It’s Tuesday. And, upon further review, the season is still over. The Baltimore Ravens still lost to the New England Patriots on Sunday night.
And as many times as you torture yourself with “the drop” or “the miss” or the lack of a timeout or a review or any of the other myriad of topics that have given me alternating heartburn and heartache over the last 24 hours, it will never rectify it or change the fate of the gods. Lee Evans and Billy Cundiff and John Harbaugh and anyone else associated with decisions or tasks that determined the outcome on Sunday in Foxborough will truly bear that burden the rest of their lives. I hope they can find a way to gain some inner peace about it at some point. But, I’ll bet it’s not even fully sunk in.
It sure hasn’t for me. I know I awakened in a cold sweat at 5:15 a.m. this morning wondering what could’ve been and how it would’ve changed my life, our fun and the kind of business I’m building at WNST.net. It’s been a tough, tough 24 hours in my life after a 7-hour ride home on Sunday night with a century of similarly despondent Ravens fans.
But the Ravens cleaned their lockers out and are moving on, accepting their fate. And we are dusting off and preparing for life after football season and covering the Terps and Capitals and Towson and UMBC and Loyola and Morgan and Coppin and awaiting the annual last-place disgrace that defines Orioles baseball.
The WNST crew is headed to the Super Bowl next week. We’ll be broadcasting live from Radio Row and hopefully with some perspective I’ll say and write some intelligent things when I try to fully assess what Sunday’s loss means to the franchise and how they’ll have to recover from what will always be characterized as the worst loss in Baltimore football history since Super Bowl III.
So close yet, so far from Indianapolis.
You don’t get any closer than the Super Bowl berth in the hands of a veteran wide receiver in the end zone. You don’t get any closer than having a veteran kicker attempting a 32-yard field goal in perfect wind conditions to keep the game alive.
So many offseason issues, holes to fill, retiring players, free agents, rookies, drafts and combines – there’ll be lots of conversation to follow at WNST.net over the next six months.
I’m also doing the Dip At The Dock at Dock Of The Bay in Miller’s Island on Saturday along with a bunch of nutballs who go running into the cold water in late January for Special Olympics. The sun came up this morning. Life will move on…
And I’d like to say that the right turn I took on Pratt Street this morning did not conjure up visions of the parade route but it did. But life will go on…and that’s gotta start today.
If Ray Lewis can shake it off then I have to attempt to do the same.
Pitchers and catchers report in three weeks in Sarasota. The Caps host the Stanley Cup champs tonight. College basketball is in full swing. And the NFL offseason “hotstove” is now alive.
WNST.net – we NEVER stop talking Baltimore sports.
Even when it hurts like hell.
