Indianapolis’ moment

Pro football is one of those things I never cared much about—until the Indianapolis Colts made it into the Superbowl. I couldn’t pull myself away from yesterday’s game, and was jubilant when the home team won.

All last week I read snarky comments from people in Chicago. The worst was “The RCA Dome is 188 miles from Soldier Field. Chicagoans say it’s more like they’re 188 years apart.” Well, now Indiapolitans have the last laugh.

One thing about Indianapolis is that it’s usually under the radar. Over the last 25 years, while other cities were struggling to reinvent themselves, Indy quietly built its reputation as a sports capital, and new venues started cropping up all over downtown. Suddenly, people started moving back into the city too; it became a very hip thing to do. The streets came alive almost overnight, and now there are theatres, jazz clubs, galleries and museums galore in interesting old neighborhoods. Still, the rest of the country persists in its view of the city as India-no-place. When we lived in Philadelphia, we had to listen to slurs and jokes about red-state hicks quite often. These from people in a town where kids get killed on their way to school.

When the Colts won, I wanted to get on the road immediately and drive to Monument Circle. The four-and-a-half hour drive from here meant that I wouldn’t get there until the celebrations were over, so I decided that would be silly. The Superbowl glow will keep Indy charged up for quite awhile. At least until the Indy 500 in May.

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