An Exciting Season For Raven's Fans

All right, it's Monday evening and most of my fellow Raven's fans have had all day to digest yesterday's disappointing loss. I'm not going to dwell on it too much. Yes, Billy Cundiff missed a chip-shot field goal that would have sent the game into overtime. I'm now hearing reports that he "wasn't ready" for the kick. I'm not really sure what that means...

But even if Condiff makes the field goal, there's no guarantee that the Ravens would have won in overtime. Who knows, maybe the Patriots would have returned the punt return before overtime even began (If I recall correctly, there were about ten seconds left on the clock). Anything is possible.

And let's not forget that Lee Evans had an opportunity to give the Ravens the potential game winning touchdown if he could have just held on to the ball. But in his defense, the New England defender did knock the ball loose. Although I don't think the ruling on the field would have been overturned, I am really surprised that the play wasn't reviewed in some way. My understanding is that the replay booth reviews any scoring play in the final two minutes of either half. But since this wasn't technically a scoring play, I'm not sure what the rule is. Could John Harbaugh have thrown the challenge flag? I don't know.....

(On a side note, I never fully recovered from the way Steven Tyler butchered the National Anthem to start the game. Don't get me wrong, I love Aerosmith and consider Tyler to be one of rock's best front-men ever. But I really think he should leave The Star Spangled Banner to someone else..)

With all of this being said, the Ravens gave their fans another exciting season. The team should hold it's head high. They have proven to be a perennial playoff contender in one of the NFL's toughest divisions. As a fan, I don't think you can ask for much more than that. Baltimore doesn't just have a football team. It has a really good football team!

Some of this year's Raven's highlights:

• Beating the arch rival Pittsburgh Steelers twice and winning the AFC North
• The introduction of Balls So Hard University
• A Thanksgiving night victory against a strong team coached by the other Harbaugh
• The Joe-Man-Chu
• A perfect 9-0 record at M&T Bank Stadium
• The emergence of Ray Rice as one of the league's premiere running backs

I had a great time watching the games with family and friends this season. Our team may have fallen a little short, but it was definitely a fun and eventful ride. Each game brought a variety of excitement as well as good food, an ample supply of adult beverages, great company and many colorful conversations. If the Ravens were playing, it might have been "game time" for Ray Lewis and the guys, but it was party time for the rest of us. And party we did! I had an absolute blast this season. Looking forward to next year, so we can do it all over again.

Kudos to the Baltimore Ravens for yet another successful effort. See you in September!

kw