I Touched the Trophy

The Colts are taking the Lombardi Trophy on a 50 city tour. Fortunately, I had the chance last Friday to see AND touch it. I had the morning off for a doctor's appointment and then headed over to the Southport Meijer. I arrived around 8:15 and, to my great delight, found only one person in line. He had been there since 6 a.m. I spent the time playing Tetris on my phone, reading Friday Night Lights, and chatting with some of the three to four thousand people that were eventually in line. We all had our Colts stories to share. An older gentleman who was third in line told us stories back from when he first got season tickets when the Colts first moved here. He could name every Colts QB going back at least 20 years. The manager came out and talked to us around 9 a.m. He told us how excited he was to have his store chosen to be the first to show the trophy. His wife, he explained, was friends with Tony Dungy's wife, but he hadn't seen the trophy yet. Around 10 a.m. Colts employees began setting up tables, putting out posters, and arranging a podium for the trophy. They also put up a giant inflatable trophy (which would look ideal on my lawn, if you're looking for a birthday present for me!). Julie Pursley from WRTV 6 interviewed the guy first in line and had her cameraman start setting up. The trophy finally arrived around 10:45 a.m. Four large gentlemen in dark suits and white gloves carried it in and put in on the podium. Then a glass case was put over it and sealed, although there was a hole in the top so that you could still touch the trophy. The line started moving and we were handed some freebies. I got a Tarik Glenn United Way card, an "I touched the trophy" button, two cool large posters (one with the trophy, the other said "Go Colts," and autographed pictures of Blue and the cheerleaders (which my wife promptly threw out later). They also handed out a special cardboard frame for you trophy picture if you dontated $1 to United Way. Finally, we got up to the trophy. The Meijer manager had assured us that someone from Meijer or the Colts would be there to take pictures. The Colts, apparently nixed that idea. The security guards, some employees, and cheerleaders wouldn't even hold your posters for you let alone take a picture. The guy in front of me and I exchanged cameras to take each other's pictures. I kinda look like I'm gritting my teeth, but you only got one picture and then they quickly ushered you out of there. I stood for the picture and then briefly stuck my hand in and touched the trophy. Julie Pursley grabbed me on the way out and interviewed me for the news. She asked me several questions, but it got editted down to about 2 seconds. So if I sound like an idiot, my comments were definitely out of context. All in all, not a bad experience. The wait wasn't as tortuous as it could of been (I was scared they might make us wait outside) and I have an awesome souvenir picture.

You can find the WRTV 6 broadcast from the Meijer (including my EXCLUSIVE interview by Julie Pursley) here.

You can find all my pictures of the day here.