Since when did little man turn into a fraidy cat?

All of a sudden this week, Noah seems to be afraid of everything. Up until this point, he's had maybe one or two episodes where he got spooked by something, we couldn't figure out what, but sitting with him calmed him down...But then Mom had mentioned he's had a few times at daycare where he's been seemingly afraid of the ceiling fan in the room he naps in. For any of you who know, his first word was "round and round" because he likes watching fans. So, that was weird, but it only seemed to happen there...

Then Monday, everything seemed to hit the fan (no pun intended). Started out with a trip to Sakura. Noah LOVES them, especially "BIG FIRE". He calls it the fire place. So he was in a great mood, sitting in his high chair, eating soup. Chef comes over, starts setting up, lights the big fire...and Noah loses it. He immediately says "WANT TO GO BYE-BYE!!!!!!" Odd, but hey, a big puff of flame probably is a scary thing, so we calm him down. That night, we go up to his room for night night..."You okay then fan? YOU OKAY THE FAN???? I don't like my room!" At this point, I'm just dumbfounded. I turned the fan down, he seemed to be okay...weird.

On Wednesday, a new fear emerged...the shadow. Well, actually, it wasn't the shadow, but rather light coming through the back door. But since I don't know what to call that, it becomes shadow. This freaked Noah out, but I was able to mostly get over that one by taking him up to it and playing shadow games with it.

So yesterday, my stay at home day with him...he lost it big time. He discovered the front room, which was the office way back, now the guest room. It has a low ceiling, so no fan. Well apparently, he has fallen in love with this room because he stayed in it for about 2 hours yesterday. Any time I tried to get him to go to the more kid-friendly living room, no dice, he freaked out. When it came time for nap, he decided he wants to sleep in the front room. Not Noah's room, don't like Noah's room...Not Mommy and Daddy's room, don't like that room. I gave up on naptime after a bit of pouting and tantrum, finally got him to sit downstairs with me. He then goes to sleep, so I laid him down in his room.

It's just all very confusing to me. Half the time, he's fine with fans because he sits in the living room with us and the fan runs almost all the time there. I guess it's just discovering new things and seeing things in different ways. Just hope he doesn't let it flip him out too much, summer is coming soon and if he gets to the point with no fan, i'm not sure how he's going to sleep. Especially if he keeps trying that fan-less front room. Then again, he went to sleep tonight fine with the fan on.

Ravens: Do we have a draft in here?

It's been about a week since the draft, so I think it's about time to chime in on the rush of excitement which temporarily distracted me from the depression and funk that is the Baltimore Orioles (although, big props to them for getting a winning streak together...2 games does constitute a streak)...

Upon final review, once again, Ozzie outsmarted us all. Guys visiting, comments about what we were looking for, saying we were definitley going to add a CB...all to trade out of Round 1. I've dealt with a lot of...(struggling not to use the word idiots, clowns, and morons) opinionated people....who want to dump all over Ozzie for the decision to pass on Kyle Wilson and Jared Odrick to trade out of Round 1. Frankly, the move was anticlimatic, my emotions were built up so high from seeing Dez Bryant fall to the spot in front of us, and then seeing Dallas rush in to pump their fist, blow us a raspberry, and take him...trading just left you hanging. But it was ABSOLUTELY the right move. There's a video on BR.com I like watching where Steve B is in the war room talking about how with the trade, you can basically say we traded our first round pick for a mid 2nd rounder, a 5th rounder, and Anquan Boldin. Come onm that is a badass trade right there. THEN, you consider who we did get.

Sergio Kindle was a guy literally who all us diehard football draft beatniks expected to go in the middle of Round 1. On Friday morning, we were all still scratching our head as to why he fell, until we saw the knee report where he's had 4 operations on his knee. Look, injuries happen, guys have risks coming out of college. I trust the Baltimore Raven doctors and they all signed off on him and said "he doesn't need ANY surgery". So for now, you've got to think this is a risky, but possibly VERY rewarding pick. You get a guy with 1st round talent but only have to pay him like a 2nd rounder. That means the big money is out of play, he's getting a modest deal. So if he does crap out, you cut your losses and move on.

