ExtremeRavens

RAVENS RUN OFFENSE VS. JETS RUN DEFENSE: View the full article

RAVENS RUN OFFENSE VS. JETS RUN DEFENSE: The Jets have spent the days leading up to the game answering questions about what has happened to their run defense. Unable to set the edge and deal with the Oakland Raiders’ speed last week, they were gashed for 234 yards on the ground, an average of 7.3 yards per carry by Darren McFadden and company. The Jets currently rank 31st in the NFL in run defense, a surprise considering that they ranked third in the NFL in that category last season, and they boast fast and athletic linebackers in David Harris and Bart Scott. The Ravens didn’t run the ball a lot last week against the St. Louis Rams, but they still accumulated 168 yards on the ground and averaged 6.5 yards per carry. The Ravens are eighth in the league with 383 rushing yards and Ray Rice is ninth in the league with 231 yards despite ranking 20th in the NFL with 41 carries. Rice was shut down by the Jets in last year’s season opener, gaining 43 yards on 21 carries. It’s likely that the Ravens will try to establish him early. View the full article

Ravens WRs Anquan Boldin & Torrey Smith vs. Jets CBs Darrelle Revis and Antonio Cromartie: The Jets have been playing a guessing game with regard to which corner will match up with which receiver. The bet here is that Revis goes against Boldin because Boldin has more experience and should get more passes from Flacco. Cromartie might be playing with bruised ribs. If he can’t play, look for Kyle Wilson to replace him. If Wilson gives up a big play early, Donald Strickland will come off the bench. Edge: Jets View the full article

Running back doubles as weapon in rushing, passing gamesThe Ravens’ smallest player continues to loom large as a weapon on offense. View the full article

Running back doubles as weapon in rushing, passing gamesThe Ravens’ smallest player continues to loom large as a weapon on offense. View the full article

Jets cornerback is widely believed to be the best in the leagueIn his day, it was said that Deion Sanders would take away half his opponents' passing field, so daunting was the task of completing a pass on his side. View the full article

Baltimore Sun columnists and NFL reporters, plus WJZ's Mark Viviano, will pick NFL games (not against the spread). View the full article

Baltimore Sun columnists and NFL reporters, plus WJZ's Mark Viviano, will pick NFL games (not against the spread). View the full article

Little trash-talking, no brash predictions; what happened?Let me begin by saying this about tonight's big game between the Ravens and New York Jets: I hope it's more exciting than the PR snooze-fest leading up to it. View the full article

Cornerback Chris Carr missed practice Friday and is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game against the Jets with a thigh injury. View the full article

Cornerback Chris Carr missed practice Friday and is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game against the Jets with a thigh injury. View the full article

Wide receiver will miss second straight gameIn Sunday night's game against the New York Jets, the Ravens could get back one of their key offensive linemen, but they'll again be without a starting wide receiver. View the full article

Mixed martial artist Urijah Faber is among the guests at Ravens practice today as they prepare for Sunday's showdown with the New York Jets. View the full article

Wide-out Lee Evans, who missed practice again Friday, apparently will miss his second straight game with an ankle injury when the Ravens meet the New York Jets Sunday night. View the full article

Here's a collection of Ravens-Jets picks from around the WebHere's a collection of Ravens-Jets picks from around the Web View the full article

Jets leading receiver has defense's attentionThe New York Jets’ wide receiving corps boasts a speedster in Santonio Holmes, a red-zone target in Plaxico Burress and a technician in Derrick Mason. View the full article

Three things that need to go RIGHT … View the full article

New York coach has work to do with run defense after loss to OaklandAfter watching the Ravens trounce St. Louis 37-7 last week, New York Jets coach Rex Ryan isn't sure what to expect from the Ravens on Sunday night. View the full article

