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The Dripby Gerald Neily1:24 pmFeb 5, 20130

Ravens nation: today we partied like it’s 2001

Crowd shows up at City Hall at start of Ravens Victory Parade to M&T Bank Stadium.

Above: Ravens rally at City Hall today.

Today we savored our sweet Super Bowl victory hangover at a City Hall Ravens rally followed by a parade to M&T Bank stadium.

It was less spontaneous than Sunday night after the game when fans poured out of the bars and onto the streets of Federal Hill, Fells Point and Canton.

But at today’s downtown rally, there was more time for reflection: Baltimore really is the Super Bowl champion again, just like 2001.

The main difference is that instead of 2001’s “Who Let the Dogs Out,” now we have “Seven Nation Army,” the White Stripes anthem about the chips on each of our shoulders.

The rally finally got underway with Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake trying to rouse her subjects by leading them in the chant, “Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. . . ”

Walt Griffin, 50, from South Baltimore celebrates in purple plumage. (Photo by Gerald Neily)

Walt Griffin, 50, from South Baltimore celebrates in purple plumage. (Photo by Gerald Neily)

Then the mayor yelled to the crowd, “You can do better than that!” To which a Raven fan named Elaine from Woodberry yelled back, “So can you!”

Then came Elder Statesman Ray Lewis, the only Raven who had already seen the promised land in 2001, followed by Ed Reed.

Late Start to Parade

The City Hall rally started over an hour late, doubling the length of the New Orleans power failure delay, which will forever define the Ravens’ Super Bowl victory.

This Pigtown resident says she's a

This Pigtown resident says she’s a “true Ravens fan no matter what.” (Photo by Gerald Neily)

The podium view was blocked for most fans by the prominence of the media scaffold, marking this as a “Made for TV Event,” with the crowd as mere props.

If only Ozzie Newsome was running this city. . .

The plaza crowd of only a few thousand (most probably went straight to M&T Bank where the parking was free) just sort of took it all in with a soundtrack including the real version of “Seven Nation Army” with Jack White singing over the crowd “oh” chant.

The indecipherable lyrics made it all the more of a Ravens song, so I took several liberties below with the libretto to make it more Ravenous:

I’m gonna fight ’em off 
A seven nation army couldn’t hold me back 
They’re gonna rip it off. Taking their time right behind my back
And I’m talking to myself at night because I can’t forget 
Back and forth through my mind behind a Ravens bet
And the message coming from my eyes says leave it alone
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. . .

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