Possibly Apocryphal

A long time friend of mine is a Denver Broncos fan. Before they finally won it all, he used to lament about how the team just couldn't take that next step in the big game. One of his favorite things to say whenever anything was going wrong (no matter the situation) was a quote he attributed to a David Letterman Top Ten List of things Dan Reeves said to the Broncos at halftime during one of their Super Bowl collapses:

Okay boys, start sucking!

As I have watched the Orioles over the last few weeks, part of me keeps wondering if Buck said something along those lines to the team. How else do you explain bases loaded, no outs, your 2-3-4 hitters coming up, and NO runs scored?

Not scoring any runs after loading the bases w/no outs is no way to go through life, son

It has been INCREDIBLY frustrating. Peter Schmuck is calling for Vladimir Guerrero to be removed from the cleanup spot. The starting pitchers' inability to give a quality start cost the team a highly effective matchup reliever in Clay Rapada. And many people (including myself) have been calling for the team to bench / DL Luke Scott and his bum shoulder and get Nolan Reimold and Felix Pie more playing time. This is a team that is now looking like they are going to be sellers at the trade deadline, and no matter how much money Peter Angelos is pocketing in the Exxon gas leak settlement, it probably won't be enough to lure Prince Fielder here if they can't even promise to be within sniffing distance of .500 without him.

The problem is that there is really nothing left in the minors. The Erik Bedard and Miguel Tejada trades were great, and they gave the team a lot of good players (possibly a couple great ones). But the position players closest to the majors are not looking like the kinds of players that will make a difference (which is especially disheartening in regards to Brandon Snyder, because he is one of those kids who you can't help but root for), and even then there isn't a whole lot after Manny Machado (and it is way too early to make any kind of prediction on how he will end up). The kid they drafted this year w/the #4 pick, Dylan Bundy out of Oklahoma, looks like he is going to be the real deal, but he is a high school pitcher, and there is nothing more dangerous in the MLB draft than a high school pitcher. Add to that there isn't a whole lot on the big league team that will net anything really special in the trade market unless some bubble team is REALLY close to the playoffs for the first time in a long time and they overspend in order to get "the missing piece" and you have a recipe for what is quickly turning into a long season without even the glimmer of hope in the future that has been there the last few years.

Screw it. It's time to drown my sorrows in $6 Natty Boh drafts at the Yard. This might just be the last non-oppressive heat game until September, so if you can make it out tonight, look for me leaning against the scoreboard wall, weeping quietly.

Would this be a balk?

Yes, I KNOW it has been almost two months. Would you believe "technical difficulties"?

No?

Sorry, there has been a LOT of shite going on the last month and a half. I'm going to try to be here more often, I promise.

Garyland No More

Well, it has been an eventful year in University of MD athletics. AD Debbie Yow bolts for NC State (seemingly tired of the power struggle between her and basketball coach Gary Williams), the new AD decides to get rid of Ralph Friedgen, who was only the first football coach at the school since Bobby Ross to make anyone outside of the state lines or alums give a flying crap about the program, and now Williams decides he is done and up and retires (unfortunately for the school he makes the decision 2 months after the usual hiring period, so a lot of potential coaches are now firmly entrenched in either their original school or shiny new digs).

I am not going to speculate on who could be taking over the program (besides, others have already covered it and done it well, so all I would really add is random regurgitation of the same facts). But it is worth noting that that when Williams first floated the idea of retiring (last year and then again right after the season), the university was so keen on keeping him around that they put together a contract extension. So in no way should this be read the same way as the Friedgen ouster, because Gary was welcome to stay as long as he pleased.

In 22 years, Gary Williams' teams went to 14 NCAA tournaments, 5 Sweet Sixteens, 2 Final Fours, and 1 National Championship. And he did it after taking over a team that was in shambles after the failed tenure of Bob Wade (who left the school in hot water w/the NCAA, leading to the team being banned from postseason play in 1991 and 1992 and NO TV coverage during the 1990-91 season). Add to that the facts that at the time of his retirement he was the 5th winningest active coach, he was the 3rd winningest coach in the ACC (behind only Dean Smith and Mike Krzyzewski), and until the 2010-11 season the Terps were the 2nd winningest team in the ACC (behind Duke), and he did all of this without a single whiff of a hint of impropriety or scandal (compare that to Jim Calhoun, who just won his 3rd NCAA Championship, but was just hit with a 3 game coaching suspension for the beginning of the 2011-12 Big East season, recruiting and scholarship restrictions).

Add all of that up, and you get a man who more than earned the right to go out on his own terms and in his own way. And a man who probably cannot be replaced. I hope you have enjoyed watching the Terps play basketball for the last 2 decades, because no matter how well they do under their new coach, it will never be like it was in Garyland.

Miracle Whip vs. Mayonnaise: MLB Style

A blogger is a blogger is a blogger. The format lends itself to opinion, not to reporting. I try to remain as objective as possible on here, but I don't always succeed (hopefully I will be able to pull it off this time). Unfortunately, some sites have "columnists" and that can lead to confusion. At least until the columnist goes off the deep end and shows themselves as morons. This time it was Terrence Moore at MLB.com, who has decided that record holders without "zing" don't get to be the ones that are recognized.

What "zing" might look like

I am not going to get into the argument about if Alex Rodriguez having the career grand slam record (he is one away, and odds are he'll beat it eventually) or Barry Bonds having the most career home runs can be legitimately questioned with the proof of their using PEDs (mainly because I am not sure how I feel about this one), but his argument that Cal Ripken Jr. plays second fiddle to Lou Gehrig when looking at the consecutive games played record because Gehrig had the "it factor" that Ripken lacked is just asinine. Yes, Gehrig was a freak of nature and one of the greatest players ever, but just because he wound up dying from a disease through no fault of his own

Or WAS it?

That doesn't mean that Ripken's accomplishment was any less notable. Especially since he played a position that required more physicality (SS over Gehrig's 1B), and he had a lot more wear and tear in regards to travel (Gehrig never flew across the country, and most of his games were during the day).

In case you don't feel like wading through the ramblings of Terrence Moore, here is what he had to say about Ripken vs. Gehrig:

You may recall that Gehrig also earned his nickname as "The Iron Horse" by playing in a record 2,130 games before succumbing to a bizarre muscular disease that eventually was named in his honor. His record for that playing streak lasted 56 years until Cal Ripken Jr., kept going and going before snapping it in 1995.

Nothing against Ripken Jr., but Gehrig remains the standard bearer for that record, too.

The fact that this man has a vote for who gets into the Hall of Fame is not comforting.

And on a personal note to Mr. Moore, if Joe DiMaggio, a teammate of Lou Gehrig, was cool with Ripken breaking Gehrig's record, maybe you should bite your tongue on this opining you are doing.

