For those out of the area, WNST is a sports talk radio station out of Baltimore that is 100% devoted to the Ravens and to Baltimore sports.
Here are some of the comments that WNST's friends on Facebook had to say about this picture:
John F.: "Disgusting"
Pete F.: "C'mon, Jim Irsay, if you're not gonna honor it, send the name and the stuff back home. End the Babylonian captivity of our town's football heritage, and bring some decency back to your family's name."
Jimbob Z. (I'm not making that name up): "there is no honor to the name of Irsay, biggest bunch of douchebags"
Marty K.: "This makes me so angry."
Vince B.: "Yeah. Sick to my stomach seeing that all game. I hate because they don't know what it means."
Maggie G.: "F them"
Baltimoreans, it is officially time to get this chip off your shoulder.
First off, as somebody very much detached from both the Ravens and the Colts, I assure you all that nobody looks at that sign and equates it with Johnny Unitas. The sign did not say "Unitas We Stand." Maybe you may have not noticed, but since 9/11, "United We Stand" has become a popular and widely-used cliche, especially in the sports context. In fact, I would bet damn near every cent I have that the Indianapolis Colts marketing staff did not have Johnny Unitas anywhere near the drawing board when they came up with their "United We Stand" slogan. Ravens fans, you may not have noticed, but Indy kind of has their own relatively good quarterback playing for them right now.
Second, appreciate what you have, goddamnit. The Baltimore Colts cowardly left Baltimore in the middle of the night in March 1984. 25 years and 10 months ago. The Baltimore Ravens arrived in Baltimore in February 1996, 14 years ago next month. The Ravens, in the last decade alone, have brought Baltimore a Super Bowl victory, and four additional playoff appearances. Do the math. An average of every other year the Ravens have gone to the playoffs. I'm a long-suffering, lifelong Redskins fan. I would kill to have the same success for my franchise that the Ravens have had over the past decade, I would kill for the Ravens' ownership for the Redskins, I would kill for the Ravens' stadium for the Redskins, and hell, I'd take Harbaugh over Shanahan right now. And you know what... probably over half of the franchises and fanbases in the NFL feel the same way about what the Ravens have enjoyed the last decade. But still, many of you can't let yourself enjoyt his, insisting instead on bemoaning the loss of the Colts. And you know what... you can save your pitiful moans and yells to me that "you don't know what it's like to lose a team that meant so much to your city and had such a heritage here." Hmm... yeah... I guess Washingtonians don't know... but wait, the Washington Senators were in DC for fully 80 years before they picked up and left. The Colts were in Baltimore for 37 years. You're right... Washingontonians know nothing about franchise loss.
Third, the Baltimore Colts name hasn't been erased. Go to the NFL archives. The "Baltimore Colts" are still the team that played in "The Greatest Game Ever Played." The "Baltimore Colts" are still the team that got tooled on by Joe Namath in Super Bowl III. Raymond Berry, Art Donovan, Johnny Unitas, and Lenny Moore are all in the Hall of Fame as "Baltimore Colts."
Baltimore... nearly 26 years ago you lost your team mascot. You lost your team colors and logo. 14 years ago you got another team. A team that has enjoyed great success and brought your downtrodden city tremendous amounts of civic pride since they've arrived. Baltimoreans... you look petty, stupid, and foolish for desperately hanging on to the past like you do. Further, its a slap in the face to the guys who suit up (in one of the ugliest uniforms in pro football) every Sunday for you now, and who have since 1996.
There's no other way to say it... just get over it.
21 comments:
I'm not a native or a current Baltimorean; I was there for four years of school, have family there, and am marrying into a Baltimore family. I'm more of a fan of the city than I am of the Ravens or was of the Colts. But my biggest issue is with the fact the franchise records reside in Indianapolis. It's troubling to me that the recent Super Bowl win was their "second", or that Peyton Manning is breaking Unitas' records.
I'm "over" it because I was 2 when it happened. Also, I think it's a distraction.
