Robert Salveron feels like he?s living behind enemy lines.
No wonder.
The lifelong fan of the Baltimore Colts and Ravens lives in Bowie in Prince George?s County, where the Redskins have a stranglehold on fan loyalty. To make matters worse, Salveron grew up in a family of Redskin followers ? in Bladensburg, a town at Washington?s doorstep.
Want decent Ravens merchandise? Got to make to a short drive to Anne Arundel County. Want to see the Ravens on TV? Back to Anne Arundel County, because Bowie ? and Prince George?s County ? doesn?t air the Ravens.
As far as the Ravens are concerned, “it?s like night and day,” Salveron, 61, said of the neighboring counties.
There is even a Bowie chapter of the Ravens Nest, one of team?s unofficial fan clubs, and Salveron was its president. But dwindling membership and the difficulty of recruiting newmembers took its toll, and Salveron found a new fan club in ? where else? ? Glen Burnie in Anne Arundel County. Where there might have been 10 fans at a Bowie meeting, compared to 45 in Glen Burnie.
On the Prince George?s side of border, “it?s nothing but Redskins, Redskins, Redskins,” Salveron said, adding that Redskins fans often seem snobby, and “thumb their noses down,” at their Raven counterparts.
Bel Air?s Dave Serio said Baltimore has long-suffered in the shadow of the Redskins and Washington.
“Baltimore has always been the red-headed step-child of D.C.,” Serio, 51, said.
In Severna Park ? in Anne Arundel County, David Harding, 42, a Redskins season-ticket holder, is getting blitzed by his neighbors, who are hard-core Ravens fans.
He has no problem with the Ravens and often goes to games with friends because he prefers the Ravens? M&T Bank Stadium to the Redskins? FedEx Field.
Sometimes he catches an earful when he wears Redskins gear to Ravens-friendly bars, but it doesn?t bother him much. “I?ll say, ?What are you, Cowboys fans?? And they?ll say “No, Ravens fans.? Then I say, ?Oh, what do you care?? ”
Although Harding feels slightly outnumbered in Anne Arundel County, he insists the fan bases can co-exist.
There?s reason to believe he?s not alone.
Blurring the lines
Plenty of animosity exists toward the Redskins and its fans, as evidenced by a popular University of Maryland sports message board known as TerpsSportsReport.com.
The posters might love the Terps, but their second favorite past-time is declaring their Sunday allegiance.
Sometimes, it gets downright vicious.
Harding says Ravens fans who were old Colts fans still have a lingering resentment toward the Redskins for helping keep a team out of Baltimore for 13 years. “I?ve seen that in practice,” he said.
When the Colts hightailed their way to Indianapolis, some Baltimoreans said they weren?t jumping on the Redskins 1980s dynasty train down in Washington. “I would say that 95 percent of the fans went to a team other than the Redskins,” Salveron said.
The message board has fans of both teams who come to talk Maryland football but often get caught into what are called “flame fests” by regular posters.
It?s not uncommon to see a thread comparing the team?s star safeties, Ed Reed of the Ravens and Sean Taylor of the Redskins.
One Ravens fan refers to Washington?s team as the “***skins,” refusing to use the team?s full name ? one that some deem racist.
Tempers flare and testosterone overflows online.
On that message board and in real life, Baltimore fans still let their bad feelings toward the Redskins show.
Stuck in the middle
Anne Arundel and Howard counties receive both Washington and Baltimore stations, ensuring fans see both Redskins and Ravens games. Both counties also are the NFL-designated marketing property of the Ravens.
While the Redskins don?t force the issue in these markets, the Ravens aggressively are pursuing both counties in hopes of locking up not only future fans but also ? and more importantly ? local businesses.
“I think we have been experiencing some growth in those counties,” said Ravens president Dick Cass, who points to the rising number of fan groups as well as hits on the team?s official Web site as signs of inroads.
“I believe fans have no problem finding the team, given the state of the Internet these days,” Redskins spokesman Karl Swanson said. “The best marketing tool we have, as does every other NFL team, is a winning record. That?s what we shoot for.”
Each county?s biggest cities, Annapolis and Columbia, are a tad closer to Baltimore than Washington. Unofficial Ravens fan groups are sprinkled throughout each county, giving the impression that there are more Ravens fans.
Take a stroll through Dick?s Sporting Goods at the Columbia Crossing shopping complex and Ravens jerseys prominently hang above their Redskins counterparts. In some parts of the store, Redskins and Ravens merchandise sits side by side.
Store apparel manager Rebeccah Perkins said she sells equal amounts of Redskins and Ravens products, “just because we?re in the middle.”
Despite the Ravens placement and closer proximity, something surprising is happening.
“The Redskins? stuff has sold faster [than the Ravens?] so far this year,” said Perkins, who can?t explain why.
A clerk at Pro Image, a sports jersey store at Arundel Mills Mall in Hanover said he sells more Redskins and Cowboys jerseys, adding the Marley Station Mall version in Glen Burnie sells vast amounts of Ravens jerseys.
The Arundel Mills Modell?s Sporting Goods says they sell equal amounts of Redskins and Ravens merchandise.
The Ravens (first place in the AFC North) are rolling toward the playoffs, while the Redskins are dead last in the NFC East and mired in a losing season.
Still, the Redskins are winners at the ticket booth and have become America?s most valuable sports franchise, worth more than a billion dollars.
However, Perkins said she knows both teams will have empty shelves come December because of holiday shopping.
Serio says the Redskins have just been around longer. If the Ravens contend for another Super Bowl, it could swing those counties back toward Baltimore.
“I tell you what, if the Colts would not have left, there?s no way they [the Redskins] would outsell them,” Serio said.
