Well…only some of them. Bravo, Mike. Bravo
This is a one-game ban: those who comply will be allowed to watch all future Colts games, attend any upcoming parades, and go to Manning’s Hall of Fame ceremony in 15 years. They can even watch a recording of the game once the ban lifts, 30 seconds after the final gun.
The ban does not apply to fans who cursed and grumbled when they saw Curtis Painter enter the game, stomped their feet angrily when the Jets came back, or expressed short-term, temporary rage at a lost chance at an undefeated season. Such measured expressions of disappointment are healthy. The ban only applies to those who took action, who acted personally hurt or economically damaged by the game, who rationalized the decision to take out starters into some grand scheme to bilk honest people out of money or an affront to some ad hoc definition of sportsmanship.
During the Super Bowl, while they are watching Yo Gabba Gabba with their three-year old nephews, Week 16 Deserters are expected to ponder the joys of Colts fandom. Peyton Manning. Super Bowl XLI. Seven straight 12-win seasons. They should weigh those joys against the relatively minor inconveniences of December “pull the starters” games. They must recognize the plight of Lions fans, Browns fans, and other fans who would kill to be 13-0, wondering on the drive to the stadium whether the backups will get a look that day. They should ask themselves how anyone who has watched Colts football for the last decade could be surprised, let alone outraged, when the starters hit the bench that day. If they wrote on some message board that the game “killed playoff momentum,” they must sit down and write that phrase 500 times.
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