Terrence Cody...BEAST is the 2nd best word to describe him, besides his nickname...MOUNT. The guy is literally a mountain. The naysayers are going on and on about how he's so big he's only a role player...Hey, I have a few other "role players" to throw out there...Tony Siragusa and Sam Adams. Because that's what this guy is. A big body to get in there and literally block up the middle of the field. Another guy that's a bit risky because of his weight, but you know what you are getting with him already. We have his role carved out, he's going to replace Kelly Gregg. What does Kelly Gregg do? He doesn't rush the QB. He stops the run. Game set match...Point.

The next two picks were my only real head scratching moment. Early in the 3rd round, I'm thinking we could go WR with Brandon LaFell, maybe CB, maybe TE. And we do go TE with Ed Dickson, a nice receiving TE out of Oregon. Can't block much, but VERY good in the passing game. Great, we've got a Heap replacement, I'm happy. Then, our first pick in Round 4. A lot of good WRs went off the board ahead of our pick, but still some good playmakers out there, still some CBs....wait, what? TE again? Dennis Pitta. Now, once again, we got another great TE. Pitta has the NCAA RECORD for TE receiving yards. So you are definitley getting a good receiver. But again, another receiving TE, can't block much. I like both these guys as players, but taking them together? I just think we could've addressed a more pressing need. But this is where you either love or hate Ozzie's "Best Player Available" strategy. You can't really argue that Pitta wasn't worth the pick there, and most the other guys were reaches. I'll be ok with this pick, but only if we find a good way to use both on the field together. Otherwise, don't think it was wise to double up on TE.

The final three picks were really depth players who won't fill huge roles. David Reed seemed another anticlimatic pick to me because he wasn't a very prolific WR. Only two years at Utah, though he had a REAL nice final year. He can return too. The thing I like about him is he's sure handed, very good at running routes. Which always seemed like a silly thing to want, but think about it. You want a guy where Joe Flacco knows EXACTLY where he's going to be on the field. Arthur Jones could be a big gem I'm hearing. He was a very stout DT at Syracuse, but injury and inconsistency his last year dropped him. He should be the yin to Cody's yang. Good at rushing the passer, should be a guy to rotate in at NT or DE and replace Dwan Edwards. Ramon Harewood is just a big guy who can play OT. Not very experienced because he's from Barbados, never played until college. That one was a throwaway pick, no impact players in the 6th round anyway.

So overall, I'm excited for the picks we made. I'll still defend Ozzie to the detractors. At CB, we've got some guys who just need to come back from injury. If you're worried about how long it takes them to come back, then sign a free agent. Don't need to draft there right now.

As for the rest of the draft, I'll make a seperate blog about that...

Orioles: The Great Cal Mess of 2010

The Orioles 2010 season woes aside, things just got weirder for the Black and Orange...

So this weekend, former Sun reporter Ken Rosenthal posted a report on Fox Sports that Cal had approached Petey Angelos about a front office job with the O's, but Angelos had reportedly turned him down because he didn't want Cal to steal Andy McPhail's thunder when the Orioles eventually improve. Angelos came out right away and rebuked this, saying that Cal had never discussed a front office job, only affiliation with the Ripken Academy, that he would welcome Cal into whatever post he'd be interested, and that he doesn't see the need for McPhail to share responsibilities with anyone. In my Baltimore, Cal-loving frame of mind, I figured good ole Cal would give us the truth.

Cal released a statement today saying that Angelos never said anything about denying Cal credit, but made some cryptic remarks like "I am more excited now to explore all opportunities and find the right situation that could lead me to the next phase of my life." He did acknowledge that they have had discussion about baseball and the Orioles, with the direction steering towards Cal wanting to join the organization.

