That’s right. M & T Bank Stadium, specifically its parking lots, in Baltimore, MD has been ranked as the #1 place in the country for tailgating. This, according to an alliance of tailgating experts and a couple of companies that have an interest in such things (KVH Industries and DIRECTV).

This list ranked the following cities by their “tailgating-friendliness”:

1. Baltimore
2. Denver
3. Houston
4. San Diego
5. Cincinnati
6. Miami
7. Tampa
8. Kansas City
9. Buffalo
10. Philadelphia (tied)
10. Phoenix (tied)
12. Washington, D.C.
13. Green Bay
14. Jacksonville
15. Oakland
16. Indianapolis
17. Nashville
18. New York (tied)
18. Pittsburgh (tied)
18. Boston (tied)
21. San Francisco
22. Cleveland
23. Charlotte
24. Los Angeles
25. Minneapolis
26. Dallas
27. Chicago
28. Atlanta
29. New Orleans
30. St. Louis
31. Detroit
32. Seattle

If you’ve ever tailgated at M & T, you have to agree. The fans go all-out and the concrete floods with purple & black. I’ve seen conversion vans completely re-converted into purple Raven-mobiles, grown men dressed in more purple than Prince on a bad day (with feathers!) and I suspect that more beer is consumed in those parking lots than the gas it takes to get there. Quite often there are scantily-clad ladies around as well.

If you haven’t tailgated @ M&T and have no idea how to start, it’s easy:

1. Put on something purple and/or black.
2. If you’re a female, make sure #1 is tight-fitting or attention-grabbing (note: referee uniforms go over very well).
3. Bring a little cash, an empty stomach and as much beer as you can carry in a plastic bag.
4. Get your butt down to the M & T parking lot via Light Rail or carpool or whatever!
5. Follow the smell of great food, pay the chef of your choice about $10 and eat your heart out!
6. Watch (there are usually big screens floating around) or listen (lots of radios blasting) to the game and enjoy!

It’s about time that the Ravens Roost got the credit it deserves!

It’s that time of year again: Fantasy Football season.

As a Baltimore Ravens fan, I find it slightly conflicting to draft quality players from competing teams for my fantasy football team. The obvious reason for this is because I end up rooting for specific players on opposing teams and yet still want those teams to lose. For example, this year I drafted Hines Ward and though during the season I find the color yellow and anything that even sounds like “steeler” to be comparable to the bowel movement of an ill elephant, he is an extremely talented receiver and I want him to do well for my fantasy team. But I sure as hell don’t want Pittsburgh to win.

In fact, this is the reason I didn’t want to get involved with fantasy football in the first place. I thought I would get too focused on the performance of individual players and statistics, while forgetting about what makes football enjoyable in the first place: screaming at the TV, beer, cheerleaders and the comradarie of fellow fans. And while I am certainly more focused on individual stats and yardage, fantasy football has really just added a new level to the whole experience. I’m actually learning more about the game and “competing” with the same fans I would normally just cheer with on any given Sunday. It also brings in people who just like to compete but aren’t necessarily football fans.

I will mention that as impressed as I was last year (my rookie season) with FOX Sports’ fantasy system, this year they have really disappointed me. The web interface isn’t bad but apparently someone forgot to inform the IT department that millions and millions of people like to check their scores simultaneously because they’ve had some serious downtime thus far.

 Here’s a nice primer on fantasy football if you need it.