Nothing to Lose

Tonight's Monday Night Football match up against the New England Patriots has been marked on my schedule since the game dates were release earlier in the year. Many critics believe that this game doesn't really mean anything anymore, since the Ravens are 4-7, and are everything but technically eliminated from the playoff picture.
Too me tonight's game is more than just a regular season AFC conference game. Tonight is the Raven's Superbowl. Tonight is the night to shine on Monday Night Football in front of millions on the national stage. The Ravens are David against the Goliath Patriots.
The Ravens are a 20 point underdog at home, which is the highest point spread for any home team in NFL history. We aren't getting any respect, which is so rightfully undeserved. We are horrible on primetime games and have a anemic record against the patriots. But things can only go wrong for so long, and the way the football season has gone this year, anything could happen. If Chris McAlister plays, we will have 10 of 11 defensive starters playing with Trevor Pryce on IR.
O yea, I woke up this morning and its pretty cold and windy. It is reported to be 31 degrees with 50 mph winds tonight. That makes Tom Brady just about as good as Kyle Boller. Sorry Kyle.

Safety in Heaven

I know this blog is typically about Raven’s Fanatics and my opinion of the Baltimore Ravens issues, but this week I wanted to write about the tragic death of Sean Taylor. He had always been sort of a rival for the Ravens. He was always compared to our own Ed Reed and was on the cross-town rival, Washington Redskins.
Sean Taylor was shot and fatally wounded after burglars broke into his Miami house while he was with his girlfriend and daughter. Sean was shot in the upper leg, striking a main artery causing dramatic blood lose. This man was only 24 years old and was the new father of an 18-month-old baby girl. Many just viewed Sean as a football player. Many forget that this superstar athlete was a person too.
Three of four men were arrested and charged with the murder of Taylor on Friday. They were only 17, 18, 19, and 20 years of age. One has been reported as the boy that cuts Taylor’s lawn. The suspect say that they had no intent on hurting Sean, they didn’t even know he was going to be home. So the death of Sean Taylor was over possessions. A man protecting his home and family gets shot and killed over possessions! It is hard to say that this is a tragedy and move on. It is just hard for me to believe that an 18 month old will never be to get to know her father.
Today it doesn’t matter what team is your favorite or if you are even a Ravens fanatic. Today Sean Taylor is on everyone's team, and he will be missed.

The Ravens win, nevermore.

Just after I thought it couldn't get any worse, Sunday happened. Sunday night's game against the Cincinnati Bengals pretty much ended Ravens playoff hopes for the 2007 season. We are now 4-5 and are 0-4 in the division.
I arrived at the game around noon for the 4:15 kickoff, and I could definitely feel a sense of pessimism in the air, especially during the tailgate. Fans seemed to be fed up with team, and they have every right in the word to be after Monday's performance.
Thousands of Ravens fanatics, including myself, bleed purple and black for this team. I know it's just a game, but the Ravens are one of most important things in my life next to family and friends. I understand teams cannot win every game, but when I have to witness the inexcusable play of Steve McNair and horrible coaching of Brian Billick it takes a toll on me. Something needs to be done and it has to be done fast. This team means way too much to too many people for this to continue. Its Kyle's team now.

Monday Night Meltdown

From the beginning introductions of the Monday Nighter against the hated rival Pittsburgh Steelers the Ravens were doomed. That city got to see their all-time greats commemorated for their 75 years of existence. The Ravens have always been a horrible team on primetime, but this was a joke.
I have never seen a game as pathetic as the one I saw on Monday night. I was completely surrounded by Ravens fans at Padonia Station. The place was electric. Everyone was so excited for the game. I was so nervous for the game that I couldn't stop shaking from 4:30 until kickoff. I almost made myself sick, but nothing made me feel worse than the performance we got out of our offense on Monday night.
Steve McNair looks washed up, our key players are still injured, our coach looks like he is on his way out, and we are sitting at 4-4 (3rd in the AFC North) with one of the hardest schedules in the NFL still to play. But I am a Ravens Fanatic. Like Ray Lewis said after the game, " they all still have to come to our house, we're just getting started."

