Fans send Irsay a message
Going into last season, the Colts had a waiting list of more than 9,000. That vast majority of those on the list should be able to claim seats this season. For long-time season ticket holders (like myself), the exodus represents an opportunity to improve seat location in 2012.
Despite the buffer, the Colts have to be nervous. After a wave of unpopular moves to cut the most recognizable faces on the roster, Jim Irsay has heard the message loud and clear: Fans don't like where this team is headed.
I think we should wait and see the performance of the players that were cut. It was exciting to watch Peyton come into the league and improve into the player he is. This is also a business with the risk being with the owners. I am excited about the new season. Go Colts!
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Chill out. He did not say he agreed with it or did not agree with it. He just presented the facts. These are not discussable, arguable, debatable, ect. That is the problem with news today. Everything does not have 2 sides. Season ticket renews are down. Deal with it.
I think when Colts start winning again everything will be fine. There will be a lot hand wringing this season, though. You take away their favorite players, this is what you get. We don't know this team anymore. I think, that it's only a matter of time before new stars emerge with big personalities. The more-than-casual fans I know (some season ticket holders, some not) run the full spectrum from optimistic to devastated. And i don't personally know anyone who didn't renew because of the roster cuts. I know a handful who sold their tickets because they couldn't afford them anymore (pay cuts, laid off etc).
Does it matter that the 9000 on the waiting list will be getting tickets, I think not, the Colts games will still be sold out, just like they were before Manning.
Irsay had to do what he did, he couldn't invest another 28 million in a player that, more than likely, will need more surgeries. I'm a huge Peyton Manning fan and he'll be missed, but all the other players that were becoming free agents, it was time to look to the future. What made it even more important, is the fact the Colts have the first pick in the draft that will have two of the best QB's coming out of college since Manning. I doubt it takes long for the Colts to be another perennial play-off team, I'm willing to bet they make the play-offs in the 2013 season. I know right now that the defense will be much improved this season.
@Colts47630 this is not a very well thought out argument. Denver is paying a 26 million dollar signing bonus. They signed him to essentially the same contract that he had in Indy. No indication he will need another surgery at this point either.
@mattshedd @Colts47630 Denver also saw Manning throw before they made a deal - something the Colts did not get last summer. I think it's a pretty well reasoned position to take if you put yourself in the owner's shoes. The owner who felt just as optimistic last summer as John Elway and the Broncos do now. The owner who had ANOTHER 28 mil on the line and no REAL guarantee that he would get anything for it. The only thing Irsay could reasonably predict is he was headed for 5 years of salary cap hell with many more needs than QB. The contract was equipped with an escape clause for a reason . Things change in 8 months.
Also, I was under the impression that while the presence of bone spurs of doesn't indicate another surgery, they do indicate that there is swelling in yet another disc. This might not lead directly to surgery but it might very well lead to more nerve damage and the return of numbness/ loss of strength symptoms.
Irsay said he would never cut a healthy manning, and I don't think he did.
@LeviFuller @Colts47630 @mattshedd I didn't say he was one hit away at all. Analysts didn't say he had bone spurs, his Dr. did.
@Colts47630 @naptown_ninja @mattshedd @Colts47630 I am done worrying about the whole Manning thing. I am not sure if I will watch the Colts next year because these things may take a year or 2 to get over. However if everyone wants to make the whole "one hit away form another surgery" argument then we may as well just shut the team down. Every player is one hit away from surgery. If you are talking about the next actual doctors, who know more about it than anyone here, say his neck id stronger than before. Don't believe what all of the analysts say. These are the same analysts who said he was done BUT when he signed with Denver they say how great he will be. They are just trying to sell a story.
@naptown_ninja @mattshedd @Colts47630 I think Irsay knew it was time to let Peyton go, one hit and Peyton would be gone for yet another season. Bone spurs will lead to surgery, especially where Peyton's are located, they can move and damage more nerves causing anything from numbness to paralysis. I hope Peyton will be fine. My argument is based on the draft, salary cap and free agents. There will not be an Andrew Luck or RG3 available for the Colts next year. It's the perfect time for the Colts to rebuild. They've made some great additions through free agency already, young and experienced players. The time is now.
You have gotten to the point where you are guilty of exactly what you accused Kravitz. You are so emotionally invested in the failure of this rebuild and this regime that you are incapable of fair reporting. . . (insert lame denial here). After losing the face of the team, assorted other popular vets and a near total turnover of coaching staff and front office and going 2-14, an 87% renewal rate is a pretty strong showing for a fan base that used to require ticket buys by a grocery chain to avoid blackouts more weeks than not.
It is just impossible to keep reading your posts full of insufferable whining and declarations of doom wrapped in your usual conviction of your infallibility. In short, you suck. and you make this site unreadable. I'll just add you all to the Purple Prose Stampede site.
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@19>18 By the way, what kind of person goes out of his way to insult someone else, unprompted on a comment feed?
You went after my character and intentionally compared me to people you know I disrespect. And why? Because you disagree with my position?
That was neither civil nor constructive. You made one point in this comment:
"An 87% renewal rate is a pretty strong showing..."
That's a point I happen to agree with. That's why I didn't make a BFD about how much Indy fans suck and they are giant losers.
Instead, I pointed out that the waiting list is gone, fans are unhappy about the direction of the team, and the Colts should be very nervous about their position. This piece wasn't critical of anything. It was just saying that people are mad.
