Will the media and fans run Flacco out of Baltimore?

[Raveninwoodlawn]

This is a serious question.

What % of fans do you think actually voice their opinions via message boards and/or talk radio.

It's an EXTREMELY small number.

Talk radio has become a haven for complaining etc... When the Ravens win and Flacco does well, there is very little going on. You know why? Because the people who are satisfied with Flacco and like him don't feel the need to call in. When things go awry the phones light up. Thats the way it goes and I think it's pretty obvious to be honest. The typical vocal minority. Then in turn you will get some people calling in to support Joe when they feel he's getting too much flack. And the cycle goes on and on.

I've seen plenty of positive stuff on Joe Flacco. Hell, Merrill Hoge, who many call a Steelers homer, called Flacco the most underrated QB in the league the past few seasons! But yet that doesn't register a blip on the radar. There is a 3 page thread because Trevor Pryce said the Ravens would lose to NE!

The Ravens fanbase isn't some sort of anomaly Sting. They are just like most other fan bases that care about their teams

The reality is that most fans aren't nearly as engaged in the team as people like us. They don't follow nearly as close as we do. We are the minority. I know PSL holders who rarely read about or pay attention to anything except the actual games.

Of course I can't be sure but I'd wager a whole lot of money that the vast majority of them have absolutely no issue with Flacco. None.

And I think you misread my post. I said it's the national media which makes me chuckle because the premise of the thread is the media running him out. What, the national media is gonna run Joe Flacco out of Baltimore?

You do realize that the majority on this board are HUGE Flacco backers right? I mean, the fervor created by negative press towards him is met with FAR more fervor in defense.

BTW, you can thank Ed Reed for stoking those flames.

PP

Couldn't have said it better.

Bottom line, if the majority of this board was out to get Joe, that Ed Reed thread would be 2 pages max. It is at 18 because so many of us are defending him against a few vocal posters.

The media thing...that's what gets me about this thread, the first 2 pages are full of threads about national media members opinions on Joe and the team...I don't see any threads about Preston or Schmuck or KVV, or WNST/The Fan talking heads...it's Bob Ryan, it's NFL.com, it's Trevor Pryce, it's ESPN, Skip Bayless...etc. Those guys who have nothing to do with the Baltimore media or fanbase is going to run Joe out of Baltimore?

It's silly IMHO...silly.

And to think that this fanbase is worse than the majority is insane...and it's insane because those people saying it have no idea about the history of other fans relationships with their franchises.

[Jay D83]

And to think that this fanbase is worse than the majority is insane...and it's insane because those people saying it have no idea about the history of other fans relationships with their franchises.

NO idea huh? How many fanbases have had to PUT UP with 4 straight years of POs? How many fanbases have had to PUT UP with WINNING in said POs for 4 straight years? How many fanbases would love to be a contender year in and year out?

The only fans of teams that EXPECT to be in the Superbowl every year are Philly (because once again, they've never won shit), Pitt, NE, GB, NO, and NYJ (because of unreal expectations by their coach)- that's about it. Every other teams has been through rebuilding periods, inept QBs, mismanagement, bad coaches, the whole gamut in these last 4 years. Every other fanbase would just love the ability to contend every year. Their reasons for being pissed is different from ours. They don't stand a chance. Most of them are eliminated by November. Give them Flacco and his wins and I BET they wouldn't cry as much as BMore does.

[Raveninwoodlawn]

NO idea huh? How many fanbases have had to PUT UP with 4 straight years of POs? How many fanbases have had to PUT UP with WINNING in said POs for 4 straight years? How many fanbases would love to be a contender year in and year out?

The only fans of teams that EXPECT to be in the Superbowl every year are Philly (because once again, they've never won shit), Pitt, NE, GB, NO, and NYJ (because of unreal expectations by their coach)- that's about it. Every other teams has been through rebuilding periods, inept QBs, mismanagement, bad coaches, the whole gamut in these last 4 years. Every other fanbase would just love the ability to contend every year. Their reasons for being pissed is different from ours. They don't stand a chance. Most of them are eliminated by November. Give them Flacco and his wins and I BET they wouldn't cry as much as BMore does.

Nice Rant.

Still nothing to back the fact that
A. Joe is not has way more defenders and backers than the few loud minority that seem to have gotten under your skin
B. You still have no idea of the history of basically any other fans relationship with their franchise.

Maybe if you realized that the small, vocal minority was just that...a small minority, you wouldn't get so worked up and start blaming national media types who have nothing to do with Baltimore as your reasons for Baltimore running Joe out of town.

[TarHeels33]

Just because you hear more of the other extreme doesn't mean it represents the fanbase as a whole.

A few Muslims are Terrorist.. doesn't represent the Religion as a whole. Perception isn't reality.

I really hope you're right. This stuff obviously gets back to the players.

