With RCA Dome demolition, student loses scene of rich childhood

Sophomore Christina Bleeke has been an Indianapolis Colts fan for nearly her entire life.

Bleeke attended her first game in 1988, two weeks after she was born. Her mother had to hide Bleeke under a coat.

With the demolition of the RCA Dome on Saturday, Bleeke said a part of her childhood was reduced to rubble.

VIDEO: RCA Dome demolition

After the collapse of the roof about three months ago, Bleeke cried for nearly half an hour, but emotions really began to set in when her family attended their first preseason game at newly constructed Lucas Oil Stadium.

“I remember feeling sad passing the RCA Dome,” Bleeke said. “I was saying, 'We're never going to go in there again.'”

Bleeke has gone through a wide range of emotions following her favorite team, starting with anger and disappointment.

Memories of leaving Colts games crying because she thought they would never make the playoffs filled her childhood years.

And so even when the team struggled they always had the support of at least one devoted fan.

Bleeke especially liked Jim Harbaugh and remembered feeling hatred toward the Colt’s opponents at an early age, because she thought they were hurting him when they tackled him. 

Bleeke and her family were not ones to miss games.

During the 2003-2004 season, the family missed one of their only games on Christmas because they were in Hawaii. A vacation most kids could only dream of, Bleeke tried to convince her parents to let her stay home.

“I was hysterical that I was going to miss the game,” she said.

Even attending college at IU, Bleeke would travel to Indianapolis for every home game.

A couple years later came the 2006 AFC Championship game in the RCA Dome. This was one of Bleeke’s most memorable experiences, which she said was more satisfying than the super bowl victory later that year.

Bleeke, dressed in jeans with the words Indianapolis Colts painted down the side and hair colored blue made her way to the Victory Field parking lot to tailgate before the game.  

The start of the game did not excite Bleeke, with her team down 18 points in the second quarter.

At halftime her parents sat in silence.

The second half saw the Colts get back into the game by mounting a comeback, in which Bleeke described as happening in slow motion.

After Colts quarterback Peyton Manning led his team on a game winning drive late in the game, Bleeke said the building went crazy.

“Everyone just exploded,” Bleeke said.

Bleeke already knew she would make the trip to Miami for the Superbowl. In fact she had known since her 18th birthday about 11 weeks prior.

The party involved a live band, but the real excitement came when Bleeke opened the wrapping paper on one special gift and found a travel itinerary for Miami.

She screamed so loud the band stopped playing.

Now, as she has done her entire life, Bleeke continues to attend Colts games, but at a different venue, which is hard to compare to the dome.

“Lucas Oil is cool and awesome, but it doesn’t have the same feel as the RCA Dome,” she said, adding the RCA Dome was electric and a lot of fun to be part of.

Although she will continue to be a Colts fan her entire life, Bleeke said she believes with the demolition of the dome, something else is now missing.

“I loved going to all the Colts games at the RCA Dome,” she said. “Now that it’s gone I feel like a huge symbol of my childhood is gone too.”