"The texts came to Ted Leonsis Tuesday night.

Gilbert Arenas, the Washington Wizards' guard, fresh off a month of house arrest, had seen what occurred earlier, when the Wizards jumped from fifth to first in the lottery, with the opportunity to take Kentucky's John Wall. And that would mean Wall would move to point guard, and Arenas would move to shooting guard.

And oh, the trouble that would cause!

There is a school of thought that says the Wizards shouldn't have Arenas within a mile of Wall, such is Arenas' supposed toxicity. Arenas, the argument goes, will drag down Wall with him, into his world of bringing guns to the locker room, and suspensions, and unmentionable acts with teammates' footwear. Wall has no chance to resist the devilish charms of Arenas, the anti-teammate depressant, and the Wizards will sink deeper into the morass.

Could go that way, one supposes. But not me."

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I'm posting this just to show you what AFC North blogger, James Walker had to say about our draft so far and of course I wanted an excuse to add some more to the Ozzie "Love Fest" which hopefully will conclude with another great draft in 2010. This quote by Kindle was exciting to read. "Getting to the quarterback is my specialty, and I can only get better learning from Suggs and guys like that," Kindle said. "The sky's going to be the limit once I get there and get in the system."

http://espn.go.com/blog/afcnorth/post/_/id/12353/ravens-newsome-work-their-magic

 This is just a tweet I saw from Aaron Wilson today that said the Ravens have spoken with Rackers according to a league source. Seeing as he's only missed one FG in 2009 and has the veteran experience, I would take a chance on him if he's interested. My only concerns with him are injuries and has always been his sometimes inconsistent moments in big games. Examples are that 2006 MNF game vs the Bears which lost the Cards the game (the only other one I can remember) and his miss vs the Packers this year which would have won the game. I don't want to bore anyone with kicker news but was just curious what people here think about Rackers career so far and his potential to help us? There's also other FA news on the Ravens site below the jump.

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This is an article I wrote on Bleacherreport that compared the journey's of Mike Holmgren and Bill Parcells to becoming the Head of Football Operations with the Browns and Dolphins. I wanted to show whether the quick turnaround for the Browns was possible as it was with the Dolphins that Parcells took over  in 2008. It would be nice to get some input from Browns fans on the article and I would appreciate the feedback including criticism because there's always room for improvement as a writer. As you will notice the article may have a lot of reads but I unfortunately didn't get enough comments.  One question I would really like answered from the fans is what kind of turn around are they expecting from the leadership of Holmgren? I know its early but what ever thought's you have would be nice to read. Thanks and fire away on this Ravens fan!

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/330028-parcells-to-holmgren-a-guide-for-building-the-browns

John Clayton sums up our division and gives his grades for each team. I'm sure all week here, people will be venting and so forth but I just wanted to know in particular what people would say if they had to sum up the Ravens this year and what grade they would give them. Clayton's summary was more to the point and he didn't mention some of the other problems we've noticed. Again, as its been a theme all year he stressed that we need receiver's. I'll add that we need better clock management, more all around discipline, and the o-line could always be boosted. I agree with his B- grade for us due to our poor secondary. What grade would you give the Ravens?

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/clubhouse?team=bal

John Clayton's Grades

Bengals A

Ravens B-

Steelers C

Browns D 

I posted this at Baltimore Beatdown and thought I would pose the question to you all as well. Its funny how comparable Donald Driver and Derrick Mason can be. Who is more durable and who would you rather have? They both it seems, are past the prime of their careers but while Derrick in his 13th season, will most likely retire next season, Donald just keeps on ticking and in his 11th season still looks as durable and athletic as he always has. He put a nifty move on Foxworth but who couldn't...still his second effort to dive in the endzone was impressive and showed how timeless he's become. Honestly its a tough choice for me and I've always preferred Derrick Mason but with Driver being a close second I'm not sure how much of that is just bias. At this point I don't think too many people would argue that they they would trade our receiving core for Donald Driver, Greg Jennings, and James Jones. I've always thought that was one of the best core of receivers in the NFL but that's for another discussion. Check below the jump and give me your opinion on who you would rather have. Thanks.

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I've been thinking about this question for a while and watching last night's game reminded me of it. Its funny how comparable Derrick Mason and Donald Driver can be. Who is more durable and who would you rather have? They both it seems, are past the prime of their careers but while Derrick in his 13th season, will most likely retire next season, Donald just keeps on ticking and in his 11th season still looks as durable and athletic as he always has. He put a nifty move on Foxworth last night but who couldn't...still his second effort to dive in the endzone was impressive and showed how timeless he's become. Honestly its a tough choice for me and I've always preferred Derrick Mason but with Driver being a close second I'm not sure how much of that is just bias. At this point I don't think too many people would argue that they they would trade our receiving core for Donald Driver, Greg Jennings, and James Jones. I've always thought that was one of the best core of receivers in the NFL but that's for another discussion. Check below the jump and give me your opinion on who you would rather have. Thanks.

