Goodbye RCA/Hoosier Dome!

I went downtown yesterday to see the deflation of the RCA Dome roof. Standing in the shadow of the new Lucas Oil Stadium I was kind of sad to watch as the dome slowly began to deflate. Ending an era and a chapter of our city’s history. As I turned around I was reminded of what that old gray and white dome had meant to our city. Without it there would have been neither the Colts nor Lucas Oil Stadium. Without it we would still have had just one NCAA Final Four.

The word “bittersweet” was uttered by at least three of those who spoke before they turned off the fans that held up the dome roof. Yes, it was the end of an era, but the memories that each of us have of it can’t be taken away with the flip of a switch. And while I shed a few tears as those responsible for the dome spoke, I couldn’t help but think back on the great times I had in there.

I remember the dome going up in 1983. We had no team to play there and no real prospects of getting one. But it, along with the reincarnation of the Union Station transformed our sleepy downtown into a vibrant and fun destination. Before 1983 you went downtown at night for a Pacer game or maybe out to eat at one of the handful of restaurants in the area. Not any more. There were movies, shopping, bars and restaurants to fit everyone’s desire, and it was just the beginning.

I remember the first time I went to the Hoosier Dome. It was for a preseason NFL game between the Bears and the Bills. It had been scheduled before the Colts arrived the previous winter. The place seemed as big as all of outdoors. We sat in the first row of the upper deck and the players seemed a mile away. But it was so cool to see an NFL game and it was just a taste of what was to come.

I actually missed the first two Colts games in the Dome. I went back over the seasons a few years ago and while I missed those two games I had missed only 8 since. I missed a few more preseason games in later years, but only a couple and only a couple of regular season games.

The Colts weren’t good for many years, but we managed to have a good time. That first season we stole the fabled “Steel Curtain” banner the Steeler fans had hung from the upper deck. Not in our house! We were caught and had to return it, but it didn’t go back up!

How many beers were spilled on the people in front of us? Mark Lee taking a dive over a couple of rows of fans one day, full beer gone. Fritz and them in front of us? Gone in just a few years. I guess we were too much for them!

Greg Stenger taking in food. Proud to the end that he never bought any food at the dome. A giant potato chip box used to smuggle in some kind of punch from the previous night’s party. Craig asking for quiet after a tough Saturday night. Nearly coming to blows with the Bears Suck fans. And yes, leaving the dome either before or just after the fourth quarter started because we were behind by so much.

$26 tickets which ended up being $109 our last season at the Dome.

We saw the first Monday Night Football game in 1988. Eric Dickerson running wild over the Broncos. The city all aglow for the occasion. Feeling the Dome actually rock as we kicked the Bronco’s asses. The feeling the next week when we came back in the second half to beat the Jets and feeling the stadium rock again.

We saw 3-13 season’s and I really thought that was our destiny. In 1995 Jim Harbaugh led us out of obscurity and into the AFC Championship game. The next year we were back in the playoffs, but were destroyed in the first game and went back to being bad until QB Peyton Manning arrived. By 2006 we had come full circle with the team as we won Super Bowl 41!

The Colts have provided most of my memories of the Dome, but there have been other events which have been very cool indeed.

I saw the Rolling Stones there twice and while the sound pretty much sucked it was still cool.

In 1987 the Indiana basketball team started its drive to the National title at the Dome. We didn’t have very good seats but it was great watching the Hoosiers get out the gate well and be on their way. In later years I saw the team play Kentucky at the Dome. While the Dome wasn’t the greatest basketball venue, it played host to some big games with big crowds and the city always managed to put on a show. I wasn’t there, but in 1984 the Dome hosted what was to be the largest crowd to ever see a basketball game. A record that stood for years.

Add to that the many state football titles the Roncalli Rebels won at the Dome and there were just so many memories. While winning the AFC title game in 2006 was the sweetest game, the celebration the day after the Super Bowl may have been the greatest non sporting event!

It wasn’t fancy or glitzy but it served its purpose and over the past few years was a helluva home field advantage for the Colts. Whether or not the new stadium can ever produce the noise or the memories of the Dome remains to be seen, but it’ll have its chance. But for now, in the last few weeks of the Dome’s existence I’ll think back to all of the great times and even some of the disappointments that came inside her walls.