pumpkinhead

Oh fantastic, thanks for responding you guys. Somehow, I had a feeling y'all would know.

Sadly, we have lost Jimmy Orr. https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2020/10/28/jimmy-orr-dies-at-85/ I was wondering if anyone remembers the Orr-ville location at the old stadium (Memorial). Which end zone was it in (open or closed)? Also, can we get specific enough to recall which corner of the correct endzone it was? I tried to search around the net, fruitlessly. I figured if any group would know it would be the A+ fans on extreme ravens. I was thinking of updating Mr. Orrs' wikipedia page for the yewts, so they might know a little more about one of our great WR's and how we used to watch him.

Thanks for the info, next Tuesday it is....snow permitting. I hope Steve brings his gloves, he has probably forgotten winter here can get cold.

Does anyone know when it will occur or if it happened already and I missed it? By "State of the Ravens" I mean the end of season session that the franchise has with the media with Bisciotti, Newsome, Harbaugh typically giving an address and then answering questions. The major event of which was always the address the owner gave. I always found that very telling. Bisciotti was typically concise and honest. What the owner said, and (almost as important) did not say was always very enlightening for me (both good and bad as a fan). I hope the team plans on doing that again if they haven't already done it. Cheers.

Boldin, Boldin, Boldin and / or Boldin. I think he is the best WR in Ravens history...at least I like him the most. I respect Michael Jackson, Derrick Mason and Derrick Alexander, I like Brandon Stokely (catching that TD over Sehorn was awesome), Qadry ismail, Patrick Johnson and Jermaine Lewis but I love Boldin. That first TD to the post in the last Super Bowl, all his monster catches and tough ass blocks over the years. I know he is not a draftee and a baby Raven, but he is the only WR so far we have had who is likely a hall of famer. He wanted to stay here, and retire here....and go in to the Hall as a B-More bird. I think it is time to rectify a past mistake and bring the big man home. Sign this beast and let him retire a Raven.

LOL, you got me there. And man, that picture...pretty funny. As an aside, most have also probably seen this but if not: http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20130415/SPT0103/104150005/Miami-RedHawks-honor-John-Harbaugh-statue The college is building a statue of him. It looks like Baltimore is quite well represented in Oxford, Ohio - we have statues to 2 of our championship head coaches. Ewbank (1958, 1959) and now Harbaugh (2012). Cool.

I think this is the first time,...ever, that we have not had someone from the University of Miami on the roster. I guess this really is John Harbaugh's team now. Now that I think about it, Harbaugh did play at Miami of Ohio, so there is that.

I like this signing. I don't like what this means for KO and Jah Ried for 2012, but maybe they just need time. I don't think Williams is depth, I think they signed him to be the right guard in 2012. From what I saw watching him play us, this guy was tough. He seemed to spend a lot of time in Ray Lewis' grill. Not a lot of side to side speed, but good power and good ability to lock up on inside backers. I don't see him spending a lot of time on screens or pulling for us though. In this respect, it is a big downgrade from Grubbs. Still, he was suspended/injured for all of except 6 games I think last year. He may not be near the same player he was in 2010 but I think he has one good year left and he will be a bridge to KO for us. Another thought, he and Harbaiugh have to be familar with one another. Williams was drafted in the 2nd round by Philly in 2000, I think Harbaugh was on that staff at the time. Additionally, Williams made the transition from college tackle to pro guard. It took him all of 2000 and part of 2001 but he made a great transition. Harbaugh saw all of that, maybe he is thinking who better to take KO or Reid under his wing and show them the way to make the transition from college tackle to pro guard? Maybe, who knows? I hope so. Still, I like this signing.

I think Harbaugh was pretty much on spot - we ideally could have used an upgrade to the o-line after losing Grubbs. Will Ozzie pull off another miracle? - near term no, long term yes. We will be better in 2014 than next year given our willingness to lose better players in 2012 (but not players who were the right price) in order to not block some fellas who will pay off (hopefully) in a few years. That is how all franchises that hope to be relevant year in and out have to operate. But as fans, we should be prepared for the likely occurence that we will be worse (record wise) next year than last year. Still, so what? This year's champion was 9-7, so how relevant is the regular season record anyway? The NFL has managed to craft a model similar to the NHL, the champ will earn their spurs more on a late season surge than an overall, season long, standard of excellence. So we go 10-6 next year, still have a shot at the trophy. Bottom line (thanks Ray)? Last year and 06 were our years' (we were the most talented teams in the playoff field, IMO), but still we can get a trophy next year with a lesser talented team. Plus, we should be better off in 2014 since we let some kick ass players walk on this year (hand to God JJ). Plus, our front office boys get a chance to shine again in the upcoming draft. What a great time to be a Baltimore football fan, we are living the dream. A lot of ifs this upcoming year - can Art Jones get physically better in the ofseason like he did last year...and be the ass kicker Cory Redding was? Can Kruger come close to setting the edge like JJ or AD or even the Rock (Boulware) did? [Talk about shoes to fill, holy shit]. Last but not least, how close can Reid come to filling Grubbs shoes (likely not very). Lots of good things to watch for even before the draft. 3/8 picks immediate impact - given the history, no reason not to expect that. God willing, we get it.

I like the points everybody is making and I agree with them. So naturally, I'll just belabor them to hear myself type...sorry about that. DC, I think your general point is accurate. We should be built around the run but aren't. I think the largest example of how we are built for passing is in the choice of our TE's. Dickson and Pitta are both poor blocking TE's. In rewatching the games I see them both struggle consistently in the run game, often causing the play to go afoul. If the coaching staff truly wanted to emphasize the run, we would see a lot more of Kris Wilson. I think Varaven has a good point that we really don't have a bruiser at HB who can sustain a 20+ carry workload for 16+ games. Still, Rice is too scary a weapon (for the opponent) to leave him on the bench too long. He reminds me of Joe Washington. It would be nice to see more of Williams to close out games though, e.g. the St. Louis game - what happened to closing that one out? Mr. Berry is right though, all the offenses are built pass-first, run-second, the rules almost insist on it. It would take a rare coaching staff to go so far against the grain on that one. Maybe it just isn't possible to be run first in this era, I'll leave that debate up to people who understand the paradigm better than I do. I wish it was possible to still be run first though. Vmax, I also think we can run on the Steelers, especially if Grubbs comes back. The key to our week one success was getting Hampton on the ground - I think Grubbs is more adept at the cut block than Gurode...Yanda is great at it right now, like he is at most aspects of his game, what a great player Yanda is right now. If we can consistently get Hampton/Hoke/McLendon on the ground, our run game will go. BTW, it is odd how most Steeler folks focus on cutting Ngata, the player they need to cut is Cody/McKinney. Ngata is our 3 technique guy in a 4-3 or a 5 technique guy in the 3-4, cutting him would be tough (an OT or TE would have to do it), plus it wouldn't open up the cutback lane. So, try and cut him if you want, but it won't help much (it would help a little). The run game will come down to who can most effectively get the 1 technique guy on the ground. It will either be us against their 10 year veteran guys (Hampton and Hoke) or them against our 2 year veteran guy...I like our chances better. It doesn't matter though, the Steelers won't even bother to try and run it, they are a pass first, second and third team. For them the key will be getting Art Jones, McPhee, Redding and Ngata blocked on the inside pass rush. Their run game is an afterthought.