IT'S TIME to dispense with the longstanding local perception that the Ravens are second-class citizens in NFL society, constantly slighted and overlooked.
Please, enough with that paranoia and the many complaints it fuels.
The commissioner and league office aren't out to get the Ravens.
Free agents and the television networks aren't bored with the Ravens.
The national media don't underestimate the Ravens or take any more undeserved shots at them than at any other team.
To the contrary of all that, the Ravens are one of football's most interesting, prominent and respected teams.
Yet a vague sense of inferiority persists, helped along by the Ravens themselves.
Asked earlier this week about the fact that the team has opened at home only once since he became its coach in 1999, Brian Billick said, "We're used to it. `What, on the road? Yep, we must be Baltimore.' "
Billick has sounded the same song before, knowing "us against the world" is an effective motivator.
But he also knows it's a bunch of bunk in this case, admitting last year there "[wasn't] some Darth Vadian person out there trying to get the Baltimore Ravens."
His confession didn't quell the perception that has grown over the years with such "slights" as not opening at home on Monday Night Football in 2001 after winning the Super Bowl, and playing a first-round playoff game on Saturday instead of Sunday, allegedly hindering preparation.
Whenever the schedule, a referee's call or anything works against the Ravens, the local cry goes up: They're out to get us.
But a far different picture exists when you take stock as the Ravens begin their ninth season with a grudge match in Cleveland tomorrow.
They're a hot pick to win the AFC North, and according to some major predictions, advance to the Super Bowl. No one is failing to give them their due.
They have the defending Associated Press NFL Player of the Year on both sides of the ball in linebacker Ray Lewis and running back Jamal Lewis. So much for being overlooked.
Their front office is as respected as any in the league for how it drafts, handles the salary cap and manages personnel.
They're playing four games, as many as any team, in the Sunday and Monday night spotlight in 2004.
Both New York teams, the Giants and Jets, play just one night game this season. Same with Michael Vick and the Atlanta Falcons.