I guarantee more players on the team felt bad about seeing Matt Stover on the other sidelines, not the horseshoe.
For Baltimore fans old enough to still feel hurt, just call them Indy. I do that anyway.
And our uniforms are not ugly. They might not be Steelers classic or Chargers sweet, but they are still in the top half of the league.
Not true about the uniforms, Jason. They'd be OK if not for the black leggings they wear. Black pants without stripes look silly.
You don't like black tights?
They look like sorority girls going to a party.
Benjamin: If you're hanging out with sorority girls who look like Ngata and Gregg...
I'm an old Colts fan and I still have a bitter after taste for anything named Irsay but I've moved on. I agree with Jeremy. We should be happy to have a contending team in town.
Once you stated you are a Redskins fan you lost all credit. You are the reason Baltimoreans have dislike for Redskin fans. I have many friends who are nice Redskin fans, for them I feel bad about your stadium and owner. However, for you I am glad to see your owner sucks and your stadium is already falling down (been there 3 times). For you I will always be a Giants, Eagles and even a Dallas fan.
I was a Baltimore Colts fan and a current Baltimore Ravens fan. Indy's slogan is a big slap in Baltimore's face, it is way too close to Unitas We Stand. They can't come up with anything on their own. They tried tweaking the uniforms in the past, but came back to the gray facemask, black shoes and the same striping the team had when they were in Baltimore. If they want their own identity, stop stealing from Baltimore! And I will never get over the move, they were stolen from us and 13 years of our football lives were taken with them. All of our records are there and Indy acts like they are theirs. You just must be an angry little troll, having to deal with Napolean Snyder and your pitiful Redskins, who, by the way, have the most racist mascot and butt ugly uniforms in the NFL. People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
Jeremy, you cleverly posted comments showing disgust over the Colts leaving. You did not however say their comments were related to the sign. i've seen your comments and have heard them as well and as usual, you have nothing to say. Being a Redskins fan classifies you as a first class loser. I'm 57 and I am over it. Saying that however does not free Jim Irsay from being a jerk for what he did. And...if some want to continue to hold onto to that, then so be it.
At the core there are two things making the folks in Baltimore angry:
1) When Irsay was asked if he was going to move the Colts he became defensive and said he wasn't going to move the team....he added that if he ever intended to move them he would let us know. Shortly there after he snuck the team out town late at night.
2) Go to the Football Hall of Fame. You will see that all the records of the "Baltimore Colts" are listed under Indianapolis. Check it out....they list all of the accomplishments of Johnny Unitas, Raymond Berry, etc., under the name "Indianapolis Colts" as if they played in Indy and the Baltimore Colts never existed. Do you see the records of the Cleveland Browns listed under the Baltimore Ravens? Of course not...nor should they be. Art Model left the colors, the name and records where they belong...in Cleveland. Art did it right, and still he is treated like a criminal. Where was all the backlash when Irsay moved the Colts?
What don't you understand?
Jeremy,
You may write well. It would just be nice if your points were valid. Which they are not. Football is like Religion in Baltimore. We live and die with our football teams. We ride the emotional highs of each game and each season. After all of that you ask us not to care.
Would you forgive and forget if someone did something horrible to your family. Doubtful....
Thats what our football teams are to us. Family.
Jeremy,
You just don't get it and being a Redskins fan you never will. I'm going to assume your not from Baltimore. If thats true. Then you will never understand this city, its people, its passion, and it ability to hold a grudge when we have been wronged.
If you had any convertsations with old Baltimore Colts players you would have learned that they never played in Indy and don't like the fact that they are linked that way. They had pride that they played for Baltimore a city who's FANS supported them with great passion.
I'm willing to let this go IF and only IF they give us our records back. We tried to buy our records back and the Irsay's said NO. To I beleive about 6 million dollars. Classless in my book.
As are you. Don't externalize your anger at Baltimore because of your teams short comings, mismanagement, and disgraceful ownership.
