It's Been a Long Time Comin'...

...but I feel another post is in order. All I've been doing over my winter break (which is five weeks long) is sitting on the couch watching ESPN (and the occasional "King of Queens" or "Everybody Loves Raymond" episode), reading espn.com, and checking the baltimoresun.com's sports page. I have had so many opinions over this break about the local (and national) sports scene, yet have only been able to talk them out to a couple people and my toilet (sad, but true). I figured that coming back to this blog is long overdue.

So, before we completely put the Ravens on the backburner for a few months after their 20-3 loss to the Indianapolis Colts last night, let me back up two people who have been garnering a lot of criticism over the past few days, John Harbaugh and Joe Flacco. Yes, Harbaugh and Flacco were far from perfect this season, but there is no reason for local fans to be calling for their heads after this combo has gotten to the playoffs for a second straight season.

Let's start with John Harbaugh. Harbaugh has his issues, but nothing is poor about his 20-12 regular season record and 3-2 playoff record in his first two seasons as head coach. He turned a seemingly hopeless team two seasons ago into a team who can easily be a playoff contender for three straight years. If the Ravens make the playoffs next season, it will be the first time in their brief history that they will have gotten to the playoffs in three consecutive seasons, something that isn't accomplished by too many teams. Yes, Harbaugh had major clock management issues, problems with when and when not to throw the challenge flag, and difficulties controlling the team's discipline on a regular basis, all things that need fixing next season, but I'm not gonna ask for a new coach after what he has accomplished in his first two seasons. This was a good learning experience for Harbaugh as a head coach, and usually when people use the term "learning experience", it's in lieu of a horrific season; in this case, Harbaugh learned, and made it to the divisional round of the playoffs.

Now to quarterback Joe Flacco, who is receiving a lot of criticism for his play down the stretch. He came into this season with high expectations, and had a great start, but then injuries (?) and anxiousness slowed him down and led to a "sophomore slump", so to speak. Not many quarterbacks lead their team to the playoffs when having a "sophomore slump", and his numbers were statistically better than they were last season. However, people became concerned with his play down the stretch, and there was no fear on the message boards to rip him apart after yesterday's game against the Colts. I was concerned with his play, too. By the end of the season, he was nervous under pressure, taking a sack as opposed to trying to get the ball off. I was hoping for improvement in the playoffs, but he looked nervous yesterday, looking to throw to Derrick Mason and if he couldn't find him, immediately looking to throw to Ray Rice.

Message to Joe Flacco: there are other receivers on the field; let's not try to get too predictable out there. But I don't understand why everyone is all of a sudden jumping on the Joe Flacco-bashing bandwagon. Like Harbaugh, Flacco has led his team to two straight playoff seasons in his first two years. He's young, and he has time to improve. We saw how good he can be when receivers get open early on this season. He'll be fine. The Ravens "fans" who are bashing Flacco and Harbaugh and asking for them to be traded and fired, respectively, need to look at the bigger picture here, and the bigger picture is this: 23-14 record, including playoffs, in their first two seasons. Yes, there is much room for improvement, but come on, don't let the frustration of the Orioles carry over to football.

So, overall, another successful season for the Ravens. Granted, it wasn't what we all may have expected going in, but with all the inconsistencies throughout the season, the Ravens made their second straight playoff run, the first time since the 2000 and 2001 seasons that that has happened. Can't wait for next year, but I'll be able to say goodbye to Ravens football without a tear; I had to endure a 2-10 Terps football year on top of this, so I'll welcome college basketball and, dare I say it, baseball with open arms.

Speaking of the Orioles and Terps, more on them in later posts.

And, before I go, I'd just like to say that I was one of the few who was right about the Dallas Cowboys. Everyone, for no reason than other that they're "America's Team", just decided that the Cowboys were the team to beat in the NFC. I said to my toilet, "I'm not quite convinced about the Cowboys. I just don't know if Romo's got it against this Vikings defense." Sure enough, as I write this, the Vikings just beat the Cowboys 34-3 (I predicted the Vikings to win 27-23). So, I'd like all three of you who read this blog post to bow down to me and worship me as the best NFL picker in the United States! Oh wait, my toilet just reminded me that I picked the Ravens to win this weekend...and that I predicted before this season that the Patriots and Packers would meet in the Super Bowl. Ouch.

