Originally posted by sunrise 16
let them leave ! the people say yes are not thinking ! What if you were laid off from a job ? Were do you think the money will come from for unemployment or health care that you need ! or even the food banks. think about that ! the money for the new staduim could go to the unemployment office to help hoosier, wishard advantage so people who do get laid off get health care. this could be any one of you ! I lived here before the colts it was a better place to live. this is a basketball and racing state ! football is not one of them ! the money for a new staduim could be used to lower the propety taxes. this better. times are tough more lays people need help more than the colts. my cousin who lives in la says when they had the football team in la it was tough to live. bars and food places charge more money. crime was up. place were charging more to park and do things. the staduim was not full. drink driving was up. She said it was horrible. now because there is no team. She said it is great. business lowered the prices. people felt safe drunk driving was down. la was a great place now. She said the people of la were glad ! I say let them leave.
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My Reply...
On the other hand it looks like drunk posting is rampant.
LA has a lower crime rate BECAUSE they don't have football? I think you best post a link to some stats to back that ridiculous statement up. Sorry, but I don't think your cousin qualifies as expert testimony.
Maybe, since it is so much better in LA because of no football, you can go there. If nothing else, the overall IQ of Hoosiers would go up if you did.
__________________
Go Colts!
October 29th, 2003 02:44 PM
Next....
Letsgocolts
Member
Registered: Aug 2002
Location: Indy
Posts: 484
quote:
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Originally posted by Blud.
Apparently the City-County budget has $650,000,000 all ready set aside for the new stadium, and a place to build it.
With that much cash, a new Justice Center could be built.
A new building that could hold 5000 Inmates, Courts, Infirmary, parking lot, and even helipad.
An Infirmary designed so that there would be no reason for an Inmate to leave the building for Medical attention, they could be arrested, and brought to the same building where they would stay (what a Novel concept), room to grow, and no reason to leave for court, no transports, room for all employees to park, and a Helipad for emergancy extractions, interventions.
Something that would actually HELP the city instead of letting thousand of criminals loose into the City.
Of course, we could just get off on the fact that the tourists coming here are paranoid because of them.
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My reply...
And just how long do you expect your "Non-freed criminal" paradise to last? A year, 5? How long until your state-of the-art Justice Center is overcrowded?
__________________
Go Colts!
October 29th, 2003 02:47 PM
And finally, a private message from Sunshine16 (from the first post)
sunrise 16
New Member
Registered: May 2003
Posts: 0
so
I agree with what you are saying until you said go colts ! So are you for or agansit the colts. ! What some people do not get the colts should be the last thing. People that are for the colts. should go down at thanksgiving and see the homeless at the shelter that need food. Or tell a child that is poor to thier face that the money is going for a new staduim for a football team, but not so you can eat or be warm for the winter. let the colts pay for it they have enough money, they should not take money for other things that are more important.
October 30th, 2003 01:25 PM
My reply
I am for the Colts and I am for a new stadium. Here's the caveat. I am not for using property taxes in any form for any extracurriclar activities. Colts, the arts, etc. I will go to the games and I full expect to be the one to help pay for the stadium.
What I don't understand is why you are assuming that your property taxes will go towards such an undertaking. No one has even mentioned that. Not Peterson, not Jordan.
Raising sales tax 1% or the tax on rental cars and hotel rooms is not going to cost one child a degree of warmth or morsel of food. Our property, income and unemployment taxes are to be used for the rebuilding and upkeep of the infrastructure of the city. Sewers, schools, police and fire protection.
You ask in your original post what would happen if those who want a stadium would do if we lost our job. My answer is that I will go out and find a job and barring that I would have to take unemployment which I HAVE BEEN FUNDING AS LONG AS I HAVE BEEN WORKING.
I think you are looking at it from the standpoint that if the Colts stay, the poor lose and if they go, the poor will become wealthier. That is simply not the case and may be completely opposite of the reality.
