I’M OVER IT ARE YOU?
TL,
Good column (I’m Over It!)!
Growing up in Cockeysville, and having a birthday in Autumn, I was fortunate enough to have my Dad take me to Memorial Stadium every early November after church for my big b-day present. I won’t bore you with my memories, but they are many.
My point being, after despising the Colts from ’84 on, and [finding satisfaction] in their futility, I kind of saw this coming, especially of late, and viewed the last few years as dodging bullets. As I explained to my wife (from Idaho), the sickness, shock, and nausea I felt after the Ravens/Colts game was like catching your first love cheating on you, and [Sunday’s] Super Bowl was like watching her walk down the aisle with someone else on her big wedding day.
In a strange way, I think everyone needed it, and now we can move on.
Side Note: I got in trouble with my wife for describing it that way. I should have just said “this sucks.â€
Rod Howard, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho
Rod,
Obviously you are much happier with your wife than your previous love. That’s cool. She must be special moving you from Cockeysville to Idaho although I have heard the potato chips are better there.
Thanks for the note. I think your analogy hit the mark.
Hopefully there are more who feel as we do.
All the best,
TL
Dear Tony:
Great article! And, I couldn’t agree more.
I go back to the old All America Conference Baltimore Colts who wore green and silver and whose logo was a "colt" over a crossbar, long before the horseshoe logo. My father took me to my first game in 1947 when I was 8 years old and we watched the Baltimore Colts play the New York Yanks in old Memorial Stadium! That started a "love affair" for me that I never thought would end.
I suffered through the Abe Watner debacle when we lost our franchise at the end of the 1950 season and became, through my Dad, a season ticket holder when the new franchise was awarded in 1953. For the following 30 years, I never missed a home game and then, in 1968, my Dad became the team dentist. So, as you can see, my roots are steeped in Baltimore professional football tradition. Losing the Baltimore Colts was like a death in the family for me!
There was a time when I hoped for Indianapolis never to win a Super Bowl as I thought I couldn’t tolerate the ignominy of such an event. But, I learned this past Sunday that it’s no big deal! As is true with the death of other loved ones, the memories keep them "alive" and, neither the Irsays nor the league can take those away! I will continue, however, to hold the league responsible for acquiescing in the misappropriation of Baltimore’s rich and hard earned professional football heritage. In my judgment, the league’s action or "inaction" in allowing that travesty is both reprehensible and unforgivable!
In closing, my "love affair" with the Baltimore Colts has been supplanted, fortunately, with a newer, younger "love" interest in the Baltimore Ravens. As a proud owner of 6 PSLs, I am now enjoying watching with my sons as the Ravens create their own rich heritage in Baltimore professional football lore, just as their predecessors did so many years before them!
Sincerely,
Jerry Brotman, Timonium, MD
Jerry,
Thanks for sharing your story. I hope there are many more like you who can happily embrace Baltimore’s football past without being overwhelmed by regret over the Colts’ exodus. Just so you and those who share your sense of history know, we will soon launch a new site that we hope helps to corral (pun intended) Baltimore’s football heritage and restore it to its proper place.
Stay tuned and thanks for your support,
TL
Hi Tony,
Amazingly, I had the same experience you had. It’s almost as if a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders!
In fact, I blogged about it myself: darrenklein.blogspot.com.
It’s been an especially tough 3 weeks for me, living 45 miles south of Indy. But I’m already pumped for February 2008, when I will be wearing MY Ravens Super
Bowl XLII Champions stuff around here!
Keep up the great work!
Darren Klein
Darren,
I read your blog and I would be interested in seeing your open letter to Jim Irsay upon its completion. We share your passion here at 24×7. And we plan on acting upon it soon. Perhaps you can give us some guidance on approaching the fans in Indy for support. We’d like to gauge whether or not they embrace the Colts heritage the way we do here. I would think that they’d prefer to develop their own traditions and their own legacy. And if that is the case, their support may help our cause.
To Colts Heritage,
TL
SOARING TICKET PRICES
Tony,
Isn’t it sweet that in 2 plus years my tickets will have doubled, 45 to 85. I truly love good ole’ Steve. I hope that they factor in the sky box revenue and PSL rape fee in their calcs. Really don’t know if I want to be that much of a sucker. Guess I’ll sell off a few prime time and Billick can complain about me not being loyal.
I could not believe the collective silence last go round.
Thanks,
David Janka
David,
I think the pain will be felt in March when those invoices start rolling up to our doorsteps. I did a piece on this last week in The Grapevine which summarizes my feelings. I’ll share it with you again here:
The Ravens are raising ticket prices across the board by roughly 20-25% and they are justifying the move in part by reminding us all that they spent $25 million over the salary cap to sign Steve McNair, Trevor Pryce, Derrick Mason and Samari Rolle along with Ed Reed, Bart Scott and Todd Heap.
Well boo freaking hoo!
The Ravens are also quick to point out that they were ranked 18th last season in average ticket price and the price hike to an average of $82.14 per ticket for ’07 will likely put them in the top 10 when all is said and done.
I wonder how many in the top ten have hit their fans with permanent seat licenses just for the privilege of paying for season tickets.
Let’s put this all in perspective.
You run a business and in order for your customers to come in and pay for your product they first have to pay for an expensive membership fee. Then you go and hire a few new employees to improve your customer service and better your product. But to offset the added expense for the new and improved staff, you hike your prices 25%.
That might put a normal business in peril, right?
Not in the NFL.
David, if you are interested, there are some statistics that you can find here comparing the Ravens to the rest of the NFL.
Workin’ for a livin’,
TL