WHAT? ANOTHER POST? Yeah.

I'm back to writing on this blog, something I haven't done since the beginning of the NFL season. And we've only had one blogpost since then, and a lot happened this past weekend, so this blog is going to have a lot of writing. Read it in chunks.



Ravens

The game over the weekend was rough to watch. The game started off with a Chris Carr fumble recovered by the Patriots. Jared Gaither's injury caused a large stoppage of play, which was followed by a Ravens sloppy-looking end to the first half, including Joe Flacco throwing his third interception of the season on the Patriots side of the field with less than two minutes to go. The Ravens had a shot to win it at the end, but a dropped pass by Mark Clayton sealed the win for the Patriots, and the Ravens first loss on the young season.

What hurt the Ravens the most were two roughing-the-passer penalties on two different drives that led to Patriots touchdowns. Both were rather questionable, but the Ravens had a similar roughing-the-passer call go their way in this game, as well. Overall, the Ravens had a shot at this ball game and blew it themselves. The officiating was not great, but the fact of the matter is that the Ravens had a winning drive going at the end of the game, and Mark Clayton dropped the ball.

It's all good, though. The Ravens were going to lose this season eventually. It's just unfortunate that they had to lose to the New England Patriots, for these teams might have to play each other again down the road, probably in Foxboro.

Good matchup this weekend between the Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals in Baltimore. The winner of the game will have sole possession of first place, as both teams are 3-1. The Bengals have surprised many by beating the Packers and Steelers, but they nearly lost to the Browns in Cleveland last weekend, barely winning it in overtime. I believe the Ravens will win this one handily, 38-24, to go to 4-1 on the season.



Terps Football

What a difference a week makes. After watching this team fall apart against Rutgers on their way to 1-3, the Terps slugged it out against Clemson in their first ACC game of the year and won it 24-21. Granted a lot of this was luck, as it seemed like the Terps were trying to lose it, but Clemson wanted to lose it more, missing two key field goals and fumbling with 7 seconds left on the clock. The Terps defense was phenomenal, and the offense was stable enough to get this team to 1-0 in the ACC, and in first place in the Atlantic Division.

With three winnable games coming up (at Wake Forest, home against Virginia, at Duke) the Terps have a shot at going 4-0 in ACC play early on. This probably won't happen, but if the Terps play the way they played on Saturday, minus some of the poor play-calling by Ralph Friedgen, they should be able to take at least two of the next three. If they go back to playing the way they did against California, James Madison, Middle Tennessee State, and Rutgers, then look for three losses.

Let's hope the Terps can keep it up. They got the fans back on their side after last game, but they can quickly lose them again with a few more losses. Fans know that Maryland Madness, which promotes Maryland basketball, is October 16th, meaning Maryland basketball is just around the corner, and that team has a lot of potential. If this team loses games in the next couple of weeks, fans will go back to solely caring about the basketball team.



Orioles

The Orioles finally wrapped up their season. I always miss baseball when it ends, but it's good to see the Orioles go after having a terrible season. Good news: the Orioles finished the season 3-0 after the announcement that Dave Trembley will be coming back for the 2010 season. The Orioles finished overall on a 4-game win streak, which directly followed a terrible 13-game losing streak. They completed their twelfth straight losing season, finishing 64-98, their second worst season during this streak of losing seasons, second only to 63-98 in 2001.

Despite all of this, I believe Trembley deserves the chance he is getting. I have hated on Trembley all year, but he's done his job in terms of getting the young players playing time, and trying to mature them. What I like about this announcement by Andy MacPhail is that he says it's all about wins and losses next season. This is Trembley's last chance. If the Orioles have yet another down season, the Orioles will be looking for someone else in the managerial position. If the Orioles have a pretty good season, then it's perfect all around.

Goodbye Orioles baseball. As of now, I don't miss you too much, as you were, as usual, quite a downer. However, in a couple months I will miss baseball. And no doubt after the Ravens are finished I will be anticipating the start of next season. For now, however, I'm glad this miserable season is over.

Here are my Orioles awards for 2009:

Orioles Rookie of the Year: Nolan Reimold. Statistics- .279 BA, 15 HRs, 45 RBIs.
Sorry to: Matt Wieters, Brad Bergesen (remember him?)

