Quality
I pulled up my blog to see if there are any previous posts about my loyalty to the Colts. Unfortunately, I'm not as loyal to blogging as I am the Colts so of course there isn't any mention but anyone who knows me well knows the turmoil I have seen. This is a message to all you fair weather Bengal spankers. I AM A COLTS FAN and have been since eight-four when they moved to Indy. I didn't jump on the bandwagon in the last 5 years*. I remember Hogeboom, Eric Dickerson, and our fan favorite, Jeff George**.
For those of you that think the Colts just recently got decent, you are terribly wrong. Nine-Five/Six was still one of the most exciting seasons and they were one catch from the superbowl. Although I was extremely pissed when they let Marchibroda go, still my favorite coach.
http://www2.indystar.com/library/factfiles/sports/football-pro/indpls_colts/history/colts.html
Enough history... I had the bittersweet pleasure of flying into Indy yesterday from Utah. I landed about 10am and I can't tell you how exciting it was to see a city support their team. There were a few Colts jerseys on the plane but I noticed a HUGE "Go Colts" banner hanging from the steelwork on the new Indy Airport Terminal. http://www.newindianapolisairport.com/
Plus signs on the floor was you walk off the plane and then EVERYONE had Colts Jerseys on!!! The workers, the travellers, everyone!!! I was ashamed I had not worn mine on the plane. I was saving it for later in the day, at least that was my excuse. It was a sea of blue.
I can't tell you how excited, relieved, happy, that the Colts finally made it. Year after year, you see these quality guys almost get there but then struggle in the playoffs. I'm the first to admit that Peyton has never won a big game, including in college, but again, this is why Indy fans are quality. When they go down in the playoffs, we don't start cursing and hating the team like other fans, we feel some sadness, a little empathy for the players, and then we start looking to next year. Fortunately, "next year" is now!!!! and Superbowl title is hopefully finally coming to the circle city!!!! My only disappointment is my favorite player, Stokely, is not going to see the field. http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2697890 He is pictured above.
*For DU guys, like Don Housley who conveniently was a Bulls and Packers fan in the early nineties. I wonder how well that passion is maintaining???
**My favorite memory of Jeff George is from the Bob and Tom Show, prior to national syndication, when they sent Chick down to Atlanta to cover the Pacers/Hawks in the playoffs. BTW, I am also a Pacers fan although that is becoming more difficult as they pull in more and more thugs. Anyway, Chick came back with audio from a bar in Atlanta where he got the room chanting. "Jeff George Sucks! Jeff George Sucks!" JG was the QB in Atlanta at the time, I think that is when he went missing for awhile. That was the only audio Chick had.... nothing about the Pacers, no interviews with local fans.... just "Jeff George Sucks! Jeff George Sucks!" Incidently, he did suck. That guy is such a spanker, he even hosed Purdue. I'd love it if somewhere in Miami a bar starts chanting that.
posted by Justin at 5:24 AM
10 Comments:
How the buff do I post a picture??? I've tried to insert the Brandon Stokely picture 3 times and it never shows up.
9:48 AM
fair weather blogger ;)
11:42 AM
You need to have Jenn walk you thru it. You can also make those long links just text links. It is easy - but hard to explain while typing.
I appreciate your loyalty to the Colts, Justin. I also want to clarify that I see nothing wrong with moving to a new city where you plan to live for a good long time, God willing, and become a fan for the home team. It doesn't make me less of a fan. AND, I can root for two teams. That is cool too.
4:45 AM
two teams is fully possible. i agree with amo.
10:50 AM
You two must feel guilty, no where in my post did I mention anything about someone switching loyalty to a city where they live. I was calling out all the Bengals fans who came out of the woodwork the last couple years. Just wait, if the Bengals don't do well early in the season next year they'll start talking about how Chad needs to quit showboating and Marvin needs to learn how to make it to the playoffs. The only true Bengals fan I know is Ed Roehm. He freaking bought a seat license for a season ticket in nine-seven and he lived in Missouri at the time. I have a lot of respect for that man.
I definitely root for the Bengals, but I can never deny the motherland of the Hoosier State. If they are head-head or the result impacts the standings of my beloved Indianapolis, I have to stand down on the Bengals.
6:31 AM
you mean like indy fans have been whining the last few years that peyton can't win the big one and dungy has a crappy defense that has been killing them even though he's a "defensive coach". it's true of all fans of any team that when the team doesn't do well people bitch and moan. dial up some indy sports radio over the internet and see what you hear if the colts lose next sunday...
4:58 AM
Good point, Jared.
No guilt, Justin. I just want you to be open minded to all the *new* fans who may not have been paying attention to football in "nine-seven" or whatnot. And for the record, my brother was a HUGE Bengals fan at about age 4 (that would be back in eight-eight) because tigers were his favorite animal and they had nifty striped helmets. No matter that he called them the tigers - I have a lot of respect for that kinda team love. Mom and Dad drove to Cincy to take Grandma and Grandpa to a pro-game and brought us all back tiny tigers t-shirts and stuffed tigers. They were probably my earliest favorite team.
5:15 AM
No question, Bengals have the coolest helmets in the league.
9:18 AM
Fuji, if you're complaining about all the thugs on the Pacers, how can you even remotely cheer for the Bengals? How many arrests in the past year? Is it nine or ten now? Keep your focus 100% on the Colts, even though they wear black sneakers like everyone else in Indiana.
Also, Ricky Proehl is my favorite Colt receiver. He is from New Jersey, same county as me. Undrafted out of Wake Forest, in the league 17 years, former Super Bowl champion. He isn't up there with Bon Jovi, but still you've got to show him some respect.
3:43 PM
most of this sounded like "blah, blah, blah, football show, blah blah" to me, but I'm just so happy that you finally made a new blog entry that i HAD to comment.
Also, I do not like football at all, but I really do not like fair-weather fans. I'm glad the Bengals got better, but I will still not wear one of their jerseys, ever. The truest Bengals fan I know is Dave Rolfes. That guy has had seats for, like, ever, and I'm pretty sure he was actually taking his Bengals van down to the river with a bag on his head before Marvin hit the scene.
3:34 PM
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