Press conference today and Ballard on Dakitch today
 

Per Dakitch a presser is upcoming today at the Colts complex. Ballard will be on his show at 1

Please Pagano gone, Pagano gone

Naw, Irsay won't fire in season. And I kind of agree. It helps with the next coach coming in.

I don't know....Dakitch hasn't repeated anything about a presser since the show open and I can't find anything else online to confirm they are having one....don't get your hopes up he may have misspoken BUT guaranteed he will ask Ballard the tough questions at 1 and I will be listening'

Yowza....Dakitch was his normal asshole self and Ballard took it all, answered everything calmly without feeding into the drama even though he didn't really have any good answers to offer.....didn't try to put lipstick on a pig either. A few specifics not in any particular order

1. You happy with the coaching staff....none of us are happy with a 3-6 record. If anyone tells you they are you should replace us but there's half a season left. Give us a chance to get some more wins
2. Why won't you let Luck talk to us...we will have him talk soon....we will get him in front of you toward the end of the season
3. Is it your docs or Andrews docs managing this process.....it's a combo of both
4. Re Luck family unhappy with Colts org.....got another text from Greany saying that is Fact......per Ballard, no that's not true. Andrew is happy with Indy and Colts completely committed to Andrew
5. Re VD....demotion completely performance based. VD made no complaints re groin after medically cleared and he was a full participant in all practices. Refused to disclose what transpired in VD conversation with Pagano that led to him not making trip to Houston.
6. Why does Irsay keep lying to his fans....example: saying Howard mud told him line was fixed when it wasn't....saying Luck would be back for season.....Ballard....Irsay is an optimist...that was his opinion at the time. No lie

Point #6 is the most disconcerting. Success is the product of realism not optimism.

This was significant enough it deserves its own post...Dakitch claims that back when Andrew started throwing again (and the cameras were rolling) that Andrew sent a text to a buddy of his and claimed the following: "I'm not even close. They're just putting me out there to sell tickets". Dakitch claims that text was shared with a tv buddy of Dakitch' who shared it with Dakitch. Dan confronted Ballard with that as "proof" that Irsay is lying to his fan base. Ballard said that anyone who knows Andrew would know that text would never come from Andrew. His texts are 1 to 2 words at most. He doesn't text that way. Dakitch offered to share the name of the tv person who supposedly got the text off air.

So it IS the same shit they pulled with Manning. Play it all close to the vest, put on a happy face and "pay no attention to the man behind the curtain". Utter nonsense, but not a bit surprised.

It had this vibe all along.

Unfortunately it appears we are fans of a team that is ultimately concerned with making $ without creating a winning product that sells.

Chris Carter has said only 8 teams are really trying to win. The other 24 are just there to make money.

I don't believe this at all. Irsay hasn't been a cheapskate during his tenure as owner, and I think he's probably gone a little over the top trying to extinguish everyone's memory of his father's reign of terror. Not saying the guy's perfect - far from it - but I generally get the impression that his heart's in the right place in most instances. Kind of a benevolent hippy with the Jack Kerouac/drug things and all.

If anything, I'd say that he's run this LESS like a business than most, and things like his personal attachment/feelings towards coaches and players have sometimes gotten in the way of what's best for the organization and, by extension I suppose, the profitability of his business.