Who

Baltimore is celebrating a Super Bowl win today with an incredible parade honoring the WORLD CHAMPS! Was anyone else at the parade today who feels like sharing the experience?

OliveOyl

Nope not there to enjoy the parade, but we had them as house guests in dh's hotel for 7 days, ending Monday and they were fantastic guests. I was at the "Friends and Family" party Sunday following the game, got to touch the Lombardi trophy, which David Modell proudly paraded around all night, held high over his head--imagine his arm is still sore! Never would have dreamed that I'd get excited about patting that trophy, but it was a real kick and we all reached for it! It's kind of a let down now with them gone and the town returning to normal!

Lots of work led up to the weekend, and there was a ton of it during, with more than a few managers pulling "all nighters" Sunday night, but it was a fantastic 4 days, and truly a Super group, both players and staff. Congratulations!!

Edye

The rain kept me glued to the bank of tv's at my gym, where I could see all 3 networks. I couldn't stop smiling!! This is the greatest thing for Baltimore in my lifetime. And for all of those fodorites who love to discuss crime in cities, you should know that 200,000 citizens came together PEACEFULLY in downtown Baltimore today to celebrate our champs. No looting, stealing, disorderliness - just a lot of sore throats from screaming their hearts out! David Modell walked the trophy through the city streets, allowing citizens to touch it, as he did yesterday also upon his return to hq in Owings Mills, MD. Thanks for bringing us the team and bringing home the trophy!!

rudy

We have seen some wonderful examples in Baltimore of an entire city coming together to celebrate exciting sports events. The most recent in memory were the All-Star game in 1993, and the two nights when Cal Ripken tied, then passed, Lou Gehrig's consecutive games record in 1995. Now we can add a Super Bowl win. It was great to see people in the streets cheering on the night of the win, not looting or rioting. Then today, the parade was phenomenal, with few or no problems. This should all look good to the International Olympics Committee. Baltimore, along with D.C., is making a bid to have the 2006 Summer Olympics held jointly in both cities, along with a few sites between, such as the University of Maryland.

Those of you who don't live in cities where these huge sports celebrations have occured can't imagine how great it is. Added to all this joy is the knowledge that we finally managed to keep a New York team from dominating ours!

L

One interesting sidelight, I thought, was the concern voiced here in DC last week that if the Ravens won, Skins fans might transfer their allegiance to Baltimore. Now that MD. has two NFL teams, it will be interesting to see if an intrastate rivalry develops. The first order of business, however, is for the former Washington team to stop trading on the name of our city, and substitute Beltway or Andrews, or whatever locale the FedEx Statium is near. RFK to FedEx ... transition to the dot com era? The Skins prove once again you can't chase success with dollars. Did you note that Hillary and Charles got up on the Senate floor yesterday and quoted Poe?

ilisa

Clinton and Schumer read Poe because they lost a bet with Mikulski and Sarbanes. Had the Giants won, we would have been subjected to a rendition of "New York, New York" by our Maryland senators. How lovely.

L

Yes, that's quite true, Ilisa. Satisfied me the Ravens won - Barbara's a dynamite person (wish we had the other 99 like her), but show tunes, no. Ciao, and have a lovely day - looks like we're headed for the low 50's.

Johnlw

Saw the game at a superbowl party with old old friends--we used to go to Colt games together. Lost my voice. Drove through town (not downtown) and everyone was honking, yelling, having a great time. Great day for Baltimore.

Last note, when they get Brad Johnson at QB next year, they might be harder to beat!

OliveOyl

Hey, leave poor Trent alone...we gave him enough grief to last a lifetime and look how he repaid us! gt; The Bucs had to eat platefuls of crow, all week long.

Now, go dance with the one who brung ya!

L

If I had a nice boat waiting, and a warm breeze to steer her by, be damned if I wouldn't be speeeeeeeeding across Howard-Franklin right now, right'ing on 22nd Av. S. and left'ing toward GP. Fire up that "MGB" successor!!! And head offshore. Have fun!!! Ciao from faith-based central. Whoops ... yield to starboard. J

rudy

Baltimore Mayor O'Malley made a bet with New York Mayor Rudi Giuliani. Now Giuliani has to light up New York's City Hall in purple. I haven't seen or read anything about it yet. How about it, New Yorkers? Has the purple reign begun?

I've lived in Bawlimer almost forty years, and have NEVER heard a poorer, lamer rendition of "The Raven". Poe must have sat up in his grave.

