Last week, Nancy Pelosi, the Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives, chose to root for the San Francisco 49ers according to the Huffington Post. Pelosi has lived in California since her 20’s, but she was born right here in Baltimore and attended the Institute of Notre Dame. She cited her history in San Francisco – she represented the city in congress for 25 years – and the fact that her children watched the 49ers.
To be fair Nancy also said, “I’m rooting for the 49ers. … I’m not rooting against Baltimore.”
I don’t care who you are, if you root for the opponent under these circumstances, you better keep it quiet. While it is a game and is not important in the grand scheme of things, there is something annoying about people who live in a certain area your whole life and you just decide to go with the enemy.
Sorry, but people in the state of Maryland do that a lot. Look at all the Steelers fans in Maryland, for example. They boast about how great Pittsburgh is all the time yet they don’t seem to find their way back.
Am I saying you have to root for the team that represents your home state? No. What I’m saying is, when you blatantly go to lengths to completely disregard the home team (like rooting for the Steelers or the Super Bowl opponent), you have problems.
It’s bad enough that people come from other states to rep their team here at huge rate. But if it’s where they are from there’s really no problem with that.
Pittsburgh for example does not have this problem. How many Ravens fans do you know or hear of from Pittsburgh?
It feels like this is the way it always has been, as people in Maryland tend to let things go on all fronts from sports to politics. But in sports, it’s where we should draw the line.
Some people just choose to go the other way to be different and annoy everyone else. When is this state going to gain back Maryland pride?
It is however, moving in the right direction. It seems like “Maryland Pride” is finally on the rise. There are young adults and kids wearing the Maryland state flag wherever they go. The flag design is showing up on cars, shirts, hats, shorts, tattoos, coffee mugs, and pretty much everywhere else you look.
But with all that being said, we all know Maryland has the best flag in the country and it’s not even close.
A Super Bowl win by the Ravens next Sunday will ensure that things continue to turn for the better.
