borntodiebalmerfan

My mom's family is from Baltimore, my father was in the Army, and retired out west. So I was always a fan looking in from the outside. When the Elway fiasco was going on I was in Palo Alto (home of Stanford). I was working at a Carl's JR and Budget Rent a car. I had no car, lived in a 1 room hotel room share bathroom and kitchen. To be living like that and have some guy flat out to refuse to play for the team I grew up with, in a game that I would have done just about anything to continue playing was hard to take. For all the years there was no Baltimore football, my favorite team became the team that was playing against Elway and Denver. Unfortunately, that time span also became the time I began to have kids and raise a family. Instead of my kids being raised to follow a team, they watched me week after week ranting and yelling like a maniac for the demise of one player and eventually the rage went towards Indianapolis when they became competitive. In my presence, Indianapolis is always referred to as Indianapolis and the c-word is never connected with Indy. My kids are adults now and have no loyalty to any teams or that much interest to watch football. So to me I feel like my family lost a generation of Baltimore football fans. This last years playoff run took a lot of that hate away as thundercletz pointed out about Denver/Elway and Indianapolis demons being exercised. I know that Baltimore teams have more super bowl wins than Indy, and both franchises (Colts and Ravens) have better winning percentages in Championship/ Super bowl games than Elway and Denver. Those two facts make me smile every time I think about it. I hope the Ravens open in Denver this next year with a big chip on their shoulders. I am pretty sure they will, isn't that the Raven way?

Doesen't Ben look like he is trying to intiminate Joe in the picture with this article? Joe and Ben.docx http://www.latimes.c...0,2721489.story

I have been out of touch with the local discussion about the Ravens until tonight, or this morning for you all. The last post evolved into Joe's inconsistency with his accuracy and thought process. Is Caldwell still his QB coach and didn't Joe seem to respond better with Jim Zorn? Someone made the point that Cam is not really good for Joe's game and Joe is not really good for Cam's game; so maybe this will be the last eight games (five reg, 2 playoff and 1 superbowl) with that combination on the offensive side.

In order to get Ray Rice to sign, shouldn't the Ravens get the line taken of ? I would think a running back that could command attention from other teams would want a decent line provided for him. As far as Dickson, I would love to have him represent. I am just afraid you cant brake old habits and he has droped catchable passes all the way through college and has not seemed to improve. Big TE's are the trend now and I just wonder if there are other ones out there that are more consistant than Dickson. Grubbs always seem to be the one lineman you would see get upfield to block for Ray on screens.

This is not much but the ravens should start by getting rid of Ed Dickson. He had stone hands at Oregon and has not improved his pass catching in the NFL. Pita can do the job. Would it help to get Flacco to agree to a 1 year extension? This may be a stupid question I am not very knowlegble when it comes to front office moves.

Jim H. had a good year there is no doubt about that. However, he did not draft the SF defense in one year, they were allready intact. He did manage to get the players to respond better than Singletary did. But to say that he out coached his brother is debateable the NFC West provides two games with the Cardinals, two with the Seahawks, and two with the Lambs. Brother John's AFC North division was the only division in the NFL to produce three playoff teams. And to me the tiebreaker is when the Ravens beat the 49er's head to head. There has been improvement every year John H. has coached the Ravens in team discipline and (I know the numbers do not bear the evidence) their red zone offense. The Ravens were only one completion away from the superbowl this year, I am pretty sure a lot of football fans wish they could say that for their teams. I wish Cam would have been shown the door as much as anyone else on this site. I wonder if Pags going to Indy stopped the plan because a winning team does not want to spend the off season trying to find an offensive and defensive coordinater at the same time.

The one common thread that weaved through the last four NFL teams standing was discipline. Think of the four coaches whos teams made it to chamionship Sunday Belincheck, Coughlin,and the Harbaugh brothers. All of these teams owe their success to discipline in how they prepare and play. It was the Pats defensive Moore who said that out of instinct he stripped the ball from Evans,it was also something he said the Pats did drills on.That comes down to discipline. Compared to the stupid penalties the Billick coached Ravens made this team has grown leaps and bounds in that part of team disciplne. I am pretty sure the Ravens had to of cut down on yards penalized this year. Maybe Caldwell will improve Joe's discipline with reads and he comes out next year and has MVP type numbers. Maybe the receivers become more disciplined and stop making so many drops. Those two improvements in discipline could make the difference.

