Broncos' Fans - Petulant and Whining as Ravens' Banners Go Up in Denver

What Broncs' fans are crying over: Giant Joe Flacco Billboard near entrance to Broncos' Stadium

The Denver Broncos' fans are miserable, whining and they aren't going to take it anymore! Not after Baltimore Ravens' QB banners have appeared all over Denver's 16th Street Mall and a giant billboard stands outside Sports Authority Field.  (This is in preparation for the NFL kickoff  game on Sept. 5th between the Ravens and Broncos.) OH BWWAAHAHHHHAAA! Give 'em their sippy cups and change their nappies!

In an interview with Denver radio station 850 KOA, Broncos'  quarterback Peyton Manning said "it doesn't seem like it makes sense that the Denver Broncos have to have an opposing player on their stadium."

Errrrrr....YES it does, Peyton! Because this game originally was designated a BALTIMORE home opener! Not a Denver home opener! (See below).

Via Twitter,  rabid pony fan Vanessa Park wrote: "The fact that there are Joe Flacco posters on the 16th Street Mall is just unbelievable. Marketing fail by the NFL. Way to make people angry!"

Aw, cry me a river!

Another irate  Broncos' fan named Rachel Nicole wrote: "Why in the hell are there Joe Flacco posters all over downtown Denver? Pretty sure he's one of the most hated people in this city."

Rachel, listen while I play the sounds of the world's smallest violin, to the accompaniment of your veil of tears.....mmrmeeoooowooeeoooaooeoooeooowwiiaaah...ouch!

Yeppers, all those whining Broncos' fans recall that double-overtime victory in the AFC divisional-round playoffs where Flacco threw a touchdown pass to Jacoby Jones at the end of regulation behind flailing Broncos safety Rahim Moore. To see a Broncos' fan  'screaming Mimi' losing it over the tying Raven TD at the end of regulation, check out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOeL1D8vMiI


Recall that before that game the hyper-delusional Denver Post sports writers were flapping their gums non-stop on how the Ravens and Ray Lewis would be handed their heads. A few of the offhand comments of the worst offender, Mark Kiszla:

“It’s high time to send Ray Lewis into retirement as a loser!” -  Mark Kiszla, Denver Post, p. 1C, 1/6/13

“The Baltimore Ravens are about as terrifying as parakeets.” -          Mark Kiszla, Denver Post, 1/10/13

“Advice to Broncos: Take the football, give it to Peyton Manning and let Manning shove it down the throat of linebacker Ray Lewis and that over-the-hill Baltimore Defense.”- Kiszla, Denver Post, Jan. 13 column


Despite all that bravado and fulsome bloviating, the Ravens took the game, then went on to beat the Patriots and Niners - showing they are perhaps the toughest team in the NFL. Their smackdown, smack talk, edgy attitude is part of that because they aren't choir boys and take no shit. And they aren't awed or overrun by any QB - whether Manning, Brady or Kaepernick! That said, it's the NFL and its marketing arm sponsored by the league and Pepsi that put up the banners.

NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy noted on Twitter via this photo, there are huge banners of both Flacco and Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning up at Sports Authority Field at Mile High
And there are more signs promoting the rematch at Times Square in New York, via this photo.

It's not as if the Ravens or Flacco have invaded the Broncos' turf and posted these banners independently. It's part of the NFL's marketing plan.

Let's get one other thing straight here, for the benefit of the exercised Ponies' fans: The NFL owes Baltimore and the Ravens LOTS of promotion, even on enemy territory!  How so? Because traditionally the NFL seasonal kickoff game is played on the turf of the Super Bowl winning team.

The problem is that the Sunday opener was in "collision mode" with a home game of the city's baseball team,  the Baltimore Orioles. Despite the fact the Ravens play at a different stadium (M & T Bank Stadium) the traffic congestion in the city would have been a nightmare with over 120,000 people piling out of two stadiums. The Ravens appealed to the NFL to have the game moved to Wednesday, Sept. 4th - to preserve the home opener advantage - but the NFL denied this request on the excuse that the date was a "Jewish holiday". (Never mind that they have absolutely NO problem playing games on Christmas Day!)

This left only the Thursday, the 5th but this also was an Orioles' game date so the NFL shifted (for the first time) the opener to enemy territory: Denver!  Having done that, the NFL owes it to Ravens' fans to make the accommodations as Raven-fan friendly as possible. Hell, as wifey suggested, they damned well ought to be selling Ravens' gear in the Broncos' stadium too, as well as Baltimore style pit beef sandwiches.

