Here’s wishing the Orioles empty seats and cold hotdogs tonight!

I still can’t believe the World Champion Baltimore Ravens have to open the season on the ROAD tonight against the Denver Broncos. The right to open the season at HOME is bestowed by the NFL to its League Champion following a Super Bowl victory; but, the Baltimore Orioles robbed the Ravens of that opportunity. Sure, the Orioles front office tried to save face when they said they “tried everything” to accommodate the Ravens and the NFL, but they didn’t “try” hard enough.

After working for the Orioles for two seasons (2005 & 2006) and knowing many of the decision makers and the things that go on in the warehouse….nothing suprises me; but, the Orioles’ front office is C-R-A-Z-Y thinking Baltimore fans will watch Orioles baseball over Ravens football! The Orioles use to be the only show in town, but they are now the “ugly step sister” to the Baltimore Ravens. Two Super Bowl Rings in an 18-year existence will do that to you; but, the Ravens are without a doubt the team that represents everything that is good about Baltimore…not the Orioles.

The Orioles could have played a double-header against the visiting Chicago White Sox on Friday. They could have made it a day to remember Cal Ripken’s 18th anniversary of 2131 and Eddie Murray’s 17th anniversary of his 500th career home run (both games that I remember and attended in Baltimore)…but they didn’t. They could have played a double-header on Saturday, or they could have moved the start time of today’s game up to 4:00pm…or they could have flip-flopped a series with Chicago (home for an away and visa versa) earlier in the season…but they didn’t.

Lastly, they could have even attempted to play both the Ravens’ and the Orioles’ games on the same night at the same time. The Orioles said that having two games at the same time would cause a downtown traffic nightmare, but who are they kidding…the result would have been M and T Bank Stadium full…Oriole Park at Camden Yards empty. Instead, Baltimore fans will have to watch the Ravens kickoff the 2013 NFL season tonight….in DENVER…and the guess here is that Oriole Park will still be empty!

Denver’s fans have been shown all week on National tv and their city is getting all of the national press time and they didn’t even make it to the AFC Title game last year. Their fans have complained all week about life-size Joe Flacco posters hanging on their stadium…stop crying Denver fans and show some class and stop defacing Flacco posters…you are lucky to even be hosting OUR game tonight. Good ol’ John Elway and the Baltimore Orioles struck a deal, I guess. Maybe that’s stretching it a bit; but, what the Orioles did to the Ravens, is just about the worse thing a franchise can do to another who they share the same parking lot with.

I love the Ravens and the Orioles are still my baseball team, but after working for them, I understand why they had so many losing seasons. I just don’t like or respect a lot of the Orioles’ decision makers. Don’t get me wrong, there are still some good and hard-working people in the warehouse…Roger Hayden and Carlos Gollahan come to mind…two individuals who are loyal, underpaid, and under employed. They should both hold much higher positions than what they do…but that’s a topic for another column on another day. The bottom line is the Ravens front office is the most professional and classy organization in sports today and the Orioles are not.

Shame on the Orioles for what they did to the Ravens. Did they not watch the 250,000+ person parade that marched through Baltimore last February? Don’t they understand that they are playing second fiddle to Baltimore’s darling team? Don’t they understand they are (yet again) outraging and jading a fan base who is starting to again support and root for the Orioles again? Why ‘slap’ the Baltimore fan base in the face and “force them” to watch the Ravens on tv rather than having them enjoy the limelight at home?

I wish the Orioles empty seats and cold hotdogs tonight.

GO RAVENS!