I was born in Salisbury, Maryland during the interregnum of Baltimore football, and was nine when Art Modell moved the Browns to Baltimore. They say two wrongs don't make a right, but I suppose there are exceptions to every rule.
I will never forget cheering as a family in the van when we heard the Ravens score their first offensive touchdown in nearly a month back in 2000 or staying home from school to watch the first victory parade. I'll never forget the jilted feeling of not having a franchise quarterback during the roller coaster era of Brian Billick. Always was and still am a huge Billick fan, but his time had come...
Then it happened. As much of a fresh start as the franchise coming to town 12 years earlier, in '08 we got a GREAT head coach, a GREAT quarterback, and the BEST all-purpose back in the league (not to mention the 'organized chaos' defense that had become our trademark). That '08 season felt as special as 2000; by the time we beat Dallas to shut down Texas Stadium, I really believed that we were going to win it all. Even though we didn't, the stage had been set and we haven't looked back since.
I live in Richmond, Virginia now, but haven't missed a game during the Harbaugh era. I try to get to a least one home and away game each season and in 2012 I was lucky enough to see some of the most pivotal games of our championship run:
The Cowboys- That fateful day we lost Ray Lewis for the rest of the regular season and Lardarius Webb for the season...and barely snuck away with a win.
The Chargers- This is my favorite live sports memory. Period. How much better does 'Hey, diddle diddle' get?...okay 'The Pass' in the divisional is the best play in Ravens history, but I watched from my couch so it doesn't count.
The Deadskins- I was ten rows behind the Ravens bench and got to see Ngata brake RGIII's leg (hate to see any player of that caliber get injured, but it was a gut-wrenching loss and I hate Washington sports, so I'm not too torn up).
The Broncos (at home) - I booed Flacco...while wearing his jersey. He and the team needed to hear it and I don't regret it.
I follow this team daily, and I try to be as level-headed a fan as possible, but am always prone to fits of homerism. In the final analysis, there is NO finer organization and NO better team than The Baltimore Football Ravens!
