This was not a case of ‘you and I sit down and make a deal that we both think is fair.’ It was a third party acting recklessly, committing the tax dollars of thousands of people to a VERY bad deal and not ONE of those paying the tab had any influence over the process. There ought to be a remedy for that. I think bankruptcy is the best way to go – fix the problem don’t temporarily mask it with still more taxes.

I doubt the colts reputation has been hurt at all. As long as Manning is Qb and they keep winning 12 games the stadium will be sold out every game, regardless of if Irsay bends at all.

Why do we expect Irsay to give up 1/3 of his operating income to make up for a bad deal those “morons” agreed upon? 1/3 of anything is a lot to ask a person or corporation to forfeit.

If someone wants to hoist Jimmy as a hero, because he cut a good business deal, well…the CEOs of the ten largest banks in America cut great compensation deals with their boards last year, too.

We should be able to dissect the Colts lease after the dust settles. And then we can hang the culprits. One question in all this mess:

Our natural watchdogs are members of the CC Council. Where the hell were they? Looking for their Lucas seats?

Actually Jim Irsay is an idiot. You don’t think what he’s done the last few years will have a heavy toll on the reputation of the Colts organization?
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No a smart owner would have bent a little on their contract and become a hero to the city. Irsay instead is Enemy No. 1 in this city.
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Irsay isn’t a genuius, he just negotiated a deal with morons who had no problem giving away taxpayers money.

“when”

The Colts are the low hanging fruit because of their high profile and the (legally binding) contract they have with the CIB. Unfortunately, I have yet to see any traction regarding culpability for the NCAA and the design concessions they required from the CIB for the new stadium in exchange for guaranteeing national events will be hosted here at Lucas Oil. Why isn’t there a call for the NCAA to participate since they have an abatement for their current facilities and helped set the scope of design for Lucas Oil via their requirements? The NCAA, which is allegedly a non-profit entity, recently signed a multi-billion deal with CBS for the rights to the Final Four; why can’t they give up $5million a year to help the CIB? Again, this smacks of class warfare to me in that public outrage is directed at the (currently solvent) rich professional sports team in the community. As an aside, why hasn’t there been more media traction and outrage about the Simons and their $400 million cost to the city as printed in the IBJ last week?

If our citizens would have paid attention to the issues and voted en masse rather than sitting at home and complaining the last couple of decades, it’s reasonable to assume most of the tax/spend mess that our governments and their appointees have put us in would have been different. Unfortunately, until people start thinking that staying informed about the government they elected is more important than unwinding in front of the TV, we’ll continue to have this kind of inept (and semi-criminal) government.