Super Bowl XLIV: Hangin' with the Blue Crew

In one area you have people playing cornhole.

Walk a little farther and you’ll see people tossing a football around.

Then everywhere, people are grilling out and standing around socializing before the big game.

This is the scene at the corner of South and Pennsylvania streets in downtown Indianapolis hours before kickoff of a Colts game and several hours after the game.

Kim, Vance and Jenci Darlage of Seymour are familiar with the scene as members of the Blue Crew, a fan club of the Indianapolis Colts football team.

Every Sunday the Colts play at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indy, the Darlages are there with their friends, socializing for hours before and after the game.

“The tailgate part of it is social, the interaction, and then we usually stay a good hour after the game and discuss what happened,” Kim said.

The Colts beat the New York Jets on Jan. 24 to take the American Football Conference championship and stamp their ticket to Miami on Sunday for Super Bowl XLIV.

On Jan. 24, the family made a day of it.

“We left our house at 8 o’clock and we got home at 10 o’clock that night and it was a 3 o’clock game,” Kim said.

The Darlages have had Colts season tickets for about 17 years, Kim said.

“We started off having just two season tickets and it was just my husband and son went or him and a friend,” Kim said. “When we were able to buy the other two beside us, then we started going as a family. It became a family thing.”

Kim and Vance’s son, Colby, graduated from college and now lives in Lafayette, and on the days of games, he would drive down to Indy to join the family.

“He drives an hour south and we drive an hour north, so usually every weekend or every other weekend, we get to see him,” Kim said.

The Darlages have season tickets in the lower level of Lucas Oil Stadium and they had an opportunity to buy two more seats next to them. They bought those, and Roma and Kenny Perry of Seymour purchased the tickets from them.

Kim said the family has been with the Blue Crew for several years. With your membership you get a parking pass that allows you to park in the designated lots in Indianapolis.

“It ends up averaging about $20 a game, which is what you’re going to pay for parking anyway,” Kim said, adding that you pay for how many parking spaces you use.

If you’re not a member of the Blue Crew, Kim said, people are still welcome to join in on the fun.

“Anybody can walk in,” she said. “We’ve always got opposing team fans. They hack on them, but they still show a lot of hospitality.”

Jenci said the crowd in the lots grows when it’s a bigger game being played, like the playoffs.

“If it’s a playoff game, you have to get up there if you want a good spot because there are a bunch of people and they will make sure they are there,” she said. “There are people saving spots for people.”

Just so she’s involved, however, she’s satisfied.

“I’m probably into it more than any of (her family),” Jenci said.

Once a year, Kim said, the club has an all-nighter where it rents the parking lot all night.

“You can bring your motor home and spend the night,” she said. “They have a band and they provide food, and it’s just a big party all night long in the parking lot.”

Since Sunday’s game is in Miami, the Darlages won’t be heading to Indy, but they will be hosting a party at their home.

Of the game, Kim and Jenci expect it to be a good one.

“I think it actually could go into overtime, like with the New Orleans Saints,” Kim said of when New Orleans beat Minnesota in the National Football Conference championship game. “I think right now they have the Colts favored by three.”

Jenci said, “I think it’s going to be a high-scoring game and it’s going to be at each other’s neck. It’s not going to be a long-shot game.”

As long as Peyton Manning is in sync with his receivers, Jenci added, it should favor the Colts.

Kim said as long as the Colts win, she’ll be happy, and she encourages people to join the Blue Crew.

“Going to the Colts games is expensive, period,” she said. “But this is one thing we all still do as a family and everybody enjoys doing. We don’t do a lot of vacations, but we like to go to the games and tailgate.”

To join

To learn more about the Blue Crew, visit its Web site at indybluecrew.com. If you would like to purchase memberships or merchandise, send an e-mail to indybluecrew@aol.com.