Looks to me like Joe's cool with it

Go Big Or Go Home

As much fun as it was watching the Orioles take 2 out of 3 from the Red Sox this week, the loss last night made it easy to switch over to the NFL Draft to see what was happening in the country's favorite sport / litigation source, professional football.

At this point I am going to go out on a limb and assume that I am not your primary source of local sports information (as always, deep pocketed sponsors with comprehensive health coverage that can be applied to myself and my family are welcome to contact me. I will gladly post multiple entries per day if there is no "boss" walking past my cubicle demanding I do the "work" they pay me for), so I am going with you have already heard about the drafting snafu between the Ravens and the Chicago Bears. But in case you haven't, the Bears and Ravens had a deal in place to swap 1st round picks (Bears moving up to 26, Ravens moving down to 29th and getting the Bears 4th round pick in the trade), but Bears GM Jerry Angelo delegated to his staffers the task of informing the league of the trade, and everyone on the Bears staff thought he was talking to someone else so no one did it. Consequently the trade was never consummated and the Chiefs (who had the 27th pick) jumped up as soon as the clock hit triple zeros on the Ravens and got the player THEY wanted, which was immediately followed by the Ravens turning in a card for the player they would have drafted at 26 if there had been no trade and the Bears getting who they were trying to get at 26 in their slotted place at 29. Confused? You won't be, after this episode of...SOAP

A photo of the Bears 2011 Draft Team. Notice how many medals Jerry Angelo has earned. I just wish Jay Cutler would turn his head to face the camera. But he does look cute sitting on Mike Martz's lap.

So the Ravens lose a potential additional 3rd day pick and maybe save a few bucks on rookie signing by him being drafted a slot lower than planned. The loss is negligible. But that is not the reason for the title of this article. That is for the player they drafted, Colorado CB Jimmy Smith. Why is that? Well, the young man has consensus Top 10-15 talent. He's a 6' 2", 211lb CB with ball skills, the ability to play the run, and is excellent at press coverage. In short, he is a potential shutdown corner. But he has a few problems. To wit: three failed drug tests, two times being busted as a minor for alcohol possession, and an arrest for 3rd degree assault in a restaurant. Not exactly the feel good story that Michael Oher was, is he?

So to say I felt some trepidation over the Ravens picking him would be an understatement. And when a coworker came up to me this morning and asked me how I felt about the pick I told him I didn't like it at all. But I've been thinking about it while staring at my screen at a worthless excel spreadsheet that I created for just such an emergency, and now I have changed my mind.

Now I just don't like it a really tiny bit.

If he pans out, Smith could be a big piece of the puzzle in winning a Lombardi Trophy this year. But it is a big "if". And while I am aware that he has not been in any trouble for over 2 years, this isn't one isolated incident and who knows what a bunch of money and stardom will do to someone who does not exactly have a track record of thinking ahead. So it is a big risk, big reward scenario.

More than anything, what swayed me was remembering a John Clayton article from ESPN not too long ago where he talked about teams that consistently make the safe pick over the pick that could benefit them the most. And the gist of the article is that when a team has a chance to make some serious noise (and a team w/3 straight playoff appearances, with wins in all 3 playoff appearances, and with a trip to the conference championship game mixed in there definitely has the potential to make some serious noise) they need to be a little daring. Or to put it another way, fortune favors the bold.

Now we just have to hope that this move was bold and not stupid. Because while fortune favors the bold, a top 10 draft pick favors the stupid.

This Year Might Be Different

Hockey has never been able to get a real foothold in Baltimore, and that is a real shame. I remember going to Skipjacks games as a kid, and I know that the Flyers were originally supposed to be a Baltimore team (which is why they share the same colors as the Orioles and their name is at least tangentially connected to ornithology. "Flyers"). Hockey does not translate as well to TV as the other major sports do, and that has stunted its growth. But it is one of the most exciting sports to watch live, and while Baltimore may not have a team there is a good team (with a really cool owner and a few players that even casual hockey players may have heard of) right down the road: The Washington Capitals

I'd rather be red than dead? Yup.

For the last few years the Caps have been knocking on the door of the upper levels of the NHL. Last year they were the overall number 1 seed in the playoffs, only to run into a buzzsaw of a goalie named Jaroslav Halak of the Montreal Canadiens (a prime example of riding a hot goalie in the playoffs, kind of like what the Caps did in 1998 w/Olaf "Olie the Goalie" Kolzig), but that was just one instance of the team failing to capitalize (sigh, I really couldn't think of a better word) on their potential and get to that next level.

So when the Caps took a 2 games to nothing lead over the New York Rangers, then lost Game 3 while playing a rather listless game where they kept tying it up but never really had any momentum, I did start to think the worst. And when I saw that they were down 3-0 in Game 4 I got what unfortunately was a feeling I had felt before.

Now since I was working last night I couldn't really watch the game. But when I walked over to the bar once I wrapped up the trivia hosting duties I saw that it was tied 3-3 and in overtime. And by the time I got home I found out that the Caps had somehow found a way to win it in DOUBLE overtime.

The series is not over, as last year's collapse after a 3-1 series lead against the 8 seed of the Eastern Conference showed us. But this feels different. Caps GM George McPhee talked about how the team "grew up" this season, and they did make a sea change in style of play by actually playing some defense (it seems the "run-n-shoot" offense is as successful in the NHL as it was in the NFL. It's exciting, but you really can't win consistently without at least SOME defense). They can still score, but they get back on their side of the blue line now. And while they are not the best team playing right now (I would probably say the Detroit Red Wings are the top team as of this moment), they have every chance to go far into the "2nd season". Maybe a rematch of the 98 Stanley Cup is in the cards. If so, let's hope for a different outcome.

No Diggity, but Some Doubt

Leave it to Baltimore to have a team break out of an 8 game losing streak with an 11-0 victory, and still the sports rags all have the schedule for a team that is currently barred from having any contact with its players taking the prime spot on the front page. Then again, back in the town's sports heyday they were known for having a decent stable of very knowledgeable baseball fans that loved their team and a rabid fan base for the football team that led to Memorial Stadium being nicknamed "The World's Largest Outdoor Insane Asylum" (do a Google search for that and see what the results are). But since the sports talk of the town is the Ravens, let's take a quick look at the schedule and break it down a bit (home games in bold):

