Baltimore Ravens vs. Who's Yer Colts

We have been waiting for this for a long time now. On Saturday afternoon, the Ravens will have the opportunity to shame the Irsay legacy once and for all in a playoff football game........everything is on the line....whoever loses, will have to wait for another year. Whoever wins, gets to play another day and head closer the Super Bowl. I have only one problem with this game.......the stakes should be higher.

There is no question that Baltimore does not get any respect from the NFL. Even the football commentators tried to ignore us all year....again. We shall see what they all say after the Colts get their deserved drubbing. The stakes ought to be higher. What could be better than to completely settle the sad history of the Colts? I suggest that if the Colts win, they can keep the "Colt" name.......and if they lose, they would have to rename the team to something else and retire the Colt name once and for all. Baltimore doesn't want the Colts name back, we are in love with the Ravens now........but the Colts name will forever be associated with Baltimore, like it or not, and the folks in Indianapolis deserve a name of their own without having to lug around the Baltimore Curse. Curse?........you betcha! It has been said that Indianapolis will never win a Super Bowl, no matter how good a team they put on the field, because of the Unitas Curse. Johnny Unitas knew what was right and he refused to allow his legacy to be associated in any way with the City of Indianapolis. It wasn't to slight or shame the fine people of Indiana.......it was because Unitas was a decent man and knew that the history of the Colts should never be shared with those that never had anything to do with it.

You might say.....well......the Ravens are the Browns, blah, blah, blah. Actually, Art Modell did things the proper way. He moved his team and changed the entire name.....completely dissassociating it from Cleveland. Cleveland got to keep their historic name "Browns" and the NFL did right by them and managed to make sure they got a team to continue using that name. The NFL, in a flagrant display of disrespect for Baltimore fans, permitted the Colts name to leave Baltimore instead of demanding that Irsay leave the name behind and start anew. In a perfect world........Baltimore would still have the Colts. Some might say "get over it!" We have......but there will aways be a sour taste in our mouths because of the lack of desire, by the powers that be, to make things right for the fans.

I have spoken with people from Indiana. The majority of those I have spoken with, would have no problem having their own name for an NFL team and giving the Colts name back to Baltimore. As for Baltimore...........if the name was returned to us.......we would keep it where it belongs........in history......and a damn good history at that. We have the Ravens now and Cleveland still has its Browns...........let's fix it the rest of the way.

As for tomorrow's football game......it should be a good one. It will most likely be a low scoring game and a close one at that......but I am going to go out on a limb here and tell you that since Baltimore bleeds purple now and the team is fully aware of the history in this city and that this particular game means far more to the fans than another step towards the Super Bowl.......I see a complete destruction of the Colts. The Purple Palace will be extra loud and that make it difficult for Manning to call his shots at the scrimmage line. Our defense will be bloodthirsty on behalf of the fans....so here you go........

************ Ravens 30 - Colts 20 *************