In the sea of purple that bordered the practice field at McDaniel College during the Ravens' first workout on Tuesday, Jack Walther was a study in orange and black.
The Joppa resident showed up in his Orioles jersey and cap in what can only be described as a halfhearted attempt to show support for both of Baltimore's major sports franchises on the day when a lot of local fans eagerly turn their attention from baseball to football.
"I'm a homer," he said. "I'm a Ravens, Terps and Orioles fan. I support my local teams."
Well, sort of.
Walther acknowledged that he couldn't stomach the Orioles game Monday night ÃÂÃÂ couldn't watch the last-place O's get beaten for the 10th time in a row by the Toronto Blue Jays, a team that many predicted would finish beneath the Orioles in the American League East.
"I turned on the TV and it was 7-0," he said. "I just turned it off. It was too upsetting."
Of course, this emotional transition has become an annual event. The Orioles are in the midst of their 13th consecutive losing season, and the Ravens appear to be building toward a peak after making back-to-back playoff runs in their first two seasons of the John Harbaugh/Joe Flacco era. Perhaps the only difference is the starkness of the contrast this year.
The Ravens are considered a legitimate Super Bowl contender after adding big-play receiver Anquan Boldin, veteran wide-out Donte' Stallworth and several other complementary veterans. The Orioles still have a chance to finish with the worst record in franchise history and have done little to raise hope of a major turnaround next season.
Frankly, it's a wonder that anyone is still paying attention at all.
The Ravens have become so much the dominant team in the market that they can pretty much call their own shots when it comes to their relationship with the public. For instance, their decision to make autograph areas available only to kids this summer rankled some fans, but there was still a healthy crowd for Tuesday's early morning workout and not a lot of negative reaction to the new autograph policy.
"It seemed to go really well," Ravens vice president Kevin Byrne said. "We only had a couple hundred kids today. Friday [the team's first full workout] will be the real test. We anticipate 5,000 people, and about 2,000 of them will be kids."
This is no great revelation, but the numbers the Ravens draw to watch practice in the steamy heat of Westminster are amazing, especially when you consider that the Orioles have watched their game attendance drop to the point where they sometimes announce little more than 9,000 paid and might not be drawing many more actual bodies for their non-prime regular-season games than the Ravens draw to watch guys work out in shorts.
After talking to some of those fans Tuesday, I wonder if the plight of the Orioles actually serves to increase the expectations that are building up around the Ravens. This is, after all, a parochial town, and the fans can be forgiven for looking to the Ravens to help rebuild their civic self-esteem.
Joe Flacco is OK with that.
"Our expectations are high every year," he said. "We want to go to the Super Bowl and win it. That's what every team wants to do. When other people believe that, it's exciting, because people believe what we believe."
The Ravens have made it easy to believe. They reached the AFC championship game in Flacco's (and Harbaugh's) rookie season, then went back to the playoffs last year and dominated the New England Patriots in a first-round victory at Gillette Stadium. Now, they've upgraded the receiver corps and are looking to get some key players back from injuries, while their most-hated divisional rival will be without star quarterback Ben Roethlisberger for up to six regular-season games.
It was only the first rookie workout, but you could feel the cool breeze of better days, even on a warm morning in Westminster.
Listen to Peter Schmuck on WBAL (1090 AM) on Fridays and Saturdays at noon and with Brett Hollander on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6. Also, check out his blog, "The Schmuck Stops Here" at baltimoresun.com/schmuckblog.
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