It should be no secret that our 20 for 20 series here at Russell Street Report was inspired by ESPN’s 30 for 30 series. What was originally slated as 30 stories for 30 years of ESPN has evolved into one of the best documentary series, on any subject, of all time, and a series that sports fans especially cannot get enough of.
While there have been countless wonderful episodes of 30 for 30, Baltimore football fans will remember that the second one to ever air was titled “The Band That Wouldn’t Die.” Barry Levinson told the story of Baltimore’s Marching Ravens, who went from being the Baltimore Colts band, to a band without a team, to the crew that plays during halftime at M&T Bank Stadium to this day.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBuAMwBogdM[/youtube]
The Fan Club That Wouldn’t Die
In addition to The Band That Wouldn’t Die, there was also “The Fan Club That Wouldn’t Die.” In May of 1957, Leo Novak formed the very first “Colts Corral” fan club. Famous Colts fan Hurst “Loudy” Ladenslager followed suit in September of the same year, forming Colts Corral #2.
As William Gildea wrote in When the Colts Belonged to Baltimore: A Father and a Son, A Team and a Time, Colts Corral #2 “was made up of Loudy’s Fellow National Guardsmen, who would get together monthly at the Fifth Regiment Armory and plan trips to road games, other social gatherings, and volunteer work for charitable causes.”
Under Loudy’s Leadership, the Corrals incorporated to become the Council of Baltimore Colts Corrals.
From the fan club’s website:
Since its inception, the Council has had the pleasure of supporting three teams in three different football leagues: The NFL Baltimore Colts, the USFL Stars and the CFL Stallions. All three of these outfits have given the city of Baltimore Championships! The Colts were the NFL Champions in 1958, 1959, 1969 and Super Bowl V Champions in 1971. The Stars were the 1985 USFL Champions. In 1995 the Stallions brought home the Canadian Grey Cup Championship, the first U.S. team to do so.
Though they, like the rest of Baltimore, were robbed of their NFL team in 1984, the Council persisted, vagabonding their way through 12 years of various teams in other leagues before finally finding a permanent home when the Ravens came to town. The Council of Baltimore Colts Corrals is now the Council of Baltimore Ravens Roosts, of which there are, at current count, 76.
Also according to the Council’s website, they have raised over $2.675 million for various charities since just 2007.
The Party That Wouldn’t Die
Every year since 1967, the Council has held their annual convention in Ocean City, Maryland (and once, in 1977, in downtown Baltimore), in June. In recent years, the event has always been held on the first weekend after Memorial Day, meaning that this week, thousands of Ravens fans will be making the trek “Downy Oshun”.
This event is a fun-filled weekend that allows Ravens fans from all over — not just Maryland, but Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, and more, to come together to celebrate Baltimore football.
(From the June 2, 1973 edition of The Baltimore Afro-American)
When there wasn’t an NFL team in Baltimore, the party, much like the band, refused to die. According to Marc Lombardi of Ravens Roost 27 in Severna Park, not only did the event continue during the NFL-less years of 1984-96, but it thrived, regularly attracting roughly 600 attendants.
While that may pale in comparison to the thousands that annually attend now, keep in mind that the fan club didn’t even have an NFL team to cheer for at that time!
From a June 1995 Baltimore Sun article by the great John Steadman:
Along the boardwalk, the perfect place for a parade, marched the Colts Corrals, a network of fan clubs that had their team taken away, but out of habit continue to demonstrate what can only be described as a distinct passion for football. Members were gathered in Maryland’s beach resort for their annual weekend convention that also involved fun and frolic and partaking of sand, surf and suds.
This is the cheerleading base, the working force, that represents what Baltimore football is all about. The Corrals, with an almost 40-year history, have endeavored to attach themselves to the city’s new entry in the Canadian League but believe there’s a reluctance on the part of management to entrust them with responsibilities or the attention they truly deserve.
That piece ran in June 1995. As we know, just a few short months later, those Baltimoreans with that “distinct passion for football” would once again be given an NFL team to cheer for, and those Colts Corrals would officially become Ravens Roosts.
[Related: 20 for 20 – The Story that Changed Baltimore Forever, by Mark Viviano]
The party would go on, and forevermore would sport a much more “purple” feel.
