Learning to Hate The Colts

As I said on Monday, I was born just five months before the Colts moved from Baltimore so I really couldn't relate to the feelings that the proud people of Baltimore have toward the Colts. It also always struck me as a little odd when people my age said, "Man I hate the Colts." They were never Colts fans -- they're too young. They were just drawing their feelings from stories told by their parents.

But after doing some reading the past couple days, I've really begun to dislike the Colts franchise. Mostly I'm just gaining a strong distaste for Bob Irsay, the owner that moved the Colts to Indianapolis, but he's dead so the Colts inherit those feelings.

So here I present to you, "Learn To Hate the Colts in 20 Minutes":

1. Read this article in The Sun by Rick Maese, entitled "Colts owner faces relentless grudge."

Key Quote:

"You're talking about something that's a long time ago and you're talking about something where everything that transpired back then and what happened and the people who were in charge of the city and state and this ownership, none of those people are present anymore." --Jim Irsay, current Colts owner

2. As you begin to think, "Hey, he's kind of right" ... read today's column by Mike Preston in The Sun, "Colts memories, ill feelings over move are alive and well."

Key Quote:

"On a snowy night on March 29, 1984, Robert Irsay pulled his team out of Baltimore. What took decades to create was gone, in the hours it took to load a couple of Mayflower moving vans. And, according to outsiders, we're supposed to 'get over it.' Forget the feelings, forget the passion, and get over it." --Mike Preston, The Sun columnist

3. Now that you have a little sense of the anger, read some of the pleasantries that Bob Irsay's own family had to say about him in 1986, as relayed by Roch Kubatko in his blog post on The Sun's Web site: The Irsays. Take some time to read the reader comments, also.

Key Quotes:

"He's a devil on earth, that one. He stole all our money and said goodbye. He don't care for me. I don't even see him for 35 years. My husband, Charles, sent him to college. I made his wedding. Five thousand dollars, it cost us. When my husband got sick and got the heart attack, he [Bob] took advantage. He was no good. He was a bad boy. I don't want to talk about him." --Robert Irsay's mother, talking about her son to Sports Illustrated in 1986

"Anyone who compares Art Modell to Irsay doesn't have all the facts. Sorry. Modell is a villian in Cleveland - the city that retained its team name, its colors, its history, after a brief exit from the NFL - but he's no Robert Irsay. Nobody else comes close." --Roch Kubatko, The Sun sports writer

4. For the finishing touch, watch this short video from Sports Illustrated.