| | | I don't know if I could pass a trivia quiz on the Baltimore Ravens.
|  | | Hall of Fame quarterback Johnny Unitas delivered Baltimore its first NFL championship. |
You might not expect that from me, a movie director who so loved the Baltimore Colts that I made supporting the team an integral part of my 1982 film "Diner." You might think that because I included a scene about a Baltimore fan refusing to marry his fiancée until she passed a Colts trivia quiz, at the very least I should know all the players on today's Baltimore team.
Well, I haven't memorized the roster yet, but that doesn't mean the Ravens don't enjoy my wholehearted loyalty. How I watched last week's game should convince you of that. Shooting scenes on the West Coast for my next film, "Bandits," I couldn't make it to the game or even to my living room TV. I managed to hook up our video playback monitor so I could watch the game, but without an antenna the contraption was useless. So, I had to get a crew member to climb on top of a parking structure just so we could get a signal down in the alley that served as our makeshift sports den.
So you see, I am a Ravens fan. It just takes time to build the kind of devotion that the Colts inspired. My dad got season tickets when the Colts first came to town, and those teams were an enormous part of my childhood. In those days, a lot of the players lived in Baltimore full-time, and we were so immersed, so involved in the team.
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In 1984, the Colts bolted to Indianapolis, leaving crushed fans in their disastrous wake. I still followed the team, but now I hoped they would lose every game, that everything they did would fail. I was a vengeful fan. Taking that team away from Baltimore, stealing out of the city in the middle of a snowy, wintry night -- it was truly horrendous. ” |
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— Barry Levinson |
Of course, that wasn't because of their winning record. My first memory of a Colts game? A miserable 54-0 loss, or something like that. No question, they weren't very good.
But there was plenty of entertainment anyway. I remember watching intrasquad games in which Buddy Young, a short, speedy halfback, raced against the Colts' mascot, Dixie the horse. Young beat Dixie in the 40-yard dash. At another game, the 1956 quarterbacks were lined up to throw footballs through rubber tires. The announcer introduced George Shaw and the new guy, John "Unit-ess." Baltimore had yet to meet its football salvation, the man who would become my favorite Colt.
Unitas had this coolness about him. He really was a field general. He could throw an interception or he could throw a touchdown pass, and you couldn't tell which by the way he walked off the field. Unitas never seemed defeated, making him almost mythical in his own time.
In 1958, Unitas led the Colts to the world championship, and suddenly they were coming into their own. I didn't get to go to the game, but I remember watching the Colts the summer before that season at their Westminster, Md., training camp. Most players had deserted the practice field, but Unitas lingered to throw more passes to Raymond Berry. They were working long after everyone else went home, and their sacrifices turned the Colts into the first championship team the city had. We beat New York on the football field, and that was important to us.
Colts fans enjoyed 26 more years of football before the sky fell down. In 1984, the Colts bolted to Indianapolis, leaving crushed fans in their disastrous wake. I still followed the team, but now I hoped they would lose every game, that everything they did would fail. I was a vengeful fan. Taking that team away from Baltimore, stealing out of the city in the middle of a snowy, wintry night -- it was truly horrendous.
|  | | Unitas he ain't, but Trent Dilfer's doing just fine for Baltimore. |
But the low point was still to come. For 12 years, the NFL promised Baltimore an expansion team, but the years kept slipping away. When expansion finally did take place, Baltimore was passed over for Carolina and Jacksonville. I began to believe the NFL never kept its promises and my city would never get a team.
But when it did, I supported the Ravens all the way. How could I not? We have Ray Lewis, one of the game's great players. The defensive unit has become cohesive under his leadership, and he's truly become dominant in a way that's really exciting. He seems to be everywhere on the field at all times.
What's more, we're looking at a great defensive ballclub that also scores points. This is a young team that defines playing together. They beat Tennessee two out of three times, twice in Nashville. They only gave up three points to the Broncos, a team that usually scores 30. And last week they completely shut down the Raiders offense. I think we're in a good position for Sunday.
To be truthful, it was a little hard to get used to the idea of a new team. The colors are different, the emblems are different. There was a storied history with the Colts that can't be forgotten. But not everything has changed. Baltimore's new history with the Ravens still has ties to the past.
For instance, within five years of Baltimore receiving an NFL franchise in 1953, the Colts were playing the New York Giants for the world championship. Within five years of Baltimore receiving an NFL franchise in 1996, the Ravens will be playing the New York Giants for the Super Bowl. That 1958 Baltimore team won in what has been described as the greatest NFL game ever played. The 2000 Baltimore team? Time will tell, but history's on their side.
Barry Levinson, a Baltimore native, directed "Diner," "The Natural" and "Rain Man."
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