The NFL’s opening night is just 10 days away and while some might head to the Inner Harbor on September 5 to enjoy Keith Urban’s 45-minute float down a lazy river and accept it as a consolation prize, most of us will be angrily champing at the bit knowing that Baltimore should be hosting the game.
The NFL can spin this any way they want. They can point their finger at MLB. Roger Goodell can pretend to discreetly insinuate that it’s all Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos’ fault.
Well for once it’s not on Pete. The fault lies with the NFL and Goodell.
The season could have very easily started on Wednesday September 5 and please don’t give me the Rosh Hashanah excuse (and I mean no disrespect to Jews). The Broncos played the Falcons on September 17, 2012 on Monday Night Football last year during Rosh Hashanah. Oh and by the way the Jewish Holiday runs from September 4-6 this year. I guess they don’t celebrate in Denver?
This is all about money and TV ratings and apparently a Wednesday TV audience isn’t as big as a Thursday TV audience and that means more money.
SHOW ROG THE MONEY!
As if fans won’t tune in to the very first game on a Wednesday. (child please)
I’m over it, sort of…
And I do believe that the NFL did make it up to the Ravens with a very favorable schedule from the initial screw forward.
Ok so what about next year?
What if the Ravens win it again?
Don’t laugh, it could happen and no, this isn’t the land of purple goggles and grape lollipops. Sure the Ravens are 9-point underdogs to open the season in Denver, and if you don’t believe me check out http://www.bettingsites.us/nfl-football/ who will provide you all the resources and references you need to validate this line, as crazy as it may seem.
But even if the Ravens can’t overcome the odds on opening night and their loss enables all of the I-told-you-sos from those knuckleheads on ESPN like Skip Bayless, it is just one game.
Look around the AFC.
Go ahead, name me a dominant team.
Name me a team that doesn’t have its own host of problems.
You can’t, can you?
There’s no reason that the Ravens can’t represent the AFC again in the Meadowlands during Super Bowl XLVIII. And I think they will!
So, let this serve as a heads up to our local politicians to get their house and infrastructure in order come September 4, 2014. Because in the event that the Ravens can repeat as champions, the Orioles are NOT scheduled to play at home that day.
BUT…
The Star-Spangled Spectacular is scheduled for September 6-15, 2014. This is the culminating event for Maryland’s three-year commemoration of the bicentennial of the War of 1812. The Blue Angels, tall ships, etc. will all call Baltimore home during this time and that could place a burden on the city’s infrastructure that they can’t handle.
And let’s not forget the Grand Prix event, which will finish on September 1 next year, just 3 days prior to the NFL’s Opening Night in 2014.
Do you have confidence that the city can break down that Grand Prix track in time should the Ravens repeat?
And if not is that an impeachable offense Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake?
Can mayors be impeached?
Rick Johnson contributed to this article
UPDATE (11:18PM): This just in this evening. There could be a scheduling conflict with the Grand Prix in Baltimore in 2014 due to Navy’s football team hosting Ohio State University at M&T Bank Stadium on August 30, 2014. The city still is hopeful that they can handle it all. But what about opening night of the 2014 NFL season? Uh-oh. More HERE
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