Baltimore Ravens: WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!

When the Ravens won the Super Bowl in 2001, I have to admit, I just wasn't a big football fan yet.  I had been into the Stallions a bit, but when the Ravens moved to town, I just followed them with a lazy eye.  During that year's run, my interest picqued a bit, and I followed the playoff run, but while it was great then, it just didn't dawn on me the true feelings of it.  Really, it was freshman year of college that I started REALLY following the games closely.  And with each passing year, it became more and more of a passion...

I could write a novel on what I felt in the past month when it came to the Ravens.  I have to admit, and I told this to Shannon...around the Broncos game, I was basically ready to call it a season.  I loved the way we played in the Giants game and the Colts playoff game, but I could see that the Broncos were this gigantic brick wall ahead of us, and I just didn't know if the jump was going to be enough to scale it.  So I prepared for defeat and...it didn't come.  Instead, I saw the unbelievable miracle that was the win in Denver.  And then the rest (like I said, I could really write a novel, so I'm going to brush it aside) was just amazing.  I had always had in my head, if we won a Super Bowl, I was taking Noah and we were doing the damn victory parade!  I wished I had been into it as much in 2001 to go then, but mostly, I want Noah to have something he can look back on and say "Man, I was THERE!"

So, once the win was in place, we made the preparations.  This time, they did it a little differently.  A parade going from City Hall to the stadium, then a ceremony at the stadium.  So first things first...forget the parade.  I want to see them giving the speeches!  So, parking lots opened at 9, stadium gates at 10.  So, knowing that 200000 people came last time, I planned to get to Light Rail by 9am.  I got there at 9:15, and it was already JAMPACKED.  Crap.  So we parked on a shoulder of the road, like about 75 other cars at that point, and rushed to the Light Rail.  By luck, the first train stopped RIGHT in front of where Noah and I stood, so we rushed in quickly and got him a seat.  As we passed the other stops, it was shocking to see the amount of people at those stations, unable to board because the trains were FULL from the first stop onward.  We got to the stadium at 10:10am, and I was already pretty certain we wouldn't even get in the stadium.  But as I got off...the gates were open, and there were no more lines!  I rushed in, and we found seats in Section 107, lower level!  Perfect.  We had a comfortable setup with the people around us (They were helpful when I had to use the restroom and get Noah water bottles, they made sure our seats weren't taken).

So we got to watch the parade on the jumbotrons.  The parade was delayed, because of the sheer SIZE of the crowd.  How bad was it?  The Ravens busses got stuck in traffic.  On the way to their own parade.  So around 10:45am, Stadium was already nearly full on the lower levels, but Upper level had lots of seats left.  By 11:30, when the parade started, the stadium was basically at capacity.  The crowd was JUMPING.  I mean, every time they showed a highlight, there were thunderous eruptions of cheers and clapping.  And the cheers when John Harbaugh and Steve Bisciotti came out, just to say "we'll be back shortly"???  WOW.  I'm also very glad, side note, that I packed lunch for Noah and myself.  Saved me money and hassle of getting food at the stadium.

Finally, the team arrived.  I have an 8 minute video of the introductions.  Let me just say, blown away.  They had rigged up fireworks at the top of the stadium, plus the usual gameday setup.  So, how great was it that I could have Noah watch Ray Lewis dance at M&T Bank his FINAL time?  With a Lombardi Trophy no doubt.  That one hasn't truly hit me yet, that may be THE moment that he should take away from this.  So, to shorten this up, all the players were introduced and came out.  They had the "key players" give speeches...Ray Lewis, Joe Flacco, Ed Reed (he mainly sung his two tickets to paradise thing), Steve Bisciotti, John Harbaugh (who for the 2nd time in the day, led us in "What's Our Name? RAVENS!" chants).  I also loved that they made sure to give a special shout out to OJ Brigance, who was absolutely BEAMING.  And as they wrapped it up, the little moment that sent me over the edge, was getting to sing "We Are The Champions" with 100k other Raven fans.  Here's the youtube of it: http://youtu.be/WqRUAdvkOx4.