Keep this in mind, the Colts owners and players donate millions of dollars to local charities. Without them, every dime of that would be gone. If you are Riley Hospital, where do you make up $15 million dollars?
I agree that IF all of the tax money went into one pool and we then prioritized the projects based on need, then a new stadium would not be at the top of the list. However, new stadiums create more revenue, not just for the Colts, but for the city and state as well.
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You all know my stance. I just feel like if the opposition is represented by the above posters, then we will be in a new stadium in about 5 years.
Wednesday, October 29, 2003
Still just a down feeling week. Message boards have been slow. Talk has been almost nonexistent. It's almost as though the fans have already written this one off. I picked the Colts on my play the pros, but I am not overly confident.
The injury report is out and once again, James Mungro is out. Tarik and Dallas are questionable and we are nicked up elsewhere. Get well guys!
It also is now less than a week until what may prove to be the most important election since the Colts arrived. A vote for incumbent Peterson is a vote for the Colts, a vote for Jordan is a vote against. Anyone who reads this blog has to even ask which side I am leaning to. It looks like Peterson will win big.
It's just a damn shame that the general population has researched the issues so little when it comes to the Colts and a new stadium. No one wants taxes raised, but no one has said there would be a tax increase to keep them. I find that the opposition that is the loudest also seems to be the most ill-informed and it just makes me sick.
People say they want better schools, roads, jails etc., but they have no clue to the fact that no amount of money ever makes those things better.
We'll see next Tuesday. I hate to vote for the Democrat, but I am in this case. Besides, as I have said many times before, a democrat and a republican in Indiana are very similar. This is not CA or NY where those two are diametrically opposite in their thinking.
SIGG
Tuesday, October 28, 2003
Alright, a full day removed from the game and I am feeling a little better. I was just so disappointed that they came out so flat, but they won and I suppose coming off the bye and against the Texans it is to be expected.
Monday, October 27, 2003
I'm not gonna get into too much detail. Frankly because I thought the Colts sucked yesterday. Yes, we won 30-21. Yes Peyton had another great day and a 133+ QB rating and Edge got his 100+ yards. But the team was as flat as a pancake most of the day. That lead to a flat, apathetic crowd, and generally a feeling that if we play like that next week, the Dolphins will just plain kill us.
Hubie Pyatt showed he was human with a muffed punt when he should have called for a fair catch. Then on the next punt he fielded one at the 7. C'mon Hubie, we know you can do better.
Some moron up in section 302 or 303 kept trying to start the wave when we had the ball. He was an idiot and should be slapped around.
We won, but as you can probably surmise, I am less than impressed. For the record, it was me, Paw, Neil, Timmy, Tom and Tony. Pregame at my place. All very vanilla and all very flat. We are now away for two weeks in FL. The Titans just keep staying on our heels. We have to play better to get some separation from them. The run D was awful. That's enough for now.
One quick note. Sounds like Jeff George is going to tryout with the Broncos. I hope he makes it and tears them down from the inside.
Friday, October 24, 2003
Friday or Blue Friday if you will. Finally the game is a scant 2 days away. Once again the Colts went down to the wire TV blackout deadline, but once again the game sold out. I am just ready for some football. If you are coming tothe game, stop by my place. Gates open at 11 for pregame. Probably head down to the dome around 2:30 or so.
Prediction...doom and gloom for the upstart Houston Texans. Colts 42 Texans 10.
Tuesday, October 21, 2003
I don't know if it's the layoff, the nice weather or what, but the fans are getting a little jumpy. Myself included. The Houston Texans come to town Sunday. As of this morning there were about 3100 tickets left. Hopefully we can get the game on TV.
This should be a fairly easy win for the Colts. The Texans are improved, but they still aren't anywhere close to us. I guess the number one question this week is going to be which Colts team shows up. The one from the second half of the Panther game or the team that drove to a 5-0 record? We should know soon enough.
There isn't really any news right now. The team appears to be healing nicely. No one went out and caused any trouble over the bye week. Bill Polian was given a 5 year contract extension today. I have been critical in the past of Polian and frankly I don't care for him, but right now it's hard to really carp on anyone.
