Greetings From Indianapolis.

[Cylant2365]

Just to make myself clear, I'm not a snob of a fan who waves the Mayflower Moving vans in front of your faces. I respect your team, especially Mr. Lewis (everyone on anyone's defense is a Mr. to me), and I admire the identity the Ravens have established for themselves.

That being said, on to my message.

Go for it.

[theFRANCHISE]

Wow, I'm amazed. A Colts fan that actually doesn't dislike the Ravens for the animosity that older Baltimore fans still harbor.

I thank you for your respectful first post, and I have to say, I was rooting for the Colts to beat the Chargers. My blinding hatred of Philip Rivers is insane, and I have no ill will towards the Colts at all. Unlike some of my fellow fans. lol.

[Cylant2365]

I honestly have no reason to have any problem with the Ravens. Shoot, we have enough up and coming problems of our own to deal with - Coach Dungy may retire, Marvin may be forced out or retire, our running game is somewhere in the men's room at the now demolished Thunderdome...etc...etc...etc.

[Moderator 2]

I'm not sure I have ever seen a QB will a team to win like Manning did in the 2 games I saw this season. Is'nt Caldwell the heir apparent if Dungy retires?

The Colts leaving broke my heart, but I bleed purple for the Ravens.

[VA_Fan]

Hey welcome to the board. I remember waking up on that very snowy morning and watching the Mayflower trucks pulling out but I was very young so it didn't get to me really.

My son is a huge Colts , I mean the boy knows every player and their stats. He actually had me and my wife wear his Manning jersey for yesterdays game. If you get a chance , check out this video from a 2007 game against the Ravens and you will see how much of a fan he is. He had his face painted whit and blue, with the numbers of his favorite players written on his face. He was actually in the Indy Star paper up there too.

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKnrjcphJvk"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKnrjcphJvk[/url]



He felt horrrible when they lost yesterday but he is now hoping the Ravens go for it all.

[Cylant2365]

Caldwell has been designated the next head coach but I was looking through his head coaching record on the collegiate level and it is not good - Wake Forest from 1993 to 2000 with a record 26-63.

Wake Forest may not have the best of football programs but that was enough to make me do a double-take.

[funky141]

[quote]Caldwell has been designated the next head coach but I was looking through his head coaching record on the collegiate level and it is not good - Wake Forest from 1993 to 2000 with a record 26-63.

Wake Forest may not have the best of football programs but that was enough to make me do a double-take.[/quote]

Can let stats from a job at Wake Forest judge a coach. Caldwel will do fine, the team will be fine just need to upgrade on some issues that hurt them this year.

Good luck Ravens, a tough game this week...

[PIG 20]

Thanks but I can't say that I wasn't jumping up and down in my basement when you guys lost. Mainly because you have our number. I could care less about the whole Colts leaving town thing. I was only 4 years old when it happened so I really don't care. I appreciate our football history but thats all it is "history".

I just didn't want to have to play you guys in the playoffs. Manning is a Ravens killer.

[jfc13]

Sorry, but I wanted the Colts to lose, too. Not because I don't think you have a great team and that you don't deserve it, but because if we won, I didn't want to face you [eventually]. Like someone said, you seem to have our number. I also wouldn't mind if the Chargers knock off the Steelers for us.

I do still harbor some ill feelings due to *******-ursay, but mostly it's because the league didn't let us keep our stats. You can have the colors and the name [blue & white are nice colors and "colts" does have more meaning here than there, I would think, but it's okay], but you do NOT get to claim Unitas & Gang! So, my residual anger aside, [although the "anger" is probably just a "sneer" now] I do like Dungy and I think Manning is great [love his commercials, too]; the Colts are a good team and I know it was a disappointment to lose and I feel bad for Manning and the rest of the players and fans. -- But then again, if we get that far, I'm glad the Colts are out of the way - if we didn't have to face them, I wouldn't have minded them representing us in the Superbowl. I kind of would have liked a Manning brother showdown - second only to us making the Superbowl.

[edited: heh. and I tried to clean that up. Guess I didn't clean it up enough - or the site just knows that ursay is a *******.]

[TXRaven]

Thanks... sorry if I still don't like Indy... The pain is gone thanks to the Ravens I now bleed Purple and Black. The scars however remain. That is still the only time I had ever seen my dad cry. I respect Indy's players but can not and never will wish good things for them as a team.

[K-Dog]

[quote name='Cylant2365' post='120087' date='Jan 5 2009, 12:45 AM']the Mayflower Moving vans[/quote]

Ah yes. Painful memories. Thanks for bringing that up.













Just kidding:)
Thanks for the well wish.
I am glad we dont have to face the Colts.