Orioles Pleasant Surprise of the Year: Felix Pie. Statistics- .266 BA, 9 HRs, 29 RBIs. Hit for the cycle. Sorry to: Luke Scott, Adam Jones, Brian Matusz

Orioles Disappointing Player of the Year: Melvin Mora. Statistics- .260 BA, 8 HRs, 48 RBIs.
Way to avoid it to: Jeremy Guthrie, Chris Ray

Orioles MVP of the Year: Nick Markakis. Statistics- .293 BA, 18 HRs, 101 RBIs.
Sorry to: Brian Roberts, Adam Jones, Luke Scott

Before I continue on, I'd like to acknowledge Melvin Mora, who will most likely be leaving the Orioles. He was a class act on and off the field in his tenure with the Orioles, which extended from 2000 to 2009 (ten years of losing baseball). He stayed with the team, and had no complaints until this year, which was probably due to frustration at his own play more than anything else. He has been one of the best Orioles players in that timespan, with his best season being 2004 when he hit .340 with 27 home runs. I wish Mora luck in the future, and would like to thank him for what he brought to Orioles baseball for ten, miserable seasons.

Baseball postseason
Quickly, my picks for the postseason. Yankees will play the Cardinals. Cardinals will win the World Series in seven games.

NFL picks. How are those going?
A month back I picked the Patriots to beat the Packers in the Super Bowl. How is that looking right now? Well, the Patriots just beat the Ravens (which was my AFC championship pick) to go to 3-1, and the Packers are 2-2, having lost to their rival Vikings last night. Still a possibility that these two teams will meet, but they both haven't looked as good as advertised in the preseason.

Hope you didn't read the whole thing all the way through.

It's about time!

The Ravens finally earned some long overdue respect from the national sports media today when ESPN released their weekly power rankings. Where were the Ravens you ask? I'll tell you this much. They were at #10 last week and jumped 9 positions this week. That's right. The Yankee-loving, Red Sox-adoring, Brett Favre-drooling ESPN 'experts' decided the top spot. See for yourself:
I understand that lists like the 'Power Rankings' and the like are irrelevant in the long run but what fan out there is going to say that it doesn't mean anything that they're team is ranked #1? When it comes to professional sports, it's all about pride. The Ravens have pride, their fans have pride, and that pride should result in more wins and legitimate shot at a deep run in the playoffs. Go Ravens!

Terps Football, Ravens, and NFL Predictions

I'm going to start with the bad news, get that out of the way, and then talk about the NFL. The Maryland Terrapins opened up their college football season horribly on Saturday with a 52-13 loss on national television to the California Golden Bears, whom the Terps upset last season. This was the second worst loss the Terps have taken since Ralph Friedgen took over, and I watched every minute of it. This year people have been down on the Terps football team, predicting a 6-6 season overall, or perhaps worse, but I decided to give them a 7-5 record, because they seem to always somewhat exceed expectations.
However, watching Saturday night's game shows that this team is as unexperienced as advertised. The defense looked horrible, with Best and Riley killing us, and the offense was rough, with six sacks allowed by this young offensive line. The only bright spot was Da'Rel Scott who had 13 carries for 90 yards, including a 39-yard touchdown run when it no longer mattered. What a rough start. Unless the Terps step it up in ACC play, this is going to be a rough season, which includes games against Virginia Tech and Florida State amongst the up-in-the-air ACC. Let's hope that the three straight home games against James Madison, Middle Tennessee State, and Rutgers are all wins. Then we can worry about the ACC schedule.
Now to the Ravens, who looked great in the preseason, granted it was the preseason (the Lions went 4-0 in the preseason last year, and we all know what happened after that), but Flacco didn't show any signs of a sophomore slump, and the running back situation looks good. The defense, despite losing starters such as Bart Scott and Jim Leonhard, looked very good throughout the entire preseason. Tavares Gooden looks ready to step up alongside Ray Lewis at the linebacker position, and Terrell Suggs had a nice drive in the fourth game, getting three tackles and one sack. Now, Sunday is nearly upon us, and the NFL season is finally going to begin. My prediction for the Ravens is 11-5 again, but still behind the Steelers at 12-4 again. The Ravens will get a wild card spot. I predict the Ravens will get through to the AFC championship game yet again, but lose yet again. This time they will lose to the New England Patriots, not the Steelers. Of course, I hope my prediction is wrong, and that the Ravens go all the way, but this is just my prediction for now. Let's go Ravens!
Here are my predictions for the way things are going to play out in the NFL this year:

