NFL Tragedy #5: The Colts Leave Baltimore
We are continuing our top ten NFL tragic moments. Numbers seven through ten are here, and number six is here. Enjoy...and try to forget.
On March 29, 1984, in the middle of the night, the Baltimore Colts left town to go to Indianapolis.
Unhappy over playing facilities in Baltimore and tempted by an offer of a new 61,000-seat indoor stadium in Indiana, team owner Robert Irsay suddenly moved the Colts to Indianapolis.
What was worse, however, is that the move came without warning. Moving vans came in late one night to take records and equipment out of team headquarters, and the team was out of town before most the city was aware of it.
It was one of the biggest dumps a team could take on a town ever. Most teams at least give some notice.
But not Irsay and the Colts.
More sports.
posted by Nominal Me | Friday, January 28, 2005
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9 Comments:
Hi, I came here via the 'Next Blog' button :-)
I know nothing about ... any of the American games - but reading your blog and looking at it through your eyes ... was ... 'Fun' !
I hate 'Wrestling'. But I do like 'Baseball' - I know nothing about the game - but I like watching the film versions. And even American Football - in Jerry Mc Guire - OK - It was more of Tom Cruise than the foot ball which made me watch that one.
Anyway's neighbour hope you dont mind me peeking into your blog and leaving comments ...
Until next week ... Your friendly neighbourhood Blogger (Spidey fan)
Trouvaille
The Browns situation was bad, and I hate Modell over it. But the Colts leaving in the middle of the night had a more painful effect. Also, it's sad to say, that when the Browns left, it wasn't an unusual story. At the time the Colts went to Indy, I don't think there were many times a team left to go to another state.
But then again I have four more tragedies to go...
Thanks for stopping by Trouvaille. Other than soccer, I can't guess what kind of sports they have in the United Arab Emirates.
No Carrie Fisher here. In fact, does Carrie Fisher even look like Carrie Fisher anymore?
Professional sports teams moving isn't new. The Baltimore Orioles were once the St. Louis Browns. The Baltimore Ravens were once the Cleveland Browns. Baltimoreans seem to forget that because they loved the Colts so much. The Giants moved to San Fransisco and the Dodgers moved to LA. The Cleveland Rams moved to LA and then to St. Louis. The Chicago Cardinals moved to St. Louis and then to Arizona and so on and so on. The move in the night by the Colts came because the city was threatening to cease the team from its owners through the threat of imminent domain. Yes, the elder Irsay may have not been the best owner, but his son Jim, who now owns the Indianapolis Colts is much different. It was their team, not the city of Baltimore's, so they had every right to pack up and leave anytime they wished... and they still do today (lease permitting). If anything, they should have just renamed the team, and left the name/logo/pre-1984 history in Baltimore. That would have been the nicest thing to do
Professional sports teams moving isn't new. The Baltimore Orioles were once the St. Louis Browns. The Baltimore Ravens were once the Cleveland Browns. Baltimoreans seem to forget that because they loved the Colts so much. The Giants moved to San Fransisco and the Dodgers moved to LA. The Cleveland Rams moved to LA and then to St. Louis. The Chicago Cardinals moved to St. Louis and then to Arizona and so on and so on. The move in the night by the Colts came because the city was threatening to cease the team from its owners through the threat of imminent domain. Yes, the elder Irsay may have not been the best owner, but his son Jim, who now owns the Indianapolis Colts is much different. It was their team, not the city of Baltimore's, so they had every right to pack up and leave anytime they wished... and they still do today (lease permitting). If anything, they should have just renamed the team, and left the name/logo/pre-1984 history in Baltimore. That would have been the nicest thing to do.
As a long time INDIANAPOLIS Colt fan, I take issue with the selective memories of the Baltimore colt fans. If people would actually do there research instead of believing everything there told, they would know the facts about the colts move to Indy.
Robert Irsay had tried for 2 years to get a new stadium, and the city of Baltimore did nothing. As a last resort he threaten to move the team. As a response the Maryland senate passed a law that allowed the state to take the team from him by the powers of eminemt domain. Rather than have the team he had paid for taken, he moved them.
Colts play the "new" team from baltimore in the playoofs!
It's funny how you can spot a Colts fan. Let's get real clear on why Baltimore still has issue with Irsay and the Indianapolis Football Club. The Baltimore Colts were vital in making the NFL what it is to this day, and what it continues to be. Those Colts teams were not just Baltimore's team, but a big part of Baltimore life. Legends today were simple neighbors back then. We ate with them in restaurants. We went to church with them. Our grandmother's baked pies for Johnny Unitas. Our uncles drank in bars with Art Donovan. Gino Marchetti, Alan Ameche, Johnny U and others owned local businesses outside of football in Baltimore. Those players had offseason jobs with our fathers and grandfathers. Irsay bought that team and let it slide from prominence into the dumps of the NFL. He drove fans away and then complained about lack of attendance. Lifelong Colts fans who had never missed a game at Memorial Stadium began fading away because of their disdain for him. I have no issue with the fact that our local government dropped the ball when it came to losing the Colts. There are evils on both sides. But then he takes the name, the logo, the colors. He says they're his. No, they weren't his. The team's name comes from the horse racing traditions of MARYLAND! Perhaps you should have tried the Indianapolis Bales Of Hay? We're angry because he took the team to the Indianapolis. Who the hell ever heard of Indianapolis before the Colts left for it? Then when the NFL expanded before the 1995 season, the Irsay FAMILY voted for Jacksonville and Carolina to recieve the two franchises over Baltimore, despite promising that they would do what they could to help replace the franchise. Then in 1996, when the Browns moved to Baltimore, Art Modell offered Bob Irsay 5 MILLION DOLLARS for the Colts name, colors and logo, and he countered by asking for 50 MILLION DOLLARS! He couldn't just do something to end it. All he had to do was take 5 million dollars to make things right again, but that wasn't in that man's nature. We are still angry in Baltimore because we get hell for the Browns moving here, when that never had to happen in the first place. We are still angry because your Hall of Fame is OURS! You have one player in the Hall of Fame, and that's Eric Dickerson, who didn't even rise to fame as a Colt. Everything else under "Indianapolis Colts" in the Hall of Fame belongs to Baltimore. Anger comes from watching Indianapolis fans wearing Unitas jerseys in the 90's before Peyton Manning and YOUR stars came to be. I understand, since you actually won something for the first time ever, that changing the name is never going to happen. But change the logo. Give us our horseshoe back. Lobby with us. Sign our petitions to the Hall of Fame to get the Baltimore Colts their own exhibit. Write Jim Irsay and tell him that you want your own original logo. I suggest a big horse head, face out, gritting it's teeth. In the end, just imagine your team being gone tomorrow morning. See how long it takes you to get over it. You'd be surprised. Go Ravens!(Sorry I'm late on this post, I did just stumple upon it)
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