dc.

Bad, emotional challenge by Harbaugh...

Good job, Ryan. But only in Ravensland and only on this board do we here the proclamation that Mallet is a "real QB" after one drive and five completions. Doubt we could find that one drive for any other random QB....

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/investigations/bal-homicide-embed-part-one-story.html Part One of a series The Sun is running on murders this year, in the series their main crime reporter gets to follow an investigation with the detectives. First: great read, but sad and frustrating. And that's only day one of the crime... Second: So reminiscent of shows like Homicide and The Wire, hard to shake the similarities. Feels fictional.

Love the Kim signing. Huge. Cheap. I'm expecting a lot. Kang did so well in Pit and Kim's numbers are better down the board.

He's not that young, especially injury-wise.

Almost forgot... poor Bud Norris in 2015. Ugh. Meanwhile, our core bullpen guys - Britton, Brach, O'Day, Matusz - All ERAs sub 3. Two with ERAS sub 2. And Givens coming up with a sub-2 ERA as well.

Well considering we only had him for two months... Here's the real rub... we scored more runs last year than 2014 (only by about 10, but more). We allowed 100 more runs last year than in 2014. Wonder where the wins went. But regarding Miller more directly - we still had a stellar bullpen last year. But Tillman, Gonzalez, ... it wasn't a pretty year for our starters.

Did any individual replace him? No. But we scored more runs and hit more homeruns - as a team - than we did in 2014. Davis hit 21 more. Manny hit 23 more. Pearce, much as I dislike him, hit more than Markakis had. So again, it wasn't exactly like power was our issue. Nor was Cruz's 270 avg or 333 obp irreplaceable. (In fairness, both were above average for us this year, but neither is stellar in a league setting) Pitching. On base.

No, Dumervil certainly did facemask and a pretty egregious one too... BUT the play should not have started even because the Jags were not set at the line. That's what the league admitted to - the play should have been waived off, no play occurs, no chance at a facemask. Here's the facemask - one of the worst I've seen in a while http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/0ap3000000580169/Ravens-Elvis-Dumervil-commits-crucial-face-mask-penalty-on-Jaguars-Blake-Bortles That said - I agree that officiating, leaguewide, has been abysmal this year. Something needs to be done. And that definitely includes full-time officiating crews. But there is something many do not bring up: the complexity of the rules at this point and how stupid so many of them are. The problem as much as it is officials is the problem of too many judgement calls. Too many "a nudge is ok but a shove is not." Too many "it depends who starts contact." (That's the one on defensive holding that is so ass backwards... a WR can pretty much run straight into a DB and get a holding call). It's officials but it's also a system gone haywire.

We actually did replace Cruz's numbers power wise... Our offensive trouble continues to be obp and moving guys around the bases. Crush was responsible for a lot if runs by hr... But how many guys were left on base with his K's? Replacing his power may not be easy, but higher average and lower K's could lead someone else to get similar rbi numbers and leadership. See the Royals with guys like Morales and Hosmer. It would be pretty incredible to lose the hr leader in consecutive seasons. And if course remember, it's not just about this year. I still worry about this contract offer to Davis in years 34,35,36... K's will likely only go up.

I think we'll do machado soon, maybe even this offseason if we don't get Davis. He's a top ten player in the league. This article bothers me less for the O's and more just shows how 2018 will be big for many teams. But also, there will be plenty of extensions - like Harper and Trout - in the meantime.

This is terrifying. https://twitter.com/CNN/status/675037911490945024

Related note - poll out today (real, major, significant poll) that shows only 20% of Dems agree with the "ban muslims" statement (still too many) but more than 65% of GOPers. That's all I need to know about allegiance right now; and I'm unaffiliated and fiercely so. The thing that scares me most about Trump is not Trump - because I am still confident he won't even win the nomination. I am scared that he is making Ted Cruz look sane, rational, mild-mannered, even-tempered, deliberate... Until 6 months ago, Cruz was the wacky guy that was just so far outside... now he's normal and almost palatable to many. He's Trump light in posture, but Trump heavy in policy.

