NationStates Jolt Archive


A Tale of 2 Cities and the Midnight Move: Indy and Baltimore

IDF
11-01-2007, 16:28
This week's AFC Divisional Playoff game between the Colts and Ravens is more than a game for citizens of Baltimore. It is personal.

In the winter of 1984, the Colts secretly gathered up moving trucks and left the city unannounced in the middle of the night. Baltimore has held contempt for the pathetic Colts organization ever since. For them this isn't a mere playoff game, it is revenge.

There was a good column in the Indy Star today on it. I don't think there has been such a low class event in sports history. Fans have a connection to their teams. While some teams have moved in the past, they never did it secretly overnight.

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070110/COLUMNISTS01/701100428/1100/SPORTS03

January 10, 2007

Bob Kravitz

Memories from the midnight move


It was like a military operation, a bloodless assault on an enemy stronghold. The marching orders, cryptic and limited to a rare few in the know, were coming through in the spring of 1984.

To an Indianapolis-based college student named David Pidgeon, whose father, Dick, was general manager of Hogan Transfer & Storage/Mayflower and wanted his son to help with a job the next afternoon.
To Haydon Hapak, an Indy-born Mayflower employee working in Chicago at the time, who had been told by higher-ups to find trucks along the Eastern seaboard that could rendezvous in Alexandria, Va., for a secret mission outside of Baltimore.
To Paul Nicolas, an operations manager in the local Mayflower office on East St. Clair Street in Downtown Indy, whose company's superiors were telling him to organize men to unload a large shipment the next afternoon at a local school.
"It was like being part of a CIA mission,'' said Hapak, now president of Hogan/Mayflower in Indianapolis. "Everybody had to keep things quiet. When I was looking around for trucks, I was told, 'Don't contact our agents in Baltimore.' We didn't want to risk it.
"I still remember, at the eulogy for (former Mayflower president) John B. Smith, (former mayor William) Hudnut said he remembered the night before the Colts arrived, he knew we were loading the team (at the Baltimore Colts practice facility), he couldn't sleep a wink, and he later said, 'I felt like I had just called General Patton when I called Smith and asked, How are we doing? And Smith said, Well, I know my troops are out there and they're getting it done. I just don't know exactly where they are right now.' The next day, we found them in Indy, right where they needed to be."
The trucks rolled out of Baltimore in the dead of the night -- drivers were told, under no circumstances do you stop for anything within the Maryland border -- and hours later, they convened in Carmel. As the next day dawned, cool and sunny, the area around the school filled with media awaiting the police escort and the Mayflower moving vans.
In Baltimore, hearts were breaking. In Indianapolis, where a new stadium and a new city awaited, hearts were full.
"It was a lot like moving any other company, for the most part,'' said Pidgeon, now a project manager at the company. "Except the whirlpools, the weights and some of the other things. I remember they had a guy, (nose tackle) Quinton Ballard, he must have been 380 pounds, and we had one guy about 350, we held the jersey up to him and it wrapped around him completely.
"I'm sure somewhere, somebody's got photos of the (movers) running around in Colts helmets.''
By now, nobody truly knows what became of those original Mayflower trucks. That was 23 years ago, and the company has been through a couple of fleets since then. Hapak figures those trucks are now reduced to forgotten parts. As for the original drivers, according to the local Mayflower office, it's not believed any of them currently live in Indianapolis.
These men, though -- Hapak, Pidgeon and Nicolas -- played a small role in ensuring that two cities' histories were forever changed.
There will, of course, be lots of wounds re-opened this week, a lot of history recounted and revised. In the few days since the Colts-Ravens matchup was set, we've continually seen the grainy footage of trucks rolling through the pelting snows. While the Indianapolis Colts have played in Baltimore a couple of times before this, it's this playoff game, this event, that seems to have brought the circumstances of the move back into sharper focus.
Does it matter in relation to the game? Obviously, not. Some of the players competing Saturday weren't even born when the trucks rolled into Indy. And those who were alive were too young to remember. Maybe it will mean a couple of additional decibels in the stadium Saturday, but as far as the game goes, it's utterly meaningless.
For a certain generation of Baltimoreans, though -- a generation that is older than 30 -- this game and this issue resonates in some very dramatic ways. Even now, even with the Colts entrenched in Indianapolis and the Ravens having won a Super Bowl in their new city, there is still righteous rage and hurt. It's like seeing an old flame with her new husband. Get over it? The Brooklyn Dodgers left for Los Angeles in 1958, and my dad is still seething.
While Baltimore cannot be begrudged for its anger, that city must remember, the people who set the wheels in motion on that move are either no longer with us or no longer are relevant to the issue. The man that city came to hate, Bob Irsay, died in 1997. And the sins of the father should not be visited on the son, who in this case is Jim Irsay, a man who is so spiritually different from his old man, it's hard to believe they were related.
Come Saturday, descendants of the Mayflower will return to their old home. And the men who played their small roles in shaping history, like everybody else in Baltimore and Indianapolis, they will kick back and watch. It will be a football game, sure, but it will be so much more.

Bob Kravitz is a columnist for The Indianapolis Star. Call him at (317) 444-6643 or e-mail bob.kravitz@indystar.com.

Copyright 2006 IndyStar.com. All rights reserved
Andaluciae
11-01-2007, 16:29
Of course, then Baltimore promptly stole the Browns.

I'm rooting for Indy. Actually, I'm not rooting for Indy, I'm rooting against the worthless goddam Ravens.

Art Modell MUST DIE.
Farnhamia
11-01-2007, 16:30
Of course, then Baltimore promptly stole the Browns.

