Follow up to "The Band That Wouldn't Die"

Last week, I had written about the ESPN Films special "The Band That Wouldn't Die" earlier this week. 

Steve and I watched it on Wednesday (DVR for the win!) since I was out Tuesday night.  More than once we found ourselves sad, remembering how much it hurt when the Colts left town.  The dedication of the the Colts Marching Band is incredible.  I definitely didn't know all the history behind what they did to help bring a team back to Baltimore... coupled with Schaeffer having the vision to build a new stadium to bring a new team to the city.  If building the stadiums hasn't paid for themselves by now (even if it's just in goodwill... look at how packed the stadium is each home game!), I'd be surprised...

Something that seemed to be glossed over is that Mrs. Irsay finally allowed the Baltimore Colts Marching Band to keep their uniforms... which allowed the band to pull their uniforms out of the mausoleum... goodness the significance of that whole series of events could not have been scripted better.

They also touched on how the Baltimore fans felt after it was announced that the Browns were coming to Baltimore.  The sentiment was that we didn't want to take someone else's team... we know what it's like to lose a team.  I remember that feeling very distinctly, but I also remember being ok with it once I heard that Cleveland would get to keep its team's name, colors, and history. 

If there's anything that still pains me about the Colts leaving Baltimore, it's that our history has not been given back to Baltimore... It's not like Johnny Unitas was an Indianapolis Colt.  He was a Baltimore Colt, so those records should belong to Baltimore.  Indianapolis can keep all the history they've made since the Colts moved to their city, especially since Peyton Manning is going to continue to make history and break records as long as he plays.  Just give us OUR history back, and I'd be willing to let it go.

I also give kudos to the Modell family for
1.  Embracing the Colts Marching Band immediately.
2.  Allowing the Colts Marching Band to finish their history in Memorial Stadium.
3.  Letting them become the Marching Ravens in the new stadium.

I truly had no idea how much the Baltimore Colts Marching Band had directly helped Baltimore get a another NFL team.  Thank you to Barry Levinson for having the vision to focus on this story.  The story of the Baltimore Colts Marching Band needed to be told, and Baltimore couldn't have been more honored to have one of its own, the great Barry Levinson, tell it.

Thank you to Bill Simmons of ESPN for being willing to allow the film directors to think outside their own box.  And thank you to ESPN for being willing to show these non-traditional documentaries on their ever-popular airwaves.