AFC North: Winner- Pittsburgh Steelers Wild Card- Baltimore Ravens
AFC East: Winner- New England Patriots Wild Card- None
AFC South: Winner- Indianapolis Colts Wild Card- Tennessee Titans
AFC West: Winner- San Diego Chargers Wild Card- None

NFC North: Winner- Green Bay Packers Wild Card- Minnesota Vikings
NFC East: Winner- Philadelphia Eagles Wild Card- New York Giants
NFC South: Winner- New Orleans Saints Wild Card- None
NFC West: Winner- Seattle Seahawks Wild Card- None

AFC Champion: New England Patriots NFC Champion: Green Bay Packers

Super Bowl Champion: The New England Patriots. I know, I hate myself, too, but it's better than the Steelers or Colts, right?

P.S. Did anyone notice that as of Monday, September 7, the Baltimore Orioles were only five games back of the Toronto Blue Jays for fourth place? If the Orioles don't have a complete fallout at the end here, fourth place is a possibility this year. Of course, as I write this, we're losing 10-0 to the Boston Red Sox.

What are the O's to do with Felix Pie?

The Orioles aren't confronted with many dilemma's they would like to have these days. Usually, they have to figure out which minor leaguer is the best candidate to be promoted in order to replace a struggling player on the big league roster. However, the Orioles are confronted with the opposite situation.

A few months ago, ESPN.com featured a piece on the O's young outfield (pictured) including Nolan Reimold, Adam Jones, and Nick Markakis. There's no argument that the trio make up one of the best young outfields in the majors. However, what ESPN did not account for at the time is the Orioles new-found depth in the outfield. With Felix Pie's increased playing time and opportunity to prove why he was once the Cubs number one minor league prospect, number 18 has suddenly burst onto the scene as more than just your everyday fourth outfielder.

Since his cycle game, Pie is batting .386 going 17 for 44 over that span of 15 games. What's most impressive is that his power numbers are drastically improving in just a short period of time. On August 12, his slugging percentage was stuck at an unimpressive .336. Since then, he's raised his slugging to .459, a 123 point increase in only a couple weeks! It doesn't appear that this recent hot streak is simply a fluke. A few weeks ago, the O's hitting coach Terry Crowley announced that he helped Pie make his swing more compact. Since working with Crowley, Pie has shown instant improvement which suggests he isn't just getting lucky.

So the dilemma the Orioles are in now is what to do with Pie. He's filled his role as the team's fourth outfielder very well but is he beginning to outgrow his role? With Adam Jones return to the lineup after a mild back injury, Pie is back on the bench except for Sunday games and the occasional spot start. I would expect Trembley to start letting Pie play more often than he has in the past. However, Nolan Reimold earned his spot in left field months ago so how does Pie factor into the O's future? I understand that Pie needs to prove himself over a longer stretch of time but it wouldn't surprise me if the Orioles have four legitimate young outfielders by the time the off-season rolls around.

Is it feasible to let Nolan Reimold take a shot at playing first base during spring training next year? He's only played one game at first in his professional career but the Orioles have been successful at converting players in the past. Melvin Mora was brought up as an outfielder and they were able to develop him into a solid third baseman, one of the hardest positions on the field. The Orioles gave Luke Scott, a career outfielder, an opportunity to play first base this season and he's filled in adequately for Huff's vacancy.

Or is it more feasible to let go of someone like Luke Scott in order to allow Reimold to be the DH next year? As much as I like Luuuuke Scott and his scorching hot streaks, I wouldn't be opposed to seeing him go. In the past, I would've been completely against trading Scott because he is only 31 and seems to have a decent number of productive years left. He also recently signed a contract extension. However, two or three years from now, do you see the 34 year old Luke Scott playing a bigger role than Nolan Reimold or Felix Pie in the O's future?

Andy MacPhail has stressed that the Orioles should have an inventory of young players. I couldn't agree more but at some point, the O's need to distribute their wealth and surplus of young players at certain positions in order to fill holes in the roster where perhaps they don't have players waiting in the wings. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that the Orioles don't have incredible depth in their minor league system at first base. How about we give Reimold a shot at first and go from there?