I'm rooting for Indy.

Too bad they can't both lose. :p
Andaluciae
11-01-2007, 16:33
Too bad they can't both lose. :p

Agreed.

Maybe they'll both decide the game is hopeless and announce that they're forfeiting at the exact same time.
IDF
11-01-2007, 16:42
I don't like the Ravens, but I absolutely despise Indy. Can't wait to see Peyton choke another one away.
OcceanDrive2
11-01-2007, 21:58
Can't wait to see Peyton choke another one away.Manning is not going to let us down.. :cool:
he will Choke like if he was born to do it.

.. and the Colts D will not be able to bail-him-out on every playoff game.
Fooforah
12-01-2007, 19:45
Of course, then Baltimore promptly stole the Browns. Art Modell MUST DIE.

So you are actively calling for the murder and death of another human being.

Nice. :rolleyes: :rolleyes::upyours:

You are lowest gutter scum filth I've come across in quite some time, as well as being a douchebag and a liar.

Baltimore didn't steal the Browns. In fact, if the Browns hadn't moved to baltimore the team would have gone bankrupt within the next 18 months and been declared insolvent and disbanded.

And if douches like you want to bleat and shriek and screech and scream and pound your fists on the floor while you have some hissy fit 7 year old immature temper tantrum about anything involved in this incident and if you're going to bleat and shriek and scream and blame anything or anyone, please try not to prove that you're a total 'tard and blame the ones truly responsible, that being the city government of Cleveland who refused Modell's repeated requests including his literally getting on his knees and begging for a new stadium.

The facts of the matter are as follows:

In the mid-1990's the Browns were still at least a semi-competitive team in the nFL, but depsite making the playoffs every year and despite the bleatings from the self proclaimed "most loyal fans in the NFL", the Browns didn't have a single sellout during their last five seasons in the NFL before they moved to Baltimore.

Not one.

Not even during the playoffs.

Granted the Browns played in the single worst stadium in the NFL, the decrepit Cleveland Memorial Stadium where haveing the shitfilled toilets stopup and overflow during games was a regular occurence.

During this same time period the city began spending vast amounts of money, all coming from public funds ie; taxpayer dollars and tax hikes on several enormous construction projects including the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame, Ghund Arena, which was a new basketball arena for the city's NBA franchise the Cavaliers, a new baseball only stadium for the citys major league franchise, the Indians, as well as a gargantuan shopping complex/mall.

Modell saw all of this money being thrown around, especially at teams like the Cavaliers and Indians who at the time were among the very worst in their respective leagues and went to city officals and asked for money to build a new football stadium. He was told to go fuck himself.

Understand, Modell's sole businees was the Browns franchise itself. Unlike other NFL owners such as Jerry Jones he didn't have a seperate source of income. The Browns were it. As a result Modell had been losing money for the past several years and couldn't afford a new stadium on his own.

After meeting with city officials in Cleveland no less then 100 times over a period of 3 years, and being told to suck his own cock every single time, Modell saw no option but to look elsewhere, which led him to Baltimore.

Baltimore agreed to use public funds to build a football stadium and Modell then went public with his plan to move the Browns.

In conclusion, Baltimore didn't steal anything and by claiming so, you prove to the world that you are gutter trash scum of the worst kind.
Ilie
12-01-2007, 19:49
Yes, as a Charm City girl I can tell you that people around here are pretty fired up about this game. Even in the bank they're wearing jerseys. They had stuff about the colts moving on the news last night, sheesh! Anyway if we lose, you can probably expect a riot. (Or, you know, if we win.) We will set shit on FIRE.
Extreme Ironing
12-01-2007, 20:08
I think some of you are forgetting it is a sports match, not a war.
The Nazz
12-01-2007, 20:13
I think some of you are forgetting it is a sports match, not a war.

That happens a lot, especially in football. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan, but football especially plays to the idea of being warlike more than any other major sport, so it's not unusual to see that intensity spill over.
Jello Biafra
12-01-2007, 20:33
I think some of you are forgetting it is a sports match, not a war.I think everyone is forgetting that since the Steelers aren't in it, it doesn't matter. ;)
The Nazz
12-01-2007, 20:37
I think everyone is forgetting that since the Steelers aren't in it, it doesn't matter. ;)

Hush, you. The Saints are in it, and I will not have this fleeting moment disparaged. :D
Kinda Sensible people
12-01-2007, 20:40
I think everyone is forgetting that since the Steelers aren't in it, it doesn't matter. ;)

That's right, the Steelers aren't in it, so the Refs will actually be able to call a clean game.
Wallonochia
12-01-2007, 20:42
Yes, as a Charm City girl

So "Charm City" is Baltimore? I'd wondered, but not enough to look it up.
OcceanDrive2
12-01-2007, 21:28
... football especially plays to the idea of being warlike more than any other major sport, so it's not unusual to see that intensity spill over.intensity? how'bout RayLewis and PeytonManning crash on the open field..
Thats the intensity I want to see tomorrow :D

sometimes I can see the intesity in the eyes of the warrior.
http://espn-att.starwave.com/media/nfl/2003/1231/photo/g_raylewis_i.jpg
IDF
12-01-2007, 22:44
intensity? how'bout RayLewis and PeytonManning crash on the open field..
Thats the intensity I want to see tomorrow :D

sometimes I can see the intesity in the eyes of the warrior.
http://espn-att.starwave.com/media/nfl/2003/1231/photo/g_raylewis_i.jpg

Urlacher can take Lewis anyday.