Sometimes stories cannot wait until Friday.

Most of you probably do not remember all of the backstage drama that went on before the Colts left Baltimore (25 years ago tomorrow.  How fitting, really, with what is happening right now).  After it had become apparent that all the other tactics had failed, the City of Baltimore tried to claim the team under the statute of Eminent Domain.  They failed, and many people (myself included) put the attempt to do this down as one of the major reasons he wound up moving the team.  Many people are convinced that he would have sold the team, or at least kept it here.  But egos are a funny thing, and if you have the kind of hubris it takes to own a major sports franchise or be a high profile publicly elected official (and no one ever accused William Donald Schaefer of lacking in hubris), well, we know what pride goeth before.

In the news today was this article...

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/horseracing/preakness/bal-md.preakness28mar28,0,4000421.story

Basically it is about the state looking into avenues to keep the Preakness in Maryland, since Magna Entertainment Corp. (the company that owns Pimlico, Laurel Park, and the Preakness) has filed for bankruptcy.

Now the horse racing industry has been walking on a razor's edge for a while around here.  Many of the proponents of slots were proponents because they would go to the tracks in the area and hopefully keep locals who currently go to Delaware and their horse tracks that are loaded with slot machines here in the area.  But it seems it has been too little too late for Magna.

The thing that scares me from the article is this...

In an interview, Senate PresidentThomas V. Mike Miller said there was "obvious concern" among state leaders that the federal court would ignore the Maryland statute in favor of creditors' interests. As a safeguard, he said, "I'd be in favor of passing a law allowing the state to condemn the track and the Preakness," and then buy the assets.

Basically, the Senate President is threatening to do to the Preakness what the city tried and failed to do to the Colts.  

Now I am by no means in favor of Baltimore and / or Maryland losing the Preakness.  It is a true feather in the cap of this city and state.  The entire world (if you want to see something interesting, look up how popular horse racing is in Japan and in the Middle East) watches this event (many in smoky gambling parlors, but still).  It is one of the oldest continuously held sporting events in the entire world.  We need to fight tooth and nail to keep it.  Find other investors.  See if the model of the Green Bay Packers would work (I bet you a lot of people who live around here would buy ownership stakes in the Preakness.  I would.  It might not be the best investment, but how awesome would it be to hand down to my children a piece of Maryland history, ensuring that it stays here?  That's worth $100 a share.  And I might only buy 1 or 2.  But I bet Boogie Weinglass would snatch up a few.  And so would Barry Levinson, and John Waters, and Cal Ripken, and the Purdues (I forget what Frank's kid's name is).  But I am afraid that the tactics being discussed will be the thing that drives this incredible event right out of our state (and if it goes anywhere, my money would be to Delaware).  It is like the old saying goes..."Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice, shame on me".  I think we are risking fooling ourselves right out of the Triple Crown.

And in a very real way, it reminds me of another famous saying (at least it was when I was growing up)..."Don't be a dumbass".

I'm looking at YOU, Thomas V. Mike Miller.

After a week off due to injury (think of it as my own stint on the 15 day DL), I am back.  And I really want to get into the baseball season.

It is hard to really get my Baseball review going when my hometown team only has 40% of its starting rotation set and there are 2 weeks until the start of the season.  It is going to be shades of of the 1948 Boston Braves unless some miracle happens.  They have some studs in the wings, like Matt Wieters, Jake Arrieta, Brian Matusz, and Chris Tillman.  Wieters has every appearance of being the real deal, and a lot of respected baseball publications called him the top minor league player in baseball last year and the top prospect this year.  He is starting the season in AAA (he got the word yesterday that he was being sent down), but that is only to give him a little more seasoning and (more importantly for the team) to give them another year of having him under their control before he can become a free agent (go HERE and scroll down to "after a player is drafted".  For this season, if Wieters is brought up after May 12th his major league service time clock won't start ticking until next season.  Look for him to come up around the end of May or the beginning of June).  He has a decent shot of Rookie of the Year, and unless things go wrong in a MAJOR way, he will be a cornerstone of this franchise for 10-15 years.  The Big 3 of Arrieta, Matusz, and Tillman are starting pitchers with a ton of upside, and should be pushing their way into the bigs no later than 2011.  But at least Andy MacPhail is smart enough to keep them down in the minors and not rush them, even if they might be better than who we are plugging into the lineup this year.  They need to learn how to pitch in the minors, and only then should they come up.

And honestly, the team does have some good pieces in place.  They signed RF Nick Markakis to a 6 year deal in the off season, and CF Adam Jones had a good year, and came on stronger at the end of the season.  That is 2/3 of a very good outfield.  If LF Felix Pie (pronounced pee-YAY) pays off and lives up to his potential, then the Orioles will have one of the better outfields in baseball for a long time.  All 3 are above average defensively, Markakis is one of the more talented hitters in RF in the entire league, and he is getting better each year.  Jones has speed to spare and could conceivably be a perennial 50 steal guy with some pop in his bat, and Pie is a 5 tool player with plus scores in all areas, but who was pushed out of the Chicago Cubs lineup because they are a veteran laden team trying to win it all right now and do not have room on their roster for a rookie to learn in the big leagues.  Because his minor league options were up, the Orioles got him on the cheap.  He might not pan out, but it was a chance that the team could not pass up.  A big move was the signing of 2B Brian Roberts to a 4 year extension.  He is 31 and will probably not play much past this new contract.  And there is the chance that his play will decline more than a little bit over the next 5 years (the final year of his current contract and the 4 year extension).  But his leadership on the field and the example that he sets on and off the field are as important as anything else he does, especially in the next 2 years as this team builds towards being a contender again.  They have a number of other players that are probably in their last year with the team (Melvin Mora and Aubrey Huff being the two prime examples), as the team continues to develop their prospects (actually, if Huff has another good year I could see them keeping him.  But I do not think the team is going to re-sign Mora.  From a fan perspective I will miss him if they do not re-sign him, since he has been a bright spot, especially since he was the only really positive return from the "fire sale" that Syd Thrift had in 1999.  But it is time for the team to move on, and probably time for him to move on, too.  I just hope he retires and becomes ambassador for the team both here and abroad.  I have heard rumors of that being discussed with him.  I hope it is true).

In the off season the team made a valiant effort to sign local product and budding superstar 1B Mark Teixeira.  They made a fair offer, and said to his agent that if he is truly interested in coming home and playing for the team he watched as a kid they would be willing to move on that offer.  However (and this is why I think Andy MacPhail not only knows what he is doing but needs to be left the hell alone to do it), he also told them that he would not allow his team and their fans to be led along and used in order to get bigger offers from other teams.  He would not allow the franchise to be a negotiating ploy.  And it turns out that Teixeira never had any intention of coming here, as he signed with the New York Yankees (which a lot of local fans took personally, which is just stupid since he owed the franchise and its fans nothing).  His favorite team as a kid was the Orioles, but his favorite player (the one he modeled himself after since he played the same position as him) was Don Mattingly.  And when he was offered the chance to stand in his place he jumped at it.  Signing him would have been a step away from the blueprint that MacPhail has set forth on how this club needs to operate, but it was one that made sense from a fan and from a team perspective.  The team will be much more active in free agency in the next two years (as long as some of these prospects pan out), but right now the best course of action is to continue to develop from within.  They have greatly expanded their presence in Latin America (which is a hotbed of baseball talent), and they signed their first Japanese player (who is not a top flight talent, but a decent player.  The importance of the signing is getting the team a foot in the door of the Japanese talent pool and getting the team on the lips and in the minds of the players and fans.  They all know who the Yankees, Red Sox, and Mariners - who are owned by Nintendo - are.  Now they have reporters following the Orioles every day.  If Koji has a good time and likes what he sees then another world of talented players become available to the team.  It is another smart move by MacPhail.

