As many Ravens fans who live outside the Baltimore/DC area can tell you, finding a place to watch Ravens games can be a challenge. You often find yourself sitting in the corner of a huge sports bar, watching the game on a 32 inch TV, with no sound, surrounded by screaming fans, rooting for other teams.
Unless it’s Sunday or Monday Night Football, don’t even think about asking for audio. You long for the days of watching Ravens games on a big screen TV, with surround sound, eating a crab cake from Jimmy’s, and drinking an ice cold Natty Boh.
I live in New England – downtown Boston, and given the recent rivalry that has ensued between the Ravens and Patriots, watching the Ravens, my hometown team, every Sunday hasn’t always been easy.
Walking into a Boston sports bar and asking the manager to put on the Ravens game often gets a similar reaction to the Orioles at Fenway Park. Fortunately for me, I’ve made some friends at some local establishments, and despite usually giving me a hard time, they tend to oblige.
I am the General Manager of a sports bar for a fairly large restaurant group. While I do everything in my control to not work on Sundays, it happens from time to time. On these unfortunate Sundays, in the past, you could always find the Ravens on an at least half of our 60 inch TV’s, and if it didn’t conflict with the Patriots, the audio was always on. This would draw some criticism if the Ravens were playing a team like Jacksonville or Minnesota, but I always found a way to come up with some sort of excuse.
Late last January when the Ravens were preparing for the Super Bowl, we had an email come through our website that said:
“Hi, A group of Ravens fans, including myself, typically get together at a small bar on Sundays, but are concerned the venue can’t accommodate us for the Super Bowl as we expect more fans than usual. Anything you can do to help?”
My first reaction was, “How did I not know about this? Why have I been watching Ravens games alone?”
I immediately picked up the phone and sparked up a conversation with Greg, the host. Through Facebook, Twitter, and other forms of social media, we realized there were a lot of other purple and black faithful fans in New England, and they were in the same predicament as us every Sunday. That’s when Ravens Nation North was born.
After doing some research, we were surprised to see how many different Ravens groups existed throughout the country. Baltimore fans from all over, getting together every Sunday to cheer together, and make you feel like you are back on the Purple Patio in Federal Hill. We started small, and that loss opening week to Denver didn’t help, but throughout the course of 2013 we grew substantially.
Now getting the game on a majority of TV’s with audio is great. So is being surrounded by people who cheer when you do. Especially considering our gathering spot is a bar in the heart of Fenway, one of Boston’s most sacred locations.
Our goal however, was to provide people with a true Maryland experience. We found that it’s the small things that mean the most to people:
- Old Bay on every table
- Berger cookies for everyone
- Ravens and Maryland flags draped on every wall
- Custom t-shirts to give people a real sense of ownership
Let me be clear, we still get some dirty looks, but in the same spirit as the team, we relish in it. We love the fact that people don’t expect us to be there, that people don’t want us there, and more importantly, that there is a Ravens sense of community that surrounds us.
I feel like many Ravens fans would agree, that underdog mentality resonates with the Ravens as a whole. In week 10, our overtime win vs the Bengals, we had virtually every Patriots fan in the bar rooting against us – loudly, saying that they hate that we’re in “their bar.”
Fortunately for us, Justin Tucker came through after AJ Green nearly broke our hearts.
Wins and losses are obviously what matters most, and in the last 6 years, the Ravens math speaks for itself with 5 playoff appearances, 3 AFC championships, and 1 Super Bowl victory.
Additionally, in my opinion, one of the best ways to gauge the success of any sports franchise, is its representation on a national level. I’ve heard the front office talk about developing and expanding the fan base. Well, up in Beantown, we take a lot of pride in playing a really small part in that. If you ever find your way up here on a Sunday during football season, be sure to stop by and get a taste of Baltimore in Beantown.
Go Ravens
Submitted by Guest Blogger Ryan Jones
EDITOR’S NOTE: If you are a displaced Ravens fan and have a similar story you’d like to share, drop us a note at in**@ru*****************.com
