in the NFL. Having sustained success is rare because the system is designed with the draft and the salary cap to always weaken the poor and punish the rich.
Red Saunders said, “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing!” and he clearly was prescient about modern sports and selling tickets. Across sports and across America, if you’re not winning or sitting on iconic soil like Fenway Park or Lambeau Field, people probably aren’t filling your arena or stadium.
And as the Orioles found out during the Showalter era – and now the 9-6 Ravens are learning – not even moderate postseason success on the field is enticing enough folks back to the ballparks in downtown Baltimore in the modern era.
Before The Wembley Knee or any of the explosive emotions in the aftermath, there has been the crime wave and the unrest in Baltimore City over the past three years and many fans have expressed a desire to stay away from downtown in general and certainly after dark. With every mugging, murder, violent crime and news story there are more people who don’t want to venture into Baltimore.
This is the true modern terrorism of America.
I could write a book on living downtown and why kids shouldn’t be coming up to my car with squeegies demanding money and the same guy shouldn’t be on my corner every weekday for 15 years with a cardboard sign. You can’t be a great city when the first thing you see getting off any freeway or at any red light is someone begging for drug money.
But don’t quit on Baltimore!
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This should be the greatest fear of any metropolis because when you quit on a city, the suburbs aren’t far behind. Maryland needs a strong Baltimore. The counties need a strong Baltimore. And the Ravens play in Baltimore and need to have a civic environment that becomes more welcoming in the coming years. Fans need to feel safe coming to a sporting event at Camden Yards.
And that has nothing to do with football. But I’ll stick mainly to sports here but the politics is how the franchises got here and I assure you that in the future it’s how they’ll remain – or depart.
Baltimore has challenges. The Ravens and Orioles will both have challenges connected to the plight of the city if they expect to maximize revenue from stadium patrons. It would be in both of their best interests to be part of the solution.
We saw how the Orioles handled the riots. Because they’re fucking clueless, they locked the doors and told the fans to stay home while they played the game on television for a crowd of no one. Peter G. Angelos is nothing if not tone deaf to his customers. I can’t think of a dumber decision he’s ever made than telling the fans they are “uninvited.”
As has been evidenced, the Ravens have done a ton of things right to get to the point of 22 years of sellouts and unbridled – and unquestioned – enthusiasm and
