Blue Crew Delivers as Predictably as the Colts do

It is amazing what you learn on a multi-month long road trip. We did something different in Indianapolis that really opened our eyes up to incredible possibilities throughout the tailgating scene. Before Indy, we have been contacting the venue and different parking agencies throughout the league to determine where we COULD park the RV. It was more of a limiting factor than a tool. But in Detroit, we had the idea that we should try to contact different fan clubs to try and join in their festivities. Who else knows how to party in their own town, than the local teams’ fanatic fans? So our first opportunity to do this was for the Colts / Titans game in Indianapolis. Through various sources and recommendations, we finally got in contact with people from the Blue Crew. And boy, was that the best move we have done since starting the trip.

The very inviting Blue Crew were all aboard right from when we first contacted them a week prior to the game. They also were having a cook off challenge and asked us to be a judge. Aaron quickly volunteered to test and judge the gourmet entries. The Blue Crew also started a bar in Northern Indianapolis and invited us to hang out there Saturday to watch some college football. It started to seem like it was too good to be true. But we felt pretty good about the Blue Crew and then I got a final email from a member saying they had secured us field passes. That definitely confirmed their legitimate status of influential and superior fans.

So with parking secured, we started to focus on the tailgate and other plans. We made a promise to pick up a few friends so that they could get the full experience of the beast on wheels. So Saturday, we picked up Mikey, Jodi, Julie, and Tera and headed for Indy. First destination, the Blue Crew Sports Grill. We made it in time to watch some great college football; seeing the Gators get upset, the AZ Wildcats pulling off an impressive PAC-10 victory, and Texas holding on for a last second victory. We met some of the Blue Crew and enjoyed the Grill for several hours. It was quite impressive how much Colts paraphernalia donned the walls.

Sunday morning came too early, but we had to get to the parking area early because the Blue Crew doesn’t mess around. They opened the lot at 8 am and we rolled in at 8:30 to see half the lot already filled. These fans were dedicated and getting ready for the cook off challenge as we rolled in to hang out with some of the best fans we have met. As soon as we parked, we had people stopping by to welcome us and invite us to their tailgates and offer support. It was quite impressive and awesome how much openness this Crew had for us. At one point, Randy from the Blue Crew, came over and presented us with a Blue Crew Flag signed by all its members, an American Flag and an Army Flag that we will give to Joe’s mother, Sue. I was pretty much speechless and it was one of the highlights of the trip. Thanks to all the Blue Crew for making the trip to Indianapolis that special.

I had to leave the tailgate early because Tom (a previous Army boss of mine that took me to the game) and I had to go on the field for pre-game activities and a pre-tape. I didn’t really know what a pre-tape was but I just went with it and showed up. Basically, they filmed Tom and I for about 30 seconds as we tried to act like we were excited and supporting the team. It was pretty difficult to do when there were no fans or game going on, but I think we performed quite well. It felt really awkward during the tape, but when we saw it, it wasn’t that bad. The Colts actually showed it at the very end of halftime and spoke about what we were doing over the 30 second video. It was very cool and the people around us recognized us on the Jumbo Tron and made some cool comments.

Lucas Oil Field was pretty awesome itself, but I think the most impressive thing about the Colts stadium was how much the fans played a part in the game. During the Colts offense, it was dead quite in the stadium. No cheering until after the play happened. It was amazing and we could almost hear Peyton Manning calling audibles. During defense, the fans went crazy and the stadium started to rock. They were the smartest fans in the NFL. It did help that there were only a handful of Titans fans in the entire stadium. There were so few that they couldn’t make any impact on the volume level of the stadium. It was a great experience!

So thanks to the Blue Crew for making everything happen so easily, to Tom for taking me to the game, and to the Chi-town peeps who helped make Indianapolis so much fun. We look forward to making our way back to Indy in the near future to tailgate with the Blue Crew. Hopefully we will see most of the Blue Crew in Miami in a few months.