What do WE plan to do? Watch it from home fortified with plenty of brats and chicken wings! You need lots of great food when gearing up to see the Ponies bite the dust again!

Barbados Celebrates Its First SuperBowl Champion!

Ravens’ Guard Ramon Harewood: First ever Bajan to be selected to a professional U.S. sports team and earn a championship

As Baltimore’s fans thronged city streets yesterday to celebrate their Ravens (see, e.g. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bal-ravens-super-bowl-victory-parade-pictures-20130205,0,1508294.photogallery, multiple sub-story lines threaded through the main story of the massive Victory Parade which saw more than a quarter million fans lining Baltimore’s downtown streets and 80,000 packed into M&T Bank Stadium to welcome their heroes.


One of the ancillary story lines, of course, is Michael Oher’s first Superbowl championship . Oher - while still in high school in Memphis -was taken in by Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy of Memphis who became his legal guardians. He then went on to play left tackle for the Ole Miss Rebels and is best known for the movie based on his life, featured in the Academy Award-winning 2009 film The Blind Side. The Baltimore Ravens selected him in the first round of the 2009 NFL Draft .


But for Barbadians, the main attraction was their own son of the soil, Ramon Harewood, being picked in the 6th round of the 2010 NFL draft by the same Baltimore Ravens. Ramon (see photo) was born in St.Michael, Barbados – where wifey and I lived for twenty years – and attended Queens College there before going on to Morehouse State College in the U.S. Ramon had virtually no football experience since Barbados has no American football teams, though the Bajans had gradually begun watching NFL games transmitted over their subscription TV.


When Harewood was picked in the 6th round of the 2010 NFL draft, the first time any Barbadian had been selected by a professional team for major sport, it made headlines in Bim. People also began wondering if they might soon see their famous wunderkind (almost as famous as Rhianna in some Bajan sports quarters) also become a world champion. They didn’t have long to wait, as he played a number of games as offensive tackle with the team this year and made it to the SuperBowl. He now has the special Superbowl XLVII ring showing the world his champion pedigree.

Meanwhile, Barbadians are excited to learn that arrangements are currently being formulated by the Barbados Tourist Board to bring Ramon and a number of Baltimore Ravens teammates to the island in April to conduct a football clinic for Bajan kids.  Ramon plans to bring along with him: RB Ray Rice, Torrey Smith (WR and repeatedly mugged on Sunday night by Niners DBs), Michael Oher of Blind Side movie associated fame, and cornerback Ladarius Webb.

This is more than overdue, as other U.S. sports have been around for more than forty years, including basketball – which was taught by fellow Peace Corps volunteers back in 1972.
Some have expressed concern that Barbados is in no position to support such a sport – requiring so much special equipment, pads etc. - given 90% of the island’s youth can barely afford school uniforms. But they miss the point! Football, like other sports, doesn’t HAVE TO be played with pads! Touch or tag football is just as good (ask the Kennedys in the 60s), and in fact more in keeping with Barbados’ resources – including the fact that it means fewer serious injuries which the island would be ill equipped to treat.


The only equipment you need is a rag, tucked in a back pocket, if playing the flag form and a large field – of which there are dozens in Barbados. Personally, I believe tag football teams could even be organized like Mgsr. Pace High did when I went there in the early 60s.


But we will see! The first priority is finalizing the arrangements for the football clinic in April so kids can learn the game from the Ravens’ pros.

Meanwhile, it’s come to my attention the San Francisco Forty-Whiners are still whining. Evidently, Head  Coach Jim Harbaugh is still defending his sideline tantrums and Frank Gore – not long after the 4th quarter’s final play, blurted: “WE were the better team!”

Uh, hate to break this to you, Frankie, but that was maybe only on paper, but not in the game itself. Y’all were dominated for two quarters and it likely would have been four had you not benefitted from a serendipitous time delay that allowed you to gather your wits. Instead of behaving ungraciously you’d do better to look at the game tapes again and see how the Baltimore O-line overpowered your D, and made plays you couldn’t stop. Meanwhile, the Ravens’ D stopped your O when it really counted.

Maybe next year….. or not! (Hopefully, the Pack comes back next year!)


See also: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/barbados-congratulates-ramon-harewood-first-ever-nfl-player-from-the-island-189416041.html