ForceEight

Exactly. The cost of keeping someone not in future plans doesn't always weigh heavier than the potential team benefit of keeping someone younger or more useful for the team in the long-term. I think it's safe to say that with Monroe here, someone like Billy Bajema (who we keep cutting loose) is more valuable than McKinnie at this point.

I'm a lot more superstitious about NASCAR than I am about the Ravens, to be honest. I think it comes from what you did growing up/when younger first watching those events and translating that into tradition. That's how superstitions are born.

Not likely. I was 15 years old when we left ESPN and started hanging out here. I've spent half of my reasonably cognitive life on this board. That means you guys are just old.

Really, really sucks. So we're down to four WRs this weekend total, since Jones and Thompson are injured. And we had cut one of those four about two weeks ago. What happened?

I am so tired of reading about how Angelos has anything whatsoever to do with the Ravens playing in Denver last night.

Yanda makes all the difference, oh man.

You have to wonder why Oz seems so dead set on the speed mentality...Thompson, Jones, and Smith on the field together doesn't make nearly as much sense when there's no Pitta in the middle, or even Dickson in last night's case. I understand that Doss has proven himself unreliable, but Mellette and Williams seem to deserve at least a chance. It just makes me nervous.

He started and had at least one tackle that I remember. I doubt he played much.

The difference is that a dislocated hip isn't just season-ending, it's career-threatening.

I prefer Gumbel and Dierdorf to anything Jim Nantz is a part of. He's a more stale Joe Buck, and that's saying something.

Not really a surprise. He has to work extra hard to get back, and I'm sure he knew it going in.

No, they just have all the money in the world being a borderline professional football team and paying their players absolutely nothing.

1) It's Texas A&M. 2) He's 20 and kind of whiny in the first place. I don't necessarily fault him for it. He's a product of our world.

No, it changed just this year for the HGH and testosterone testing.

Yeah, MLB's testing is about as good as it gets.

He's too consistent to be an All-Star,as terrible as that is to say. He's consistently very, very good. He's not a breakout hitter and he doesn't really go through many slumps or surges. And as great as he is in right, you don't generally think of the right fielder as a particularly talented defender, whether he is one or not. As awful as it is, those things don't necessarily add up to an All-Star. Not in the traditional way. Throw in the fact that he played for a perennial loser for the first half of his career and that Baltimore is a relatively small market, and you get Markakis being left off of all those teams.

Sure he is! Last year was more of an aberration than anything. He is a risky guy to have as a closer; look at how many saves he blew early in his career before we gave him the job. He's not the best closer around, and games like this prove it. The fact that he does save as many as he does, though, suggests that he's worth the pain. I don't think we should expect a win with three hits in a game, regardless of whether there's a chance for a save.

ESPN shut down? I'm also in this year. Getting to the site with a phone makes it a lot easier to have time (and internet service) for it.

Come on, candy corn is delicious! Folks as old as you two should be able to appreciate that. Went downtown for the fireworks last night and made the mistake of forgetting that they shoot them off from two different spots. So if you're stuck in a bad place (i.e. between the aquarium and the Torsk) you're only going to see half of a show, and not a very good one at that. That was an incredible downer, but going home and causing trouble afterwards made things better. Hope everyone had a good one!

I'm more excited about Elam than I am about Huff. Our back-end secondary is going to be incredible.

Agreed. Ray, Art, JO, and Ozzie.

Gleason's statement before they'd even really apologized was one of the most forgiving and thoughtful things someone could say. I'm not sure what else to say about it, because the DJs (now former) don't deserve the ink for which to speak of. Love O.J., too.

Well "celebrities" is kind of a relative term, let's be honest. The movie looks hysterical, though.

The O's currently have 4 of 9 starters on the All-Star lineup: Jones, Markakis, Hardy, and Davis. Absolutely insane. Also, VOTE!

Agreed with these four.