So, what do we think of this now? Well, Cal obviously didn't burn any bridges. And I do mean ANY bridges...He spoke nothing but positive spun sugar about Peter Angelos. So while I think that means he wants to keep a good relationship with the O's, it could also mean he doesn't want to get a label for throwing people under the bus if he'd be interested in, say, the Nationals FO...but, please please, before the collective city of Baltimore throws stones at me for even mentioning Cal going somewhere else, I only mean that if the Orioles were to stonewall him, I think he's keeping his options open for other jobs.

That said, I really can't believe that Angelos would be so stupid as to keep Cal at a 10-foot-pole's distance from the franchise. Granted, I can understand the notion about wanting to "protect" McPhail, because if anyone but McPhail rights the Orioles, Peter Angelos goes down as probably one of the worst owners in history. He took a team that had been very prominent and poised for greatness in 95/96, flushed them down the toilet due to personal gripes, and squandered every opportunity to rebuild. And bringing in Cal, who the majority of Baltimore desperately want to buy out Angelos as owner, could just server to make Angelos look more lame duck. But with Cal on board, it would also buy him a LOT of respect from fans, and probably some more leeway in terms of winning now versus soon.

I also think Cal's comments were worded such that I believe Angelos was stonewalling to a point, and Cal just, without throwing him under the bus, put the ball in his court. Now if Angelos doesn't make seomthing happen, he really looks bad since Cal still wants to come here and basically is just waiting for the phone call for a job.

And once again, kudos to Mr. Ripken. The Baltimore son still comes off as the golden boy for sticking with a franchise who so desperately needs a rebuild. It would be very easy for him to sniff around say the Phillies, who would be a little more win now. But once again, it appears Cal stays true to his hometown. And once again, Cal Ripken proves why he is an institution in this....institution.

Ravens: My big ramble on what will happen with the 2010 Draft

Let's break this down very simply for those of you who want the bulletin points and not the long winded explanation...

As usual, the Ravens have many places they could go in the draft, and as usual, it'll probably be the place we talk about the least. And as usual we'll probably scratch our heads, and as usual, Ozzie Newsome will end up being right. Savvy?

So in recounting my experiences with the Ravens and the NFL Draft, the first one I followed enough to know what player(s) I wanted us to get was 2005. I remember very clearly, I wanted us to draft David Baas, an OL out of Michigan. We drafted Mark Clayton instead and Baas went as the first pick in the 2nd round. Now granted, Mark Clayton is a debatable draft miss, but David Baas also never turned into the premier OL I had though he would either.

Looking back, the 2005 one was actually a pretty bad one for Ozzie...Clayton hasn't panned out the way we'd hoped, Dan Cody just had awful luck like the Orioles, Adam Terry sucked, Justin Green never amounted to anything...and Derek Anderson went to Cleveland. But in general, the trend would be that I trust Ozzie's decisions. Like last year, everyone was SO sure we'd go with a WR in Round 1 because our WRs were very lacking. Instead, he moves up and takes an OT? We're sitting here saying "but we HAVE our OTs...Willie Anderson and Jared Gaither". Oh but wait, the OT we drafted was Michael Oher, who played well enough in his first NFL year to make some sports writers' All-Pro ballot at RT. And to top it off, Willie Anderson announced his retirement about a month or so after the draft. Another situation for you...after drafting Joe Flacco (probably the only draft pick I've guessed correctly, though I had him going to Ravens in 2nd round), Ozzie drafts...a RB? But we have Willis McGahee and he's more than a decent RB. And who is this guy..."Ray Rice"? Two years later, Ray Rice has turned into a Pro-Bowl RB.

So, this year is pretty interesting in terms of needs. We have a solid QB, RB, OL, LB...our WR situation is set for this year at least, our DL is good enough to go with for another year or two, considering that Kruger is moving to DE, and after repairing from injuries, we've got a secondary set in Foxworth, Webb, Reed/Zbikowski, Landry/Nakamura. So we don't have any big pressing needs for fans to clamor that we ABSOLUTELY have to draft in Round 1. So instead, everyone is just guessing almost wildly at this point to figure out what we'll do...Draft a future #1 WR? Draft a replacement for Heap?....Draft a stud DL to take over for Pryce or Gregg?...Draft secondary to fill in at CB for now, and maybe play S eventually? As usual, we can almost go anywhere.

