I haven't blogged in a while. I know. But I want to be able to look back years from now and remember how I feel today, the day after the Baltimore Ravens won the Super Bowl. Just pure elation. I can't even describe it. I thought I would cry, but the tears never came. We've been so close for so many years, and now that it's happened, it doesn't feel real.
Towards the end of the regular season, I found myself saying, "It's just not our year." I'm ashamed to admit it, but it's true. Then Ray announced his retirement, and I quickly changed my mindset to, "it
has to be our year." And to think, it was. WOW.
The last quarter of the game, I was physically ill, and we had to put the TV on mute. I just couldn't take one more moment of the circular and self-contradictory rhetoric the sportscasters were spewing all over my eardrums. I get it, it's their job to keep talking, and talking,
and talking. It must be a hard job to keep talking even after you've run out of things to say and been wrong conclusion and prediction alike. But
I could not take another moment of it. So I muted the TV, and was much calmer for it. Not that I was calm
at all.
When that clock hit 0:00, I screamed so hard I was dizzy and saw spots. Joe and I hugged and kissed and high-fived, opened the back door to scream some more in to the darkness, and listen to the joyful reactions of our neighbors. I called my mom so that I could share the moment with her. I let out tearless sobs of jubilation. I kissed my pooch. I watched the players celebrate on the TV, and recognized the same incredulous exhilaration I felt all over their faces.
One of the coolest parts of the day was not during the game at all; it was at the grocery store around 3pm to pick up some eggs. Every single person in the grocery store was decked out head-to-toe in their full Ravens regalia. The air was electric with hope and excitement. It was so festive and emotional and just wonderful. Best of all, our players know how much they and their game means to this city and all of us fans. Of course they play the game for themselves, but they do it for us too. I am so proud of all of our men who went out there and fought for something that means so much to all of us. Football is more than just a game here in B-more; it's EVERYTHING. And today, this city has everything and more.
President Obama hosted a small Super Bowl party at the White House yesterday. On the menu were Maryland Crab Cakes and San Francisco Cioppino Stew with Sour Dough Bread. One of the newscasters said this morning, "No wonder the Ravens won!"
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