As it has every July since the Ravens started coming to Westminster seven summers ago, Cal Bloom's barbershop is turning purple.
A banner reading "RAVENS" has been fastened over the front door, joining autographed pictures of Brian Billick, Jonathan Ogden and Larry Webster on the wall. Hats, footballs and player dolls adorn the shelves of the Main Street shop. And Bloom is saving a seat for Ravens President David Modell, who is bound to show up for a trim during the next few weeks.
Bloom and his fellow Main Street merchants have been breaking out the purple, black and gold to greet the 50,000 fans expected to descend on Westminster the next three weeks for the Ravens' summer camp, which opens today at McDaniel College.
A purple "Ravens Blvd" sign graces the front window of Sofia's, "Ravens Hot Dogs" with red (that is, purple) onions are being served up at Harry's Main Street Grille and flags flutter from city signposts to greet the team, whose stay in Westminster is estimated to generate $1 million for the local economy.
Eighty-six players, including a healthy Ray Lewis and a crop of young and hungry players, are slated to practice twice a day at the Westminster college until Aug. 19. They will be available to sign plenty of autographs, say team officials.
Joey Lapp, 14, interviewed last week as he was reading at the Westminster branch of the Carroll County Public Library, said his favorite Ravens player was "the Goose" -- or former defensive tackle Tony Siragusa, who retired last year. With Siragusa gone, Lapp said he hopes to catch a glimpse of Ray Lewis.
Twelve-year old Brandon Cook of Westminster says he will be at the camp as much as possible in search of Lewis' autograph. Cook says that a few years ago at training camp, he got one of Lewis' gloves.
While not watching football, he said he would be enjoying the Ravens "Fan Zone" on the McDaniel tennis courts, where about 500 kids a day are expected to kick field goals, navigate an obstacle course, throw passes and catch high-flying punts. "I like that," said Cook, who went to the "Fan Zone" last year. "It's fun."
For the players' scheduled arrival yesterday, the team was busy transporting 80 pieces of weightlifting equipment, 14,400 bottles of Gatorade, 1,500 cases of bottled water, as well as hundreds of rolls of medical tape and dozens of whirlpools and 6-foot-tall cooling fans.