More later!
Wednesday, October 15, 2003
It's Wednesday of bye week. As much as the team needed the break, I am already having withdrawals. So here is a recap of the season so far, followed by my impressions of the fans reactions to Sunday's loss and the season.
First of all I think it is important to focus on the fact that we are 5-1 and could easily have been 6-0. Of course, while we lost to the Panthers, we could have easily lost to the Bucs.
The season opener was an ugly game. Yes we won, but it was a grinder. Defensively we played well, only allowing 6 points. Unfortunately, Peyton and company failed to show and we were held to 9. A win is a win, and everyone had to feel good about the D.
Week 2 brought a huge early season matchup with the evil Titans. They have simply owned us the past three times we have played, no matter what some people think. But this time it was all Colts. 33-7 was the final and honestly it wasn't that close. We played physical and played well. Offense, defense and special teams came together to move the record to 2-0.
The next week at the dome brought the lowly Jaguars. Under first year head coach Jack Del Rio (asshole) this team is looking lost. The Colts however were the ones who looked lost in the first half, but recovered nicely for the win. The Colts were 3-0 with a huge road trip ahead. Last year this trip really exposed us and this years was looking about as tough. On a sad note, the Colts failed to sell out for the first time in 33 games.
The following Sunday was USGP day and the Colts were playing on national TV on ESPN's Sunday Night Football against the Saints. The Saints came in with a 1-2 record and the ire of their fans. After an opening day loss at Seattle, they crushed Houston but then were killed by the Titans. Their fans were not happy with any aspect of the team. The Colts came out of the box strong and stayed that way all night posting a 55-21 win over the Aint's. I went to bed at the end of the third, but I hear the paper bags came out. The Colts were now 4-0 and the defending Super Bowl champ Bucs awaited on ABC's Monday Night Football.
For a while this game reminded me a lot of last years Monday night debacle at Pittsburgh at best and the playoff game against the Jets at worst. It was 21-0 before you knew what hit you. Manning had no time to throw, the Bucs were taking advantage of every opportunity and we looked dead in the water. In the second half we cut the lead to 21-7 before the Bucs went back up 28-7. A Manning pass was intercepted and returned for a TD and we added a TD and were down 35-14 with just over 4 minutes to go. Then something happened, or didn't happen as it were. The Colts refused to die quietly and the vaunted Bucs D was out of steam. The Colts scored 21 straight to tie the score and send the game into OT. The Bucs won the toss but our D was fired up and held them and forced them to punt. The offense then took the field and the Bucs simply had nothing for us. Vandy came in to try a FG that was eventually wide right, but a "leaping" call against Simeon Rice gave him another shot. This time, even though the ball was tipped at the line of scrimmage and it hit the upright it rattled through for the win. The Colts were 5-0 for the first time in forever and only the Carolina Panthers stood between us and the bye week we so desperately needed.
I won't dwell too much on the Panther game since it is only a couple of stories down, but a couple of notes on the bye week. Man do we need it. The D, since coming up so large early seems to be going for the highlight reel instead of the tackle. The coach now has a couple of weeks to make that adjustment. But most importantly, the injury list was getting almost unmanageable.
Edgerrin James-back
Ryan Diem-leg
Joseph Jefferson-leg
Jeff Nelson-shoulder
Tarik Glenn-ankle
Dwight Freeney-ankle
And that is just the starters. The team has lots of players who have missed games or plays because of injuries. The break is just what we needed.
HOW ABOUT THEM FANS?
A 5-0 start is bound to make the fans a little crazy and it sure has been this week after the loss. Edge has to go, offensive coordinator Tom Moore has to go, 'We can't tackle', 'Peyton sucks'. You name it, it has been said this week. The fans I deal with are all pretty level headed, but some of the knee jerk reaction this week has been pretty stupid. Again, when you win the first 5 you will have that. Let's keep our head folks. 5-1 is great and it is obvious we are on hell of a lot better than we have EVER been in Indy!
