Baltimore Sun: Ravens-Redskins not your usual preseason bore-a-thon

[btfoom]

First, I have no problem with Zorn. He was supposed to be an O-Coordinator - I still think he'll be a good one. He got bumped up too far, too fast. He did the best he could do, but I don't for one minute believe that he didn't do everything he possibly could to make the Skins win.

As far as Ravens fans go, the folks I know fall into two groups. The first are like most folks here, they love their team, love football, and want nothing more than a win on Sunday. The other type have this completely irrational hatred for the Skins, to the point where I asked a couple of them who they would root for in a Skins-Steelers game. These guys said 'Steelers' in a heartbeat. I just laughed and said I'd ALWAYS root for the Cowboys to lose, especially to a non-conference team.

[Godfather151981]

Long story short, my Dad's family's from the Baltimore side of things, my Mom's family's from the DC side, and being a child of the 1980's I grew up beloving the Skins and O's. So one way or the other, I deeply resent people on both sides saying that the other city is no good, the people, the fans, etc. The fact is that both Baltimore stadiums are better than both DC stadiums. The Ravens' gameday experience is light years ahead of ours. That's something that the Redskins and Redskin fans can change, but for the time being that's how it is in my opinion. Ravens fans are no more or less arrogant than any other fan base, although I would argue that the Steelers have been the Boston Red Sox in that they have their share of bandwagoners and they feel they should be catered to. I see no problem with rooting for the Ravens unless they're playing the Redskins, which in this case they are. But as many people have said, our rivals are in the NFC East, and theirs are in the AFC North (along with the Colts for obvious reasons); end of story.

The fact is that the O's and Skins will always be the teams that are somewhat favored by regional media such as Comcast and MASN. (And keep in mind that MASN is owned by the Orioles; furthermore, with MASN no longer covering the Ravens, it would benefit Daniel Snyder to call Angelos and see if they could get any sort of Redskins programming on the network.) Those two teams were in the region when their respective sports were not in the other city, thus the Ravens and Nationals are relative newcomers (the Nats moreso than the Ravens). Certainly the DC media is going to cover the Nats much moreso than the O's, and the same holds true in Baltimore with regard to the Redskins. But as I said, the O's and Skins were here when the Nationals and Ravens weren't, and that gives them a distince competitive advantage. I saw about four or five fellow Oriole fans who were sporting Skins jerseys and O's hats on Friday night. (I don't wear Oriole gear at FedEx, just like I don't wear Skins gear at Oriole Park.) I suppose my point is that people can hate if they want to, but ultimately no Baltimore team is in the same division (any longer) with a Washington team, so everybody's pretty much mutually exclusive.

[THEREALTOR1]

For anyone thats interested, here's the ravens thread on us from their board. http://boards.baltimoreravens.com/topic/24770-battle-of-beltway/

Ironically they say almost the exact same thing about us as we do about them

[gutlead74]

Raven fans are hypocrites, they embrace modell and scorn Irsay. Clevleland LOVED the browns just as Baltimore loved the colts. It's like marrying an affair.

[aamiha73]

Sounds to me like he's trying to dial up the hype any way possible for a preseason game. Meh.

[Godfather151981]

Raven fans are hypocrites, they embrace modell and scorn Irsay. Clevleland LOVED the browns just as Baltimore loved the colts. It's like marrying an affair.

One man's criminal is another man's heo I suppose. The difference between Irsay and Modell is that Modell never tried to hide the fact that he was moving the team. Irsay swore up and down that he wasn't moving. Furthermore, he said that if he was going to make a move to leave the city he would call William Donald Schafer (the mayor at the time) and tell him beforehand. Instead, it turned out Irsay was lying to the people of Baltimore and the Colt fans the entire time, and they left under the guise of night.

My parents met at UMD, and I spent a lot of Saturday afternoons at Byrd Stadium when I was a kid (and still). Even though that wasn't professional football, I remember my Dad always having a certain bitterness towards the entire football establishment. Now he follows the Skins since I do, however if you asked him he'd tell you that he's a Baltimore COLT fan.

[bigjumbo1971]

I work with some Ravens fans. When we lose they make their comments as if we played them. Funny thing is I use to kinda hope they would win there games because they're a Maryland team. Now I want them to lose just because of their fans.

Sidenote: I was trying to diagnose the Ravens fans delusional behavior. The best I could find was non-bizarre delusional disorder

(delusions that are considered to be plausible; that is, there is a possibility that what the person believes to be true could actually occur one day but doesnt occur now)

[21AllDay]

Satan's Team? Really? :evilg:.........

[Warhead36]

I'd like to see our starters man up and match the Ravens physicality. I don't care if we score points or not, just go mano y mano with them and not look like a JV team. That and no injuries and I'll be happy.

[MustangSteve]

This game will mean nothing.

Rex Ryan seems like the kind of guy who will want to go after people, even in preseason and that should provide the Oline a nice test protecting McNabb.

Your not kidding there, the Jets just cracked Eli Mannings head wide open, gave him 12 stitches. The worst part is it was middle of the 2nd quarter and Jets and Giants still had their starters in.

[illone]

Gotta love marketing.

