Baltimore Week: What they are saying in Baltimore

[membengal]

So, not sure any of you know or if I mentioned it on this board, but after 11 years of calling Memphis home (13 in Tennessee total with the first two years in Nashville), I moved to Baltimore on August 1. I come by my Bengals penance honestly, having grown up in Cincy, remember watching games first as a six year old somewhere around 1976. I am old enough to have fully enjoyed both Super Bowl runs.

At any rate, this is my first time in 38 years on this earth living in the city of a division foe.

So perhaps you all are interested in the local chatter. If so, read on throughout the week. Consider this my shout out to Duus, wherever he might be.

What I can tell you as of 8:30 pm on Tuesday night:

---Baltimore fans remain obsessed with the Steelers. It is unseemly. The Bengals don't merit much mention at all on local radio, even with the game coming up. The general consensus among talk show hosts and callers is this week's game is a gimme. They expect no resistance, and are looking ahead, in large measure to the Vikings in two weeks.

---Baltimore fans are on hour 52 heading to hour 53 of a community and region wide bitch session over the refs from Sunday's loss to New England. Not saying they don't have a right to be upset over some of the calls that protected Brady, but, damn, nut up, people. That wasn't why Baltimore lost that game, no matter how much you all try to spin it that way. Turn on a local radio show, and the calls are still 80% complaining about the refs, 15% talking about how awesome the Ravens are and looking ahead to their games with Pittburgh later this year, and perhaps 4% worrying a bit about their defense and spitting venom at Mark Clayton for the 4th down drop to "lose the game". Around 1% mention the Bengals up to this point in the week, even with a game with a 3-1 division foe looming. So, yeah, the fanbase is not real worried about this one.

---Not much chatter from the team yet, what little there has been has involved the organization protesting the calls from Sunday to the league office. Notice a theme? I can't imagine Harbaugh won't have them focused come Sunday, but they are still living a bit in the very recent past as of Tuesday night.

---Heard scattered chatter tonight on a few of the shows that Gaither is indeed out this weekend. For what it's worth.

So, to recap, as of tonight, (1) angry with refs (2) taking win this weekend for granted (3) discussing what Steelers are up to.

More tomorrow night.

[COB]

I have fond memories of their Monday Night game against the Patriots in '07, when their defense melted down at the end of the game. The issue then? Officiating. I recall one of their linebackers picking up a penalty flag and whipping it through and out of the endzone, as they incurred a series of unsportsmanlike conduct calls.

I enjoyed their intensity. It was fun to watch someone else's team lose all it's composure, along with whatever chance they had left to win the game. I also enjoyed listening to them yammer about a league conspiracy to give the Patriots homer-type officiating on their march to an undefeated season, because I'm about 55% on-board with such thinking.

Really enjoy hearing the perspective from someone in Baltimore, and I hope their players are still focused on last week's officiating and not the Bengals. I doubt it though.

[volcom69]

Poor Duus i miss him around here, i wonder where he is?

Anyways thanks for the heads up mem, and well maybe this means they will be looking past us on game day.....i doubt that though lol.

[bwillycuse]

awesome Mem - Keep it up.

Guess we need to go into BMore and demand the respect

Heck, looking at their schedule. I hope they are looking past us. They could be 3-3 going into their bye after Peterson breaks that 100 yrd streak.

5 Oct 11 CIN @ BAL

6 Oct 18 BAL @ MIN

7 Bye

8 Nov 01 DEN @ BAL

9 Nov 08 BAL @ CIN

10 Nov 16 BAL @ CLE

11 Nov 22 IND @ BAL

12 Nov 29 PIT @ BAL

13 Dec 07 BAL @ GB

[Pidge]

Interesting, especially to hear the players still bleating. The fans I can understand but c'mon. Move on, just one game and so on and so forth.

[BengalszoneBilly]

So, not sure any of you know or if I mentioned it on this board, but after 11 years of calling Memphis home (13 in Tennessee total with the first two years in Nashville), I moved to Baltimore on August 1.

So can I call you "baltibengal" now?

I briefly considered "bengalmoreon", but that hardly seemed fitting.

[membengal]

But prob fitting.

I considered a name change, but, I am set in my ways, and change comes hard.

membengal it will remain.

[BengalszoneBilly]

But prob fitting.

I considered a name change, but, I am set in my ways, and change comes hard.

membengal it will remain.

So be it.

[Stripes]

Awesome stuff, mem. Nice.

Smells like a trap game for Baltimore, which is incredibly odd when the game is for the division lead.

[HoTbOy]

Before the comeback against the Steelers, HWard was saying same ol' Bengals, so maybe BMore thinks the samething...I can understand them wanting to get at the Steelers, losing to them 3x last year and for a trip to the SB, they think of us as what we thought about The Browns before the game...So if they are overlooking us that can only be a good thing for us...

[Arizona]

Don't confuse the fans with the team. The joy of being a fan is we can over react and be crazy and look ahead to far away games. Having listened to Harbs in his press conferences, there is no way this team is looking ahead and overlooking the Bengals.

[Stripes]

Don't confuse the fans with the team. The joy of being a fan is we can over react and be crazy and look ahead to far away games. Having listened to Harbs in his press conferences, there is no way this team is looking ahead and overlooking the Bengals.

Unfortunately I think you're right. That's a disciplined Ravens football team and I'd be surprised if they made such a trivial error in preparation as to focus on the wrong opponent.

