It's Tough Being a True Fan

A week ago, as the Ravens were preparing to play the New England Patriots on Monday Night Football, all I really wanted was for my Ravens to not embarrass themselves once again in front of a national TV audience. Once they played the way the fans had expected them to play all season long in that game, we thought perhaps this team was regaining its 2006 form and would play well the rest of the season. Therefore, when the hated Indianapolis Colts came to town, we drank the kool-aid and thought, hey, if we can come this close to beating the Pats and the Pats beat the Colts, then perhaps....

Yes, it's nice to dream, isn't it? And dream I did, after drinking the kool-aid all week long I actually picked the Ravens to upset the Colts last night. Unfortunately, I forgot to tell the Ravens, who must be like my dogs and hate playing in the rain! The game was over by the middle of the first quarter, as the Colts rolled to an easy 44-20 win, which was nowhere as close as the final score indicated. Peyton Manning and friends were enjoying a snack on the sidelines long before the final whistle blew, and the Ravens scored two meaningless touchdowns after only managing a kickoff return for a TD in the first half. At the same time, however meaningless the final TD was in the last minutes of the game, it meant a lot to a bunch of Ravens fans and especially one Ravens player.

Rookie Troy Smith received his first playing time of the season and responded by taking the Ravens on a scoring drive culminated by a six yard TD run for the first score of his career. He actually looked pretty decent, showed off a rocket arm, nice touch and ran the ball hard down at the goal line. Perhaps now that the season is long past salvaging and Kyle Boller has proven over and over again that he is not the answer for this franchise's future, Smith will get entended looks before the season's end.

Next week the Ravens head to Miami, where the winless Dolphins must be salivating while awaiting the free falling Ravens. This will be their final and best chance at a victory this season, as the Ravens always seem to find a way to lose on the road. Wouldn't that be the final dagger in this team's season, to lose to a winless team while almost beating an undefeated one!?

Ouch.