Anybody making book on how 2009 will treat the world would be giving long odds against it being better than 2008. And ’08 was terrible. But odds aren’t everything.
Consider our Ravens. All the experts predicted a weak season.
A new head coach who had never been an NFL head coach before. First and second-string quarterbacks sidelined by injury and illness. The backup an untested beginner from a second-tier college. A bunch of veterans considered way past their prime, and rookies considered less than superstar material.
Nobody forecast an 11-5 season with a decisive victory in a wild-card playoff game after a 5-11 record the year before.
Surely back in August nobody dared whisper that in January our team would be one game away from the Super Bowl, playing a team that barely beat us in regular-season overtime. Some building year, huh?
So when the Ravens hit the Tennessee Titans Saturday in the AFC divisional league playoffs in Nashville, just remember they weren’t even supposed to be anywhere near there.
Not only are they there, the mighty Titans — who made the playoffs last year — get only three points from the oddsmakers. Shucks, with us having Matt Stover, that’s even.
Ravens beat the experts and the odds. How? Magic? Wishful thinking? Billion-dollar bailout?
Not exactly. What they did is “what a team does,” according to coach John Harbaugh. “We’ve got 53 guys on this roster that are very, very valuable to our football team. In the locker room, on the field, everybody is a star or nobody’s a star. That’s what our guys have been talking about all year.”
Harbaugh, his staff and the entire team had every chance to make excuses. Instead, they played the game.
Is anybody interested in learning a lesson from our team? The world, America, Maryland and all its constituent parts are floundering.
The odds are against us. That doesn’t mean we have to roll over. Let’s just jump into the new year and play the game.
When we’re cheering our Ravens on Saturday, we can remember how they got there against all odds.
