It’s Time To Move On, Baltimore

There is nothing but hate in the town of Baltimore. Even after 26 years, the bile from the fan base continues. When the name "Bob Irsay" is uttered, the bad memories come rushing out as if the Mayflower trucks had pulled out just yesterday. Now that the Colts have beaten the Ravens 20-3 in the divisional playoff game, I doubt that the anger will go away.

In an column in the Baltimore Sun titled "Ravens' Victory Would Be Sweet for Fans, Franchise on Several Levels" written by the aptly named Peter Schmuck, the ghosts of football franchises past are referred to again, and the pain and agony of losing a pretty bad football team who wouldn't win a playoff game for another 11 years is highlighted. Schmuck tells tales about how a Ravens victory would have been the second biggest win in franchise history, first of course being the Super Bowl win 9 years ago. Yes, Baltimore was the home of the Vince Lombardi Trophy before Indianapolis.

One fan replied in prose…

Winning this game will dim that fateful night, when that pig Irsay stole our Colts with out giving us a chance to fight.
Knock that horseshoe off their helmets and compare them no more, to the legend of Johnny U, Berry and Moore.
Our team is ready to hit and tackle, a win would bust that Indy shackle.
The Super Bowl would be nice and great to win, but beating the Indy colts tonight would give it to Irsay, right on the chin.

I guess that fan didn't hear that Bob Irsay has been dead for 14 years.

So I have a few things that I would like to request. In the future when these two teams meet in the playoffs, could we please stop fighting the battle of who could care less.

To football fans in Baltimore: It's been 26 years. Perhaps, you should move on.

To ESPN and the sensational media: Every time the Colts and Ravens play, stop showing the Mayflower Trucks.

To the people who insist on bringing this up every single time these two teams play: Tell the whole story.

• The Colts have had a vagabond history. Originally the Dayton Triangles, the team lifted anchor and moved to New York and became the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1930. The team then changed the name to the Brooklyn Tigers. The next year, the Tigers merged with the Boston Yankees. In 1949 the Boston Yankees moved to New York to become the New York Yanks. The team moved again in 1952, this time to Dallas, and became the original Dallas Texans. The Texans moved to Baltimore in 1953, and changed the name to the Colts. So if you're keeping score at home, that's six relocations in the team's 80 years.
  
• The Colts had been threatening to relocate as early as 1971 if they didn't get a new stadium.
  
• Memorial Stadium "featured" non backed bleachers…in the 1980s.
  
• Attendance had been dropping at Memorial Stadium steadily for 7 years.
  
• Baltimore got the Ravens in the same manner Indy got the Colts. Nobody seemed to mind then.

So to the huddled masses in the greater Baltimore area, just stop talking about it. Stop officially referring to the Colts as "The Professional Football Franchise from Indianapolis." Get off your high horse (yes, every pun intended). The people of Cleveland have forgotten that your Ravens are nothing more than the Browns in purple. In fact, both sports franchises in Baltimore originated in other cities (the Baltimore Orioles were once the St. Louis Browns…ironically enough).

Just stop the noise.