OWINGS MILLS, Maryland | The pain created by the loss of a professional sports team is a well-known feeling in Quebec with the departures of the Expos and the Nordiques. In Baltimore, too, there was a time when the beloved football team was torn from its fans. Refusing to be confined to silence, it is a fanfare which fought the gloom to succeed in launching the Ravens’ flight after years of emptiness.
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This marching band was the Colts Marching Band which began with the team in 1947 and which has never stopped playing since. The orchestra is obviously part of the decorum in the final for the American Conference finals game against the Chiefs.
At the time, it was more the Baltimore Colts who thrilled the city with two NFL championships in 1958 and 1959, in addition to the Super Bowl in 1970. It was unthinkable that such a prolific team would leave a market who adored him. And yet…
It’s difficult these days to imagine a crueler scenario than what Baltimore experienced on March 29, 1984. In the middle of the night, moving trucks showed up to sneak away with all the team’s equipment. The Baltimore Colts became the Indianapolis Colts.
“Having your team stolen in the middle of the night is ridiculous. To me, this move left a huge stain on the NFL’s record. When I think about it, I still feel resentful. The team was stolen from us and the marching band became a means of resistance. It was our way of saying: How dare you do this to us? Journal the president of the band renamed Baltimore’s Marching Ravens, John Ziemann, during a fascinating interview.
Baltimore’s Marching Ravens President John Ziemann has continued to pursue his passion for 62 years. PHOTO PROVIDED BY BALTIMORE RAVENS
Pain still sharp
When he looks back on the sad events, Mr. Ziemann’s voice becomes shaky. His gaze gazes into our eyes and his teeth clench like fists.
After all, this fanfare is 62 years of his life serving the fans who felt the pain just like him.
“You know what it’s like to lose a team. Besides, I always believed that the Expos should have stayed in Montreal. They had no business near here in Washington,” he slips in passing.
“When you own a team that the community loves and you send that team somewhere else, there is nothing to justify. You are 100% wrong,” he says.
For an expansion team
In front of 71,000 fans during Ravens games, the members of the marching band put on a show. PHOTO PROVIDED BY BALTIMORE RAVENS
Fortunately for Baltimore, the NFL returned, after 12 years of toil. However, it took a lot of conviction to resist the urge to give up and this is where the brass band played its role by never putting away its instruments.
“There was a lot of anger and we could have organized protests. There could have been riots. We could have burned things. We chose another path, which is that of music. We had to continue to entertain people,” confides Mr. Ziemann.
In addition to playing at various events around town, the marching band began performing at halftime at various NFL stadiums at the time.
The indestructible group even participated in concerts in support of the construction of a new stadium in Baltimore in order to attract an expansion team.
In the early 1990s, the city suffered another blow when Carolina and Jacksonville were chosen for league expansion.
“We deserved a team, but the league didn’t want to know. At that point, I told my wife that I had had enough. She told me that we had not put our savings into keeping this fanfare alive to stop everything,” he says, still emotional.
Goal achieved
The Ravens marching band marches before each game through downtown, heading toward M&T Stadium. PHOTO PROVIDED BY BALTIMORE RAVENS
It wasn’t until 1996 that Baltimore inherited the Ravens, when the Cleveland Browns moved. Obviously the return of football to the city is primarily due to political negotiations.
Somewhere, however, this “marching band”, which continued to campaign by playing for 12 years without a team, kept the flame burning.
“When then-owner Art Modell wanted to convince the league to return to Baltimore, the commissioner asked him if the city would support the team. He said, ‘Sure, look at their band that’s still playing all these years,'” recalls John Ziemann, amused by the anecdote.
“We could never have afforded a team, but the marching band was a catalyst for showing fan support,” he says.
No wonder that even if he no longer bangs the drums, the energetic man of music wants to continue to lead the fanfare.
“We deserved this team so much! The city of Baltimore has been patient. We did things our way and I’m proud of it. For me, with my family, this marching band is the work of a lifetime.”
O Canada! When the Gray Cup arrives in Baltimore…
Head coach Don Matthews won the Gray Cup with the Baltimore Stallions, before experiencing success with the Alouettes in Montreal a few years later. REUTERS
OWINGS MILLS, Maryland | Only the most erudite will remember, but Baltimore is the only market in the United States that can boast of having celebrated the conquest of a Gray Cup, while waiting for the NFL to deign to return to town.
“We played the The Canada. I always found it to be the most beautiful national anthem in the world… after ours, of course!” jokes John Ziemann, who is not ready to forget these strange times.
In 1993, in order to try to make a breakthrough in the United States, the Canadian League established a handful of teams on American soil. A year later, one of them closed the door and another moved out.
The Baltimore Stallions were born, with Jim Popp as general manager and Don Matthews as head coach.
A great success
It may not have been the NFL’s long-awaited return, but Baltimore fans were hungry and the club became the only club south of the border that wasn’t losing money.
“The stadium was pretty full. We had our Canadian rule books. We remained the Baltimore Colts marching band, but we now represented two great football nations.
“We really learned to appreciate Canadian football. We found that the game went faster. It’s a very beautiful memory for us,” assures the president of the fanfare.
The success was such that in 1995, the Stallions became the first and last American team to win the Gray Cup.
“We didn’t know what the future had in store for us, so we decided to welcome this Canadian experience with open arms. We embraced Canada and made some great friends to drink Molson with!” jokes John Ziemann.
The experiment was short-lived and when the Ravens arrived in 1996, the Stallions left for Canada to become the current incarnation of the Alouettes in Montreal.
2024-01-28 10:00:00
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