Demagogue is the only word that fits. And I'm being nice in not going further. But I agree it is frightening. How can people be fooled by one who says so little (and yet says so much)? "It'll get done" isn't an answer. "You're a moron" isn't a defense. I remember last year (I feel like I repeated this here already?) I was talking to someone who said Obama hasn't had it any worse than Bush did. I retorted, not really in defense of Obama but against prejudice, that Obama has been attacked since before his election for traits that are 100% separate of his politics - race, ethnicity, religion, nationality, etc. Bush had some horrible things said and written about him - things I find beyond ok - but it was almost always based in a response to actual policy. Calling Bush a fascist is stupid and rude, but it was generally made as a response to an actual issue not just to what he looked like. I feel the same way with Trump's arguments. He frequently insults people and then says, "well people insult me - they insult my hair." I know it doesn't have to be said, but apparently it does. Saying, "gee his hair looks funny" is a lot different from saying, "his haircut disqualifies him from being president" and meaning it as if it were a legitimate argument. "He's a loser" and "your company is failing" ... what does that even mean?

Yeah, I know they are. Just didn't always make sense to me. Our copyright laws are bulln many senses

Not officially off the table, but we said "we're continuing our search and if we fill the hole/spend the cash before you say yes, then sorry." I think it is the right play. I am not convinced he'll get more elsewhere-at least not 25m more. And I doubt he'll get more time. I would definitely prefer a starting pitcher though. I also think Davis is thinking long and hard about production in another ball park. Not that it affects his pay anytime soon, but I think it's a pride factor Love our rule five pick up. Expected to make opening day line up, I'm betting lead off even unless we get Span or someone similar.

150 / 7 years. Personally, I am worried it's too much given the time frame... not sure he'll be the same player at 33 or 34, let alone at 36 or 37. I do think it is fair. And I think there is a good shot he takes it - even if eventually. But at the same time, I am 100% that if he waited he'd get more than 150 from someone out there. I still think it's crazy to imagine that O's have never had a contract more than Jones' - $85m. Not that it's a good or bad thing, but I am always astounded we've never paid more than $100m for a guy. Machado will break that easily if Davis doesn't. Scarier still, we've never paid more than $50m for a pitcher. And that was Ubaldo. Ugh. I'd so easily pay $80m for Chen to come back.

I feel like I have seen a handful of NFL players with them on... but I'd have to think about who I am recalling. Meanwhile, it is stupid. It's not even the 'getting it caught' aspect... a really bad jammed finger (quite likely in most sports) can lead to some bad results with wedding rings. I know a guy who had to have his surgically removed in the hospital after taking a baseball off his ring finger in a game. Not pretty.

Feel bad saying it, but he had that look to me...

Spen - I know (think) you were being sarcastic above, but the following response is more generalized to those who I know do think that way... given the prevalence of incentives-based contracts, they really do need protecting from themselves!

Precisely. And again, there appeared to be no check-in from anyone - maybe two seconds by the official, but nothing real. Not making an excuse for Schaub in the slightest, but still, just sad and sad and sad... NFL is really aiming to help "Concussion" have its moment in the spotlight.

Waiting for announcement of his concussion. That hit on the turf was just like Keenum. He was gone.

O'Day resigned at 4/31... only 5m less than Miller got last season, which a lot of people are saying shows a bad move... not sure I agree. I like the move overall. Lower K numbers, but every other number from O'Day is comparable and in fact in some ways better for a longer period of time. Still, crazy to see that number for a non-closer. Though, O'Day could definitely close. Anyway, minor splash I guess.

I know people hate Anderson. I think it's misdirected in some ways (cleaning up Yows disaster) but also just totally misunderstood, especially regarding football. Anderson is not trying to build a program that many think, or rather, he's not planning to do it with money. He's using the program to support others and using it to get the B1G promotions - all of which are major wins for the rest of the athletic program and the university. As for Sean Miller, again, I think it comes to not being able it willing to spend money. In the end, like with Durkin, Anderson got a major recruiting asset that will be worth a lot more than his coaching resume.

I think Harbaugh is arguing about what constitutes the "play start" on the XPs. The Ravens have had huge jumps all year - some called, some note. I noticed on both XP offsides that our player started their jump when the holder motioned for the snap - but had a hardtime figuring out exactly how closely the snap came (or other players, kicker included) moved in relation to that. Not saying bad calls, but just unclear - Harbs seemed pretty convinced his guys were getting legit jumps.