It’s a question worth asking this weekend to Baltimore sports fans. What does the Colts return to Baltimore this Sunday mean to you?

I’m sure that the answer depends on who you ask.

Pose the question to anyone over the age of Forty Five and they’ll tell you of the heartbreak of seeing the blue and white being spirited away under the cover of darkness. Their voices will begin to rise in a mixture of anger and sadness at the mere mention of curse words like “IRSAY” and “MAYFLOWER”. And at some point there will be a Johnny Unitas story thrown into the conversation.

If you were to ask those fans that are in their Twenties or younger the same question they might not even know that the team was here. It did happen 27 years ago – didn’t it? I wasn’t even born yet! This weekend is about getting another step closer to the playoffs and a chance to beat the tar out of a Peyton-less team.

But then there are those “middle children”, a group I like to call – The Lost Generation. Those Baltimore fans that are in their Thirties and Forties and have a mixture of memories and oral history to guide their response in this debate. These are my people and since I’m asking the question, this is how I would answer.

I still have a vague recollection of the first Pro Football game I ever attended and thank goodness for the Internet to help fill in the gaps. It was October 9, 1983 and the New England Patriots were playing the Baltimore Colts. I was Eleven years old. I remember being excited because of the countless stories from family about the Colts of the old days and what an exciting and almost religious experience going to a game in person was. I was getting a chance to become another link in that chain.

The game itself really wasn’t all that exciting. The game was knotted up at 7 after Curtis Dickey took a Mike Pagel pass 68 yards for Touchdown. The Final Quarter belonged to Baltimore on the strength of a Raul Allegre 52-yd Field Goal and Donnell Thompson sacking Patriot Quarterback Steve Grogan in the end zone for a Safety. Colts win 12-7.

Even though that game wasn’t thrilling it was definitely memorable. Even almost thirty years later I can still picture myself sitting next to my Dad cheering on the Blue and White. On that day I became an official Colts fan and as I began my Middle School years I wondered how many more Sundays I would get to spend in Memorial Stadium over future Autumns and Winters.

Of course it was not to be.

On March 28, 1984 the Colts left for Indianapolis.

I witnessed the pain, frustration and sadness from the adults that surrounded me about the move. Personally I was angry. I was just getting started in my fandom and now Robert Irsay had taken that away from me. So what was I to do?

My father, who had always guided me in being a self-respecting hometown supporter refused to watch Pro Football. He casually showed interest in the Cincinnati Bengals, who had drafted Terp great Boomer Esiason in 1984 but it didn’t last long. He simply couldn’t watch – it was too painful.

I couldn’t bring myself to jump aboard the bandwagons of any of the East Coast teams – the Eagles, Steelers and certainly not the Redskins. It didn’t feel right. I wasn’t from those places. They did not represent me.

So I was a man without a football nation for years. All through Middle school, High school, and College I had NO hometown team to cheer for and pledge my allegiance to. There is a part of me that still gets upset typing those sentences. I feel like something was taken from me.

So you can imagine my joy when it was announced that the Browns would be moving to Baltimore. I understand that fans had mixed feelings “stealing” another city’s team. I didn’t care.

No one cried for our city in the national media. Yet Bob Costas opined for an hour before a Ravens game about how wrong it was the “Browns” to be there. Finally, after years of being dangled in front of other teams as a potential suitor and then getting screwed by Paul Tagliabue in 1993 during the Expansion process (Jacksonville? Seriously? How’s that working out?), a wrong was finally being righted. NFL football was back in Baltimore.

I had just gotten my first real job in 1996 and I was ready with disposable income in my pocket to dive headlong into Purple passion. Since then it’s really hard to describe what it’s like to have a team to cheer for each Sunday. It’s hard to fathom the emotions that stir inside me, even years later as I wade through a tailgate filled with fellow fans before a big game. I think I appreciate it much more because I was forced to go without for so long.

I also think fondly about the lessons passed down from Father to Son. My father did embrace football again and he wears his purple jerseys and jackets with pride. I can still think with fondness back to Opening Day of the 2001 season against Chicago as he, my brother and I celebrated a Ravens championship. He was visibly moved and could only say that he never thought he’d see a day where an NFL team from Baltimore would hoist a Lombardi again.

I contemplate this as I watch games with my own son who just entered First grade. He only knows of Lewis, Rice and Flacco. But I realize that it’s my job to school him on his past, just like my father before me and his before him.

As I gathered my things from my parent’s house many years ago I kept one piece of clothing from my youth – a Bert Jones jersey. That jersey now sits in my son’s closet and even though he’s worn it only once it serves as a reminder of what was left behind.

Fans hold very personal experiences and connections with their teams. Fan is short for fanatic. That personal experience shapes your perceptions and your passions. I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t want to see the Colts blown out in Baltimore this Sunday and it’s not just because it would help the Ravens playoff chances. For the most part I’ve let go of some of the hatred towards the Colts, it’s reserved for the Steelers and Patriots. There is still a part of me that wants a measure of revenge against that franchise and ownership. That will always be a part of me.

I realize that some of you don’t share my viewpoint and that’s okay. You are entitled to your own opinion. I don’t see you as less of a fan or a Baltimorean if you disagree. But if you happen to be a younger fan please, please, please don’t tell someone who is still upset about the Colts move to – “Get Over it”. Their experience may have been a very different one from yours and vice versa.

Just respect it and hopefully we can all enjoy another victory and maybe even another championship at the end of the season.