Are the Ravens more Popular than we Think?

[Losac]

I went to the Wild Card Game vs. KC a few years back. Very cold day in the parking lots/tailgates. I saw a clump of folks (various ages & genders) in purple #4 jerseys. I figured it had to be Sam Koch's kin from Nebraska, so I asked them. They were just that.

I went to the KC game last year and we ran into Marshall Yanda's family from Iowa (not far from KC). They seemed surprised we as Ravens fans were raving about him - I guess with guard being kind of an unsung hero position.

[AirFlacco]

It's the bandwagoners. Same reason the Pats went from no one's favorite team to the new "America's Team" when they won 3 championships.

I actually had a Pats fan tell me back in 2005, "I just love winners". There's a name for that kind of fan.

Just wait to see how crazy it gets when we win the next 4 Superbowls in a row.

We should have won the last 4 SBs in a row or at least been there.

The band wagon jumpers have been piling on since SB 35 like the guys from the UK that
never even played football. Most of us were born here and followed the Colts when they came to town or as fans were born and played all thru little league and high school and some even
in college like Film Study and a few others here.

Same thing is happening with the Os with all those band wagon jumpers last summer and the
stadium is filling up this year already. We were watching games at the water hole every night
for 15 losing years. Now they cancelled karaoke singing on Friday nights because the Os
fans are packing the place out and they don't want to be disturbed.

Also, for years the Ravens have been filling up stadiums all across the country. I travelled
with Mista T and a hundred other Raven Maniacs all over the country since 97 spending
thousands pr yr on football games.

EVen LeeAnne was impressed with us in Indy. She sat in front of us in the club level and said
did you come all the way out here to see the Ravens and I said yea. WE go to most of the
road games.

I was in a Denver hospital in 01 after getting high altitude sickness at Ts condo in Aspen.
The doc said, you mean to tell me you drove all the way out here just to see a football game?
I said not just any football game. A Ravens game. And that was a week after 9/11 when
people were scared to travel. We drove out because we were scared to fly.

The doc said I'll get you well enough to see the Ravens lose on Sun but old Elvis pulled the
game out winning a big one. Just think what he could of done with Jamal behind him.

Then there was the game at ASU that had more Ravens fans than Cards fans and this was
before they won the SB. The Ravens came out of the runway shaking their fists at us and
cheering us in the upper deck. Billick even commented on it and said Ravens know how
special they have it with their fans. This was like a home game.

Ngata or someone said that the last time we played in NE. This was like a home game. We take the stadium over during the Championship games up there.

I was walking thru the old Gator Bowl and a Jags fan said, where the hell did all these
Ravens fans come from. We always take that entire town over. The hotel I stayed in
was completely packed out by the Glen Burnie Roost.

[AirFlacco]

I'm from the Baltimore area and moved to Hanover several years ago and Hanover IS Ravens country! Most of my neighbors and others in the south Hanover area are Maryland transplants that still work in Maryland. We're spreading...

Yea, Hanover, York and Harrisburgh were always Baltimore country going back to he
Baltimore Colts. A lot of old Colts fans up there and now Ravens fans.

The say screw the Squeelers-lol.

[Real Fan Dan]

I was walking thru the old Gator Bowl and a Jags fan said, where the hell did all these
Ravens fans come from. We always take that entire town over. The hotel I stayed in
was completely packed out by the Glen Burnie Roost.

Was that Jacksonville Beach in 2000? Hell i may have had a beer with you at the sportsbar across the street.

[GaTechRavens]

We should have won the last 4 SBs in a row or at least been there.

wut

[AirFlacco]

Was that Jacksonville Beach in 2000? Hell i may have had a beer with you at the sportsbar across the street.

Yea, that was 2000. I'm sure I saw you. Ravens fans took over the place. JAX Beach is the
best kept secret on the East Coast.

I got there on a Wed and was practically the only one on the beach-lol. It was like I had the entire beach to myself. Then on Fri Ravens fans started to walk on around 1 pm. By 6 pm
they were all over the place.