[Cylant2365]

[quote name='jfc13' post='120231' date='Jan 5 2009, 10:20 AM']I do still harbor some ill feelings due to *******-ursay, but mostly it's because the league didn't let us keep our stats. You can have the colors and the name [blue & white are nice colors and "colts" does have more meaning here than there, I would think, but it's okay], but you do NOT get to claim Unitas & Gang![/quote]

Here is the way I understand the entire episode of the Colts leaving Baltimore: Irsay wanted to do one of two things - upgrade the stadium or build a new one outright. The city of Baltimore, which claimed the Colts as a beacon of pride, refused to do both. Indianapolis, taking a huge gamble, had already started building Thunderdome (may she rest in peace) and made it known it will take an expansion team or any team that wanted to relocate.

As near as I can tell, Irsay did not want to take the Colts out of Baltimore but his team wasn't helping matters either. The Colts were an atrocious team at that time and ticket sales were way down. Irsay didn't have the money to upgrade and neither did Baltimore. He pushed, he bullied, and in the end gave an ultimatum - upgrade or rebuild or we leave.

In the end, he did leave.

I understand why he left in the middle of the night for the exact reasons he stated. The entire situation had become very public and very personal so, he did what he did.

Here is where I think the whole episode gets a little silly. Your team wants to honor Unitas and a few other guys from the glory years and they show up wearing a non-existent expansion team's jerseys. Thats being a bit ridiculous.

On thing that does irk me is that the NFL has stripped the records of the Baltimore Colts away from both my Colts and your Ravens and have them in limbo. Thats just being outright spiteful, even if Irsay was a known horse's posterior. At least his son is a seriously class act.

However, I do love to rub a few Ravens fans a little rough when they start some smack in our parking lot about the Mayflower Moving Incident. Its fun to watch them get red around the ears when I ask them, "Hey, weren't you guys the Cleveland Browns at one time and didn't you leave Cleveland under the same circumstances?"

You're much better as Ravens if you ask me than a team named after a fairy.

[funky141]

[quote]ere is the way I understand the entire episode of the Colts leaving Baltimore: Irsay wanted to do one of two things - upgrade the stadium or build a new one outright. The city of Baltimore, which claimed the Colts as a beacon of pride, refused to do both. Indianapolis, taking a huge gamble, had already started building Thunderdome (may she rest in peace) and made it known it will take an expansion team or any team that wanted to relocate.

As near as I can tell, Irsay did not want to take the Colts out of Baltimore but his team wasn't helping matters either. The Colts were an atrocious team at that time and ticket sales were way down. Irsay didn't have the money to upgrade and neither did Baltimore. He pushed, he bullied, and in the end gave an ultimatum - upgrade or rebuild or we leave.

In the end, he did leave.

I understand why he left in the middle of the night for the exact reasons he stated. The entire situation had become very public and very personal so, he did what he did.

Here is where I think the whole episode gets a little silly. Your team wants to honor Unitas and a few other guys from the glory years and they show up wearing a non-existent expansion team's jerseys. Thats being a bit ridiculous.

On thing that does irk me is that the NFL has stripped the records of the Baltimore Colts away from both my Colts and your Ravens and have them in limbo. Thats just being outright spiteful, even if Irsay was a known horse's posterior. At least his son is a seriously class act.

However, I do love to rub a few Ravens fans a little rough when they start some smack in our parking lot about the Mayflower Moving Incident. Its fun to watch them get red around the ears when I ask them, "Hey, weren't you guys the Cleveland Browns at one time and didn't you leave Cleveland under the same circumstances?"

You're much better as Ravens if you ask me than a team named after a fairy.[/quote]

Also to add the city of Baltimore were in the process to file for eminent domain to take the team away from the Irsays. This is where most Ravens fans fail to understand. Most Ravens fans are uneducated in this matter and don't understand the magnatude of the situation at that time.
Think of it this way, if your city was going to take your house by "eminent domain " what would you do?

[WACKO4FLACC0]

[quote name='Cylant2365' post='120087' date='Jan 5 2009, 12:45 AM']Just to make myself clear, I'm not a snob of a fan who waves the Mayflower Moving vans in front of your faces. I respect your team, especially Mr. Lewis (everyone on anyone's defense is a Mr. to me), and I admire the identity the Ravens have established for themselves.

That being said, on to my message.

Go for it.[/quote]
This is my problem with the "Colts" not their fans just the Colts in general. I hate the fact that Johnny Unitas, Art Donovan, and etc are listed under the Indianapolis Colts... I am pretty sure it was the

[b]BALTIMORE[/b] Colts not the Indianapolis Colts. This especially ticks me off when you go to the Football Hall of Fame and they are listed under Indy.

But I also do hate the whole Mayflower moving van thing but any Indy fan who wants to do that is fine... doesnt bother me as much as the whole "Baltimore Colts" thing.

I wanted you guys to lose to San Diego so much... not because I hate Indy but because we can never beat you . I hope that San Diego beats Pitts so we can kill Rivers for you. I hate that guy soooooooooo

much... he is way overrated and Ed Reed will knock him down a few notches.

