The marching band pays nothing to attend Ravens games. They were even upset the Ravens didn't provide them with extremely costly Super Bowl tickets in 2001. For someone who toots a horn or bangs on a drum this is unbelievable that they feel they should be entitled to ANYTHING much less season tickets AND Super Bowl tickets. The audacity of these mostly out-of-towners is amazing.

When the Ravens start out on defense they often times are at a disadvantage due to the lack of fans in the seats because of a pathetic halftime show. The marching Ravens are the standard boring "entertainers" the fans are forced to watch every Sunday at Ravens stadium. During a recent halftime show, where a great former Ravens was inducted in the Ring of Honor, many fans stayed to watch the festivities. However, had it been the marching band on the field instead of McCrary, you would have seen fans flocking to get food or use the restrooms, or just get the hell out of the seats and not listen to a mediocre, college type marching band.

The Marching band was pushed onto the Ravens by first owner Art Modell in a sad attempt to bring around old Baltimore Colts fans. This did not work as many Colts fans were lukewarm to the idea of rooting for a relocated team. It took an amazing season which brought the city of Baltimore a Super Bowl trophy to bring around some of the ex-Colts fans, however still most are not interested in the Ravens. It is obvious that keeping the band around is a dead issue.

The Ravens have the youngest fan base in the entire NFL. This new generation of fans could care less about a silly marching band, the only one of its kind remaining in the NFL. You could get rid of them tomorrow and besides the dorks themselves only a handful of these young fans would care. Replace the marching band with more cheerleaders and the Ravens new owner would be a hero to this generation!

How many Ravens players have you seen jump into the stands at Ravens stadium? The answer is none. They are afraid of getting poked in the eye by some nerds trombone. You will never see the players leap because they know that the real fans are not in the end zone like many other stadiums. Instead a bunch of band dorks fill those valuable seats.

The Ravens and the state of Maryland are fortunate enough to be protected by many fine men and women of the Armed Forces. In this era of long military work hours, painfully long deployments, and not much money to spend on fun family events, couldn't these tickets serve a finer purpose and be donated to active duty or guard/reservist members of our military? The fact is with the money most military members bring in they are barely lucky enough to be able to afford a ticket for themselves much less for their families. They might not be able to toot a horn or bang a drum, but I personally think every member of our military does a hell of a job protecting this country and it would be nice to see them get rewarded. Everyone enjoys those A-10 fly overs before many home games, don't they? Well those jets don't take off and land by themselves, there are people giving up their Sundays to provide those fly-by's. These people are die hard Ravens fans that are left out in the cold on Sundays, maybe we could provide them with some free, lower level tickets?

This is just one of many ideas for those valuable tickets spaces, I am sure many of you reading this could think of others. The point is, the resource could be better used elsewhere.

 

  October 15th, 2009 NEWS:

The Band that (unfortunately) Wouldn't Die
Barry Levinson's documentary aired on ESPN recently, invoking bitter emotions of the Colts departing Baltimore for Indianapolis in 1983 (26 years ago if you're counting). We here at MarchingRavens.com question why the band was chosen as the focus for this type of documentary when it was the spirit of the Baltimore fan that brought the NFL back to Baltimore, not a small group of band members that assembled once or twice a year for 13 years.

February 8th, 2007 NEWS:

Z CELEBRATES COLTS WIN!
Inside sources tell of a huge Super Bowl party for Z's favorite NFL Owner, Jim Irsay. Memories of the old great Colts marching band lived on. The Ravens band leader was a little dismayed that his group was not invited to either the Ravens Super Bowl or the recent Colts Super Bowl, but that's OK, his buddy Irsay brought one home for him (and Coach Dungy) and that's all that counts. Remember, Jimmy boy is just misunderstood, he had no choice! It is why he currently holds all Colts history and records pre-1983 captive. He has no choice people!

MAY 25th, 2006 NEWS:

TROUBLE IN BAND LAND?
Inside sources say that band director John Ziemann is barely keeping his head above water trying to recruit for new band freeloaders. M&T and the Ravens have been applying heaving pressure to get new recruits to join but for some reason the pool of 13 year olds has been dwindling as of late. Word has it the number of band participants need to be nearly doubled to appease M&T and the Ravens but that is looking less and less likely as the days go on. At this point it seems the demise of the band is all but imminent in the future seasons to come, let's see how well it goes over with the fans as their (relocated) seats are left largely unfilled yet the names on the PSL waiting list quickly pile on.

MAY 20th, 2005 NEWS:

We have just been informed the band will be losing many seats this upcoming season. I can't help but thank all the support we have received for this new development. Steve Bisciotti is a much smarter business man and realizes that a slow phasing out of the Bands seats will be better then a quick, sudden relinquishment. We applaud him for his business savy nature and look forward to less and less band members taking up seats as the years go on. Sections 113 and 115 have been taken over and placed in the hands of paying fans. Score the first battle to MarchingRavens.com and its supporters.

UPDATE: Thanks for all the recent support from the BaltimoreSun.com Ravens forum!
Some comments:
"..the size of the band seems ludicrious (almost 300?) and the revenue being lost must be substantial"
"I think the band is an absolute joke"
"During the game I dont even know that they are there"
"They aren't very good and really don't add to the game day experience"
"Those seats they take up should be sold to fans"

ALL WAITING LIST MEMBERS: Call the Ravens ticket office at 410-261-RAVE and demand the Marching freeloaders give up their seats to paying customers. The band takes up well over 250 seats that YOU could be in right now. Ditch the free loaders! NO HANDOUTS