So, getting home.  Of course, this couldn't be all amazing.  I knew Light Rail would be a total cluster f.  I knew that...but if you had told me that after 2.5 hours, I would only have watched 2 trains leave our side?  And for the next hour after that, 3 more arrive FULLY PACKED NO ROOM AT ALL?  wow...It was THAT bad.  Basically, from what I gathered from the MTA worker (Who I felt horrible for, there were some real asshole fans giving him a TON of crap, when it was obvious he was doing his best to try to keep things moving and helpful.), people were simply riding Northbound trains to the turnaround, then using that to get a seat on South bound trains.  So by the time the train got to us, it was still full.  They had ABSOLUTELY no idea when it would clear out.  So thanks to my Dad, he left work, got my Mom's van with a carseat for Noah, and met us at the Science Center to get picked up.  By the time we got to the Light Rail lot, it was STILL full (At 4:30p, 3 hours after the event had ended).

So, that is what happened today.  Did the MTA stuff suck?  Yes.  Did Noah and I have an amazing time doing something that many football fans can only dream of getting?  Absolutely.  Being in that stadium with 100k other fans, being someone who can't go to the games most of the time due to costs...that was AMAZING.

Ravens Training Camp...at the Stadium

I'm going to preface this by saying...I miss Westminster Training Camp.  It was just a couple blocks from my house, so I could literally walk up whenever I wanted to go, not have to deal with parking, etc.  And get a killer look at my favorite sports team in the world.  I understand why the Ravens chose to move it to their own facility, but I still miss it.

Given that, I took Noah to the public stadium practice yesterday.  We'd tried this in 2010 (Had a flat tire the day before) and 2011 (Shannon had to go to the hospital for a blood clot), so 2012 was the first one we'd been able to do.  This would be our only chance to see the Ravens this year, as I had to choose to skip preseason games due to stuff upcoming in August.  So I was looking to see how good an experience we got.

From Noah's perspective, yesterday was probably like "kid in a candy store with unlimited pocket money" awesome.  We rode the train to get there.  Rode the Metro to get down there, then walked to the Stadium because for the 2nd time in a row, Light Rail was crazy behind.  While walking there, Oriole Park was open so we walked through it.  When we got inside M&T, I beelined for the home bench side (going on a tip from a message board friend who said that side was most likely to get autographs).  We got a group of seats in the 5th row, so I thought we were in good shape to get an autograph.  More on that later.  Anyway, the view of the action was pretty great.  And the Ravens definitley utilized the stadium atmosphere to their benefit.  Jumbotron video montages, loudspeaker announcers, a broadcast team that did various interviews through practice, and the practice itself was 2.5 hours long.

Here's where I'll bitch and moan.  I was really trying to get Noah an autograph of a player.  I said I didn't care which one, I just figured he would explode at the idea of getting any Raven to sign his football.  So at various times during practice, players who had a moment or so off would come over and sign.  A couple guys did so around our section, but by the time you saw the guy coming over, there was a SWARM of people cramming into the section to find any room to get stuff over.  So we never got one that way, and as practice was winding down, I said "I guess I'll just get into the aisle and get as close as I can", figuring that eventually, the people ahead of me would get an autograph and clear out.  After awhile, a stadium official came up and told "the group" that we couldn't stand in the aisle, due to fire marshall rules.  Noah and I moved out.  And then we watched as NOBODY ELSE MOVED A DAMN STEP.  And the guy sat there talking with them for a few minutes, then walked away.  Yeah, great.  Let's give three cheers for people who followed the rules.  So of course, when someone else came over to sign things, we ran over and missed it entirely, due to the people who never moved.  The other thing that screwed us over?  The people at the front were just COLLECTING autographs.  Like, they were trying to get as many Ravens as possible to sign their stuff.  So once someone signed their stuff, they stayed there.  Meaning we never got any closer.

After awhile, I was getting super pissed and just started shouting "4 year old here, wants ANY autograph".  One of the said collectors decided to be decent and handed Noah's football over for me, and back once the autograph was done.  I never even saw the guy who signed it.  So I had to ask who it was.  "Cecil Newton, Cam Newton's brother"

...

Okay, of the 90 people on the Ravens roster, I could probably rattle off about 75 of them.  Cecil Newton was one of the 15 I had no idea was on the roster.  But whatever, I said any autograph and we got one.  After that, I had no desire to wait around any longer so we left.  I know players stayed for a long time signing, and so I bear no ill will to them.

