Estella Yellowdy was so eager for four single-game Ravens football tickets that went on sale at 9: 40 a.m. yesterday that she showed up 24 hours early, sleeping on the concrete Friday night under the watchful eye of a couple of rowdy guys from Odenton.

In contrast, Rick McAlister and Robert Geller arrived from Essex and Dundalk at 10 a.m., after sales had begun, hoping to buy two seats to any of the seven regular-season games on the schedule.

In between were hundreds of fans, mostly men with young children in tow, awed by the commotion, music and dancing of the Ravens band and cheerleaders along the shady Russell Street side of the huge new stadium.

Malik Curtis, 3, waited patiently with his father, Oscar, 32, who wanted six tickets to see the Indianapolis Colts, or maybe the Oakland Raiders -- or even the Detroit Lions. The solemn child attracted the attention of cheerleaders, who danced with him on the sidewalk while he waited.

The team put 6,000 end-zone tickets per game on sale at $30 and $35 each, except for the Sept. 6 home opener. Unsold tickets to that game were offered first to holders of personal seat licenses, who pay a fee for the right to buy season tickets. PSL owners bought all of the tickets.

The Ravens Nov. 29 grudge match against the Colts was clearly the hottest attraction.

Earl Lewis, 36, and Dave Chamberlain, 43, both of Odenton, were in high spirits just behind Yellowdy as they waited with their friend John Williams, 34, of Brooklyn.

Lewis, wearing a black baseball batting helmet decorated with Ravens symbols, said his buddies were itching to "boo the Colts back to Indianapolis."

At the end of the day, Ravens ticket manager Roy Sommerhof said more than 13,000 tickets had been sold, leaving fewer than 29,000, including about 1,000 upper-deck end-zone seats for the battle with the Colts.

Pub Date: 8/16/98