I am not looking for this team to win more than 70-75 games this year, and would not be surprised if they were closer to 60 wins and 100 losses (they were 68-93 last year with one rained out game not made up as it made no difference in the final standings, playoffs, or draft slotting).  I am expecting to see Wieters by the beginning of summer and possibly 1 of the 3 pitching prospects (my money would be on Matusz) before the season is over.  I want to see Markakis improve his base stealing and expect to see an improvement in his power and RBI totals.  I expect to see continued improvement in Jones' overall offensive performance.  I am anxious to see what Pie can do as a full time starter in the majors as opposed to a call-up / fill in / part time player like he was in Chicago.  Basically I am looking for improvement on the field more so than in the standings.  The W-L record will get better only after the players do.  One step at a time.

Next week - Overall predictions for the season!

I figured since I missed last week, I owed you an extra one this week.  And there is something else I wanted to talk about, but on a completely different topic.

I mentioned previously that the NFL Owners have chosen to opt out of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and that this coming season is the last under the current salary cap.  If no new contract is reached, then the 2010 season will be an uncapped season (an explanation of what that would mean for the league can be found HERE), and odds are the owners will stage a lockout in 2011.  To make matters worse, longtime NFL Players Association (NFLPA) Executive Director Gene Upshaw passed away last year.  Upshaw had an excellent working relationship with the league, and losing him puts another wild card into the negotiations, as no one knows what is going to happen when NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith sit down and start negotiating.  That is why I found this story so interesting, and have been wondering why it hasn't gotten the attention that I think it merits...

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4015357

Now why is this such a big story?

• Players hate preseason
  

Preseason games are no longer nearly as necessary as they were even 20 years ago.  The off season camps, both mandatory and "optional", the workout sessions, the personal trainers and nutritionists that the players and the teams keep on staff...all of that adds up to players no longer needing 4 games in order to get in playing shape.  Training camp itself is still needed in order to get players familiar with the playbook and to integrate new players, be they rookies or free agents.  But the days of players taking jobs in the off season in order to make ends meet is long gone, and the players are able to spend their off season rehabbing injuries and making themselves ready for the season.  All these games are good for (in the players' minds) is for getting injured before their contracts become guaranteed (this is important.  Remember this).  It seems like every year there is a marquee player getting injured in the preseason.  And who knows how many regular joes or guys scrapping for a slot on special teams go down with a season (and sometimes career) ending injury in a meaningless game in August?  There is no benefit for them.

• Owners aren't THAT fond of it either
  

The owners do get SOME benefit from the preseason games in that the season ticket holders have to buy tickets to the 2 home preseason games as part of their package.  And they do make some money on concessions.  But the stadium is never as full, as energetic, or as hungry or thirsty as they are when the game means something.  The non season ticket holding fan is not going to buy a ticket to see the 3rd string left tackle play 3/4 of the game.  Most of the fans that DO attend leave by halftime, since the games are usually played on weeknights.  Thursday at 9pm in August, I just want to go home and sit in the air conditioning and decompress.  I am in no mood to put on my jersey, paint my face, and get stupid crazy in the stands.  It is just a fact.  And owners do not like when the stars go down any more than the players do.  They aren't going to cut them, so they have to pay them to do nothing.  Now they don't care as much when that undrafted rookie free agent goes down, because they don't have any kind of significant investment in that player.  But it is safe to say that no one likes to see another man get hurt for nothing (except maybe Philadelphia fans.  Sorry C3PO).  But since these games are not part of the broadcasting contract (local markets may broadcast them, but the networks do not show them nationally like they do regular season games), there is no real revenue for these games, and therefore no real benefit for the owners (this is also important).

The soon-to-be expired CBA (in the eyes of the owners) gave too much overall revenue to the players.  The vast majority of that revenue came from the television contracts, but the fact of the matter is that the Buffalo Bills do not generate as much money as the Dallas Cowboys.  They might get the same cut of the big pie, but their own bakeries have vastly different outputs.  And that puts the small market teams at a bit of a disadvantage.  This old CBA basically got hammered through by Upshaw and former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, because Tagliabue did not want their to be the potential of labor stoppage during his tenure (the NFL has gone the longest of any professional league without a work stoppage of any kind).  Truth be told, the old CBA was not that nice to the owners, and they want the chance to correct that.  But the players have had a taste of the big money and they will not give that up without a fight.  And not without getting some other concessions...

Like maybe a reduction in meaningless games?

Think about it.  Less preseason games means less games before a contract is guaranteed (currently if a player has 4 years of credited service under the pension plan, then even if they are released once the season starts that season's pay is guaranteed).  Less preseason games means that it is more likely that a player who has already been with a team will be kept over someone else, just because the coaching staff has less of an opportunity to see if another (probably cheaper rookie) player will be able to do what the current player has already established that they CAN do (protecting the jobs of teammates who are on the bubble.  You always protect your own fraternity members before you ask others to join you).  All of this is good news for players.  Now add to that the fact that more regular season games means more ticket sales and concessions sales for owners, giving them more money.  Also, the television contracts would have to be renegotiated, and even in a recession the networks do not want to lose their cash cow.  And if one network balks, another will surely jump in (or, the NFL could move more games to the NFL Network and keep ALL the money, not to mention giving them a chance to get their network into more homes with their own increased negotiating power as a game broadcaster all season long).  There are a lot of options here, and pretty much all of them end up with more money for the league.  Also, if the season is expanded, the league can justify adding some more players to the active roster.  A bigger roster means more jobs for more players.  

All of this adds up to the owners being able to come to the negotiating table with a chance to offer the players more money, but with a lower percentage of revenues (2 more games means about 10% more revenue right off the bat - 2 games is 12.5%, minus what they would make off of the preseason games - plus the additional television revenue from the national contract adding more than they are losing from local broadcast rights for preseason games, and by my guess by more than a little bit.  So they can offer a lower percentage than they currently give, but that percentage would be more overall money than the players are currently getting).  Plus the players get more jobs to go around and a better chance of guaranteed payment for a number of their players.  Both sides make concessions and both sides win.

Of course, it is not as simple as all that.  There are a lot of things that have to go into any CBA, and a lot of things that both sides are going to want addressed.  But to me this smacks of an opening salvo from a very smart businessman named Roger Goodell.  He comes out to the public in support of something players have mentioned wanting for a while (less preseason), but with the added caveat of something the owners want (more revenue).  It is a very smart move, and one that I think is going to have major ramifications as the negotiations heat up.

We are about the enter the best 4 weeks in sports.  Of course, I am referring to March Madness (and also the conference championships the week before that set the lineup).  There are probably more intense moments, especially if you have a personal stake in a team competing for a championship.  But the sheer quantity of teams and the history of teams making that "Cinderella" run to the Final Four makes for all kinds of excitement (not to mention all kinds of lost time at work.  This thing rivals the Super Bowl in scope of time wasted and also for casual gambling.  Get your brackets ready!)

