every Sunday – winning football games. Perhaps if they were 12-2 like the Philadelphia Eagles, empty seats wouldn’t exist? Or maybe not…
But they do believe that winning is the only thing that will put fans in seats and I can’t say that my experience would argue with that notion. But I also remember when the Orioles troubles mounted at the turn of the century, they also believed that crowds would flock back to see the baseball team when times improved on the field and that was only half true in the 2011-14 era when the team finally was representative and relevant. But the Orioles have pretty much accepted that it’s never going to come back to the Halcyon Days of 3.6 million fans filling up Camden Yards.
But measuring and comparing the reality, performance and expectations of the Ravens vs. Orioles in the modern era in Baltimore has proven to be an exasperating experience for me as a media member and citizen.
Baltimore sports fans make excuses for Peter G. Angelos and the baseball team, which has been in a constant state of turmoil and acrimony for a quarter of a century here as people have vacated downtown on summer nights.
The local faithful hurl far loftier expectations at Steve Bisciotti for his franchise. The bar is far higher for the Baltimore Ravens.
I’m not sure why other than to psychoanalyze the people who support the teams – and make no mistake about it, they are two distinctly different core fan bases, which is a massive departure from my youth when the love was equal and enduring.
But the Ravens have nothing to apologize for on the football field over their 22 years of existence.
Nothing.
And in a tumultuous season filled with injuries and ugly offense, the 8-6 team is now poised to make the playoffs for the first time in three seasons.
But, on cue for the holiday, here come the ghosts of Baltimore’s football past to attempt to wreck the Ravens season and inflict further damage. The Indianapolis Colts – complete with the stolen horseshoes of my father and yours – are coming on the eve of Christmas Eve and I would implore you to respect the message.
I remember the Baltimore Colts. I remember the full houses of the mid 1970s on 33rd Street that gave way to the malaise of the early 1980s that made for 13 years of being on the outside of the National Football League and begging to get a team back to our community.
That is all very real to a guy my age. Next month, I’ll celebrate 33 years of working in Baltimore sports media. When I walked into The News American in January 1984, the Baltimore Colts were a very real part of our town. When I left The Baltimore Sun in January 1992 to begin this incredible life in local radio and media, there wasn’t anyone in this city who would’ve told you that we were ever going to get another NFL team. And when expansion twice turned its nose up at the Charm City in 1994 and we were a decade into Washington Redskins games being piped into our domiciles as the “home” team, we felt doomed before the Art Modell Cleveland Browns miracle happened here and football returned.
Now 22 years and two parades later, there is a distinct malaise around the football mojo in Baltimore.
It needs to be addressed and openly discussed.
Where are the fans of the Batimore Ravens and why aren’t they as passionate as they used to be? What happened to our home field advantage? Where are the purple Festivus lights and energy this holiday week around the only local team that has consistently given the city a chance for a parade?
It’s been the hottest ticket in town for a generation. It was a birthright to hate the Pittsburgh Steelers, to move with the chain gang, to go on roadtrips and dance The Squirrel and cancel Sunday appointments in the fall.
And now, weekly, there are tens of thousands of tickets that are sold – and somehow unused.
In Denver, they used to famously count and boo the no shows. Now, I see people bragging on my Facebook and Twitter about how great it is that the community is turning its back on the football team and patting themselves on the backs for not using or selling the tickets they paid good American money for last spring.
Let us list the reasons for the modern malaise and “reasons” fans have given for not attending