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I found this site called Stadium Journey which consists of people that go around the country reviewing major sports venues and their take on them. They have several categories too score the stadiums, which they call "FanFare." They rate Oriole Park as their best MLB stadium out of 29 teams. The team they leave out is the Twins because they couldn't review the Metrodome in time before it was demolished. I've only had the pleasure of catching a few game's at Oriole Park since I'm pretty far from Baltimore but I've had some good times there when I was able to see a game.

What they had too say about the park and its surroundings was pretty interesting and any opinion's from people who are regulars at Oriole Park would be nice to read. I know of it and never tried it but the site say's that the Boog's BBQ is something you gotta try even if your not into any of the other food at the park. Even though it's closer for me, I've never seen a game at Nationals Park as I lack interest for them but when the Orioles come to town I'll be making sure I make a trip there. The Nats were ranked 28th and scored 17 for "FanFare" while the Orioles had the highest score with 33. Anyways if anyone could give me some comparison's of the two park's and anything else they think about the review go right ahead. Thanks.

http://stadiumjourney.com/?cat=16

I found an interesting article in Yahoo today that blamed Charlie Manuel for not starting Cliff Lee off of three days rest in Game 4 of the World Series. The Yankees started their Ace C.C. Sabathia off of three days rest, why didn't the Philies counter with their own Ace who held the same advantage? An interesting nugget that might explain their reasoning is this, " They saw history this decade-teams that start pitcher's on three days' rest in the postseason are 12-27-and panicked." Did the Phillies allow their fears to force them into making a bad decision? Then interestingly enough the columnist, Jeff Paassan goes on to show how Sabathia's 2nd (short rest) 3-day start on Sunday, didn't look as pretty as his first go-around against the Dodgers when he shut them down for 8 Innings but he still survived the Chase Utley HR and left the game in the 5th Inning with a Yankee 4-3 lead. His line was 6.2 IP 7H 3R 3ER 3BB 6K. Blanton's was 6.0IP 5H 4R 4ER 0HR 2BB 7K. Now with an extra rest sure Joe Blanton seemed like the right decision and maybe Lee wouldn't have worked out but know with a loss, the Philies will never know that. Even it it wasn't his best start, Sabathaia did his job, it was Jaba Chamberlain who foiled the Yankee's lead. He also recounts how the greats like Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson pushed their work loads against the Yankees in the 2001 WS when the Diamondbacks won it all. Not saying Cliff Lee is one of those guys but could he be if he gets more say in his starts? I don't want to "beat a dead horse" if you will with all this infromation but I thought it was something worth pondering on. The article has a lot more to say then I can so let me know what you think.

Yahoo article:

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=jp-leegamefour110209&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

I happened to be interested in what people are saying at Cincy Jungle more than usual this week because of the disappointing loss on Sunday and it was funny to run into a post about our secondary issues. They posted an article written by Mike Preston today which bashed our corners and even went as far as saying a pretty negative statement about Carr and Foxworth's contracts stating, "It might be time to ask for a refund or rebate." He goes on to say some other eyebrow raising things after that about the defense and the game against the Bengals as a whole. I know some here don't particularly like Preston's material but I actually enjoyed reading this article compared to some of his more grumpy ones in the past. It was sort of thought provoking and made some sense of the some what fall out that our defense and offense seems to be going through, especially with defensive penalties. I liked this quote also by Rey Maualuga, "We had to do what New England did last week and make them one-dimensional." Story of the game. Even though it has been said before any more thoughts on Foxworth, our defense, and more so this article would be nice to read. Thanks

http://www.cincyjungle.com/2009/10/12/1081446/baltimore-sun-takes-foxworth-to    -Cincy Jungle post

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/ravens/bal-sp.preston12oct12,0,6206616.column  -Mike preston article

I am looking forward to what this recent trade is going to bring us this year and the more I look at it, it really seems like a win win for both teams involved. Besides that good news I was really wondering what people's thoughts were on here about Darrius Songaila's time with the Wizards. He showed me signs of improvement and provided a good back court presence at times as well as needed scoring even sometimes in clutch moments but his reserve role and lack of consistent production makes him being traded away understandable. Etan's situation was unfortunate and I wish him all the best but as far as Pech well that's a different story but I still hope he develops his role better in Minnesota. Now my initial question is basically what you guys think was Songaila's legacy with us good or bad and how do you think he'll fare with the the Twolves? Considering that I see D.Songalia as the higher commodity out of the three but feel free to disagree.