Where Else Can You Get Sand Kicked in Your Face by a Raven?
I’ve been attending the convention since 2005, missing only once since (last year, due to family obligations out-of-state), and am eager to return in 2015. One of the coolest memories I have of the convention stems from that first year I attended, 2005. Each year, the Council holds competitions between the Roosts, which range from karaoke to tug-of-war, to a volleyball tournament, to an Ocean City-wide scavenger hunt.
Also, as part of the festivities, the team has been generous enough to bus in players to interact with the fans in attendance, enjoy the beautiful beach resort town, and even to participate in some of the competitions. For several years, the Ravens entered a team of players in the volleyball tournament.
Yes, a team of Baltimore Ravens football players, finely tuned World-Class athletes, played beach volleyball against a bunch of beer-bellied, weekend warrior, high school glory-days-long-gone “athletes” from various Ravens Roosts.
Needless to say, it wasn’t always pretty.
However, that year, my team defeated the Baltimore Ravens. A team that included, if memory serves, former Ravens such as Gerome Sapp and Ma’ake Kemoeatu, were no match for the kids of Ravens Roost 65 from Pasadena, Maryland.
Although we won, I had the closest thing to a “welcome to the NFL” moment that I certainly ever will.
As the Roost 65 team started to pull away and victory started to look more and more likely, we could tell that some of the more competitive Ravens (let’s be honest; they were taking it easy on us) were getting a bit annoyed. It was at that point that I was lined up across the net from defensive lineman Anthony Weaver, all 6’3” 280 lbs. of him.
The former Notre Dame Fighting Irish star towered over me, 6’1” and, at the time, 180 lbs. soaking wet, a guy whose athletic prowess includes thinking back upon the double I once hit for the UMBC club baseball team, and a couple co-ed softball home runs.
Advantage: Weaver.
Anthony received a perfect set from Sapp, rose up from the sand, and absolutely pummeled the ball directly into my face. While I was able to get my hands up to save myself from a bloody nose or worse, my pride was significantly bruised as the ball bounced far onto the dunes and a large “oooooooooh!” went up from the rather large crowd that had gathered to watch some football players try their hand at beach volleyball.
Again, I must reiterate that we won.
Still, “Anthony Weaver once spiked a volleyball in my face,” isn’t something every Ravens fan can say.
In addition to the aforementioned competitions, there is also an annual parade, where the Roosts compete to have the best floats.
The parade has a different theme every year (appropriately, in 2010, the theme was “The Fan Club That Wouldn’t Die”), and meanders its way down Baltimore Street each year on Saturday morning. Ravens fans line both sides of the road watching the sometimes awe-inspiring creations that the Roosts have been working on for weeks or even months.
A sampling:
The Council does amazing charitable work; that goes without saying. However, that’s not what this weekend is about. This weekend is about something the Council of Baltimore Ravens Roosts and their members are almost as good at as they are at raising money – partying and having fun! At its core, the Convention is basically just an excuse to tailgate for an entire weekend while we wait for football season to roll around again.
You never know who – or what – you might see at the Ravens Roost Convention:
While looking through my old photos, I remembered that one year, I even saw a WEDDING at the Convention in 2011. Congrats, and big ups, to these folks. I hope they’re still just as happy as they were on this day:
Since 2012, the team has scheduled their official event, the “Beach Bash” to coincide with the Roost Convention. While there are pros and cons to this for those of us who attend the Roost Convention, the end result is that the 4.4 square miles of beach, boardwalk, and, let’s face it, booze, becomes absolutely flooded with Ravens fans – even more so than usual – for one weekend in June. As O.C. also attracts a lot of Redskins, Eagles, and :shudder: Steelers fans as well, it’s nice to be surrounded by a sea of purple.
Early June on 36th street feels like mid-December on Russell Street, and you can’t beat that.
See yous down ‘ere, hon!
REFERENCES
1. Colts Corrals take their sunny outlook to beach
2. The Day The Colts Left Town
3. When The Colts Belonged to Baltimore
4. One of The Originals
5. Where it All Began
6. Colts Corrals Hold Annual Convention
7. Ravens Beach Bash Invades Ocean City
Also, a special thank you to Tracey Despeaux of Ravens Roost 65 and Marc Lombardi of Ravens Roost 27 for their help with this piece.