[BleedPurple92]

NO idea huh? How many fanbases have had to PUT UP with 4 straight years of POs? How many fanbases have had to PUT UP with WINNING in said POs for 4 straight years? How many fanbases would love to be a contender year in and year out?

The only fans of teams that EXPECT to be in the Superbowl every year are Philly (because once again, they've never won shit), Pitt, NE, GB, NO, and NYJ (because of unreal expectations by their coach)- that's about it. Every other teams has been through rebuilding periods, inept QBs, mismanagement, bad coaches, the whole gamut in these last 4 years. Every other fanbase would just love the ability to contend every year. Their reasons for being pissed is different from ours. They don't stand a chance. Most of them are eliminated by November. Give them Flacco and his wins and I BET they wouldn't cry as much as BMore does.

Have you ever been outside of Baltimore? Or the baltimore Area? I mean DC/VA. Take it from someone who's been to quite a few states, and met their fans. We are on the good side, and no i'm not talking about NY/Philly, not those teams. I'm talking about Houston, Jacksonville. Jacksonville fans surprisingly are the worst, all 3 of them. Raiders fans you could argue bitch more than any other fan base. I mean i could keep going.

[Jay D83]

Nice Rant.

Still nothing to back the fact that
A. Joe is not has way more defenders and backers than the few loud minority that seem to have gotten under your skin
B. You still have no idea of the history of basically any other fans relationship with their franchise.

Maybe if you realized that the small, vocal minority was just that...a small minority, you wouldn't get so worked up and start blaming national media types who have nothing to do with Baltimore as your reasons for Baltimore running Joe out of town.

Who says that I was/is worked up? Does my OP even hint of *me* being upset? I don't think so. Nor, did I JUST call out the national media, because the Baltimore media does the shit too. I did not name drop as to who in the media was dogging Flacco, I said MEDIA which includes ALL of the media. Period.

Also, who are you to say that I don't understand other fans relationships with their franchises? You basically skipped over every EXAMPLE that I gave you to try and prove your "we don't whine any more than any other fanbase" excuse. Just because everybody else is doing it doesn't mean that we shouldn't try and stand above the rest.

Ravens fans really don't have a reason to bitch and complain. We are contenders NOW. This shit won't last forever. When it ends, Lord - most Ravens sites WILL explode.

[Jay D83]

Have you ever been outside of Baltimore? Or the baltimore Area? I mean DC/VA. Take it from someone who's been to quite a few states, and met their fans. We are on the good side, and no i'm not talking about NY/Philly, not those teams. I'm talking about Houston, Jacksonville. Jacksonville fans surprisingly are the worst, all 3 of them. Raiders fans you could argue bitch more than any other fan base. I mean i could keep going.

Funny. I travel a helluva lot. I don't live in Baltimore, nor have I EVER lived in Baltimore. Ray Lewis brought me to this team in 2004 because I loved the way he played the game and I was tired of the ineptness of the Deadskins. So, I wasn't even a fan of the Ravens during the 2000 Superbowl run. I didn't get to enjoy that. I'm only 28 years old so that means besides the Redskins 1992 run (in which I was a whopping **8** years old, I hadn't been a fan of a team that'd ever did shit!

You're actually making my point FOR ME, because the way I see it, Jacksonville fans, Houston fans and especially Raiders fans have a reason to bitch. What have their teams done lately? Ravens fans have no reason to complain. At all.

[BleedPurple92]

Funny. I travel a helluva lot. I don't live in Baltimore, nor have I EVER lived in Baltimore. Ray Lewis brought me to this team in 2004 because I loved the way he played the game and I was tired of the ineptness of the Deadskins. So, I wasn't even a fan of the Ravens during the 2000 Superbowl run. I didn't get to enjoy that. I'm only 28 years old so that means besides the Redskins 1992 run (in which I was a whopping **8** years old, I hadn't been a fan of a team that'd ever did shit!

You're actually making my point FOR ME, because the way I see it, Jacksonville fans, Houston fans and especially Raiders fans have a reason to bitch. What have their teams done lately? Ravens fans have no reason to complain. At all.

I don't think anyone can say "No reason to complain" If a fan thinks there is a room for Improvement, its your right as a fan to point it out if you want.

That said i really don't think there's been that much bitching on this board. Its actually the contrary.

[Raveninwoodlawn]

Who says that I was/is worked up? Does my OP even hint of *me* being upset? I don't think so. Nor, did I JUST call out the national media, because the Baltimore media does the shit too. I did not name drop as to who in the media was dogging Flacco, I said MEDIA which includes ALL of the media. Period.

Also, who are you to say that I don't understand other fans relationships with their franchises? You basically skipped over every EXAMPLE that I gave you to try and prove your "we don't whine any more than any other fanbase" excuse. Just because everybody else is doing it doesn't mean that we shouldn't try and stand above the rest.