Final selections are this Sunday.  You get in either by automatic bid or by an at large berth.  There are 31 automatic bids.  A lot of teams "on the bubble" are affected by the automatic bids.  Basically it breaks down like this...

North Carolina is a lock to get an at large berth.  They have been in the Top 10 all season long, and been ranked Number 1 for a good portion of the season.  They could be eliminated in the first round of the ACC Tournament and still get nothing lower than a 2nd seed (and will probably get a top seed) in the NCAA Tournament.  Likewise, Duke, Wake Forest, Clemson, Florida State and Boston College are also considered locks to get an at large berth if they do not win the ACC Tournament.  

Maryland is considered on the bubble (and by many to be on the outside of the bubble looking in).  It has been said that they would have to do anything from win 2 games in the ACC Tournament all the way up to get to or even win the tournament in order to guarantee a spot in the NCAA Tournament.  The odds of them winning the ACC are slim (there is a reason they went 7-9 in the regular conference season and were the 7th seed going into the tournament last night, where they beat NC State 74-69).  But it is always a possibility that they could make it to the ACC Finals, lose, and not get a bid.  It is also possible that they could win the ACC Tournament and therefore get an automatic bid to the NCAA's.  

If Maryland DOES get an at large berth, then the selection committee has deemed them more worthy than others who were considered borderline teams to make the tournament.  But if they were otherwise not going to make the tournament but DID win the ACC Tournament and therefore did receive an automatic bid to the tournament, they would wind up bumping out another team that otherwise was considered stronger than them and would have made the tournament over them if they had not received the automatic bid (dang but that was a long sentence).  In that scenario, Penn State or New Mexico could be bumped out of the Big Dance (another nickname for the NCAA Tournament).

In other words, 31 teams get invited no matter what else happened in the regular season.  Now the vast majority of the time the teams that get invited no matter what are not competing with the borderline teams for one of the other 34 open slots (the "mid major" and minor conferences are usually one, two teams tops for the tournament, since their SoS and their RPI are not enough to put them in the running).  But teams from the major conferences (like MD) who have decent SoS and RPI, but not at levels guaranteeing them an at large berth, have to be one of those 31 teams to get that guarantee.  And if they buck the trend and beat those schools above them and win one of those automatic bids they probably knock another school out.

And once they get in there, there is no telling what can happen.  And THAT is why I am planning on wasting as much of my bosses' time as possible the next month or so (even more so than usual, which is a hard thing to top.  But I shall strive to be as unproductive as possible, furtively glancing at my online scoreboard whenever they are not able to see my screen.  It is the American way, you know).

I was very tempted to get on last Friday as soon as I sat down at my desk and start going crazy over the start of free agency.  But I didn't.  I felt like I should let it shake out a bit and see where we stood after the first round of dust had settled.

I think we did pretty darn well, really.

Let's look at my unscientific list of UFA's the team had...

OL Jason Brown

LB Terrell Suggs

LB Ray Lewis

FB Lorenzo Neal

S Jim Leonhard

TE Daniel Wilcox

CB Corey Ivy

LB Bart Scott

OT Chad Slaughter

PK Matt Stover

WR Terrence Copper

QB Kyle Boller

QB Todd Bouman

Before we go too far, a caveat.  I did suggest using the Franchise Tag on Jason Brown if the team was able to sign Terrell Suggs to a new deal before Free Agency started.  Of the two, it was more important to sign Suggs, because 26 year old DE/LB hybrids with the ability to rush the passer as well as play in space are harder to come by than interior offensive linemen.  Especially when you consider that they do not specify line position when assigning the contract value of an offensive lineman.  And since tackles (specifically left tackles) are one of the highest paid players on a team, it would have been cap suicide to franchise Brown.  

Of that list, only 5 players have been signed.  2 by the Ravens, 2 by the Jets (who hired Raven's Defensive Coordinator Rex Ryan as their Head Coach, who took a couple of assistant coaches along with him, which is the norm), and 1 by the Rams.  Of course he is going to want to sign players who he is comfortable with and who can help teach his system to the new team.  Ryan waited outside Scott's house and at 12:01 AM (the moment he could speak to Bart without being accused of tampering) he knocked on the door and pushed hard to get him.  The Ravens pushed hard back, and the final deal (6 years, $48 million) is probably overpaying him a bit.  We will see how it plays out.  Likewise the Jets went after Jim Leonhard, who was a valuable fill in in the secondary and in punt returns after Dawan Landry went down with an injury.  But with Landry returning, and with Tom Zbikowski and Haruki Nakamura waiting in the wings (along with Ed Reed still there), he was not a priority and the money will be spent on other areas of the team that need more attention.  That being said, they are two good signings by the Jets, and two players I fully expected to lose.  Jason Brown is good, but Ozzie Newsome once again showed why he is one of the most respected GM's in the league.  The Rams definitely overpaid Brown to get him.  The Ravens responded by signing Matt Birk, an 11 year veteran, formerly of the Minnesota Vikings.  He is going to be a leader on the line and in the huddle, helping the maturation process of Joe Flacco.  He gives the Ravens 3 years to either develop Chris Chester or Marshall Yanda as a center or to draft and develop a center.  The contract is MUCH more cap friendly than Jason Brown's would have been. 

And this is important.  Most people think of the cap only in the context of that particular year.  But the cap is an ever evolving number that affects the team EVERY year.  They probably could have signed Scott, Brown, and everyone else on that list.  But next year they have to re-sign Haloti Ngata, and if you look at Albert Haynesworth's contract that he just signed with the Redskins (7 years, $100 million - $115 million if all incentives are reached), and Ozzie knows that he will have to keep that in mind when he is negotiating with Ngata's agent over the next year.  So the Ravens possibly upgraded on the offensive line and gave themselves more breathing room this year and next year.  And with Leonhard and Scott, there are other, young players waiting to take over.  The Ravens have been known for their linebacking corps for years, and the guys they have on the team (Tavares Gooden, Nick Greisen, Antwan Barnes, Prescott Burgess) are considered bright talents with a lot of upside.  It is the right thing to do to move forward with them.

The big news is that Ray Lewis is re-signing with the team.  It looks like he overplayed his hand when thinking that teams would get into a bidding war for a 33 (will be 34 by the time the season starts) linebacker.  He is going to eat a little humble pie and sign another cap friendly contract that lets him secure his legacy as a career Raven, a Hall of Fame player, and a leader who has the chance to get another ring before he hangs up his cleats for good.

The news that is not getting any attention is that the Ravens have apparently decided to part ways with Matt Stover, severing the last link to the old Cleveland Browns team (unless he does not re-sign with anyone else and is brought into camp to compete for the job.  Kickers have ABSOLUTELY no job security, since their contracts are usually so minuscule in the grand scheme of things that there is no cap ramification to switch them around all willy nilly).

Free agency is not over with.  There will be more deals before the season starts.  But as of now it is a slow trickle of signings here and there.  The big moves are done with.  

Hopefully I will be switching to more baseball coverage now, at least until the draft in April.  The World Baseball Classic is about to begin, and the Orioles have some interesting things happening in camp that should be looked at.

As always, if you have any questions about this or any other sports related questions please leave them in the comments section.  I would love to get a column idea from you.