That said, I'll be watching.

[Kindred]

Wow, even their news tries to make something out of nothing. OMG this is THE must win preseason game against the REDSKINS!!! *froth* *froth*

I swear its like they have a perpetual inferiority complex or something.

[[[ghost]]]

**** the Ravens.

[Mista T]

The Redskins are ALWAYS the first team talked about on local news stations, and the organization's every move is always top story in the off-season, even over sports that are currently active like Baseball and Hockey.

Huh? Sure, "The Redskins are ALWAYS the first team talked about on local news stations", as long as those local news stations emanate from DC.

The Sun prints multiple articles each day in-season and provides an occasional blurb on the Redskins. The Post does the complete opposite. The local broadcast stations (WMAR, WBAL, WJZ and the little guys) cover Ravens throughout the week, and don't mention the Redskins until a 10 second spot on Sunday nights, if at all. DC local broadcast stations do the complete opposite. MASN carries Ravens programming, and CSN carries Redskins programming.

What are you talking about?

[psu2008]

No one in D.C. cares (or should care) about the Ravens. It isn't a rivalry. They never play meaningful games on a regular basis. Each has division opponents the fan bases care about more.

If we ever played them in the Super Bowl, then and only then could I see a real rivalry forming. The whole "Battle of the Beltways" thing is all marketing.

[Commander PK]

Huh? Sure, "The Redskins are ALWAYS the first team talked about on local news stations", as long as those local news stations emanate from DC.

The Sun prints multiple articles each day in-season and provides an occasional blurb on the Redskins. The Post does the complete opposite. The local broadcast stations (WMAR, WBAL, WJZ and the little guys) cover Ravens throughout the week, and don't mention the Redskins until a 10 second spot on Sunday nights, if at all. DC local broadcast stations do the complete opposite. MASN carries Ravens programming, and CSN carries Redskins programming.

What are you talking about?

All true. I'm not talking about Baltimore programming. I'm from Southern Maryland, and most of the Ravens fans I know are from Southern and Central Maryland. They gripe constantly about the fact that they are forced to watch D.C. stations, that do nothing but talk about the Redskins. Even though it should be inherently obvious why, apparently they don't get why NBC 4 or CSN doesn't talk about the Ravens. lol In this part of Maryland, it's all about the D.C. teams.

The Redskins own this region by a huge margin. No matter how good or how bad the Skins are, that will always be the case, and Ravens fans can't stand that fact.

[Thirtyfive2seven]

I sincerely hope that Zorn receives a warm welcome. He did nothing but conduct himself with dignity and class throughout a horrible situation. The decision to hire him was a debacle by Snyder because he couldn't get anyone else at the time. I don't hate Zorn at all.

Rivalry? Seriously? I wouldn't mind spanking the dirty birds for making the Skins look horrible last year but outside of that? The Ravens have been the better team for the past, what, 10 years now? That doesn't make them a rivalry. The Skins have been awful throughout much of that time.

[authentic]

For anyone thats interested, here's the ravens thread on us from their board. http://boards.baltimoreravens.com/topic/24770-battle-of-beltway/

Ironically they say almost the exact same thing about us as we do about them

Those guys over on that thread are complete idiots!

[scruffylookin]

Your not kidding there, the Jets just cracked Eli Mannings head wide open, gave him 11 stitches. The worst part is it was middle of the 2nd quarter and Jets and Giants still had their starters in.

I don't know if he's going to come up small when it counts, like his dad did, but you gotta love the attitude. At least it's refreshing from the same old same old we get from NFL coaches.

[MattFancy]

For anyone thats interested, here's the ravens thread on us from their board. http://boards.baltimoreravens.com/topic/24770-battle-of-beltway/

Ironically they say almost the exact same thing about us as we do about them

Lol wow they have some idiodic fans. The one who thinks 7*7=42 lol. Then the other saying he thinks the Skins used to have a big rivalry with the Steelers because we were close lol. There are some ignorant Ravens fans.

[redskins55]

Its only a rivalry in Baltimore fans' eyes and Skins fans who live around Baltimore. But the players don't see it as a rivalry and its hard to have a rivalry when you play once every 4 years. What other rivalries in sports are there where the teams play once every 4 years? I can't think of any.

I've been a Skins fan all my life and I dont live in the D.C area. Since I dont live in the area I'm not influenced by a Ravens fan's thirst for an interstate rival. Nor am I influenced by some Redskin's aristocratic view of ignoring Baltimore's team because they've only been around for 12 years. I'm interested in football and football alone. And football wise, the Ravens have made us look like amateurs every time we've played them recently.

The Ravens may not be our "rivals" but I certainly want our first team offense and defense to finally show up for a game against them. Like it or not the Ravens have been a perennial AFC powerhouse consistently for almost ten years now. We on the other hand, have been the laughing stock of the league outside of Gibb's two playoff seasons. The Redskins need this "rivalry" more than the Ravens do because we have something to prove. They've already proven that they can knock us in the mouth on national television. In 2004 (SNF) they got that big punt return from Deon Sanders of all people, and a sack/ strip/ fumble return for a TD that made Mark Brunell and Ladell Betts look stupid. In 2008 (SNF) they got the strip/fumble return for a TD against Portis, and beat up JC all night long. I've never been more embarrassed than watching us just get outmatched by them. Hell, even in the preseason last year they ate chunks out of our first team defense, and Michael Oher pancaked Ronaldo Wynn like a *****.