      On Tuesday May 19th Kelly Washington was signed by the Ravens to a one year contract but the amount was not disclosed. It seems that coach Harbaugh has a lot of faith in Kelly saying that "He's kind of a young 29." Due to the fact that his body has not suffered a lot of wear and tear. John also likes him as a possible special teamer. Kelly Washington is 6'3 215 while his counterpart for the third receiver spot Demetrius Williams is 6'2 197. Washington beat out the other WR's competing for a job in mini camp who were Jerry Porter and Tab Perry. So far the Ravens have really liked what they have seen from Kelly and according to Hue Jackson the QB's coach who also coached Kelly in Cincy as a receiver's coach, he hasn't had the best time with coaches and just needs a good receiver's coach like Jim Hostler to help him reach his potential. Personally I like Williams but if Washington proves that he can be the better receiver than more power to him. He just might have a better upside than D-Will considering his mostly unproductive career so far. I like both guys but I have a better feeling about Kelly. Who do you guys like? May the best man win.

Kelly is signed:

http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/articles/2009/05/19/sports/csports051809.txt

Harbaugh's reaction:

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/sports/ravens/blog/2009/05/kelley_washington_no_3_receiver.html#comments

  Wonder what people here think about Ty Lawson't chances of being successful in the NBA  wether he commits to his decleration or finishes his senior year at UNC and declares again. He really was the soul of that team this year next to Tyler. They were an incredible combo. Eventhough he is sort of on the fence about entering the consesus is that he will most likely enter after opting out of the 2008 draft. I feel he should go and test the waters after winning a championship and gaining valuable experience but he still has things to work on such his perimeter game and jumpers but he's a nice slasher. I feel that this time he will be more confident to enter the NBA and after finishing a great season why shouldn't he despite some flaws? I feel he's more ready now than he will ever be. What's your guy's thoughts on whether he should stay or not and could he possibly be a nice fit for the Wizards? I think another hometown guy who has upside would be nice to add but I am not completely sold on his game yet. Although his Clinton, MD roots are cool because I hail from around the same area. It's said that he could be picked with the 10th selection and some team's that could select him are Utah, Portland, Philly, LA Lakers, and the Nets. Any where else?

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2009/columns/story?columnist=ford_chad&page=InOut- Good draft preview.

  I posted an AFC North 1st round draft preview slide yesterday on the Bleacher report website. When I have time I try to write about the Ravens and the AFC North team's in general there. I would like to know what you guys think of my  selections for each team. I am pretty confident in these picks but with the nature of team needs, you can never really be certain. Despite my research into the topic I am still taking a stab at it because after all I am not a team insider like a lot of us are'nt. Hopefully one day I will able to cover the NFL as a career. Working on it for now. Would enjoy the comments by the Beatdown, thanks.

AFC North 1st RD Draft Selections:

Cincinnati Bengals: OT Michael Oher

Cleveland Browns: DE Brian Orakpo

Baltimore Ravens: WR Darrius Heyward-Bey

Pittsburgh Steelers: OG,C Alex Mack

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/146271-afc-north-draft-preview

  I read an article by Tony Lombardi declaring that the Ravens do not want to play the Steelers in their house to open the season. So just to back it up I checked around and found a post stating that they indeed will not open the season on Thursday Sep.13 against the Steelers. Instead the Steelers will be playing the Titans at home. Good for us. I can see how Steeler fans and maybe even some here will say this is a punk move but I completely agree with it considering the Ravens situation now. With the amount of players they lost, the new free agents, and of course draft picks. They will need time to gel before they play the Steelers, who don't hate me, but could possibly have a better team situation than ours as a whole to start the season. Another smart move by Ozzie and I am sure others will agree, to get the team more ready for our match up.

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/sports/ravens/blog/2009/03/ravens_dont_open_2009_season_against_the_steelers.html

http://www.profootball24x7.com/column_view.php?cid=13&id=3332&view=archive- Good stuff about O.Pace and Derrick Martin in here.

