No Ravens in January Feels…Odd

Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports

It’s finally sinking in, the first January in five years without Ravens post-season football.

Your body just doesn’t quite feel right. Something seems off. You’re out of sync, like the day you went to work without your cell phone. I know how you’re feeling. No Ravens football in January does not feel natural.

Face it, we are spoiled. We haven’t felt this way since January 2008. The Ravens went 5-11 during the 2007 season, signaling the end of Brian Billick and Rex Ryan in Baltimore. Of course, we hired Harbaugh and drafted Flacco soon after!

Some interesting facts about 2008, the last year the Ravens didn’t make the playoffs:

• Gas prices were on a roller coaster ride, starting the year at $3.19 per gallon, peaking at $4.17 in July and ending the year at $1.87!
• Barack Obama defeated John McCain to become the first African-American President in US history.
• The economy, led by the housing crisis, took a nose dive of epic proportions. Bailouts became the norm.
• The US government OK’d the production and marketing of foods derived from cloned animals.
• Fidel Castro stepped down after 50 years of power in Cuba.
• Alicia Keys’ “No One” was number one and Amy Winehouse won a Grammy for Best New Artist.

My, how some things have changed!

So now, it’s January 2014. What’s a Ravens fan to do about this “off” feeling? Oh sure, we’ll survive. But will we ever be the same?

You could sell a kidney, lung, foot, arm and leg and buy a ticket to the Super Bowl, but why bother.

I plan to spend this January rooting against Indianapolis and watching soccer (just kidding).

But let me suggest a cure for the No-Ravens-January Blues: Two words – Vegas, Baby!