You are right that this is a stupid overreaction. But every team has a bunch of these type of fans, unfortunately. Except maybe St. Louis. Those folks are so friendly it's creepy.
Cry me a fucking river...I give my left nut for one Jets season where we win 14 games, have QB in the midst of another MVP year, get a first round by and get homefield throughout. You motherfuckers think you deserve a REFUND!!?? Come watch a Jets game!! I think their complex with the Pats is worse than ours.
The petition for refunds to the game is silly and excessive obviously, but I understand why people would be pissed. They could have kept the starters in until there were 5 minutes left when they presumably had a higher lead. It's insane to pass up an opportunity to achieve such a monumental accomplishment, especially when they seemed to almost go out of their way to loose. Even if a team that has locked up the top seed is not undefeated, I don't think sitting all starters to the point where they go a month without seeing real playing time for a month is beneficial to the team. I have a feeling whatever edge they were looking for in terms of health recuperation and mental rest for the players has been more than offset by the shitshow this has become. Colts fans have every right to be irritated right now. Their team didn't make an honest effort and passed up a once in a lifetime opportunity for no good reason.
I can see both sides of it though. If Manning were to get hurt, people would bitch why did they leave him in? And the ultimate goal would have been lost. You can see what happens when he goes out. Nothing good. As it was, for most of the third almost all the starters were still in. I saw Saturday still on the field along with the other lineman....they started pulling the rest of them late in the third. They won't go a month with no play as you will probably see them play half a game this week as well. One week bye, then back at it.
The real shame was the fans mercilesslly booing their own rookie backup QB on every play. That really was a disgrace.
Jet fans probably would've ran down on the field and kicked him in the nuts if the situation was reversed, lol.
This is sad but true. I know a couple of class-acts that probably would have been at the front of the thundering herd...
I think the season ticket holders should be allowed to get a refund, but ONLY if they also give up the rights their season tickets in the future. Then you'll see who's truly pissed off.
The odds of Manning suffering a severe injury in a 20 minute window are not high to begin with, and if by chance that actually did happen I think people would acknowledge that it was worth it. Manning has stayed in a few games where it was "pointless" to have him playing, I just think it's unbelievable that they would do this when they were on the verge of a perfect season. I don't think it helps the Colts at all (and with the distraction has become it definitely is not worth it). Going undefeated is something every team is in theory trying to do, and the Colts went out of their way to loose.
If Mike Tannenbaum told the media the Jets weren't going for 16-0 and that game happened I wouldn't care, because I knew it was coming. Considering the Pats lost the SB after going 16-0, I'd let the Fins be the only team to do it. Take the loss, reset, and get ready for the playoffs.
There are pretty much exactly my thoughts, minus the left nut part. I kind of like everything where it is. But yeah, cry me a river, I said that myself. Come and sit in the cold and rain to watch the Jets a few times and get back to me. Plus, if they know anything about football and have been following the Colts for more than a couple years, they knew this was a distinct possibility going in. Just like we know what we're buying when we buy the pre-season, because as much as it sucks, it's the decision you make when you buy them. Nobody puts a gun to your head. When you buy football tickets your results are going to vary, that's the whole idea. If these Indy fans want to guarantee the hero always wins at the end they should go to the movies or stick with wrestling.
If you're an Indy fan buying tickets to a single game, why would you choose a late-season match-up when they have a well-established history of playing their backups in December? I don't like what the Colts did, but I think fans have to realize that they're dipshitz if they thought they were going to see 60 minutes of Manning that late in the year.
What were the odds of Vinny Testaverde snapping his achilles on a drop back in the first game of the season ... What are the odds of Pennington and Jay Fiedler having season ending injuries within minutes of each other. What are the odds of Carson Palmer going down with a knee injury on the second play from scrimmage... Why tempt fate... And one wonders if these same people wouldn't be asking for refunds on their playoff tickets if Manning got injured during the game.
To me this would be a total non-issue if the Colts weren't throwing away an undefeated season. It is an incredibly historic achievement and every single player on that team would always cherish being the only 19-0 team ever (with the additional pleasure of one-upping the Pats given what happened two years ago). As a Pats fan, I'm kind of glad they lost because seeing a 19-0 season from them would be a total kick in the balls, but as a general fan of the NFL I find it unbelievable that they would pass up "football immortality". If they weren't going for the undefeated season, why did Manning stay in the game so long last week? If they were loosing badly, or had the game wrapped up, then go ahead, sit them... Not at home with a 5 point lead when one quarter plus a layup game against an awful Bills team is all that is standing between 16-0 and 3 away from 19-0. An arguement could be made that being unbeaten started to weigh on the Patriots down the stretch last year, and in the AFCG and Super Bowl it certainly seemed like it did because the team was just off at times. The payoff of actually making it is so high it was worth it though, here the Colts (apparently by Polian's command) just castrated themselves.
I think the fans that pay the freight should be able to boo all they want. Lets face it there are a ton of bad games in the NFL that are borderline unwatchable. This year alone the first Buffalo, Oakland, Tampa Bay, Atlanta, the Colts game come to mind. The fans have a right to boo, especially those who are paying the freight every week by actually buying season tickets and official NFL stuff. It's bad enough to have to sit through all the commercials to watch some of these games, those that invest their time and money, heart and soul into their teams have every right to be pissed off when they are paying for essentially exhibition games. Those same Colts fans that have enjoyed the fruits of Payton Manning will soon be paying for a far less product once Manning is gone. They deserve to see the best product they can as long as they can. The fact that most people don't really care about what they are watching or the quality of the game and just whether they win or not doesn't mean those that do care shouldn't display their displeasure that the game has become an exhibition rather than the great competitive war the fans have been lead to believe they are paying for every week.