 I thought this would be a fun post to debate about especially since I am sure a lot of the Terps faithful are still reeling from that tough Memphis loss. I got in late last night from watching the Knowing which I recommend to see. Anyways I was watching NFL network and I stumbled upon the best Top 10 countdown series I have seen yet. Looking at it through beer goggles made it really nice to. Our boy Ray Lou only made it to number seven. Sounds like a shame but you have to recall all of those great hitters of the past such as a Dick "Night Train" Lane and Dick Butkus who rounded out the list at number 1. Funny quote from the show was, "I would have crapped in my bed the night before if I had to play this guy." Can't blame him, Butkus was a terror. Getting back to Ray, I have three favorite hits from his career. The first is when he hit a Chiefs rb in mid air, athletic and incredible. Second is his brick wall stop of Michael Pittman on the goal line in the 2006 season opener against the Bucs. Third is of course his leveling of that poor fb in the Tennesse divisional game in the 2009 playoffs. A guy of note I thought I'd mention is also Mike Curtis who didn't make the list but was a Baltimore bruiser that the older generation of fans here might remember. One thing I am sure the old and young here can agree on is the ferocious impact the late Sean Taylor would have continued to make on the game if he was still with us. He was on his way and would have been our generation's Ronnie Lott. A playmaker that changed the game and did his talking physically. Rest his soul, he is missed. I highly suggest watching this show and here's their list of feared hitters and their wrap sheets, for debating purposes. Enjoy it.

1. Dick Butkus

2. Dick Lane "Night Train" -Famous for his decapitating clothesline.

3. Lawrence Taylor- Broke Joe Theisman's leg.

4. Ronnie Lott- "I loved to hear the crowd say Whoo!!! after a hit, thats when I know it was good!" Also is infamous for having one of his fingers amputated during a game.

5. Hardy Brown- Kept a hit list and was suspected of having a metal plate under his shoulder pad. Also opposing team's had a $500 bounty on his head amongst each other.

6. Jack Tatum

7. Ray Lewis "Shuga"- Infamously broke Rashard Mendenhall's shoulder last season and has said, "it was his favorite play because it was a football play."

8. Jack Lambert

9. Steve Atwater

10. John Lynch

    There's been talk around the web of a potentially solid defense for the Orioles coming into the 2009 season which was triggered last year by the addition of CF Adam Jones and should be continued with the addition of SS Cezar Izturis and LF Felix Pie. I have heard good things of Izzy so far and I haven't seen much from Pie except for his mistakes but even though the jury still seems to be out on him amongst the fans I think his efforts will provide us a welcome presence in LF as I think Nick will play in right mostly this season as Jim points to. I am optimistic about Felix because he's getting an opportunity to switch to LF from CF while playing with the Cubs. 

Amber Theoharris, makes a good point of comparing him to AJ where both had strong defensive presences with their former teams but didn't knock the balls as much. AJ improved tremendously when he got a chance, let's see what Pie can bring to his AB's in B'more versus Chitown where he was lost among their hitters. To my point, the defense seems like its on the rise but when Jim Hunter mentions the woes of our pitching last year, you wonder why the defense's effort's have become lost in the mediocrity.  The main issue he puts on the table is the continued improvement of the pitching and how important it will be to throw strikes this year and keep the mistakes to a minimum while only allowing balls on base's versus hits and walks. Let's all hope we have a better rotation than what wer'e expecting but that might just be wishful thinking. Good reading, enjoy.

http://masnsports.com/2009/03/throw-strikes-win-more-games-t.html

http://masnsports.com/2009/03/method-to-macphails-madness.html

 Idno who watched last night's game for the US vs Netherlands but I myself only saw a few highlights and was especially pleased with B-Rob's efforts on a world stage. I also love the way Rollins has been playing so far, he's really taking the competition higher which is always good to see. Now after seeing these great things the one highlight that really dissapointed me was the 100mph fastball thrown by Matt Lindstrom at an opposing hitter  as a way of retaliating for Brian Engelhardt's home run trott for blasting one off of him earlier. Okay, I certainly understand those "hidden" baseball rules that players live by but come on now! Eventhough Brian only had 2 hits he showed flashes of a nice power hitter and the guy looks like a beast physically. He wasn't even elaborate about his home run trot except for a skip after he sent one over Matty's head and I see David Wright screaming things at him from the dugout like he just stole his favorite bat or something. Come on guys, show some more class than this. Keep that stuff to an MLB level amongst American fans, your representing your self and our country on the world stage here!!! Haven't seen any other teams act out in this way. Lol, I felt bad for the Nethie's so I'm just ranting here but it would be nice to see some class when we win next time. We're just proving other countries right about us. Jimmy and Im sure other players like him have showed class while still goofing around and having fun, just hope others will follow with that same attitude. I am not bashing the US team at all just ticked off with those specific players. I understand Brian showed off a little bit but was the retaliation really necessary?

http://www.worldbaseballclassic.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090315&content_id=3994394&vkey=wbc_recap&team=usa - Read Matty's comments.