There is a sense of pride when you are from Maryland. Much more than I have seen from most other states, except for maybe New York. Our state flag is repped so hard that even my closest friends who were raised in Philly and transplanted to Pittsburgh rock the red, yellow, black and white like a coat of arms.
We have Old Bay, crabs, Natty Boh, the Inner Harbor, the Chesapeake Bay, Annapolis, Aberdeen Proving Ground, the Naval Academy. We have arguably the best hospitals in the United States. And we have our sports. Boy do we have our sports.
Some cities have sports franchises in all of the big four (NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL). Baltimore would literally explode if we had more than the Ravens and the Orioles. The pride that we Baltimorons take in the black and orange, and the purple and black, is second to none.
Whether at a Ravens or an Orioles game, the “O!” that we shout during our National Anthem sends chills down the spine. I even heard it during the pre-game performance at this year’s MLB All-Star game in New York, and I was at home watching on TV.
And for the second year in a row, Baltimore fans have all they can dream of. It’s late July, the O’s are playing their best baseball, and the Ravens are back on the practice field preparing for another championship run.
The Birds are aiming at another playoff berth and are making the adjustments that a champion makes throughout the season. They have added a legitimate starting pitcher in Scott Feldman and a top-of-the-line reliever in Francisco Rodriguez, proving to the baseball world that they expect to be there at the end. We haven’t seen an Orioles team this aggressive since they traded for Bobby Bonilla in 1995.
With the Orioles playing so well, it’s easy to overlook the Ravens, a team coming off their second Super Bowl championship. And while early on in the offseason it looked as though this was a team entering a rebuilding mode, The Wizard of Oz pulled off some big time moves.
By revamping the defensive line with Chris Canty and Marcus Spears, giving Sizzle some help by signing elite pass rusher Elvis Dumervil, and drafting guys like safety Matt Elam, LB Arthur Brown, and DT Brandon Williams, a team that seemed to be rebuilding seems to be, on paper, better than last year’s team that went all the way.
Folks, is there any better time to be a Baltimore Sports fan? It’s almost August, our birds—both purple and orange—are soaring to new heights, and you can see the excitement and enthusiasm bubbling over and bursting at the seams. Buckle up Baltimore. For the second year in row, we’re in for one hell of a ride.
2 Responses
Is Natty Boh really a big deal outside of internet discussions about Baltimore?
Baltimoron is not a term of endearment.
Chris, do you not see the giant winking Mr. Boh on the drive into the city? Do you not see his face plastered everywhere in Baltimore, on t-shirts, hats, hoodies and even tattoos? There’s a reason Scott Van Pelt says “O’s, Strohs and Natty Bohs” during Orioles highlights on ESPN. Mr. Boh is the unofficial mascot of the city. As for Baltimoron…why so serious?