Fighting for one market
The Ravens have more of a non-sanctioned presence in both Howard and Anne Arundel counties. Linebacker Adalius Thomas co-hosts a weekly show from Michael?s Pub in Columbia, and teammates regularly make on-site radio appearances at both Modell?s Sporting Goods and Dave and Buster?s at Arundel Mills Mall.
Laurie Schwadron, a bartender at the Green Turtle in Laurel, sees a mix of Ravens and Redskins fans at the restaurant on Sundays but says patrons are more likely to be chanting “Hail to the Redskins” than getting pumped up over Ray Lewis? pregame dance.
“We have fans of all teams here on Sundays, but people definitely lean toward the Redskins,” Schwadron said.
This differs from the recently opened Green Turtle in Columbia, which is more purple and black than burgundy and gold. A sea of Ravens fans wearing number 52 jerseys jumped wildly in the air ? nearly knocking over drinks when the Ravens beat the Titans in the final seconds last week.
Steve Stofberg, who used to co-host Thomas? show and also did a weekly show at the Arundel Mills Modell?s said he saw more Ravens fans in the mall and store.
“We had one regular Redskin fan who would come in and watch the show,” Stofberg said, adding Ravens fans gave him grief. “But he took everything in stride.”
The Redskins, who seem confident in their Howard and Anne Arundel fan base, apparently don?t feel it?s necessary to track them. (The team doesn?t break down season-ticket holders by county.)
But Swanson insisted: “We have a lot of fans in those Maryland counties.”
The Ravens say that during a three-game stretch in 2003, a study by Turnkey Sports FanTrak showed that home attendance drew 11.58 percent of its 70,000 fans weekly from Anne Arundel County, which was second to Baltimore County?s 40.37 percent. Howard County made up 6.47 percent.
The Ravens have about 64,000 season ticket holders.
The Redskins own the marketing rights in Prince George?s and Montgomery counties ? where roughly one-third of Maryland?s population resides ? in addition to Washington and Northern Virginia. Essentially, the clubs use those marketing rights to distribute their logos to beer sponsors and other local business as a way to stamp their presence in the communities.
The future market
Complaints from Ravens fans who live relatively close to Baltimore but can?t get the team?s games on TV haven?t fallen on deaf ears.
The Ravens hope to change that by asking the NFL to make the Washington-Baltimore area one television market, much like New York City is with the Giants and Jets.
Frederick County, which is in the Ravens marketing territory, has Washington TV stations but lacks the Baltimore stations, according to the team.
“I think it?s very important that our fans have an opportunity to watch our games,” Cass said. “And if you?re a Redskins fan and you?re 30 miles from FedEx Field and can?t see their games, that?s also extremely frustrating.”
For their part, the Redskins are non-chalant.
“The Ravens haven?t talked to us about that, so we don?t know what their thinking may be,” Swanson said.
Until the NFL makes a move, Salveron said he and other Ravens fans in Bowie are looking for an escape from the Redskins? blitz.
“I don?t know if [Ravens fans] are intimidated,” Salveron said. “They?re just so inundated with the Redskins.”
Cooke?s name still burns
If you mention the name Jack Kent Cooke, you?re likely to see Baltimore fans retch. The late Redskins owner, fans say, did his very best to sabotage Baltimore?s bids for a team from 1984 to 1995, most notably during the 1993 expansion process that resulted in teams in less-proven markets like Charlotte and Jacksonville.
“I don?t care much for that team because of Jack Kent Cooke,” said Dave Serio, who hosts a radio show on 680 WCBM and also operates an automotive shop in Bel Air.
In the time between the Colts left town and the Ravens arrived from Cleveland, Baltimoreans were given both a United States Football League and Canadian Football League teams, mere distractions for NFL-pining Baltimoreans.
Throughout the 1990s, Cooke was determined to build a new stadium for his team, which had been playing inside Washington at rickety Robert F. Kennedy Stadium. He shopped his stadium plans around to Northern Virginia before ultimately landing in Landover in Prince George?s County. He signed a land deal near Laurel Park horse racing track in 1994. The town, which serves as almost a middle-ground for Baltimore and Washington was a little too close for comfort for Charm City football fans ? some who led protests saying it would seal Baltimore?s fate as Washington?s little football brother.
“Most Baltimoreans that do not like the team would have preferred them to go to Virginia,” Serio said.
Of course, nothing galled Baltimore fans worse than a post-expansion interview in 1993 with former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue. After declaring Jacksonville the second town for expansion, Tagliabue was asked what Baltimore should do with the money set aside for a potential stadium.
Tagliabue?s flippant response, “Build a museum,” still burns deep for Baltimore football fans.
His comment was not surprising. Tagliabue had lived in Washington for over two decades before becoming commissioner and was a Georgetown graduate who many believed did Cooke?s bidding. ? Matt Palmer
Redskins and Ravens head-to-head
» Oct. 26, 1997- Ravens win, 20-17
» Oct. 15, 2000- Redskins win, 10-3
» Oct. 10, 2004- Ravens win, 17-10
| REGULAR SEASON RECORDS SINCE 1996 | ||
| Year | Ravens | Redskins |
| 1996 | 4-12 | 9-7 |
| 1997 | 6-9-1 | 8-7-1 |
| 1998 | 6-10 | 6-10 |
| 1999 | 8-8 | 10-6 |
| 2000 | 12-4 | 8-8 |
| 2001 | 10-6 | 8-8 |
| 2002 | 7-9 | 7-9 |
| 2003 | 10-6 | 5-11 |
| 2004 | 9-7 | 6-10 |
| 2005 | 6-10 | 10-6 |
| 2006* | 8-2 | 3-7 |
| Total | 86-83-1 | 80-89-1 |
