INDIANAPOLIS -- Dial the Indianapolis Colts' ticket office, and a voice message informs callers that plenty remain for all home games.
It's the best of times and the worst of times for this NFL team, 3-0 for the first time since 1996 and for only the eighth time in the franchise's 51 seasons -- in Baltimore through 1983 and in the RCA Dome thereafter.
But when only 55,770 tickets were distributed for Sunday's 23-13 victory against AFC South Division rival Jacksonville, it snapped the Colts' regular season sellout streak at 33.
Actual attendance was 51,400, which means that 4,370 ticket purchasers weren't motivated to watch an unbeaten team play on a gorgeous afternoon.
That's a clear signal that Indiana is in danger of losing this team to Los Angeles, which has been without pro football since the Rams bolted for St. Louis, and wild-and-crazy Al Davis took his Raiders back to Oakland.
With an offense that includes Peyton Manning, Edgerrin James and Marvin Harrison, a new-and-improved defense and a solid coach in Tony Dungy, the pieces are in place for an AFC title run.
Yet the public isn't embracing this club, which along with Kansas City and Denver, is one of three AFC unbeatens.
While Jim Irsay continues to tell Hoosiers he isn't going to exit Indiana on a covert midnight mission as was the case on March 29, 1984 when the Colts vacated Owings Mills, Md., via Mayflower moving vans, talk of a Colts-to-LA move won't go away.
Truth be known, there's not a lot of trust among Colts fans, many of whom were loyal season ticket holders from '84-'91, when Indianapolis won only 46 of 127 games -- a woeful .362 winning percentage.
Things are better now -- 42-25 beginning with the 1999 opener -- but the Colts still are without a home playoff victory in 19-plus seasons in the Hoosier State.
Toss in difficult economic times, increasing television options, the Internet and -- for the most part -- our state's preference for college athletics to pro sports, and it's easy to come to a conclusion as to why an unbeaten team is having a tough time selling tickets.
The Colts' lease with the RCA Dome includes a clause that the city must make payments to cover the difference between what the Colts make and the median NFL team's revenue -- an amount the mayor's office estimated in 2002 could be at least $10 million a year.
That lease is in place through the 2013 season but has an escape clause that kicks in after 2006 if the city does not make additional payments.
Rank-and-file Republicans are not in favor of building a new outdoor stadium, which the Colts would like.
But if Irsay doesn't get what he wants -- and if ticket sales continue to decline -- the bright lights and huge fan base that is Los Angeles will be very appealing, especially if the Colts keep their high-profile, three-headed offensive monster intact.
Manning, James and Harrison are happy in Indianapolis but could be happier in a place like LA, where many sports legends have been carved.
While Dungy's offense is a bit "vanilla" for some -- often the Colts appear to be playing not to lose instead of playing to win -- one can't argue with their early season success, especially considering the eye-opening improvement on defense.
The next three home games -- Carolina, Houston and the New York Jets -- won't send fans racing to the Marsh Ticketmaster location at Ind. 26 and Creasy Lane to purchase seats, but the final three in the Dome should.
Super Bowl XXXVI champion New England. Then Mike Vick-led Atlanta. Finally, Denver for a Sunday night game on Dec. 21.
How Hoosiers support this team during the next three months will go a long way toward determining whether the Colts stay or go.
http://www.lafayettejc.com/columns/200309240local_sports1064380347.shtml