My take is that our most likely move is trading down. Because of the rumoured rookie salary changes coming, there are a TON of juniors coming out in this draft to get their money before it becomes unavailable. So this ends up being a VERY deep draft in terms of talent. So since we traded away a 3rd and 4th round pick to get Boldin, I think it's very likely Ozzie wants those picks back. With the number of good players we could get at the bottom of Round 1, I think it makes sense to try to trade back a few spots and get some extra picks to play with. The key to that happening is Jimmy Clausen's slide down the draft. If he falls to our pick, I've got to think we do a deal with a team hungry for a QB.

If no trade, I'd put the biggest odds on Jared Odrick, Demaryius Thomas, Devin McCourty, Terrence Cody, or Jermaine Gresham...in that order. But I also trust that the Ravens have done their homework well and will pick a player with good long term prospects. The last 4 1st rounders (ben grubbs, haloti ngata, joe flacco, and michael oher) have all turned into major pieces for the team.

In other NFL draft predictions, I say Tim Tebow goes mid 2nd round. Someone will get desperate for him, namely I think Jacksonville will start getting hungry if he gets to pick 47. That's the New England Patriots, who smartly built up a TON of picks last year. Jacksonville will want to get in before the Carolina Panthers, who I could see taking Tebow to groom. I think they promise a big ransom to move up from Round 3 to take Tebow and hope he boosts ticket sales.

News Item: Officials want to close popular Woodlawn roller rink

Story seen on Baltimore Sun...

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-county/bs-co-skateworks-survival-uncertain-20100416,0,4996403.story

Ok, so here's the gist. A Baltimore native wanted to open up a roller rink for kids to come hang out at instead of, you know, dealing drugs, killing each other, and generally everything else a Baltimore kid would end up doing, considering the city's track record. And it was a HUGE hit. LOTS of kids come and hang out on Friday nights. But, when the place closes at midnight, and everyone goes out, there's been reports of fights occurring nearby, kids trying to cross a 6 lane highway to get to a bus stop, and general crowd issues. So, Baltimore County has decided that the owners of the club need to decide by Wednesday on a plan to stop these issues, or else they will be shut down.

Granted, the incidents are an issue. But really???? Close down the club, that'll fix it all? I'll tell you EXACTLY what closing down that club will do...Kids won't have a spot to hang out on Friday nights, so here are their options...1) Sit at home until you get so bored you do one of the other options, 2) Stroll around the other prime hangouts in Baltimore, where by the way, our crime rate is still awesome, 3) Get involved with one of Baltimore's choice activites, such as gangs, murder, drugs, or assaults. Seriously, does Baltimore County really think kids won't fight each other if they don't have this spot to hang out? Instead, they'll fight each other spread out in different neighborhoods. But maybe the cops want that, since little 2-3 person fights aren't likely to be called in as a crime statistic, but a BIG fight...yeah, that's another mark against Baltimore.

I think the county needs to work WITH the club owners to figure out a good solution. How hard would it be to schedule an MTA bus stop on Friday nights on the other side of the highway, so you don't have the crossing issue. How hard would it be to provide some police to have on hand in case some bad apples want to spoil it for the good kids. One of the kids who goes there is quoted as saying "If this place closed down, I'd have no social life". That says it all to me...This isn't a raunchy club where kids come to drink, smoke, do bad stuff. This is the kind've place the county should be CELEBRATING, not trying to find a reason to close it down.

Reboot...again

Ok, I am firing this thing up again, this time as a full on blog. No rules, no limitations, I'm just going to open up my brain to the internet, digest it all, and see what comes out the other end...