THIS IS BIRDTOWN!

*sent to me by my friend Kelsey, which she found on the Ravens sub-Reddit

I don’t think anyone outside of Baltimore can fully appreciate how JACKED UP O’s fans in Baltimore are that our team is FINALLY relevant! (Not even Red Sox fans.) They unveiled a Cal Ripken statue at the Park last night, and the crowd was SOLD OUT for the first time in years. Several of my friends and my mom were at/watching that game, and they all agreed that it was a magical moment coming from behind to whoop the Yankees 10-6.

I’m not going to pretend I’m an O’s fan. My family were all big fans, but I’ve never really been into baseball. I like going to games to yell and have a good time and appreciate the atmosphere of a city coming together to watch a team everyone seems to like by default. (It's like Catholicism in that way (no offense meant, honestly), in that they get you when you're a baby, and you grow up knowing only that way of life.) However, I'm VERY excited lately for the fans (especially my fiancee Steve) who are getting the chance to be justified in their love of the O's. For some, this is the first time in their lives that the Orioles are a winning team. For many, this has been a wait a long time coming.

And the players themselves! It's endearingly adorable how excited they are after every win. High fives and cheers...practical jokes...bro hugs in the locker room...the Orioles players are like Little Leaguers who won the championship. For me, that's the best part in all of this - that after so many discouraging seasons, our players who've given their all finally have a chance to feel good about themselves and be seen as heroes in town. Who knows? Maybe ESPN will take a break from reporting every little thing Tim Tebow does and actually show more than a minute of highlights about our games?! ;)

I don't know if the O's will go to the play-offs. I don't know if they'll win, should they get that opportunity. But for the first time in almost 20 years, there will be more than one sport that Baltimore Orioles fans will be paying attention to in September.

CLARIFICATION:

My friend Audra, who is regrettably a Yankees AND a Steelers fan (and yet we love each other; go figure), had this conversation with me over Gchat about the actual scores of last night's game, as I was too busy watching The Soup and then President Obama's speech to watch the game. [Edited only for grammar.]

Audra:  Just fyi, the Orioles didn't come from behind to win last night, and your blog post is very well written - even if it is from a Baltimore fan's perspective ;)

Nikki:  ;) From what I was told, we were up 6-0 or something, then tied at 6-6, then came back to win 10-6. Then again, my info is from Steve, so :P

Audra:  that's not coming from behind

Nikki:  hahaha I think it is. Semantics

Audra:  They were ahead 4-0, then it was 4-1, then it was 6-1, then we tied in top of the 8th 6-6. Then you made it 10-6 in the bottom of the 8th, and we couldn't do anything in the 9th. You just won. :P

Nikki:  Well, let's face it, last year's O's would've blown the lead and never come back.

Audra:  I had to restrain myself from throwing the remote through the tv, or my laptop across the room.