Our streets need fixed.

   I wanted to get home from the office in time to watch the kick-off. I stopped at Marsh for a couple of things for chili. I asked the cashier if the percentage of people in Colts regalia decreased after games started. Her non-answer was "I don't think one person should mean so much to people." Okay, this was Sunday, and maybe her reference was in the context of theology. I made it home in time to watch about the only good play the Colts would make, a first quarter interception. Afterward, of course, there was little to cheer, if one wore blue. 

   In some neighborhoods there are no sidewalks. In others, the sidewalks are so bad their absence would be preferable.

   We still pay for the Hoosier Dome. The Colts played there in the early days of their stay here. There were all those 1-15 and 3-13 seasons. Robert Irsay supposedly got drunk and definitely traded two first-round draft picks for a middle linebacker named Fredd, with two d's, Young. Did you catch Young's speech at his induction ceremony for the Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio? Oh, that's right. He didn't get inducted. When Jim Irsay became upset with the quality of those facilities, the City of Indianapolis stepped up to the plate--different sport, I know, but it is a metaphor--and built what now is Lucas Oil Stadium. The City also paid damages to Irsay for his having to move out of the Hoosier Dome. Apparently we broke the contract when we built him a new place to play.

   Our police force is spread thin and we have a lot of crime.

   But people have not been bummed out. Each season we look forward to Peyton Manning as he leads the Colts to yet another division title and play off spot. Well, that run is about to come to an end. We have bceome used to winning, in the same way we became accustomed to the Pacers being at the top of the NBA. Reggie Miller retired. Ron Artest and his crew took what was left of that team's hopes and did what they did. That was several years ago.

   Our schools are in bad shape. Some say the schools are broken.

   Government should not fund professional sports teams. I will continue to root for the Colts. After all, I pay for them, just as every other taxpayer in this County pays for them. I would rather have paid fof the best schools in the nation and watched some other city's team win a Super Bowl and choke on another one. Get used to being on the wrong end of 34-7 scores. The Colts of old will return. Peyton Manning is an awesome player. But he will, one day, retire.