An Opening Day Toast made yesterday before the game… Here’s to another Opening Day. To a season of cold beer and warm nights at Camden Yards. To Jim Hunter’s optimism and Jim Palmer’s rants, to Joe Angel’s barks and Fred Manfra’s chuckle. To ‘O’ in the Anthem and ‘Country Boy’ in the Stretch. To heartbreaking losses, to meaningless wins, to untimely injuries and bad bullpen decisions. To veterans that slump and rookies that flounder. To manager tantrums, worth admission alone. To passed balls, to wild pitches, to overrun bases, to first pitch swings and watched third strikes. To finding new ways to lose, never seen before or since. To your hat stained with the failure of twelve seasons past. To that small part of your soul that comes alive every April and dies by June. To faith in the stands and failure on the field. Here’s to a season of Orioles baseball. Again. View the full article

Two games in and we’re already at lesson 37, geez. That’s Orioles baseball for ya… Lesson #37 in Orioles Baseball, 2010: The ball always finds the guy that’s gimpy. And even if you think a left fielder’s defense doesn’t matter, you’ll soon learn it will. Goat of the Game goes to Nolan Reimold who deserves a lot of credit for his quick rehab from a torn achilles tendon, but is still showing signs of the injury in almost every move he makes. By my count, Nolan missed two very catchable balls by taking awkward routes and running like Betty White. The second, which Nolan missed by about an inch, cost the Orioles two runs and the lead. Certainly plenty of blame to pass around in this one, but close games require solid play all the way around. The O’s bats might have been quiet, but their defense was far from sharp. View the full article

Same as the 2009 Orioles… Same as the 2008 Orioles… Same as the 2007 Orioles… Same as the 2006 Orioles… Same as the 2005 Orioles… Same as the 2004 Orioles… Same as the 2003 Orioles… Same as the 2002 Orioles… Same as the 2001 Orioles… Same as the 2000 Orioles… Same as the 1999 Orioles… Same as the 1998 Orioles… View the full article

The Baltimore Sun’s Kevin Van Valkenburg wrote an interesting column for the paper today; he took on the role of the Orioles front office as they “came clean” about the calamity that has been the last decade-plus in franchise history. In all honesty, it’s a nice but harmless piece – the kind I have come to expect from The Sun. It takes few jabs at the O’s and their management, but largely avoids criticism with any backbone. You can read the piece here. But it was one, short, half-attack that really caught my eye. Again, these are the words of Van Valkenburg, as if Andy MacPhail or Peter Angelos were saying them… “Despite what we said publicly, it’s clear we took you for granted. Did we ever officially apologize for Albert Belle? If not, we should have.” There’s a lot of things to say about Albert Belle. Now 10 years after his retirement, he is still a man that everyone in Baltimore has an opinion about. When his name comes up, eyebrows raise across the town. I get it, he was certainly a character. But what I have never fully understood is why people here despise Belle so much, as if he destroyed this team and its legacy. I come, time and time again, to this question: Why would the Orioles ever apologize for Albert Belle? Was he a jerk? Absolutely. But he was also the best player this team had (perhaps short of Miguel Tejada in 2004-2006) in this 12 year streak. Was his retirement shocking and painful (especially to the Orioles’ wallet)? Certainly. But Belle didn’t just walk away from the game because he was bored and leave the team out to dry. The fact is, Belle’s career-ending injury and its aftermath has become an urban legend. It’s especially sour that Belle got paid every last cent of that massive contract despite playing less than half of it, but that is in part thanks to the Orioles’ famed insurance plan in case of such an injury. What’s truly sad and pathetic about Belle’s tenure with the Orioles is that it represents the point at which the Orioles became a punchline, but only because the team allowed itself to. Belle’s injury and early retirement are what scared Peter Angelos into the tightwad he is today. The anger at Belle is misplaced. The Orioles should never apologize for signing one of the most feared hitters in league history. They should apologize for the way a single player’s failure shaped a decade of baseball in the city. On a sidenote… Belle has plenty to be angry about. Was he Hall of Fame caliber? Certainly, but a career cut short made him a laughing stock. And throughout his career he was dissed by media and fans alike. In 1995, Belle led the league in runs (121), doubles (52), home runs (50), RBI (126), and slugging (690). He also hit 317 and his team won 100 games – 10 more than anyone else in the majors. He lost the MVP race to Mo Vaughn, of the Boston Red Sox. Vaughn was no where near Belle’s numbers in any category except RBI, where they tied. And the Red Sox won just 86 games. Pathetic, Baseball Writers of America. View the full article

