Chris Whalen’s Random Life

Recently I had the chance to view a segment from a Boston based reporter spending time interviewing fans at an Indianapolis bar while watching the Patriots/Jaguars games. It was interesting to see the reaction. First of all, the Colts fans really do consider their team “the classiest” team in the NFL and one that always does things the “right way”. Their description of the Patriots was along the lines of ‘disreputable’, “classless”,”cheaters”, etc.

Let’s look at the facts shall we? First of all, having been on the sidelines for Colts and Patriots games, Colts players talk almost as much trash as San Diego players. Clearly more than most any team. The amount of taunting from their players is at least equal to that of the Patriots, who are certainly guilty of some of that as well. I still don’t get the classless and cheaters reference. The VideoGate incident was for one game and did not affect the outcome of that game. Anyone associated with the NFL will tell you it had more to do with where the Patriots were filming than the content itself. It did not affect the outcome of that game, and they were justifiably punished for it. Enough already….I do find it interesting however when I go to a Colts game in Indianapolis that while sitting in one of the last rows high in the stadium, there is a TON of crowd noise coming from behind me. Interesting since the only thing behind me was a few rows of seats, oh and SPEAKERS. Piping in crowd noise is something the Colts have been accused of in the past by the Steelers, Jets, Bengals etc…

I will say this, Tony Dungy is a high quality person, one that we could use allot more like these days. But let’s not be so naive as to say the Colts don’t look for every edge like every other team does.

The real item I wanted to get to was the punt, pass and kick winners. How can fans be so classless as to boo the 14 year old winner from New Hampshire because she is wearing a Patriots jersey? All the kids were wearing a jersey from their favorite team. No one else was booed. This was just a 14 year old girl who won a competition. Here in New England I have seen kids win similar contests and wear Yankees hats, Jets, Giants and the like and not be berated for it. Just another example of the moral superiority Colts fans think they  have. As much as I respect Tony Dungy and hopes he comes back next year, having travled all over the US and been to games in every NFL city, I will not miss the Colts fans. There are loud, obnoxious fans everywhere but no one has the smug attitude of the Indianapolis fan.

This past year while in San Franscisco on business, and wearing my Patriots hat, I ran into a group of Colts fans downtown. All wearing their gear, and good for them. They decided to approach me over by the crooked street, making fun of the Pats etc. And that is fine. I congratulated them on their Superbowl and told them to enjoy it, there is never a greater feeling than the first time your favorite team wins a championship. It is always the best championship. I was promptly told to F- off that the Colts would win several in a row and shut out the Pats. It is starting to sound like Red Sox v. Yankees fans in the late 1990s! It is just a game, enjoy it and let other people enjoy their team. Stop trying to make your team sound better by disparaging others.                     

So much for my rant, usually my posts are much more detailed about league issues etc. But recent events just wound me up a bit about Colts fans….let’s face it, there is no team in the NFL full of angels, they are just people like everyone else representing all sides of life, let’s not build up any team to be more than it really is, a team put togehter for entertainment value only…..