1. Sunday 9/11/11 - 1pm vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
2. Sunday 9/18/11 - 1pm @ Tennessee Titans
3. Sunday 9/25/11 - 4pm @St. Louis Rams
4. Sunday 10/2/11 - 8pm vs. New York Jets
5. BYE
6. Sunday 10/16/11 - 4pm vs. Houston Texans
7. Monday 10/24/11 - 8:30pm @ Jacksonville Jaguars
8. Sunday 10/30/11 - 1pm vs. Arizona Cardinals
9. Sunday 11/6/11 - 8pm @ Pittsburgh Steelers
10. Sunday 11/13/11 - 4pm @ Seattle Seahawks
11. Sunday 11/20/11 - 1pm vs. Cincinnati Bengals
12. Thursday 11/24/11 - 8pm vs. San Francisco 49ers
13. Sunday 12/4/11 - 1pm @ Cleveland Browns
14. Sunday 12/11/11 - 1pm vs. Indianapolis Colts
15. Sunday 12/18/11 - 8pm @ San Diego Chargers
16. Saturday 12/14/11 - 1pm vs. Cleveland Browns
17. Sunday 1/1/12 - 1pm @ Cincinnati Bengals

Overall it is a decent schedule. As it stands right now the Ravens have the easiest schedule in the AFC (based on final standings of opponents in 2010). They have 5 primetime games (tied for most in the league), and are hosting the NFL Network's Thanksgiving night game (the 1st ever Thanksgiving game in Baltimore and the 1st time a Baltimore team has played on Thanksgiving since the Colts played in Detroit in 1965. Also the 1st ever matchup in NFL history where two brother head coaches face each other in a game). The bye week is early (the first week that teams have a bye) and the primetime matchup with the Steelers is back in Pittsburgh, but before the conspiracy nuts sink their fangs in this let's look at the facts. The Steelers also play 3 of their 5 primetime games on the road, last year they had a Week 5 bye, and they had to come to Baltimore for the now all but annual primetime matchup with the Ravens. And their season turned out pretty decently. So once again I say PLEASE don't start with the whole "the league is out to get us" whining.

It is WAY too early to go making predictions on wins and losses (my general rule of thumb is if the team is barred by federal law to interact in ANY way with the players it is too soon to think about which team of currently uncoached players will beat another team of uncoached players. Your results may vary). But it looks to be a good schedule, and while we are here we can look at some potential pitfalls for the team.

Having to travel across the country to face Seattle (one of the toughest places for a visiting team to play in any year) the week after travelling to Pittsburgh for a primetime Sunday game is going to be tough, both from a team energy standpoint and (if previous games are any indication) from a players in triage after the Steelers slobberknocker standpoint.

I'm pretty sure that this guy (he may not have invented the word "slobberknocker", but he pretty much perfected its usage) is the only man who can TRULY do justice to a Ravens-Steelers matchup. In fact, I would be okay with cancelling the game and just having the teams meet in a Hell In A Cell Match. I might go PPV for that.

The other west coast trip (to San Diego) is also going to be difficult, if for no other reason than it is a west coast trip and those are never easy. Add to that the game time of 8pm (which will be 5pm in San Diego), which could be problematic depending on how the coaching staff plans on preparing the team for the game as well as the fact that the previous week they are playing the Indianapolis Colts (and that Manning guy has an 8 game winning streak against the Ravens) and you have the possibility of a tough game for Baltimore.

Other than that it looks to shake out very much neutral if not in the Ravens' favor.

NOW you can begin the wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth in the comments section.

Well THAT was not fun

As I type this the Orioles are 3 outs away from an 11-0 win over the Twins, which would end an 8 game losing streak. After starting out 6-1, the wheels fell off the wagon in a BIG way. The bats went cold and the pitching went south. It wasn't pretty.

A lot of people were pie in the sky over the fast start. I said then that it wasn't a good idea to get too excited (and since I had Chuck D backing me up we all know that I was right). So now that the 11-0 win is final and the O's are off that infamous schneid, we can all all hope that they are going to go back on a roll.

Friends have been asking me about the team over the last week or so. And I tell them what I am going to tell you: I still believe that the Orioles are going to be over .500 at the end of this season. But that is predicated on them not suffering major injuries. The sad fact is that now that Zach Britton is with the team, the cupboard is pretty much bare as far as replacements / help in the minors go. So injuries (like the ones to Brian Matusz and JJ Hardy) can quickly put this team in a tailspin (8 games sounds about right). Last report I heard was Matusz had finally done some 60 and 90 feet long toss without pain but was still weeks away from returning, and I have sen no reports on Hardy. And as much as people have enjoyed blaming a lot of the team's woes on Andy MacPhail, it really isn't on him. There was well over a decade of bad drafting and questionable trades before MacPhail ever walked through those doors, and it takes more than a few years to recover from that. The Erik Bedard and Miguel Tejada trades brought a lot of nice pieces, but those are pretty much all in the majors now. And there is no one on the team that can give them that kind of haul again. If this team IS still floundering in a couple of months do not be surprised to see the likes of Vladimir Guererro, Derrek Lee, Luke Scott, and even Jeremy Guthrie putting their condos up for rent. It won't be a Syd Thrift level fire sale, but it could be like the Florida Marlins 1998 moves (minus a championship), with hopefully the same results (a World Series trophy 5 years later).

It's going to be a long season, kids. Try to not get too emotionally invested. At least, not until after the All-Star break.

He Has The Power To Kill A Yak From 200 Yards Away

Possibly the greatest song EVER.

Heady times to be a local sports fan. The Orioles are still playing well (the way the Texas Rangers are playing winning one game is a good thing), the Washington Capitals are going into the playoffs as the #1 seed in the East (here's hoping for a better turnout this year), and the Wizards...well...John Wall does one hell of a Dougie.

But in the midst of all of this is the 900 lb gorilla that is the NFL (and the 1200 lb gorilla's mother-in-law that is the neverending labor strife). And in the midst of all of this Friend O' The Blog Matt Vensel posits that the Ravens should go after Santonio Holmes if he does in fact become a free agent once the labor morass is resolved. While the thought of Holmes making big plays for the purple and black sounds nice (making them against his former team in Pittsburgh sounds doubly sweet), I am going to have to respectfully disagree for a couple big reasons.

Money

The Ravens figure to have some cap room once there is a cap again, so they could sign Holmes. But if they do, what do they do about signing Haloti Ngata, Ray Rice, Joe Flacco, and possibly Ed Reed (if he decides to stick around for a few more years)? One of the reasons this team is able to be good more often than it is bad is because the team makes tough but sound choices when it comes on who to keep versus who to let go (look at the post Ravens careers of Duane Starks, Edgerton Hartwell, Adailus Thomas, Gary Baxter, et cetera). Is Holmes a good player? Undoubtedly. Is he better at his position than Ngata/Rice/Flacco/Reed are at theirs? I don't think so. So it is not worth it financially to sign him if the Ravens lose one of the other guys.

Character

John Harbaugh has been working very hard to alter the mindset of this team. He has not eliminated the swagger, but he has eliminated a lot of the trash talking and the malcontents that don't play into the team concept. Holmes is not a team player because of the way he conducts himself off the field. Any player that gets a separate tag for "legal trouble" on Wikipedia is not possessing the kind of character that Harbaugh is fostering on this team. And since he already has a 4 game suspension under his belt, the next one will be 8 games. Another big red mark.

