I used to post over on the Sun once in a blue moon. Nothing's going on there anymore, and I came across this site.....glad I did.

Anyway --OK, I have tried to sit quiet and not be phased by all the anti Raven/Baltimore crap being spewed by the national media. I've consistently tried to not buy into that whole "the media/nation has it out for Baltimore" talk. But this week has really crystalized things --enough is enough.

Joe gets crucified for using the word "retarded", even after apologizing right afterwards. People all but trying to put Ed in a Pats or Colts jersey -- anywhere but Baltimore --before the season is even officially over. People again bringing up Art and imploring TPTB not to enshrine him in Canton. I won't even get into the whole Ray witchhunt, it's so ridiculous. But now you have a 49er making anti-gay comments (and he plays in SF no less!) and it barely registers on the national land scape. I wonder if that was a Raven that said it would it be the 1st story on the front page of ESPN and its lead story on Sports Center.

Seriously what gives with the Baltimore rage? It's been this way for as long as I can remember. I'm not that old, but it still seems that way. The Ravens are hated nationally because (among other reasons) we "stole" Cleveland's team...after all these years no less. Get over it already. The Orioles are disliked because (again among other reasons) allegedly they tried to keep a team out of DC for all those years. Double standard anyone?! So we shouldn't have a football team but yet we shouldn't deny another city a baseball team? WTF?

It was bad enough when I was living/going to school near Indy that I had to constantly hear about my "stolen" team of "thugs" and cracks about the city on top of that. Never mind the irony that this was coming from Colt fans. Oh but that's right --the Colts weren't stolen. Mercifully I am back home now but unfortunately that doesn't make me or us immune to the continual national potshots and slander of our team(s) and town.

I don't understand it. It always seems that when the Ravens and Orioles are good they are generally ignored/minimized. But when they are noncompetitive/bad they always seem to be the "other" team that is being styled against on the highlights. Or just made fun of altogether. And yet when they do so well and are one of the few teams still standing (like this past season) where people are forced to discuss them it always has to have this disdainful, negative edge to it. Seriously.....what is America's problem with our fair city and teams?

I mean, shoot --I thought at worst this week we'd be inundated with sibling rivalry stories until we were bored and sick to death of both John and Jim and Jack and the rest of them. Never anticipated a steady stream of conjecture and intrigue and all out tabloid-type BS (almost exclusively focused on the AFC champ).

Sunday can't get here fast enough.