Football is done with (except for the combine and the draft and mini-camps and "voluntary" workouts) until training camp in July or August.  Hockey and basketball are in full swing.  But the sport that grabs the attention of fans everywhere right now is baseball.  Spring Training has sprung, and even fans in Kansas City, Washington, Pittsburgh and, yes, Baltimore have hope that this year is the year they break through and become the feel good Tampa Bay Rays of the 2009 season.

But through all the mess, there is still the dark, ugly cloud of steroids.  In the last week Alex Rodriguez (arguably the biggest star in the sport right now) was revealed to be one of the 104 players who tested positive for a PED in 2003 (the fact that the results of those tests were supposed to be kept private, and that part of the collective bargaining agreement between MLB and the player's union does not allow for those who DID test positive to be punished makes the release of his name and the timing of it to be more than a little fishy, but maybe next time we can delve into this with more fervor).  Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Mark McGuire, Sammy Sosa...all have been tried and convicted in the court of public opinion without their guilt ever being proven.  Baseball has been tarnished and tainted by the steroids scandal.

Why hasn't football?

It is a valid question.  After all, it isn't like the sport is clean by any stretch.  In just the past few years a Super Bowl team and the reigning Defensive Rookie of the Year have been accused or tested positive for steroids.  It seems like every year there is at least one player of note being suspended for violating the league's substance abuse policy.  And yet football is not painted with the same broad stroke of mistrust and anger aimed towards it that baseball is.  Why is that?  Well, I have a few reasons that I think explain it.

1. Football has been open about the existence of PED's being used and has tested for it for years.

Football has been testing since 1987 and has had a policy in place for disciplining players since 1989.  Baseball, on the other hand, had its head in the proverbial sand until a former player with a vendetta brought it up and forced it into the consciousness of the average sports fan.  And even then, the league moved lethargically towards an kind of policy or disciplinary action for offenders (of course, the blame for that is as much if not more with the player's union and their unwieldy amount of power than with the league, which was all but powerless to institute any policy until public opinion forced the union to change its stance).  Baseball's refusal to even acknowledge the possibility of the existence of PED's in the sport made the inevitable revelation that much bigger and more the object of scorn and derision.

2. Players are more visible in baseball.

Football is more of a team sport than baseball.  Baseball is a team sport, but it is a team sport that consists of a lot of one-on-one match ups, specifically pitcher versus hitter.  The team (except for the catcher) is only involved some of the time.  And there are a lot of closeups of players faces, which are easy to see, since the only thing on their heads is a cap.  In football there are head encompassing helmets with face masks, and many players wear visors that obscure their faces even more.  They are in big bulky pads that are underneath their uniforms, making them look bigger and not as human.  It is easier for the fan to root for the jersey number and the logo on the helmet.  In baseball you know what they look like and what shape they are, there are not all those artificial accouterments beneath the uniform.  Most any fan can pick Roger Clemens out of a lineup.  How many could pick out Rodney Harrison?  Being faceless has its advantages when it comes to public scrutiny.

3. More history means more reverence.

Who is the career home run leader?  Who's record did he beat?  Who's record did the PREVIOUS leader beat?  

There is a decent chance that you were able to name at least two of the three players (Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, and Babe Ruth - just in case you weren't sure).  

Who holds the record for most career touchdown passes?  Who did he beat to get the record?  Who had the record before HIM?

You might have gotten the current guy, since his recent string of retiring and un-retiring over the last few years has kept him at the forefront of even the most casual sports fan's mind.  the second guy is less definite, and unless you are a sports nut you might not even know who number 3 is (Brett Favre, Dan Marino, and Fran Tarkenton - just in case you weren't sure)

Baseball has been around since the 1800's, and was the most popular sport in the country for a long time.  Baseball is known for its records.  Talk to a sports fan and say these numbers...

• 56
• 714
• 4256
• .406

I could go on and on with these (DiMaggio's 56 straight games with a hit, Babe Ruth's career home run total, Pete Rose's career hit total, Ted Williams' average in 1941, the last time a player has hit .400 or better for an entire season).  There is a reverence for baseballs' statistics and the players involved with them.  It goes back to the point about the individual players in a team sport.  Especially as a hitter, it is you against the world.  And hitting is what you watch.  Defense is a reaction to the bat hitting the ball.  So those numbers mean a lot to sports fans.  Especially fans who grew up watching and living sports.  Fans who can still remember the first time they walked through that opening of the stadium, past the concession stands, and saw the field laid out before them.  The green grass, the buzz of the crowd, the sun on your face, watching batting practice, seeing your team's big bopper in the batting cage hitting ball after ball into the stands until you didn't think there was any other place the ball could go whenever he stepped up to the plate...it all adds up to a Norman Rockwell painting, but it is real life, and it is as vivid a memory to me as anything I can remember ever.  And I know I am not the only person who has that memory, no matter what stadium they went to.  There is a piece of innocence there that football doesn't have, and that lends itself to fans being more hurt when that memory becomes tainted.  And that leads us to my final point...

4. We expected better of baseball.

Football is compared to war, and in war all that matters is that you win, and damn the consequences and the costs.  Even if that cost is your honor.  A lot of the terminology is based in military terminology (George Carlin does a much better comparison than I could ever hope to do.  Read it HERE).  Football is a violent, nasty sport where the average career is a little over 3 years.  I really think that we as fans are more understanding of someone using a PED to help them get through an injury or last another year.  Football breaks you, and fans laud the big hit that knocks an opponent out and who cares what it winds up doing to the hitter OR the player laid out on the field.  A lot of fans do not understand that while baseball is not a contact sport, it will grind you up into powder, especially at the major league level.  They play 162 games.  That is twice as many games as the NHL and the NBA and 16 times as many games as the NFL.  Mentally and physically it is taxing to a level that I cannot comprehend.  There is a reason that amphetamines were set out in candy dishes in the 70's and 80's.  But still we look at MLB and see ourselves playing sandlot baseball with our buddies, a ghost man on 2nd and two fingers down always means a curveball.  Football is us as a nation of overaggressive pain junkies, getting our fix vicariously through the hits on the field so that we can stomach another week of being cooped up in the office with those annoying coworkers.  Baseball is us sitting in the stands, enjoying the game with a beverage and a buddy, or playing catch on a hot, lazy, hazy summer day until Mom calls us to come in.  We are not personally offended when Jeff Mitchell gets busted for steroids.  We are when Andy Pettitte is.

So where do we go from here?  Who knows.  I think the baseball situation is going to get worse before it gets better.  And I expect that baseball will continue to be held to a higher moral standard than football.  And I will still be a fan of both.  Just a slightly more jaded one.

By now most of you have heard about Ray Lewis and his flat out refusal to think about giving the Ravens a "hometown discount".  I am having mixed reactions to this.

First, there is Mr. Bisciotti saying he doesn't see the team using the franchise tag on Lewis, and that he expects the team to go all out in re-signing him (which effectively cuts out a major negotiating tactic from Ozzie Newsome).  Then there is Terrell Suggs saying that maybe he, Lewis, and Bart Scott could ALL give the team a hometown discount in order to stay together.  And kudos to Suggs for even contemplating having a team first mentality, when that is such a rarity in professional sports (and major college sports too, for that matter). 