Panic and Boller Bandwagoning = Ravens Fans

- Bill's take on Ravens fans reaction to a 22-3 victory over the visiting 0-6 St. Louis Rams. Should fans expect more? Bill reacts to Ravens fans uproar in Baltimore.
Even after a 22-3 convincing win against the St. Louis Rams on Sunday, Ravens fans are still disgusted and unhappy. The defense played great forcing 6 turnovers and Kyle Boller managed the game, while taking shots down field. Even during the halftime break, Fox analyst, Terry Bradshaw said, “Move over veteran Steve McNair, Kyle Boller needs to be the guy.”
I know after a 13-3 record last year there will be high expectations, but after a 19 point blowout win I thought the positives would outweigh the negatives come Monday morning. Other analysts are even calling out Brian Billick after a victory. ESPN’s Keyshawn Johnson said, “Your head coach [Billick] is supposedly an offensive-minded genius, but for 9 years the offense has been in neutral. They have never lead anything in an offensive category.
Many are forgetting that is what the Ravens do. Does anyone remember who was the quarterback of the Ravens when the won the Superbowl? Does anyone remember how mediocre our offense was?
This team is built around defense and ball management on offense. This formula has worked in the past and has given us a 4-2 record so far this year. Fans need to relax and trust in Brian Billick. It is way too early to panic.

Kyle Boller = 2-0

- Bill's take on the quarterback issues in Baltimore. The decision to go with Kyle Boller or Steve McNair is still in question. No matter which quarterback in under center, they are both on a short leash.
Well the Ravens got it done again, in pretty convincing fashion. Five interceptions and five field goals from Matt Stover definitly were the keys to the Raven's success, but the late scratch of Steve McNair is what sparked the team
Kyle Boller (My Boy) finally got another start. An what do you know? He got another win as a starter. It wasn't at pretty as he imagined it to be but a win is a win. An even though Kyle had two turnovers in the game, the offense looked much better with him under center. Boller took his shots downfield which Steve McNair is unable to do.
The lack in confidence of Kyle Boller actually works in the Ravens favor. This forces the Ravens to run the ball more, which gives Willis McGahee more touches. We finally gave him 25 carries today, which equates to almost always a Ravens victory. We paid all the money to get McGahee, we have to get him the ball. The Ravens need to stick will Boller from here on out.

Act Like You Care!

Well, another week in the NFL has passed, which was also another disappointing performance by the Ravens. A change has to be made. Suspect play calling by Coach Billick, and poor performance at the quarterback position has led the Ravens to a 2-2 record and third place in the AFC North.
I have been hinting it since week one, but I kept my mouth shut because I don't believe the failure of a team can be put on be one person's shoulders, but it is time for Kyle Boller. Steve McNair hasn't been horribly bad, but I just can't take it anymore. There is no more blaming his "tweaked groin" anymore. He says he is completely healthy, so you can't make any more excuses.
Performance aside, I cannot take the lack of enthusiasm from Steve McNair anymore. It is like he doesn't even care. He throws a pick, throws a pass 6 feet too high and it looks like he doesn’t even care. He casually walks off the field and takes his chinstrap off. There is no emotion with this guy. There is also no sense of urgency. We are down 18 points in the middle of the third quarter and he is lackadaisically walking around in the huddle and throwing little 10 yards passes. THROW THE BALL DOWN FIELD! With Boller, you get the power arm, downfield passing capability, and a highly emotional guy who looks like he cares and who will light a spark for this offense. Billick better make a decision shortly or somebody will soon be on the coaching hot seat.

