August 28, 2008
For Donovan, emotional ties are long gone
So, the moment is at hand. The Colts at Baltimore. The great grudge match,
hon. Our past against our present. The horseshoe against, well, a logo under
pending litigation.
When the Ravens play the Colts on Sunday at Camden Yards, will it be a
wrenching experience for the largest ex-Colt and continued unofficial soul of
Baltimore pro football?
"Are you kidding?" Art Donovan said yesterday. "What do I care?"
Come on, Artie. You're going to root for your old uniform, right? Out of
habit?
"I'm going to cheer for the Ravens," he said. "I root for the home team.
It was a long time ago that the Colts left town."
Won't it be weird to cheer against them?
"That's not my team anymore," he said. "And anyway, Mr. Modell has invited
me to watch from his box."
So you're going?
"Free ticket," he said. "They're going to pick me up and take me down
there. Wouldn't you go?"
First trip to the new stadium?
"I went to the exhibition game against the Eagles," he said. "Me and
[Ordell] Braase and [Jim] Mutscheller. We were going to leave at halftime, but
then we got to one of those mezzanines or whatever they're called, and someone
started buying the beer. We never left. It cost me $150."
Did you like the stadium?
"It's some place," he said. "It makes the baseball field look like a
junior high field. I didn't like the music so much. That's not my music. But
they have to make the young people happy, I guess. All the old Colt fans are
dying off."
Does that mean the crowd won't be so angry Sunday?
"People ask me, 'What's the crowd going to do?' That's not hard to figure
out. They're going to boo the Colts, that's what they're going to do. Other
than that, I can't guess what'll happen."
There's still a lot of bitterness. We waited 12 years for another team
after Robert Irsay moved the Colts to Indianapolis.
"People act like that's a tragedy," Donovan said. "A tragedy is going to a
hospital and seeing a sick kid. Kids with cancer, that's a tragedy. You can
always get a lousy football team back."
And that's just what we did, right? We got a lousy football team back?
"My wife says, 'You have to tell everyone how good the Ravens are.' I
said, 'I can't fool anyone. They're 4-7.' But they're going to get better.
They should win a few more games this season. They have some players. I like
this [Michael] McCrary. He can rush the passer. And the other defensive end
[Rob Burnett] can play, too. [The Ravens] aren't bad. They're going to
improve. I think they'll beat the Colts."
They looked pretty good against the Bengals on Sunday, that's for sure.
Copyright © 2008, The Baltimore Sun