Ravens fans really don't have a reason to bitch and complain. We are contenders NOW. This shit won't last forever. When it ends, Lord - most Ravens sites WILL explode.

Well, when you type in all caps, it comes across as getting worked up. It's ok.

Dude, you don't know...every franchise at some point has bitched about their QB...the only exceptions are the guys that have won Super Bowls.

Giants fans bitched about Simms and many wanted him replaced by Jeff Hostetler, 49 fans shitted on Steve Young for years because he wasn't Joe Montana...even though he won a league MVP, Steeler fans bitched about Kordell even as they were winning divisions and making it to AFC championship games, Drew Brees was let go by San Diego after having a QB rating in the 100's...I could go on and on and on. Name a franchise, and I can name a solid/good QB that some fans complained about. You picked a couple 6 franchises 4 of which have without question the best QB's in the game (and in history) and the other 2 are the most notoriously tough markets out there. Of course the Saints, Steelers, Packers and Patriots contend every year, they are all driven by the best QB's in the game and all 4 have won Super Bowls in the last 7 years. Are we spoiled...of course we are. Success brings more expectations. You do your job well when you aren't expected to, and your boss is ecstatic and thrilled. Do it well for a significant period of time, and he/she expects more. And here is my point...take any other team and give them the success that we've had and you will have some people who will feel disappointment that the team has not taken the next step. It happened in Pittsburgh with Kordell...Dallas with Danny White, 49ers with Steve Young, etc... To make it out like the few vocal minority here are any different is absurd and makes shows that no, you don't know the history of other teams and their QB issues or you wouldn't be starting ridiculous threads like this.

Again, look at the first 2 pages on this board. Every thread that has complaining in it started with the national media. Not anyone with the Sun, or The Fan, or WNST. And that is because most of the local media is spending it's time defending Joe from the onslaught from the national media. How that equates to anybody running him out of town makes no sense.

[purplepoe]

I've gone to every Ravens game in Pitt since Heinz Field open.

I go with some Steeler friends I know. They constantly complain about Ben.

And in the stands? It's the same exact thing you here at M&T.

This notion that Baltimore is some hell for Joe Flacco is flat out ridiculous.

I'm sorry, but it's gotten to the point where it's tough to read. And PLEASE for the love of all things sane take a look around before anyone starts complaining that Joe gets bashed.

The vast majority of this board are ardent Flacco supporters. The evidence is in every thread.

Is it not obvious that the few who do bash Flacco are relentlessly shouted down by a mass of other posters?

PP

[RavensDomination]

I get the feeling from radio callers, talking to random people, etc., that many people aren't die hard Ravens fans like you would find on this message board. If Flacco has a flashy game or a game that the media praises him for...they will rave about him. If he has a "bad" game or a game that the media doesn't praise him for...they will bash him. I don't think it's personal I just think a lot of people regurgitate what they hear on ESPN or wherever from week to week. It seems to me most die hards support Joe.

[Real Fan Dan]

With the media constantly running their mouths about Flacco, with (what seems like) half of the fanbase HATING whatever Flacco does, with Baltimore having a rep of being one of the most unglamorious places to play...Will it all ultimately run Flacco out of town?

I *think* that if Flacco played in a huge media market (NY, Dallas, Left Coast, etc) he would be loved and adored. How many teams can say that their team went to the POs 4 years in a row (now). None, except Baltimore. Except, it seems that to a lot of people in B More, what he does is simply not enough. Dallas hadn't won a playoff game in eons before a few years ago. The Jets got a spark with Sancheese but pissed it away this year. The Chargers always seem to implode at one point in the season damn near every year. Finally, the Redskins haven't sniffed anything in forever. All of the above teams would welcome Flacco (and more importantly his RECORD) with open arms.

I don't understand it - it's not like we're Philly, who've NEVER won a Superbowl - we've won shit before, we should know better. We're not going to reach 6-7 rings anytime soon, and it seems like some Ravens fans have Steeler complex. We HAVE to match or surpass their Superbowl trophies. Of course they won't say it, but I suspect it's true.

Why people in Baltimore seem to hate him is beyond me. The media, I can sort of understand because I don't think they like Baltimore anyway, no matter what happens (but that's another thread).

I said all of that to say this - fans need to start appreciating him because when contract talks come around, he may very well leave. He may say, fuck all of the BS that I had to go through in Baltimore, and let me go to a major market where I'll be loved, adored, and filthy rich. Winning may come secondary then.

I can imagine what would happen if THAT occured.

Count your blessings, ya know. You never miss the water until the well is bone dry.

This is completely blown out of proportion. Take a chill pill.
You seem like an intelligent sort. The media are assholes. Don't listen to them.
And half the fan base does not HATE Flacco.

C'mon people. If it's gettin' to you turn off the radio and take a break from your computer. Oh and definitely shun ESPN. IT'S NOT REAL LOL! ;)