Add it all up and Holmes is not worth the money OR the risk. Besides, I am not sure that Cam Cameron would know what to do with him on the team anyway.

Chuck D Has A Message For You

c

Don't believe the hype

All Orioles fans enjoyed this past weekend. Against the same team that they blew leads against in 2 of their first 3 games en route to a 2-16 opening mark, the O's held the Tampa Bay Rays to 3 runs (with a starting pitching ERA of of 1.35 and a WHIP of 0.65) while averaging 4 runs per game. They stand alone in 1st place in the AL East, and now they come home to face the Detroit Tigers and the Texas Rangers before hitting the road to play the NY Yankees and Cleveland Indians.

And it feels good, doesn't it?

Well enjoy it. As fans, you have earned a moment to look at the standings and see the entire division looking up at the Birds. Go ahead and do a screen capture, or print it out in glorious color (if you are at work, make sure you pick the highest quality setting available). But I have to caution to not get caught up in trash talking that Boston Red Sox fan and their 0-3 record in the cubicle across from you just yet. Or, to quote friend o'the blog (and the first best friend I ever had, and the only guy who was cool enough to share his Han Solo blaster when we were playing "Space Cowboys" in our back yard, Sean (edited for television):

Are they f*@%ing with us or are they that good? Good young pitching? I know Tampa Bay has issues but Maddon is a good manager and the Rays are not a laughing stock.

He is correct in his evaluation of the Rays. They are not a pushover. And scores aside, those were close, tight games played w/a lot of intensity by both sides. And both sides had unexpected injuries to deal with. The Orioles had to put potential staff ace Brian Matusz on the DL w/a strained back muscle, forcing them to call Zach Britton up before they wanted to. Meanwhile, the Rays lost All Star 3rd baseman Evan Longoria for a minimum of 3 weeks w/a strained oblique. The Orioles just beat them. And it was the kind of beating that they have been on the other end of for far too long. A "here's our best going against your best, let's see who wins" kind of beating.

But no matter how good they have looked for the last 3 days the Orioles are not going to go 162-0. I doubt they could even pull off 154-8. I still think they have a legitimate chance of being over .500 for the season (I said 86 wins last time and I stand by that). I believe that the team will not win the wild card, but they will be in the conversation in August and September as something other than a spoiler for other teams w/hopes of October baseball.

The rest of this month they are home against the Rangers and the Red Sox, home and away against the Yankees, and end the month / begin next month with a 4 game weekend series against the Chicago White Sox. It is not an easy schedule (the Red Sox will bounce back), and in the AL East there are no extended vacations in the schedule. If this team is 14-13 on May 1st they will be well on the way to making people remember that this team used to be one of the ones that opponents feared and opposing fans lined up to buy tickets to watch.

My Long Overdue Orioles Outlook - AL East Edition

And so we end the same way we began, cold and rainy and thinking about baseball. Today, we look at what is quite possibly the toughest division in any sport in America today, the AL East.

The AL East is a slaughterhouse. In the last 15 years, the AL East has made the World Series 10 times (they're 7-3). During that same time the wildcard came from the AL East 11 times. The division is top heavy with the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, and recently the Tampa Bay Rays have made this a 3-headed monster. Add the Toronto Blue Jays and you have a division that has pretty much dominated the AL (and to a lesser degree MLB) for almost 20 years. At one point, the Orioles were even a part of that. The question remains, can they ever get back? To be honest, not this year (attention baseball gods, I would be very happy to be wrong about this). But to make it anywhere, this is what they have to get through:

• Boston Red Sox

The Red Sox underachieved last year, and they looked to rectify that in the offseason. They added the big free agent OF Carl Crawford (from the Rays, weakening them in the bargain) and traded for 1B Adrian Gonzalez to the field, and return two All-Stars in Clay Buckholz and Jon Lester in the starting rotation. If Josh Beckett and John Lackey can return to form this is going to be a real tough team to beat.

• New York Yankees

Odds are this team will not have a problem with offense. Robinson Cano, Curtis Granderson, and Mark Teixeira are hitting their primes, and while Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, and Jorge Posada are on the downslope of their careers they should still provide some numbers (particularly Rodriguez) The problem this team is going to face is the pitching, particularly the starting pitching. CC Sabathia and Phil Hughes are this millenium's "Spahn and Sain and pray for rain", and AJ Burnett is watching his ERA do a great impression of oil prices. After that it is an even bigger crap shoot. You could argue that the biggest free agent move in the AL East this year was the Yankees NOT getting Cliff Lee. And you might be right. Either way, don't count on a lot of 2 1/2 hour pitching duels in the Bronx this year.

• Tampa Bay Rays

The Rays are both what the Orioles are trying to emulate and also trying to avoid. The Rays have been good the last few years, making the playoffs twice and the World Series once. But they don't have the revenue stream to keep the players like the aforementioned Crawford, 1B Carlos Pena (an Orioles target until he signed w/Chicago, freeing Derrek Lee up for the O's), Jason Bartlett, and Matt Garza. But the team has a deep farm system and looks to have a few bullets left in the clip to make another run in the next year or two if these studlings pan out.

• Toronto Blue Jays

The Blue Jays hit a lot of home runs last year, but then they traded away Vernon Wells and didn't really replace him with anything. Jose Bautista hit 54 HRs last year, but in his 6 years before that he had a total of 59, and never more than 16 in a season. He says he changed his swing before last season. It worked then. But around here we've seen a guy change his swing and have great success for a while. Even for a whole season. But carrying it over into the following season is the really challenging part. Good luck Jose.

And now, for the big limb I am going to go out on so I can make my predictions. So without further ado...

1. Red Sox
2. Yankees
3. Orioles
4. Rays
5. Blue Jays

Yup. I'm calling it. The Red Sox and Yankees are going do their usual thing, but the Yankees are not going to be a serious threat. The Rays are going to be really good again, but not for a year or two. And the Blue Jays are going to crash (think of them as the Orioles but without the promising pitching that has some quality major league experience). All of that is going to add up to the Orioles winning 86 games and being closer to 2nd place in the division than 4th. Get ready to have somewhat meaningful in Baltimore again, people.

Gene Roddenberry Golf Classic?

I just saw Tiger Woods on ESPN's SportsCenter, talking about being paired up w/Phil Mickelson at this weekend's tournament. Take a look at him:

With goatee

And all I could think of was this

It explains so much about the last couple of years, doesn't it?

My Long Overdue Orioles Outlook - Pitchers Edition

The pitching staff did not go through the major overhaul that the position players did. The bullpen is going to be different but in the grand scheme of things that is not a bad thing, and if the starting rotation can follow up on the promise of the last 2 months of the season it will be a very minor thing.

