Not much going today. Yesterday was cut day and here are the victims...

WR Paul Arnold
TE Chad Bartoszek
DL Dante Booker
DB Calvin Carlyle
LB Marq Cerqua
FB Steve Costa
RB Mike Green
WR Drew Haddad
LB J.R. Johnson
QB Jim Kubiak
RB Montrell Lowe
G Hans Olsen
WR Robert Redd
OL Rex Richard
LB Anthony Williams

No real surprises there. I thought Haddad and Kubiak might have made it to the last cut and I certainly would have liked to see some of RB Mike Green but now we press on and await Sundays final cut. On a side note; as I am posting this Isiah Thomas has been fired as coach of the Indiana Pacers.
- posted by mm @ Wednesday, August 27, 2003

 
Well I just canít express how pleased I am with last nights effort by the Colts at Invesco Stadium. Wow! They really played well. Except of course for the brief hiccup at the start of the game. Peyton was solid, Edge ran hard, Marvin had everyone on defense stepping and fetching and Dallas Clark is on his way to stardom!

Defensively, only the Mike Doss letdown clouded what was a superb effort. My guess is that wonít happen to Mike again. Plus Plummer had to throw a perfect pass and we all know that is about a once a game occurrence. If he would have held to his norm it probably would have been a pick.

Speaking of picks, Dungyís D managed 2 and should have had 3. They chased Jake the Snake and the ancient Beurlein all over the field and forced them into mistake after mistake. Just so you donít think that I think it was a perfect game, the D did have a tough time with Clinton Portis. The run D has to be a concern with just 13 days until the season opener. That will be a stay tuned one!

Injuries were kept to a minimum. My biggest fear anymore of preseason is the injuries. It appears that only Cory Birdís separated shoulder is of any concern.

So on to Friday and the end of the preseason. Neil and me will try to keep Timmy out of trouble. Actually, since I have school Saturday morning I have to behave. I doubt if we will see Edge and maybe no Marvin and little of Peyton. There is just no sense in running them out there this week.

Finally, today is a cut day. The Colts have to have their roster down to 65. One person I would like to see on that cut list is Reggie Wayne. He is just horrible. He drops passes, he doesnít block and he is just plain a liability. Polian should never have drafted him. At the time we needed D and we get a shitty wideout. This guy has been ëgivení the number 2 WR slot and he obviously feels he doesnít have to work to keep it. Well I think he sucks and not sonly should he not be the number 2 receiver he should be cut.

- posted by mm @ Tuesday, August 26, 2003

 
Well it's Monday and the Colts get their shot and preseason National primetime television. I have a really bad feeling that they are going to put a huge push into winning this game and take chances that I do not see as necessary. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we get out without injury. I'm too nervous to write anything coherent.
- posted by mm @ Monday, August 25, 2003

 
Itís one of them slow, lazy, hazy weeks here in Indy. The Colts have officially broken camp but we still have to wait until Monday to see them play. With the rash of injuries in the team so far this season I would prefer that none of the big boys play much if at all. Unfortunately I think the Colts will try to make some statement on national TV. Let Denver have it I say. We get them again in December when it counts.

Talk has swirled all week about the Colts future in Indy. I guess I have resigned myself to follow them as long as they are here. If they leave though they can forget it. I hated them in Baltimore and will hate them if they move. Apparently some moronic republican trying to run for mayor ran his mouth about not helping the Colts. Some old timers cheered. Shows that there are some real fucking idiots in this town. If anyone believes that big businesses donít get tax breaks, loans and free money to build high rises and capital improvements then they have got their heads up their asses. I donít want to GIVE the Colts a stadium; rather I want the Colts to become partners with the city. Let them own the stadium and collect the revenue and pay the city back. Therein lies the commitment to the city and in turn the fan base will come a calling.

But enough of that for now. We are just 17 days from the season opener at Cleveland. Letís hope we can keep the guys healthy and find some diamonds in the rough!

