Last weekend, on November 12, 1995, Dan and I went to Baltimore for
the CFL Southern Division Final between San Antonio and Baltimore.

There's so much to tell about, that I don't know where to start.
Maybe the game would be a good place to start.  The final score was
21-11, Baltimore.  Conditions were cold, and even though it was sunny,
the field was wet and mushy, making conditions not the best for either
offense.  My synopsis was that San Antonio was beaten like someone
being pelted to death with marshmallows.  The Stallions' kicker, Carlos
Huerta, set a CFL playoff record with 7 field goals.  San Antonio's
scoring came on two singles (both off punts), a field goal, and a touch-
down with a missed 2-point conversion attempt.

Attendance was listed at something over 30K, but I would have guessed
that the crowd was smaller than 20K.

There were many indications that this was not an NFL game.  First of
all, there was a pre-game party on the field behind the endzone at
the open end of the stadium.  There were a few staff people there
telling people to stay off the field when they stepped into the end
zone, but we were allowed right next to the field.

As Dan commented, we were right where [former Indians outfielder] Brad
Komminsk fell over the top of the outfield fence a few years ago.

During this time, players were doing some warming up on the field, and
a few came over and signed autographs and mingled for a while.  One
of the players was Shar Pourdanesh, one of the best offensive linemen
in the CFL.  I commented to some people that they won't be allowed
near the field next year for the Browns, and even if they are, Steve
Everitt isn't going to come by and mingle for ten minutes 90 minutes
before game time.

To get to our seats, we walked along what would be the baseball warning
track to an opening in the lower deck on one of the sidelines.

What were the fans like?  Well, that's tough to describe.  Granted,
I had a very small sample size, so my observations could be off.
However, I would say that some of them were the rudest fans I remember,
but they were also the friendliest, most knowledgable, and most willing
to go out of their way to accept or help anyone.  The people sitting
in front of us tended to be somewhat vulgar, and they would do stuff
like moo when an overweight person was leaving his seat a few rows in
front of us.  But, whenever something good happened, they were looking
to us for hi-fives.  As other examples, the guy next to Dan made sure
that we knew the best way from the stadium to the highway, and people
behind us gave us sandwiches.  I got the impression that they made
enough for themselves, and made extra, so that they could give them
away at the game.

As for the Browns, the overall consensus seemed to be that people were
happy that the NFL was coming back to Baltimore.  However, people were
more concerned that it might cause them to lose their Stallions, and were
hoping that there'd be some way that both teams could be in Baltimore
next year.  Granted, people attending a CFL game in Baltimore in general
will have a different attitude towards professional football than would
the "average" professional football fan.

There are a lot of people there that consider themselves Baltimore Colts
fans.  As I commented to a few, I don't think that anyone who considers
himself a Baltimore Browns fan has any right to call himself a Baltimore
Colts fan.

Speaking of the Baltimore Browns, outside the stadium there was a lot
of Browns merchandise for sale, including some (bootleg) Baltimore
Browns merchandise.  There was very little Browns clothing worn inside
the stadium.  I yelled at a few people that they should "Go back to
Cleveland".  The guy behind me laughed when he realized that I wasn't
just saying that because I worried that the Browns would run the Stallions
out of Baltimore.

I spoke to two women who said that they were at the 1964 NFL Championship
Game, which was in Cleveland, and won by the Browns (27-0?).  I said,
"Great game, right?"  Of course, they didn't feel that way.  One thing
they said was thet there were never colder in their lives than at Cleveland
Stadium.  (They didn't know that it is always 10 degrees F colder in
Cleveland Stadium.)

One other thing about the Stallions is that they have a marching band, and
it's like a high school or college one.  The name of the marching band is the
"Baltimore Colts Marching Band".  I wonder if the official band of the
Browns will be the Baltimore Colts Marching Band.  I doubt it.  The
two women in the above paragraph still seemed very bitter at Art Modell.
They claimed that Modell was very disrespectful of the Colts Band in
'64.  According to them, at the NFL Championship game, the Colts Band
was allowed in the Stadium.  However, their instruments were to remain
in their cases.  Supposedly, Modell said that if any member of the band
touched an instrument case during the game, the band would be escorted
out of the stadium.

One more thing about Memorial Stadium.  The seats are now painted blue
and silver, which are the Stallions' colors.  They weren't that color
in '92, when the Orioles played there.  I wonder if they will be that
color next year.

After the game, fans were allowed onto the field, where some people
were running around.  Dan and I had an Australian football in the
car.  If we would have known (and had time), we would have brought it
into the game and booted it around after the game.  We were in a hurry
to start our journey back, so we didn't go onto the field after the
game.  I'm sure this is another thing that won't happen after NFL games.

For travelling, we took I-70 to I-79 to I-68 to I-70.  It was snowing
pretty bad on the way, and I guessed that there would be less snow on
I-68, since it was further south.  We went back that way because going
that way was fine, and also because we didn't want to pay the Pennsylvania
Turnpike toll.

From the Memorial Stadium parking lot to my apartment (including 2 short
gas/potty stops), it was 410 miles.