The biggest change is the lack of Kevin Millwood, a guy you really have to feel sorry for. He gets traded from the eventual AL champs to go mentor a bunch of baby faced curveball junkies

At least it wasn't the bus leagues where he'd have to hold the flavor of the month's...let's move on.

He came in, did his job for a team that scored about 3 runs total in his first 15 starts, and now he is damaged goods that can't find a team to take a chance on him (I really thought the Cardinals would give him a call after Adam Wainwright went down, but nope). I hope for his sake that someone picks him up, maybe like the Phillies did with Pedro Martinez for the stretch run in 2009.

Instead the team will go with a rotation of:

• Jeremy "Oh look, it's CC Sabathia again" Guthrie
• Brian "If I win 15 games I get to stay out past curfew" Matusz
• Brad "I'm only giving you one take this time" Bergesen
• Jake "My last name kind of sounds like the scientific term for a nipple" Arrieta

and the last man standing in the epic battle royale that is:

• Chris "I'm worth at least one fifth of Erik Bedard" Tillman
• Zach "Once I'm in the majors the minor leagues are pretty much empty" Britton
• Rick "I sound like I should be a member of Skull and Bones" VandenHurk
• Justin "Prozac and Doan's for breakfast" Duchscherer

If all things are equal, Duchscherer will be the last starter (probably the 2 or 3, with Bergesen and Arrieta in the 4 and 5 slots), VandenHurk will be in the bullpen, and Tillman and Britton will be in Norfolk getting better and being ready in the case of injury / ineffectiveness in one of the starters.

The biggest question mark is Duchscherer. He has only pitched 28 innings over the last 2 years due to back injuries and clinical depression, but he has been good when he has pitched (career WHIP of 1.137). Guthrie is not a true #1 pitcher, but he is the best option right now, at least until Matusz is ready. Britton and Tillman aim to make it hard for the O's to send them to VA, but getting some more seasoning is best for them and for the team (which I am now calling getting "Reimolded"). If this team is going to take the next step in the rebuilding plan, the starting pitching is going to take them there.

The bullpen is pretty set, with the biggest battle over the closer's slot. As it stands now the bullpen consists of:

• Koji "My interpreter is quite fluent in 15 day disabled list" Uehara
• Kevin "It's better than Toronto" Gregg
• Jason "I still think I can be a starter" Berken
• Michael "How's my velocity NOW?!?" Gonzalez
• Jim "Don Aase Jr." Johnson
• and an arm or two out of a crowded field of mediocrity

Since Uehara is already injured, the closer battle is probably going to come down to Gregg vs. Gonzalez. If I were a betting man I would look to Gregg to get the nod. Everyone is saying that he was not promised the closer's role as a contingent to him signing with the team, but a nod and a wink are not a guarantee, are they? Johnson and Berken are best suited to middle relief, with the aforementioned VandenHurk going as the long reliever. It should shake out to be a solid bullpen, and really that should be enough.

This HAS to be a good sign, right?

If only they had held on for 2 more years...

The Orioles moved from Memorial Stadium to Camden Yards in 1993, they brought the right field foul pole and home plate with them. But what they did NOT bring with them was National Bohemian draft beer. I didn't turn 21 until 1994 (I will neither confirm or deny any possibilities of my having a Natty Boh at Memorial Stadium before legally allowed to do so).

I have faith that you can do it

So the announcement that Boh is Back w/the Birds (even if it isn't made here in Baltimore anymore) is a good thing for all of us that remember drunken cabbies leading cheers as we wait for that long hoped for return to respectability.

From a headier time when designated drivers weren't as prominent.

My Long Overdue Orioles Outlook - Position Players Edition

Well, it is 54 degrees, overcast and raining. So let's talk about baseball and see if we can get the doldrums drummed away for a moment.

The phrase "new look" is overused in the world of sports talk. But in the case of the 2011 Orioles, it is appropriate. A full half of the starting lineup is going to be different from last year*. Look at last year vs. this year in the field (pitchers will be covered in a separate post):

2010

• 1B Garrett "I'm not good enough to hit in Colorado" Atkins
• 2B Brian "Ow, my back. Maybe hitting myself in the head w/a bat will help" Roberts
• SS Cesar "How do I get on base again" Izturis
• 3B Miguel "B-12" Tejada
• LF Nolan "27 year old rookies ALWAYS pan out" Reimold
• CF Adam "I'm more of a Q-Bert guy" Jones
• RF Nick "What did I do to deserve this" Markakis
• C Matt "Maybe I'm just A god" Wieters
• DH Luke "Birth certificate or GTFO" Scott
• LF Part Deux Felix "Is there an odder couple than me and Luke Scott" Pie
• Fill in as needed Ty "Don't sell yourself short. You're a tremendous slouch" Wigginton

2011

• 1B Derrek "I played w/Methuselah" Lee
• 2B Brian "I'm still here, suckas" Roberts
• SS J.J. "I'm not the guy from Good Times" Hardy
• 3B Mark "Feel the breeze" Reynolds
• LF Luke "Wango Tango" Scott
• CF Adam "I'm plenty deep, coach" Jones
• RF Nick "For the love of God, please let me know what 70+ wins feels like" Markakis
• C Matt "Dammit Buster Posey, knock it off already" Wieters
• DH Vladimir " I changed Derrick Lee's diapers" Guerrero

All snarky names aside, this lineup is MUCH improved. Yes, Reynolds does strike out a lot, but he also hits for power, and he is only 27 so there is room for improvement (let's see if new hitting coach Jim Presley can find a way to shorten his swing a little bit while not totally killing his power stroke). Lee had a thumb injury last year, but all signs point to a productive year along the line of .285/.367/.498 w/28 HR and 90+ RBI (which would be about .250/.350/.497 w/27 HR and 90+ RBI more than Atkins). Hardy is (contrary to public opinion) not a defensive liability compared to Izturis, and he provides a LOT more pop (how does .263/.323/.423 w/20 HR & 70+ RBI sound? A lot better than .256/.296/.323 w/2 HR and 40 RBI, that's for sure). Another misnomer is how the defense in LF is going to play out . Reimold was the opening day starter, but he didn't last too long. Pie is a decent fielder, but he is a CF by trade and has problems reading the ball off the bat when in left (let's all try to forget that we had to go out and re-sign Corey Patterson, and hopefully we will not need to call on him again because I have the feeling that signing him a 3rd time is akin to looking in your mirror and saying "Candyman. Candyman. Candyman). Scott is a natural LF (as much as he can be natural at any position in the field), and while he might not have Pie's speed he has better vision and makes better decisions in tracking to the ball. He'll be fine, and putting Guerrero in the DH slot allows for more pop from LF and DH.