Now add to that the mixed feelings of understanding that this is (barring some kind of miracle) going to be his last contract (or at least the last one with any real big money to it) and that Lewis would want to maximize the amount of money he makes mixed with the fact that he has made a LOT of money in his 13 year career and that the team and the city showed him a lot of loyalty during his legal issues of 1999-2000.  So while I can see his point, to outright deny the possibility the prospect of taking a little less in order to stay and finish his career here in front of the fans who have made him a multi-millionaire many times over is a bit of a slap in the face, at least to this fan.  One would think the psychic income would account for SOMETHING, if he really means what he says about Baltimore always being his city and how much love and respect he has for us as fans.

So where does that leave me in regards to my previous post about the teams re-signing priorities?  Honestly, if anything it moves him down below Leonhard and Neal.  And that is iffy.  Probably it doesn't move him at all, at least to me.  But at the most it would move him from 3rd to 5th.  The big question becomes would the Ravens use the franchise tag on him, even after Bisciotti said they wouldn't?  If he truly trusts Newsome to make the personnel decisions (and looking at his track record with the roster why wouldn't he?) then it could still happen (although I would rather save it for Jason Brown, as stated in the aforementioned article).  The fact of the matter is that Ray Lewis IS 33, and about to enter his 14th season of football, playing a very physically demanding position.  He is in fantastic shape.  He seems to be playing as well as he ever has.  But this is the first time he has played in all 16 regular season games since 2003, and he is not going to be able to play forever.  It is not worth taking a cap hit that would cripple this team now or in the future in order to secure his services for another 2-4 years.  Offer him a fair deal.  If he refuses, we will have to see where he winds up.  If it is Kansas City or Detroit it is all about the money and always has been, and his proclamations of wanting to win another championship will be proven to be all talk.  If it is Miami, at least it is his hometown team, and they did have a good season last year.  If it is to the Jets or the Cowboys, he is probably trying to win it all AND get the massive payday (but if my memory serves the Jets are in salary cap purgatory, at least until Brett Favre makes up his mind about playing in 2009).

All we can do now is see how it shakes out.

Okay, last time we looked at the Ravens' Unrestricted Free Agents.  One sidebar to that, and that is the Franchise Tag.  After some careful consideration by me, and going with the assumption that the Ravens can actually sign Suggs and Lewis, then Jason Brown would be a prime candidate for the Franchise Tag.  And I think the team should seriously consider it.

Now on to the other free agents.  The ones that aren't all that free.  They're more like indentured servants with an option to buy.  First, the Exclusive Rights Free Agents or EFA's).  These are the players that can be retained outright by the team as long as a qualifying offer is made.  The offer has to be either $310K, $385K, or $460K depending on their accrued service time in the league.

RB – Jalen Parmlee

TE – Scott Kuhn

DT – Kelly Talavou

LB – Edgar Jones

LB – Jameel McClain

LB – Robert McCune

S –   Darren Stone

PK – Steven Hauschka

The only ones worth giving a thought to here are Edgar Jones, Jameel McClain, and Steve Hauschka.  I think all three will be tendered.  The other ones are special teams players and have not made any impact in any games.  Except of course for Mr. Darren Stone.  He is the schmuck that got the personal foul penalty on the Ravens possession late in the 4th quarter.  The one after the Ravens had scored another touchdown to make it 16-14, then held the Steelers to a 3 and out.  And THEN taken the punt back to the 40 yard line.  With about 5 minutes left we were approximately 30-35 yards out of field goal range, with the wind at our backs.  If any one play changed the game for the Ravens, it was moving from the 40 to the 12 (if memory serves, that is where the drive wound up starting from).  A couple of plays later, trying to force it on 3rd down, Flacco threw the game icing interception.  I have the feeling he might be looking for other employment in the near future.

So that is the ones who don't really have a say.  Now for the ones who have about a half of a say, the Restricted Free Agents or RFA's)...

RB – P.J. Daniels

WR – Demetrius Williams

WR – Marcus Maxwell

TE – Quinn Sypniewski

DT – Brandon McKinney

CB – Derrick Martin

CB – Evan Oglesby

S –   Dawan Landry

P –   Sam Koch

These are players whose contracts have expired and who have less than 4 years of accrued service time. The team must tender the player with an RFA offer.  Once done, another team can sign the RFA to an RFA offer sheet for any amount or with any terms that they choose, but the Ravens then have 7 days to match that offer sheet and retain the player under the terms of that offer sheet.  There have been cases recently with RFA players being signed to contracts by other teams with poison pills in order to make the original team unable to sign the player.  Look at Steve Hutchinson for an example of this.  If the Ravens were to choose not to match the offer sheet, then they would receive compensation based on which level of RFA tender was made to the player.  In other words, if the Ravens gave Sam Koch an RFA offer equivalent to a 2nd round choice, then another team signed him and the Ravens could / would not match that other team's offer, than the Ravens would get a compensatory draft pick in the 2nd round.

As far as signing these players, I look at Koch to be the most important signing.  I know he is a punter, but he is one of the better punters in the league, and the way this team plays the field position battle is always important.  Koch is excellent at placing the ball inside the opponent's 20 yard line.  He has the ability to control his kicks a lot more precisely than the majority of punters out there, and punter's offer sheets are not cap killers.  After that, Daniels and Maxwell are pretty much expendable except for special teams play.  The rest contribute on offense and defense and I look for the team to make quality offers to all of them.

So there isn't much here to talk about.  Most of this is cut and dry stuff.  So next time we will get into the imagination game and look ahead at what the team needs and where they might get it.  Also, who on the team that IS under contract that might not be here when training camp starts.

  

And coming soon, the BSR MLB PREVIEW POST!!!!!!!  Get your peanuts and Crackerjack ready.

One step at a time...

Fineous Reese is a reader of this little site, and when I was posting stuff a couple of weeks ago, it seems he noticed, since he asked me on TSG (yes, I just hyperlinked myself.  And it didn't even hurt) where the updates were, I figured I better oblige him.

First of all, as far as the Ravens / Steelers game, the better team won.  Flacco looked like a rookie for the first time since the beginning of the season, and the team did not execute on EITHER side of the ball.  The defense did okay, but far too many times they had the Steelers in a 3rd and long situation and didn't stop them from converting.  

But the hit on McGahee was illegal as all get out.  Not only was it helmet to helmet, the defender left the ground and launched himself at McGahee while he was still in the process of turning around.  McGahee is not at fault for crouching down as he turned to run, that is what you do when you are expecting contact, you lower your shoulders and meet it straight on.  The defender couldn't adjust because he was airborne at the time, flying at McGahee like a human spear.  He should be fined at the least, and suspended would be not at all egregious punishment.

So, rant off.  Now let's look at what the Ravens need to do this offseason.  I am going to look at one thing each post for the next few weeks and months, as well as touch on the upcoming baseball season (pitchers and catchers report in a little over 2 weeks).

First and foremost, they need to look within before they look to free agency or the draft.  Here is a list of the Ravens' Unrestricted Free Agents in what I consider to be the order of importance of signing...

