Rock Candy

While the rest of us were worrying about the Hogs vs. Auburn last weekend, Matt Smith was in Indy rocking it out and catching a pro football game. Actually, it was a pretty good game; we caught some of it on TV at Gus' Fried Chicken in Memphis on the way home from Alabama. Matt fills us in on what it was like to actually be there watching Peyton Manning win again:

Sunday is the day for Colts vs. Titans. Game time is 1 p.m. at the RCA Dome. They really believe in “Backing The Blue” here. The Peyton Manning jerseys are out in force. The dome is ruff. This place is in bad shape, built in 1983, it’s just way past its prime. There aren’t any luxury boxes here, nor a cool new team store with merchandise. This stadium doesn’t contain any of the amenities of most current NFL team facilities. But, being fair here – they are building a brand new state of the art home for the Colts franchise. The Lucas Oil Stadium is set to be ready for the opening kick off of the 2008 NFL season.

The Colts don’t seem to show up for the opening of the game. Really, Manning and the troops don’t begin to play until the forth quarter. Vince Young and the Titans brought it! They came in to INDY and scored. The lowly Tennessee Titans, who haven’t even won a game, take the lead! In fact, they dominate the series and hold the lead until late in the game.

Say what? These are the mighty Colts, right? Well, not today. “ On Any Given Sunday” as the saying goes. Poor lonely Vince Young is STILL out on the field alone. I saw the Denver Broncos beat up on the Titans in Denver back in August. Well, Vinny was alone then, too. But, all by his lonesome, he ALMOST pulls out the upset victory here @ RCA. The Colts possess no defense this afternoon. Indy does battle back, just barely and the final score is 14 –13. The Colts go 5-0 and Tennessee is regulated to the small pack of the NFL’s winless teams. What a contrast for the two franchises in the middle of America. Undefeated and winless, it was a surprising afternoon. I believe everyone, especially the INDY players, expected a blowout victory.

It is still early in the afternoon when the game wraps. We hit the Circle Centre Mall, which is just a couple of blocks from the RCA dome. This mall is in the heart of down town. It contains Nordstrom, Parisian, about 100 specialty stores, a nine-screen movie cinema and Steven Spielberg’s Game Works Studio. Of course there is an Indiana Pacers and Indianapolis Colts team stores. The mall has a P.F. Chang’s China Bistro and other shops that seem to be in Little Rock or at least on the way in the near future.

When the mall closes, we hit Champps for dinner and watch the Dallas Cowboys game. Alas, no ESPN Zone here, so Champps is the substitute. The Cowboys lost. The food was OK, but Hockey Town in Detroit, and ANY ESPN Zone in America is better. The big screens were nice for the game. At least the cheese dip was good. No one really hits the clubs on a Sunday night, so once again the saying is true. “ Sunday Is HBO”

More from “INDY” soon. -- Matt Smith