If Markakis can return to form and Jones & Wieters can improve (all reasonable expectations), this lineup has the potential to actually make opposing pitchers work for a living. It isn't going to be the '27 Yankees, but it won't be the 1899 Cleveland Spiders either (or if you're into the "something from the last century" deal, the '62 Mets).

*all statements of this nature are under the assumption/hope of relatively healthy seasons by the starters

Bill Simmons making sense

"The Sports Guy" can be annoying. But when he's right, he's right. And this article might just be the clearest, easiest to understand article about the NFL labor dispute that I have read yet.

Ravens Postmortem Posting

It's time to put a final stamp on the team before we move on to baseball and the Orioles (that doesn't mean that big news, like CBA updates and the draft are going to be ignored. But pitchers and catchers report tomorrow, and Punxatawny Phil didn't see his shadow, so we need to get into springtime mode). So let's get into it.

• Haloti Ngata is the top priority this offseason

Anyone with even a cursory knowledge of football knows that Ngata is one of the top 3-5 defensive tackles in the league. He is going to get paid, either by the Ravens or by another team. I cannot see a scenario where the Ravens let him go, but the possibility remains (unless the Ravens use the franchise tag on him, if the franchise tag is even valid, which depends on which side is talking, which means he might not even be an unrestricted free agent, but then again he might be...aww hell. Just read the "What the CBA means to my team" tab in a minute). Either way, he is going to make a hell of a lot more than the $1.7 million he made in 2010.

• Fixing the OL is a close second

The offensive line was a mess this year. Losing Jared Gaither was a huge blow that they never recovered from. I do think that Michael Oher can be an upper level left tackle but I also think that his style might just be more suited to the right side of the line, which is more about brute force and raw power than the technique required for the left side. Oher has strength in droves to go along with an insanely quick first step. But he is a little squat for the left side and the pass rushers coming at a right handed QB's blind side (man, that would make a good book/movie title). Unless the CBA makes Gaither a part of the Ravens next year I do not think he will be on the team in 2011, so something needs to be done. I still have a hope that Oniel Cousins will make a good RT, allowing Oher to continue to mature at LT (even if I seem to be the only person besides his parents who holds that belief), but Marshall Yanda is not the answer at tackle. At tackle he is serviceable. At right guard he is above average,and his playing RG allows Chris Chester to back him and left tackle Ben Grubbs as well as center Matt Birk, who has said he plans to come back next year, but who I firmly believe will be done after 2011. Chester is best suited to play C, so a year of backing up and studying under Birk would only be a benefit to Chester. But no matter what, the arrangement they used this year will not suffice against the likes of the Steelers, Patriots, Colts, and Jets.

• Hard decisions at RB

Ray Rice is a very good halfback, and if the OL issues get resolved he could have an excellent 2011. But who will be in the backfield with him? Le'Ron McClain is in the same boat as Ngata in regards to free agency and Willis McGahee has a contract that is now cost prohibitive for any player not a full time starter. So unless McGahee agrees to a pay cut / restructuring of his deal, he will most likely be cut. McClain wants more carries, wants to play more halfback and less fullback. He might have to go elsewhere in order to fulfill his desires. The Ravens signed FB Jason McKie (they seem to have a thing for Irish running backs) and are still high on the potential Jalen Parmalee as a RB (the problem is he is too similar in style to Rice, so if he is the primary backup he robs the Ravens of the "change of pace" back). Expect some major changes here next season.

• What to do at WR

Anquan Boldin and Derrick Mason are the only starters under contract for 2011. Donte Stallworth and TJ Houshmandzadeh are both free agents. It is difficult to see a way that Stallworth comes back next year (unless he has a heretofore unknown love for running end arounds and standing on the sideline). TJ (I'm too lazy to keep typing his last name, and it is making my spellcheck go into convulsions) is another story. If Cameron is going to fix this offense (more on that coming), he needs a burner, a slot receiver (2 max), and a pass catching TE. Last year we had a burner that barely saw the field (Stallworth), 3 slot receivers (Mason, Boldin, TJ), and a pass catching TE (Todd Heap). David Reed could replace Stallworth (another reason I don't see the team re-signing him). But having 3 slot receivers just does not mesh with the scheme (another "look down/keep reading" reminder), so the Ravens need to choose between Joe Flacco's security blanket in Mason (in the last year of his contract and a threat to retire at any time) and a slightly younger but with a lot less wear and tear TJ to pair up w/Boldin. And it is not going to be an easy decision (unless TJ makes it for them by signing with another team). From this little corner of the internet, I think the hard choice is the right choice. While I am thankful for everything Mason has done for the team and the development of Flacco, TJ is better for this team right now.

• Can Joe Flacco take the next step?

2011 will be Year 4 of the Joe Flacco era (if he wins a Super Bowl, he may qualify for epoch status). Every year he has improved, but he has yet to take the next step and truly lead the team. He is still slow to go through his progressions and does not trust his receivers (part of the Cameron bulletpoint). Also, he needs to get better at getting rid of the ball when the best play is to start over. How many times did Flacco hold onto the ball and take a sack? And when he ran out of bounds behind the line of scrimmage instead of throwing the ball away (I believe it was in the playoff game against Pittsburgh), I shook my head in disbelief. It showed a complete lack of awareness of down and distance, game management, and most importantly leadership. How is the team supposed to follow him into battle if they can't trust him to make the smart play? And I do not want to hear that he is not a "rah rah" kind of guy, because that is not what he needs to do. Not everybody can be Ray Lewis. But he needs to be able to do what Joe Montana did and what Peyton Manning does, and that is get in the face of the guy who is not doing their job when they are on the sideline. It doesn't need to be public, it doesn't need to be big, bold, brash, or loud. But it needs to happen. He needs to be able to go up to the guy who missed his blocking assignment and hold them accountable for it.

• Time for Cam Cameron to put up or shut up

I was among the throng calling for the forced resignation of Cameron after the lack of offensive performance last year, however I understand the reason for keeping him. Basically with the strong possibility of a work stoppage this year, one that will in all likelihood will stretch into training camp before it is resolved, and it is simply not feasible to install a brand new offensive system with a whole new terminology. That being said, there is a disconnect between Cameron and Flacco that needs to be resolved. It is obvious that former quarterbacks coach Hue Jackson was a buffer in between them that now former QB coach Jim Zorn was not (probably because Zorn is a disciple of the West Coast offense while Cameron runs the "Air Coryell" offense). In Cameron's defense, I will say that the team did not exactly do him any favors by overloading the offense with slot receivers, but Cameron seemed like he was doing too much ego placating and not enough scheming to use his offense to capacity. But there are other factors involved in why the offense didn't work. To wit:

1. Ray Rice is not a classic Coryell running back. The offense uses a powerful inside running game to keep the defense from rotating too many players into the flats and the outside thirds of the defense. Rice CAN run inside when the OL is completing their blocks, but he is not a power runner in the classic sense.
2. Joe Flacco is not comfortable throwing to a spot. He likes to wait until the receiver is open, and receivers are not usually open in the NFL because the secondaries are too good. The Coryell offense is predicated on going through your progressions with the deep read first and then coming back towards the QB. Flacco has the arm, but he can't read the receiver's ability to break away from the coverage, and he doesn't like to throw it to the spot that the receiver is moving to before the receiver has made his move to that spot. He doesn't anticipate well. Again, this is something that he can develop, but after 3 years in the same scheme he should be further along than this, unless Cameron is playing it too safe in his coaching of Flacco (which is a valid possibility).

