Looking For "Real-Life" Ravens Fan Stories

[Ryan Mink]

Visa is looking to showcase some extraordinary “real-life” stories of people gathering together to make the football experience better.

When it comes to enjoying RAVENS football, whether it’s at home on TV, at the stadium or at a venue close to home, most of us enjoy the game most when in the company of family, friends or other like-minded fans.

So, who do you enjoy watching football games with the most, and what’s your game-day tradition that makes football better together?

Post your story below.

[Purple Nurple]

197 views and no responses.

I'll start.

I enjoy watching the games with my South African born wife who is a converted (rugby) hard-core Raven fan. She knows every single player on our roster; its hilarious how into this she gets.

Our game-day tradition would be wearing our jerseys and drinking to excess. Makes both winning and losing just as much fun.

EDIT: You guys do realize that the first five responders gets a $250 Visa gift card, right??? I just bought a Leach jersey.

[bdravens]

I watch every game with my dad, who is as hardcore of a fan as it gets. Ultimate fan-critic. We watch games uninterrupted. If you walk into the game room, you die.

Hmm. For gameday traditions, I wear the same shirt (2006 It's time to hunt playoff shirt) under the same black Flacco jersey. While on a winning streak, the under shirt doesn't get washed. Yeah. Unlike /\ this guy, I'm not of drinking age yet (legally, anyway ) so I indulge myself with Coke and Nachos.

[PuRock]

I'll give this ago:

A few years ago we couldn't get the game on TV every week, even though we lived in Maryland, because the Redskins played at the same time. So it called for team work.

There I was on the roof every third week or so, with a pair of bunny ears and a 100 ft cable attached. My younger brother, his wife an my wife all yelling at me through the window. "A little to the left!" "Hold it" "We lost it!" . Meanwhile giving me updates through the fuzzy screen. "Heeeaappppp!". Constantly going through the process after a gust of wind came. We got creative, attaching tin foil extensions to the ears and wrapping them in all odd directions. All for the love of watching the game.

Then I caved. Decided to pay hundreds of dollars on Sunday Ticket every year. Now we cook instead of climb.

[ROH522155]

Im in this for the 250 dollar visa card. Haha that was a joke right?

Anyways, I watch most games alongside my dad at home. Nothing brings father and son closer than a little NFL football. We sit in the living room for hours watching the pregame shows that I love so much and then the games. He's a redskins fan unfortunately but its still a good time.

For the traditions, I mostly just wear a jersey for every game and I alos have my little superstitions. Like Eli says im not superstitious but I am a little stitious haha. I like to stay in the same spot if we're doing well and move around a little bit if we're not. But usually it's really hard for me to sit still during a Ravens game. Im surprised I don't wear holes in the floor with all the pacing I do haha. All in all though, there is nothing like a great Sunday of NFL football.

[harfordravenfan]

This will be a different year for me, my son joined the Marines and he will no longer be beside me watching the games. Sad day but kids grow up and I'm very proud of him. Since the girlfriend has to be forced to watch the games, it looks like I'll start visiting local bars till I find one I like.

[FerrariFan87]

There's really no place like home. However, I do like to go to a local pub or sports bar/restaurant with a bunch of my friends too to change the pace and really take in the atmosphere. My dad will be in Uganda for the first two games, so you can bet that I'll be out of the house :-)

[irishman178]

at school i dont get any ravens games on tv unless they are nationally televisted, so every sunday me and my one friend cram around a computer listening to the radio broadcast going crazy for the Ravens!

[Moderator 2]

If I posted all my game day quirks they guys with the straight jackets form the loony bin would be coming after me lol. We have a tailgate group that included me, my dad, my brother and my son. My dad took me to games when it was not cool to take your daughter in the early 70's and fostered the love of football. My youngest son was born the year the Ravens were announced , 1995 and is as rabid a fan you will find. For a home game we start cooking Saturday, some kind of barbeque, my tailgate pasta and taco dip. There is always home made cookies and pie and some one brings gas station fried chicken and Gershback's eclairs. My dad makes his patented Planter's Punch which packs a punch. Best 10 days, hopefully 12, of the year.

