Colts - World Champs

The Colts have always been a great team for exciting games. Even through the Art Schlicter and Gary Hogeboom days of 3 - 13 seasons, they at least were never boring. These days the team wins as often as the old teams used to lose, but the excitement somehow just continues to build. And it was no less emotional at the indoor/outdoor rally and parade in downtown Indianapolis last night, during the coldest weather of the winter.

A frenzied crowd descended on downtown Indianapolis and filed into the RCA Dome for a homecoming rally Monday night to celebrate the Colts' 29-17 victory over the Chicago Bears in the NFL championship. The fans chanted "dee-fense, dee-fense" and basked in the city's first major pro sports title in more than 30 years.

Indy is relatively new to the NFL, has no experience with winning the "big one," and many in town don't understand what, to them, is still nuanced football talk. Thus the impromptu chanting for "dee-fense" was startling - showing a general knowledge of how important a role they played in the playoff run! The Indy crowd didn't seem to respond so well though, when team members started chanting "ree-peat" into the mic. Lady espresso didn't get it that they were calling for a second trip next year, thus "ree-peat!" (IndyStar's Kravitz has some thoughts on that...)

Once the team arrived, still wearing their parkas or hooded sweat shirts from the below-zero wind chill outside, it was the Colts themselves who delivered all the thank yous. 'You guys are awesome,' coach Tony Dungy told the crowd. 'For the last 16 or 18 hours, we've been enjoying this championship. We had a team party (in Miami) last night, but we were looking forward to coming home. This is more than we could have ever expected. Thank you for this turnout.'