Finally, it looks like Rocky Rhodes may yet play this season. A doctor in Alabama said his knee is sound. He is still having shoulder problems but we may be able to utilize him earlier than I dared hope! That is some good news.

- posted by mm @ Thursday, August 21, 2003

 
I was going to post this on Saturday but I thought I would wait to see how bad the Colts came out of Fridays game. Injury wise only Donnell Thompson was lost. Unfortunately for Thompson he was lost for the season. That's the bad news.

There were plenty of good things to come from the game. First of all, the team played very well. Peyton Manning was very sharp and downright spectacular on his TD strike to Marvin Harrison early in quarter 2. The defense chased Seattle starting QB Matt Hasselback all over the field and made what many are calling a QB whose time has come look pitiful. Since itís preseason I wonít do too many details but overall I came away very pleased with the Colts effort. As bad as they looked against Chicago they looked that good against the Seahawks.

Of course the fun part of the game was just going. This time out it was just me and Timmy that went together. We had a couple of pops before the game and a few at the game. I found $11 on the ground at the game and we went to Tailgators afterward. Of course Timmy got in trouble for being later getting home but I bet he escaped without too much pain. It was nice to see all nine of our seats occupied. The legend was there, as was Butch. But there were no ushers so we didnít get to say hey to Marvin. Oh and Dan from ABF was there as well.

Now, the main reason I put this off is because of that idiot QB of ours and his mouth. Apparently there were only about 26K fans on hand for the game. Never mind the reasons for people not attending but Peyton took offense at the fact that more people werenít at the game.

Peyton, the next time we donít sell out the Dome for a regular season game then you can open your trap and show your ignorance. Until then do us all a favor and just play football. Itís become apparent he has no intention of staying here. He wonít sign a contract and he shows no emotion. Grow up Peyton! You take care of your end of the bargain and let us fans worry about whether or not we really want the team here.

- posted by mm @ Tuesday, August 19, 2003

 
Game Day! 7:00pm, RCA Dome. Colts v. Seahawks.

My wish list....

1. 0 plays for Edgerrin James.
2. Run defense shows ANY improvement.
3. Liberal doses of Reggie Wayne, Dallas "Fort Worth" Clark, Mike Green, Mike Doss and J. MacPherson.
4. Limited doses of Marcus, Peyton and Marvin.
5. No surprises.

This game can be as vanilla as it gets and it will be just fine with me. I hope to God no one gets hurt. Complete wrap up and views tomorrow.

And one last thing, Congrats to Ryan Diem for making the starting rotation. I know Adam Meadows must be devastated especially after helping anchor one of the best O-lines in the NFL over the last 6 years but that is what makes Diem's rise even better. To know we have a better player coming in can only bode well for the Blue! Sure Meadows is a high paid backup but one of the keys to our lines success has been its ability to adapt to injuries and such. Meadows will play a big role in the success or failure of our team this year. Mark my words!

- posted by mm @ Friday, August 15, 2003

 
The dog days of training camp. One preseason game done and three to go before it counts. At least the team only has today and tomorrow before returning to Indy for the rest of the season.

Well the injuries to the RB corps still seems to be the buzz. For what its worth the Colts resigned Montrell Lowe who had been cut in June and Michael Green to contracts as RB's. Seeing how Lowe had been cut after summer school would indicate he is strictly a warm body to put in the rotation until Little Ricky and Mungro get healthy. Green who played sparingly for the Titans last year could possibly have something we may want to hold on to.

Unfortunately the coach doesn't seem like he is done looking for RB's which means it may be that Dominic "Rocky" Rhodes is headed for the injured reserve. He hasn't practiced and it just seems that something else is ailing him every day. This really should come as no surprise. Edge took more than a year to return if he is even back (which I think he is) . So how could we expect Rock to come back sooner? I know this, he was easily our second best back. I have nothing against Mungro and Williams but they were able to take advantage of their relative obscurity to burst onto the scene last year. They aren't going to sneak up on anyone this year.