OC – Jason Brown

LB – Terrell Suggs

LB – Ray Lewis

FB – Lorenzo Neal

S -    Jim Leonhard

TE – Daniel Wilcox

CB – Corey Ivy

LB – Bart Scott

OT – Chad Slaughter

PK – Matt Stover

WR – Terrence Copper

QB – Kyle Boller

QB – Todd Bouman

This list is a combination of need and signability, and also cap ramifications.  I have a feeling that someone (probably Miami or Detroit) is going to make a big push to sign Jason Brown, but as long as his deal isn't a cap killer, the Ravens need to re-sign him.  He is only 24 and he anchored a much better than expected offensive line last year.  This OL has a chance to be something special for the next few years, and it would be a shame to see him go.  Now, the Ravens DO get Marshal Yanda back, and his return as a starting guard would allow the team to move Chris Chester to center.  But Brown is somewhat undersized at 6'3" and 320 lbs.  Chester is 6'3" and 305 lbs.  Both have good technique, but are susceptible to being bull rushed.  I don't want to have to keep the RB or the FB back for max protect all the time, but of the two, Brown has better technique and could easily put some more muscle on his frame without losing any of his quickness.

I put Suggs ahead of Ray Lewis for one reason.  Suggs is 26 and in the prime of his career.  He is a hybrid DE/LB who can rush the passer and drop back into coverage.  Basically, he is the game changer that Ray was back in 2000.  That is not to say that Ray is not a very good player.  But Ray is not the same player he was 9 years ago.  He couldn't be.  His position is too violent.  He has lost a step, but compensates for it with his film study and his knowledge of how the game flows.  He can read a play as well as if not better than anyone who has EVER played the game.  And that might be even more impressive than his still quite formidable physical skills.  

Of the 3 LBs that are UFA's, that leaves Bart Scott out of the loop.  Now if he (as well as Suggs and Lewis) were to subscribe to the idea that Terrell floated out to the world the other day then a lot of things could change.  But looking at it from cold, hard reality, Scott is the odd man out.  I think he signs with the Jets, or as a consolation prize to the Cowboys if their push to sign Lewis fails.  If Lewis or Suggs (or God forbid BOTH) DOES bolt and he is still available the Ravens will snatch him up pronto (unless HE decides to follow one or both of them.  All three are close friends on AND off the field, and that could help or hurt the Ravens' chances of signing them depending on how the dominoes fall).

Neal, Leonhard, and Wilcox are all vital cogs that keep the team moving, and none should blow the market open to the point that signing them isn't economically viable.  Neal is invaluable as a leader in the huddle as a safety blanket for both the RBs and for Joe Flacco.  He is a 16 year veteran who still brings the pain every time he steps on the field.  Nothing on the field surprises him, and his emergence on the team coincided with the team going on a major hot streak.  The combination of him, LeRon McClain, and Haloti Ngata on the goal line offense is nigh unbeatable.  Leonhard offers solid play in the defensive secondary as well as good hands and better than average punt and kick return ability.  Wilcox is a decent blocker, but more importantly, Todd Heap has not had a good season in a couple of years.  It could be injury and it could be that he is no longer a front line starter.  Wilcox is no Tony Gonzalez, but he will do at least as well as Heap has been doing recently, and is a better blocker and gunner on special teams.

Stover is a special case.  He is worth keeping strictly from the standpoint that kickers as a rule do not cost that much against the cap and he is a fan favorite.  The only negative I have with keeping him is that the Ravens also need to keep a kickoff / long kick specialist, and that is a valuable roster spot.  But it is worth it from the standpoint of what he means to the team and to the fans.

Boller is above Bouman only because Boller is a really good man who has been nothing but a stand up guy who took more punishment (both on and off the field) than any one man should have.  But we have 2 good QBs and he is going to want to be able to compete for a starting job, and there will probably be someone somewhere that will be willing to give him a shot (again, the two most likely culprits will be the Jets or Detroit).

Any other name is just there because they are an UFA and to keep them would add depth to the team with players familiar with the system that we run.  

Next post, I am going to look at the other players that could move, and the consequences for both the Ravens and the team that signs them if it is another team.

I posted this on a site that I like to frequent in response to a thread that quickly turned into nothing but a load of bashing Baltimore and the Ravens and everything else.  I have probably said these things before, but I felt like saying them again, just in case someone out there doesn't understand where I am coming from.

I am a longtime Baltimore sports fan. I was born and raised a Baltimore Colts fan. I was given season tickets as a Christening gift and went to every home game from 1973-1984 sitting next to my Dad, my uncle, and my grandfather. When the Colts were taken from us, I watched all three of them wipe tears from their eyes.

I watched the Rams, the Cardinals, the Oilers, and the Raiders (twice no less) move. I watched the Bengals and the Buccaneers (as well as the other aforementioned teams) use Baltimore as leverage to get the deals they wanted from other cities. I did not hear the moral outrage when these teams shuffled across the map. I did not hear the fans in the new cities being spit on and cursed to. When the Rams moved from LA to St. Louis were the fans in St. Louis immediately vilified for having the audacity of rooting for the Rams? If they were, I sure don't recall hearing anything about it.

I watched the NFL try to shove the Redskins down our throats, thinking we would start rooting for them like good little minions. We said no. We rooted for a USFL team (that moved here from Philadelphia, but no one cared about that). We rooted for a CFL team (and the NFL wouldn't let us use name "Colts" because they knew that name was valuable).

I watched this city sell out a meaningless NFL pre-season game between the Saints and the Dolphins in 93 minutes (I still have the ticket stub). I watched the NFL put a team in Charlotte and another in Jacksonville and ignore us again. I watched as the Irsays, who as a condition of the city of Baltimore dropping their lawsuit to stop the Colts from moving to Indianapolis, agreed to vote in favor of Baltimore getting an expansion team if one was to become available, vote for Jacksonville instead of Baltimore. I watched as Tagliabue told us to take the money that was set aside for an NFL stadium and go build a museum with it.

I watched this city and its fans jump through every hoop imaginable in order to get a team the right way, and I watched this city get pissed on at every opportunity by the NFL and the other teams and cities.

Do I like the way that Baltimore got back into the NFL? No, no I don't. Do I think there was any other way we would have gotten back in? No, no I don't.

But I do think we as a city and as a fan base have paid whatever dues we should have paid in the vitriol that has been heaped on us for the last 12+ years, and we have paid more than we should have paid. Where was the hatred for Indianapolis when the Colts were taken from us? What happened to the promise made by the Irsay family that if and when Baltimore got another team that we could have back the name and the colors, then watch as the Irsay's tried to commit highway robbery for STARTING the bidding at $25 million? No matter the reason that Cleveland got to keep the name and colors, the fact is that they did. The fans of the Browns don't have to go to Canton and see Otto Graham listed as being a Baltimore Brown. We have to see Jim Parker listed as an Indianapolis Colt. And no matter WHO you root for, that sucks.

I could go on for another 9 or 10 paragraphs on this, but it doesn't matter. The minds have been made up long before reading this are not going to change. The Baltimore Ravens are going to be the team that everyone else likes to shiat on to make themselves feel better. I have to shake my head at it and sigh, because there is no longer any other way to react to it. I cannot keep getting mad at all the hate, I just have to shrug my shoulders. So go on hating us and cursing us and spitting at / on us if it makes you feel better. We're pretty much used to it by now.

Win or lose tomorrow, I will still be a Baltimore Ravens fan on Monday. If you don't like it, go fark yourself.

