Andrew Luck says: Thank you, Colts fans

Former quarterback Andrew Luck doesn’t seem to be holding a grudge against fans who booed him after news broke last week that he was retiring. On Sunday, he took out a full-page ad in the Indianapolis Star thanking Colts fans.

The ad said:

Dear Colts Nation,

Thank you!

Thank you for an incredible eight years. For welcoming me with open arms. For helping me grow on and off the field. For helping Nicole and I make Indiana our home. And for showing us the true meaning of Hoosier hospitality.

It has been the honor of a lifetime to represent the Colts and the city of Indianapolis on the world’s stage. I can’t wait to see our team take the field and continue the journey.

I’m proud to be a Midwesterner, a Hoosier, and a Colt.

Andrew Luck

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Now, as a journalist, allow me to point out that taking out a full-page ad in a newspaper costs quite a bit and is a great way to support local journalism. Which leads to a very important question: In these struggling times for print publications, isn’t it about time some Rams, Chargers, Lakers, Clippers, Dodgers, Angels, Sparks, Galaxy, LAFC, Kings or Ducks players retire and take out some ads?

What team are you with?

The Pac-12 is the Rodney Dangerfield of college football power conferences. Often overlooked nationally, it’s even looked down upon by players across the country. Case in point: Auburn running back JaTarvious Whitlow, who made this comment after his team pulled off a stunning last-minute 27-21 victory over Oregon on Saturday:

“Nobody wanted to lose to Oregon. We feel like that’s a bad reputation on them. What are they, ACC? Pac-12? I didn’t even know what they were. A Pac-12 team coming in and beating an SEC team, we can’t take that.”

Of course, I’m not sure what is worse. A player not even knowing Oregon is a Pac-12 team, or a player thinking a team on the Pacific Ocean would be in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Your favorite sports moment

What is your favorite L.A. sports moment? Email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com and I might run it in a future Morning Briefing. And yes, if your favorite moment is about the Angels or Ducks or a team just outside of L.A., I’ll count that too.

Today’s moment comes from Darlene Gaston of Playa del Rey:

“The 1984 Olympics has a number of favorite sports moments for me, as I was in attendance for the Zola Budd-Mary Decker ‘showdown’ and I attended the first official exhibition baseball game included in the Olympics at Dodger Stadium. I decided that my favorite sports moment was the women’s marathon event.

“Crazy to think that 1984 is the first time that women runners were able to compete in an Olympic Marathon. I was there — close enough to touch Joan Benoit Samuelson, the eventual winner, as she strides by where I am standing along the route in the sparse crowd at about mile 19 in Culver City. She looked confident and was smiling. Joan had a breakaway performance that day. I don’t know how many women were inspired to engage in the sport as a result of her victory, but it was a proud moment.

“Just 12 years later, I ran my own marathon. I was not smiling at the same point in the race as she did. Sans smiling pretty much sums up how I ran that day. Instead, I was crying at the end — tears of joy, of course. I don’t know what took so long to include a women’s marathon as an event in the Olympic games, but I am happy that I was there to witness this momentous occasion and that it happened in Los Angeles.”