January 31, 2007
Open Letter to Colts Fans: Pt. II
MT the Goat
I would like to issue a bit of an apology to the Colts fans out there. I know that I've been hard on you in the past and while I don't wish to retract any of my previous barbs, I'd like to offer up an olive branch. I'm sure you've all seen the classic Christmas cartoon How the Grinch Stole Christmas (I hope you have anyway; until late last year, my wife had never seen it all the way through. Actually, she had never seen A Charlie Brown Christmas or Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer before either. Don't ask.). If you remember, the Grinch has stolen all of the gifts from the Whos down in Whoville, the tall and the small, when he finally realizes the true meaning of Christmas: it's not the presents, it's the people. It's the feeling and the belief and the energy that make something real, not the material goods.
For the past couple of years I've harbored a great deal of resentment for many members of the Blue Nation. I mean, let's face it: a great number of your ranks are immigrants. But does that make your nation any less important or any less real? We live in a country that was founded by people of different races and nations who scratched and clawed their way to America to make a new life. Did it matter that they couldn't speak the language or that they hadn't fought in the Revolution? Not one bit. Is the German immigrant any less of a citizen than the Pilgrim? No.
I don't consider myself a member of the Blue Crew, but I've been a Colts fan for over 20 years. The Indianapolis Colts were my uncle's first employer, gave him a job after he graduated from Butler. His uncle, my great uncle, has been running the scoreboard for the team since the Mayflower (the irony is thick with this metaphor) trucks dropped them off in the Circle City. I've got ties to the team, to be sure. But I'm also a stalwart, a man who is loathe to turn his back on a team or a friend, no matter the situation. And so I've remained loyal to my first football love: the Chicago Bears. Over the past couple of years, my infatuation with the Colts has waxed and waned, dwindling recently due to the sheer numbers of bandwagon jumpers.
But recently, I had an epiphany. Maybe, I realized, it doesn't matter that many of these fans are new. Maybe it doesn't matter that those claiming to be lifelong supporters are the same who didn't want to buy tickets 4 years ago and didn't mind that the game was blacked out. And maybe some of these folks are only wearing Colts gear because it means they don't have to wear business casual on a Friday.
But if this Super Bowl berth means that our city will be taken seriously if it will truly galvanize the masses into a legitimate fanbase, then I'm all for it. I'll be cheering for the other team on Super Sunday, but my respect for the Colts fan is growing again. I have only one caveat: please don't allow yourselves to fall into the realm of Purdue football fan. That ragtag bunch of Johnnie-Come-Lately's fancied themselves a force until their team once again became a farce. You now need to stand by your team and support them, no matter what. If the team hits a rough patch when Manning retires, you need to yell louder and pray longer rather than abandoning them because you have better things to do. You can't just write your Blue period off as a passing phase, you need to make the team a part of your life. And for Christ's sake, put away that Edge jersey.
With the day of reckoning approaching, I feel much like what I imagine a Union soldier must have felt like when he came to the field of battle knowing that his neighbors, perhaps even his kin, stood waiting on the other side. I expect nothing less than an epic struggle and can only hope that, no matter the outcome, I don't have to revisit my newfound respect for Colts fans. Good luck, and Godspeed.
MT Goat |