I am beginning to think that Cameron's disastrous stint as coach of the Miami Dolphins might have affected his coaching as an offensive coordinator. To put it another way, he's lost his mojo. He is so afraid of getting fired again that he won't open up the offense and let it take chances. One of the tentpoles of the Coryell offense is to shrug off an incompletion, because the offense is designed to chew up big chunks of yardage in a hurry. But Cameron seemed to be playing it safe, and as much as Flacco checked down last season, it makes me wonder if the official edict was to go to the safety valve if the 1st read wasn't there instead of actually going through the 2nd and 3rd option. Some of that could be attributed to the makeshift OL and Cameron not trusting that they could hold their blocks long enough for Flacco to go through his reads and some of that could be attributed to the team not having those tools that matched his offense. But no matter what, he needs to put up or shut up this season.

• What the CBA means to me (and to you)

The owners opted out of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, so it expires March 4th. At that point, if there is no new CBA in place, expect the owners to lock out the players. This labor unrest is mainly about money (cue shocked reaction), but there are other issues at stake. The owners want a rookie wage scale like they have in the NBA, and they want more stringent drug testing (they only want that because it makes them look better in the eyes of Congress, and they want to be left alone to police the league how they please). Veteran players are fine with the idea of a rookie wage scale since that frees up more money for them, but everything else requires a tat for the tit (I don't think that word is dirty in this context, but it is always fun to type it).

But the big thing is the money. The league claims that the current agreement is economically unfeasible, but they refuse to open their books to back up their claims (since the Packers are publicly owned their books are open and they support the league's claim. But that is just 1 of 32 teams and it is not fair to assume that the problems of one team are the problems all teams). The last CBA was agreed to by NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue in 2006, right as he was on the verge of retirement. It is fairly obvious that he did not want there to be any labor unrest on his watch when there hadn't been any since 1987, and he gave in to too many of the demands of the NFLPA, and he gave too much of the revenue pie to the players. But now the owners want to put the revenue genie back in the bottle but the genie is quite happy with the way things are now, and until the league can prove that the health of the league is at stake there is no reason for the players to back down.

You go in for ONE little surgery...

Okay, apparently my body decided to party like it was 2009 (minus the pesky coma thing). That is my one and only excuse for going AWOL and missing the balance of the NFL playoffs (Ravens imploding, Packers showing that they were bigger than Injured Reserve), the Orioles making good trades and smart free agent signings (replacing 3/4 of the infield with good defense and better offense, adding quality arms to the bullpen and taking a low risk high reward chance on a good starting pitcher trying to make a comeback), and the Capitals being possibly the most maddening team in the NHL. It's enough to make a man want to go back under the nitrous to see what happens the NEXT time he wakes up.

So in no particular order...

• Packers win the Super Bowl

There is something to be said for a team that refuses to lose. The Green Bay Packers were a trendy pick to make it to and even to win the Super Bowl before the season started (more than a few prognosticators had the Packers facing the Ravens in Dallas, with the winner of the matchup split pretty evenly down the line). Then they started getting injured. Their starting RB, their top WR, body after body like a Drowning Pool song with thigh pads. But once they got in the playoffs they were like a team possessed, and they did what they had to do to beat a plucky Steelers team that surprised the majority of the football population by winning as a team without their QB and then rolling along after they got him back. All the credit goes to Green Bay for doing it, doing it, doing it well.

Ladies Love Cool Rodgers?

• Orioles trade/sign a whole new infield

Last year was NOT a good year to be an Oriole fan or player, and the infield was atrocious. The lone Oriole All-Star was a guy who was a sub .250 hitter that had a slugging percentage of .415. As a 3rd baseman. Just in case you didn't know, that is NOT good. The Opening Day 1st baseman couldn't hit a home run while playing 1st (he had 1 HR in 140 at bats last year before being designated for assignment/waived, and THAT was as a DH). The shortstop hit like the Mendoza Line was akin to the sub 4 minute mile before Roger Bannister laced up some sneakers. And the 2nd baseman spent 2/3 of the season on the disabled list with a back injury (then missed the end of the season with a concussion he suffered after hitting himself in the head with a bat. It is hard to find a more apt metaphor of what it has felt like to be an Orioles fan these last 13 years). Well, the team turned the page after Buck Showalter came aboard, and the front office turned the page on the infield. Gone are Ty Wigginton, Cesar Izturis, and Garrett Atkins. In their place are Mark Reynolds, JJ Hardy, and Derrek Lee. Reynolds is a strikeout machine, but he is only 27 and has some real power, not to mention having a decent glove at 3rd. JJ Hardy is as good with the leather as Izturis, even if he doesn't get the same credit for it. And his bat is an actual offensive weapon, which will be a nice change. Derrek Lee had a down season for him last year, but he is not the same kind of "wing and a prayer" that Atkins was, and he is a plus defender. Brian Roberts is technically a holdover from last year, but since he only played about 1/6 of the season it is almost like having a whole new infield this year.

But in the biggest news, the team signed Vladmir Guerrero to be the DH, moving Luke Scott to LF and (odds are) Nolan Reimold back for another year at AAA. This improves the team's offense dramatically, and the effect on the defense is not as dramatic as some have stated. Scott is not as fast as Felix Pie, but he is a more natural LF whereas Pie is a natural CF. That means a lot when you are talking about how to read the ball off of the bat. Scott might not be able to get to the ball as fast as Pie, but he'll take a better angle and make a quicker decision on the ball than Pie will, too. And if Scott gets near it, he catches it. The Young Guns have another year under their belts, and if Justin Duchscherer can recover the form he had with the Oakland (where he had a career ERA of 3.13 and a career WHIP of 1.14) he could be a real gem for the team.

• The NFL owners and the NFLPA just can't wait to kill the golden goose

The owners and players have 3 weeks to figure out how to divvy up a multi-billion dollar pie before the word "lockout" becomes the reality of the league. I truly don't think they are going to kill the entire season, but I would not be surprised if this doesn't get settled until July or August, if for no other reason than the players would like to not have to go through the rigors of training camp (or at least they will hopefully lessen the length of the camp by a few weeks). And I think that this will eventually lead to an 18 game season (something I mentioned over a year ago but do not have the time to find because I am being put to bed, hopefully just for the night), but not for the 2011 season. But as we get closer to March 4th (when the current CBA officially expires) we will see what the negotiating table yields.