Vick's "Great" First Night

First of all, I'd just like to acknowledge BK's latest post about the changeover in Baltimore. Usually it's about this time of year that the changeover begins. The Orioles are usually a little out of playoff contention, and the Ravens are a couple weeks from their regular season opener. However this year, the Orioles have been out of contention since the first series after the All-Star break, meaning I've been waiting for this changeover to happen for an extra month. Of course it's exciting watching all the young talent (BK forgot to mention the young offensive talent such as Matt Wieters and Nolan Reimold, and even Adam Jones and Nick Markakis), but at 52-76, not much else to look forward to, so LET'S GO RAVENS.

But that's not what I'm writing about. I'm writing about Michael Vick's great first outing. Now, I wish there was some way I could bring out the sarcasm in that statement, because Vick's outing was not "great." It wasn't even "good." Everyone, and I mean everyone, is overstating the "greatness" that was Vick's first NFL game since 2006. He went 4-4 for 19 yards. He made one pass for a first down. Otherwise, he pretty much shovel-passed his way to 4-4. That first down pass he made is what irks me. I must have watched ESPN for five minutes today and I saw that pass to Hank Baskett about thirty-seven times. People are talking about this completion like Vick is a high-school kicker who came in and saved the day by completing a game-winning touchdown pass in the super bowl. NO. Vick is a QUARTERBACK, who made a thirteen-yard first-down pass in a pre-season game. What's a quarterback's primary job? To COMPLETE PASSES. Congratulations, Michael Vick, on doing your job.

Yes, Vick has been away from the game for two years, but that didn't mean he was gonna lose every skill he ever had. He was an NFL quarterback before he went to prison. He's not just going to magically forget how to play football. If I hear one more person drool over Vick's performance in this preseason game, I'm gonna throw up. Yes, Michael Vick proved that he can play in the NFL again under a lot of pressure, but what were people expecting? Were people expecting Vick to take his first snap, run to his own end zone, and spike the ball for a safety? That's what it sounds like people were expecting, considering people love his initial numbers (an average of an amazing 4.75 yards per pass). I hate to break it to all of you, but he's not going to forget how to play football. He's not going to forget how to throw the ball. He's a professional football player. Yes, Vick has been through a lot, all due to his awful choices, but 4-4 for 19 yards should not show everyone that Vick is back and ready to run over the opposing defense.

The Changeover Begins...

We all knew it was coming, it was just a matter of when. The inevitable changeover in the Baltimore sports landscape from the last-place Orioles to the Super Bowl seeking Ravens is complete. With the Ravens first regular season game only a few weeks away, local sports fans are quickly forgetting about the O's and devoting their full attention to the Purple and Black.

As of now, the O's are in last place in the AL East and have the 3rd worst record in all of baseball at 51-75. The team is going through it's annual late-season swoon as they have only won one series since the All-Star break. Orioles fans and even team president Andy MacPhail had mild expectations for the season. Those lowly expectations are coming into fruition.

Fortunately, all hope is not lost for the O's. The young pitching staff is showing signs of potential dominance and the O's offense only has a couple glaring weaknesses. Chris Tillman, Brian Matusz, David Hernandez, and the former AL ROY contender Brad Bergesen have all shown how well they can pitch in the majors. They have also shown how there is a lot of work to be done before the staff becomes respectable. The light at the end of the tunnel that everyone speaks of is visible for the birds. For now, that light is being blocked by a different type of bird, a Baltimore Raven.

Baltimore's proudest and most elite sports team is proving that they have the capability to bring another Lombardi Trophy to the city. In their first two preseason games, the Ravens have showed what they're capable of when their first team is on the field. I know not to look too far into preseason results (the Detroit Lions were 4-0 last year in the preseason), however, the Purple and Black have dominated nearly every stat category in their first couple games. The Passing attack looks formidable even without a star wide receiver. The running game looks solid and it appears Ray Rice has the tools to be a exceptional primary back. The defense is a year older but doesn't appear to have lost their intensity even with the departure of Bart Scott and the injury to Terrell Suggs. The only unresolved spot on the team is the kicker, a position which doesn't usually make or break an entire team. I'm confident the Ravens will resolve the kicking dilemma one way or another.

There's a lot to look forward to this year with the Ravens. Joe Flacco has a year under his belt and Ray Lewis stays with the Ravens to lead one of the most dominant D's in the game today.

As for the O's, their time will come, just not this year. Let's Go Ravens!