Okay, enough analysis.  It is time to get it on like Donkey Kong.  If Elmer Fudd was doing play by play for this game, he would be telling us all day about the Wavens' defense bwinging the Puwple Wain down on the Steewers, with Way Wewis making sacks and Tewwell Suggs with his one awmed sacks.  

And this time Hines Ward will be kissing his cousin, because the Steelers are going to stay home two weeks from now, while the Ravens are going back to Tampa.

I'm going to go with my heart on this one.  Final score...

Ravens 24

Steelers 13

Come back Monday for the post game analysis.

So it comes down to this...

A tad less than 3 days away from the big game (not to be confused with The Big Game).  Things are becoming clearer.  For the Ravens the big issues are if CB Samari Rolle and OLB/DE Terrell Suggs are going to be able to play.  Both participated in the walk through but did not practice.  The biggest positive to take from that is that they have not yet been ruled out for the game, since the walkthrough is where they go over the actual game plan and strategies / tendencies they expect to face.  So that is a small silver lining on an otherwise dark cloud.

For the Steelers, SS Troy Polamalu practiced, but C Justin Hartwig did not.  Both are expected to play on Sunday.

This is news because for the Ravens, if Rolle can't go then they have to "Next Man Up" all their cornerbacks.  And against a passing offense like the one the Steelers have that is a dangerous proposition for the Ravens.  And if Suggs cannot play then they lose one of the best pure pass rushers in the league, again making the Steelers' passing offense better by subtraction.  If neither can go, it starts to look like a long game for the Ravens.  And as far as the Steelers go, Polamalu is a hitter / tackler / enforcer of the first order, and losing him puts the middle of the field up for grabs for the Ravens' offense.  And if Hartwig is out, the backup center plays.  The Steelers offensive line has been (rightly) maligned all season for allowing Roethlisberger to take the amount of punishment he has taken in the form of sacks and hits.  If the backup is in, the OL is going to have to help chip on Ngata, who is one of the best (and most underrated and under appreciated) nose tackles in the league.  If they have to use a back or another lineman to chip and double team him, it decreases the amount of plays they can run, weakens both the running AND the passing game, and allows players like Trevor Pryce and Marques Douglas to have less interference on THEIR way to the QB.  It comes down to numbers.  If the Steelers have to play Max Protect all game it can only increase the chance for a mistake down the field to help the Ravens turn the game to their favor.  A hurried QB is a QB who will throw up the air ball, and that is when Ed Reed is at his absolute playmaking best.

If I hear more you will know more.

I know, it is either feast or famine around here...

So we are just over 4 days from the big AFC Championship game, Ravens - Steelers III.  And the local sports talkers (the sports radio stations) are BUZZING with activity (if they weren't I would be real surprised).  And the odds are against the Ravens in this one.  The Steelers are more rested, have less key players injured, and they are playing at home.  The Ravens have injuries to at least 2 key defenders that caused them to miss time in a closely contested playoff game last week, their number 1 running back had to either hop off or be helped off of the field 3 different times in that same game, their offensive line has been hurting, and one of the stalwarts of the line missed time during the game (although he did come back in), and their top receiving threat has been playing with a bum shoulder for weeks, making him run with one arm pinned to his side most of the game.  It is going to be a lot to overcome, and while I hope for a win and will root with all my heart and soul for a win, I am not expecting or guaranteeing a win.  BUT if the Ravens ARE going to win, here is what I think they will have to do...

On Offense:

• Get Ray Rice involved.  Ray Rice brings an element to the offense that nobody else can bring.  He is small.  He is compact.  He is explosive.  He is a great safety valve on offense.  Get him involved with some screens and play action passes.  Let him get underneath the coverage (in the spot in the zone in between the line / linebackers and the secondary), get him the ball with some space and let him make some people miss.  
• Get Flacco going early.  The Steelers are going to commit to stopping the run.  The run is what makes the Ravens' offense go.  The only way to keep the Steelers offense honest and open up some running lanes is to get the passing game going so that the Steelers cannot put 7 and 8 men in the box.  And not just deep down field, either.  Quick slants, screens, crossing patterns, up and ins...make the Steelers drop the linebackers back into coverage and THEN Pound McClain and McGahee at them.  Short passes, continuing to control the clock and keep the defense off the field as much as possible (because they NEED to not be on the field for 35 + minutes again like they have the last 2 games).
• Clayton and / or Heap HAVE to step up.  Derrick Mason is having a Pro Bowl caliber year, but he is hurt, and even with 2 arms he cannot do it alone.  Heap needs to claim the middle of the field, and HOLD ON TO THE BALL when he catches it.  If he is EVER going to regain his old form, it needs to happen on Sunday evening.  Clayton needs to not only catch some short passes, but also burn down the field, even as (or maybe even ESPECIALLY) as a decoy to clear out the middle third of the field, as well as the underneath routes.  Make the safety move to his side and clear out some space.

On Defense:

• Contain Roethlisberger.  "Big Ben" kills you by getting out of immediate trouble, extending the play with his legs by getting out of the pocket, then finding an open man who has broken contain (because you cannot expect a DB to keep a guy covered indefinitely.  It is impossible in a react position to always react 100% correct to a deke or cut move).  Keep him in the pocket, and when you get him in your arms, TAKE HIM DOWN.
• Don't break contain.  The reason the Giants were able to gash the Ravens' defense is that the Ravens broke contain and did not stay in their assignments.  Then, when Brandon Jacobs cut back there was no one there to stop him.  I know the Ravens defense is predicated on getting to the ball, but if you get sloppy / overanxious you will get burned.  Keep Willie Parker running east / west instead of north / south, let him string it out looking for a cutback lane, but DO NOT give it to him.  Eventually he either runs out of bounds or right into your arms.  Then you have him and you put the Steelers in 2nd or 3rd and long, and that is when you can goad them into making a big mistake and possibly get that turnover.
• Don't let Hines Ward get in your head.  Hines Ward is one of those players that you love when he is on your team, but if he ISN'T on your team you can't stand him.  He has a smirk on his face after every hit and every catch.  And then there are the shots he dishes out.  Are they illegal?  No.  Are they dirty?  That is another question.  If he is in the path of a play, he has every right, in fact I would expect him to try and take out the man across from him in whatever way the rules allow.  But to lay a guy out with a crackback hit from the side when the opposing player is following the play and they are not involved in the play itself?  Calling it dirty or cheap is close.  I would call it shady.  Either way, it smacks of being a punk.  Like I said, if it is part of the play as it unfolds, that is what the game is.  But when it is 20+ yards away and the player is not full speed engaged in trying to make themselves part of the play, well...it is crap.  But that being said, if you let him get into your head and cost the team a penalty or two (or worse, get thrown out of the game) then he wins.  And the Ravens cannot afford to lose any one on one battles, because their margin of error is too fine to allow that to happen.

Overall, here is what it is.

My heart says:

Ravens 17

Steelers 10

My brain says:

Steelers 21

Ravens 13

All I can do is hope my heart is right.

Every 6 months or so, I am good for a post (it would seem).

Wow.  There has been a LOT happening in local sports since I last took the time to waste your time.  Hell, Spring Training starts in about a month.  I am once again going to openly proclaim that I will endeavor to post more regularly this year.  As far as actually doing it?  Well, I wouldn't put my mortgage on it.

