MVN - Most Valuable Network

RAVEN REVENGE

Obviously this is an Orioles’ web page. But it’s also about Baltimore. And right now the biggest thing going on in this town isn’t baseball related. This week, the biggest story out there is about the hated Colts trying to come back through Baltimore on their way to the AFC Championship game. Well I, for one, want to see that train get derailed! So today’s column is all about supporting the Ravens! (Don’t worry O’s fans, we’ll be talking about Cal’s official green light into the Hall of Fame tomorrow!)

I just can’t talk baseball today. I’m far too distracted by the biggest football game that Baltimore has ever been a part of. Yes, I’m including all the championship games, the Super Bowls, the Grey Cup, and even the Great Game Ever Played. Those were all great, but they were all about football.

This Saturday though, the game’s only partly about football. The rest is about vengeance. Emotions have ridden high for the Ravens in the past anytime the Steelers came to town. But this game is far more than any typical division rivalry could ever bring. This one’s about history. It’s about what’s right. It’s about f’ing time Baltimore got it’s chance to make a loud statement against the Indianapolis Colts!

Peyton Manning will be trying to break his playoff curse this weekend in what will without a doubt be the single most hostile environment that any professional sports team has ever had the displeasure of having to play in.

Yankees going to Fenway? Ohio State going to Michigan? Anyone going to Philadelphia? All child’s play compared to what lay in store for the Colts on Saturday.

We haven’t heard a Baltimore stadium referred to as the World’s Largest Outdoor Insane Asylum since Memorial Stadium stopped hosting baseball and football all those years ago. But I’m got a pretty strong feeling that we’ll see that moniker return this weekend.

Why?

Because this game means more than just advancing to the conference championship.

Greetings and Readings in Hunt Valley, a local book store that’s been in the area for as long as I can remember, is getting a free plug from me today because I really like what they are selling. This t shirt perfectly describes the sentiment of what this game means.

So feel free to leave comments about this game here. Please share any thoughts you have about the Ravens, the BALTIMORE Colts, or the travesty of justice that happened in 1984 when the history of this team was wrongfully stolen from Baltimore. (Notice I said the HISTORY, not the franchise. So don’t give me any of that ‘Baltimore stole a team too’ nonsense because this city didn’t take the history. Didn’t want it, and didn’t take it. There are still Browns in Cleveland.)

And when you’re done here, don’t forget to check out Mike Brown’s work here on MVN over at the Ravens Roost.

Mike will keep you up to speed on all the hype that this game’s going to get this week. The Ravens Roost is the place to go for all your Ravens’ reading during the playoffs. I just had to get this out there today because I couldn’t hold back! I had to do something to support the team, even if that means turning Oriole Magic purple for the day!

Worry not, we’ll be back to orange tomorrow when Cal Rikpen is officially announced as an inductee in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY! (And we’ll say horrible things about the mothers of the moron sports writers who didn’t vote for him because it’s his first ballot. And you know there will be a couple.)

This entry was posted on Monday, January 8th, 2007 at 12:00 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.