Eulogy for a season

I needed a little time to digest that rather disappointing outcome from yesterday (it didn't help that I was at my parent's house for my father's birthday celebration along with my niece and nephew, so I couldn't get as loud and animated as I normally would). I have listened to all the chatter from Ravens fans and all their complaints, both fair and irrational. And here is what I have to say about the game, and the season as a whole...

• STOP BLAMING THE REFS

Were there questionable calls? Yes. Did some of them go against the Ravens? Yes. Did the refs lose the game for the Ravens? Nope. The Ravens lost because they did not execute when they needed to, and they made poor decisions from the top on down (more on that in a moment). They turned the ball over 3 times in their own territory. I don't care how good your defense is, that is an all but impossible challenge to overcome.

The 2 calls that everyone has been questioning are the holding on the Lardarius Webb punt return TD and the holding on Terrence Cody during the final Pittsburgh drive that ended the game. Both could be called ticky tacky fouls, but both were legit calls. Calls that a championship caliber team overcomes (more on that in a moment, too). The Ravens didn't do that.

• And while we're at it, stop with the "The league/world is out to get us"

They're not. I do believe that Paul Tagliabue didn't want an NFL team in Baltimore, but I do not think Roger Goodell gives a damn about there being a team here, nor does he have any reason to see it fail. This is coming from a guy who was born a Baltimore Colts fan and who wandered the wilderness of not having a team for 12 years (I wound up rooting for the Raiders because the rest of the league hated the Raiders, so them succeeding meant that the league that allowed my team to leave would be pissed off). I was convinced that the league would never allow my city to have a team again. I was wrong. It's time to move on.

• It's time for Joe Flacco to grow up

The INT on the first play after the Steelers turned Ray Rice's fumble into a TD was inexcusable. You cannot float a pass like that unless you look the deep safety off. Flacco didn't. His team needed him to take over. The defense needed a breather, the offense needed a confidence boost, and the Ravens needed to take some steam out of the Pittsburgh fans. Instead he gives the ball right back to the Steelers, puts the defense right back on the field, and whipped the crowd into an even bigger frenzy. Then on the following offensive possession Flacco and Matt Birk bungle the exchange. Looking at the replays it looked like Birk snapped the ball to the left of his center and missed Flacco's hands. But Birk missed multiple practices AND some of the game (or did you not notice Tony Moll playing right tackle in the 1st and 2nd quarter). Sometimes it feels like Flacco is playing checkers when the rest of the league is playing chess.

Without getting into one of those arguments, I am willing to bet that Peyton Manning or Drew Brees would have been making sure that the little things wouldn't go wrong so that they could concentrate on the game itself. If Joe Flacco is going to move from being a good quarterback to the kind of quarterback that can take his team to the Super Bowl, he is going to have to become the kind of guy that thinks of things like this and stops them before they become a problem. He needs to start talking to the offense when they are on the sidelines. Tell them what they are doing wrong. Like it or not, the QB is the leader of the offense, and no one else can take that mantle (defense can have pretty much any position player taking charge). Joe needs to grab this responsibility, embrace it, and make it happen.

• It's time for Cam Cameron to go (Greg Mattison might need to start updating his resume, too)

According to reports, Harbaugh has no intention of replacing either Cameron or Mattison. That is a mistake. Cameron does not have a feel for the game when he doesn't have a LaDanian Tomlinson in his prime and an Antonio Gates running free across the field. He has not shown me that he can adapt his scheme to the players that he has. The absolute lack of rubs, screens, and slants during this season when he had 2 of the better YAC receivers in football in Boldin and Houshmandzadeh (and a RB like Rice that can make a lot of people look silly in the open field) is absolutely inexcusable.

He doesn't put his players in a position to succeed. Sometimes I think he is just too obstinate, because I cannot find any other reason for him to make some of the choices he makes. Take for instance his refusal to put Flacco in the shotgun more often. The offensive line was having problems all season,and Flacco is more comfortable in the shotgun. It seems pretty obvious to me what to do. And do not tell me that you can't run the ball out of the shotgun, because you can. It's called a draw play. Not to mention that you have a back like Ray Rice that works best shifting around and letting the blockers get set while making the defense lose track of him because of how small he is, draw plays are going to work even better. Plus it allows Flacco to get a better read of the defense, find where the pressure is coming from, and find his hot read. Combine Flacco in the shotgun with some slants or rubs or pick plays, maybe a screen or two, and suddenly the defense is backpedaling.

Mattison is another guy with questions to answer. Overall the defense played a good game, but I mentioned before that he has not shown an ability to make in game adjustments (as evidenced in the 2nd and 4th quarter points allowed). However, the thing that bothered me about last night was his inability to learn from his mistakes from game to game might have cost the Ravens a chance to win it all this year. On 3rd and 18, Mattison rushed 3. The Steelers went deep and made the play that allowed them to win the game in regulation. When have we seen the Ravens rushing 3 and losing big leads before? Oh yeah, against the Texans. Keith Van Valkenberg talked about it, but it bears repeating. Rushing the QB is not just about getting sacks or pressures. It's also about getting into the throwing lanes or blocking lines of sight for deep passes. Roethlisberger had a clear view of Antonio Brown blowing past a defense that bogged down the area 15-20 yards past the line of scrimmage because they expected the play to go there. Brown ran a 9 route and burned the defense. I am not saying that the Ravens should have blitzed, but putting 5 or 6 going at the QB could have meant that Roethlisberger would not have been able to lock in on Brown so easily, and that could have made all the difference.

• I expected the excuses from Derrick Mason and TJ Houshmandzadeh, but I did NOT expect it from Anquan Boldin

Even after the punt return TD was called back, the Ravens still had a chance to go up 4 points with 4 minutes left in the game. On the play, Boldin was covered by two people, but Flacco threw the ball where Boldin (and only Boldin) could catch it. And he should have caught it. It was one of the best throws Flacco made all game, and Boldin let it get past his hands and hit his body, where it bounced away. That is just poor technique. But after the game, Boldin put the blame on the pass. Sorry Anquan, but this one is on you. And you need to own up to it like TJ did his muff on what wound up being the last Ravens offensive play of the season.

I am expecting there to be some big changes in this team next year, if there is a next year. We'll have to see if the owners and the players can keep labor peace going. And as much as this loss hurts, I expect this team to be right back in the hunt whenever the league begins playing again.

Steelers' Ode To Terrence Cody

After watching what Cody did to Jamaal Charles on Sunday, I am pretty sure that Rashard Mendenhall and Mewelde Moore are going to get Casey Kasem to send this to the big man as a Long Distance Dedication (since they don't want him anywhere near them on Saturday).