Chris
Baltimore
I do think our uniforms are ugly. Best uniform is the black top and white bottoms by far. But still not as bad as Seattle, Jacksonville, Redskins, old Steelers, Eagles, and Jets jerseys, Bengals current uniform, Minnesota, and even Chicago
Being from Baltimore i couldnt agree with you more, of course im 23 and wasnt born until 3 years after the Colts left, but there has to come a time when you have to let it go. We have a damn good football team who has won a Super Bowl, to me the Colts are nothing more than the football team from Indianapolis.
Wow... someone must have sent this to a Ravens forum to stir up the Colts' barn (that's where colts live, right?).
Honestly I think Andy has it right as time moves on. People in their 20s won't care about the fact that the Colts abandoned the city. In time, this will become the prevailing opinion and those still angry will just be considered grumpy old men.
However, there is legitimate ground to want the Baltimore records as they were earned in the city. I think Irsay keeping the records just makes him out to be a complete douche. I think if the records came back, some of you would be less angry. Others would still never forgive him.
Well, congrats. You got your 15 minutes...they mentioned you on the radio.
The fact that you've admitted to being a Redskins fan gives you absolutely no perspective to write this blog, and therefore ZERO credibility. Comparing the Colts leaving to the Senators leaving is complete garbage. Do your research before you write. It's easy to fool people into thinking that you know what you're talking about when you write well and use clever prose, but any sports fan with half a brain can see that this blog is unresearched and riddled with factual inaccuracies.
I hope Synder moves the Redskins to L.A. Good luck finishing last in your division AGAIN next year.
With all due respect to Nestor, if that's our 15 minutes I want a refund. We were on ESPN2 a couple months ago.....
As a Indianapolis Colts fan I say this:
Indy fans don't care at all about Baltimore records. I bet if there was a poll on whether to send the records back to Baltimore, Indy fans would definitely do it. Besides, the current Colts are pretty much destroying all the old records anyway. Anyway, I never gave a sh*t when Manning passed Johnny Unitas in any stat that was a franchise record, but I did when he passed Montana in some stats.
* Secondly the Colts didn't even start out in Baltimore. The franchise was born as Dayton Triangles in 1913 (way before Baltimore huh)then they moved a couple more times before landing in Baltimore. Know your history!
* Third: Indy didn't steal any team. Baltimore never owned the Colts. The Colts are a private business. The Colts weren't created by government and they were owned by a business man. If any of you owned a NFL team and the city was going to seize your company -imminent domain - opps I mean steal your team, you'd sneak your team out of town too. I believe Bob Irsay, who yes was a jerk, tried to get a new stadium since the mid 70's and the Colts were good in the mid 70's. Read your history - the city was cheap....the Colts had a run down stadium they shared with the baseball team..... and it took the Colts leaving before their mayor got serious after the fact. Still, Irsay snuck out because the state decided it would steal the franchise through imminent domain.
Last, Jim Irsay is not his father, Bob Irsay. Jim was 25 when the Colts left so why you blame him I have no idea. If your dad is an alcoholic a-hole, should no one trust you too? Nuff said.
As a Colts fan, I enjoy the thought of the Indianapolis era players breaking all of the old Baltimore era players' team records. I giggle each time that happens. I only wish Unitas were alive to see it.
how can you bitch this much when you yourselves stole a team from cleveland?? i am a browns fan who lives in baltimore and i am surrounded by the biggets bunch of hypocrites everyday. thank god for the colts winning last weekend. now there is no purple anywhere because there is no loyalty when it comes to 70% of ravens fans
We'll get the chip off our shoulder when the Irsay's return our stats/records, etc. At this point I dont even want the name back, but its as simple as that. So until that happens spare us your 2 cents guy.
To the guy posting 2 above, we didnt steal the Browns name, records, legacy etc. It is completely different. I would not give a sh1t abt the Colts leaving if the left our name and records, sure there would still be bad blood but not even close to this extent.
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