Alex Figueiredo was supposed to be on a romantic getaway weekend in the Poconos with his wife, Barbara. But instead of enjoying a candlelight dinner and sipping champagne with the love of his life of 30 years, Figueiredo spent Saturday having an affair: with the Ravens.
Figueiredo, 51, of Baltimore, made the 11-hour drive with his lifelong friend, Carl Beard, from Baltimore to Nashville to watch the Ravens face the Titans — and Barbara Figueiredo, and Beard’s wife, Beanie, spent the weekend in the Poconos together.
“We made our reservations for Tennessee right after the Ravens beat the Dolphins in the wild card game,” Figueiredo said. “My wife was very understanding. She’s having a great time this weekend and so are we.”
Figueiredo and Beard were just two of the thousands of Ravens fans that flocked to Nashville this weekend, including many of who already paid hundreds of dollars to go to Miami. Bars, restaurants and hotels in Music City were packed with Ravens fans, who still were giddy knowing their team was two wins away from going to the Super Bowl a year after winning just five games.
“I got a call during the Dolphins game about going to Nashville and I went with it and decided to figure out how to handle the rest of the arrangements later,” said Luke Sinnen, 27, of Columbia.
Sinnen drove to Nashville with his father-in-law, Jay Underkoffler, brother-in-law, Craig Underkoffler and longtime friend Mike Olischuk. The quartet sat in section 304 and arrived at LP Field with four coolers filled with food and beer.
“We just enjoyed the run this season,” said Jay Underkoffler, 56, of Finksburg. “We had to make this trip because we haven’t enjoyed watching this team this much in a long time. We now finally have an offense that can match the defense.”
Brian and Mona Karsseboom said they had to make the trip to support their team. The Glen Burnie couple are part of a contingent of fans from the Baltimore Tailgators Society to go to the game. The non-profit tries to support several of the Ravens players’ charities throughout the year.
In all, more than 50 fans joined the Karssebooms in Lot F and tailgated for hours before the game, enjoying barbecue, hamburgers and wings — and not even a steady rain could dampen their spirits before the game.
“We’ve been with the team through the good times and the bad times and we had to show the Ravens what this season meant to us,” Mona Karsseboom, 41, said. “We just wanted to ride this season out no matter how far they go.”