So the Ravens are one game away from a berth in the Super Bowl.  And honestly, I had absolutely no aspirations of this team getting this far.  I was hoping for 8-8 and competitive in at least some of the losses.  Instead I get 11-5 and one loss from a 2nd seed and 1st round playoff bye.  I have had my wildest hopes for this team surpassed.  No matter the outcome of the game on Sunday, this season has been an unqualified success.

That being said, if they DO lose on Sunday I am going to be any combination of

• sad
• mad
• pissed
• pissy
• grumpy
• other random dwarf
• bummed
• et cetera

I usually subscribe to the "I'd rather get blown out than lose by a couple of points" theory of football.  If you lose by 2 touchdowns or more than it is one of those games where nothing is going right and you chalk it up to that.  Even in a playoff game where it is one and done if nothing is working than nothing is working.  You could say that nothing working is the reason I am doing this right now.  When you lose by a couple of points you sit there ruing that one play that cost you the game (there is always one play that makes the difference in a game like that).  But it is different when it is the Steelers.  It is different when it is a division rival between your team and the Super Bowl.  At this point ANY loss would be cause for me to be at least 3 or 4 of the aforementioned emotions.  And it is sucky that it makes me feel this way 6 days before the game as I sit here thinking about it, and it is awesome that my team has gotten to a point where I can be made to feel that way.  THAT is what makes being a fan fun.

Now as to what I will be doing at 6:30 EST on Sunday January 18th.  I will be sitting in my house, with food that I have prepared and NOT ordered from any pizza / wing / sub / Chinese food establishment.  My wife will be in the house.  The dogs and the cat will be in the house.  They will all be allowed to roam freely about the rooms.  If Larry the Upstairs Neighbor is home, he will not be sitting in my living room.  If C3PO the Translator Lawyer is free after watching his beloved Eagles play the Cardinals, he will not be invited over.  On the off chance that Fineous is free from family responsibilities he will not be on my couch.  Why?  

I am not an overly superstitious man.  However, the last two games I have been in my house, sans any company that is not legally joined to me or of a subservient species that have been living in my house and are dependant on me for food and shelter.  Both of those games have been victories for the team I root for.  I am not going to tempt the Fates by messing with a winning formula.  It is like Crash Davis said... "If a player thinks that he is on a hot streak because he is having sex, or not having sex, or wearing the same socks every day without washing them, then he is.  And you have to respect that."

Yes, I am using Kevin Costner dialogue to justify my hermit-like existence.  What can I say?

I might get some flak for this. But whenever race is brought into sports, it causes a storm of controversy. And when it is used irresponsibly, it is cause to call it out for what it is.

There is a man who until the middle of last week was a pitcher for the Houston Astros. Before that he pitched for the Pirates, the Yankees, and the Rockies. Currently he is unemployed. Why is he unemployed, you ask? Because he threw the General Manager of the team to the ground and then tried to choke him.

Let me say in no uncertain terms that I think being unemployed should be the least of his problems, and in fact he should be locked up, like someone who isn't a professional athlete would be if they did the same thing to their boss. Now that being said, I needed to say the following.

I was reading the Sunday Baltimore Sun's sports page when I read the commentary by David Steele (who some of you may remember I have mentioned in the past). His main article was about Babe Ruth and Ruth's granddaughters pushing for the Babe's number to be retired throughout baseball like Jackie Robinson's number has been. Personally, I have no opinion on that. But in his sidebar, bullet point section he mentioned the following...

The last time a pro athlete wrapped his hands around his boss' neck, it led the national newscasts, anger-management and workplace-violence experts were consulted, the president of the United States was pressed for his reaction, and the player was kicked out for a year and became an instant pariah. Of course, the last athlete who did that wore cornrows.

Here is my problem with this statement. It is bad enough that too many times, and way to casually, incidents are made out to be a black / white issue (and by that I don't mean "cut and dried", easy to see one side or the other), mainly because I think it is the easy way out to make an explanation or rationale of something. But when it is taken even further that it is because the last case was someone who was "blacker" than the current case (I don't see any other way to interpret the cornrows statement), well that smacks of sensationalism to me.

Let's look at some facts. According to Chacon himself, he is not sure exactly of his heritage, since he was put up for adoption at age 4...

Chacon was born in Anchorage, Alaska, but has only dim recollection of his biological mother and none of his father (he believes his biological father was African-American and his mother Latina). His mother placed him in a Greeley, Colorado foster home when he was 4, and he was adopted by Tony and Blanca Chacon.

No matter his heritage, he is not Caucasian, as this GIS (Google Image Search) will show you. So basically Steele is saying that since Chacon is a clean cut minority, white people don't have as big of a problem with his choking someone as we did when "thuggy" Latrell Sprewell did it.

Well, here is another reason, maybe not so "black and white". According to Chacon (and I realize that it is just his side of the story) GM Ed Wade was yelling and cursing at Chacon, and Chacon asked him multiple times to stop before finally rising to his feet and taking the altercation to a new level. Wade has admitted to telling Chacon to "look in the [bleeping] mirror", and to raising his voice. He has admitted to these things after at first denying that he ever yelled or cursed at Chacon. Since he has recanted his defense once already, is it not possible, even feasible, that he yelled and cursed at Chacon before that moment? Is that a defense for throwing someone to the ground, or for any physical assault? Not in the least. But it isn't like there was no provocation in the matter. Now compare that to the Sprewell incident. In the course of a practice, P.J. Carlesimo (the coach of the Golden State Warriors, the team that Sprewell played for at the time) instructed Sprewell to make his passes crisper, or to use the parlance used by the coach, to "put a little mustard on the pass". Sprewell responded that he did not feel like being coached or instructed that day and told Carlesimo to stay away from him. Carlesimo approached him anyway, and Sprewell responded by choking Carlesimo for 15-20 seconds before other players pulled him off of Carlesimo's neck. He left the court, then returned a few moments later and threw a punch at Carlesimo, and landed a glancing blow.

So on one hand we have a guy who was yelled at and cursed at by the man who is supposed to be in charge of the entire team, even the coaching staff, and he is belittling another man. On the other hand we have a man who is doing his job by coaching a team, and who has a player who doesn't feel like doing his job, so with no provocation chokes and later punches the man.

Latrell Sprewell acted like a spoiled prima donna who thinks he is better than the other players, like he doesn't need instruction. He acted like a lazy bum who lashed out when he was called out for it, like if your boss were to come past your cubicle and sees you writing a sports blog instead of doing the work you were supposed to be doing (and getting paid to do), and tells you to get to work. Your co-workers will probably overhear your boss, and you will probably be embarrassed (not that this has ever happened to me). Would telling your boss that you don't need them to tell you how to do your job, then saying to stay away, and when they approach you anyway you try to kill them.

Shawn Chacon was wrong to refuse to go to the Manager's Office when Wade told him to go there for a meeting with him and Manager Cecil Cooper, but he did not start the altercation, and he did not begin the escalation of the altercation. And while Chacon was wrong for denying Wade's request to go to Cooper's office, in hindsight it was probably the best thing for him. I have no doubt that Wade's tirade would have been just as bad if not worse behind closed doors and without 24 witnesses (the rest of the team), and seeing how Wade initially denied yelling and cursing, I have to wonder if he would have admitted to it if said witnesses were not there to refute his statement.

Mr. Steele, you are in the wrong here, and stirring up racial issues only clouds the real issues in this case.