I forget the names but there was a good seafood house on the same road next to the peer.
The food was a little bland compared to Bmore's but I always take old bay with me when I
go to Florida. Across the street from that is a cool Mexican restaurant.

I'm leaving for Ft Lauderdale Sunday and watching the draft at the Bahia Mar's pool side bar. The bar tender knows every player in college. He was sure wrong about Oher though-lol.
Then we go to the Elbo Room on the beach.

I need some sun man.

[AirFlacco]

wut

Do I have to spell it out for ya, man?

Ok, I will.

We came within a dropped ball in NE last year 25 seconds from the SB when Evans dropped a ball right in the numbers in the end zone, man. Then Billy Goat blows the kick for OT with 11 secs, man. We would have won last year's Sb. That's the last 2 SBs, man.

Same thing happened in Pissburgh. We came within 2 mins of going to SB. Did you forget the
3rd and 19 play up there, man when Jen hits that rookie who catches the ball on the side of his helmet with 1 hand as he runs out of bounds. Joe still brings them back and Boldin drops the ball on the goal line and TJ drops another TD with a min left. That's 3 SBs, man.

In each case, Evans, Boldin and TJ, Joe laid the ball right in there under pressure and they
blew it. That's three SBs we should have been in but Ravens blew it with all that talent
Ozzie gave HARBs.

Hell, Flacco even took us within 4 mins of the SB as a rookie with a rookie head coach when
there was the stupid out of bounds penalty when JOe was driving near mid field. The
penalty was so stupid it was about 20 yards out of bounds and it took the ball way back but we should have won that game. That's 4 SBs we should have been in.

We would have won the Seattle and Arizona SBs that Piss beat us in getting to plus the one
last year. We would have lost the GB SB. Nobody beats them that year.

Hate to sound greedy but that's the way it is or was.

To sound even more greedy we should have been in the 06 SB but Billick blew it by going
pass happy with 3 yd passes instead of running Jamal who pleaded with him to run him
on the outside. He knew he could beat that OLB but Billick blew the game when he
throws up the middle and they intercept on the goal line. Everyone in the entire damn
stadium knew that pass was going up the middle and Indy left DEM WILLs alone by himself
in the corner of the end zone but McNair never thought about checking down like Joe
just did with Boldin for that critical 1st down that won SB 47.

At least the team is finally figuring out how to check down.

Phil Savage even said that Billick blew the 03 playoffs with 8 pro bowlers we gave him.
NE won that SB with 9.

[Real Fan Dan]

Yea, that was 2000. I'm sure I saw you. Ravens fans took over the place. JAX Beach is the
best kept secret on the East Coast.
.

There was a big ass hole next to our beachfront hotel from construction. The Roost Beer committee chairman got so effed up he passed out. A little while later we all watched as he got up out of bed dead asleep and slept walked around the entire hotel, then he fell in the big ass hole. We all went back in the room and a couple minutes later he stumbles in and collapses back in his bed. We continue partying and about an hour later he wakes up and sez "WTF is all this sand in my drawers dammitt?" ;)

Next day somebody lined up a bus to the game and a tailgate close to the Jags stadium. It was a good deal but the Jags fans were so lame there was nobody on that lot except us and 2 other busses. Guess who was on the other busses? Ray Lewis' entire family and a bunch of his friends from Lakeland FLA. Cool as a cuke. We joined forces and had a helluva bar-b-que!

Ray's friends told us they were a little afraid and were kind of hiding out because of Ray's murder charges and all the bad publicity. Most of them didn't have any Ravens gear. Of course we adopted them on the spot and gave them spare Ravens Tee's, necklaces and all kinds of stuff folks pulled out of their purses and bags.

We sure weren't popular back then, but man have we come a long way baby!

[Losac]

Same thing happened in Pissburgh. We came within 2 mins of going to SB. Did you forget the
3rd and 19 play up there, man when Jen hits that rookie who catches the ball on the side of his helmet with 1 hand as he runs out of bounds. Joe still brings them back and Boldin drops the ball on the goal line and TJ drops another TD with a min left. That's 3 SBs, man.

