Monday, April 20, 2020

Review of "The Baltimore Stallions"

Believe it or not, there was a team based in a United States city that has won the Grey Cup, the championship of the Canadian Football League.  While this team lasted only two years in Baltimore before heading north to Montreal, they left behind a legacy that has surprisingly maintained its allure in Baltimore football history despite such a short time in the city.  Here is my review of "The Baltimore Stallions"


Title/Author:
“The Baltimore Stallions: The Brief, Brilliant History of the CFL Champion Franchise” by Ron Snyder

Tags:
Football (Canadian), history, championship

Publish date:
April 9, 2020

Length:
204 pages

Rating:
5 of 5 stars (excellent)

Review:
Baltimore is a football town, as they have proved with their support of the Colts before that team left for Indianapolis in 1984 and the Ravens since 1996.  However, in between those two NFL franchises, there was a Canadian Football League (CFL) franchise that called Baltimore home for two seasons, 1994 and 1995, and they were also welcomed by the fans and the city. That team, the Baltimore Stallions, also became the first and only team based in the United States to win the Grey Cup, the CFL’s championship trophy. The short but interesting life of the Stallions is the subject of this excellent book by Ron Snyder.

The book starts off with a brief history of Baltimore football before the arrival of the CFL team, with much of that section devoted to the Baltimore Colts. Here, Snyder gives the reader a good description of the pain felt by many in the city when that team left in the middle of the night with their items packed in Mayflower moving trucks. Quotes from many people attached to Baltimore football, whether fans, former players or media personnel are quoted or mentioned when Snyder shows how the city was painfully feeling the void of no football.

Meanwhile, the Canadian Football League, facing a difficult financial situation, wanted to try to expand its market into American cities.  Businessman Jim Speros decided to bring one of these teams to Baltimore and after persuading first city officials, then league officials, that Baltimore was the right place for a CFL team, he was awarded a franchise to begin play in 1994.  Not everything went smoothly for the franchise at the start, as Snyder tells the reader about the poor condition of the old home of the Colts, Memorial Stadium, as well as the legal challenge by the NFL when Speros wanted to name the new team the Colts. The NFL was successful in obtaining an injunction just before the 1994 CFL season started, so for that season the team was known as the Baltimore CFL team, or CFLers. For the 1995 season, they were officially known as the Baltimore Stallions.

However, once the games actually took place, the team was a success both on the field and in the stands. This topic is where Snyder does his best work as he not only recaps the games from both seasons but has these passages liberally filled with quotes from players and coaches, most notably Tracy Ham, the popular quarterback for the team, and general manager Jim Popp. These stories and quotes from so many of the people associated with the team gives the reader a better feel for how popular the team was in the city and in return, how much the players and coaches appreciated the support they received.

The ending of the team was sudden and the book reflects this as well.  No sooner had the Stallions defeated the Calgary Stampeders to win the 1995 Grey Cup was it known that the end of the franchise was near as while the CFL playoffs were taking place, the Cleveland Browns had announced their intention to move to Baltimore for the 1996 NFL season. Knowing that there couldn’t be room for both teams and also knowing that the CFL was going to end its experiment with U.S. teams, the Stallions had filed for a move to Montreal and became the latest version of the Montreal Alouettes. This was so sudden that there wasn’t even a victory parade or ceremony for the team in Baltimore.  The shock for this was illustrated by Snyder in the same manner that he wrote about the team’s success on the field, and even includes a reunion ceremony many years later in which several of the players and coaches were able to finally celebrate properly.

While some of the topics raised about the team are covered in more pages than would normally be the case for a book about a history of a team, Snyder manages to pull it off in a way that is entertaining and informative. It is a quick read and also an impressive work to be able to get a 200 page book out about a team that lasted only two seasons. This is highly recommended for readers who are interested in the CFL or Baltimore football history.

I wish to thank McFarland Books for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
                                                                       
Book Format Read:
E-book (PDF)                                                                                                                                   

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