Ravens Roost #41 - Local News Coverage

Bim Miller never forgave Bob Irsay for stealing the Colts from Baltimore.

And he scoffs at the notion that Baltimore might obtain the Colts name again.

"To me, it doesn't make any sense to bring the name back", said the 54-year old owner of the Yellow Umbrella Deli. "They should build a museum and bring back all the stuff, but retire the name. "Let's just stay with the Ravens."

Irsay's move left a void in Miller's life that was only recently filled by the Ravens' arrival. He rooted for the Steelers, but once Baltimore got a team again, so went his loyalty to Pittsburgh.

He jumped at the chance to buy season tickets, something he couldn't afford when the Colts were around.

And he discovered there's nothing like seeing an NFL game in person. You're just more involved, he said, than when you watch it on TV.

It's beyond a simple love affair.

Miller's obsessed with everything having to do with the Ravens.

Forget the blue-and-white horseshoes, he said. They're not nearly as attractive as the Raven's purple-and-black uniforms.

And, sorry, Artie, Johnny and Ordell. While the old Colts are regarded as living legends in these parts, Miller honestly believes the Ravens are much more personable.

Miller was tremendously impressed with the way Ray Lewis and Jermaine Lewis handled themselves last week at the York Galleria.

That's loyalty for you.

Miller's so wrapped up in the Ravens, he's surprised no one has started a Ravens' fan club in York.

"No one took the initiative, so I took it," he said.

And he's inviting other Ravens enthusiasts to join him.

On June 8, Miller will hold an organizational meeting to form a York chapter of the Ravens Roost, a network of fan clubs that has formed out of the ashes of the old Colts Corral. The meeting will begin around noon at his deli at the Olde Tollgate Village, 2535 S. Queen St.

To be recognized as official Roost, a chapter has to have at least 25 people, said Doug Phillips, the PR chairman for the Ravens Roost.

"Bim's contacted us back in the middle of October, and I hear from him about every 3-4 weeks," Phillips said.

Currently, there are 25 different Roosts throughout Maryland and one in Hanover. And once a potential club submits an application, a vote-strictly a formality, Phillips said-will be taken.

And keeping with old Colts Corral tradition of assigning numbers to its chapters, Miller wants No. 29.

"That was the day they announced they were the Ravens," he said. "March 29, 1996.

"And if you add up each number in 3-29-96 (individually)-three plus two plus nine and so forth, you get 29."

Now that's a tidbit of information only a die-hard fan would know.

(Editor's note: The Baltimore Council of Ravens Roosts later decided to assign chapter numbers that were not previously given to other chapters. Therefore, the York chapter was assigned No. 41. Since the York chapter is the first not to have been a former Colts Corral it uses the moniker "The First Original Ravens Roost".)

© 1997 MediaNews Group, Inc. and York Newspapers, Inc.