A Season Ticket No More. For Now;)

Well the NFL draft is now a few weeks past, mini-camp is over, it’s May and we are at the point on the calendar that is about as far away from NFL football as you can be.

So why am I writing a piece about the NFL and the Indianapolis Colts at this time of year? I guess with a week or so until the track opens, just a couple of other racing events and no other real sports news that grabs my attention I started thinking about the upcoming season. I mean, I love to follow the Yankees and the Reds but baseball has five months UNTIL the playoffs. I want to follow hockey more but just can’t really make myself. The NBA playoffs, uggh! No thank you.

This isn’t an entry about how I think the upcoming season will go although there may be a little of that thrown in. Nor is it going to be my assessment of past events such as the loss in the Super Bowl or the 2010 Draft. No, this is about my personal experience as a 25-year season ticket holder.

Sadly, I’ve made the choice to not renew my Indianapolis Colt season ticket for the 2010 season. Frankly it just wasn’t in the budget this year and I felt it was time to make the right decision regarding the ticket. I’m not saying it is in any way permanent; it was just the right thing to do this year. Hell, I’m hoping something happens that allows me to go to most of the games this year, but only time will tell if that happens. Even if I don’t make it to the games I’ve had more fun over the past 25 seasons than most fans can dream of.

I’ve seen what amounts to the birth of a franchise. Sure the Colts had been in Baltimore for years, but they were new to Indianapolis and what a welcome they received. Of course the newness wore off quick as we sat through some crappy seasons with what we thought were marginal NFL players and coaches. 3-13 season records were the norm rather than the exception for most of the first 15 years the team was here. But the team had their moments.

We drank Old Style beer, maybe a little too much, at the games. We laughed at the inept play of some of the Colts. Eugene Daniel was “the Toast of the Town”. Mike Pagel was a horrible quarterback and we always wanted Art Schlichter to play, but truth be told he was even more of a nightmare. There was Jeff George and the whole train wreck that he was.

We stole the famed “Steel Curtain” banner the Steelers fans had the audacity to hang in OUR room. Of course the police made us give it back, but it didn’t go back up! We wore tuxes to the game the day after one of the guys in our row got married. We ran the fans in front of us off. I kind of regret that but I guess they had had enough beer spilled on them. The Bears fans wanted to fight us for no reason other than they are just jerks.

And lest you think that the first years were ALL bad there were some shining on field moments and memories that I’ll never forget. Jack Trudeau was a defensive, arrogant prick but he gave his all on the field and I will always be thankful for that. Number 29 Eric Dickerson provided many thrills most notably his dominating performance against the Broncos on that Halloween night in 1988. The Dome literally rocked that night as it did a week later when the Colts came back from a halftime deficit to beat the Jets. There was Rosie Potts blocking and catching the ball. Brief glimpses of greatness from linebackers such as Barry Krauss, Duane Bickett and Jeff Herrod. Bill Brooks catching most anything that got in his area, although with some of the QB’s, that wasn’t much! And of course the short, but brilliant career of Steve Emtmann.

But going to the games was ultimately more social than it was about being a serious fan. Of course we were and are serious fans, but to mock and deride those around us who were only there for the “event” was misguided as the team gave very little to get enthused about. In fact, for the first 10 years we only had one playoff appearance and that came in the strike year.

Then there was 1994. The Colts drafted Marshall Faulk and we had OUR first real superstar. Sure 29 was here in the 80’s but he was acquired in a trade and will always be known more as a Ram than a Colt. With Marshall running and Captain Comeback Jim Harbaugh at QB and a solid defense the team seemed headed in the right direction. After a revolving door at head coach the team had their old coach Ted Marchibroda back on board with some solid help at key coaching positions.

With Harbaugh, Faulk and a decent team we saw a deep run in the playoffs for the first time. None of the games were at home, but after 10+ years we had a team the city could rally around. Unfortunately the feeling nor the success lasted. A couple of short years later and we were watching the same old 3-13 Colts, but we still loved them and still had a great time at the games.

Finally, in 1998, the Colts turned the corner for good, or at least as good as for 12 years of success. With Peyton Manning at QB and a laundry list of stars on offense the Colts started putting up gaudy numbers for wins, yardage and points each season. For the past 10 years the Colts have been in the conversation for Super Bowl champion. Sure we’ve only won the one, but there is little reason why this team can’t win another or more.

More importantly is how the whole experience of going to the games has changed. From the “ho-hum, I’m here, where’s my book” days of 15 years ago to the fever pitch we have today. More than anything I will miss that. The whole “fuck you, this is our house” mentality that has come with winning is awesome to experience. Sure we get fans of the other teams, especially those jackass Patriot fans, but their numbers are small and getting smaller all of the time.

I’ll miss hanging at Tom’s before the games. Drinking my RBV before the game and my four Bud’s at the game with a couple after thrown in for good measure. I’ll miss seeing the Colts try to improve upon last seasons incredible 13 wins in a row stretch and make it through unscathed and culminating in a Super Bowl win. I’ll miss the camaraderie of the fans around us with whom we’ve become game friends.

It has been a great 26 years and like I said, I wholly expect this to be temporary and am already making arrangements for my return. It’s just something that has been such a part of my life over the past generation that I feel like I am losing a great friend. Just know, I’ll see you again old friend.