The first kickoff at the gorgeous Lucas Oil Stadium. A few more pics I took are here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/xtrarant/sets/72157606939146341/

Hopefully putting together a panorama soon. The stadium is amazing and if you have a shot at getting some tickets I'd HIGHLY recomment you go. This place will be one of the best in the league now. Wide, open concourses. SHort bathroom and concession lines. Great views from all over. Definitely check out the north entrance plaza - you can stand there and check out the game from right behind the lower level seats there. And the view of the skyline out the open NE end window is great. It will be an amazing place to watch a game.

Can't wait for the REAL games to start.  The Luke is a hell of a place.

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Suppose we can put the open thread here.  Off to a good start with TJ's return. And since I have to havea  certain number of characters, why the hell are the refs wearing those ugly-ass cold weather threads in Oakland? It can't be that cold.

Go Colts! Make Manning's first visit to Oakland a good one (I can't believe this is his first visit TO Oakland in his career...)

Now that we are into the Week Before Armageddon, I can finally make the post I've been itching to make all week.

http://www.charlieweisatemybaby.com/2007/10/28/football/nfl/colts-vs-pats-vote-for-good-over-evil/

Here's just one of the seven I made.

In case you are curious, the original I based it on is here:
http://www.library.northwestern.edu/govinfo/collections/wwii-posters/img/ww0207-60.jpg

To quote one of my favorite SNL skits, "who are the ad wizards that came up with this one?"

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071024/SPORTS03/710240466/1100

The week becomes even more truncated when a Monday night road game is followed by a road game the next Sunday. Over the past decade, the NFL schedule makers have set up that scenario -- away Monday, away Sunday -- 24 times. Draw your own conclusion as to the impact: Road teams are 12-12 in their ensuing Sunday games, and have lost seven of the past 10.

But the odds are further stacked against the Colts. The Panthers were off last weekend. Carolina last played, and won, Oct. 14 at Arizona. Sunday marks only the third time since 1997, and the first since 2004, that a team has played away from home on Monday and again the next Sunday against a team coming out of its bye.

(Emphasis added)

This is a dangerous game, IMO. A very rare away-monday night/away next Sunday vs. team off Bye combined with the potential to look ahead at the Patriots. Really, what the hell were the schedule makers thinking when they drew this up?

Greg Aiello, the NFL's vice president of public relations, said the league is sensitive to every team's scheduling concerns and attempts to minimize what might be considered inequities.

"But sometimes it is unavoidable when you are constructing a 256-game schedule," Aiello wrote in an e-mail. "It's just the way it worked out this year."

So he's saying that this schedule quirk was just plain unavoidable?  I'm not saying they did it on purpose, but to have it turn out this way - did they even try to fix it to make it a bit more fair?

Update [2007-10-24 12:2:7 by jdb]: : Ahhh the internet. Found the video of said SNL skit.

A story in the Star today finally sheds a little light on what happened to Tony Ugoh Monday night:

Backup Charlie Johnson played most of the second half after Colts left tackle Tony Ugoh suffered a shoulder injury, but Dungy said Tuesday that he thinks Ugoh "will be fine."

So it wasn't the shore foot that they speculated on the broadcast Monday night. Hopefully as Dungy said he'll be fine for Sunday vs. the Panthers.

From the same story:

Dungy also said wide receiver Marvin Harrison told him near the end of the game that he felt as good as at the start. Harrison missed the Tampa Bay game with a bruised left knee and the Colts limited his snaps at Jacksonville.
Keith was hit in the head when his helmet came off during the first half, but he returned to the game. Safety Matt Giordano did not return after suffering a strained hamstring on the final kickoff.

Dungy reported no other injuries.

Looks like we came out of the game okay. Hopefully Giordano is okay as he's a beast on special teams and we need him there to spell Sanders and keep him healthy for the playoffs.

From the diaries, jdb from Charlie Weis Ate My Baby stops in to set the record straight on the salary cap. --BBS

This comment by Bucsfan got me thinking about this myth of The Colts Pay Too Much Money to Peyton

How is the Colts depth with Peytons large cap number?

Which lead to me doing some internet searching and finding this gem from a Pats blogger who doesn't seem to have updated since July

To all the Colts-haters out there, take solace in knowing one thing. This was a "one and done" situation for the Colts. They won't come close to the Superbowl next year.
...
[insert John Clayton article talking about all of the Colts free agents after last season and how they are "losing so much"]
...
What does this all mean? Well, in short....there are going to be some changes in Indy. Guys will have to restructure, which may happen, but will all of them? Doubtful. So all in all, we're not looking at the next dynasty here folks...we're looking at a one and done.

So really, are the Colts that bad off in the salary cap? Has Polian really been managing this team horribly?

 

This man is smiling because he just won the Super Bowl, eliminated the national debt and solved world hunger all with 7th round draft picks and undrafted free agents.

First, Bucsfan's comment about depth. I think this weekend's game against Tampa Bay with 6 starters missing disproved that little meme once and for all. When you have a GM like Bill Polian who consistently makes the best use of low draft picks and undrafted free agents, you can afford to pay your top players more by consistently unearthing gems from the low rounds and the undrafted players. Has any other team made more use of the low rounds and undrafted players than the Colts and had the success with them that Indy has had?

Onto the cap....

In 2001, the Colts had only $1.256 million in cap room (19th in the league). Yet their best years were ahead of them. In 2007 (yes, this is from a different source so the numbers may not be completely comparable but they should give a good idea) this Colts had projected cap room of $5.9 mil, 29th in the league*.

So the Colts have dropped 10 spots in the league in cap room since 2001 but have managed a record of 71-30 (70.3%), 4 division championships,  5 playoff visits and a Super Bowl up through week 5 of 2007. They have been able to hold onto or fill key components that are in low supply of top flight producers (QB, WR, DE, FS, K, OL) while making good decisions on important positions that are in higher supply and used good scouting to find unheralded pieces that fit the Colts scheme at low cost (RB, CB, LB, TE).

So in the end I guess that yes, Polian and Irsay are going to have to walk a much finer line and rely on their top notch scouting even more in the future as the cap slowly tightens. But to say that the money paid to Manning, Freeney, Harrison, Wayne etc has been done foolishly and at the expense of depth and the future is exaggerated at best and plain wrong at worst.

*The reason that a cap space number 4x bigger than 2001 is ranked 10 lower is due to the new CBA for 2006 that raised the cap by a significant margin. The cap was $85.5 mil in 2005 an is around $109 mil this year.

Hmmm now that I've written this, I'm happy with how it turned out. Guess I should crosspost this to Charlie Weis Ate My Baby

Poll

How soon will the Colts cap situation hose the team?

• Never! Bill Polian is GOD
• 2008
• 2009
• 2010
• 2011 or beyond

  17 votes | Results

I just have to give some love to my favorite name on the Colts roster - Craphonso Thorpe! he came in and gave a great effort after riding the practice squad all year. Dare I say he looked better than Rushing at return duties?  I honestly wouldn't mind if Thorpe took over that job. And when Dallas went down Thorpe stepped right into a starting WR spot. I don't think he was thrown to but damn, to be on the practice squad one day and then running with the first team on Sunday, gotta give some love for that.

I hope with Hall on IR that Thorpe stays on the active roster.  And I hate a guy losing a job due to injury, but I wouldn't mind see Craphonso! keep the return job.