Never Forget

Jamal Lewis, long time Ravens running back and current Cleveland Brown, is making debut against his former this Sunday. He called Baltimore home his entire NFL career, since the Ravens drafted him with the #5 overall pick in 1999. He had a few good years here. He helped win the franchise's first and only Superbowl in 2000 and in 2003, he won Offensive Player of the Year while rushing for over 2000 yards.
Now he is on a team that is in state of rebuilding, but don't think that will stop him. This entire week Jamal Lewis and Ray Lewis have been talking smack back and forth. Jamal thinks he was slowly casted out as the Ravens offensive strategy was slowly changing philosophies as Jamal's style was slowly being fazed out of the offense. Jamal's recent decline in performace in Baltimore over the past few seasons could argueablly have been because of the offensive strategy or due to Jamal's body ailments, due to his bruiser-back style.
Reguardless, true Ravens fans should quietly be rooting for Jamal every Sunday. We should never forget what he had done for this franchise and this city. Jamal helped rebuild this football town after a stretch of being teamless and the early Ravens years when 6 win seasons were the norm. Without Jamal the Ravens wouldn't be where they are today. Go Jamal!

Disappointing Beginnings

Monday Night Football is the biggest stage in sports for the Ravens to show what they got this season, and they blew it. I am no pessimist by any means, I am just a very disappointed fan who was really excited that football is back and had it spoiled by a horrible performance. With 6 turnovers we shouldn't have even been in the game to begin with, but somehow we got the lead back (20-19) with 12:00 left in the forth quarter. With three minutes left we somehow got the ball back off a fumble recovery by Ed Reed, who played his heart out last night. Reed also had a punt return for a touchdown that gave us the 20-19 lead. Our offense was horrible and more importantly our play calling was awful. McNair went down in the fourth quarter with a leg injury and Kyle Boller took over. I am a huge Kyle Boller fan and he did a great job last night, but on 1st and Goal you have to go to the guy that you invested all your money in this year; Willis McGahee! Even though we had a terrible offensive pass interference call on Heap, which should have been a TD and a dropped ball that turned into a game ending interception by Heap, why aren't we running the ball?!!! The Ravens need to take this week and reevaluate their gamelan for next week against the Jets (which I will be attending). It was a tough loss, but it was a tough game. We never play good on primetime games and we always play bad @ Cincinnati. Good thing we got this one out of the way early. Go Ravens!

Ravens debut fails to rescue local fans from the doldrums

A Day in the Life of a Ravens Fanatic/ College Student

Well, I waited to start writing this blog until the start of the regular season, so I would have something interesting, exciting, and hopefully positive to write about, but it doesn't look like its going to go as planned. This blog is dedicated to Ravens fanatics, including myself. I plan on showing my "quest" through this brand new NFL season. I will be posting pictures of tailgates, other Ravens fanatics, and just speaking my opinion of how things are going for the Ravens this season. My "quest" began last night (Opening night on ESPN's Monday Night Football) at Greene Turtle in Towson. I was joined by over 60 Ravens fans who were just as excited as me. I was in class all day just thinking about this primetime Monday Night Football game that my time was a part of. I could not concentrate. I had to wake up early to meet with my group for a advertising project at 10 A.M., so I literally had the entire day to think about the game. I found myself constantly looking at the clock and doing the math in my head to figure out how many hours were left until game time. I went to the gym, then to my first class, which I could not tell you anything about. After that I had my sports talk radio show with my best friend Billy. That just made it worse because we dedicated half the show to the Ravens game. Billy and I had class together right after that from 5-6:15. (P.S the game is at 7!) 6 pages of notes later my teacher finally let us out at 6 because there was no AC! Me and Billy rushed home and I let my dog Mia out and I put on my Ravens jersey and hat and we headed out to the bar. The place was a sea of purple and black. I loved it. This was the first time I ever experienced a Ravens game at a Ravens bar, since I just turned 21 in May. The place was going crazy with anticipation. I met up with all my fellow Ravens fans; Becki, Nate, Bridget and Rich. It felt good to be in a place with people who were as passionate as me about my beloved Ravens.

The scene: Friend, foe