30 Years Ago Today ....

[HoustonRaven]

I watched my father cry for the first time.

[HKusp]

Bad day, but after a lot of ill will, and being overlooked for expansion, look what we have now. An absolute model franchise.

When I moved back to Baltimore in the mid 2000's we contracted United Van Lines and imagine my displeasure when the Mayflower truck showed up...:grbac:

I told them, "I can't move back to Baltimore and meet my new neighbors in THAT thing. Send me another truck with United painted on it." They told me as politely as they could to go pound sand. Who new United bought out Mayflower?

[HoustonRaven]

I did the same thing when I moved from Baltimore to San Francisco and again to Houston a year later. I even paid a little more to use another company.

I agree though that time has worn away much of the ill will.

[HKusp]

I have some guys that come in my office that are 15-20 years or so older than me(44). They still have a special place in their hearts for those old Colt teams. The one guy was at both the '58 and '59 Championship games with his father.

One of the other guys said something funny this week, he said when he was little, he thought the Colts and Orioles were the same guys. He said he thought that in the spring and summer Johnny and Brooks and the boys played baseball as the Orioles, and then in the fall and winter they played football. They were Baltimore's team. He also said in his household, it was like Johnny U, and Brooks were his older brothers. That's the kind of fondness and attachment people had back then. Plus, you could run into these guys on the street, particularly the football players because most worked in the offseason.

[Ravenboy2003]

Hard for me to forget that day. It was my 16th birthday. Was all excited about having gotten my driver's license that day and BOOM! They were gone, just like that.

Hit my dad really hard. He got to know a lot of the old Colts over the years working for the radio station and being the engineer who set up for a lot of the Saturday broadcasts in parking lots of car dealerships and wherever else the players would make appearances. Roger Carr even came to our house from time to time. Dad has refused to enter another NFL stadium since the move. Even though I've had season tickets since '96 and he could get in for free with me.

[lowrider]

It's one of those anniversaries that you hate to think about, but one that you will never forget. I have grown to let the feelings of anger and betrayal go, but these anniversaries tend bring them back to the surface. Those pics and video of the Mayflower moving vans will forever be etched in my brain.

It's funny though, we all knew that booser bob was going to move the team, but sneaking out of town in the middle of the night like that was a dagger through the hearts of all Marylanders.

[Real Fan Dan]

Some things remain the same ...

30 years later and IRSAY STILL SUCKS!!!

[Real Fan Dan]

This year's anniversary of the heinous theft in the middle of the night comes with an important historic note.

The Baltimore Colts completed 31 seasons in Baltimore 1953-1983.

This year the Indianapolis Irsays will play their 31st season in excile.

The franchise's history will be even up time wise between the two cities.

I am sure there are some great Fans out there in Indy, but I feel they will never experience the kind of relationship that the people of the City of Baltimore enjoyed with our beloved Baltimore Colts.

Only once upon a time.

[RavenScallywag]

I'm just a youngin', Colts moved away before my first birthday. A day like this should serve as a somber warning for cities with NFL teams. Those teams are not yours, as much as we want them to be. They belong to an owner who, unless the NFL changes the way it operates, can move that team at any time for any reason.

The nice thing I suppose is that recent history suggests that the NFL would move to bring football back to that city. Houston and Cleveland were both promised new teams by Tags within 3 years of their moves, and the NFL delivered on that promise. The one piece that hasn't been addressed is the name, colors, records debate. NBA adopted recently that when franchises move, the franchise is "deactivated" and a new franchise is created with the same personell. This allows a city to retain it's colors, name, and records, while the team can move to a new market. Hope the NFL would follow that going forward.

As far as Colts vs Ravens...I don't think everyone will ever totally move on from losing the Colts, but I think the city as a whole has let go much of the "rivalry" with the Indianapolis team. Jim Irsay is a pretty big weirdo, but he's nowhere near as bad as his father. They are coached by a man we all loved and respected in Pagano. They don't have Peyton anymore and we beat Luck when he came here in 2012 for the playoffs. In many respects, they are no different than the Jaguars now in terms of history. Sure, many will still seethe at seeing the blue horseshoe on an opposing teams helmet's, but apart from that, we love our team now.

Just my 2 cents on it.

[RavenScallywag]

One note on the Mayflower vans, did anyone catch the moment when the CFL Stallions were introduced for the first time at home? It was shown in The Band Who Wouldn't Die documentary. Someone rented a Von Paris moving truck, which backed up out of the tunnel and the Stallions cheerleaders came out of the back.

To me, that was a brilliant way to stick it to the NFL/Indy and endear the Stallions to Baltimore.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-e1wqXx9B8

[lovefootball]

The ravens are the team now, could care less about that team moving. Johnny U is still one of the greatest QBS to play in the NFL. Loved that team, but I'm 58 and loving the Ravens better. Thirty years ago today, I had more hair, more muscle, and a can't die attitude. Miss those days, everything was cheaper, more beer and food for your money and not a care to worry about. Everyone needs to let it go, shit happens. LOL

[mmi16]

My bucket list includes the opportunity to piss on Irsay's grave!