thundercleetz Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Maybe some of the older guys here could give us a little insight on what were the thoughts of this at the time. I had no idea. Many have forgotten after 13years of the Ravens, but in one of the strangest chapters in Baltimore football history, city and state leaders spent the fall of 1987 and the winter of 1988 wooing the St. Louis Cardinals. It might seem odd to have yearned for one of the NFL's least successful franchises and one of its least respected owners, William V. Bidwill. "But you have to look at in the context of the times," says Mark Hyman, a freelance writer who reported on the possible relocation for The Sun at the time. "The Colts had just left, and there was this kind of desperation. This was the first real chance Baltimore had at bringing football back." A local screen-printing shop, Serigraphics, pitched the idea of Baltimore Cardinals T-shirts to the Hutzler's department store chain. Thousands hit the shelves before a cease-and-desist letter from the NFL halted production. "Oh, my gosh, they were selling as soon as we delivered them," Serigraphics president Eric Fondersmith remembers. "People were pulling them out of the boxes. You couldn't even get them on shelves." Anyone have one of these shirts? :lol: Bidwill made several trips to Baltimore. He saw models of the proposed downtown stadium, toured the old Colts training facility in Owings Mills and took a helicopter flight over Camden Yards. Belgrad said the state would consider building the dome Bidwill wanted, and he recruited investment titan Raymond A. "Chip" Mason to convey the business community's thirst for football. Thank goodness this didn't happen, playing football in a dome is horrendous. We would probably be looking for a new stadium right now. http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/footbal...0,4722230.story Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cravnravn Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Come on Cleet, you dont remember that?? Baltimore Cardinal shirts were a plenty, I did not get one though.. I guess you dont remember 1994 then when Mike Brown threaghtened to move the Bengals to Baltimore either?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deeshopper Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 I vaguely remember that, so I doubt cleet will. Was he even alive then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thundercleetz Posted January 25, 2009 Author Share Posted January 25, 2009 Come on Cleet, you dont remember that?? Baltimore Cardinal shirts were a plenty, I did not get one though.. I guess you dont remember 1994 then when Mike Brown threaghtened to move the Bengals to Baltimore either?? LOL, I was an infant As for 1994, I was six years-old. All I remember is asking my mom why the Colts left, and she would always tell me because they were really bad and no one went to the games (granted she didn't really like football, and grew up when the Colts were bad in the late-70s, early-80s). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cravnravn Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 I vaguely remember that, so I doubt cleet will. Thats right, Convertible Barbie was just coming out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForceEight Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 I know about the Cardinals (I didn't know about the Brown story though, Crav), but I obviously don't remember anything about it. I was only seven when the Ravens came to town, so I didn't have enough time to be bred as a Raiders fan like my mother tried to raise me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cravnravn Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Oh yeah, he used Baltimore as leverage to get upgrades, it later turned into a new park for them..How lucky are we, we would of had 2 Orange & Black teams in town that suck dead donkey dicks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BengalBilly Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Come on Cleet, you dont remember that?? Baltimore Cardinal shirts were a plenty, I did not get one though.. I guess you dont remember 1994 then when Mike Brown threaghtened to move the Bengals to Baltimore either?? I don't remember that. Oh yeah, he used Baltimore as leverage to get upgrades, it later turned into a new park for them..How lucky are we, we would of had 2 Orange & Black teams in town that suck dead donkey dicks. Now that was uncalled for! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cravnravn Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 U wernt supposed to see that Billy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ravinmaniac52 Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 All of these kids around here! There may have been a few that wanted Bidwill, just wanted a team back but I think most fans, real fans didn't want anything to do with Bidwill Or Brown with the Cats. I think all Brown did was use us, along with a few others that started talking about a move at that time. I know a guy down the street from at the time had one of the shirts, telling me they were coming. Then when it didn't happen he said the shirt would worth a lot of money! :lol: I have an old blue shirt from 77, that is 1977 for the kids, printed in big letters, "Super Bowl Haven In 77." Oakland Raiders 37, Baltimore Colts 31 (2OT). My worse Christmas ever! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForceEight Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Obviously hindsight is 20/20, and obviously I don't know anything about the situation, but I'd have had no problem with the Cards coming here at that time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cravnravn Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Oakland Raiders 37, Baltimore Colts 31 (2OT). My worse Christmas ever! I spent that Christmas in NE District Lockup... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ravinmaniac52 Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Oakland Raiders 37, Baltimore Colts 31 (2OT). My worse Christmas ever! I spent that Christmas in NE District Lockup... Beat one of them punk Raider fans in the face? The Cards were a good team at one time. When Don Coryell was HC they won the East twice. A few HC came out of there then. Bill Walsh was an OC, I think Sam Wyche was a player then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thundercleetz Posted January 25, 2009 Author Share Posted January 25, 2009 Obviously hindsight is 20/20, and obviously I don't know anything about the situation, but I'd have had no problem with the Cards coming here at that time. That is how I see it as well, minus the addition of a big, ugly dome in downtown Baltimore which probably would be demolished by now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForceEight Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 That is how I see it as well, minus the addition of a big, ugly dome in downtown Baltimore which probably would be demolished by now. Not all domes are bad! I think we'd have been alright. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCEagles Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Not all domes are bad! I think we'd have been alright. Domes in the 80s. All of them are bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForceEight Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 I don't buy it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCEagles Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 I don't buy it. I do Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForceEight Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Dude, it's Indianapolis. Not even inanimate objects want to stay there long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thundercleetz Posted January 26, 2009 Author Share Posted January 26, 2009 Football is just not meant to be played in domes. M&T Bank is how a football stadium is supposed to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BengalBilly Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Football is just not meant to be played in domes. M&T Bank is how a football stadium is supposed to be. I'm not bashing you thunder, but I'll take an NFL game where ever I can get it. From warm and sunny San Diego to frigid Green Bay. Hell, I'll even take a game in that shithole called Hienz Field! Nothing is better than the NFL for me...not even my beloved Nascar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thundercleetz Posted January 26, 2009 Author Share Posted January 26, 2009 I'm not bashing you thunder, but I'll take an NFL game where ever I can get it. From warm and sunny San Diego to frigid Green Bay. Hell, I'll even take a game in that shithole called Hienz Field! Nothing is better than the NFL for me...not even my beloved Nascar. True... I do like that stadium in Arizona a lot though! That and the stadium in Seattle to me seem like the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BengalBilly Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 True... I do like that stadium in Arizona a lot though! That and the stadium in Seattle to be seem like the best. The stadium matters not to me. The game being played in it does. That being said the University of Phoenix Stadium is one class act. I sat there a few weeks ago watching the field inch it's way back inside the dome. A true feat of engineering no doubt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duffdry Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 I guess you dont remember 1994 then when Mike Brown threaghtened to move the Bengals to Baltimore either?? I remember that just about every NFL team with an Old Stadium used Baltimore as a bargaining chip. Baltimore & St. Louis had the best offering for an expansion team in 1995 and should have received the expansion teams. Jacksonville is always fighting with the Jaguars and could be the next to move (LA?). Indirectly, Baltimore helped many teams get new stadiums. Now can we just get the Baltimore Colts History back?!?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cravnravn Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Now can we just get the Baltimore Colts History back?!?! Oh hell, now ya went it did it.. Welcome Aboard, another Pennsylvanian ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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