[membengal]

Arizona, I didn't say the players were looking past cincy, these reports are intended to be broader than that, a window into what is being said generally about the game locally.

What little has been said about cincy has focused on the receiving corp. The locals still respect what the bengals have. There is some frustration locally w/ the ravens for not shoring up their own receiving corp, which got magnified on sunday with the clayton drop. On drive in to work this morning, didn't catch any game specific chatter on 1370 (rob long show) or on 105.7 (the fan). Hockey and soccer talk, strangely enough...

[Arizona]

After clarification, let me agree with you. Let me offer that I also think most Ravens fans, while passionate, don't know the difference between a screen pass and a screen door.

[membengal]

Things I learned on the afternoon drive home today (Wed) courtesy the afternoon drive on 1370, Jerry Coleman and somebody or other:

---There is NO way the Bengals can win, and to think they can is laughable

---Their callers (and the hosts) remain fixated on the refs

---Per the Ravens locker-room, so are the Ravens to some extent. Lots of ref questions.

---They had Dave Lapham on, and insisted on talking about CJ with him for five minutes, trying to get Lapham to slag on Johnson.

---It is clear they view the Bengals as a massive joke who don't belong on the same field with the Ravens.

Weird, 2007 must seem like a LONG time ago to Ravens fans.

Karma, f**kers.

[Pidge]

I <3 Arizona's avatar.

[membengal]

I have come to better understand Duus' frustration with living in Pittsburgh.

[HoosierCat]

I have come to better understand Duus' frustration with living in Pittsburgh.

No different anywhere else. I'm up in the Chicago area and like I mentioned in another thread, caught the espn 1000 "afternoon saloon" clowns talking about the Bengals after they beat GB. Did the Bears now have to worry about the game in Cincinnati? Nah. That win was all GB "going to sleep" after a big win over "da Bears."

[Pidge]

The rival team aside, the weekend I spent in Balt a few yrs back, God almost a decade ago now - I'm getting old, it seemed like a nice city. It could be Cleveland. No upside there at all.

[membengal]

I have come to better understand Duus' frustration with living in Pittsburgh.

No different anywhere else. I'm up in the Chicago area and like I mentioned in another thread, caught the espn 1000 "afternoon saloon" clowns talking about the Bengals after they beat GB. Did the Bears now have to worry about the game in Cincinnati? Nah. That win was all GB "going to sleep" after a big win over "da Bears."

A little different, I will wager, being that it is a division foe. Twice a year, familaiarty, contempt (or in this case, nothingness) and all that. At least with the Bears, that is a once every four years diss...

[HoosierCat]

I have come to better understand Duus' frustration with living in Pittsburgh.

No different anywhere else. I'm up in the Chicago area and like I mentioned in another thread, caught the espn 1000 "afternoon saloon" clowns talking about the Bengals after they beat GB. Did the Bears now have to worry about the game in Cincinnati? Nah. That win was all GB "going to sleep" after a big win over "da Bears."

A little different, I will wager, being that it is a division foe. Twice a year, familaiarty, contempt (or in this case, nothingness) and all that. At least with the Bears, that is a once every four years diss...

True. But imagine all the enjoyment you'll get when we sweep them this year.

[membengal]

Gee, that would be rather enjoyable.

I would sure revel, more than most of you can imagine, in them engaging in a rather unexpected win this weekend. Good lord would that be nice.

[cincyhokie]

Things I learned on the afternoon drive home today (Wed) courtesy the afternoon drive on 1370, Jerry Coleman and somebody or other:

---There is NO way the Bengals can win, and to think they can is laughable

---Their callers (and the hosts) remain fixated on the refs

---Per the Ravens locker-room, so are the Ravens to some extent. Lots of ref questions.

---They had Dave Lapham on, and insisted on talking about CJ with him for five minutes, trying to get Lapham to slag on Johnson.

---It is clear they view the Bengals as a massive joke who don't belong on the same field with the Ravens.

Weird, 2007 must seem like a LONG time ago to Ravens fans.

Karma, f**kers.

It's called a short memory. Most opposing fans are looking strictly at 2008. While we have slid alot since 2005, we've remained relatively competitive since then, except for 2008. As for the Ravens, Palmer is 6-3 against them. What's that? This isn't the same Ravens team as 2007? Nor is it the same Bengals team from 2008.

This is the same team that beat the Steelers, a team the Ravens are itching to beat for the first time in 5 games. To them we are the Bengals that lost to the Browns, the "worst team in the NFL".

2004- We split taking one at Baltimore.

2005- We sweep.

2006- We split winning at home.

2007- We sweep.

2008- They sweep.

6-4. The Ravens have beaten the Browns and Chiefs at home and won a close one in SD. This game is FAR from unwinnable.

It's going to be another hard fought game.

[HoosierCat]

Just as an antidote to all you're hearing mem, you did know that Joe Flacco is a butt-loving-puppet-terrorist, right? Just checking.

[COB]

Just as an antidote to all you're hearing mem, you did know that Joe Flacco is a butt-loving-puppet-terrorist, right? Just checking.

Based on what I read in that link, if America were still on the straight and narrow, Flacco would still be in a dog crate down in Guantanamo. Instead he'll be throwing passes against our Eagle Scouts Sunday. Damn you Obama!