[True]

I'm going to be living with 4 of my friends in a house for the school year. We set up the basement with big screen TV, sofa, chairs, and eventually a surround sound system. We also have a built in bar so we have lots of opportunity to mix drinks and have friends over. Two of my roommates aren't really big football fans but they're interested so figured they'd give it a shot since I'm always talking about the NFL.

We have 3 TVs but we haven't decided how to determine who has privilege to the basement. We're going to be watching the Ravens, Eagles, and Redskins (other 2 roommates) and I'm going to convince them to not join the Eagles bandwagon and become Ravens fans; Redskins are just more of a 3 hour comedy. I've made them watch some NFL Films documentary on the Ravens and we've played Madden no stop playing Ravens/Steelers. I hope to convince and make them my fellow Raven brethren!

[sup?]

Two years ago our entire row up in 535 wore purple camo gear and blonde mullet wigs for the steeler game. After about five hours too long of tailgating most of us were not completely sober one might say. Halftime one gentleman relieved himself off the terrace of the upper deck shirtless in camo and a mullet ( yelling at steeler fans) . He was allowed to view the remainder of the game from Mothers as they kindly escorted him to the exit. All in all we did not lose our season tickets, so I guess it was somewhat of a success (even with a Ravens loss). Many steeler fans were heckled so we took some solace in that.

Do I win??!

[Purple Nurple]

Yes you do. Now give me a dollar.

[sup?]

[quote name='Purple Nurple' timestamp='1313100771' post='744987']
Yes you do. Now give me a dollar.
[/quote]
Will you take a personal check?

[1/28/01]

[quote name='sup?' timestamp='1313100865' post='744990']
Will you take a personal check?
[/quote]
Nurps, dont trust this dude! I know him personally. In fact, I was at his house when Clayton (gasp) dropped "the pass". This dude preceded to remove his Clayton jersey and throw it onto Harford Road!

[Purple Nurple]

Only if it has 1/28/01's account and routing number on it.

[1/28/01]

[quote name='Purple Nurple' timestamp='1313101065' post='744996']
Only if it has 1/28/01's account and routing number on it.
[/quote]
Ha, noice!

[sup?]

[quote name='1/28/01' timestamp='1313101064' post='744995']
Nurps, dont trust this dude! I know him personally. In fact, I was at his house when Clayton (gasp) dropped "the pass". This dude preceded to remove his Clayton jersey and throw it onto Harford Road!
[/quote]
Don't act like you are better than me!

[1/28/01]

[quote name='sup?' timestamp='1313101198' post='745001']
Don't act like you are better than me!
[/quote]
You kidding me? I applauded it!!

[Purple Nurple]

[quote name='sup?' timestamp='1313101198' post='745001']
Don't act like you are better than me!
[/quote]

He's better than all of us. You know this already.

[1/28/01]

[quote name='Purple Nurple' timestamp='1313101258' post='745004']
He's better than all of us. You know this already.
[/quote]
Oh Nurps....you know I love all!

[organizedchaos007]

Mines a kinda long story... sorry. I have to give you alittle background. When I 3 my dad got really sick with chrones disease, had a surgery that gave him brain damage, blindness and other serious issues that forced him to stop work. My mom took care of him until he passed away when i was 12. After that my mom actually became disabled and also stopped working.

... Now, from that point on, me and my brother Mike who was 8 years older than me, took care of things for my mom. Helped out with financial things and everything else that we could. Me and Mike were never close really, we handled our family business, but that was about it. It was Ravens football that brought us close together and formed a bond between us. My first game me and Mike went to Ravens vs. Browns in 03'.... when JAmal broke the single game rushing record. The game was so electric, atmostphere was so amazing.. we decided to purchase season passes from that point on. We drove from Virginia Beach Virginia, every other weekend for the entire season up to Tyson's corner, stayed the night there on saturday nights, and drove to M&T sunday mornings to tailgate and enjoy the game. Over the course of the 04' season, till the 08' season I formed memories with my brother that will be etched in my mind forever. And it was the Ravens that gave us this oportunity. We lived and breathed football... X's & O's to knowing the 53rd man on the roster like the back of our hand.