[Tighthead420]

Nacho Momma's in Canton has a funny "tribute" wall to Irsay. Check it out some time if you are there. (Note to people not familiar with B'more...not Canton Ohio...Canton B'more).

It probably did not help that Baltimore and MD in general was (and still is) full of some of the most corrupt politicians around. There has to be something more to the story that was long forgotten. Stadium issue aside, something must have really ticked off Irsay and the league to generate the sheer hatred the NFL has for Baltimore.

[Guest Moderator 5]

[quote name='Cylant2365' post='120905' date='Jan 6 2009, 07:20 AM']Here is the way I understand the entire episode of the Colts leaving Baltimore: Irsay wanted to do one of two things - upgrade the stadium or build a new one outright. The city of Baltimore, which claimed the Colts as a beacon of pride, refused to do both. Indianapolis, taking a huge gamble, had already started building Thunderdome (may she rest in peace) and made it known it will take an expansion team or any team that wanted to relocate.

As near as I can tell, Irsay did not want to take the Colts out of Baltimore but his team wasn't helping matters either. The Colts were an atrocious team at that time and ticket sales were way down. Irsay didn't have the money to upgrade and neither did Baltimore. He pushed, he bullied, and in the end gave an ultimatum - upgrade or rebuild or we leave.

In the end, he did leave.

I understand why he left in the middle of the night for the exact reasons he stated. The entire situation had become very public and very personal so, he did what he did.

Here is where I think the whole episode gets a little silly. Your team wants to honor Unitas and a few other guys from the glory years and they show up wearing a non-existent expansion team's jerseys. Thats being a bit ridiculous.

On thing that does irk me is that the NFL has stripped the records of the Baltimore Colts away from both my Colts and your Ravens and have them in limbo. Thats just being outright spiteful, even if Irsay was a known horse's posterior. At least his son is a seriously class act.

However, I do love to rub a few Ravens fans a little rough when they start some smack in our parking lot about the Mayflower Moving Incident. Its fun to watch them get red around the ears when I ask them, "Hey, weren't you guys the Cleveland Browns at one time and didn't you leave Cleveland under the same circumstances?"

You're much better as Ravens if you ask me than a team named after a fairy.[/quote]


[quote name='funky141' post='120922' date='Jan 6 2009, 08:32 AM']Also to add the city of Baltimore were in the process to file for eminent domain to take the team away from the Irsays. This is where most Ravens fans fail to understand. Most Ravens fans are uneducated in this matter and don't understand the magnatude of the situation at that time.
Think of it this way, if your city was going to take your house by "eminent domain " what would you do?[/quote]

Ah, Indy revisionist history at its finest.

You seem to be placing the balance of the blame on Baltimore, Maryland and its politicians and saying basically Irsay had no choice, correct?

This is ignoring the fact that the franchise was in such a sorry state [i]because[/i] of Irsay. He had taken over one of the most revered franchises in the NFL and made them a laughing stock. He had fired coaches in drunken fits of pique. He had embarrassed the city by whoring the team out to anyone who would listen, with no intention of moving them, in attempts to blackmail the city. He had traded players without consulting his front office or coaches (including Elway). His own mother called him 'the devil on earth.'

Would you commit to investing money in someone who tried to blackmail you, who you didn't trust and who was liable to walk away anyway at any given second due to his irrational behavior?

Despite this, the city, state and Governor Schaefer in particular, [i]had [/i] made assurances to Irsay. These were accepted, and then reneged upon. The eminent domain claim only came about due to the fact that Irsay looked like moving at any given moment, and the city rightly wanted to protect its heritage and rescue the franchise from this disaster of an owner.

And on your point of 'Baltimore did it to Cleveland' - yes, there are similarities with a team moving cities. The difference is that Cleveland kept their colors, their team name, their history. They had a team back within 3 years. The Baltimore Ravens are regarded by the NFL as an expansion franchise. They also tried to get an expansion team numerous times, but were effectively told to go to hell by Tagliabue and the NFL.

If Jimmy Irsay was such a 'class act', he'd have given the Colts name and history back to Baltimore when his father snuffed it, rather than offer to do so for a meagre $50m. Real classy.

It sounds to me like you've been fed the usual Indy-colored spin on how things went down. You also seem to have no comprehension of what the Colts meant to the city of Baltimore and what a debacle it is to have their history tied up with yours. Unitas turned his back on the franchise after the move and wanted nothing to do with them. The rest of the former Colts were honored in Ravens stadium on December 28 because their legacy is here, where they are appreciated, not in Indy.

Rest assured, if the team moved, and was now the Indianapolis Racers, Hoosiers or whatever, no-one would have a beef. But you really shouldn't come on a Baltimore message board and lecture our fans on a subject you apparently know nothing about.