Comes now another Super Bowl weekend, and Baltimore football fans will sit in their family rooms, in various stages of indifference, more interested in commercials than the game, comforted by kielbasa and kraut, feeling the fading effects of another disappointing Ravens finish.
Another season with the brilliant Lamar Jackson at quarterback and no trip to the big game.
Another long wait until next time.
Woulda. Coulda. Shoulda.
The Super Bowl will be played in Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, a reminder of the last Ravens’ championship. Baltimore, with Joe Flacco at quarterback, won the Lombardi Trophy in the same arena by a different name, the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, 12 years ago.
Does that seem like a long time?
A little perspective: Many fans in many cities would be ecstatic to say their team’s last Lombardi was 12 years ago. (Cleveland, Detroit, Houston and Jacksonville have never been to the Super Bowl.) And, between 1984 and 1996, Baltimore had no NFL team, so no chance of postseason anything. Those were rough years, when a generation of Baltimore boys and girls wandered into the football wilderness in search of teams to follow.
In the 29 seasons since the Cleveland Browns transformed into the Ravens, they went to the Super Bowl twice and won both.
That’s pretty good, all things (including Kyle Boller) considered. But, we have expected more in the Lamar era. We expected Lamar to have taken the Ravens to the big game at least once by now.
So it’s another winter of disappointment for Ravens fans.
And this time, layered over the general disappointment, is the particular one about the Ravens kicker, Justin Tucker. According to the Baltimore Banner, nine massage therapists from five spas have come forward to accuse Tucker of inappropriate behavior between 2012 and 2016. Two spas said they banned him after therapists complained.
Tucker has vigorously denied the accusations, but the accusations appear to be strong.
During the NFL season, Tucker seemed to have lost his kicking edge, but regained it in the final games.
Still, friends who are intense Ravens fans believe he has played his last season here, and they said as much before the Banner stories.
Tucker was certainly the most visible Raven, and a popular one. Most of us only know him from a distance, but from a distance he appeared to be a pleasant guy. He was disciplined and highly skilled in kicking but also trained in operatic singing, qualifying him for stature as a Renaissance man. He came across fun and a little goofy in his Royal Farms commercials.
Was there shock at the accusations?
I’m sure a lot of people were. The level of shock is usually proportional to how much the accused is admired. So we can assume that the stories about Tucker hit hard in Baltimore.
On the other hand, since MeToo, accusations like those against Tucker have become more common, so they carry less shock.
And it’s hard to look at this case without noting strange irony: Across the land, men credibly accused of sexual misconduct face condemnation and the loss of employment and income while a man found by a jury to have sexually abused a woman in a department store dressing room gets to be president. We live in upside down times.
One of the toughest things about life is disappointment — in particular, finding that people we admire or respect did something inappropriate or unlawful, or they failed to display character when it was most needed. All of that is born of idealism and having high expectations, of looking to others for courage, integrity and leadership.
It doesn’t always work out.
There’s a scene about this in a film, “My Favorite Year,” starring Peter O’Toole and set in New York City in 1954. O’Toole plays Alan Swann, a swashbuckling movie star who drinks too much, panics and refuses, at the last minute, to perform on a live television show. Benjy Stone, a young writer played by Mark Linn-Baker, urges Swann to be as courageous as the characters he plays in Hollywood.
“Damn you,” Swann says. “Look at me! I’m flesh and blood, life-size, no larger! I’m not that silly goddamn hero! I never was!”
Replies Stone: “I can’t use you life-size. I need Alan Swanns as big as I can get them! You are that silly goddamn hero!”
All of us have such needs. It’s human nature. We need heroes. We need leaders. We need champions, or at least men and women who aspire to be champions, and not just in sports. We need people to admire and to cheer — not just for their talents but for their integrity and character, their courage and persistence. They inspire us.
As I said and we all know too well, it doesn’t always work out.
One of the toughest parts of life is accepting disappointment — something Ravens fans are dealing with, and something about half the country is feeling right now as events unfold in Washington. Despite how we feel at the moment, there’s always hope that others will come along worthy of our admiration and respect. There’s always hope. There’s always next season.
Upside down indeed, when we elect an anti-American, closet Muslim as prez and follow that by electing as prez, an influence peddling -to -enrich -his- family and himself politician with an addled mind.
A garbage article.
But here you are
Great article ! I used to joke that the ravens win super bowls every 12 years but the streak ended this year shockingly enough. You’re right. We need people in high places we can trust and look up to. Honest politicians like Jack Kennedy though riddled with his private indiscretions but who exuded strength and courage during near “Armageddon times” with the Cuban missile crisis.
Thanks for putting the Ravens not going to the Super Bowl in perspective-at least our team has gone before. In fact, I loved the picture of the Super Bowl ring. Meanwhile, you dealt fairly with the Justin Tucker situation. I wonder if he thought he could get away with it considering the fact the a man who bragged about what crimes he could get away with has now been re-elected to the presidency.
And let’s not forget the prez who “did not have set with that woman” (except orally) and remained in office.
Baltimore will always have Brooks, though. He was a hero in every way. Almost too good to be true. But yet, Brooks was an authentic hero.
All I know is the 2 teams that run out of that tunnel today aren’t the best two, the ravens are the best team and in fact have the best record in football in the 4 years . The only difference is the ravens lose games because they beat themselves and maybe 27 other cities would love to be where the ravens are but the window of opportunity doesn’t stay open forever and the buck for losing has to eventually stop somewhere but I will let every fan make that decision on there own 😃