Ballard and Steichen are safe

[ChaosTheory]

Originally Posted by Brylok

Evan these Patriots have rebuilt. They've replaced the best NFL head coach of all time. The best NFL QB of all time. Taken years off and are now winning playoff games
I'll always love the Colts. They're my home team, but they're finished. I'll just watch because it's important to have an NFL team here locally. They aren't going to win anything though
And I love pro football. The Colts aren't going to win anything significant again though.

We're also always comparing them to the field every year. You bring up the Patriots this year. But last year I was reading about how the Vikings were a model franchise we should be emulating. Same with the Commanders.

You're not reading that this year because nobody is writing it. This year it's the Patriots and Bears and Broncos who have the league figured out. We'll see who it is next year.

---

And looking at the field vs your team, you see a SB winner every single year and it's not you. Something about that must make people think there's more than a 3% (1/32) of winning.

Because the Bills never won, the 49ers never won, the Jackson Ravens never won, the Burrow Bengals never won, Campbell Lions never won, LaFluer Packers never won.

It's been pointed out lately that the Colts have won a playoff game more recently than the Steelers. Point being... the Super Bowl is zero-sum. Keep some perspective.

[IndyNorm]

Originally Posted by Colts And Orioles

o


The White Sox went 88 years without winning a World Series ...... and then, they won the World Series.

Never is indeed a very long time.

o

Even better the Cubs went 108 years, which I very much enjoy giving Cubs fans shit about by making the statement that if a professional sports team doesn't win a championship in a 100 year span that it should be dissolved .

[Oldcolt]

Originally Posted by ChaosTheory

We're also always comparing them to the field every year. You bring up the Patriots this year. But last year I was reading about how the Vikings were a model franchise we should be emulating. Same with the Commanders.

You're not reading that this year because nobody is writing it. This year it's the Patriots and Bears and Broncos who have the league figured out. We'll see who it is next year.

---

And looking at the field vs your team, you see a SB winner every single year and it's not you. Something about that must make people think there's more than a 3% (1/32) of winning.

Because the Bills never won, the 49ers never won, the Jackson Ravens never won, the Burrow Bengals never won, Campbell Lions never won, LaFluer Packers never won.

It's been pointed out lately that the Colts have won a playoff game more recently than the Steelers. Point being... the Super Bowl is zero-sum. Keep some perspective.

To me it isn't about winning the Super Bowl once or even multiple times like Jim always wanted. I don't need a dynasty to be satisfied (would be nice though). Having a realistic chance to not just make the playoffs but, if you get hot, to make a run gives me personally something to be invested in. You take the chance and most of the time you lose. It's a bummer but fun anyway because it's just a game and there is always next year. I have not felt this way about our team since Luck was here. It is to damn long.

[Colts And Orioles]

Originally Posted by Colts And Orioles

o


The White Sox went 88 years without winning a World Series ...... and then, they won the World Series.

Never is indeed a very long time.

o

Originally Posted by IndyNorm

Even better is the fact that the Cubs went 108 years without winning a World Series, which I very much enjoy giving Cubs fans shit about by making the statement that if a professional sports team doesn't win a championship in a 100-year span that it should be dissolved ) .

o


I always use the White Sox as an example because of the fact that Cubs fans and Red Sox fans are a bunch of whiny, narcissistic, self-pitying crybabies.

The White Sox actually went longer without winning it all (88 years) than the Red Sox did (86 years), but all you ever heard about was the droughts of the Red Sox and the Cubs because of their constant, narcissistic whining ...... White Sox fans, in my rat's ass of an opinion, were not nearly as nauseating in dealing with their 88-year drought as were Red Sox fans and Cubs fans.

o

[Puck]

Originally Posted by kitekrazy

That tells you the scouting is still there. That's the real foundation of every franchise.
Just think how bad this franchise could've been if they took Leaf and Williams over Manning and James.
You have to feel for those Cowboy fans who are over 60 when that organization had great scouting and doesn't even come close after the Aikman era.
We are in the dark ages of being a Colts fan. Some of us who followed the team back to the Baltimore days been through that.

There is a "new" owner that doesn't have the experience of hiring and firing yet. Firing is easy, hiring is not.

Well said

[Oldcolt]

Puck, you have convinced me that this a probable scenerio and I am comfortable with it. I still have a couple of reservations about it however. First most new owners have no football or very little football experience yet manage to usually fire both the GM and the coach and start new. Secondly these women were not blindsided by this. They had years many where they were specifically groomed to take over from their father. Making these kind of decisions should have been near the top of their teaching. Then there is the fact that Jim's death wasn't something out of the blue. It doesn't make the emotional difficulty any easier but should have made the transition in running the club easier. Finally I am concerned that Carlie is so involved with the club on a day to day basis that she isn't seeing the whole picture clearly (Ballard may be a very close friend for instance, making objectivity difficult). Now I am not saying any of this is true (either scenario) only that both are possible. It will become clear as time passes which is true.

[Puck]

Originally Posted by Oldcolt

Puck, you have convinced me that this a probable scenerio and I am comfortable with it. I still have a couple of reservations about it however. First most new owners have no football or very little football experience yet manage to usually fire both the GM and the coach and start new. Secondly these women were not blindsided by this. They had years many where they were specifically groomed to take over from their father. Making these kind of decisions should have been near the top of their teaching. Then there is the fact that Jim's death wasn't something out of the blue. It doesn't make the emotional difficulty any easier but should have made the transition in running the club easier. Finally I am concerned that Carlie is so involved with the club on a day to day basis that she isn't seeing the whole picture clearly (Ballard may be a very close friend for instance, making objectivity difficult). Now I am not saying any of this is true (either scenario) only that both are possible. It will become clear as time passes which is true.

