I'm not sure exactly how many readers of this blog are fans of the Baltimore Ravens. But I know some of you are. There is a Ravens blog that my buddy Dan McGrain has been doing this season. And it's pretty good. Dan knows the Ravens and he's pretty objective in his commentary. The blog is called One Winning Drive (I have no idea the exact URL thingy - just google it). I have actually been to a Ravens game with Dan (I blogged about it last December, the title involves the Dalai Lama) and it was the infamous Holmes catch at the goal line game. And his comments throughout the game were pretty insightful. Anyway, I encourage Ravens fans to check it out.
I don't really have any interest in going into deep analysis of yesterday's Ravens game myself. I will tell you that Cleveland is terrible, they quit playing in the middle of the 2nd quarter, and their coach looked like a petulant child, as he stood around the sidelines with a surly look on his face. And all of that is fine with me, because we bet on the Ravens and it was a rout. We have bet on them all 3 weeks and won $700 with them on straight bets and more on a 3 team parlay I hit yesterday (w/GB & NYG). In fact, I was on fire between 1 and 7:30 yesterday, as we were up $1350 for that stretch. I also hit a parlay on SD and CIN and when Carson Palmer threw the winning TD, with around 14 seconds left, I was slightly celebratory. Going into tonight's action we stand at $2260 on the season - a little more than doubling the initial investment of $1100 - so, we'll see how it goes.
One funny thing about Sunday Ticket is that no matter where you are in the country there are always fans of several teams you'll find at the sports bar. Here are some quick takes on the fans of some of those teams (remember, I've been watching the silliness at various joints in many different cities for about 15 years now, so I have some knowledge on this topic):
Raiders - They are dedicated, I'll give them that. They're also delusional, drunken assholes at times. Just yesterday, there were 3 or 4 of them here at the BW-3 in San Antonio and they stayed and watched the entire ass-kicking the Broncos gave them. When the Raiders were good (basically when they had Rich Gannon and Chuckie), their fans were really obnoxious. Now, wow - I almost feel sorry for them. Almost.
Steelers - Not my kind of people for the most part (my buddy Jeff being an exception). There were always Steeler fans in Columbus for some reason (maybe more than the Bengals had at times) and they were super moronic about the game, totally unreasonable. And the women; oh the humanity! I am certain that there are cute Steeler fans, but I've only met one personally (and she was crazy - literally crazy, one of the many bulimics/anorexics I've had the pleasure of getting mixed up with in my life). One of the worst ways to spend time during Sunday Ticket is near Steeler fans when the team is winning. It's a living hell. Now yesterday there weren't any Steeler fans in the bar - and I would have enjoyed if there were at the end when Carson Palmer tore their hearts out (I've always had a soft spot for the Bengals - they're so harmless...and remember what Sam Wyche said, "You don't live in Cleveland." And boy was Sam telling the truth there).
Redskins - I'm almost starting to feel sorry for them now. But I can't. The Skins fans are some of the most clueless followers of their team in the world (not as bad as Chelsea fans, obviously). I have had to explain the basic rules of football to so many Skins fans over the past 20 years, it's nauseating. To their benefit, lots of their fans in the Southeast are attractive enough women. In fact there was a smoking hot Skins girl in the bar yesterday, and although she had no idea why they were getting beat by the Lions exactly, she was on the ball enough to note "We suck." I told her "You're dead on there."
Packers - Maybe the most knowledgeable fan base out there. I never mind sitting near a Pack fan during Sunday Ticket. And most of them are realists, they knew Favre was on a long downward slide from '99 on and they're much better off with Rogers and would have been better off the last 10 years with Matt Hasselback. I've always had a good amount of respect for Packer fans - although they don't tend to be the most svelte folks around, as I guess all the Polish Sausage and beer takes its toll over time.
Patriots - A relatively new phenomenon. Of course when you win 3 Super Bowls, you're gonna get bandwagon jumpers, it's inevitable. These fans aren't really fans yet, as with the exception of the Brady knee/stump situation, they've basically known lots of success (with some painful losses, admittedly). We'll see if the Patsies keep all these "fans" around the country after Brady retires, Belicheck commits suicide, or Bob Kraft is caught in bed with a live boy or dead girl. My guess is that the Patriot phenomenon will go the way of the 49er phenomenon. In the late 80's to late 90's they were everywhere in every city. Now, you almost never see one. As far as the actual Patsie fans - the ones from Boston and the surrounding area, they like to drink some Jack Daniels. I'll give them that. And my old friend Paul J Whitehouse is a Pats fan from way back when Steve Grogan was chucking the old pigskin. So, the old school, die hard Pat fan, you're cool with me (and Mary is cool with me too, although I have no idea why she likes them. I'm guessing it has something to do with Brady being a babe magnet and Mary's brother being a die hard Ravens fan).
Dallas Cowboys - I could go on for thousands of words about the Cowboys fans. I have spent more time sitting with or near Dallas fans than any other team over the years. And boy, do Cowboys fans have issues. When Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer had the Cowboys riding high, the team was 1) fun to watch, but 2) had the most obnoxious fans in the world. Truth be told, when I was a kid, I too pulled hard for the Cowboys, as Roger Staubach is the absolute truth. But, as the years went on and I found myself sitting around other Cowboy fans in the mid 90s, they lost me. Most of them have no football IQ at all (I'm not including the Cowboy fans who actually live in Texas, many of them know football backwards and forwards) and they get silly with their breathtaking ignorance of the basics of the NFL game. I will say this though, the Cowboys have by far the most attractive female fans. And it's not even close. It's ironic that the Steelers and Cowboys used to have a big rivalry back in the 70s, because on the attractive female fan scale, they are close to being at polar opposites.
Take the Panthers and the points tonight.
Life's a bummer
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