Pete

I am a lifelong football fan, college and professional, who is so disgusted with the NFL that I had no interest in the Super Bowl this year. Between the two teams, there are three convicted felons; one was named MVP. I've heard that there is a total of 30 in the NFL. It is wonderful when a city can come together over any celebration, football championship or whatever, but the NFL league office needs to take a serious look at the calibre of players that are being held out to young and old alike as heros. Sorry to "rain on your parade."

rudy

Pete,

No need to be sorry about anything. I, for one, agree with you that there is a major problem in professional football, but let's include all professional sports, which have the same problems. We should applaud these people for their ability to play ball, cheer them only as champions of the game, but never hold them up as "role models" or heroes, which they certainly are not (exceptions being men like Cal Ripken, for example).

The problem exists not only in sports, but in the arts. Consider some of the rock stars, movie and t.v. stars, and other public people, including our previous president, whom we have excused for their various indiscretions. The problem is in us, and the fact that we have reduced our standards.

Here in Baltimore, we are very aware of what Ray Lewis did and didn't do. We don't excuse him for anything. Still, it is great to experience the fun of our team winning the Super Bowl.

deb

What Ray Lewis did was lie to police. While I'm not condoning that he lied, he certainly has paid his price by losing his freedom for the past year. While the murder charges were dropped because of no evidence supporting that he was involved in the fight leading to the murders, he has remained on probation for the past year with restrictions such as a curfew and no alcohol. And he has apparently been a model probationer. And yet, all this attention has been placed on him as if he was a murderer that was still allowed to play. He has gotten a lot more attention as someone tarnishing the NFL's image than, say, Rae Carruth or even OJ Simpson. How about their tarnishing football's image? I was disgusted that having been chosen as MVP, he was not accorded the same opportunities (i.e. Disney and magazine shoots) as other MVP winners. I'd like to check out their backgrounds and see if they were all model citizens. Again, I'm not condoning lying to the police, but, since that was his only mistake, and he is paying the price, how about giving him the praise he deserves as one of football's best players, ever?

L

Check out a new book by the asst. editor at Sports Illustrated - "Pros and Cons in the NFL." He reports that 20 percent of the players have criminal records. And Deb, better get up to date on the Atlanta nurders before you start trying to minimize how Ray lied to the cops. Two guys are dead on the street in Buckhead. Their blood is in Lewis' limo. His two compatriots purchased hunting knives earlier that day at an Atlanta sporting goods store. And Ray fabricates and refuses to answer legitmate questions. And now Ray tells us he will eventually meet with the victim's families, but the time is not right yet - it's still too raw and emotional. And he's the MVP whom the Disney folks don't want coming to WDW. Bad for the rat's image no doubt. If the rats don't want him, why do you defend him? He's a thug who lives in a protective cocoon concocted to allow immature athletes to earn millions while avoiding any of life's responsibilities. And we wonder why so many of them end up unable to cope with life after their time in the game. Right out of the OJ mold. Paid for violence, and pandered to by the media.

deb

Not only am I up on the facts of the case, but I am up on the law surrounding it as well. The fact that the guys he was with may have committed murder (although not according to the jury) does not make him guilty. Having worked in a state's attorney's office before, if there was even a shred of evidence linking him to the murders, the prosecutor would have taken the case to the jury. The blood in the limo is meaningless regarding him specifically, since there were so many others in the limo. Ditto with the guys buying the knives (he didn't buy the knives). Maybe you better brush up on the law.

Johnlw

Hey Hons, let's relax.

I was listening to a talk radio show in the DC area yesterday and they were discussing whether the hymen on the girl that Carruth molested was intact! On a sports talk show!

Connecting character to talent is always a losing game. Check out the behavior of Picasso, Hemingway, the Barrymores, Peewee Herman or Rock Huds...oh never mind.

Go Ravens, we got bragging rights for one year. That's all.

L

Good points, Deb. But never be so certain you command all the facts. What makes you believe I'm not up on the law? I didn't realize I should approach my posting as a brief. Since you're up on the case, I assume you have looked at how the Fulton County prosecutor's office handled the blood evidence, the filings, etc. You evidently were some type of prosecutor - what's your assessment of how they handled Lewis et al? The mere fact that he was present on Buford Hwy. when the knives were bought compounds his obstruction, which began well before he was in police custody, such as pressure on potential witnesses to fabricate and evade. What about his treatment of the limo driver from Baltimore? If it had not been for prosecutorial imcomptence in Atlanta, Lewis might have faced a much harsher outcome, or would you disagree? Frankly, I am surprised by your rather spirited defense of Ray Lewis (he had Edward Garland and an entire team of defense attorneys to assist him, including the media phase). Since you're interested in the case, have you researched Garland's background, and the types of people he defends? It was for him a media event - research his background if you have time. It was perfect to help him add to his practice in Atlanta. You are certainly entitled to your views, but your stridency seems misplaced. Do you, by the way, have similar strong thoughts about the victims' families? And what's your take on Puffy's situation in NY - did he fire the gun, race away from the scene, pressure people to lie (sounds like he tried to pattern his defense after Lewis), carried loaded weapons in his SUV, etc.?