Sad part is, Mike died in my arms, superbowl night in 08'... during halftime of the steelers-cardinals game, of a massive heart attack. From that point on, I still live and breath Baltimore Ravens... even moreso than before. Living in Va Beach doesnt offer many opportunities to enjoy great times with fellow ravens fans... there are few if any. My best friend (a converted green bay packer fan) is now a ravens fan after I took him to his first game. He loves the ravens, but isnt quite the fan I am, its hard to talk to him about in depth issues and concepts from the Ravens.

So to be completely honest, with the limited Ravens fans here, I watch Ravens football with myself, with my brothers picture facing the tv so he can watch also. (RIP Mike)

[bdravens]

[quote name='organizedchaos007' timestamp='1313101404' post='745008']
Mines a kinda long story... sorry. I have to give you alittle background. When I 3 my dad got really sick with chrones disease, had a surgery that gave him brain damage, blindness and other serious issues that forced him to stop work. My mom took care of him until he passed away when i was 12. After that my mom actually became disabled and also stopped working.

... Now, from that point on, me and my brother Mike who was 8 years older than me, took care of things for my mom. Helped out with financial things and everything else that we could. Me and Mike were never close really, we handled our family business, but that was about it. It was Ravens football that brought us close together and formed a bond between us. My first game me and Mike went to Ravens vs. Browns in 03'.... when JAmal broke the single game rushing record. The game was so electric, atmostphere was so amazing.. we decided to purchase season passes from that point on. We drove from Virginia Beach Virginia, every other weekend for the entire season up to Tyson's corner, stayed the night there on saturday nights, and drove to M&T sunday mornings to tailgate and enjoy the game. Over the course of the 04' season, till the 08' season I formed memories with my brother that will be etched in my mind forever. And it was the Ravens that gave us this oportunity. We lived and breathed football... X's & O's to knowing the 53rd man on the roster like the back of our hand.

Sad part is, Mike died in my arms, superbowl night in 08'... during halftime of the steelers-cardinals game, of a massive heart attack. From that point on, I still live and breath Baltimore Ravens... even moreso than before. Living in Va Beach doesnt offer many opportunities to enjoy great times with fellow ravens fans... there are few if any. My best friend (a converted green bay packer fan) is now a ravens fan after I took him to his first game. He loves the ravens, but isnt quite the fan I am, its hard to talk to him about in depth issues and concepts from the Ravens.

So to be completely honest, with the limited Ravens fans here, I watch Ravens football with myself, with my brothers picture facing the tv so he can watch also. (RIP Mike)
[/quote]
That's insane dude, sorry for your losses.

[slayback0317]

Im originally from MD, But currently Im in the Army stationed in Virgina theres not alot Raven fans around here, But me my wife and 4 children all get in our raven jerseys and celebrate we watch the games and the kids get so excited they think that everytime the Ravens have the ball that they will score a TD and when they do they scream and yell and jump all around, Also they hate the steelers and remind me how much they hate the steelers all the time lol, they even tell strangers who wear steelers stuff that the steelers suck or say yuk real loud,(Proud Dad). We eat hot wings and shrimp and have a great time I will forever be the biggest ravens fan and got 4 little ones who are no fair weather fans I couldent be happier watching the games with my family just wished we got all the games unfortunatly direct tv wont work where im at. Go Ravens!

[bigZ2222]

i love watching the games with my daughter everytime they scored a td last year we were dancing and chest bumping just doing crazy stuff (shes 4 and a daddy's girl hope it dont change)other then that i just like being around family friends and respectable sports fans that enjoy the game especially when its a steelers friend and the ravens win thats about it have a great season

[B33MORE]

For christmas my dad's family have this gift exchange game, where you put a wrapped gift under the tree and pick a number out to determine the order of selecting a gift. The game then proceeds with each person after the first having an opportunity to pick one of the wrapped gifts from under the tree, or "stealing" a gift that has already been opened. Sometimes folks have a gag gift (Chia Pet or Toilet seat) and sometimes more traditional generic gift giving. The last couple of years we have given the gift game a theme. This past year the theme was the 12 days of Christmas. My gift was 4 cawing birds, which was tickets for 4 to see the final regular season game against the Bengals. 3 of the 4tix were for my Dad (my favorite sports watching partner) my wife and of course myself, the 4th being for the lucky winner of the gift exchange game. My cousin was the final holder of the 4th ticket and the 4 of us had a blast at the too close for comfort win and will remember that years gift exchange game very vividly for many years.