My complaint/suggestion...Ravens, you need to structure the autographs.  At Westminster, you had a specific spot where kids could line up and the players would go right there to sign for them.  Stadium practice should have the same deal.  You don't even need to limit it to kids.  Just have a spot where people can line up after practice, you go in, get an autograph, and then you MOVE THE F%$# ON!  If you want multiple, get back in the damn line.  Yeah, Noah was happy, but imagine how much cooler it would've been if he had SEEN the guy who signed his autograph.

My takeaway for the future...I need to get there earlier, and find ANY front row seat, whatever section/side.  Then just dig in and hold my ground.  The other thing?  I need to remember Noah is only 4.  He's starting to understand this football thing, but again he doesn't really care much about who signs it.  It'd be nice if he saw the guy sign it though.

All in all, it was fun.  But I still miss the close quarters of Westminster and the expanded opportunities to interact with players.

A Startling Realization about Karma and the Baltimore Orioles/Ravens

As pitchers and catchers report for another great season of fail whale for the Orioles (Why bother having optimism?  We're basically hoping that every team overlooks us and sends their Single-A affiliate to play the game instead), Casey Willet posted a video reminder of how last season ended, with pretty much the only Orioles highlight to mark the season.  We got to play a role in the most epic, fortuitous 30 mins of baseball I've ever seen between two teams.  Boston and Tampa were tied for the Wild Card.  A win by one and loss by the other would seal it.  Any other scenario would mean a play-in game the next day.  Through...7 innings?...Tamps was losing 7-0 to the Yankees, who had already wrapped up their division title with a nice bow, but they weren't giving up.  We had an earlier game and were losing 3-2, but there was a long rain delay, allowing Tampa-NYY game to pass ours.

The stage was set first by an epic comeback by the Rays, as they managed to come all the way back to 7-7, shocking the Red Sox Nation.  But, the Red Sox were still winning against us, and it came down to the bottom of the ninth.  With a man on second, Nolan Reimold slapped a double off the great Papelbon to tie the game.  The next batter, Robert Andino.  And on a 1-1 count, he hit a line drive right to a sliding Carl Crawford...WHO DROPPED IT.  The throw to the plate was too late to get Reimold and just like that, O's win, Red Sox now hoping the Yankees pull it out in extra innings against Tampa.  Within about 5 minutes of that, Evan Longoria hit a solo shot in the bottom of the 12th to give the Rays the win, which ended the Boston baseball season without a playoff trip.  I was awake and watched this comeback and despite how bad the O's was, it felt good to see us play a role.  Aand watching the highlight video, I sort've celebrated...

And then I remembered.  What NFL team does Boston/Massachusetts play host to?  The New England Patriots.

Yes Baltimore, we had our laugh against Boston.  And they promptly returned the favor, about four months later.

We were down 3 points to the Patriots in the AFC Championship game (difference noted...game with playoff implications vs an ACTUAL playoff game.  And the Conference title game no less).  Joe Flacco throws a pass to Lee Evans in the endzone and he doesn't secure the catch, allowing a former practice squad DB to knock it loose.  Two plays later, Billy Cundiff lines up for a pretty easy FG of 32 yards.  And due to whatever circumstances you want to list (Ghost of Myra Kraft, Scoreboard-gate, stupid idiots not taking a timeout), he pushed it about as wide left as you can.  Just like that, when it seemed we could at least make a go of it in OT, the BALTIMORE Ravens lost and the NEW ENGLAND (Read: Boston) Patriots were advancing.

Oh, how I wish I could go back to that night in September and just WILL Carl Crawford into catching the ball.  O's would likely lose in extra innings, Boston would pull off a win, and the fate would be out of Baltimore's hands.  And then, 4 months later, maybe Cundiff just happens to pull off that FG which he makes 1000 times in practice, or Evans manages to make a catch he would have 1000 times in practice.

I know, I know...woulda coulda shoulda.  And now, we have to suffer through 6 months of no football, which will inevitably be an Orioles losing season.  Maybe I'll be wrong, maybe something will finally go right for the Orioles.  But I'm counting on karma to push the Orioles season as wide left as that Cundiff kick, if only that maybe, the Ravens will once again have a nice, dominant season.

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...

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.