I watched the Ravens 2000 superbowl episode of America's Game on the NFL network yesterday instead of a no defense Pro Bowl. RayLewis said something about that 2000 team that made myhair stand on the back of my neck thinking about next year.He said it seemed like that whole season the team was just plain pissed off at anything and everything and they played like that all year. I am 100% sure that as pissed off as I am, those guys are many many times more pissed off about how the season ended. That emotion may be what was missing this year and that is why this team did not have that cold blooded mentality to finish off teams. Perhaps this loss will instill that drive to put teams totally down in the ground when they get leads and not let teams crawl back into games or hang around untill the end. Teams that finish teams off have better road records then what the Ravens ended up with and one more road win in the season would have won home field all the way.

Damm 2818 mile commute, not enough time. I will be there in spirit. Cravanravn, I work until 9 PM your time, let me know on the message board that you are at the rally and I will call Looney's and charge a shot of Crown Royal on my card and you can toast the Ravens for me.

Religion is kinda like little league baseball, its great for the kids until the grown ups get involved and screw it up. Ravens 34 Texans 16

I have been going back and forth with both scenerio's. Play a Patriots team with a pourus defense away or a Denver team that has a pretty good defense at home? I would take great delight in seeing Ed Elway's disapointed equestrian like features as he wittnesses his Bronco's being dismanteled at MT, but that team makes me very nervous. The way the Ravens have played this year, they may play better against a home favored Patriot team than an underdog Denver team at home. The Texans are going to be a battle and may have the toughest defense left in the AFC besides the Ravens. If Joe can have a decent game against Houston, the confidence would give him momentum to take on a NE defense and crowd. I am pretty sure there are still a few players for the Ravens who were present for that throttleing the Ravens gave the Patriots the last playoff game they matched up in. No matter what, the Ravens need to keep the mantra "just run baby, run" throughout the playoffs for their best chance of success.

Sorry for the Steeler comparison (T.Bradshaw), I did cringe when I typed his name in. I agree, Evans missing games hurt Joe in passing and because Torrey Smith is a rookie I don't think he has gotten the pi callls that he has deserved ( probably because of drops). As much as the talking heads fall over themselves talking about how formidable the Steelers are at ketcup field, they seem to forget Joe has beaten the Steelers at Pittsburg with passing twice. How many NFL quarterbacks can say that?

i wonder if the offense has scored more touchdowns overall compared to last year with the same amount of games. If so couldn't the argument be made that joe has more balance this year? I heard a commentater on the nfl network last night, say that " if you are nervous about what your QB does from game to game, you will not win the superbowl." I seem to remember people being dissatisfied with Terry Bradshaw and Phill Simms before they won the big one. I have heard the snickers from the announcers since the Jacksonville game when talking about Joe and I would love nothing better than to watch Joe hoist up the Lombardi and make those guys eat a shit sandwich!

I just turned the Browns/ Steelers game off and I think Seneca Wallace had the Steelers reeling in the red zone and may have been the right guy in there at that momment. It is Colt Mcoy's team but after the hit he received from Harrisson I think he was a little off with his mental sharpness for decision making. Not really dazed, just an inexperienced quarterback that got nailed hard and I think it shook him up. Wallace added experience and a running diemension that had the Steeler defense guessing a little and I think that he could have rolled out and made something happen instead of switching Mcoy back in. wallace had just made a smart pass that got the Browns in the red zone and I think the sharks smelled blood in the water and may have punched it in. The coaches owed that one victory agaisnt their arch rivals to the Browns fans and they had a good excuse in keeping their number one guy safe on the sidelines for their future and let the experienced guy punch the ball in. Instead the kid comes in and throws a pic in the end zone. Those guys in the crap colored suits get all the luck. I hate them so damm much! oh well, it would have been an unexpected bonus. On the lighter side I am officially starting my FU as of this afternoon !!!

I am okay with it, but after spraying my keybord with coffee my boss has a disturbed look on his face. VMAX at least once a week I find myself laughing at your pics. Thank you for your humor, it makes the hard times easier and the easy times a little more enjoyable!