[UPDATE]: Spoke on the phone to the owner of the place, and he said he could neither confirm nor deny Colts players were there practicing. -bbs
The rumor we are reporting on is that a source has told us (and 1070 The Fan) that Colts players currently locked out by owner Jim Irsay and the rest of his 31 owner buddies are working out 'in secret' at a location in Carmel, IN.
For those of you who don't know squat about Indianapolis area geography, Carmel is a small town just north of Indy. I grew up there. Went to Carmel High School, class of '94.
But the high school is not where Peyton Manning, Gary Brackett, and others are working out. After the jump, we have the 'rumored' location of where they are.
Oh, and if you click after the jump to read where they are, don't be a hypocrite and start screaming 'LEAVE THE COLTS ALONE! NO ONE CARES WHERE THEY ARE PRACTICING!' in the comments. If you click to view the info after this jump, you care. You know you do.
So, according to a caller on JMV's 1070 The Fan radio show today, the Colts players are working out at a place called Off The Wall Sports, located off West Carmel Drive. The place rents out indoor sports fields, and it's a pretty perfect location for NFL players looking to workout far away from West 56th Street and Colts HQ. The caller said they saw Colts players there. Take that for what it's worth. Maybe something. Maybe just a person looking for attention.
At this point, with the lockout showing no end in sight, we're inclined to write about anything these days.
Now, by me blabbing about this on the Internets, it's probably blown the cover for these Colts players, and they'll likely try and change locations (if they are there at all). Rumors also tell us both Ben Ijalana and Anthony Castonzo are participating in these workouts. If true, that's encouraging. [UPDATE]: Reader ninpojames pretty much confirms that Ijalana and Castonzo are at the workouts.
But, by posting all this, we might get some heat from Colts players like Robert Mathis, who already hates my guts. But, here's why we report on this:
1) Because you all care about the team, and you want to see these guys working out and getting better, and
2) Because it's news.
We're in the middle of a very nasty, bitter lockout. And while our blog has been mostly pro-player and pro-union, the reality is the fans are getting slapped around by both sides of this argument. So, because of that, I honestly don't care if people like Peyton Manning get a little annoyed that some fans might show up and want to watch him toss footballs to Austin Collie. Peyton should consider himself lucky people even care about watching him practice anymore after how this whole lockout farce has played out.
So, there you have it. If you happen to be near or around Off The Wall Sports, maybe stop by and see if some Colts players are there if you want. If they are, hit us up on Twitter (@StampedeBlue) or email us at sbnationcolts@yahoo.com. Maybe take pics of them working and forward to us. We'll post them on the blog frontpage.
Oh, and kindly remember that all this football stuff is done because we fans are the customer, not some annoying, semi-necessary side component that can be easily pushed aside and herded like sheep. If Colts players don't like seeing fans showing up to watch them practice, then those Colts players are a sad, unappreciative lot. With how this stupid labor fight has played out, they should thank their lucky stars there are any fans left to care about NFL football.
P.S.- Go Colts!
P.S.S.- If you happen to see Bob Kravitz fumbling around at Off The Wall Sports, tell him 'You're welcome' from us.
Side Note: I hope people know no one here is encouraging anyone to ‘harass’ players or anyone else if they at this or any facility. The point of all this is to report on a rumor and, in some small way, to give the players credit for doing these workouts. They aren't getting paid to do them, and someone other than the NFL is paying for the use of these facilities. Thus, they deserve some love from us fans because this is work they are doing despite the fact that their employers have locked them out. So, again, the point here is these workouts are a good thing, and the players should be sharing them with us fans. I believe that's what Bob's point was yesterday.