Louis: I vaguely remember the Clippers, and I forget the name of the team that played in Baltimore in the '80s. What surprises me is that on the whole, Hockey never garnered much interest in Baltimore. It's a game that fits the City's character. FWIW, the Caps took a while to catch on in DC, back when they played in Largo in PG, off of Central Avenue. Ultimately, DC became a passionate fan base, but I remember when Giant Food would give away two free tickets if you spent 75 bucks on groceries.
Boris
Boris, Baltimore fans are passionate, if you are winning.
The Clippers usually made the playoffs, but never got past the second round. That is not enough to draw interest in Baltimore.
The Baltimore Bullets never won a championship. They did make the NBA finals, only to lose to the Milwaukee Bucks in 4 straight games. As you know they ended up moving to Washington a few years later.
The Colts were legendary having beat the mighty New York Giants in 58 and 59 NFL championships. They remained very competitive throughout the 60s and early 70s. They won the NFL Championship in 68, I won't mention Super Bowl III. They won Super Bowl IV, but as soon as they fell on hard times in 72 the fans turned on them. Trading Unitas, Mackey and Matte did not help, even though they were well past their prime. The Colts returned to the playoffs in 75, 76 and 77. Thanks to the draft picks they got in the hated trades. The fans returned but abandoned them again in 78 when the team missed the playoffs and the fans never returned.
The Orioles were the winningest team in baseball for their first 35 years (54-83), but did not consistently draw over a million fans until 1975. Even though the American league average was over 1 million for most years since 1946.
I believe had the Colts not left town after the 83 season that the Orioles would have left town after the 88 season having lost 21 straight to start the season. The fans seemed to have learned a lesson.
Memories are short, you should hear the things the fans are saying now after the Orioles' forgettable season. I can't even listen to sports radio any more. It's nothing more than a bunch of loud mouth blow hard, know nothing idiots spouting off about things they know very little about. I guess its the new norm.
I don't blame the Colts or the Bullets for leaving. They both played in inadequate venues. The legendary Baltimore Colts played in a baseball stadium. The best seats were in the end zone. The fifty yard line seats were bleachers and many seats had obstructed views. I loved Memorial stadium, but it was outdated and not built to support a football team. The bullets played in the much too small and drab Civic Center. Our politicians bad mouthed the respective team owners. All the while they were lying by promising new venues that never got past the drawing board. The Colts were on the verge of bankruptcy when they left.
Many Baltimore sports fans are true "fair weather" fans, for the most part.
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