Sports
Rick Snider » Hey Baltimore, it’s not a rivalry if it’s one-sided
By: Rick Snider
Examiner Sports Columnist
December 5, 2008
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| Examiner columnist Rick Snider says former Redskins cornerback Pat Fischer would make Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis cry if Fischer were playing today. (Getty Images & AP file) |
The Redskins head to Baltimore on Sunday night. Baltimore fans love playing Washington in anything. It gives the crab-eaters a chance to work off their capital envy.
Having worked and lived in both markets, I know Baltimoreans hate Washingtonians. Our northern neighbors see Washington as all things evil. A place where the federal government taxes them unfairly, a city of transients who rotate with every presidential inauguration. A town of terrible traffic and worse seafood.
Whatever, bay seasoning breaths.
Baltimoreans love to trot out “Jack Kent Cooke tried to keep the Ravens from coming to Baltimore.” Oh please, like Peter Angelos didn’t try to block baseball from Washington before cutting a one-sided TV deal with the league to hurt the Nationals for years to come. I’d say we’re even there. And by the way, Cooke didn’t block Baltimore from stealing Cleveland’s team.
What really sticks in Baltimorean’s crab claws is Washingtonians don’t hate them back. In fact, Washingtonians don’t dislike Baltimore at all. Ask a few people on the street about the neighboring city and they’ll talk about the Inner Harbor, crabs and cheaper housing.
Oh, there’s nothing like unrequited hatred. Just ask Maryland fans when snobby Duke students cheer “Not our rival” during basketball games. I love the Terps’ response — “we’re your daddy.”
Redskins players don’t care about the Dallas rivalry, much less a team they rarely play. Redskins Park is on the far side of Washington so players don’t come across Ravens fans at the gas station or supermarket. They’re in deep Redskins country. Maybe if the training facility was in the Maryland suburbs, like the stadium, it would be different.
Of course, you’ll hear Ravens fans claim their stadium is nicer. Redskins fans counter that it should be — since taxpayers funded it. Cooke paid for FedEx Field himself. He did monopolize local concrete contracts when the two stadiums were being built concurrently to drive up Baltimore’s costs by $20 million, but that was business, not personal.
To be fair, M&T Bank Stadium is prettier. That’s not saying much, given FedEx is merely a giant ATM that will one day be demolished when the Redskins return to the RFK Stadium site in 2020 or so.
Baltimoreans claim a better history — Johnny U. and Artie Donovan and the greatest championship game ever. All I know is there are three — two more than Baltimore — Super Bowl trophies at Redskins Park plus a couple more titles from the old days. Plus, Baltimore has no one who could touch Sammy Baugh and Pat Fischer would have made Ray Lewis cry.
The Ravens will probably win this time. Baltimore is improving while Washington is declining. It would have been different in September.
Baltimoreans will feel better about themselves. So what — Washingtonians still live in the capital of the free world while Baltimore isn’t even a state capital.
Rivalry? You gotta be kidding.
Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Contact him at rsnider@dcexaminer.com.
