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.

i don't think that is true at all.


that isn't the feeling i get from this organization

I completely believe it, I believe they've known for a long time he was FUCT! I don't think it was a "need to sell tickets" thing- we have the place essentially sold out. But hell yeah I believe it was all about not having a sea of empty seats in Jim's palace and facing that humbling experience being captured by the media every week. In some respects I get it because it shows he is sensitive to the image as a team people are interested and invested in. On the other hand, lying to your fans, that's a fucking shame- and I think he did.

I hate seeing us in this position and a LOT of this shit could have been avoided by showing Pags the door at any point preceding this- him being shitcanned would have taken away some of the volume of this fucking insane noise day after day!

you can say fuck. or fucked. or is that you just not knowing how to spell?

lying to the fans blah blah blah. grow a dick, son. my god are colts fans little bitches

Hey Omaha, Vontea just got burned again...

vontae was a good player for the colts. i will never understand the hatred dudes had for him. from the get go people were against the kid.

i don't think he did anything wrong here and he should be celebrated for his time here.

I think he played well- until last year, and last year he got beat A LOT. This year, whether really due to the injury carrying over, or just because he hated playing for a giant collection of fucks, he played like total shit.

I don't like how they've lied about Luck. All the way from the start it reminded me of how they mislead us about Manning.

To me, that says you're more concerned about people buying tickets every week than being transparent about the future. I will stick with this team through thick and thin because for some reason, I still feel like a Hoosier, but I don't like being lied to.

Ballard suggested Irsay is an optimist. Perhaps I'm more comfortable with cynicism.

that just isn't true

His wood has been chopped. Hence the need to grow a new one.

I get this,

But don't create illusions that individual players/employees just need to get "tougher between the ears".

Luck is hurt and his employer's statements lead people to believe Luck had a personal problem "between his ears" when realistically Indianapolis' medical care has proven to be sub-par.

It's almost slanderous.

Chris Carter is a dumb ass diva. He doesn't know shit about the other 24 teams. He only talks to hear his own damn voice. Can't stand that SOB.

The between the ears comments were really shitty. It's too close to "soft tissue" and "pain management" bullshit that team's bring out when they're trying to say "This player is being a wuss and needs to sack up."

Luck is the farthest thing from that. He's taken more abuse than any starting QB should and he's played at a very high level while doing it. High enough to make this team seem way better than it is. Good enough to keep some real losers on this roster and staff employed. Including people whose job it was to protect him, but they were incapable. That shit really pisses me off and it's why I don't give the team the benefit of the doubt with the Davis situation.

And to be honest I'm not impressed with Ballard through this. Is like to see him freed from Pagano and from Irsay if indeed Irsay is meddling day to day. I haven't given up on him. But he's the GM and this team is not being managed well. And that extends beyond coaching.

Many people have said that the last part of rehab is getting over the mental barrier of re-injury. If irsay thought that luck was close to physically healed, that could have been what he meant with the "between the ears" comment, that Luck only needs to clear the mental part. However, it seems the physical part was far from complete. (I dont remember exactly at what point in the rehab irsay said this). Irsay isnt always the most articulate with his points, I think sometimes people blow what he says out of proportion. People should treat what he says as a mentally aging owner and listen to what our GM says.

This doesn’t add up. Luck was out there throwing 40 yard passes with zip according to press who were allowed to view that part of practice. Luck also spoke after that practice, all smiles, saying that he could see “the finish line.”

Maybe this was months ago and the TV person isn’t lying, but it doesn’t pass the sniff test for the latest issue.

I think this is a really good take on Irsay. Personally, I think he's a guy that wears his heart on his sleeve and could possibly be too loyal. This could explain him keeping Grigs and Pags past their expiration date. I was too young to follow the Colts in his Dad's time, but I think he's tried to steer clear of Bob's legacy while making his own bad decisions.

People still call him out over his Twitter antics, but I've followed him for years and besides fan contest stuff he's been pretty quiet on that front since his arrest. The guy probably needs to step back and let his daughters run things. The franchise is looking pretty dysfunctional, but winning cures all. Hopefully next season a new coaching staff and healthy Luck make Sunday fun again.