But on a positive note, which right now are few and far between, we are a scant 2 days from the home opener for 2003. Should be a lot of fun if nothing else! More as the game gets closer.
- posted by mm @ Wednesday, August 13, 2003

 
There were two things I never wanted to say again about the Colts. One was "post-mortem" and the other was "same old shit" but after watching Saturdays game again on tape last night this will be a post mortem and the Colts are up to their same old shit.

First the positives as I see them. Edge seemed to have his start and stop quickness back. That was lacking last year. He still made the move but from a stop he was slow restarting. Saturday his burst seemed to be back. Dallas Clark caught balls and was able to gain yards after the catch on several occasions. Not sure if he will ever be the blocker we need or that Dilger was but he was very solid in his opening NFL game. Short of that there was nothing to write home about. Bryant Allen was decent but was running against the Bears second and third string. Allen may be called on more and more due to the same old shit of injuries to the Colts.

Negatives. Well certainly the loss of James Mungro and Ricky Williams hurts the team. Both of these were serious contenders to the number 2 RB position and both will probably miss at least the rest of the preseason. Once again the Colts failed to impress on run defense. The first team was okay, not great but okay but the backups were horrible. Could it be that we actually miss Rob Morris?

Jim Kubiak sucks. Sure he threw a touchdown but it was really Ricky Williams that got that TD. Kubiak distinguished himself by making a stupid throw under pressure that the Bears picked off and ran back for a TD. MacPherson wasn't much better, but he didn't make that kind of mistake. Looks like Kubiak could be a casualty of the next cut.(Unless of course Mr. Polian likes him)

And finally the kicking game. Well we did manage two touchbacks on kickoffs but they were with the wind. We also missed three makeable field goals which would have won the game.

I know this is preseason and the final result doesn't really matter. But what does matter is how good or bad the team looks and how efficient the first string plays. Last year I was poo-pooed for being negative going into the season because I saw the team throughout the preseason and knew they were in trouble. Turns out I was right to be skeptical. Let's just hope they make a better showing at home Friday against the Seahawks. But what I saw Saturday and again on tape was the same old shit out of these people.


- posted by mm @ Monday, August 11, 2003

 
Good luck tomorrow boys! Beat the living shit out of Kordell and the Bearsuck!
- posted by mm @ Friday, August 08, 2003

 
Well apparently I spoke too soon. I see where our starting MLB and #2 QB both are out for wheat will probably amount to the first two preseason games. Huard doesn't bother me so much as Peyton is the #1 and Huard almost guaranteed the 2. Hopefully this will allow J. MacPhearson and Jim Kubiak to have a good battle for the third spot.

Rob Morris on the other hand is worrisome. This punk has been hurt a lot already in his short career and after coming off a decent second half of last season he really needed to get a good head of steam going into this trip. Now he is out at least two weeks and as of now no one seems to know it that is all we can expect. As optomistic as I have been it just seems like something has to come along and knock the wind out of my sails.

Otherwise, both radio shows yesterday talked glowingly of the defense and had quotes form the offense that the D really got over on them in practice yesterday morning. They should start putting in the game plan for Saturday today. Lets hope it's a good one!

One more thing. What is Tony Dungy doing? He wants at least 2 picks a game and REALISTICALLY he wants 40 for the season. I want some of what he is smoking!
- posted by mm @ Thursday, August 07, 2003

 
Here we are just 3 days from the first preseason game for the Colts. So far everyone is fairly healthy and the weather has been ideal for the boys out at Rose-Hulman. Unlike last year when injuries and holdouts seemed to cripple the team from the get go this summer has been smooth sailing.

So as we gear up for the game Saturday in Champaign against the Bears I hope no one gets hurt (unless they are a Bear) and that the first team comes out sharp and gives me optimism that we can get the job done. The first game at home is next Friday so I will be posting thoughts after Saturdays game and leading up to the season and then thorughout what I hope will be a glorious season for the team!

Hope springs eternal at this time of year and while I am not convinced that we have the team to win it all I do know one thing....I AM READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL!
- posted by mm @ Wednesday, August 06, 2003