[berad]

Sundays are a myriad of emotions for me. I watch the game [i](preferably alone)[/i] and experience euphoric highs, nail-biting suspense, with a side of homicidal rage. Nothing too extraordinary about my experience, I guess, I'm a typical Ravens fan - get mad at the announcers for butchering Haloti Ngata's name, somewhat paranoid about unfair calls, etc. Sundays are holy to me.

I wrote my college application essay on the Ravens... and got in! ftw

[mgridda]

As I stood in the Emergency Room observing the medical staff injecting my father and trying to resucitate him in vain the only thing I could think of to calm me as I closed my eyes: the joys my father and I did have watching a nice Joe Flacco spiral cutting through the air and dropping into the arms of a Derrick Mason or being snatched out of the air by Todd Heap.

It was 2009.

And those plays were perhaps the only thing to keep me from collapsing to the floor with streams of tears rushing down my face. Flacco gave us hope, and the thought of those high-velocity spirals just hypnotized me into at least believing, [i]it's going to be okay: this too, shall pass.[/i]

[bauer77]

Sunday's i do nothing else except wake up early, put all my ravens gear on (jersey, hat, wristbands, slippers XD), and watch the game. I have 4 jersey's, Reed, Rice, Flacco, and Lewis. Depending on if we win or lose, i will either change my jersey or keep it the same if we win.

My Fiancee usually always sits next to me and watches the game with me (used to be an eagles fan, i converted her ) except the 2 (last few years have been 3) steelers games. I am ALWAYS yelling at the tv, and Ive even got complaints from neighbors that I'm too loud on sundays LOL (we live in a townhouse). If we lose, she knows she probably shouldnt talk to me for the rest of the night. if we win, im usually in a very happy, excited mood, and ill wear the jersey the next day.

Thats my story lol.

[WestWing1]

I was born and raised in Baltimore, but I have lived in Los Angeles now for about 12 years. Last summer I became tired of being the only Ravens fan in the L.A. bars fighting for a television to watch the games. I knew that if I could unite a group of people we would have a louder voice to request the televisions. I had seen enough MD license plates out here to know that the fans were here somewhere.

Around July, I started a Facebook group page and started seeking out the fans that I knew were out here. Through my Facebook searches I found a a couple small groups looking for the same thing. Our first gathering was last pre-season's game against the Panthers. We had 7 people show. We pooled all of our resources and put the message out. Word spread quickly. First game (vs. the Jets) we had 30 people. Last playoff game of the year, we had over 360 Ravens fans show.

We meet every game day, take photos and videos, and share it all on the web. In the spirit of the Ravens giving back to the community we have instituted a canned food drive at Thanksgiving and a Toy Drive during the Holidays. This summer we even had Maryland steamed crabs shipped out and we celebrated our heritage with a Maryland Day celebration.

There is so much more to the story, and so many people who have pitched in to make it great. Things are still growing and now we are even mentoring other displaced fan groups. We are "The West Wing" and we are very proud to be Southern California's biggest Ravens fans!

Check out our pages below for more information.

Pete Shaulis,

http://www.thewestwingla.com
http://www.facebook.com/thewestwingla
http://www.youtube.com/user/thewestwingla

[MsMarvel73]

My bestie's dad lives down in Silver Spring (a Ravens lover in the midst of Redskins country. It's amusing to see Big Poppa's Ravens yard gear on a street full of houses with Redskins flags outside). He decked his entire four room basement/rec area in Ravens colors...right down to the hideous-anywhere-else purple deep shag wall-to-wall carpeting. My autographed JO jersey is under glass in the shrine room.

We usually go down there for away games. Imagine about 30 insane Ravens fans crammed into the TV room drinking and resisting the urge to throw our beers at the TV when things go wrong (and no I'm not the only woman in the crew)...many happy memories of my friend Stewie's homemade crab chowder, meat on the grill, and well, I tend to end up with the same Ravens lampshade on my head (I think they put my name on the inside of that lampshade last season).