Tuesday, October 14, 2003
The following is a letter that was printed in the Star Sunday October 12, 2003. I don't really mean to pick on the person who wrote it especially since there are a couple of others. But her reasoning is totally inane. Following the letter is my reply that was sent to the Star today.
THE LETTER
I am appalled that The Star is advocating another tax to keep the Colts in Indianapolis. You state that no one wants the Colts to leave. You are mistaken. There are many people who want the Colts to leave.
There are many problems needing the money that is diverted to the Colts. In the same edition of The Star as your editorial on the Colts (Sept. 21), you printed a story about perpetrators of domestic violence being released from jail due to overcrowding.
You brag that the Colts bring jobs and vitality to Downtown, yet you neglect to mention that the people who work those jobs cannot afford to go to football games or even shop in the stores they work for. If I'm going to pay another tax, I want to pay one that provides more than minimum-wage jobs for the citizens of Indianapolis.
Beckie Madigan
Indianapolis
MY RESPONSE
So there are many who want to see the Colts leave Indianapolis. At least that is what I gather from Beckie Madigan's letter.
I don't know who Ms. Madigan is, nor do I know whom she represents when she says there are "many" who want them to leave. I guess in their minds, if the Colts leave we can build more jails and incarcerate more of our population in what I am sure will be a wildly successful means of stopping crime. Plus, if the Colts leave, we can continue to build great palaces to education and all of our kids will automatically be smart and able to pass their I-Step tests.
For that matter, our air will probably be cleaner, streets will be in better shape and most likely the weather will even improve.
Of course those people who have jobs because of the Colts will just have to suffer, or wait, they can get those high paying jobs that don't exist because we have pro football.
Wake up people. The Colts generate millions of dollars for the local economy. Money that will be gone when they leave. There will be no filling of that void. The money they generate has been going to the CIB and then distributed back to the team and other interests of the CIB. But why bother to look at both sides, when so much is riding on the children.
Face it, money and fancy schools never made one child smarter, only teachers, parents and the children can do that. No amount of prison space will ever be enough. Ever. But since I am sure you never thought about it, take a look at the money the team and its players give to charity and remember, when they leave so does that money.
Monday, October 13, 2003
Cold, hard reality is hitting me square in the face this morning. The Colts, herein known as the losers, just kidding, lost yesterday to the Carolina "Financial' Panthers 23-20 at the Dome.
There are so many cliche's one can use for this loss but the bottom line is that we simply could not contain the Panthers in the second half.
For what it's worth, the NFL is probably going to offer us an apology for blowing what could have been a game changing call when Chad Bratzke intercepted Jake Delhomme at the Carolina 5 yard line. The call was then reversed to an incompletion, going to the offense, or in other words, not our ball.
But that really isn't where the game was won or lost. First of all, the Colts had to be wearing out. The big win on Monday was so emotional. Then a short week and finally a tough opponent. The Colts failed to impress at the outset, but built a nice 13-3 halftime lead. Coupled with the fact that the Colts would get the ball to start the second half all bode well for the home team.
Three plays in though, Peyton was picked off and one play later the Panthers scored. The Colts punted on the next series and 5 plays later, Carolina led 17-13. That was less than 5 minutes into the third quarter and it was obvious the Colts had hit the wall.
The offense then went into a deep freeze. Continuing to make what many fans thought were questionable play calls. There were even boos heard from the crowd. I didn't boo, but I was at a loss over the calls.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter the Panthers added a field goal to go up by 7. Finally the Colts got untracked and tied the score on a 25 yard pass from Manning to Wayne. Now we go to OT.
The second week in a row for OT and once again, we lose the coin toss. And this time, our D just wasn't up to the task. We let them drive down the field and finally, Carolina hit a field goal to send us home unhappy.
Sure it is a disappointment, but we should keep it in perspective. We weren't going to go 16-0 and now we get a bye week to heal up and get ready for the meat of the season.