The playoff game in Pitt in 2010-11 was a divisional round game. It wasn't the AFCCG. So to say we were 2 minutes away from a Super Bowl there is a little premature.

[AirFlacco]

There was a big ass hole next to our beachfront hotel from construction. The Roost Beer committee chairman got so effed up he passed out. A little while later we all watched as he got up out of bed dead asleep and slept walked around the entire hotel, then he fell in the big ass hole. We all went back in the room and a couple minutes later he stumbles in and collapses back in his bed. We continue partying and about an hour later he wakes up and sez "WTF is all this sand in my drawers dammitt?" ;)

Next day somebody lined up a bus to the game and a tailgate close to the Jags stadium. It was a good deal but the Jags fans were so lame there was nobody on that lot except us and 2 other busses. Guess who was on the other busses? Ray Lewis' entire family and a bunch of his friends from Lakeland FLA. Cool as a cuke. We joined forces and had a helluva bar-b-que!

Ray's friends told us they were a little afraid and were kind of hiding out because of Ray's murder charges and all the bad publicity. Most of them didn't have any Ravens gear. Of course we adopted them on the spot and gave them spare Ravens Tee's, necklaces and all kinds of stuff folks pulled out of their purses and bags.

We sure weren't popular back then, but man have we come a long way baby!

Funny stories, especially the one about Ray. I was supposed to tailgate down there with the
Glen Burnie Roost. I didn't know anyone but they took me in. That's the great thing about road games. Complete strangers become families. They took me in.

Then Mista T was staying in the room next to me. He walked out and we started talking. I told
him I was TRap from RavensTalk.com, one of the oldest Ravens boards. He was Mista T there
and Greg was on that board too and he stayed up from me as did Ravenous 52 of this board.

So I ended up tailgating with them but forgot to tell the Roosts and they were a little worried about me when I didn't show up but they were really cool dudes, man.

I also partied with T and Greg in Phoenix at the HOliday Inn across the street from ASU.
Nasty was staying there too and took the van with us to a big Ravens party in down town
Phoenix. Nasty was cool to talk to.

So when I went to the game I got on one of those bikes with the seat in the back and another
couple asked if they could join me and I said sure. They were with another Roost. So they asked what Roost did I belong to. I said I belong to Nest 1 but travel with the Annpolis Roost and they completely ignored me after that. I should have thrown them off the bike-lol. I belonged to the Nests, the Roosts and the Poes Crows. I got kicked out of Nest 1-lol because of the Anita Marks joke I played on Scott Garceau when he was the MC at our Scholarship Banquet and for telling DeCosta he fucked up the Oher draft. Dee said Oher wasn't as good as Nicks. Well, Nicks was the big SB hero last year and Mike Wallace hurt us many times and while Kruger finally had 1 decent year and was off the field during most of the SB and the Ravens didn't even try to sign him. ILMAO

Here's a story about Ray's best friend The Rock at a Nest 1 tailgate here. He was walking thru
the lot before the game with Ray's mom. The gals recognized Ray's mom
and offered them a beer. She said the Rock was sick and needed a place to lie down so
Polly fixed up the fan for him to lie down. Ray's mom partied with them for about an hour
and finally they left and the Rock felt better.

Then Bob returned with their daughter. They were up on the midway. Polly says you'll never believe who's been sleeping in your van. Bob didn't believe her and the girls started laughing.
He said damn, I missed the Rock sleeping in my car but the gals of Nest 1 were the only
ones on the lot who knew who Ray's mom was.

BTW, speaking of the trial, The Rock testified for him at the trial and so did Warren Sapp.

[leachisabeast]

The playoff game in Pitt in 2010-11 was a divisional round game. It wasn't the AFCCG. So to say we were 2 minutes away from a Super Bowl there is a little premature.

Had we won that game, we would have had a home AFCCG against the Jets. Not a very scary game by any means.

[AirFlacco]

Exactly and thank you.

My point is still spot on. We should have been in the SB that year. You'll have to forgive
the homers.


I SEE NOTHING. I KNOW NOTHING. SGT SCHULTZ