I'm not a Ravens fan but this isn't so much to highlight the disappointment as to point out it's there.
I'm a Bengals fan. I don't have to concern myself with NFL disappointment because they have given me zero reasons to have expectations. I have no expectations so I can't be disappointed.
I'm also an Ohio State fan. I grew up in Columbus, Ohio so, by law, they are my favorite professional team. I was immensely disappointed last Monday. Ohio State went 7-1, watched Michigan chicken out instead of getting pummeled, won the Big 10, exorcised last years referee debacle convincingly against Clemson in the BCS and lost to the clearly best team in the country. I still expected a win. I want to show up and beat them. They weren't supposed to be better than Clemson and yet they throttled them. You're in the final Game, win.
I am disappointed with Ohio State's success and I'm not disappointed by the Bengal's gross failure.
If the Bill lose to the Chiefs next week, their fans euphoria today will be over-shadowed by that loss, much the way the excitement of the Ravens beating the Titans last week vanishes in the loss to Buffalo last night.
This is common and part of human nature. Our perception of a situation is largely driven by our expectations going in. It's true in relationships, work, sports, cafeteria food and basically everything else.
In life, if you're doing everything right, you have a great opportunity to 'win' (however you want to define it). It's not really a competition for the most part.
In Sports, that's not the case. If every team does everything right and has (team, media, fans) the expectation of Championship, there's still only going to be one winner. Everyone else will be disappointed. It is, literally, the nature of competition. There is no opportunity for everyone to win.
For the Ravens community, the game wasn't 5 minutes old and the discussion had already turned to what needs to change. Lamar Jackson is an MVP and one of the best players in the NFL....but is he good enough? FO? Head Coach? Coaching? QB? Players? "we" got beat in the Playoffs again, so something needs to change, right?
For the Orioles community, nobody cares. Maybe Freddy Galvis will sign. Eh, who cares.
Two years ago, Brody Van Wagenen was hired to lead the Mets' FO. After 2 disappointing seasons, he's already out of the job.
Mike Elias was hired the same off-season. He's done nothing but intentionally not try to win and he's on top of the world....#8 Minor League system...awesome!
Five years ago, the Phillies sold rebuilding and they bought 3 years with no expectations. Everything was great. 2 years into some expectations, MacPhail and Klentac are replaced (I guess technically neither is really gone yet, but they are)...but they got a 5 year run. They got to trade for Realmuto, sign Harper to a record deal. Spend money however they wanted after 3 years of no accountability and look, winning is still difficult.
What sports, not just baseball (certainly not just the Orioles), has realized is that there's tremendous value in lowering the expectations for a % of the fanbases. More than one fanbase can be happy (or at least not disappointed) despite the nature of competition. Ownership groups and FOs get a public break in the hyper-active landscape of a 24-hour news cycle and social media.
Sports, by design, is supposed to be competitive. That's what makes it great. You find a way. Not everyone wins, so you fight hard to find your best on any surface. It is the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. It's supposed to bring the best out of everyone.
It kind of sucks to be a Ravens fan today but that's just because you care. Passion is typically good fuel for the human spirit, in most things.
The Orioles have now spent 3 years telling the fanbase not to care and have yet to do a single significant thing for the 2022 season. Sad.