HEALTH

Wellness

Intern Diaries: We are the champions! Report from the Ravens' victory parade

By now, I think it’s safe to assume that you all know the Baltimore Ravens won the Super Bowl. And here in their hometown, when the clock hit triple zero, everyone went crazy. Fireworks went off, people crowded the streets, and nobody could stop celebrating. And today when the Ravens finally brought the Lombardi Trophy home, it was even crazier. I went downtown to watch the victory parade, and it was incredible. But it all began with the hectic ride down there.
The light rail was jam-packed and the lines were so long, we decided to drive down there. Naturally, the traffic was terrible and once we got in the city half the roads were blocked off. We ended up parking way on the other side of the city and walked blocks and blocks to M&T Bank Stadium where the parade was going to end. We made our way onto the field in front of the stage where the players were going to sit, and we watched the rest of the parade on the giant scoreboard. As we stood, the stadium became so crowded that all the seats were full and we were pushed closer and closer to the stage by the people pushing onto the field.
It felt like we stood there forever waiting for the team to arrive, but when they did the whole stadium erupted. The crowd started singing over and over again… uhuhuhuhuhooooooh… like they have all season. Fireworks went off as the team was announced, and everyone was so loud, I couldn’t hear the background music. That is, until they started playing “Hot in Here” and I knew Ray Lewis (my favorite player) was going to come out carrying the Lombardi Trophy.
The best part was when he passed the trophy over to someone standing next to him and started to dance--and not just any dance but his dance, the one he does before every home game when he comes out of the tunnel. And it was so special because it was his last dance since he is retiring after 17 years as a Raven. Then he taught Ed Reed and Jacoby Jones his dance, symbolically passing the torch. The speeches by Ray and Coach Harbaugh just excited everybody even more, and Coach Harbaugh led the entire stadium in three chants of “Ravens!” And as everyone began to leave the stadium “We Are the Champions” began to play, and the whole stadium sang in perfect unison, because the Baltimore Ravens are the champions. Boy, it’s good to be a Baltimorean!
[gallery]

POSTED IN

by Hannah Hicklen | 2/1/2016
share