Baltimore's Infatuation with the Colts....

Thursday I was having lunch with one of my colleagues at Henry James Bar-B-Que and in between our random chatter about work we started discussing football. Me being a Baltimore native, he wanted to know why "Ravens fans" STILL have such hatred for the Colts organization. I am not one to speak for an entire city or fanbase, especially considering the Colts left Baltimore before I was even born. But I do have an opinion on it and based on what I do know, here is basically what I told him:

1) I hate that Ravens fan automatically equals bitter ex-Colts fan in the eyes of some people. Dont get me wrong, I hate the Colts just like most other Ravens fans but it is not because they left Baltimore. Again, I wasnt even alive when the Colts were in Baltimore to be bitter about them leaving.
Now am I bitter about the 8 straight losses, some down right embarassing blowouts, that the Ravens have suffered at the Colts hands? ABSOLUTLY.

The other problem that I have with this is that the Pittsburgh Steelers and Washington Redskins both have sizeable fanbases in Baltimore, probably smaller than they once were but they are there. Not all former Baltimore Colts fans have converted to being Ravens fans. I know for a fact that there are former Colts fans in both those fanbases that are just as bitter about the Mayflower trucks.

2) I could be very wrong about this but I think in general people have moved on. I dont think there are many former Colts fans that are still crying for the team to return to Baltimore. I think the issue now is the history of the Baltimore Colts being credited to another city. My grandfather, a former Baltimore Colts fan who has been a card carrying member of terrible towel nation for as long as I can remember explained it to me like this:

Its like when a man (Baltimore City) finds a wife (Colts organization), they settle down and have some good years. They make memories and start a family (HOF players and championships). And then the marriage gets rocky and things get really ugly, until one night said wife just decides to load everything into a Mayflower moving truck and run off with a new man (Indianapolis), leaving her ex-husband with nothing and allowing his kids to be raised by her new husband.

Now it takes a while for the ex-husband to move on but eventually he settles down and he remarries (Ravens). He makes some good memories in his new marriage and starts another family. The hatred for his ex-wife begans to fade except when the subject of his children with his ex-wife comes up. He wants his children back but his wife, her new husband and the judge (NFL HOF) wont give them back. So, no matter how much he loves his new wife and his new kids, he will always love the children from his first marriage just as much and hate his ex-wife for taking them away.

So, basically what I told my colleague is that, in my opinion, if the Colts gave back the champions and seperate the Baltimore Colts history from the Indianapolis Colts history, the off the field tension between the city of Baltimore and the Colts organization, would eventually die. The Colts will still be hated but it will be because of how they play vs the Ravens. Not because the people of the city feel slighted.