It was the Super Bowl, after all, and it demanded at least moderate reverence. And so area fans trooped to sports bars and parties that would have seemed festive yesterday if not for the irresistible urge to compare the game to last year's.
Ah, last season's Super Bowl - the one that ended with the Ravens winning their first title, a rout celebrated deep into the night with purple flags, purple balloons, purple Jell-O, purple shooters.
Yesterday's, at least to Baltimoreans, was destined to feel a bit colorless by comparison. If last year's was a giant of a game, this one started out hobbit-sized, even if it didn't end that way.
"This is like a heroin addict on methadone," said state Sen. Thomas L. Bromwell, a season-ticket holder who attended the Super Bowl in Tampa a year ago. "Last year was the greatest sports day I ever had," he said wistfully.
Although Bromwell watched the game yesterday at his home in Baltimore County, many other fans ventured to downtown sports bars to cheer, drink and engage in all manner of informal pools and side bets.
They were rewarded with a better-than-anticipated game in which underdog New England upset the St. Louis Rams with a last-second field goal and completed a surprising season not unlike Baltimore's a year ago.
"I think some people were looking to compare the Patriots to the Ravens," said Terry Nichols, owner with his wife of the All-American Sports Bar in Glen Burnie.
Still, it was hard to blame Ravens fans if they didn't quite feel in Super Bowl form. It wasn't The Day After, it was The Year After, but there seemed to be a hangover just the same.
"We have about 200 people, which isn't bad for a Sunday night, but it's a big difference from last year when there was home-team spirit," said James Saffery, manager of the Hard Rock Cafe at the Inner Harbor. Last year, the bar brought in a 100-inch TV monitor for the big game. This year: smaller screens, smaller crowds. The nearby ESPN Zone was largely restricted to private parties.
Some Ravens die-hards were eager to make the point that they remain serious football fans when their team isn't playing.
Jim Bradley attends every Ravens home game with a radio, a pair of binoculars and his wife at his side. Yesterday, he watched the Super Bowl at his home in Glen Burnie so he could concentrate on the plays without distraction.