None of those things are controversial at all.
And for that, you personally attack me.
Re-read it again and point out the exact phrases that you think are unfair.
@19>18 "You are so emotionally invested in the failure of this rebuild and this regime that you are incapable of fair reporting"
Nice.
Nothing in this article was critical of the new regime. I'm merely indicating that fans are not happy.
THEY AREN'T.
I've said positive things about the regime when they've done positive things.
You are welcome to your opinion, but this was one of the most unfair comments I've ever read. I don't like where the team is headed. What reason has the new regime given me to do so?
I wasn't ripping on the front office. I'm pointing out that that the margin for error is gone.
This team has no more buffer. There's no more waiting list. That's a fact. It's improve or suffer the consequences. I've made it clear that I think Irsay took the economically more risky move by cutting Manning.
Sorry I didn't write an article about how Indy fans are fair-weahter and they suck. I don't think that's true. People around here are angry and depressed.
bull. You interpreted the OL signings as being a sign of an emphasis on the run. You took his comments about run and stop the run out of context, completely ignoring the comments that followed about throwing 40 times a game. You automatically dismiss the ex eagles because Mudd doesnt like them never mind that we think there is a change afoot from Mudd's zone block scheme. In the same post you criticized the team for not doing the same as the previous regime. Risky or not, I dont think he had a choice. Everyone keeps repeating that Manning would have renegotiated and wanted to come back. I dont think Manning lied, but I never heard him say he would come back for a rebuild. I never heard him say he would have come back to a team that had cut Clark, Brackett and Bullitt all of whom get big paychecks, have big cap hits and cant get on the field. This team needs to be rebuilt now and I dont think Manning was signing on for that. Neither you nor the fans want Irsay to do the "right" thing. They want him to bend to their will. Despite your delusions of perfection, your way is NOT the only way. Anyone who gets angry and depressed over a football team has bigger problems than where Peyton Manning is playing next year. I am a fan and I am happy.I am not depressed.
As for the poster who said Peyton is responsible for the Colts still being in Indy, one man and one man only is responsible for the Colts still playing in Indy. Jim Irsay resisted the league wanting a team in LA when his team couldnt sell out. Jim Irsay brought in Polian and Dungy. Ultimately on a decision as big as Leaf or Manning, the owner is involved. NO ONE is more responsible than Jim Irsay for the Colts still being in Indy.
Responding to the below. I have pointed out repeatedly what I think is unfair. I insulted you as you insulted Kravitz. I disrespect you as you disrespect Kravitz. It is not your position. I have stated why very clearly. You think your way is the only way. You have declared that if they dont build the team exactly as you see fit, Grigson is an idiot. If they dont rebuild on your timetable, Grigson is an idiot. YOUR words. You criticize them for signing two marginal OL because Mudd didnt want them in his scheme ignoring the fact that we all think they are changing the scheme.
If you agree with the point, why isnt in the post, at least the full text? Why not balance the article by pointing that out?
I have seen numbers bandied about referring to a waiting list of 9,000 and potential non renewals of 3600. No idea of their accuracy, no idea how many off the waiting list are going to buy but it is by no means a FACT, based on what we know, that the waiting list is gone. It is this refusal to admit, never mind point out that there is more to the story that is not supportive of your point that offends me.It is so consistent that I no longer believe it is coincidence or merely style.
What is unfair, as usual, is what you DONT say. You never admit that someone could be successful using a path other than the one you have anointed as the one true path to enlightenment (in this case otherwise known as the Super Bowl).You never admit that Grigson and Irsay could make the right decisions and things could still not work out. Your only conclusion if they dont meet your target of competitive on your timetable of two years is Grigson is an idiot.
You have no problem with saying about Kravitz what I said about you but then you cry foul? tough.
Now, if I can figure out how to keep your site from emailing me, I am done.
@19>18 Why not balance the article? I DID balance the article.
"The Colts are still the most popular team in Indiana, and not many franchises could survive such a disastrous season as the Colts had in 2011 and still sell out the stadium the next year, but the team is on the clock."
You are a piece of work. Go run and hide.
@19>18 Exactly - "after losing the face of the team...".
Irsay cut a healthy Peyton F. Manning. The same Peyton Manning who just signed a 5 YEAR CONTRACT WORTH 95 MILLION. He was cleared to play by at least 3 teams during his free agency tour. You do not cut a healthy Peyton Manning.
I'd bet season ticket renewal rates are a little better than 87% in Denver. Even "after losing the face" of their team. Why? Because they will be starting the G.O.A.T at QB this season.
Nate's point is obvious - had the Colts kept Manning, the renewal rate would have likely been unchanged. Jim Irsay just cut the man responsible for keeping the franchise in Indy. Jim Irsay just cut the G.O.A.T. I think a fair number of fans (at least 3600) are a little mad.
I don't know Nate personally, but I do know one thing: He is a much bigger fan of the Indianapolis Colts than you. My enjoyment of my favorite team was increased even more when I discovered 18to88.com. The man bleeds blue, and there is no way he is cheering for anything less than a perfectly executed rebuild.
@NateDunlevy The team won two games. That's why the season tickets dropped off some. There will always be turnover. 87% renewal is good.
@Smocky44 If Manning was coming back, the renewal rate would have been higher, regardless of 2 wins.
