The Baltimore Ravens are in the playoffs. And the celebration has already begun.
In between victory cheers and clanking of beer glasses ? the few not being quickly refilled ? the ESPNZone at the Inner Harbor was the place to be for Ravens fans who couldn?t get tickets to the team?s 27-17 playoff-clinching win over the Cleveland Browns.
When asked about the win, Ravens fans were just happy to see the name Baltimore being associated with a winner again.
“If you have to ask that question, you must not be from around here,” laughed Denise Donnelly, a Baltimore resident and Raven fan since 1996. “It?s time for us. We look good and all the pieces are falling together right now.”
Qualifying for the playoffs for the fourth time in team history, the Ravens (11-3) are sailing in uncharted waters, with a chance to not only clinch a first-round bye, but also earn home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. For the die-hard members of the Purple and Black army, this chance to help send their team to the Super Bowl in Miami would be a dream come true.
“Hopefully we got home field, that?s what I?d like to see,” said Jim Chaplin of Abbington, wearing an old Peter Boulware jersey. “[Make] the whole AFC go through Baltimore. Back in 2000 when the lights were all purple and City Hall was all lit up, it would be neat to see that again.”
During what was a closer than expected game against the Browns (4-10), the Raven faithful at ESPNZone were quiet for a large part of the day.
All that changed, when backup quarterback Kyle Boller found an opening and connected with Demetrius Williams on a 77-yard touchdown pass that sparked such a yell from the crowd that a few heads must of turned on Federal Hill.
“He?s a good quarterback,” said Duke Baines, a Ravens fan from New Jersey about Boller. “At the game [the fans got on him], but then he threw a TD pass. I think they are doing a real good job, better than last year.”
A hungry city of purple and black fanswould most definitely agree.
