The Baltimore inferiority complex

December 6, 8:02 AMWashington Redskins ExaminerMark Newgent

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Stpehen Davis curb stomping Rod Woodson in 2000.

I understand why most Redskin fans don't pay no never mind when it comes to the Ravens. I never paid them much attention…. until I moved to Baltimore, and felt the wrath of the Baltimore Inferiority Complex (BIC). I first experienced the BIC in the summer of 2003, when I walked into a bar on the Avenue in Hampden made famous by John Waters’ movie Pecker. The bartender noticed my rather low-key white Redskins t-shirt. Yelling over to he screamed “You’re in enemy territory!” Curious mind that I am, I inquired, “What is this Dallas?”

Over the six years I spent living in Charm City, I encountered similar outbreaks of BIC on hundreds of occasions, nearly all of them unprovoked.

I just couldn’t understand the visceral hatred. At first I just tolerated it, and brushed off the BIC nonsense. However, after a while, this nonsense stilts became completely annoying. To paraphrase Val Kilmer’s Doc Holliday in the film Tombstone, “now I really hate them.”

Now, on certain occasions I make it a point to tickle the BIC. Here’s an example. In Baltimore the big question locals ask you is, where did you go to school? Not what college mind you, but what high-school you attended. Among the alumni of Baltimore’s more prestigious public and private schools, there is a odd point of pride in answering this question. Gilman or Boys Latin? Poly or Western? Loyola or Calvert Hall. Jason La Canfora, the Redskins Insider knows how to answer this question. Anyone who did not attend high school in the area is supposed to answer I went to such and such high school and it is the equivalent of such and such Baltimore school. My response to this question: I went to DeMatha and there is no Baltimore equivalent. The reactions are priceless.

There is no official American Medical Association definition for the BIC, but I define the malady as:

An irrational loathing of all things Washington based on no real facts, other than subjects’ own sense of inferiority. Symptoms include spittle-flecked rage at the mention of Jack Kent Cooke, Joe Gibbs, John Riggins, Joe Theismann Doug Williams, Art Monk, Darrell Green etc…

Of course, the preceding paragraphs were written with tongue firmly-planted-in-cheek, exaggerating to make a point (the “enemy territory” thing did happen though). I have good friends, who are die-hard Ravens fans and exhibit no symptoms of the BIC. Two in particular, former Maryland Governor Bob Ehrlich and talk-show man extraordinaire Ron Smith, both of whom graciously allow me airtime as a guest on their respective radio programs on WBAL.

I can sympathize with the main reason for a purple-blooded Baltimorean’s hatred of all things Washington, the Redskins in particular: the loss of the Colts in 1983. That second city feeling toward haughty Washington already existed, and losing the storied Colts and having the Redskins dominate the Baltimore airwaves for 13 years on top of that is enough to despoil the temperament of a saint. This added insult to injury to Colt fans of a certain vintage. Before Gibbs, the Colts routinely dominated very poor Redskin teams only to have them start winning Super Bowls just as the Mayflower trucks rolled out to Indianapolis. On that point, it turns out that eminent domain, not Bob Irsay was the real villain in the exodus from Baltimore.

Another mythical Baltimorean bête noire is Jack Kent Cooke. Contrary to the popular gripe, Cooke did less to stop Baltimore from getting a team than the Baltimore group did to persuade the NFL to award them the expansion franchise.

Furthermore, after receiving the old Browns franchise, Baltimoreans can no longer claim aggrieved status and to some it’s a lot of faux outrage and high dudgeon. Cleveland Browns blogger Ace Davis explained this to me back in October:

Let's put it this way: around these parts, you'll never hear the phrase "Charm City." References to that city's unsavory aspects are much more common among die-hard Browns loyalists. The resentment is due to more than just Art Modell's ignominious move. Many here are outraged by the perverse hypocrisy of some Baltimore fans, who delighted in getting a team at the expense of another city's strong and enduring fan base, given the offense they took when the Colts (whose support paled in comparison to the Browns') made their Mayflower voyage a decade earlier. That subset of Ravens' backers deserves the "Baltimorons" epithet.

The Baltimore Sun examines the frothing Redskins hysteria of that “subset” here and here. The Sun also has a nice photo gallery of past Redskins-Ravens matchups.

In the end, I know this isn’t a rivalry, at least not for the players and the majority of Redskin fans. Although, I’m sure many Ravens fans circled this game on the schedule along with the two division games against Pittsburgh. The Steelers are to Ravens fans what the Cowboys are to Redskins fans. That said however, Redskins-Ravens should be a rivalry and the NFL should tweak the schedule to make this a standing regular season game. In fact, I think the league should do more to stoke regional rivalries where they exist. In addition to this game, the NFL should set aside one regular season game between the Jets-Giants, Steelers-Eagles, Raiders-49ers, Rams-Chiefs, Cowboys-Texans, and Dolphins-Jaguars-and or Buccaneers. Seriously, I would rather give up a near meaningless game against say the Cardinals or the Raiders for a more attractive contest against the Ravens.