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Vol. 6 No.1 SEPTEMBER 14, 2006, Page 14 Raven's Rally Fans, Limelight Hits Campus MARIO VALONE between different areas of the and Ed Reed, were all gener- "Never", he said, event. SPORTS EDITOR field. It was tiring to many ous with their time, as they with a smile on his face. "For the college, there just watching some of the signed many types of memo- But some people is an enormous amount of Having been used to drills, especially in the intense rabilia and collectibles. One would ask, "Why do the publicity and exposure to the seeing McDaniel CoUege as heat of July and August. fan even tried to get kicker Ravens, an NFL franchise, public. Also, the Ravens and the home of the "Green Fortunately, bleachers with Matt Stover to sign his dirty practice here at a small McDaniel share in the cost of Terror", and seeing that color protection were provided for shoe; Stover quickly shunned Division-III college .in the many facilities' improvements all over campus, it was very VIPs and those who got a seat it away jokingly, saying "I'm town of Westminster as such as the artificial turf in the strange to see a very different early enough. not signing that." opposed to training at that stadium." color all over campus over the However, there were A lot of fans watched expensive, state-of-the art And there is a lot of summer. other things that added to the and desperately wanted the facility nearby at Owings publicity and exposure when The color was purple, festivities besides the prac- autograph of the new man in Mills?" Dr. Ethan Seidel, vice there are approximately and the reason why purple tices. Nearby, a small area town, and the man expected president of Administration 60,000 fans and numerous was the new favorite color on called "The Ravens Zone" to carry the Ravens to the and Finance here at McDaniel media outlets attending the campus was because the provided places for food and Promised Land, the Super and one of the coordinators of event over the three weeks. hometown pro football team, drinks, local businesses to Bowl, Steve McNair. Even the event, had this to say to Another question the Baltimore Ravens, had advertise, and even a small though McNair had not taken answer that question. some would ask is that if the returned to McDaniel for their play area for future Ravens a snap for the Ravens and "Having training Ravens take up three fields annual training camp. fans to have some fun. despite the fact that he was camp at McDaniel allows the here. on campus, do the Numerous amounts The main attraction the face of a former division Ravens to open the sessions to Ravens interfere with the of fans wearing Ravens jer- and the biggest thing most rival, the Tennessee Titans, the public. It is a very impor- practice schedules of fall seys were all over the place, fans enjoyed was the opportu- many fans think he will be the tant aspect of their public rela- teams here on campus? Are especially the jerseys of Ray nity to get autographs from answer at quarterback for a tions outreach." It is also in McDaniel's fall sports taking a Lewis (#52), Ed Reed (#20), their favorite Ravens players. team that has needed one in McDaniel's specialty to host back seat to the media atten- and Todd Heap (#86), and Areas W'~r~ Ilet asi.de fOT fans.. an ....£forbto ecceeed. -rNEL.....£rancruses for training tion gained by this event? that did not even account for to get those autographs, and McNair and Ravens camp. The answer is no. Dr. the number of jerseys worn by . they filled up very quickly. It wide receiver Derrick Mason, Baltimore football Seidel stated that the only the many players on the field took "pointy elbows" to get an who spent 8 seasons together teams, such as the Ravens and team that was affected by the trying to make an NFL fran- autograph. Fans 12 and under in Tennessee, were one of the Colts, have trained at many Ravens' presence here on chise. were fortunate to be allowed top QB-WR tandems in the schools across the area over campus was the football team, Two thousand six to get an autograph in the league, and it looks like every- the years, including Towson, and that the time in guestion marked the eleventh straight "Ravens Rookie Zone," where one here in Baltimore is glad Villa Julie, and even on our was only about three or four year that McDaniel has hosted they were almost guaranteed that the salary cap era has campus from 1953 to 1971. days. On those days, the col- the Ravens, who occupied an autograph from their brought them together. But However, this benefit lege staff coordinated with three fields here on campus, favorite player. did Mason ever think that he is not one-sided. Dr. Seidel Ravens officials to use the sta- including Balr Stadium and Many players, such would be reunited with his also shared how the college dium field for the Green the soccer fields located near as Derrick Mason, Todd Heap, old teammate? profits from the three week Terror. Gill Gym. The Ravens moved in on July 27th , where they would 'f~W:'I"'·;;~I'I'\. ~ ~.'1 stay till camp broke (Announcer): "Yet another punt by McDaniel. on August 19th. The 1t6Derek Thompson seems surprised that it . " Ravens then came to got to him." _, the campus to prac- tice from 9 A.M to around 11A.M, spent some time with the fans signing auto- graphs or taking Saturday's questions from the media, and then usu- game vs. Seton ally had an afternoon session for about an Hill provided hour. The team fans and play- would also break to its nearby 200,000 ers alike with square-foot facility in entertaining Owings Mills that owner Steve Biscotti sequences. introduced last year. Practices var- Here is one of ied from defensive the Free Press' drills, running the offense, scrimmages, favorites ... special teams and even conditioning. Head Coach Brian Billkk could be spot- ted wearing his signa- ture straw hat; con- stantly moving