Now the NFL is obviously going to keep matching us up against each other in the preseason and its a game the Redskins need to measure themselves by. So no it may not be a traditional rivalry, but don't dismiss it like it means nothing to our players or team. You think the Giants and Jets or Eagles and Steelers dont know that they're both good teams vying for NFL supremacy when they play each other each preseason? No their not rivals but they sure do take it personal, just look at Eli Manning's head. Clinton and Santana always come up short to Ray and Ed when the "U" go head to head in these skins vs birds games. You think Ray and Ed dont tell them how soft the Skins are? That's a friendly rivalry in itself. So it may not mean much to local fans, but it sure as hell needs to mean something to our team.

[MattFancy]

Now the NFL is obviously going to keep matching us up against each other in the preseason and its a game the Redskins need to measure themselves by. So no it may not be a traditional rivalry, but don't dismiss it like it means nothing to our players or team. You think the Giants and Jets or Eagles and Steelers dont know that they're both pretty good teams when they play each other in preseason? No their not rivals but they sure do take it personal, just look at Eli Manning's head. Clinton and Santana always come up short to Ray and Ed when the "U" go head to head in these skins vs birds games. That's a friendly rivalry in itself.

I see what you're saying, but who cares if we look better than them in a preseason game? Yes it would be nice for our first team offense and defense to come out firing like that did last week, but what does it matter? There isn't a trophy given out at the end of preseason to the best team.

Yes they've made us look bad lately, but do you really think CP is going to go out there and try to run over people? This is the same Portis who hates playing in the preseason. Do you think McNabb really cares that much that the last time he played the Ravens he got benched. McNabb is on a completely different team now and still took the Eagles to the playoffs that year. Yeah maybe its a friendly rivalry between the guys that went to "The U", but that's all it is. Like I said, how many rivals play each other once every 4 years?

It really is all a marketing ploy to get fans from DC and Baltimore to care about a preseason game. If we win what does it mean? Our first teams looked good against the Patriots' first teams last year, how did that work out? The Lions went 4-0 in the preseason in 2008, how did that work out? Bottomline is that its just a preseason game between 2 teams that are close in proximity. Yeah it would be nice to beat the Ravens, but until there is something more at stake between the 2 teams, there is no rivalry.

[MustangSteve]

If we ever played them in the Super Bowl, then and only then could I see a real rivalry forming. The whole "Battle of the Beltways" thing is all marketing.

I totally agree. I don't have any different feeling when playing Baltimore compared to everyone else who's not in the East. The media and Ravens fans have been trying for years to make something out of nothing. Plain and simple, we don't care about the dayum Ravens.

[redskins55]

I see what you're saying, but who cares if we look better than them in a preseason game? Yes it would be nice for our first team offense and defense to come out firing like that did last week, but what does it matter? There isn't a trophy given out at the end of preseason to the best team.

Yes they've made us look bad lately, but do you really think CP is going to go out there and try to run over people? This is the same Portis who hates playing in the preseason. Do you think McNabb really cares that much that the last time he played the Ravens he got benched. McNabb is on a completely different team now and still took the Eagles to the playoffs that year. Yeah maybe its a friendly rivalry between the guys that went to "The U", but that's all it is. Like I said, how many rivals play each other once every 4 years?

It really is all a marketing ploy to get fans from DC and Baltimore to care about a preseason game. If we win what does it mean? Our first teams looked good against the Patriots' first teams last year, how did that work out? The Lions went 4-0 in the preseason in 2008, how did that work out? Bottomline is that its just a preseason game between 2 teams that are close in proximity. Yeah it would be nice to beat the Ravens, but until there is something more at stake between the 2 teams, there is no rivalry.

Your right, that article made no sense at all. McNabb could care less about being benched in Baltimore two years ago. He'd better be thinking about being blown out in Dallas last year in the playoffs..lol And your also right that the final score means nothing, but that first quarter score does!

Admit it my friend.. if we shut down Ray Rice and Shayne Falco with McNabb and the offense looking good against the Ravens first team defense you'll be excited. Even more excited than what we did against the Bills because its the Ravens..... and the Ravens are good...and they're fans think they're better than us.

[MattFancy]

Your right, that article made no sense at all. McNabb could care less about being benched in Baltimore two years ago. He'd better be thinking about being blown out in Dallas last year in the playoffs..lol And your also right that the final score means nothing, but that first quarter score does!

Admit it my friend.. if we shut down Ray Rice and Shayne Falco with McNabb and the offense looking good against the Ravens first team defense you'll be excited. Even more excited than what we did against the Bills because its the Ravens..... and the Ravens are good...and they're fans think they're better than us.

I would definitely be excited, but it doesn't mean much. I'd much rather look good against Dallas! But yes it would be nice to come out and look good with our starters, but if we don't, we still have time to get things straight. I just don't want to see any injuries.