Can't argue with any of that. I think maybe she saw the beginning of the season and thought if I don't give this one more chance I could be making a huge mistake.

Ballard's contract expires after 2026 correct? Not sure when SS does. For the record I am indifferent on Ballard. I think he has made some very good draft picks. And he has also missed some. As all GM's do. (most recently seeing that he took Evan Hull one spot before the Rams took Puka OUCH).

I am a Shane fan though. I think he has proven that with a competent QB he can win.

You are right She was groomed. And maybe I didn't put enough credence into that. But maybe she really thinks they are close when healthy.

As far as her being so involved in the club, that is an interesting take. She sees everything like CB and SS as well as the coaches do And everything looks great on paper from that view. But taking a step back like us as fans see things differently. One thing though is that you don't see the outside NFL community outside of the local media, thinking either is on the hot seat.

I wonder if she needs a President of FB ops? Like Matt Ryan signed for the Falcons

Who knows. Good points. We shall see

[IndyNorm]

Originally Posted by Colts And Orioles

o


I always use the White Sox as an example because of the fact that Cubs fans and Red Sox fans are a bunch of whiny, narcissistic, self-pitying crybabies.

The White Sox actually went longer without winning it all (88 years) than the Red Sox did (86 years), but all you ever heard about was the droughts of the Red Sox and the Cubs because of their constant, narcissistic whining ...... White Sox fans, in my rat's ass of an opinion, were not nearly as nauseating in dealing with their 88-year drought as were Red Sox fans and Cubs fans.

o

No argument from me about Cubs or Sawx fans. Especially Cubs fans since I run into way more of them living in the Midwest, hence the joke I always make about teams should be dissolved if they can't win a championship within a 100 year span .

Although I would be remiss if I didn't bring up that the White Sox would likely have not had a larger gap than the Red Sox if they hadn't thrown the 1919 World Series.

[Colts And Orioles]

Originally Posted by IndyNorm

No argument from me about Cubs or Sawx fans ...... especially Cubs fans, since I run into way more of them living in the Midwest, hence the joke that I always make about teams should be dissolved if they can't win a championship within a 100-year span ) .

Although I would be remiss if I didn't bring up that the White Sox would likely have not had a larger gap than the Red Sox if they hadn't thrown the 1919 World Series.

o


As a Black Sox expert, the first thing that needs to be said about that entire situation is that there are many things about the entire affair that nobody will ever know for sure (including myself.)

That said, both Shoeless Joe Jackson and Buck Weaver very likely played to win. In fact, Jackson set what was then a World Series record with 12 hits, batted .375 for the series, hit the only home run of the series for either team, and did not make an error on defense. Similarly, Weaver batted .324, did not make an error on defense, and by all accounts played his best to win (not easy to do, knowing that 6 of your teammates are intentionally throwing games.)

Weaver never took a dime, repeatedly asked for a separate trial from his teammates to prove his innocence (of which he was denied), and appealed to the MLB commissioners (Kenesaw Landis, Happy Chandler, and Ford Frick) every year until his death in 1956 to have himself reinstated (all of his appeal were denied.)

Jackson was given $5,000 in an envelope by his best friend and teammate (Lefty Williams) ........ money that he never asked for, and that he did not want. In fact, he even tried to give the money to the team owner (Charlie Comiskey) and report the entire scandal to him but he was intercepted by Harry Grabiner (Comiskey's secretary), who told Jackson that Comiskey had nothing to say to him (even though he had offered a $10,000 reward for anyone giving him any information on the fix.) At that point, Jackson decided that he simply wasn't going to play in the series because of the fix that he knew that his teammates were complicit in. His manager (Kid Gleason) screamed at Jackson that he would play ....... Gleason's statement was not a prediction or a request, it was a threat. The uneducated, illiterate Jackson buckled under the pressure of his manager and owner, and played all 8 games of the series to the best of his ability, but (like teammate Buck Weaver) was not comfortable in doing so.

As stated before, there are still many aspects of the entire affair that people do not know, and will never find out. However, based on the numerous books, articles, and films that I have read and seen, and the people that I have spoken with (I actually called a man named Gardner Stern on the telephone just before he died in 1996 who lived in Chicago his entire life, and who was 16 years-old at the time of the fix, and I spoke extensively with him about it), Jackson and Weaver both played to win, in spite of the pressure of the situation that was on them.



************************************


Me and Gardner Stern


In regard to Gardner Stern, this man ......


A. ) Saw the first game ever at THE ORIGINAL Comiskey Park in April of 1910, when he was 6 and-a-half years old.

B. ) Had his heart broken when it was found out that his beloved White Sox had thrown the 1919 World Series (he in fact went to one of those World Series games against the Reds.)



As I said earlier, his name was Gardner Stern. He was born in 1904, was a life-long White Sox fan, and was a guest in Ken Burns' baseball documentary.

I simply called information for Chicago, Illinois (in 1996), asked for his phone number, and he was nice enough to talk to me for about 20 minutes about the entire Black Sox scandal, plus his lifelong fandom of the White Sox ...... he died just a few months after our conversation.

o

[Oldcolt]

C&O That is amazing and very cool. What made you call the man? Do you do this for a living or is it a hobby of yours? Ive always found the scandal to be infuriating. One more example of the rich and powerful screwing over the players. We did get Landis who cleaned up baseball but seemed like a total ass.