It is so much to ask to watch the Baltimore Ravens season opener in the Sports Zone of the Campus of a Baltimore university?  Apparently it is.

UMBC may not have a reputation for being the sportiest campus around, but not showing the Ravens Monday night game in the Sports Zone of the Commons is just baffling.

When I walked up to the Sports Zone with just a few minutes remaining before kickoff I was expecting to see the 80 inch projector screen showing the pre-game with a handful of Ravens fans sitting at the tables watching.  But to my surprise when I walk up there is no projector screen, no Ravens fans, no game.  Instead there is a gathering of several fraternity members.

So where on campus was this game being shown?  The first floor of Flat Tuesdays, on three 22 inch televisions with barely enough seating to fit 20 people.

Why not just change the name of the Sports Zone to “the lounge”?  It will be far more fitting.  The only thing that remotely relates the Sports Zone to sports is that they have a few lacrosse sticks and basketball jersey’s hanging up on the walls.  Otherwise there are no sports, pretty much ever.

Ravens games, Orioles games, heck even Wizards games should be shown their every night.  If you go in the Sports Zone throughout the day it’s not ESPN being shown on the two flat screen televisions on the walls, it’s CNN.  The only thing that could be considered to be a sport shown on the televisions on a regular basis in the Sports Zone is Monday Night Raw, which is not a sport- it’s a show.

When UMBC plays a televised road game, it’s not shown, no matter what sport.  When the Ravens play, it’s rarely shown.  The one time it was shown last year the game nearly ran past midnight (closing time of the commons) and the staff was threatening to kick students out before the end of the game.

And try finding a person who has the authority to change the channel on the televisions, they don’t exist.  You can ask to watch the Orioles game, but you won’t get it.