Yesterday the Colts looked like a team playing on only adrenaline in the first half. In the second half, the tank was empty.
As for us, me, Neil, Tom and Paw went. Pawly was able to go after all. The usual suspects were there: Butch the Legend etc. with the notable exception of the very attractive lady that sits behind me. We needed her there yesterday!!! We need all of our fans. Oh well. In two weeks its Houston. We go to 6-1 and go from there.
Thursday, October 09, 2003
Still basking in the glow of the great victory! This one is taking a few days to wear off. That's a good thing. But the reality is that we face the undefeated Carolina Panthers, no not a financial panther, Sunday in the dome. We are coming off an emotional, gruelling comeback win on a Monday night. These short turnarounds scare me to death! But honestly, I think the Colts will do it and roll into the bye week at an amazing 6-0.
The only real bad news still concerns Edge. Once again he is listed as questionable with a back problem. This will be a real test to see if we can get by another week without him, but if he needs the extra week plus the off week to be ready for the final 10 game push then so be it. After this week we really hit the middle of the season. 6 regular season games and 4 preseasons.
The message boards naturally have been jumping this week. Most everyone is very positive about our chances Sunday. There are a few who keep saying beware, but honestly, those of us who post are just fans and it really doesn't matter if WE are ready. I can climb out of the rack Sunday morning, put on the blue and the beads and be ready to yell. The team is who have to be ready. I think they will be, although I wasn't sure they were when the game started Monday night. And they may not have been, but they WERE ready to play a whole 60 minutes plus. Thank God!
You know this log has pretty much just been my thoughts on the season and what has transpired. I don't mean to discount stats, but they are readily available at NFL.com, so I don't really bother too much with them.
Tuesday, October 07, 2003
Well, well, well! The previous post pretty much says it all. Colts 38 Bucs 35. Final.
I am still at a loss for words. A fantastic comeback by a group of players who just refused to quit. I will say this: If this city can't get behind these guys now, then they should just pack up and split for the coast, La-La Land. There is something about these guys that is special. The offense, defense and special teams just keep making the plays to get it done.
Now before I gush too much about the win, I should note that I had given up on them. I was still watching, but I had them written off. The first half looked so much like the Washington, Pittsburgh and Tennessee games. Giving up big points early on and digging ourselves one hell of a hole to get out of. A 21-0 hole to be exact. And while only one of those TD's was a legit drive by the Bucs, the score was still abysmal.
But in the second half, the D stepped up and the O started to roll. Peyton had a bad one returned for a TD, but it wasn't to matter. Detron Smith's 4 penalties rankled, but ultimately could not stop the Colts. Beautiful passes to Marvin Harrison set up the last 2 scores. A marvelous onsides kick by Vandy helped get the ball at a crucial time and finally, 2 big defensive series' stymied the Bucs O.
In the OT Peyton was brilliant. Getting rid of the ball when he needed to, and making first down strikes to Marvin, Walters and Wayne setting up Vandy's game winning FG.
And what of that vaunted Buc D? They wilted in the pressure that the Colts continued to put on. By the end of the game they were out of gas. Their D puts so much pressure and intensity on their opponent that the opponent often wilts and retreats. The Colts could have last night, but didn't. And when the game was on the line, it was the Bucs D that had had enough.
One last thing. The moron who 'grades' the Bucs each week like the moron Kravitz does here obviously left the game early last night. His report has since changed, but here are a couple of quotes...
"Ronde Barber sealed the victory by returning a Manning pick for a touchdown,", "The
decision to stick with the run late in the game took much-needed time off the clock
and made a Colts comeback difficult,"
Good stuff and further proof the media is not interested in reporting the news, they want to make the news.
Monday, October 06, 2003
What a difference 58 minutes make. Colts 38 Bucs 35 Final. Bad call at the end, but it is about time we started getting those! More later!
All the wishing in the world won't change the outcome. It is 35-14 with about 5 minutes to go. By the way, the good guys are on the short end of that stick.
