For Ed Graben, an 800-mile flight to Baltimore from his home in Birmingham, Ala., so he could see his beloved Ravens face the Steelers certainly was worth it.
“I bought the wife a car when I moved so I could keep my season tickets,” said Graben, who moved from Rodgers Forge three years ago. “Why did I come to this game — it’s the Steelers. They suck. Do you even have to ask?”
Graben, 46, who attends four Ravens home games a year, was among thousands of tailgating fans and the 71,502 who crammed M&T Bank Stadium on a chilly, winter evening.
The pregame atmosphere was much more lively than during recent home games, as Ravens fans were flowing with optimism their team would clobber the team they love to hate.
“Everyone wants to see the Steelers die — plain and simple,” said Troy Stratakes, a Cockeysville resident wearing a Joe Flacco jersey and Ravens Christmas hat as he tailgated. “We will dig up the field and bury them.”
Stratakes, 45, said the team’s unexpected success can be attributed to Flacco, a rookie quarterback, and first-year coach John Harbaugh, who has the Ravens on the verge of the playoffs after going 5-11 last season.
“This season has been amazing — literally no one expected this,” he said. “New quarterback, new coach and no one figured we would be where we are.”
Dick Cook, a 55-year-old from Hamilton, kept his tradition alive of attending Baltimore football games dressed like Santa Claus for the past 30 years. Cook, sporting a natural white beard and Santa hat with a Ravens logo and a complete costume from head to toe, said he had special holiday plans for both teams.
“It would be great to make the playoffs but it would be a Christmas present just to win today,” he said. “But the Steelers get reindeer poop for Christmas.”
But just why do Ravens fans hate the Steelers?
“Because they are so smug and that [quarterback] Ben Roethlisberger always brings them from behind with like two minutes left when they should be losing and they come back and win,” said Heather McKenzie, a 33-year-old from Westminster. “It’s irritating.”
But Graben is more concerned with the Ravens’ future, which he envisions will include a trip to Tampa, Fla., in early February to play in Super Bowl XLIII.
“Hell yeah,” he said. “What, are you from, D.C.?”
