It's Not Easy Being Purple.
Yes, Kermit enthusiasts, I realize he sings about being green. I love the song, too.
I have commandeered the chorus of the song for my own purposes because every Sunday (and the occasional Monday) is a challenge, when it really shouldn't be. I am speaking, of course, of the fan support I offer up to the Baltimore Ravens.
I love football season. I will watch the Orioles or pause on a Wizards game, and even tolerate a Caps game if the bar has it on. I will kind of almost follow the World Series, and tune in during March Madness to watch some college b-ball (having money on a pick 'em pool doesn't hurt). I'll tune in to the Olympics for curling. None of these comes close to football, for me. And I'm not referring to college ball, but the National Football League.
I don't even know what it is about it that puts it at the top. Is it the game itself? Is it because it's only once a week, which makes every game count? Perhaps part of the appeal is in the intensity or violence of it all. Even now I've stopped twice to watch some of the Dallas-Patriots game.
For whatever reason, I love me some football.
Being born in Baltimore, raised close by, and raised by a man who was born and raised in Baltimore and Towson, I am a Baltimore fan. I can very vaguely remember the Colts being here, but for the most part I grew up without a football team in town for which to root. I remember kind of liking the 49'ers, back in the Montana days. I think I was okay with the Raiders at one point, because of the whole skull and crossbones kind of thing. I mean, I had a Raiders Starter jacket in middle school. Hell, Ice Cube had one, and I was hard too, right? As far as rooting for the Redskins... no can do. Somewhere in my childhood development, a No Redskins sign was implanted into my brain by my Dad, so I couldn't go there for a team. Although, I don't have the irrational hatred of that team as many of their fans have for the Ravens (most of which makes no sense, because the kids growing up with the Redskins now have no past prejudices towards any other team which to me makes their disdain of the Ravens completely idiotic. Maybe they're pissy because of our Superbowl win. Who knows?). I actually think a Ravens-Redskins Superbowl would be awesome.
We'd crush 'em.
So when it was finalized, when the announcement was made that Baltimore would once again have a team, it was like an awakening for me. I didn't really care about watching sports until then. They showed up, and I was an automatic fan.
Going through hard seasons, great ones, and decent ones, it seems like the Ravens M.O. consists of seating their fans on the edge every single game. It's never easy, is how it feels. Today we played the 0-5 St. Louis Rams and won 22-3, which to most would seem like a great win, good job, nice work outta you, etc. Not for the Ravens. We had Kyle Boller at quarterback. This alone will make every single Ravens fan cringe when the ball is snapped. Our DB's are suspect now, especially after giving up beig leads late in the game. McNair is looking old and, at times, damn confused. Billick seems to throw any game plan he might have developed as soon as he gets into the red zone. And this is after a 13-3 record from last year.
Even during the Superbowl year, we had to suffer through five games without a touchdown. It almost seems like the only easy game we had was the Superbowl game. We won that game 34-7, essentially ripping the Giants apart without breaking a sweat.
So why O why is it so freaking hard now? I know I am the same as any fan in the frustration I feel for my team. But Lord Above we should be taking these teams apart. Coming from the way we played last year, most of us fans feel like we shouldn't even have a loss at this point. Our schedule after the bye week is the farthest thing from ideal, and we are floundering against lesser echelon teams and pulling wins out of our ass.
Sorry for the vent. I'm just frustrated. We beat the Rams handily today, but they were 0-5. We beat the 49'ers last week at San Francisco, but we only beat them by 2 and scored no touchdowns. We won against Arizona in week 3, but we gave up the lead and got lucky to win by 3 points. There is always a BUT thrown in there. It can never be We Done Good Today. There is always something.
It makes my hair grey.
I tune in, every week. I will continue to tune in every week. I will keep wearing purple jerseys and purple visors and shirts with the Ravens' logo. I will go to games and yell myself hoarse. And I will curse the ground they play on during every bad performance.
I love football.
I have commandeered the chorus of the song for my own purposes because every Sunday (and the occasional Monday) is a challenge, when it really shouldn't be. I am speaking, of course, of the fan support I offer up to the Baltimore Ravens.
I love football season. I will watch the Orioles or pause on a Wizards game, and even tolerate a Caps game if the bar has it on. I will kind of almost follow the World Series, and tune in during March Madness to watch some college b-ball (having money on a pick 'em pool doesn't hurt). I'll tune in to the Olympics for curling. None of these comes close to football, for me. And I'm not referring to college ball, but the National Football League.
I don't even know what it is about it that puts it at the top. Is it the game itself? Is it because it's only once a week, which makes every game count? Perhaps part of the appeal is in the intensity or violence of it all. Even now I've stopped twice to watch some of the Dallas-Patriots game.
For whatever reason, I love me some football.
Being born in Baltimore, raised close by, and raised by a man who was born and raised in Baltimore and Towson, I am a Baltimore fan. I can very vaguely remember the Colts being here, but for the most part I grew up without a football team in town for which to root. I remember kind of liking the 49'ers, back in the Montana days. I think I was okay with the Raiders at one point, because of the whole skull and crossbones kind of thing. I mean, I had a Raiders Starter jacket in middle school. Hell, Ice Cube had one, and I was hard too, right? As far as rooting for the Redskins... no can do. Somewhere in my childhood development, a No Redskins sign was implanted into my brain by my Dad, so I couldn't go there for a team. Although, I don't have the irrational hatred of that team as many of their fans have for the Ravens (most of which makes no sense, because the kids growing up with the Redskins now have no past prejudices towards any other team which to me makes their disdain of the Ravens completely idiotic. Maybe they're pissy because of our Superbowl win. Who knows?). I actually think a Ravens-Redskins Superbowl would be awesome.
We'd crush 'em.
So when it was finalized, when the announcement was made that Baltimore would once again have a team, it was like an awakening for me. I didn't really care about watching sports until then. They showed up, and I was an automatic fan.
Going through hard seasons, great ones, and decent ones, it seems like the Ravens M.O. consists of seating their fans on the edge every single game. It's never easy, is how it feels. Today we played the 0-5 St. Louis Rams and won 22-3, which to most would seem like a great win, good job, nice work outta you, etc. Not for the Ravens. We had Kyle Boller at quarterback. This alone will make every single Ravens fan cringe when the ball is snapped. Our DB's are suspect now, especially after giving up beig leads late in the game. McNair is looking old and, at times, damn confused. Billick seems to throw any game plan he might have developed as soon as he gets into the red zone. And this is after a 13-3 record from last year.
Even during the Superbowl year, we had to suffer through five games without a touchdown. It almost seems like the only easy game we had was the Superbowl game. We won that game 34-7, essentially ripping the Giants apart without breaking a sweat.
So why O why is it so freaking hard now? I know I am the same as any fan in the frustration I feel for my team. But Lord Above we should be taking these teams apart. Coming from the way we played last year, most of us fans feel like we shouldn't even have a loss at this point. Our schedule after the bye week is the farthest thing from ideal, and we are floundering against lesser echelon teams and pulling wins out of our ass.
Sorry for the vent. I'm just frustrated. We beat the Rams handily today, but they were 0-5. We beat the 49'ers last week at San Francisco, but we only beat them by 2 and scored no touchdowns. We won against Arizona in week 3, but we gave up the lead and got lucky to win by 3 points. There is always a BUT thrown in there. It can never be We Done Good Today. There is always something.
It makes my hair grey.
I tune in, every week. I will continue to tune in every week. I will keep wearing purple jerseys and purple visors and shirts with the Ravens' logo. I will go to games and yell myself hoarse. And I will curse the ground they play on during every bad performance.
I love football.
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