Today's the day! Colts at Bucs. I am standing behind my prediction that the Colts will beat the pulp out of the Bucs. I am ready for this game to start. Just 7 more hours!
Go Colts!
Thursday, October 02, 2003
One more item today. I will continue to investigate this story and post links as I find them. Earlier this week the Mayors office and the Capital Improvement Board released a statement that the money the city "gives" the Colts is in fact the money the CIB receives from the suites at the dome and other money such as parking that the Colts generate. Basically, they say it is, in reality, just a transfer of what the team really earned. They went on to say that what they are giving the Colts now is not everything they earn. So apparently we have just found some more money for the Colts. I say let's get this stadium started and implement my ideas of ownership of the stadium by the team.
As Drudge says.....developing.
Well let's see. As of this morning the Colts are a 4.5 point underdog to the "Mighty" Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Boy, 7 or more years ago who would have ever thought Tampa Bay was mighty. Well folks, come Monday night you will once again take the "mighty" adjective off of them and put them in a dogfight with the Carolina Panthers for the NFC South crown. As a matter of fact, they will probably be 2 games down to the Panthers. Why you ask? Well this is why, because the Colts are gonna whip up on the defending Super Bowl champions and put America on notice that this Colt team is for real.
For the record I see a 31-10 thrashing of the Bucs. I simply think that our D will completely shut down their crappy offense and our offense just has too many weapons for them to contain. Now don't get me wrong, the Bucs are a good team, but in the NFL today, it is just about impossible to maintain your edge for more than a season. I mean the edge that gets you over the top and wins championships. The salary cap and collective bargaining agreements have made it damn near impossible to keep all of your players, therefore making it damn near impossible to maintain a level.
To a certain extent, the Colts are at that threshold and need to grab the brass ring while they can. Folks, I think they will. They look and sound good. Offense, defense and special teams are all playing well. It is our turn. So again, look for a big Colts win Monday.
So far the injury report looks like this:
OUT
T Ryan Diem (Ankle)
CB Joseph Jefferson (Other)
QUESTIONABLE
RB Edgerrin James (Back)
OLB Jim Nelson (Head)
WR Brandon Stokley (Hamstring)
CB Donald Strickland (Groin)
PROBABLE
DE Raheem Brock (Ankle)
FS Jason Doering (Finger)
DE Dwight Freeney (Other)
CB Walt Harris (Knee)
WR Brad Pyatt (Hip)
RB Dominic Rhodes (Knee)
C Jeff Saturday (Back)
G Steve Sciullo (Foot)
OLB David Thornton (Ankle)
K Mike Vanderjagt (Ribs)
Lot's of names, but not much substance once you get past Diem. One big advantage we will have is if Edge is able to go. That would give us 4 healthy RBs to run against the Bucs. Wear them assholes down!
On an NFL note, the Rush Limbaugh experiment ended today. Limbaugh, who joined the cast of ESPN's Sunday morning kickoff show this season resigned amidst controversy over comments he made this past Sunday regarding Eagle QB Donovan "Soupy" McNabb. Basically Limbaugh said that the media had a keen interest in a black QB doing well, but that he thought McNabb was overrated and that the main reason for the Eagles success was their D. People all over the country are weighing in over this.
Was it racist? Probably not. I haven't listened to Rush regularly for a long time, but I never have heard him be racist. He simply expressed his opinion. Too many people in this country don't like to hear the truth. Thus Limbaugh was basically forced out. Today, a wealthy man lost a job. He will recover. But more importantly, our constitution, which makes no provision about political correctness, but rather guarantees the right to free speech was trampled. I make no apologies for Limbaugh, but in the past 24 hours he has been called names that if he would have said would have had him yanked by the time Sunday's show was over.
People, it is just getting to the point where if you don't sugar coat it, and you don't soften it and tone it down it is construed as wrong. There are many points I disagree with conservatives on, but their staunch protection of the constitution and the Bill of Rights is something I do agree with. And today, I feel we lost just a little but more of those rights.