Two recent Orioles news items caught my eyes, both involving prospect and likely #3 starter Brian Matusz… A little more than a week ago, local writers reported that the Orioles had Matusz pitching a simulated game to get some extra time in. Pitching coach Rick Kranitz, who was overseeing the session, had to add add outs to the later innings of the game. One of the goals of the simulation was to have Matusz throw upwards of 20 pitches in an inning, so that he could get the feel for throwing that much. But through his first several innings he was escaping too often with a pitch count under 15. More recently, Matusz pitched seven innings in a minor league game – again to get a bit more time in and, according to the Orioles, to work on his motion with runners on. The move again backfired. According to Yahoo, Matusz allowed just one runner over his seven innings. Can’t he start Opening Day? View the full article

Three way too early predictions for this season. Actually, two way too early predictions and one absolute lock. I’ll let you decide which is which. 1. Brian Matusz will win the AL Rookie of the Year. I told someone this today and they told me a lefty hadn’t won the AL Rookie of the Year (or any ROY?) since 1981. As far as I’m concerned, that means he’s due. 2. Matt Wieters is going to break out like no other this year. Look at the splits last year, go ahead. I’ll wait. Despite a dreadful start, Wieters turned it around for his last 200+ at bats. He finished the season hitting over 300 from the left side. His power steadily increased, as did his run production. Wieters knows how to adjust and I am betting on a very quick learning curve this season. 3. I’ll be annoyed with Gary Thorne before the Orioles get back to Baltimore for Opening Day. Thorne’s a great guy by all accounts and decent at play-by-play. He’s also about as professional as they come. But at times, he takes it too far. Last season, Thorne invented his own new way of running the stats… he’d read the Runs-Hits-Errors tally for each time at random times throughout the game. And without any context. “So here comes Nick Markakis to the plate… Orioles 3-6-1, Rays 5-8-0… the first pitch is a strike.” The line became typical in Thorne’s repertoire, but even by October last year my first reaction was “Since when are there ties in baseball?” Stick to the standards, Gary. View the full article

“There’s reason to believe maybe this year will be better than the last…” Quick thoughts on the official start of Spring Training… First… WOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOO. The Sun has a nice little piece on it’s site entitled ‘Optimism Springs Eternal for Orioles.’ Cheesy, but true. There’s something about the first sight of players in team colors, playing catch and taking BP that just brings life to winter. To me, the first days of Spring Training always feel like the real New Year – and just like on January 1, there’s a feeling that anything can happen. Second… Why do pitchers and catchers always report first? Seriously, we’re talking about a difference of about a week? We don’t think that most position players could benefit from some extra time in camp; young guys who need to push fundamentals a bit more and old guys who need the extra time to learn how to keep their bodies working? Third… Brad Bergesen isn’t in camp yet. That’s a shame. And a stupid story. If you’ve heard it, cry with me. If you haven’t, don’t look it up. Fourth… The O’s have moved to Sarasota for their ventures. Thank goodness. I only made it to Fort Lauderdale once to see the O’s (check that off the ol’ bucket list), and as much fun as the experience was, the facility was awful. I couldn’t believe the Orioles were paying to use the place. And it’s a miracle they ever got anyone to visit the damn stadium. Sarasota isn’t exactly paradise from what I understand, but it’s a start. Coming later this weekend… a few predictions and my official Oriole Park viewers guide. View the full article