THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, July 25, 1994 TAG: 9407250125
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Bob Molinaro
DATELINE: BALTIMORE LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines
Before the kickoff of Saturday's Canadian Football League game, the Baltimore C---- Marching Band entered the stadium to play a rousing rendition of ``Fight on, you Baltimore C----.''
In the upper deck, a group of fans held up a large, hand-lettered sign that read: ``Go C----.''
As the band played, and fans chanted (Give me a C, give me an O, give me a L, . ...), a beautiful thoroughbred, a c---, pranced along the sidelines at the horseshoe-shaped Memorial Stadium.
The preceding report was sanitized out of fear for National Football League lawyers. A writer can't be too careful.
The NFL says that there is no such thing as a Baltimore Colts football team. For now, they've got the court injunction to prove it.
Going to such lengths to deny Baltimore the name Colts is what you'd expect from the No Fun League. Bullies have this need to push others around, to get in the way of people trying to have a good time.
But instead of crippling Baltimore's fledgling franchise, the NFL's stubborness has only enhanced the image of owner Jim Speros' team.
The NFL has turned the Baltimore CFLs into a lovable underdog; a little guy taking on the Establishment.
The NFL's confrontational approach gave people with no real passion for the CFL a reason to get behind the Baltimore effort. In the process, it helped win for the Baltimore CFLs millions of dollars of free, positive, publicity.
The NFL's arrogance is surpassed only by its stupidity. Its aggressive effort to corral the Colts makes it appear that CFL expansion into the United States poses a genuine threat.
Meanwhile, the people of Balmer, Merlin, blithely attend CFL games on the horse they rode in on. They use the C-word whenever they like; as loudly as they like.
The NFL Thought Police have not yet dictated the behavior of a community that believes it is being robbed of something that is rightfully theirs.
Some suggest that Speros take the easy route and adopt the name Ponies or Stallions. Let's hope he doesn't.
The Baltimore team already has a nickname, one that originated here in 1947. If the NFL gets its way, and prohibits Speros from calling his team the Colts, he should march on without a name.
Baltimore, just Baltimore, would be enough. The beauty of using Balimore as the team's only name is that it would help the franchise retain a unique identity in a world full of teams with awkward, inappropriate monikers.
More importantly for Speros' team, it would keep attention focused on what is taking place here. The struggle. The successes.
If the NFL had any horse sense at all, it would have seized the high ground in this battle with a city that has been abused more than once, first when the Colts moved out, then when it was overlooked for an NFL expansion franchise.
Many people see the NFL as the league without a heart. The NFL could have helped alter this impression had it stood back and given Baltimore the right to the name Colts. Never mind that the name really isn't the NFL's to give. The gesture would have been enough.
Baltimore, of course, doesn't need an official, NFL-approved name for its team for the simple reason that the city's football heritage is forever linked with Colts.
It is a heritage that includes The Greatest Game Ever Played and the most memorable Super Bowl (No. III). When people think of football in this city, one name automatically comes to mind.
It would be easier to drain the Chesapeake of crabs than to take the Colts out of Baltimore football. by CNB