October 21, 2012
Incredible! That is how I would describe Lucas Oil Stadium. The facility is bigger, brighter and much nicer than you can imagine. It certainly helped that it was a bright / sunny day with the roof and one end of the stadium open allowing for a lot of sunlight it. No offense to Heinz Field, PNC Park, Fenway Park or any other stadium where I have toured, but this is by far my favorite place yet....I have not been to Dallas so my opinion may change once I see the Cowboys' stadium, but for now, this place ranks at the top.
I drove down to Indianapolis the night before the game and stayed at a hotel just one block away. By staying so close, I was able to walk right up to the stadium and take a lot of pictures both the night before the game and early in the morning prior....more pictures can be found on my Facebook page.
On the morning of the game, I met up with some former co-workers from Louisville - Bill Dwyer (grill-master) and Cory Moran - to tailgate. Word of caution....the hotel is certainly convenient when spending the night and finding a secure parking spot (hotel garage); however, getting out of the parking garage after the game was a long wait, which is something I did not think about at the time.
In the photo to the left (of which I am posing with some random Colts fanatic dressed in a full-body spandex blue and white tuxedo) you can kind of see how much light is let in from the large windows on the concourse areas. Colts fans are like many other fans...passionate about their team; however, having just attended a division rivalry between the Eagles & Giants on a Sunday night, the level of excitement felt subdued here. In a year in which the Colts are rebuilding with a rookie QB (Andrew Luck), I think fans were just excited to be facing an opponent they had a chance to beat. Let's face it, any team playing the Cleveland Browns, who always seem to be rebuilding, has a good chance to win. Also, I know for a fact that fans were screaming during intense moments of the game, but for some reason, it just didn't seem very loud compared to a lot of other games.
As for the game itself (photo on the left is from our seats in the upper deck), the first half started out with some excitement with each team going on very long / time-consuming TD drives that resulted in a 14-6 half-time lead for the Colts. Andrew Luck looked pretty well and scored both TDs on short runs. It was also nice to get a look at Cleveland's rookie QB (Brandon Weeden) and rookie RB (Trent Richardson - although he was injured and played on a limited basis). It is very likely that we will be watching these three rookies play for a long time. There certainly was some excitement toward the end of the game as the Browns made a few attempts at game-winning TD drives, but came up short in the end. Sure the Colts won 17-13, but I would argue that the Browns lost this game because of a few poor plays, which seems to be the story of the Cleveland's history. For starters, they missed an extra point early in the game which forced them to have to score a TD at the end of the game instead of having an option to kick a FG to tie. Also, late in the game one of the Browns' receivers dropped a wide-open pass in the endzone, which was right in his hands. Oh well, as a Steeler fan, I was happy to see the Browns lose.
Bottom-line: A must-see venue.
After 28 games, the record of the home team is 17-11. 94 more games to go. Currently I have no immediate plans for my next game, but am always open to options so please keep me in mind. It will be nice if we finally get the NHL season started again.
Also, please visit my fundraising page as I continue to try and raise money for cancer research. I encourage you to donate. http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/christopher-apel/christopherapel
No comments:
Post a Comment